Goddess Strategy GL - Chapter 22
I can’t stop!
Before my eyes was a colorful kaleidoscope, a loud speaker was blaring the dance music of a certain diva into my ears, making Ye Ruoqing instinctively dance to the music—
“Spin, jump… I close my eyes…”
“You let go—”
“The dust and noise are unseen, have you become intoxicated…”
“Mmm~~”
“The story is etched on the spinning fingertips, who is following so infatuatedly…”
“Woo…”
“The sweat I drop in my ecstasy lights up the celebration… layer after layer enveloping me tightly… I want the world to forget about sleep…”
“Ah—”
At the end of the song, someone struggled to get up and poured a pot of Ganges water (Note: sober-up tea) into the young Miss Ye, and this grand, dramatic, overlapping scene came to an end.
When Ye Ruoqing woke up, she felt sore and aching all over, the bedsheets were a mess, and there was no one in the room. She held her aching head and recalled everything that happened last night—
Climbing the wall, entering the door, saving someone, playing landlord (a card game), drinking, chewing Mentos (or similar chewing gum)…
Mentos…
How could she afford Mentos!
Something big has happened!
Ye Ruoqing’s mind jolted, and she quickly pulled over her crumpled outer garment. She frantically searched all her pockets, but couldn’t find any trace of the box of pills from last night.
Don’t let anything happen, please don’t let anything happen…
Ye Ruoqing silently prayed in her heart. She shrunk forward, and a box beside her hip was knocked onto the floor, rolling twice.
It was empty.
Ye Ruoqing’s heart sank.
She almost tremblingly picked up the box. Last night’s memories were fragmented and messy, but the real touch and experience were absolutely not something a dream could bring.
Her palm was tightly clenched into a fist, Ye Ruoqing was in utter confusion. A momentary carelessness had caused her to make an irreparable mistake.
She picked up her phone, wanting to call Zhao Xin to say something. The phone cover opened and closed, but she ultimately didn’t dial the number.
Ye Ruoqing lay at home for three days. During these three days, she thought of many possibilities and considered many things… She didn’t know what a proud person like Zhao Xin would do after suffering such a blow, and she didn’t know if Zeng Jie would blame her if she found out about this later.
A jar of pickles sat on the bedside table, visibly reaching the bottom. At this moment, someone finally came knocking at the door. The person knocked very hard, three loud bangs, obviously using all their strength.
“No money!”
Ye Ruoqing shouted hoarsely.
The person relentlessly continued to knock.
“I have no money, but I have my life!”
The person was still knocking.
Ye Ruoqing was furious. At a time like this, the landlord was still looking for trouble, it was simply unreasonable. She threw off the quilt and got out of bed, rolled up her sleeves, tied back her hair, grabbed a piece of coal, and walked towards the door.
With a “Screech—,” the door opened. When Ye Ruoqing saw the person, her scalp tingled, and she slammed the door shut with a swing of her hand.
“Little Miss Ye, it’s me, it’s Xiao Yuan! Open the door!”
It’s precisely because I know you’re Xiao Yuan (Little Round Face) that I’m not opening the door! Ye Ruoqing leaned against the door, her legs trembling. Last time she slept in the same bed as Zhao Xin, when she opened the door, she saw a hallway full of bodyguards. This time, she not only slept in the bed but also slept with the person, so there were probably a hallway full of police officers waiting for her outside.
This was XX crime!
Ye Ruoqing, a normally law-abiding citizen, chickened out. She looked at the bedside. The two dilapidated windows were covered with old calendars. Judging by the room’s orientation, jumping out the window should lead to the backyard. Then, turning into a few alleys, with her speed, they might not be able to catch her…
The moment her foot stepped out, the little angel of justice in her heart poked her hard with a steel pitchfork.
“No, if I run today, I’ll have to run tomorrow. I’ll spend my whole life playing the cat-and-mouse game, and from then on, I won’t even have a chance to be a normal person.”
Ye Ruoqing clenched her fists, turned back resolutely, with a determined look.
She opened the door, and what greeted her was a massive rice cooker, ruby red, square, so shiny it reflected her own desolate face.
Undoubtedly, it was a high-end item.
Xiao Yuan said, “Boss asked me to bring you something. Is there anything you want to ask?”
Ye Ruoqing asked, “Is it just you?”
She didn’t dare to stick her head out to look.
“And the driver.”
So, she didn’t report the case. Ye Ruoqing breathed a sigh of relief, but felt even more guilty.
Xiao Yuan walked in, placed the rice cooker on the coffee table, and then looked at the pickle jar on the bedside table, immediately surprised: “You’ve only been eating pickles these past few days?”
Ye Ruoqing moved to the bedside and sat down, stammering, “Is she alright?”
Xiao Yuan held up the pickle jar, looking at it, and answered, “She’s fine, she’s talking about a new show… Can you give me some of this pickle juice? I’ll take it back and ask the auntie to make me some pickles.”
