I Am The Third Party (GL) - Chapter 2

Last night, I couldn’t sleep.

I went to the bathroom five times. At 2:15, I woke up to read two poems by Wang Guowei and draw a picture of “Birdsong in the Stream.”

At around 4 or 5 in the morning, I finally fell asleep. As I drifted off, a little figure buzzed and danced in my head. Finally, it smiled contemptuously, pointed at me, and said, “AA!”

I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or just having s3x with a bearded woman. My head was rumbling, sweat dripped down my hair and onto my pillow, and my eyes throbbed with pain.

AA?

It’s not like you’re born from it. Do you need to repeat it a second time in someone’s dream?

This is pure biological discrimination! The destruction of human nature!

Those damn bearded women, they can’t even let me sleep peacefully.

I rolled over with my pillow, ready to soothe my wounded body and soul, catch up on my beauty sleep this morning, and then go back to work at the cafe this afternoon.

That’s the good thing about running your own business: you can work when you want and take time off whenever you want.

But there’s another girl working in my cafe, so I have to tell her I won’t be there this morning and ask her to keep an eye on me.

I reached for the bag hanging by the bed and, just as I touched my phone, the alarm went off.

Rubbing my temples, I squinted and swiped open the screensaver. I looked at the God of Wealth on the screen, grinning cheerfully, holding a gold ingot and scratching a handful of his tangled hair.

Oh, my God of Wealth, seeing you smiling so kindly so early in the morning, how could I possibly be lazy and skip work?

I howled, “Qiao Xianyu, you’re already 25. You need to work and earn money. You can’t be lazy because of something as trivial as insomnia.”

The God of Wealth on the screen is watching you. How can you not go to work? How can you not make money?

“Get up, get up, get to work.”

I casually put on a shirt and squeezed toothpaste while thinking about what to wear today. After I packed up, I went to the cafeteria to buy a cup of eight-treasure porridge and two beef buns. I rode my flashy yellow secondhand bicycle, humming all the way to the library.

When I arrived, Xiao Xuewu had already put up the roller shutter and was unlocking the glass door.

Xiao Xuewu is the girl who works in my shop, just one year younger than me, and she’s twenty-four this year.

At first, the name “Xiao Xuewu” sounds a bit artistic, but to a philistine like me, who has nothing to do with the “fresh and frivolous” world, it’s just a piece of sh1t.

I first asked her how her parents gave her that name. She slapped ice cubes into a bucket, the clinking of which mixed with the leisurely sound, and answered me, “It wasn’t my parents who gave it to me. I named it myself.”

I said, “You’re amazing. You can even call your own name.

” “Boss, do you know what that name means?” she suddenly asked.

“How should I know?”

“Then do you know what your name means?” she asked again.

I chuckled, giving her a big smile and patting the small white bucket filled with ice in front of her. “A fairy gave it to me! So it’s absolutely true that your sister is a celestial being sent down to earth! Follow her and you’ll be safe.”

She stared at the ice in the bucket. The white light from the chandelier over the bar refracted a rainbow of colors off the ice shards, illuminating her perfectly straight, fine eyelashes, creating a slightly dreamy atmosphere.

I waited for her for a moment, expecting her to comment on my name, but she said nothing and put the bucket back in the freezer.

Just then, two girls came in to order coffee, and she went back to tend to them.

Tsk, she’s interrupting mid-sentence, almost biting her tongue off. Forget it.

Xiao Xuewu exudes mystery. I always feel like she’s not some ordinary bourgeois like me, but rather one of the aristocracy.

I don’t know why she’s condescending here, but I have a feeling: one day, she’ll return, to the world that truly belongs to her.

Oh, ever since Xiao Xuewu came, how come I’ve become more and more artistic?

No, no, no. Being artistic is called being fresh and fresh, but being artistic like me, Sister Xian, is just a b1tch.

“Boss,”

I heard Xiao Xuewu’s soft greeting through the air before I even got out of the car. I took the faucet off the handle and waved the food bag at her. “Beef bun, want one?”

