Yu Zi’s phone screen remained black until midnight. As a result, the phone seemed dead, the screen pitch black, no movement or sound whatsoever.

They sat side by side on the floor, hugging their knees, waiting for a new message to come through.

“Do you think those two security guards might have taken all our leaflets?” Xie Dongcheng asked.

Yu Zi suddenly turned to look at him, “It’s not impossible.”

Both of them felt deflated, sitting on the floor like two emotionless pieces of gum.

Yu Zi couldn’t remember what time he fell asleep that night. When he woke up in the morning, he found himself on the sofa in the living room again, still covered with the same blanket.

This time, Xie Dongcheng wasn’t lying on the floor; he was sitting on the floor, leaning against the sofa with his legs, his head tilted, looking somewhat awkward.

Yu Zi felt a bit guilty. He quickly got up and tried to lift him onto the sofa.

This guy didn’t look fat, but he was tall and long-limbed, and his frame was there. Yu Zi pulled his arm, trying to lift him up, but he didn’t budge.

“…Hmm?” Xie Dongcheng finally opened his eyes, trying to see Yu Zi’s face clearly in a daze.

“Why are you sleeping on the floor again?”

“Too tired, didn’t notice.” Xie Dongcheng patted his butt and stood up from the floor.

He went to the kitchen to cook porridge, while Yu Zi took the phone from the coffee table and realized it was out of battery and turned off. He found a plug to charge it, and just then, Xie Dongcheng came out of the kitchen.

He asked, “Has anyone contacted you?”

Yu Zi looked at the slowly booting animation on the screen, shaking his head, “Not yet.”

The two stood together in a daze, staring at the phone in front of them.

Five seconds later, it successfully booted up.

The screen lit up, and the signal jumped from one bar to five.

Ding—

A WeChat notification sound came.

Xie Dongcheng couldn’t help but tremble with excitement, “Quick, open it and see.”

Yu Zi swiped the software open, and a red alert popped up on the screen quickly.

Yu Zi took a deep breath, his gaze gradually focusing.

The next second, he directly locked the screen of his phone and threw it back onto the table.

“What is it? I didn’t see it clearly,” Xie Dongcheng asked.

“It’s a weather forecast,” Yu Zi said as he turned away and headed to the kitchen to get the porridge.

To say they weren’t disappointed would be a lie. Especially since they had bought a scooter and paid channel fees, they had already spent quite a bit of money. If they didn’t open business soon, they would really be left with nothing.

Yu Zi looked out the window. Autumn in the northern city was getting colder, and the morning temperature was very low. Even the inside of the glass felt cold to the touch.

After the weather turned cold, even the wild cats were scarce. The cat team that used to be hoarse downstairs every day seemed to have disappeared today.

Xie Dongcheng came out of the kitchen with two bowls of porridge, and they sat on the floor.

He looked up at Yu Zi standing by the window, “Why don’t I go find a temporary job? I’ve done it before. Convenience stores and such, the work is easy, the pay is less, but it’s enough to make ends meet.”

Yu Zi felt even more blocked in his heart than him. Although Xie Dongcheng had invited him to move in, this time he hadn’t consulted Xie Dongcheng before dragging him into this mess.

He was still living in his house, and they had spent quite a bit of money.

Now was not as good as before, and he couldn’t promise Xie Dongcheng anything about the future. He didn’t even know if he would survive properly in the future.

In the past, Yu Zi couldn’t understand why some poor people would rather work than think of other ways out. Now he understood. People without money were already exerting all their efforts just to survive.

The wind outside the window was getting stronger, and the north wind was banging against the window glass, dark clouds drifting in from afar.

Yu Zi looked up at the quickly moving trajectory of the clouds, as if it was going to rain again.

Ding ding!

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a phone notification.

Xie Dongcheng reacted faster than him, taking a step forward to pick up the phone and handing it to Yu Zi.

“Quick, take a look.”

Yu Zi had never been so nervous. He gently tapped the red dot with his fingertip.

A new friend request.

He opened the request page, and two lines of text popped up.

Message from: Joanna Lin

Note: Hello, I have an urgent order here, please accept it.

“We got one!”

They almost shouted simultaneously.

Yu Zi let out a cry and then realized he was being a little too emotional. He quickly restrained his smile and swiftly clicked on accept.

The other side seemed to be waiting for a response. After adding as a friend, they quickly sent a message.

“Hello, I saw your advertisement yesterday. We’re having a party at my place today, and we need to purchase a lot of things. I’ll send you a list. Please help us deliver them as soon as possible.”

Then, a long list was quickly sent over, along with a detailed delivery address.

Yu Zi quickly replied, “Okay, got it. When do you need it?”

The other side quickly replied: “Within an hour, the sooner the better.”

When they saw this line, their hearts skipped a beat.

“Hurry, let’s go!” Yu Zi put on his coat and quickly opened the door.

Xie Dongcheng followed, putting on his coat as well, and rushed outside.

They happened to meet the old lady from next door taking out the trash. She was startled to see the two of them in such a rush. “Dongcheng, where are you two in such a hurry so early in the morning?”

Xie Dongcheng didn’t have time to argue with her this time. He hurriedly went to get the scooter.

Two minutes later, Yu Zi sat in the back seat and opened the list sent by Joanna Lin. It was meticulously detailed, resembling a rigorous project requirement list rather than a simple grocery shopping list.

This person should at least be a mid-level manager in a company, Yu Zi guessed.

