The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 117 - 115: Delivering Melons

Chapter 117: Chapter 115: Delivering Melons

Almost two o’clock, Aunt Zhang told them the location of the watermelon selling, and Jiang Nanzhou rode his bicycle and took her to the small square.

This small square was not far from the nearby farmers’ market, and gradually people came to the square to have fun.

The two of them immediately spotted the middle-aged man pushing a cart, with a teenager following him who looked like his son; a crowd had already gathered around their cart.

Just as they arrived, the sweet smell of watermelon hit them, and Jiang Nanzhou asked, "Older brother, how much for the watermelons?"

The middle-aged man called out, "Three cents a pound, homegrown, can’t finish them all. These watermelons got plenty of cow dung, they’re big and sweet too."

Jiang Nanzhou and Lu Jingqiu exchanged a smile, knowing well that they must be tasty, otherwise they wouldn’t have come especially, "Give us half a bag." Saying this, Jiang Nanzhou took a woven bag from his bike.

The middle-aged man didn’t expect them to take so much, his face lit up with joy, and he quickly told his son to pack it for them.

Half a bag of watermelons, over thirty pounds, cost them a little more than one yuan, and it was convenient that they didn’t need tickets.

Jiang Nanzhou tied the bag shut and placed it on the front beam of the bike, saying, "Let’s go and give some to Mom and also take some to big brother’s place."

"Okay."

Jiang Nanzhou rode the bike to his big brother’s house. His sister-in-law’s school was in the city center, some distance from the Shen Family, but not far from the Education Bureau.

The big brother and sister-in-law had a convenient commute to work; their yard was a small quadrangle with three main rooms, two side rooms, one east wing room, and one west wing room, and that was it – not very large, but still much more spacious compared to those crowded mixed-tenant compounds. Up until this year, the children were looked after by the sister-in-law’s mother. Now, they had just started going to a kindergarten for staff members, because the sister-in-law’s school ended at irregular times, so it was the big brother who picked up and dropped off the children.

When they arrived, the sister-in-law had just finished her lunch break and was about to head out to her parents’ house.

"Sister-in-law, we came across someone selling sweet watermelons today and bought plenty, we’ve brought some for you."

Wei Ling led the two of them inside, wanted to hurry and pour them water, but was stopped by Lu Jingqiu, "Sister-in-law, you can go ahead with your tasks. We’ll just leave the watermelons and go, we still need to take some to Uncle and Auntie."

"Okay then, I won’t stand on ceremony with you two. Next time you come back, come have a meal at our place."

Jiang Nanzhou nodded in agreement, and the two of them left with the sister-in-law.

On the road, Lu Jingqiu asked curiously, "Don’t big brother and sister-in-law’s work units provide housing?"

"Big brother’s side was allotted a house, but the conditions weren’t very good, so they didn’t move in there. It was originally a two-bedroom house, but because housing was scarce, it was modified to accommodate two families. My big brother said that you could hear everything the neighbors did, even a fart could not go unnoticed, let alone ’other activities.’ So he rented the place out to another family, charging a symbolic one yuan a month."

Lu Jingqiu nodded, "Housing is really tight now, but I’ve seen them starting to build some apartment buildings in some places."

"Some factories have too many workers and can’t allocate enough housing. Those with good profitability just have to build more. Another thing, you’re right, some people were given back their homes by the government after returning from the countryside, leaving some workers’ families with nowhere to live. Li Qi mentioned that lately there are many people renting."

"It’s true, in a capital city like Capital City, the demand for houses will only grow."

Jiang Nanzhou pondered for a moment, then said, "Maybe I should use the money in my card to buy houses too. Just leave a few thousand, and buy one in West City."

Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "We already have two or three apartments in Capital City, that’s enough." She was planning to buy one in Yangcheng City and Hai City too, as well as Yangjiang.

At Lu Jingqiu’s mention of ’us,’ a pleasant curve formed on Jiang Nanzhou’s lips.

Upon arriving at the Shen Family’s home, Shen Mu and Shen Ting were there. Just as they were about to talk about the watermelons they had brought, Shen Ting unceremoniously washed one and took a bite, "Mmm, this is good. Second brother, where did you buy these?"

"Bought them on the side of the road."

With this explanation, everyone understood what had happened. Shen Ting said, "Second brother, Brother Wenhong’s back, and he brought back a lot of fresh stuff. He told me to help him sell it, and he’ll give me fifty cents for each item I sell. That watch, I helped him sell three this morning, all bought by my classmates."

