525. Shopping
Lin Nan, who was dozing off, suddenly perked up when she heard her name mentioned. Looking around in confusion, she thought, “What on earth? What does it have to do with me?”
She glanced sideways to find Chen Yao’s face blacker than a thundercloud, and Tu Junhui’s expression wasn’t any better; his round face drooped in disappointment as he mumbled, “I’m heading back to be a pirate; I’ve already got my crew lined up.”
When did this guy start acting so dramatic? Did Xiong Da convince him to watch that anime about pirates?
Seeing Lin Nan still bewildered, Chen Yao realized his girlfriend hadn’t been paying attention when Zheng Qian spoke. He sighed and explained, “Zheng Qian wants you and Tu Junhui to go shopping with him.”
“Shopping?”
“To get stuff for making zongzi!” Chen Yao cursed under his breath, “Clearly, it’s just making us work! Everyone who went bungee jumping got called out— wasn’t Tu Junhui the only one who caused the bungee jumping fuss?”
Out of nearly twenty students who strayed during the trip, only five actually went bungee jumping. Zheng Qian had personally summoned them to do chores.
And that Li Long was the student Lin Nan barely knew, whose name she couldn’t even recall.
“What does that have to do with me? I was the one who suggested bungee jumping!” Tu Junhui complained, “I would’ve jumped, but the staff wouldn’t let me.”
The poor guy felt utterly innocent; after all, it was Lin Nan’s idea, and he was just the messenger!
“Suggested by Lin Nan?” Chen Yao shot a glance at Lin Nan, who still looked confused and innocent, before turning back to Tu Junhui with a smirk, “Heh.”
As if my girlfriend would encourage you, you big fatso! How could she possibly have such schemes up her sleeves?
Just as class was about to end, the dismissal bell rang after Zheng Qian wrapped up what he needed to sort out with the students.
Lin Nan finally pieced together what was happening, heard the bell, and jumped up to make a break for it through the back door.
She couldn’t just wander around; what if she bumped into the interdimensional guests living nearby? What if she got mistaken for a witch and met an untimely end?
Just as she reached for the back door, she spotted Zheng Qian standing there out of nowhere, blocking her exit with an overly cheerful grin, “Where do you think you’re off to? Come shop with me!”
“I have urgent business,” Lin Nan said with a straight face.
“What urgent business could possibly take you to the market?”
Lin Nan furrowed her brows, suddenly clutching her stomach and squatting down while whining, “Ouch, my tummy hurts, I need to rush to the bathroom! I think Tu Tu can go with you just fine.”
She was going to say something about “lady troubles” or how she felt it was about to leak, but that felt too embarrassing.
“Tu Junhui!” Zheng Qian completely ignored her and turned to address Tu Junhui, who was trying to sneak out the front.
With a loud bark, Tu Junhui stiffened, turning around with an awkward grin.
Lin Nan realized the gravity of the situation; it seemed Zheng Qian had no intention of letting them off the hook. So she put away her act and turned back to Chen Yao, rolling her eyes, “Look at how petty our counselor is.”
“He’s always been petty,” Chen Yao nodded in agreement.
Zheng Qian shot them a glare, “Let’s go. Chen Yao, aren’t you going to get to work?”
Reluctantly, Lin Nan and Tu Junhui trailed behind, while Chen Yao fumed his way to the boys’ dormitory.
About a kilometer away from the school’s back gate was a small marketplace where Chen Yao often bought ingredients for cooking for Lin Nan.
Though it was a bit of a trek, Zheng Qian was no wealthy tycoon with a car, so he led the two of them on foot toward the market.
The market was filthy and chaotic; water flowed freely, and most vendors set up shop along the street, with trash strewn about everywhere. Even as Lin Nan approached, she could already smell a strong fishy odor.
Even at six in the evening, the market bustled with vendors selling ingredients. Lin Nan gingerly skipped over a patch of muck, lifting her head to follow Zheng Qian deeper into the chaos.
Honestly, even the market back in her hometown was cleaner than this!
With the Dragon Boat Festival approaching, zongzi leaves appeared on the scene. As they walked further in, Zheng Qian picked through the leaves, hesitating to make an actual purchase.
Having lived in the area for years, he was well-acquainted and sauntered over to a shop selling rice and flour.
Inside, the rice was neatly categorized in transparent plastic bins. Zheng Qian entered, a serious look on his face as he inspected the glutinous rice.
“Boss! This one…”
Zheng Qian plucked two grains of glutinous rice and called out to the shopkeeper, but suddenly Lin Nan spoke up behind him.
“This rice isn’t suitable for making zongzi, is it?” Lin Nan, having lived independently for years, knew a thing or two about everyday items. Leaning in, she wrinkled her nose, “Who uses long-grain rice to make zongzi?”
“Um, that’s not right,” Zheng Qian awkwardly rephrased his previous statement.
He hadn’t expected the seemingly delicate Lin Nan to know this much. He turned, curiosity dancing in his eyes as he glanced at her.
“I think this one looks good,” Lin Nan had already moved on to another type of glutinous rice. “It’s not too expensive and looks fine.”
“Alright, let’s go with that!” Zheng Qian nodded decisively, signaling the shopkeeper, “I’ll take fifty pounds of this rice!”
With over forty people in the class, fifty pounds meant everyone would get just over a pound—enough to make about five zongzi each, which should suffice.
After a quick payment, Zheng Qian grabbed a sufficient amount of zongzi leaves from the same shop. Stepping out with an air of a big boss, he clasped his hands behind his back. Lin Nan grabbed the hefty bundle of leaves and skipped along to join him.
Eager to handle the rice, Tu Junhui noticed they were leaving, froze, and looked down at the massive bag of rice at his feet.
That’s fifty pounds…
He raised his head to see Lin Nan and Zheng Qian getting farther away and quickly grabbed the rice bag, taking a deep breath as he hoisted it up and wobbled forward.
“Lin Nan! Lend me a hand here!”
Hearing the call, Lin Nan turned her head to look at him, “Why are you so fat if you can’t even lift this? It’s so light!”
“That’s fifty pounds, you know!”
Back in middle school, carrying fifty pounds of rice home was a breeze—even if I had to take a break every few steps.
You, a college student weighing over two hundred pounds, can’t even handle fifty pounds?
She thought it over, realizing since she’d become a girl, she might as well take full advantage of being one.
And besides, squeezing Tu Junhui a bit didn’t seem like a bad idea, especially since he’d freeloaded off her plenty back in the dorm.
So, pretending she didn’t hear him, she quickly jogged toward Zheng Qian.
At that moment, Zheng Qian was standing in front of a butcher shop, still a bit dazed, pondering how much and what kind of meat to buy.
When Lin Nan joined him, he simply handed over the shopping responsibility, “You take a look and see what else we should buy.”
After all, his main job was to supervise quality control, making sure the students didn’t buy something that would end up giving them a bellyache in their zongzi!