It seemed like they were planning a barbecue party, as the list included various types of meat and plenty of alcoholic beverages. Just the white wine alone amounted to ten bottles.

This meant that the total price of this order would not be less than three thousand yuan.

Excited as he was, Yu Zi was also afraid of losing the order. He was about to ask if the other party could pay a deposit first when the other side seemed to sense what he was thinking and quickly sent a two hundred yuan red envelope, labeled as a deposit.

The note only had one word: Urgent.

After they arrived at the destination, they split their tasks. Xie Dongcheng went to find the standard-priced items, which were various packaged alcoholic beverages, while Yu Zi went to select good quality fresh produce.

Yu Zi was extremely picky about food quality, so this played to his strengths. He could discern the best quality just by looking at the patterns on the meat.

Fifteen minutes later, they met again, each carrying a large basket of goods.

Xie Dongcheng was about to go to the checkout, but Yu Zi stopped him.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Dongcheng glanced at the time; there were only twenty minutes left.

“I’m going to get another bottle of wine.”

“Huh?” Xie Dongcheng didn’t understand what he was doing, he just saw Yu Zi picking through the wine selection. After a while, he came back with a bottle of wine.

Xie Dongcheng took a look, and the bottle of wine he held was even more high-end than the one he had.

“What’s this for?”

“It’s for her.”

“That bottle costs four hundred yuan.” Xie Dongcheng didn’t expect him to pick such an expensive one to give away; it seemed a bit extravagant.

“Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to make it back in the future.” Without waiting for him to agree, Yu Zi put it directly into the shopping basket.

The address given by the other party was a residential area about four or five kilometers away from here.

Yu Zi opened the map app and saw that it was a garden villa community. Although the house prices were not as expensive as the wealthy areas he used to live in, it was still considered prestigious in this area.

When they arrived at their destination, Xie Dongcheng glanced at the time and found it had been exactly an hour.

The houses here were only three or four stories tall, with one household per floor.

She lived on the ground floor, and Yu Zi glanced at it; it should be a villa with an outdoor garden.

The two stood at the door and rang the doorbell. Yu Zi saw smoke drifting out from behind the fence; it was indeed an outdoor barbecue party.

Soon, someone heard the doorbell and came to answer it.

The person who opened the door was a woman in her thirties.

Before they could say anything, the woman reached out and took the items from their hands. “Thank you so much! I’ve been busy all morning. My friends suddenly wanted to have a party, and I didn’t buy a lot of things yesterday.”

Yu Zi had never served others before; it was always others serving him. It felt a bit awkward before opening the door, and he hadn’t even figured out how to start the conversation.

Xie Dongcheng was used to dealing with guests and greeted them warmly, “It’s no trouble at all, as long as we didn’t delay your plans.”

It was indeed strange; when Xie Dongcheng said this, Yu Zi felt that the atmosphere wasn’t so awkward anymore.

The woman glanced at the receipt and quickly transferred the money directly to Yu Zi.

But when she checked the shopping bag, she found an extra bottle of white wine.

“You bought extra for me. Please take this back. I only need ten bottles.”

Yu Zi smiled and waved his hand, “No, this bottle is specifically for you. I wish you a happy party.”

He didn’t say anything more, but the woman at the door was pleasantly surprised, holding the bottle of wine and looking at it with joy.

“Thank you, this is the first time someone has given me wine.”

“This wine suits your temperament very well; it has a hint of citrus fragrance. You should give it a try.”

“Wow, you’re quite the smooth talker for someone so young.”

Yu Zi said goodbye to the woman and was about to leave, but she held the door, asking them to wait.

In a short while, she took out two bills from the drawer in the hallway and handed them to Yu Zi.

“Thank you for your hard work on this trip.”

Yu Zi didn’t expect to receive a tip just for this trip. He nodded his thanks and took them, “You’re too kind. What should I call you?”

“You can call me Sister Lin or Joanna.”

“Okay, Sister Lin. If you have any needs in the future, feel free to contact us.”

Xie Dongcheng chimed in from behind, “Rain or shine, we’ll be there whenever you need us!”

Sister Lin was amused by his teasing.

Five minutes later, the two set off on their return journey.

While waiting at a traffic light at an intersection, Xie Dongcheng turned his head and asked, “How do you know what that wine tastes like?”

Yu Zi smiled, “I’ve had it before. Among affordable wines, this one has a good taste.”

Xie Dongcheng was a bit surprised, “Is four hundred yuan considered affordable?”

Yu Zi said, “There are plenty of wines that cost tens of thousands.”

Xie Dongcheng slowed down the scooter and turned his head, “Seriously, what does such an expensive wine taste like? Does it burn your throat?”

Yu Zi closed his eyes and tried to remember, but he couldn’t recall the taste of those wines very well. The bottle of wine that cost over four hundred yuan was more memorable to him.

Two seconds later, he replied, “It’s just like that. You’ll know when you get the chance to try it.”

Xie Dongcheng chuckled, lost in daydreams.

The green light soon lit up, and Xie Dongcheng suddenly remembered something, asking Yu Zi against the wind, “By the way, how much did we earn from this order?”

Yu Zi opened the calculator on his phone, carefully calculated, and added the tip.

After a moment, he looked up, “Exactly one thousand yuan.”

In the morning, the sky was cloudy and the cold wind was biting, but now the weather unexpectedly cleared up. Xie Dongcheng was in a great mood, suddenly accelerating, and the scooter rushed into the autumn sunlight.