No sooner had Shen Ting finished than Shen Mu gave him a nudge, "I was wondering where you ran off to this morning, so you went to sell things. Be careful, or big brother will find out and you’ll get a beating."

Jiang Nanzhou said, "Xiao Ting, the most important thing for you right now is studying, not making money."

Feeling slightly wronged from the hit on his head, Shen Ting said, "I just wanted to earn some pocket money."

Jiang Nanzhou asked, "Is Wenhong at home right now?"

Shen Ting said, "He’s here, but he mentioned he’s going out again this afternoon."

Jiang Nanzhou said to Lu Jingqiu, "I’ll go out for a bit, and I’ll be back shortly."

"Alright, go ahead."

Shen Mu, feeling a bit awkward suddenly referring to his friend as "sister-in-law," said, "Go ahead, Brother, we’ll keep our sister-in-law company."

After Jiang Nanzhou left, Shen Mu asked Lu Jingqiu to sit down and rest a while as he went to the kitchen to wash some melons.

Shen Ting hadn’t stayed at his eldest brother’s place for the past couple of days, and Shen Mu had said to let the sister-in-law rest for a few days while he personally tutored the little guy.

Unfortunately, Shen Ting wasn’t really scared of his third brother, and he would sneak out of the house to find his friends when he wasn’t paying attention.

At Shen Ting’s age, boys are all about goofing around, and seeing his sister-in-law visit, he craftily suggested, "Sister-in-law has been here for a few days, and Brother surely hasn’t taken you out yet. How about we go out and roam around later? I know lots of fun places."

Shen Mu shot down the idea, "We might be going out, but you’re not. You sit tight at home and finish those two test papers."

"But, Third Brother, I promise I’ll finish both test papers today. Let’s go have fun. I heard West Street is really lively lately."

"West Street? Isn’t that where the Black Market is?"

"Yeah, exactly, they’re not even hiding it these last couple of days, selling stuff out in the open. Lots of people are going there to shop. My buddies were just there yesterday, and Brother Wenhong has a stall too."

Lu Jingqiu was surprised to hear about the rapid development of the little street market since the policy had only been in place for two or three days. Curious, she asked, "What are they selling?"

Shen Ting replied, "All sorts of things — clothes, shoes, fabrics, grains, and fruits. Brother Wenhong is selling electronic goods too."

Lu Jingqiu turned to Shen Mu and said, "Let’s go check it out. Nanzhou is going to meet up with a few of his buddies for drinks later, and I’ll be bored at home anyhow."

Shen Mu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I’ll call Xiuya. She was asking about you just yesterday."

"Sure."

The most excited person was Shen Ting, who had been feeling cooped up lately.

Wang Xiuya lived in the building next to theirs and hurriedly changed her clothes, grabbed her money and tickets, and left the house when she heard that Lu Jingqiu had come to visit and they were going out together.

Right as they left the house, they ran into Jiang Nanzhou and Zhang Wenhong.

"Brother, Brother Wenhong, I’m planning to take our sister-in-law out shopping."

Jiang Nanzhou nodded, "Okay, you guys go. I’ll come pick her up in the evening."

Shen Mu added, "I heard from sister-in-law that you guys are drinking, and who knows when you’ll be back. We’ll take her straight to the compound after we’re done shopping."

Jiang Nanzhou figured that made sense, too; he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable staying there.

Zhang Wenhong suggested, "Brother Zhou, I haven’t met sister-in-law yet. Why don’t we let her join us?"

As soon as Zhang Wenhong finished speaking, he was met with a chorus of "No way" from three people.

Wang Xiuya said, "We’ve just made plans to go out together."

Shen Mu also nodded in agreement.

Jiang Nanzhou said, "We’re just a bunch of guys drinking, and she’ll feel out of place. There will be plenty of opportunities to meet her later." He then turned to Shen Mu, "Be careful when you go out."

"Got it."

Zhang Wenhong didn’t expect his casual remark to provoke such an intense reaction from everyone.

Still, as they were leaving, he said to the pair, "Xiao Mu, Xiuya, I’ve got some fresh goods recently. If relatives or friends need anything, don’t forget to come see me. Watches, radios, even tape recorders, and cassettes, I’ve got it all."

Wang Xiuya replied, "Got it, Brother Wenhong. If we need anything, we’ll go straight to Sister-in-law Hongcui."