CH 68

The old man nodded and smiled, “Every time I come here to wash my car, my mood gets much better. Now, even my family doctor says that my mentality is better than before.”

As he said this, he turned his body to look at Zhou Jianguo washing cars outside the shop, his gaze becoming profound. “I have a son, but he’s not very capable. When he was young, I neglected educating him because I was busy doing business. By the time I realized my mistake, his personality had already been formed. He spent his days drinking and wasting money, with no sense of what it means to be a son or a father. Fortunately, my grandson is very capable and has a personality like mine. But…” He paused, then continued, “Beibei, one day you’ll understand what I’m saying today. I’m very grateful to you. You’re a good girl, and you’ll have the life you want in the future.”

Luo bei didn’t quite understand, but she knew that the old man had a strange interest in Zhou Jianguo. She leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Did you know him before?”

She pointed to Zhou Jianguo, who was washing cars outside.

The old man was taken aback, then said, “Do you think I know him?”

Luo Bei nodded, “I can feel that you actually care about him.”

The old man laughed heartily, “Do you think I would know someone like him who was just a brick mover?”

This statement was a bit…

Since the old man accidentally found out that Zhou Jianguo had worked as a laborer on a construction site, he has been calling him that way.

Luo Bei also realized that she had been too imaginative. If the old man really knew Zhou Jianguo, why wouldn’t he say so? It was probably as Zhou Jianguo had said, the old man just liked to educate people.

She was actually disappointed. As a woman, she had an intuition that she couldn’t explain, although this intuition was not always accurate.

“I don’t know anyone named Zhou Jianguo,” the old man said. “By the way, don’t you think this name is a bit rustic? People of our generation don’t like this name.”

Luo Bei nodded with a smile, “It’s not rustic, it just feels like a name that people in the 70s and 80s liked.”

The old man corrected her seriously, “Although I am over seventy years old this year, I don’t like this name, it doesn’t fit my aesthetic. I wouldn’t give my descendants such a name either.”

“In fact, a name is just a code name.”

The old man insisted, “Anyway, I don’t know anyone named Zhou Jianguo.”

“Okay, okay, you don’t know him,” Luo Bei laughed.

She really wanted to help Zhou Jianguo regain his past. But it seems that she has watched too many TV dramas before, and actually thought that the old man knew Zhou Jianguo.

Although busy with work, many people remembered Luo Bei’s birthday, including Zhou Jianguo.

This was revealed to him by Grandma Luo, who on the surface asked Zhou Jianguo to give Luo Bei a day off, but actually hinted that Luo Bei’s birthday was coming…

Of course, Zhou Jianguo was grateful to the lovely old lady.

After work that day, he didn’t go home with Luo Bei, but said he had a dinner with his former coworkers, and Luo Bei didn’t suspect anything.

Zhou Jianguo strolled on the street, not knowing what gift to prepare for Luo Bei. Even if he didn’t like Luo Bei today, even if they were just good friends, he would still prepare a gift for her. But the intention of preparing a gift for a good friend and preparing a gift for a girl he liked was different.

If it was a good friend, he could just give a red envelope.

After browsing a women’s clothing store, he didn’t know what size Luo Bei wore and didn’t see any nice clothes, so he had to give up. Finally, he wandered to a brand store that mainly sold jewelry. Looking inside, the prices were not cheap. Even a simple bracelet cost several thousand yuan. In Zhou Jianguo’s view, this was not worth it. There were no valuable materials or diamonds, it was just a brand name.

It’s not worth it, and he doesn’t have enough money for that kind of thing.

The salesperson originally thought that with Zhou Jianguo’s appearance, he would definitely make a purchase. After all, for people like him, buying things and swiping his card was just a matter of minutes. But to their surprise, after looking around and comparing prices, Zhou Jianguo didn’t express anything and just turned around and left.

Zhou Jianguo wandered around the street for a while and finally stepped into Chow Tai Fook.

It felt really familiar1Chow Tai Fook is written as 周大福 (Zhōu dà fú) in Chinese, which has the same Zhou as Zhou Jianguo’s. It became Chow because it was a Hong Kong based brand so it follows Cantonese reading..

Whether it’s Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang, or Chow Tai Seng2both Chow Sang Sang and Chow Tai Seng are also Hong Kong brands, they all seem good.

Luo Bei’s birthday is in January. According to her age, her Chinese zodiac should be the pig, but Grandma Luo said she was born before the 30th, so her zodiac is the dog.3Considering the year of this novel was published and Luo Bei’s age, I think Luo Bei should be born in 1995 which was the year of the pig. However, the Lunar New Year fell on January 31st in 1995, so if Luo Bei was born before January 30th, her zodiac still followed the previous year which was the dog.

Zhou Jianguo didn’t understand the zodiac, but if Grandma Luo said her granddaughter is a certain zodiac animal, then she must be.

He saw a gold bracelet with a delicate pendant of a dog from the twelve Chinese zodiac animals. The little dog was very cute and wore a crown on its head. Including the labor cost, the bracelet cost three thousand yuan. Zhou Jianguo was very satisfied and asked the salesperson to wrap it up. Then he also saw a gold necklace with a small flower-shaped pendant. Zhou Jianguo imagined that Luo Bei’s skin was fair, her collarbones were delicate, and she would look good wearing it.

