It was a little after nine in the evening by the time they finished dinner.
Wu Jun paid the bill, and the family of four walked out of the restaurant, talking and laughing.
After taking his parents back to the hospital room, Wu Jun drove Ma Siyu home.
He had been practicing driving constantly lately and had gotten really good at it. Ma Siyu no longer complained about him being too slow.
Yuhua Road, Zhongtian Garden, downstairs from Building 22.
After parking the car, Wu Jun noticed it was quiet in the passenger seat. He turned his head and saw that Ma Siyu had leaned her head against the window, her mouth slightly open. She had fallen asleep.
They hadn’t seen each other for over a week, not since they parted ways at the burn hospital.
Wu Jun noticed she had lost weight and her skin was a bit darker than before.
’Did she spend the last week doing manual labor in Africa?’
"Wake up. Go upstairs to sleep," Wu Jun said, reaching out to pinch her cheek.
"Stop messing around. I’ll hit you if you don’t stop." Ma Siyu shook her head, swatted Wu Jun’s hand away, and mumbled something before going back to sleep.
Ma Siyu was dead to the world in his car and wouldn’t leave. Wu Jun was at a loss. He figured he’d just have to wait for her to wake up on her own. He turned around, pulled out his phone, and started chatting with Xu Fei.
After exchanging a few messages, he heard a commotion outside.
Wu Jun looked up and saw a young couple struggling with each other in a small grove of trees not far from the front of his car.
The girl clearly didn’t want to go, but the boy was forcefully dragging her toward the wooded area in the green belt.
It was pitch-black in the grove. Wu Jun considered playing the good guy and shining a light on them.
"Tang Zhengping, let go of me! If you don’t let go, I’m going to scream for help!"
"Rong Rong, don’t scream! After all these years, you still don’t know how I feel about you? I really like you, just say yes. I promise I’ll treat you well in the future."
"Let go of me! Let go!"
"No, I won’t. Not unless you agree to be with me."
Sitting in his car and listening to the argument outside, Wu Jun clicked his tongue and shook his head. ’You can’t force love, buddy.’
And then, the real drama began.
The boy seemed to have lost his patience and was trying to force himself on her. The girl kept dodging and even gave him two hard slaps across the face.
"Help—" The girl only managed to get one word out before the boy clamped a hand over her mouth.
At first, Wu Jun was just watching the show, thinking it was a simple lovers’ quarrel. But the longer it went on, the more something felt wrong.
"Rong Rong, I really, really like you. I’m crazy about you." The boy ignored the slaps to his face and leaned in, trying to get closer.
’Rong Rong?’ This time, Wu Jun clearly heard the name the boy shouted and froze for a second.
He remembered that name. On the night of the supermarket fire, the life-saving fire extinguisher had been a free gift from a girl named Rong Rong when he bought a bed.
’The surname Rong is rare, and someone named Rong Rong is probably even rarer. It couldn’t be such a coincidence, could it?’
Even if it wasn’t her, even if it was a complete stranger, Wu Jun felt he couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.
Wu Jun turned the car key. CLICK. He switched on the headlights, and two blinding beams of white light shot into the grove.
Bathed in the headlights, the guy panicked like a thief caught in the act. He let go of the girl and bolted. The girl squatted on the ground and began to sob.
Wu Jun turned around, rummaged through Ma Siyu’s bag on the back seat, pulled out a pack of wet wipes, and got out of the car.
After getting out, Wu Jun walked over to the girl and held out the tissues. "Are you okay? Should I call the police?"
"Thank you, no need," the girl said with a sob. She stood up, looked at Wu Jun, and thanked him again. "Thank you so much."
"You should wipe your face. Your makeup is all smeared." Seeing her tear-streaked face, Wu Jun couldn’t be sure if she was the saleswoman from the furniture store. He held the tissues out to her again.
"Thanks." The girl took what he offered, and then she froze.
This...
This wasn’t a pack of tissues, it was a sanitary pad!
’It’s the middle of the night. I just got rid of one creep, please don’t let there be another one!’
But seeing that Wu Jun was well-dressed and had an honest face, she figured he probably wasn’t a bad guy. Blushing, she handed the sanitary pad back to him and pulled some actual tissues out of her own bag to wipe her face.
"Sorry to ask, but do you work at the furniture store?" After she had wiped her face, Wu Jun got a clearer look at her. She seemed familiar, but he wasn’t quite sure, so he asked tentatively.
"You... Do you know me? How did you know I work at the furniture store?" Rong Rong looked up at Wu Jun, completely baffled.
Seeing that it really was her, Wu Jun smiled. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Jun. I bought a bed from you before. There was a bit of a misunderstanding at the time because the delivery truck got into an accident."
"Oh, I remember now! It’s you!" Hearing Wu Jun’s explanation, Rong Rong’s memory was jogged. "You own that small supermarket, the one that’s always super busy."
A delivery truck getting into an accident was rare, and Wu Jun was the only customer who had ever made her wait until nine o’clock for a delivery. Plus, the incredibly busy supermarket had left a deep impression on her.
Wu Jun had changed a lot recently, from his mindset to his general presence. Even those closest to him could feel the difference. So, even with her good memory, Rong Rong hadn’t connected this man with the supermarket owner from before.
"Ms. Rong, thank you for the fire extinguisher." Wu Jun extended his hand, thanking her sincerely.
The Water-based Fire Extinguisher she had given him as a freebie had been a huge help at a critical moment. Now that he had met the person responsible, it was only right to thank her.
Wu Jun remembered getting Rong Rong’s phone number at the time, saying he’d contact her if he needed anything. But his phone had been lost in the fire, and with it, her contact information, so he’d never been able to get in touch.
’A fire extinguisher?’
Rong Rong had long since forgotten what free gift she had given Wu Jun. She shook his hand, a little bewildered, and quickly let go.
"Mr. Wu, thank you for tonight. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, I don’t know what would have happened." Thinking about what had just occurred, Rong Rong was still shaken. She thanked Wu Jun again.
"Ms. Rong, are you really just going to let a creep like that go?" Wu Jun couldn’t understand it and had to ask.
Rong Rong looked troubled. "He’s an old classmate from college. He drank a lot at our reunion tonight. He didn’t really get away with anything just now... I’ll let it go. One phone call could ruin him. We were classmates, after all."
"Thank you again, Mr. Wu. I’ll be heading up now?" Rong Rong said, pointing upstairs to say her goodbyes.
Wu Jun shook his head. ’This girl is a little naive,’ he thought. Even if they were classmates, she shouldn’t be so lenient. The more you let things slide, the bolder people get.
"Lock your door when you go to bed," Wu Jun reminded her. Then, feeling like he was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, he turned and walked toward his parked car.
Rong Rong was surprised to see that Wu Jun’s car was a Mercedes-Benz.
’Isn’t Mr. Wu a small supermarket owner?’
But then she recalled how incredibly busy his supermarket had been that night, and it all made sense.
’With business that good, earning enough for a luxury car in a year shouldn’t be a problem.’ Rong Rong composed herself and turned to go upstairs.
After getting back in the car, Wu Jun took the object out of his pocket and turned to put it back in Ma Siyu’s bag.
Just as he turned, Ma Siyu woke up and grabbed his arm. "Hey, thief! What are you doing?"
When she saw what Wu Jun was holding, the usually carefree Ma Siyu blushed.
"You... what are you doing with this?" Ma Siyu snatched the item from Wu Jun’s hand and stuffed it back into her bag.
Wu Jun said, "What else would you do with it besides wipe your face?"
"Wipe your face? Hahahahaha..." Ma Siyu doubled over with laughter, tears streaming from her eyes.