Working in Dongguan: The Girls I Met Over the Years

Chapter 17 Purchasing Items

"Tiger, what's wrong?" Ma Junjie asked.

Wang Hu suddenly gave a wry smile.

"Ah Jie, I'm so sorry, I... I was in such a rush that I forgot my wallet!"

As he spoke,

He raised his hand again and slapped his head in frustration.

"Damn it, my terrible memory!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Junjie understood Wang Hu's meaning and asked...

"How much is this meal?"

Wang Hu seemed to have been waiting for Ma Junjie to say that, and quickly called the waiter over.

"Boss, the bill!"

The waiter came over with a small notebook and said,

"Handsome, that'll be 86 yuan in total!"

Wang Hu waved his hand and bargained, "Boss, give me a discount, I'm a regular customer!"

"Okay, round it down to 80 yuan!"

The waiter stared intently at Wang Hu and said helplessly.

"Alright, I'll come more often in the future."

Wang Hu was overjoyed and quickly turned his head to look at Ma Junjie.

Their gazes and expressions were urging Ma Junjie to pay quickly.

Although Ma Junjie is an honest person, he is not stupid.

He stared at Wang Hu.

He stood there, stunned, and pondered for a moment.

Finally, he took out 100 yuan, handed it to the waiter, and said...

"Okay, this time, I'll pay."

Wang Hu breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled.

"Ah Jie, I owe you a meal. Don't worry, next time, I'll treat you to a big meal!"

Ma Junjie remained silent and did not speak.

The waiter quickly gave Ma Junjie 20 yuan in change, which Ma Junjie put into his pocket.

Wang Hu had already walked outside.

Ma Junjie walked out and saw Wang Hu making a phone call.

I glanced again at the back pocket of his jeans.

It was bulging inside, clearly stuffed with a wallet.

Ma Junjie smiled speechlessly, having finally seen through Wang Hu's true character.

At this moment, Wang Hu finished his call, turned around, looked at Ma Junjie, and gave an awkward, wry smile.

"Ah Jie, I'm so sorry, I have something urgent to attend to and can't take you shopping."

"Oh right, the department store is just ahead, not far..."

Ma Junjie blurted out, "Okay, I know, you can go now!"

Wang Hu was delighted, his eyes crinkling with laughter, and he walked over to take a picture of Ma Junjie.

Ma Junjie gently stepped aside.

Wang Hu's hand hovered in mid-air. He paused, startled, and awkwardly withdrew his hand.

He laughed.

"Ah Jie, Team Leader Zhang said you can officially start work tomorrow. You can wander around the neighborhood this afternoon!"

Ma Junjie responded with an "Mm" and turned to leave.

The food street was still bustling with people.

Every now and then, the sound of boys and girls laughing happily could be heard.

As Ma Junjie listened, he thought of Wang Hu from earlier and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Ha, I thought I'd met a good person, but what just happened exposed his true colors.

Ma Junjie also began to ponder.

Is the old saying, "When fellow villagers meet, their eyes fill with tears," actually true?

He probably doesn't understand yet.

As society changes, so does human nature; in most cases now,

When fellow villagers meet, they shoot each other in the back.

Some people are not as innocent as they used to be.

After walking through the food street and for a while, Ma Junjie saw some general stores.

Plastic buckets and cooling mats were prominently displayed in the grocery store.

Ma Junjie casually walked into a shop and picked out some mats, buckets, basins...

Then he remembered that he had left a woven bag at Ma Li's house, which seemed to contain a towel and a washbasin.

To save money, he put down the basin and towel he had chosen.

When the bill came, it cost a total of 28 yuan.

Carrying these things, he prepared to retrace his steps.

As soon as I stepped out of the store, a sudden downpour of large raindrops began.

Ma Junjie quickly retreated and went back into the store to take shelter from the rain.

"That was close!" Ma Junjie muttered to himself.

If we walk any further, we'll probably get soaked in the rain.

He looked up at the somewhat cloudy sky, thinking that the rain shower should stop soon.

So I waited at the shop entrance.

But after waiting for ten minutes, the rain only got heavier and showed no sign of stopping.

The shop owner would also come over from time to time to deliberately cause trouble.

On a rainy day, someone took a mop and kept mopping the floor around Ma Junjie's feet.

Ma Junjie couldn't take it anymore, so he spent a hefty 8 yuan to buy an umbrella and prepared to go back to his dormitory.

Carrying a bucket and a straw mat, Ma Junjie walked in the rain.

The rain probably started too suddenly; almost no one was using an umbrella on the street.

Many people were rushing and running wildly in the rain.

There were also a few boys with long hair, their hands in their pockets, strolling casually in the rain.

Ma Junjie suddenly felt a little regretful.

Spending 8 yuan to buy an umbrella was a bit impulsive.

After walking for a while, he arrived at the snack street. Passing by the stir-fry restaurant where he had just eaten, Ma Junjie subconsciously turned his head to look inside.

I glanced at it.

I saw a girl in blue overalls standing at the door, looking very anxious.

Ma Junjie was a little curious, staring at the girl's work uniform, trying to see the factory's name printed on it.

I probably took it too seriously for a moment.

The girl quickly noticed Ma Junjie.

Then he suddenly shouted,

"Hey, come here!"

Ma Junjie was taken aback, then realized he was in a bit of an awkward situation.

But the girl stared at him and started waving at him.

"Hey, come here, come here right now!"

Ma Junjie looked around and finally realized that the girl was calling him.

So he walked over with his umbrella and asked...

"Are you calling me?"

The girl had big, bright eyes, staring at Ma Junjie.

For a moment, Ma Junjie thought he was seeing Xiao Yanzi from the TV series "My Fair Princess".

The girl looked Ma Junjie up and down and asked...

Which factory are you going to?

"Xingda!" Ma Junjie replied.

The girl was delighted and said...

"I'm going there too. Could you take me there?"

"Huh?" Ma Junjie was a little surprised.

The girl quickly explained.

"The rain is too heavy. I just washed my hair and don't want to get wet."

Upon hearing this, Ma Junjie laughed and replied,

"Okay, no problem!"

The girl was very happy and immediately jumped under Ma Junjie's umbrella, saying,

"Alright, let's go!"

Ma Junjie tilted the umbrella toward the girl, exposing almost all of his shoulder.

In just five or six minutes, the two men entered the factory.

Then the rain got heavier and heavier, as if a hole had suddenly appeared in the sky, and water was pouring down relentlessly.

Once outside the dormitory building, the boys' dormitory was on the left and the girls' dormitory was on the right, so the two had to separate.

There's an iron gate outside the girls' dormitory building; after passing through the gate, you still have to walk a bit further.

With the rain so heavy, if the girl runs inside, she will definitely get soaked, which would mean all her efforts would be wasted and all her hard work would be in vain.

Ma Junjie thought for a moment, then handed the umbrella to the girl and said,

"Here's the umbrella, take it and go inside!"

The girl was somewhat surprised and said,

"But you..."

Ma Junjie tucked the straw mat under his arm, grabbed the plastic bucket in one hand, quickly flipped the bucket over, put it over his head, and ran.

Through the bucket,

A muffled, indistinct sound came through.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..."

"Giggle, giggle," the girl laughed, standing there watching Ma Junjie's retreating figure...