Chapter 87: The Delicate and Willful Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character (5)

The two finished their meal.

Song Jing also took the opportunity to wash all the dishes and pots.

He remained quiet as always. Qiao Yiyi, lying back on the sofa, chatted endlessly. He occasionally responded with an “mm” but never ruined the mood.

Outside, night had fallen.

Qiao Yiyi walked him to the door and asked with concern, “Did I delay your plans? It’s already so late.”

Song Jing glanced at the wall clock and shook his head. “No. I can still catch the bus.”

“Then you’d better hurry back.”

Song Jing nodded. “Get some good rest.”

“Okay. I still have to get up early to go to the bookstore tomorrow.”

……

Song Jing did not let Qiao Yiyi walk him downstairs. He left the apartment complex alone.

His luck was decent. He caught the last bus. Half an hour later, he transferred to another.

An hour later, Song Jing got off the bus.

Amid tall buildings and rows of shops, Song Jing walked into the most out-of-place building—an old tiled house.

Outside the house was a main road. The rooftop was covered in moss and small trees. The roof was leaking.

Song Jing passed through the tiled house and entered the backyard. Inside was a small courtyard with a utility room and a kitchen on either side, and there was also a simple bathroom.

The main tiled house had already collapsed halfway. He lived in the utility room, which was very simple, with only a wooden bed. The windows were covered in dust, and there was a dim yellow light bulb.

It was a very dilapidated house, about forty to fifty years old.

These few tiled houses were surrounded by tall buildings and were squeezed right in the middle. They did not even look like they were from the same era.

Since Grandpa Song died, Song Jing had been living here alone.

Originally, this place was a village in the city. It had been developed early on, and the compensation for demolition at the time was very little. However, because a main road was built, this area became a storefront area and could be used for business or rented out.

However, many villagers were greedy for the high prices offered by outsiders. Since they could not afford to build houses themselves, they had already sold their storefronts long ago.

Grandpa Song raised Song Jing alone. No matter how difficult things were, he never sold the house. Later, as housing prices rose sharply and the location of this house became more and more valuable, the relatives became envious. Especially after Grandpa Song passed away, they all tried to persuade Song Jing to sell the house to them.

He was just a child. If they succeeded in fooling him, they could turn around and earn hundreds of thousands.

But they never expected that Song Jing, working hard every summer break, actually paid back the money he owed them with interest.

Song Jing was originally admitted to No. 1 High School. The reason he went to No. 2 High School was purely because of that scholarship. Otherwise, he would not have had anything to eat.

He never had the thought of selling the house, because before Grandpa Song died, he had made him promise that this house would never be sold.

Grandpa’s reasoning was very simple. As long as you have a house, you have a foundation. Even if it is run-down, there is still a place to settle.

In the future, when he made money, he could rebuild the house. Song Jing could get married and have children, and their Song family would have descendants.

Looking at this house, thinking of Qiao Yiyi’s difficulties, Song Jing, for the first time, had the thought of selling it. He also felt the strongest desire for money.

He was afraid she would not live well or maintain her current lifestyle.

Some time ago, someone approached him, saying they wanted to renovate the place into a private restaurant and offered 3 million, saying the price was negotiable. That price was actually low. Someone else had previously offered him 3.6 million.

This house was the most valuable thing he owned.

*

Late at night.

Qiao Yiyi’s stomach pain worsened. She lay weakly on the bed, holding her phone and found that this month’s living expenses had not been transferred on time.

She thought for a moment and decided to act pitiful.

Qiao Yiyi first called Father Qiao. The call was quickly answered, and he said with a smile, “Baby, still not asleep?”

“Daddy, are you still working overtime?” Qiao Yiyi asked softly.

“Yes, I’m busy right now.”

Just as Qiao Yiyi was about to have a little heartfelt conversation, he hurriedly hung up the phone and said he would call back later.

Right after that, the call was disconnected. She waited for quite a while, but he did not call back.

She sighed and then dialed Mother Qiao’s number.

This time it did not connect at all.