Xiao Xuewu smiled and shook her head, shoving her keys in her pocket. Only then did I notice she was holding a plastic bag in her left hand. It was hazy white, and I had no idea what was inside.

I pulled the bag down to reveal the bun, nibbling on it as I walked into the shop. Xiao Xuewu went into the workshop to change into her work clothes.

I stole a glance at the plastic bag she had left on the counter. Curiosity took over, and I secretly wondered what this girl had hidden away.

“Curious?” she asked from behind me.

My heart skipped a beat; I’d been caught peeking.

“Open it and take a look,” she said.

I glanced at her and reached for the bag. “You told me to look?”

“Yes.” She put her hands behind her back to tie her apron strings, nodded, and went to wash the cups.

Humph, I’d like to see what kind of mystery you’re playing!

I opened the plastic bag, revealing a square cardboard box. Light pink vines painted on all sides, with the word “Breeze” printed in silver gilt in the center.

A circle of pale blue doves circled the letters, the one atop holding a thin olive branch in its beak.

It was Breeze, a renowned Nordic-style pastry shop on the luxurious shopping street in downtown City A.

I eagerly opened the box and saw a small, stepped cup tied with a bow, filled with golden, ruffled cookies, still warm.

They were my favorite Karelian pastries (a unique Finnish pastry).

Hmm, Xiao Xuewu took a bus to the city center early this morning to buy my favorite pastries? For me?

Even if she was trying to curry favor with the boss, that might be overkill, but I certainly wouldn’t let her down.

“Xuewu, why isn’t this bag from Breeze?” I asked, blinking.

“It got splattered on the way home, so I went back to the apartment and changed my bag,” she replied.

I frowned. “How can you get splashed with mud while riding in a car?”

“Huh?” Xiao Xuewu tilted her head, a bit confused. “The bus hadn’t left at six this morning yet, and I was running back. The car splashed me with mud, so I had to go back to the apartment to change clothes. Don’t worry, it’s just the pockets that are dirty, nothing’s wrong inside, feel free to eat.”

“I bought this for me?” I was taken aback by her words. “You were running to Hua’an Street so early in the morning?”

Although we were at the old campus of USTC, which was considered urban, running from USTC to Hua’an Street in the city center took at least thirty to forty minutes, nearly an hour and a half round trip.

Others would eagerly stay in bed for a few more minutes early in the morning, but she was so energetic that she ran to Hua’an Street to buy a pie, then ran back to USTC to work. I was really impressed by her.

“Yeah. I have to run in the morning anyway, no matter where I run. And I got my salary yesterday.”

This reminded me that Xiao Xuewu did maintain a good habit of exercising every day, but I hadn’t expected her to have such good physical strength, running for an hour or so so early in the morning.

Wait, what does buying pies have to do with getting paid? Is she buying things to curry favor with her boss just because she’s paid and has more money?

“You bought me a pie just because I got paid?” I asked cheerfully, jumping behind her.

Xiao Xuewu, with her back to me, took some coffee beans from the shelf and said, “I only have extra money for luxury goods on paydays.”

I tilted my head and thought about it. Breeze’s pastries are indeed quite expensive; a few pies like these would probably cost over a hundred.

But if she often treats me to gifts, I might consider giving her a raise or something…

“Then buy me every payday. Curb me. I’ll give you a raise and a red envelope.”

Xiao Xuewu chuckled, fiddled with the bag of coffee beans, and nodded seriously. “Okay, from now on, every time I get paid, I’ll buy you a gift.” “

It’s a deal!” I said loudly, patting her shoulder firmly.

Xiao Xuewu nodded with a smile that couldn’t be suppressed, her eyes curved. After a while

,

a crisp chime rang out from the doorway, the sound of the bell hanging from the glass door tinkling.

A visitor arrived.

I was a little surprised. It was only eight in the morning, and school had just started, so not many people were in the library. Students shouldn’t be here so early.

