I Fell In Love With The Fruit Stand Proprietress At First Sight - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Settling the Account – What a Cool Woman

Having just witnessed the woman’s “martial prowess,” the middle-aged woman was a bit intimidated but refused to show weakness. After stifling her breath for a while, she huffed out: “Who are you!”

“I am nobody, just a fruit seller,” Song Nianxi took a long stride, bent down, and deftly pulled out the fruit knife stuck in the durian. She pointed to her eyes: “But I have eyes, and I can see. If you can’t control your child from running around, and it causes trouble with the police, it’s obstructing traffic and causing someone’s electric scooter to fall. If it’s damaged, you have to pay compensation.”

The woman’s face flushed red: “You… you are talking nonsense…”

Song Nianxi took a wet cloth and wiped the fruit knife. Hearing the claim, she lifted her eyelids slightly and chuckled: “Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, we’ll know once we take a trip to the police station, won’t we? A child you can’t control…”

She paused between each word: “…the police can help you control.”

People who cause trouble without reason are often cowards deep down. When you stand firm, they back down. Fearing that she would genuinely have to go to the police station and pay compensation, the woman stammered for a while, spat out a curse about bad luck, and quickly hurried away with her child.

Ding Chi watched the whole thing, seeing how the woman shut the other person up in just a few sentences.

Beautiful, skillful, calm, and quick-witted.

What an impressive woman.

Suppressing the inexplicably sudden surge of subtle fondness in her heart, Ding Chi snapped out of the daze that the fox-eyes had caused. She smiled, ready to offer thanks: “Thank you, Proprietress…”

She was always good at using her looks to her advantage. Her smiling eyes and sweet smile made people feel comfortable. This trick wasn’t 100% effective, but as long as the person wasn’t overly unreasonable like the woman just now, they would subconsciously offer her some convenience.

Ding Chi was well aware of this trick. Just as the smile bloomed on her face, Song Nianxi raised her hand: “Stop.”

Her gaze lingered on Ding Chi’s face for a moment, and the corner of her lips lifted: “Little sister, business is business. Your scooter crashed into my fruit stand. How should we settle this account?”

Ding Chi: “…”

She groaned internally. It looked like not only was today a wash, but she would also have to pay out of pocket!

But the fact that she had crashed into the fruit stand was undeniable. She couldn’t possibly welch on the payment. Under the woman’s knowing, slightly mocking gaze, Ding Chi felt her cheeks burn. She gritted her teeth: “Then how much do you want?”

“How much—” Song Nianxi’s fox eyes darted, vibrant and seductive, and she gave Ding Chi a dazzling smile: “I won’t overcharge, just pay me a thousand yuan in compensation.”

The smile nearly made Ding Chi lose her composure again, and she almost agreed. She managed to slam the brakes right before the words left her mouth: “One thousand yuan? That’s too expensive!”

“Expensive? Where?” Song Nianxi picked up the fallen durian, weighed it, and gestured: “Three durians were smashed, which are not cheap to begin with, not to mention two bunches of bananas, six watermelons, three cantaloupes… they are all ruined. Is one thousand yuan too much for me to ask?”

The woman who had been so decisive and knife-wielding just moments ago now looked like she was being bullied. Her fox eyes narrowed with a hint of grievance: “This is a small business for me. Does the little sister plan to default on the payment?”

It was supposed to be an expression of distress, yet she made it look incredibly captivating.

A vixen!

That word inexplicably flashed through Ding Chi’s mind. This woman reminded her of a character from a movie, like the proprietress of the Dragon Gate Inn—full of temper, joy, anger, and cunningly decisive.

The usually quick-witted Ding Chi was completely led by the nose. She even naturally thought that she should indeed compensate this much: “I… I only have six hundred yuan on me.”

“Six hundred yuan…” Song Nianxi clicked her tongue, seeming to ponder reluctantly. She held out her hand: “Then, seeing as you’re quite good-looking, I’ll give you a discount. Six hundred yuan will do.”

Ding Chi looked down at the fair, slender hand before her, with clearly defined knuckles. Although her skin looked delicate, there was a thin layer of calluses on her fingertips, which Ding Chi guessed were rubbed there from holding the knife handle every day while cutting fruit.

There was a pronounced, delicate wrist bone. On the wrist was a small red mole. It was hard to imagine that this hand was capable of throwing a knife and splitting a thick-skinned durian in half.

And then, before Ding Chi realized it, the few hundred yuan from her pocket were lying in the woman’s palm. Her pocket was completely empty.

Song Nianxi smiled sweetly, satisfied as she pinched and fanned the red banknotes: “Little sister, you’re very obedient.”

Even with the inexplicable, stirring emotions she felt for this woman, Ding Chi was a little annoyed. She glared moodily at Song Nianxi. Thinking about the takeout she still hadn’t delivered, she gripped the scooter’s handlebar, ready to ride away.

Normally, without resorting to hysterics, Ding Chi would definitely charm and pester, thick-skinned, until the compensation was lowered. But this woman seemed to have a kind of magic that completely stripped Ding Chi of such intentions. She only wanted to leave quickly and catch her breath.

“Wait—” Song Nianxi held up a hand, stopping her action: “Hold on.”

Ding Chi held her breath: “What now?”

“I wouldn’t take advantage of a little sister,” Song Nianxi saw her defensive posture and chuckled softly: “Wait for me for a moment.”

