Lin Chu was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to go in or leave. If it were anyone else making such a presumptuous decision, she would have been displeased long ago. However, Shen Zhongxun seemed to have an eccentric personality. Although she couldn’t describe it, she intuitively believed in his simple good intentions.
After stepping through the door, Shen Zhongxun suddenly remembered something. He stared at the slippers on his feet for a long time before saying, “There are no slippers at home. Just wear your shoes in.”
Lin Chu glanced at the gleaming floor, then shoved her foot back into her sandal and said again, “Manager Shen, you really don’t need to be so polite. It’s very convenient for me to come back tonight.”
“Didn’t you say your grandparents would be back soon?” Shen Zhongxun walked inside, put the plastic bag on the coffee table, and saw that Lin Chu was still standing at the door, so he didn’t move.
Lin Chu, feeling helpless, gave a dry laugh and walked in, immediately leaving a black mark on the floor by the door. After a slight hesitation, she simply took off her sandals and walked barefoot on the floor. Shen Zhongxun glanced at her but didn’t say anything. He slowly walked to the refrigerator, put the dumplings in the freezer, and then took out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her. Lin Chu thanked him and took it, then couldn’t help but open the cap and gulp it down for a while. Only then did she feel refreshed and relieve some of the heat.
This building was from the same era as Lin Chu’s house and had a similar structure. The interior decoration was still in the style popular in the 1990s. However, this family seemed to be well-off. Although the decoration was old-fashioned, you could still tell that they were quite well-off from the brick walls and wooden cabinets.
Shen Zhongxun took some fruit out of the refrigerator and placed it on the coffee table, saying, “I’ve only been here for five days. I haven’t had time to tidy up this house or even look through these drawers.” He raised his right hand. “Now I have time, but I can’t clean.” After saying a few words, he ran out of things to say and started staring at Lin Chu.
Lin Chu sipped her mineral water, warming it in her mouth before swallowing. She had nothing to say to Shen Zhongxun, but the atmosphere was too cold, and sitting there awkwardly was unbearable. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “By the way, how did you find this house? It’s a bit far from the scenic area.”
Shen Zhongxun replied, “There weren’t many properties available at the time, and this one was relatively clean, so it was acceptable.”
Lin Chu nodded and then asked, “How much is your rent?”
Shen Zhongxun said, “Nine hundred a month.”
Lin Chu stared in disbelief and blurted out, “No way, this isn’t even on the main street. The houses on the second floor are at most six or seven hundred.”
Shen Zhongxun smiled and said, “I know, but before I came, I had the landlord repaint the walls and basically renovate the kitchen, so the price is not expensive.”
Lin Chu nodded and muttered, “No wonder, it looks much cleaner than before.”
Shen Zhongxun, with his sharp ears, raised an eyebrow and asked. Lin Chu smiled and said, “When I was little, I often came to play at this house when I visited my grandparents. The uncles and aunts here are very nice.”
Shen Zhongxun suddenly realized what Lin Chu was talking about and said a few more words. A moment later, he heard a “gurgling” sound. Lin Chu immediately crossed her arms and casually covered her stomach, still talking nonchalantly. Shen Zhongxun lowered his head, hiding the smile on his lips. After a while, he heard her voice was weak, as if the conversation could not continue, and then he said, “I’m a little hungry. I haven’t had lunch yet. Have you eaten?”
Lin Chu smiled and said, “I haven’t eaten. I’m not hungry right now.”
Shen Zhongxun got up and went to the kitchen. He took out two boxes of instant noodles from the cupboard, along with two eggs, and added tap water to the pot. “Let’s eat something together. If you don’t mind, we’ll have instant noodles.” He was working with one hand and couldn’t cook, so the groceries he bought in the refrigerator would just sit there for a while.
Lin Chu was indeed starving, but she had been eating fried noodles for most of the past two weeks and really didn’t want to touch noodles again. Although she felt embarrassed, she still said, “Manager Shen, would you like some dumplings? I feel bad bothering you like this, how about I cook you some dumplings?”
Shen Zhongxun had just torn open the instant noodle box when he heard this, so he quietly tucked the paper back into the box and secretly put it back in the cupboard.
Lin Chu, who was standing outside the kitchen, didn’t see him. After hearing Shen Zhongxun respond, she quickly took out the dumplings from the freezer and went into the kitchen.
The water in the pot was already boiling. Lin Chu quickly poured the dumplings into the pot, covered it with the lid, and stood aside, smiling at Shen Zhongxun.
