I Fell In Love With The Fruit Stand Proprietress At First Sight - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Profiteer – Misjudged

Thanks to the cheerful young man with the braised chicken and rice, not too much time was wasted. Ding Chi hurried and managed to deliver the next few orders within the time limit, earning a solid few dozen yuan.

After a day of running around, she was getting more skilled and felt confident about delivering takeout. Once she was proficient, earning one or two hundred yuan a day wouldn’t be difficult.

However, the thought of the six hundred yuan that went out—she hadn’t earned as much as she’d lost—instantly made her frown with worry.

That woman was beautiful, but she was too dangerous!

Just a casual smile from her, and Ding Chi lost her head, and six hundred yuan was gone, just like that! Oh, if she hadn’t been short on cash, a thousand yuan would have been gone.

Now that she thought about it, even with durians included, how could a few melons cost a thousand yuan?

A profiteer!

Ding Chi stared at the bag of cut fruit hanging on the handlebars of her scooter. Recalling the proprietress’s fluid, practiced motions while cutting the melon, she resentfully poked a piece of watermelon from the bag and put it in her mouth.

It was juicy and sweet, filling her mouth with flavor.

Her expression softened slightly. At least the melon was guaranteed to be sweet.

Her last order of the day was three servings of steamed dumplings, delivered to parents with a child. Seeing the parents rush home from work and take the takeout with tired faces, Ding Chi muttered to herself that everyone had it hard.

After work, they were too exhausted to cook a hot meal, so they had to order takeout, and the child also had to eat this food.

But everyone was busy striving for a living. Ding Chi only briefly sighed and then put it out of her mind. It was nearing 5:30 PM. She finished this last order and headed home.

Some delivery riders rented their electric scooters, but Ding Chi’s was her own—an outdated model from several years ago. Back when she was in junior high, and her mother was still healthy, her mother would ride the scooter to take her to and from school almost every day, rain or shine.

This red electric scooter carried the few warm memories of her childhood. That’s why she was especially nervous when the scooter fell today. After checking the whole vehicle for damage and finding none, she finally relaxed.

Riding the scooter for a while, Ding Chi entered an old residential area.

This area also belonged to Hongyun Street, but the management wasn’t as strict as the food street or the farmers market. It was mostly inhabited by working-class people, with long-standing walk-up apartments, some of which had peeling paint.

This area didn’t have community gates or security guards; anyone could enter. The ground floors of the outermost buildings were mixed-use, with a row of storefronts hosting various small shops and many vendors.

Sausage stands, pancake stalls, fried noodle stands, deep-fried skewer stalls—everything was available. Although it was a bit messy, it was full of life and vitality.

Seeing Ding Chi approach, the auntie making pancakes looked up and smiled, calling out: “Ding family girl, finished work and coming home?”

Ding Chi flashed her harmless smile: “Auntie Li!”

The beautiful young girl’s sweet smile was very appreciated by Auntie Li. Even after Ding Chi drove past, she was still sighing to a customer buying pancakes: “I don’t think you can find anyone prettier than that Ding family girl for ten miles around. She’s hardworking, and her personality is good. You know what they say: a bad bamboo can still produce a good shoot…”

The customer, who had also lived nearby for many years, naturally knew the situation and chimed in: “Yes, that Ding San is a gambler with no skills. He lost almost everything the family owned and also likes to beat his wife—”

Auntie Li sighed wistfully, lowering her voice: “Can we say Heaven has eyes? Let that Ding San fall into the river while drunk and spare the mother and daughter…”

“But her mother’s health is still ruined. A good girl, eighteen or nineteen, has to drop out of school to take care of her…”

At this point, both realized they had been gossiping too much and fell silent.

Ding Chi was naturally unaware of the conversation happening behind her. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t care. She turned her scooter, drove into Building 26 next to it, and parked.

The ground floor of this building also had a few shops. Ding Chi locked her scooter, picked up the plastic bag hanging on the handlebars, and greeted the butcher, who was chopping meat in front of his shop.

“Uncle Qian.”

“Little Chi is back,” Uncle Qian was slightly overweight, quite tall, and wore a friendly, honest smile: “I heard you started delivering takeout today? A girl running around outside, be careful, alright?”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Qian. I’m slowly getting the hang of it.”

Ding Chi smiled. As she was about to go upstairs, Uncle Qian suddenly exclaimed, asked her to wait, grabbed his cleaver, chopped off half a rib, and sliced some pork belly. He stuffed it into a plastic bag and handed it to her: “I’m worried I won’t be able to sell all this meat today. Take it.”

“Thank you, Uncle Qian,” she looked at the bag of meat but declined: “No need. I still have some meat at home. You should keep it for yourselves.”

“Why are you being so polite?” Uncle Qian directly put the bag in her hand: “Take it. Look how thin you are; you need to eat more.”

Ding Chi accepted the bag. She looked at the cut fruit in her other hand and had originally intended to give a box to Uncle Qian. But thinking of the woman who had astonished her all day with just one glance, she paused. Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of mints.

These were the mints Sister Wang from the braised chicken shop had given her.