I haven’t even prepared anything yet, so I can only ask them to wait while I clean the coffee machine.

“You’re not keeping your word! You said you’d pick me up at the school gate at 7:30 pm, but you didn’t show up! You kept me waiting all night…”

A girl’s delicate, stern voice chided me from the doorway. I lowered my head, polishing my stem glass, and shook my head. These young couples these days, tsk tsk—

“Sweetheart, didn’t I admit my mistake? Didn’t you see the cut on my hand? You don’t feel sorry for me, and yet you have the heart to blame me?” Another person spoke. However, it was clearly not a boy’s voice, but a woman’s. And, it sounded a little familiar… Yeah, I think I heard it last night. 

It was the same woman who rolled into the ditch and asked, “Are you a man?” Oh my god, it’s that bearded woman! My heart skipped a beat. The bl00d in my capillaries began to flow backwards.

My heart was pounding like a bungee jump, and I almost stopped breathing. “I’ll go inside and check the new stock.” I nudged Xiao Xuewu’s waist and slipped into the workshop at lightning speed. I leaned against the wall, constantly soothing my shattered heart, silently chanting: You can’t see me, you can’t see me, you can’t see me… After a while, when there was no movement outside, I tiptoed over and peeked through the crack in the door. 

Everything was quiet. Xiao Xuewu silently polished the goblet I hadn’t finished. I opened the door, coughed lightly, and swaggered out. “Ahem, nothing’s missing. These are enough for two weeks, and then we’ll have to get new stock.” “Yeah,” Xiao Xuewu replied curtly.

I looked at her with a guilty conscience, afraid she’d notice something was wrong with me. I didn’t want to share the horrific memory of my fight with the bearded woman, or the tragic reality of her potential vengeance. Just as I was lost in thought, Xiao Xuewu said, “Boss, we’re out of grapes. I’ll go get some.” I waved my hands distractedly, “Huh? Okay, go ahead.” It wasn’t until Xiao Xuewu walked out the glass door that I realized.

Had she already ordered the grapes when she entered the workshop? Otherwise, how would she know they weren’t enough? If she had already ordered, she could have easily said so when I asked her to order, but she didn’t. Why didn’t she say anything? Did she see I was avoiding those two, or did she think it was my responsibility as the boss to personally order the grapes? If it was the former, she saw it but didn’t ask me.

So what did she think of me? If it was the latter, did she think I didn’t trust her enough? Either way, I felt uncomfortable. I was getting increasingly unpredictable about this girl. “A glass of snow top.” A bent index finger tapped the bar.

The hand was large, with distinct knuckles and long fingers, and the pads of the fingers were covered in thick calluses. “Hot or cold?” I turned around as usual, not looking up from my thoughts to see the person across from me. “Do you like it hot or cold?” The last line of the sentence rose, a hint of teasing hidden in the end. 

This voice, this tone, isn’t it the same bearded woman I met last night and just avoided? It’s over, it’s over. I stubbornly muttered to myself, “You didn’t see me, you didn’t see me…” The moon was bright last night, but the sky was dark, and I was backlit. You didn’t see me… 

I turned around, my toes gripping the ground, gritted my teeth, and looked up. “Cold.” Under the lavender light, her slender eyes tilted slightly upward, and the tip of her tall nose shone with a hint of light. 

Across from me, a woman a head taller than me, with long, dark hair tied up, tapped her left hand lightly on the bar counter, and with her right hand, she fiddled with the lucky cat that swayed non-stop next to the ticket machine with interest. “A glass of iced top, with ice.” She raised her eyelids, her lips curled up, and looked at me. “You didn’t say goodbye to me last night, and you’re pretending not to see me today.

Tell me, how are you going to treat me well?” She emphasized the word “well.” I shuddered, and coffee splashed all over my hand. My teeth chattered a few times, and I closed my eyes, trying to suppress the trembling in my voice. “Classmate, I don’t think we’ve met before.”