Under the agonized, breathless gaze of the small restaurant’s owner’s wife, Wu Jun reached out, took the bottle of Maotai from her hand, and walked out the door with Xu Fei on his back.
He hadn’t given a second thought to this bottle of liquor, worth around 3,000 yuan.
His current income was around 30,000 yuan a day. Plus, he had successfully connected with Luo Zhengang tonight, making it a near certainty that he would snatch Meng Zalang’s order.
He was about to become a millionaire. Who would care about a half-empty bottle of liquor that had already been opened?
Besides, Luo Zhengang had brought the case of liquor tonight. Neither he nor his son had said anything about taking the rest, so it wouldn’t have been right for Wu Jun to take it home. It would have made him look like a petty freeloader.
His collaboration with Luo Zhengang had just started to show promise. If he left a bad impression like that, jeopardizing an order worth over a million yuan, it just wouldn’t be worth it.
Whoever wanted the bottle could have it. The only one he wouldn’t let get off easy was the restaurant’s bizarre owner’s wife.
With his actions, Wu Jun gave the owner’s wife a vivid lesson on what it meant to pick up a sesame seed and lose the watermelon.
After carrying Xu Fei down the steps, Wu Jun decided the bottle was too cumbersome to hold and casually tossed it into a nearby trash can.
Xu Fei was slender, probably weighing less than a hundred pounds, but even that was a strain over a long distance.
Building 27, where Wu Jun’s small supermarket was located, was nearly two kilometers from the restaurant. It had taken Luo Zhengang almost five minutes to drive the distance earlier.
Carrying Xu Fei on his back and taking frequent breaks, he walked for nearly half an hour. By the time he reached Building 27, Wu Jun was drenched in sweat, and the alcohol had worn off even more.
He took the elevator up to the 20th floor and arrived at Xu Minli’s apartment.
"Miss Xu, please open the door. It’s Wu Jun." Wu Jun knocked on the door and called out.
He waited at the door for several minutes, but there was no response.
’Asleep already?’
Wu Jun knocked again. Just as he was about to shout, he heard a noise in the hallway behind him—a door opening.
Wu Jun turned at the sound and saw a man in baggy shorts standing in a half-open doorway, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
"Brother Luo, you’re still up," Wu Jun greeted him. He knew everyone who lived in the building.
Brother Luo asked, "Wu Jun, you looking for the Xus? I think the family went to their hometown for the weekend to see the kids’ grandmother."
"They went back home?" Wu Jun was taken aback. ’What a coincidence.’ "Oh, never mind then. Thanks, Brother Luo."
"What’s wrong with young Xu Fei? Is she unwell?" Brother Luo asked with concern, noticing the person on Wu Jun’s back was Xu Fei.
Wu Jun said, "It’s nothing serious, just had a bit too much to drink. I’ll just ask her where her keys are. You should go on back and get some rest, Brother Luo."
"Alright, I’ll leave you to it then," Brother Luo said before turning around, heading back inside, and shutting his door.
Wu Jun gently lowered Xu Fei to the floor. "Xu Fei, do you have your keys? I need to get you inside."
Xu Fei swayed on her feet, mumbling some alien language indecipherable to Earthlings. This gave Wu Jun a massive headache.
Wu Jun tried again. "Xu Fei, where are your keys?"
This time, Xu Fei’s speech was a little clearer, and she even spoke with a singsong tone. "In... in the little kid’s... eyes."
Wu Jun felt his face darken with exasperation.
’The keys are in a kid’s eyes? That would poke them blind!’
Seeing that he wasn’t going to get a straight answer, Wu Jun thought, ’Forgive me for this,’ and began patting down her pockets through her clothes.
He patted down all her pockets but didn’t feel anything that resembled a key.
Wu Jun pulled out his phone and called Xu Minli to ask if there was a spare key. There wasn’t. Xu Minli asked what was wrong.
Since he was responsible for her niece getting this drunk, Wu Jun didn’t hide anything. He told her the truth: Xu Fei was drunk, he’d brought her home, but they couldn’t find her key and were locked out.
Upon hearing this, Xu Minli said, "Wu Jun, I trust your character. Why don’t you just take Feifei to your place for the night."
And with that, Xu Minli hung up.
Wu Jun was speechless.
’That’s a heavy burden of trust,’ he thought. ’I’ve had a fair bit to drink myself.’