She poured all the mints onto Uncle Qian’s counter and smiled: “These candies are for Le Niu.”

Le Niu was Uncle Qian’s daughter, only six years old this year.

Uncle Qian smiled and agreed. As Ding Chi turned to go upstairs, he sighed to his wife nearby: “Little Chi is so thoughtful. Every time I give her something, she always insists on giving something back. She never wants to take advantage of anyone, and the girl even quit school to run takeout and support her family. It’s so tough for her.”

Ding Chi walked up the stairs, smiled to herself as she looked at the meat in her hand.

Uncle Qian was generous. Every time, he would give her some meat that wouldn’t sell the next day. But Ding Chi would always give something back: a small bag of apples or oranges, or she would bring a bottle of salt or vinegar when buying some for herself, or buy some candy or snacks for Le Niu…

It wasn’t that Ding Chi was overly polite; she just deeply understood the principle of reciprocity. If someone gives you something, and you don’t show appreciation in return, they might not think much of it in the short term, but over time, they will start to feel uneasy.

The things she returned were always far less valuable than the bag of meat Uncle Qian gave her, but they made him feel better, even making him think she was thoughtful and well-mannered.

Since Uncle Qian moved here and opened his shop two years ago, her mother and she had rarely lacked meat to eat.

This was a “long-term investment.”

Truthfully, Ding Chi didn’t want to be so calculating or use her ingenuity in this way, but the family’s situation, where every ten yuan had to be stretched and split, forced her to be.

Oh no. As soon as she thought of money, she immediately thought of the six hundred yuan.

The smile that had curved her lips because of the bag of meat instantly faded.

What kind of vixen was that woman, and why did she make Ding Chi lose all sense of reason?

However…

She also recalled that though the woman was beautiful, the clothes she wore were very simple—the shirt and jeans were faded, and although she wore them very coolly, it was still evident that the person was not financially well-off.

True. If she were well-off, why would she be struggling to run a stall all by herself?

Never mind. Everyone has it hard. I crashed her fruit stand, so I should compensate her.

Years of impoverished life had softened Ding Chi’s otherwise numb heart for a moment.

Her home was on the second floor. Before she could open the door, the large iron door swung open with a creak. Jiang Ying, wearing an apron, ushered her in: “You’re back quite late. How was your first day of work? Are you tired?”

“I ride an electric scooter; I don’t have to run myself, so how could I be tired?” Ding Chi showed her most genuine smile to her mother, displaying a little girl’s playful affection: “Mom~ I delivered about ten orders today. I estimate I earned about a hundred yuan.”

The desire for praise was strong. Jiang Ying couldn’t help but smile: “Look at you. You’re almost twenty, still waiting for a big red flower like a kindergarten child?”

Ding Chi pouted. Smelling the aroma of cooking at home, she complained: “Mom! I told you to wait for me to come back and cook! You need to rest properly; you shouldn’t be tired!”

“It’s already five or six o’clock. If I wait for you to come back to cook, when will we eat?” Jiang Ying glared at her: “I just stir-fried a few dishes; how could that be tiring? I’ve been cooking for so many years.”

Helplessly looking at the dishes on the table, Ding Chi thought she must find a way to make time to rush back and cook, so her mother wouldn’t tire herself out in the kitchen.

“Mom, did you take your medicine on time today?”

“Oh, yes, I took it, I took it. Our little housekeeper sure loves to manage things,” Jiang Ying smiled as she set two bowls of rice on the table: “Come and eat quickly. What did you eat for lunch? Did you even eat properly?”

“I… just found a restaurant and ate,” Ding Chi paused, then remembered she was too busy all day to even eat lunch. She quickly shoved a mouthful of rice in and glossed over it: “I ate very well.”

“How can eating out all the time be okay? Restaurants outside are never as clean as home,” Jiang Ying shook her head affectionately: “Can you spare some time at noon from now on? Come home for lunch. Mom will cook it for you.”

“Mom, I’ll come back for lunch from now on,” Ding Chi put down her chopsticks: “But I have to do the cooking. You just wait for me at home.”

“How can that be? You’re tired from working outside, and then you come back and can’t even get a hot meal? How can Mom let you cook for yourself?”

“Mom, I already told you I’m not tired. I just ride a bike. How can that be tiring…”

“That won’t do either…”

In the end, the two mother and daughter argued back and forth and reluctantly reached a “compromise”: Jiang Ying would cook the rice and cut the vegetables, and Ding Chi would return to stir-fry the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

Ding Chi compromised, thinking that it was better than nothing if her mother inhaled less cooking smoke.

After dinner, Ding Chi thought about the six hundred yuan. The words passed through her mouth once and then she swallowed them back.

Forget it. There was no need to tell her mother about this; it would only cause her unnecessary worry. It wouldn’t help in any way. She would just work harder and earn the money back soon.

It wasn’t until she was taking off her clothes to shower that night that the paper texture she felt in her pants pocket jolted her.

Money?

She pulled it out. The small roll of red banknotes lay quietly in her palm.

Six hundred yuan.