She picked up another foot-long watermelon knife, grabbed the fallen watermelon and cantaloupe, and with swift, decisive strokes, peeled them. She sliced the fruits into even pieces like cutting tofu and put them into a plastic container. She then manually pried open the cracked durians, dug out the flesh, and put it all together.

The entire process was smooth, decisive, and fluid. The rinds were not thin; it would probably take some effort for a man to cut them, yet she made cutting the watermelon look graceful.

“Here.” Song Nianxi handed over the plastic bag: “Consider this your purchase.”

Ding Chi was slightly stunned. She took the bag: “Thank you.”

The woman waved her hand casually, as if it were nothing. She hooked a foot around a stool nearby, pulled it over, and sat down again.

She pulled out a pack of women’s cigarettes from her pants pocket, took out a thin cigarette, held it between her fingers, and then took out a lighter to light it. Her red lips opened slightly to hold the cigarette filter, and she took a slow puff.

Even this simple action was done by the woman in a way that was strangely sexy.

Ding Chi watched from the side, and her heart inexplicably started racing again.

This proprietress was… incredibly cool.

Sensing her gaze, Song Nianxi looked up, smiled, and tapped the fruit stand beside her with her knuckles: “Hey, hey, why are you spacing out? Aren’t you going to deliver that takeout? It’s probably cold by now.”

Snapping back to reality, Ding Chi silently cursed herself. She mounted the scooter and practically fled in disarray.

Song Nianxi remained where she was, took another puff of the cigarette held between her fingers, and lightly flicked the ash. She watched Ding Chi’s retreating figure with a slight laugh.

A rather pleasing little sister.

Ding Chi rode eight hundred meters away and still felt her face burning.

She thought she was acting so strangely today. She had just met a woman, and yet her usual smooth-talking skills were completely absent. She was flustered and didn’t know why she was blushing.

But… the beautiful and alluring face resurfaced in her mind again. Ding Chi truly understood the phrase “a great recluse is hidden in the city.” Who would have thought that merely crashing into a random fruit stand would lead her to encounter such a stunning beauty?

However, the thought of the six hundred yuan she had spent still made her stomach hurt a little. That was enough money for how many takeout deliveries?

Because of the delay, the braised chicken and rice was indeed late. After the distraction, Ding Chi completely lost the desire to play pitiful and beg for forgiveness from the customer. She carried the takeout with a defeated attitude.

Her mind was completely preoccupied with that woman’s face. Being scolded or not scolded hardly mattered now.

The takeout was scheduled for delivery to a BYD car parked on the corner of the street. However, the young man seemed easy to talk to. He accepted the takeout, only said thank you, and immediately opened the container and began devouring the food, paying no attention to Ding Chi.

Although the man looked like he hadn’t eaten in eight hundred years, Ding Chi was happy not to be bothered. She shrugged and left.

Xie Lin had been staked out in the car all day and was starving. He was focused on eating and truly had no time for anyone else. Besides, as a police officer, even if the delivery person was late, he certainly couldn’t scold them; doing so could easily result in a complaint about poor public attitude.

They had been here in plain clothes for two days to catch a robber who had stolen over a million yuan worth of goods from a gold store. They had clearly found the suspect’s tracks in the surveillance footage, confirming he was in this area, but they hadn’t seen a trace of him despite staking out for so long.

Xie Lin suspected the suspect might have already left the area.

Actually, the robbery case shouldn’t have been handled by their police station; it was supposed to be the Criminal Investigation Unit’s responsibility. Their local police station mostly dealt with petty crimes. Cases involving serious criminal offenses were rare, perhaps once every few years. However, some detectives were tied up with other cases, and others were away for training. Since the police station had an obligation to assist in the investigation, tedious and time-consuming tasks like staking out were assigned to them.

Getting paid for one job while having to do two! Who could he complain to about this?

He finished the rice in his hand, finally half-full. He wiped his mouth, checked the time on his phone—it was almost two in the afternoon. He stretched, intending to continue his stakeout, but the woman’s voice came through his earpiece: “Xie Lin, no need to stake out today. Clock out.”

Sigh, another fruitless day.

He drove his car over and saw Song Nianxi packing up her stall. He opened the trunk and got out to help move the boxes of fruit into the car. He couldn’t help but ask: “I say, Director Song, if you’re going to set up a stall, why not set up a stationery stall or a toy stall? A fruit stall—it spoils today or tomorrow. How high are the costs?”

Moreover, he heard that Director Song paid for the costs herself, without using the station’s allocated funds. How much loss was she incurring?

“I feel like it, is that a problem?” Song Nianxi bent down and effortlessly lifted a box of apples, placing it in the trunk. After getting into the passenger seat, she opened the mobile payment app and showed Xie Lin her balance: “You think I’m losing money? Take a look at today’s revenue before you speak.”

Xie Lin stared at the balance of 3,256.36 yuan and couldn’t help exclaiming: “Holy moly!”

“Is this what you made today? In one day?” Xie Lin’s eyes glowed as he stared at the string of numbers: “My goodness, that’s nearly half a month of my salary! Is selling fruit so profitable?”

Sister, you could totally develop this as a side business!

Song Nianxi put away her phone and glanced at him: “There are no schools or kindergartens nearby. Would it make sense to suddenly set up a stationery or toy stall? The weather is warming up, and many people eat fruit. This is a food street, so a fruit stall is the right choice.”

Besides, cutting fruit wasn’t difficult for her, and it was stress-relieving.

Other food stalls would require oil, salt, and vinegar—too much trouble.