With no other options, Wu Jun heaved Xu Fei back onto his back, rode the elevator downstairs, and went into his small supermarket.
The moment he laid Xu Fei on the bed, she started retching violently, vomiting all over herself and the sheets.
Wu Jun was a grown man; he wanted to help clean her up but felt it would be inappropriate. Instead, he just patted her on the back for a while.
Once Xu Fei had settled down, Wu Jun pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, found the entry for "Drama Queen," and made the call.
"What is it? Calling me this late... If you don’t have a damn good reason, you’re dead meat." A crisp but irritable female voice came through the phone.
"Ma—"
"Don’t you dare call me Mom. Your mother’s in the hospital."
"Ma Simai, can you please talk like a normal person for once? Bring a clean set of pajamas—a complete set, top to bottom—to my supermarket. It’s an emergency!" Wu Jun heard a sound, and turned to see Xu Fei starting to dry-heave again. He quickly hung up and began rubbing the back of her neck.
More than half an hour after he hung up, there was a knock on the door.
Wu Jun left Xu Fei’s side, walked out of the bedroom, and went to the supermarket’s main door.
When he opened the door, he saw Ma Siyu standing there, clutching a bag of clothes and looking at him with a puzzled expression.
Ma Siyu asked, "What’s the big emergency, nephew? You sounded like the world was ending."
"Get in here, I’m dying over here." Seeing that his cavalry had finally arrived, Wu Jun wasted no time on pleasantries, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the bedroom.
Ma Siyu caught the reek of alcohol on Wu Jun. He was saying he was "dying," and now he was dragging her straight toward the bedroom. She dug in her heels, planting her feet and refusing to be pulled forward.
"Nephew! Wu Jun! Calm down! What are you doing?! No matter how desperate you are, you can’t do this to me!" Seeing a golden opportunity to flex her acting skills, Ma Siyu put on a heart-wrenching performance. "You animal! I’m your own aunt! Look, I can call someone for you, okay? Oh! My best friend! I’ll set you up with my best friend!"
But Wu Jun, who should have played along with the drama queen’s performance, paid her no mind. He dragged her to the door and pushed her inside. "Hurry up and help me clean this up. You can collect your pay when you’re done."
"Huh?" Ma Siyu saw Xu Fei on the bed and whirled around to face Wu Jun. "Wait, this isn’t the girl from the movie theater, is it? My, my, nephew, absence really does make one’s prospects grow! You’ve already moved on? You went from zero to one, and now from one to many. Isn’t that a little fast!"
Wu Jun said nothing, simply turning to leave the bedroom and head for the bathroom.
"Boring!" Ma Siyu huffed. She set down the bag of clothes, walked over to the bed, and started to help clean up Xu Fei.
Only after Wu Jun brought in a basin of water did Ma Siyu begin to help Xu Fei take off her vomit-soiled clothes and wipe her down.
After about half an hour of work, Ma Siyu emerged carrying the dirty bedsheets and Xu Fei’s clothes, opened the bathroom door, and tossed them inside.
"Wu Jun, you little devil. You’re getting worse and worse, now you’re even getting girls drunk." Ma Siyu walked over and playfully punched Wu Jun, who was slumped in his office chair. When he didn’t react, she pinched his nose until his eyes fluttered open.
Wu Jun lazily glanced up at Ma Siyu. "All done? Thanks. Don’t leave. Just wash up and you can sleep in there."
Ma Siyu rolled her eyes at him. "Nope. I’ve got a ten o’clock flight."
Wu Jun started to get up. "I’ll see you off then."
"What, so you can come with me just to turn around and take a cab right back? Let’s both save ourselves the trouble." Ma Siyu pushed him back down into the chair, turned, and walked out, closing the door behind her.
Shortly after Ma Siyu left, Wu Jun received three selfies on WeChat. They were of her, wearing pajamas.
Wu Jun sent a reply: *Are you crazy?*
Ma Siyu replied: *That set of pajamas is currently on the little beauty in your bedroom. They’re clean, of course. They cost 998 yuan when I bought them. Do with that information what you will.*
Wu Jun readily transferred her 9,999 yuan with a note: *Tonight’s appearance fee.*
Ma Siyu accepted the payment and replied: *Thank you, Boss Wu. Call me next time you need help.*