Seeing that she seemed to have no other action, Shen Zhongxun couldn’t help but chuckle. He stepped forward, lifted the pot lid, and used a spatula to scoop out the dumplings. Sure enough, they had stuck to the bottom, leaving only a few small white pieces. Upon seeing this, Lin Chu quickly said, “Oh, I forgot.”
Shen Zhongxun hummed in agreement and pointed to the cupboard, asking her to help put the seasonings into the porcelain bowl. Lin Chu immediately complied.
Steaming hot dumplings were served. Lin Chu exchanged a few polite words, then hurriedly ate two, warming her stomach before slowing down and chewing them with restrained small bites. Shen Zhongxun, on the other hand, ate them one after another, which surprised Lin Chu. She hadn’t expected him to eat like this; she had imagined him to be refined and polite. However, his movements weren’t rough either. After shedding his suit and changing into a regular shirt, he looked quite well-suited to his robust physique.
The two chatted and ate, becoming much more familiar with each other than before. Lin Chu addressed him as “Manager Shen” with a more casual tone. They finished off the dumplings in no time, and then Lin Chu took the bowls and chopsticks to the sink.
Shen Zhongxun’s right hand couldn’t get wet, so Lin Chu decided to do a good deed and washed the bowls for him. After returning to the living room, she still didn’t hear any movement in the hallway. Shen Zhongxun told her to eat some grapes. Lin Chu glanced at the time and was a little worried. She wanted to go upstairs to see if her grandparents had returned.
Shen Zhongxun escorted her to the door, watching her disappear around the corner upstairs. The footsteps stopped after a moment, followed by several knocks on the wooden door. He heard Lin Chu calling “Grandpa,” and then “Grandma,” sounding somewhat like a child looking for their parents.
A moment later, Lin Chu came downstairs again and saw Shen Zhongxun standing outside with his door wide open. She smiled in surprise and said, “They haven’t come back yet. Maybe they’re staying on the mountain eating vegetarian food.”
Shen Zhongxun nodded. “Then why don’t you sit for a while longer?”
Not knowing how long she would have to wait, and with time only wasting away, Lin Chu thought for a moment, and was about to ask for the food to take home when she heard slow footsteps coming from downstairs. Someone was scolding someone else, “I told you to go pick up the bottles, and if you fall and die, no one will save you!”
Lin Chu was startled and immediately leaned over the stair railing to look down. Sure enough, she saw her grandparents supporting each other as they went upstairs: “Grandpa and Grandma!”
Grandma looked up and immediately smiled, “Dao Dao is here!”
Shen Zhongxun was momentarily stunned when he heard Lin Chu’s grandmother address her as “Dao Dao.” It wasn’t until he heard Lin Chu’s grandfather also call her “Dao Dao” that he looked at Lin Chu in surprise. Lin Chu seemed oblivious, and in a few steps, she rushed downstairs, pointed at her grandfather’s feet, and asked, “What happened?”
Grandma was about to speak when Grandpa tugged at her. Grandma slapped his hand away and said to Lin Chu, “That old geezer, he wanted to pick up every plastic bottle he saw, and he twisted his ankle!”
Lin Chu knew all about her grandfather’s “bad habits” and it was inconvenient to scold him at the moment. She asked her grandmother to open the door first, and then she helped her grandfather slowly upstairs step by step.
Shen Zhongxun had already taken out the food. Lin Chu thanked him and took it. She introduced her new neighbor to her grandfather without mentioning that she had known the neighbor for a long time. Her grandfather exchanged a few polite words and then complained to Lin Chu about her grandmother. It took him a long time to climb to the third floor.
Grandpa’s foot was not seriously injured, but he was old and frail and walked slowly. He usually liked to go out at four or five o’clock to collect plastic bottles on the street to sell. It wasn’t that he was short of money. The two elders’ retirement pensions were enough for them to enjoy their old age. However, no one would complain about not having enough money, especially Grandpa, despite repeated persuasion from the family.
Lin Chu went to the bathroom to get hot water, added some herbal medicine, and squatted down by the sofa to wash her grandfather’s feet. When her grandmother asked about her mother, Lin Chu said, “She went shopping with her girlfriends.”
Grandma laughed and said, “We’ll definitely be out until evening. Did your father go to the suburbs today? Have dinner here with Grandma tonight, don’t go back. Go to your bedroom, turn on the air conditioner, and watch TV.”
Lin Chu scrubbed his feet vigorously, scattering the dirt into the foot basin. Grandpa closed his eyes in comfort, but soon became drowsy. Lin Chu carefully cleaned his feet, poured water to wash her hands, and then cheered as she went into the bedroom.