Qiao Yiyi looked at the date on her phone and then got up to calculate her phone balance and the cash she received as New Year’s money.

Her heart gradually settled down.

Anyway, she could last until the college entrance examination. By then, this money would be enough to get her into university. For now, she would use a little if she could.

She had to save it.

Qiao Yiyi set an alarm for seven in the morning to go buy practice books at the bookstore.

In the past, Qiao Yiyi was not particularly diligent in her studies, but her grades were decent, ranking slightly above average. Her original plan was to apply to a joint university, which meant two years in the country and two years abroad. After graduation, she would pursue further studies overseas.

Now, if she wanted to get into a good university, she could only work twice as hard.

Qiao Yiyi got up early in the morning. Because it was the holidays, she might have slept in and eaten irregularly, so she did not have the housekeeper prepare breakfast.

She walked out of the neighborhood, went to a snack street near the school, bought a jianbing and a cup of soy milk, and ate while walking to the bookstore.

Qiao Yiyi went upstairs.

Along the way, she passed the romance novel and teen magazine section.

She used to buy every issue. Most of the extracurricular books passed around in class came from her. Later, when too many people borrowed them, she just put them in the class reading area after finishing and donated them directly.

Now she did not have time to read anymore, so she resisted and turned her eyes away to look for high school tutoring materials.

Qiao Yiyi looked through them one by one. Nowadays, most people were buying the “Wusan” series. The difficulty of the exercises was reasonable. Every time she did the Huanggang ones, her head nearly exploded. She stood there studying for a long time.

Her legs went numb, so she simply sat on the floor to read.

Qiao Yiyi placed the books she wanted to buy next to her. Just as she got up, she saw Song Jing walk in.

Today, Song Jing was not wearing his school uniform. He wore a white shirt and sweatpants. His figure was thin, still wearing those thick black-rimmed glasses, and his face was expressionless.

This was the first time she saw him outside of school. That sense of aloof detachment was even stronger.

“Song Jing!” Qiao Yiyi waved at him excitedly with a big smile.

Seeing her, Song Jing unconsciously let out a breath of relief and walked toward her.

“You’re here to buy books too?” She stood up quickly, and her whole face suddenly twisted in pain.

“What’s wrong?” He walked over quickly.

“My legs are numb again…”

Song Jing silently withdrew the hand he had been about to extend in worry.

“What books are you getting?” Qiao Yiyi followed behind and asked, “I want to use yours as a reference too.”

Song Jing only picked up one book, a biology concept guide, but when he saw the pile of books Qiao Yiyi had chosen, he started analyzing them for her one by one. His voice was clear and gentle as he spoke.

The two of them reselected for half an hour. He swapped out a few for her and bought some sets of test papers.

“Song Jing, your voice is really nice,” Qiao Yiyi said with a smile.

He paused slightly. Seeing that her complexion was still poor today, he took the initiative to help her carry the books.

At the checkout counter, Qiao Yiyi took out her membership card and reached for the books in his hands. “I’ll pay for yours.”

“No need—”

“My card has a lot of money in it.” Qiao Yiyi leaned over, quickly snatching the books from him, and said willfully, “This lady insists on paying for you.”

The two of them walked out of the bookstore. Song Jing wanted to return the money to her, but she turned her head and said, “It’s not even a lot of money. If you really want to repay me, then help me carry the books and come with me to a stationery shop.”

“I can go with you, but I must give you the money.”

Qiao Yiyi spoke with a proud tone, “I hate it the most when people talk about money with me. It makes our relationship seem very distant. Are you not treating me like a friend?”

She took Song Jing to the biggest stationery shop in the city and bought a lot of study supplies—various pens and tape, as well as rulers and notebooks.

Song Jing looked at the dazzling variety of study supplies and said nothing, continuing to accompany her as she browsed.

He tried to pay for the items, but Qiao Yiyi pushed him aside. “I have a membership card. There’s so much money in it that I can’t even finish spending it, and it can’t be refunded.”