“Take it.”
Xiao Yuan finished bottling the pickle juice and found Ye Ruoqing still sitting on the bed, staring blankly. Only then did she realize something was wrong.
“What’s wrong? You look terrible.”
“I don’t want to live…”
“Hey, hey, don’t say that. I know you went to the nightlife party. You were really too rash. That place is frequented by those rich young brats. You were bound to be bullied if you went there.”
Hearing Xiao Yuan say she knew about the nightlife party, Ye Ruoqing suddenly tensed up. She was just about to ask a question, but Xiao Yuan’s next words made her close her mouth.
Yes, after something like that happened, Zhao Xin probably didn’t want others to know.
Xiao Yuan sat down beside Ye Ruoqing, comforting her by putting an arm around her shoulder: “Why bother arguing with scumbags? Despise them!”
You should despise me, Ye Ruoqing thought to herself.
The two chatted idly for a while. As the sun set, Xiao Yuan stood up, sighed, and said, “Boss said that after the queue, she won’t interfere with your life anymore. She keeps her promises, so she won’t come looking for you again. She’s about to fly to Europe, and I have to go with her. About a month, take good care of yourself. I’ll come see you when I have time.”
Xiao Yuan didn’t expect that when she came here again, the place had already become a ruin. Soot and oil smoke remained on the broken walls and scattered bricks, the only vestiges of the former urban village. Xiao Yuan called Ye Ruoqing’s phone, but it was turned off. After asking around, she found that the urban village was mostly inhabited by out-of-town renters. The demolition had nothing to do with them, and they hadn’t left any contact information.
At the same time, in an underpass not far from here, Ye Ruoqing packed her small bundle, ready to go out to eat.
She hadn’t brought much when she came to B City. After she was notified that the house would be demolished, she asked the bald man she knew at the film set to take away Bai Xiaoli’s belongings, and then started her wandering life, carrying her luggage on a small handcart.
She still sang in the underpass or subway station during the day, and at night, she looked for cheap accommodation in deep alleys. Sometimes, if she didn’t earn any money during the day, it meant she had to sleep rough that night. She turned off her phone and never went to that night market again. She worried that she might run into Zhao Xin one day, which was her greatest source of guilt.
The weather gradually got hotter. Ye Ruoqing dragged her small handcart for several roads and couldn’t stand the scorching sun, so she simply found a shady spot to rest. The commercial district of B City seemed endless. She always had to walk a long way to find a place where she could afford to eat.
The night before last, when she was closing her stall, she got to chatting with the watermelon seller next to her. The uncle saw that Ye Ruoqing was alone and pitiful, so he gave her a watermelon. This watermelon was placed on top of the expensive rice cooker on the small handcart, the red and green contrast attracting countless eyes.
Tired from walking and without water to drink, Ye Ruoqing squatted on the ground, took the watermelon from the handcart, dug a small hole, and ate it with a long spoon. This was still a central area. The wandering girl, her watermelon, and the obviously high-end rice cooker on her handcart once again became the focus of attention.
Someone walked over, threw a coin in front of Ye Ruoqing, and asked, “Girl, are you selling that rice cooker?”
“No.”
“Did you steal it? Why don’t you get rid of it quickly?”
Ye Ruoqing raised her eyelids to look at the man with glasses, her mouth full of a spoonful of watermelon, which she slowly chewed: “Nerve disorder.”
“Damn, I give you money and you still curse me.”
“You open your mouth and call me a thief, so can’t I call you nerve disorder?”
“Fine, you’re tough!” The man took out his phone and threatened Ye Ruoqing, “I’m going to see whose stuff you stole…”
Ye Ruoqing took out her phone and shook it: “Don’t think you’re the only one with a phone. I’m selling stolen goods, and what about you? Aren’t you eagerly rushing to buy my stolen goods? Go on, call! We’ll go to the Public Security Bureau together for tea. Anyway, I don’t have a place to stay tonight, finding a place to sleep is not bad.”
Hearing this, the man with glasses put down his phone bitterly and turned to leave. Before leaving, he felt bad about the coin, so he paused slightly.
“Here you go—” Ye Ruoqing picked up the coin, flicked it with her hand, and it hit the man right in the back.
The man was furious, his face turning red. After some thought, he didn’t want to suffer the loss of that one yuan, so he picked up the coin and left.
Ye Ruoqing put her phone back into her pocket with satisfaction and continued to eat her watermelon.
The advancement of modernization brought convenience to life, but also provided an outlet for bored people. During the argument between Ye Ruoqing and the man with glasses, someone filmed the scene with their phone and posted it on the local life forum. Then, it spread from one to ten, then to a hundred, from Renren Weibo to WeChat and QQ. As long as you opened your phone, you could see nine big characters—”Strong girl sings for money but doesn’t sell the rice cooker.”