After dinner, Grandma saw Lin Chu off and gave her a red envelope containing 500 yuan, telling her not to be stingy with the money. Lin Chu refused several times, but couldn’t resist her grandma’s insistence, so she had to accept it.
Shen Zhongxun poured the leftover instant noodles into the trash can, lit another cigarette, and leaned against the kitchen window. After a long while, he saw Lin Chu appear under the moonlight. Mosquitoes flew low by the dim streetlights, and Lin Chu hopped and skipped to avoid them. Her coquettish words were carried up to the second floor by the wind. After receiving the red envelope, she hurriedly pushed her grandmother into the building and waved goodbye with a bright smile.
Shen Zhongxun slowly exhaled smoke rings, but then he saw Lin Chu suddenly look up at him. He paused, feeling a little nervous at being caught red-handed, but then he thought that he hadn’t done anything suspicious, so he smiled calmly.
Lin Chu frowned slightly, nodded politely as a farewell, then turned around and strode out of the residential building hidden in the secluded woods.
The next day, Lin Chu learned some cooking techniques using a rice cooker at home. Lin’s mother packed the old-fashioned rice cooker that they no longer used into a plastic bag and asked, “Do you even know how to cook? Don’t bring such a heavy one over there only to find it won’t even budge!”
Lin Chu squatted down to pack up the food she brought back to the city and said, “I will definitely cook. I will cook for myself from now on. It’s more affordable and healthier.” She no longer needed the wok from the farmer’s house she used to live in. The kitchen in the rented room was just for show, as it couldn’t let in any oil fumes. Only the rice cooker was barely usable.
This time, the luggage was heavier than the fruit from last time. Lin Chu planned to leave earlier, but her neighbor downstairs on a tricycle was still out working, and she couldn’t find a ride to the station. Lin’s mother repeatedly told her to flag down a car as soon as she left the area. Lin Chu nodded in agreement and struggled to carry the bags forward.
Unexpectedly, there were no tricycles anywhere today. It was Sunday’s return travel peak, and many students studying away from home were taking rides back to school, so the tricycle business must be booming. Lin Chu finally managed to leave the area, but all the tricycles that passed by were already full. Even after reaching the main street, she still hadn’t seen a single empty tricycle. However, a taxi appeared on the roadside, and Lin Chu quickly flagged it down. Just as she stretched out her hand, a private car honked its horn and stopped beside her. Wang Ming leaned out and said, “So you went back so early? Get in, I’ll give you a ride!”
During the brief pause, Lin Chu noticed that the taxi had already been hailed by someone else. After thinking for a moment, she could only politely thank him and finally breathed a sigh of relief after getting into the well-air-conditioned car.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhongxun was shopping for household goods in the supermarket. When he passed the slipper display, he picked up ten pairs of gray sandals and threw them into his shopping cart. After thinking for a moment, he picked up a pair of pink cartoon-patterned slippers, hesitated for a moment, and put them in the cart. After pushing the cart a little way, he went back, took out the pink slippers, picked out a small pair from the pile of gray sandals, and threw them in. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
As he was leaving the supermarket, Wen Peiru received a call from the Shen family’s landline. On the other end of the line, Wen Peiru said anxiously, “Ajin and your dad are about to start fighting! Your older brother is away on a business trip and I can’t stop them. You need to come back and check on them right away!”
Shen Zhongxun frowned slightly, waited unhurriedly by the roadside, hailed a taxi, and drove towards the city under the moonlight.
Lin Chu and Wang Ming really had nothing to talk about, so they stopped after a few words. It was Wang Ming who spoke up: “I went on another blind date yesterday.”
Lin Chu asked in surprise, “Really?” She smiled, “And what was the result?”
Wang Ming smiled and said, “She’s a high school teacher, and her character is pretty good. I plan to get to know her better.”
Lin Chu breathed a sigh of relief. The two chatted for a while longer and soon arrived in the city. Wang Ming dropped her off at the entrance of Guanjin Garden before returning.
Lin Chu struggled forward carrying her luggage when someone suddenly called out from behind, “Lin Chu!”
Lin Chu turned around at the sound and saw Jiang Jin squatting under the streetlight with a bloody gash on his forehead. He patted the tire of the motorcycle next to him and said, “Lend me a hundred yuan. My motorcycle is out of gas and I can’t go anywhere!”
![The Return of The Lord God[quick wear]](https://i2.wp.com/knoxt.space/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/007S8ZIlly1ghl04hyuxyj30hs0owwgu.jpg?resize=85,105 "The Return of The Lord God[quick wear]")
Yani On ABLO Chapter 35