She bought a big bag of items and even wanted to share some of them with him.

“Have you never seen so many study supplies before? Look at these beautiful pens and notebooks. I’ll give you some.” Qiao Yiyi lifted her chin and smiled proudly. “This is called, failing students have the most stationery.”

Song Jing remained silent.

Indeed, he only had the notebooks and pens awarded by the school.

And he could not even use all of them.

“Do you want to go eat barbecue with me? I didn’t get to eat it yesterday. I was so hungry I couldn’t sleep last night.” Qiao Yiyi asked him again.

Song Jing replied, “Where are we going to eat?”

“Come on.” Qiao Yiyi led the way, and the two of them headed to the bus stop together.

The bus arrived quickly, but it was very crowded.

Qiao Yiyi pushed forward with all her strength. Seeing this, Song Jing quickly followed and reached out to shield her from the crowd.

There were no seats left on the bus. Even the handrails were all taken. Qiao Yiyi was clearly not used to this kind of environment. Her long eyelashes were knitted tightly. She seemed uncomfortable with the smell and held her breath from time to time.

The bus was moving when it suddenly came to a sharp stop.

With a bang, Qiao Yiyi fell into Song Jing’s arms and her head bumped against his chest.

She quickly grabbed a handrail and stood up straight again, smiling as she said, “That scared me to death. I almost fell.”

“Hold on to this.” Song Jing moved his hand to make space for her.

It was not surprising that she had such a good attitude. Her laughter could be heard all day in the classroom. She was always cheerful and optimistic.

“Mm.”

Qiao Yiyi did not take the little accident to heart, but Song Jing could not calm down for a long time and kept glancing at her side profile.

The barbecue restaurant in the mall was very popular. Qiao Yiyi skillfully went up to the front desk, gave her phone number, and ordered a meal set.

As the server led them to their table, Qiao Yiyi leaned toward Song Jing to explain, “Last time they had an anniversary event. I added money to the card and even won a prize. The meal set use count doubled. So worth it. My luck is amazing. There’s only one chosen one.”

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. “You’ll see how great it is in a moment.”

Song Jing silently observed the environment of the restaurant and the behavior of the other customers. He had never been to a place like this before, but due to his strong learning ability, he did not feel timid.

As soon as they sat down, Qiao Yiyi poured water for Song Jing and even took him to the sauce area. She spoke excitedly, “This special sauce actually doesn’t taste good. This barbecue sauce is delicious.”

“And this one is a bit sour. Do you like sour things? I don’t.”

“I’ll give you a bit of this sauce. I really love it.”

……

Qiao Yiyi was in a great mood. As she sat at the table, she saw the server bring plate after plate of barbecue. Her eyes widened, filled with happiness.

Song Jing suddenly felt that she was actually quite easy to satisfy.

Before last night, he had always thought she was living very happily, but after hearing about what happened last night, he started to feel worried.

“I want to show you my barbecue skills.” Qiao Yiyi was ready to show off.

“Okay.”

But Qiao Yiyi’s skills were not up to standard, and she ended up burning everything. In the end, Song Jing had to take over.

His well-defined fingers held the tongs and scissors as he worked slowly and methodically. Qiao Yiyi found the sight quite pleasing to the eye.

When the meat was cooked, Song Jing gave her a portion. She urged him to put more on his own plate. “You need to eat more. You’re too skinny.” As she spoke, she pinched her own cheek. “Look, I’ve put on so much weight.”

Her fair and soft cheek turned red the moment she pinched it. Song Jing felt she had used too much force and frowned as he watched.

Although Qiao Yiyi kept saying she was hungry, she could not eat much once they started.

She grilled all the meat and kept feeding it to Song Jing, watching him eat bite by bite, emptying the plates. A sense of satisfaction and achievement rose up in her, and she rested her chin on her hand as she watched him.

When Song Jing noticed her smiling brightly and staring at him, her eyes curved like crescent moons. He slowed down his movements while eating and his expression turned a bit unnatural.

“I’m so happy—” Her tone was filled with joy.