In the end, he spent 5,000 yuan to buy a necklace and a bracelet, and Zhou Jianguo felt that this was more worth it than before, at least it was gold, and if he didn’t like the style or it went out of fashion, he could come back to the store and pay extra to exchange it.

Recently, because some expenses were too large, cash was no longer convenient, so Luo Bei opened a card in her name for him, which showed how much she trusted him!

After swiping 5,000 yuan, Zhou Jianguo walked out of Chow Tai Fook feeling satisfied.

This gift was very thoughtful, wasn’t it?

Luo Bei should like it, and if she doesn’t, he can bring her back to exchange it.

Zhou Jianguo casually went into a fast food restaurant, ordered a rice bowl and considered it dinner. He had been holding the Chow Tai Fook bag in his arms all the time, afraid that it would be stolen if there were too many people.

Until he took the bus back to the urban village, his things had not been stolen. In order to avoid meeting Luo Bei and letting her know about the birthday gift, Zhou Jianguo even went to the small grocery store to find a black plastic bag to put it in.

But as soon as he walked to the door, he didn’t run into Luo Bei, but instead ran into Jiang Hui.

Jiang Hui had been waiting for Zhou Jianguo at his doorstep for a while. The weather was still very cold, especially at night. It’s not an exaggeration to say that she has been frozen. She was wearing a cute fluffy pajama, with her hair tied up in a bun. She had even put on some light makeup that a straight man wouldn’t be able to notice. She applied blush and lip gloss, and even she herself felt beautiful.

Zhou Jianguo had no impression of her at all. As soon as he came downstairs, he saw someone standing at his doorstep and his first reaction was that she must be looking for Jiang Sihan.

Out of politeness, he reminded her, “Miss, Xiao Jiang is not at home. He went out of town for something.”

Jiang Hui didn’t know who Xiao Jiang was. She was stunned for a moment and said, “I’m not here to see that person.”

Then, what are you doing in the basement so late at night? Zhou Jianguo thought.

Zhou Jianguo had already taken out his key, Jiang Hui quickly grabbed his arm and handed him a cute pink lunchbox. She gathered her courage and said, “Um, I made some cookies. They taste good, try one.”

“Who are you?” Zhou Jianguo asked with suspicion.

What cookies? He has no interest in this kind of thing. For him, no matter how exquisite and good-looking the sweets are, they are not as tempting as a few dumplings.

Jiang Hui didn’t expect that Zhou Jianguo had no impression of her at all. Well, she didn’t talk to him on the day she moved in, and for a person with his personality, it was normal not to notice her. After comforting herself in this way, she smiled slightly at him, “I’m a new tenant, living on the fourth floor. My name is Jiang Hui, Jiang of ginger and Hui of aloe vera.”

Zhou Jianguo just nodded, as if acknowledging her words.

“Don’t you want it?” Jiang Hui wasn’t stupid and took out the box of cookies as an excuse, “I baked a lot of cookies and also gave some to Luo Bei and the others. We’re all neighbors, so you should try some too.”

Zhou Jianguo waved his hand, his tone cold, “I don’t want to eat.”

Jiang Hui : “…”

“Miss, if you don’t have anything else, I’ll go in.” Zhou Jianguo had already opened the door, but he stood at the doorway and issued a very obvious request for her to leave.

“Well, do you really not want to try them? Or tell me what you like to eat, I can make anything.” Jiang Hui couldn’t help but say a lot of words, “I can fry steak, cook home-style dishes, and even make hand-pulled noodles.”

Although Zhou Jianguo was not considered wealthy in many people’s eyes, his appearance alone attracted many girls to start a conversation with him.

He was not unfamiliar with this situation, and knew that this girl had that kind of intention towards him. It was just too obvious.

Not to mention that he already has someone in his heart, even if he didn’t like Luo Bei, he has no interest in dating or responding to someone’s feelings. It’s just that this girl lives in the same building, so if she wants to pester him, it could be troublesome. With this in mind, Zhou Jianguo said, “Miss, I’m not familiar with you. Please don’t send me anything in the future. I don’t eat food from strangers.”

Jiang Hui didn’t expect Zhou Jianguo to be so indifferent.

But after a moment’s thought, in the novel’s plot, Zhou Jianguo never gives any other woman a chance or hope besides Luo Bei, so he’s very popular with readers!

If he showed interest in her so quickly and spoke softly to her, then he wouldn’t be himself!

“Okay,” Jiang Hui’s face showed no disappointment or sadness from being rejected. Instead, she smiled even more happily, “I understand. I believe we will become friends!”

After saying that, she said to Zhou Jianguo, “Then I’ll leave first and not disturb your rest. Goodnight.”

Zhou Jianguo returned to his room and sent a WeChat message to Luo Bei, “Hey, Sister Bei, can we install a safety door in our basement? Someone has set their sight on my beauty, and I’m scared.”