Chapter 217: Speak Human to Humans, Ghost to Ghosts
Chapter 217: Chapter 217: Speak Human to Humans, Ghost to Ghosts
In the morning, Jiang Moli rode her bike out as usual and met up with Qian Ling at the intersection one street over.
She casually handed Qian Ling a paper bag from her bike’s basket. "Here."
Qian Ling took it, puzzled. "What’s this?"
"A present. Happy birthday."
Qian Ling opened the paper bag and was pleasantly surprised to find several bundles of fine, orange-yellow wool yarn.
"I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I just got you some yarn. It’s getting cold. When you have time, you can knit yourself a sweater and stay warm all winter."
More than the fluffy balls of yarn, it was Jiang Moli’s thoughtfulness that warmed Qian Ling’s heart.
Just the other day, she had casually mentioned to Jiang Moli that she wanted to buy yarn for a new sweater. She never expected Moli to remember, let alone pick out her favorite color.
It was clear that a lot of thought had gone into this gift.
...
When they arrived at the art troupe, they happened to see Hou Yuzhu getting out of a Soviet car.
In those days, import and export trade was strictly controlled, making Soviet cars one of the few foreign brands available on the domestic market.
Jiang Moli instinctively glanced at the man in the driver’s seat.
’After all, gossip is in a woman’s nature.’
The man looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, with his hair parted to the side, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a grayish-brown suit jacket. He had the look of a rich playboy.
"Jiang Moli, why did you leave yesterday without waiting for me to get back? You were messing with me on purpose, weren’t you?"
Facing the accusatory Hou Yuzhu, Jiang Moli just smiled sweetly. "It was already after work. I figured you weren’t coming back, so I didn’t wait. Oops, my bad. How about you buy me another skewer today? I really do like those sugar oil balls."
Hou Yuzhu was furious.
Seeing his girlfriend getting upset, Fang Qihong got out of the car to back her up. "So it was you who made my Zhuzhu run around for nothing yesterday?"
Jiang Moli said, "You call her Zhuzhu? Is it because she looks like a pig?"
Fang Qihong was enraged. "It’s Zhuzhu, as in the ’zhu’ for ’pearl’! Do you have any class?!"
Jiang Moli looked at him. "Hey, you weren’t born in the year of the Monkey, were you?"
Fang Qihong’s face was cold. "What I was born under is none of your business."
Jiang Moli laid out her reasoning. "Her name is Hou Yuzhu. ’Hou’ sounds like ’monkey,’ and you call her ’Zhuzhu,’ which sounds like ’piggy.’ It’s like ’monkey meets piggy.’ It must mean her fated love is someone born in the year of the Monkey."
Fang Qihong was so angry he could only glare.
Seeing that no Disdain Value was being credited to her account, Jiang Moli couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words. She gave a wave and entered the art troupe building.
Fang Qihong comforted Hou Yuzhu. "Zhuzhu, don’t be angry. There’s no need to stoop to the level of someone so unreasonable and annoying..."
Hou Yuzhu snapped, "Don’t call me Zhuzhu anymore!"
"Then what should I call you? Yuzhu?"
’Meet pig. Monkey meets pig.’
Hou Yuzhu felt like she was going crazy!
For the first time in her life, she hated her own name, and it was all because of that bitch, Jiang Moli!
...
That evening, Qian Ling treated Jiang Moli to dinner at the Railway Restaurant.
The Railway Restaurant used to be an employee cafeteria and had only been converted into a proper restaurant at the beginning of the year. It was known for being affordable and offering great value.
The restaurant was quite busy. If Qian Ling hadn’t reserved a table in advance, they might not have gotten a seat.
Eating with them was a good friend of Qian Ling’s, a young woman named Chu Shan, who was a train attendant.
On the second floor of the restaurant, Fang Qihong stood by the railing, staring down with a dark expression at the trio of Jiang Moli and her friends in the main hall.
"Qihong, what are you looking at? All the dishes are here. We’re just waiting on you."
"Just saw a bitch with a nasty mouth. She pissed off my Zhuzhu so much that she wouldn’t even come out to eat with me. The next chance I get, I swear I’ll teach her a lesson."
Chen Zhiyuan followed his gaze down to the first floor and was surprised to see Jiang Moli. "Her? That’s Jiang Moli!"
Fang Qihong was surprised. "You know her?"
"Ha, we were classmates in middle school. She’s just a gold digger who looks down on the poor. Just wait, I’ll get some revenge for you tonight."
...
After ordering the food, Qian Ling excitedly asked Jiang Moli and Chu Shan, "Should we get some drinks?"
Jiang Moli rested her chin on her hand and smiled. "Sure, I’m good with whatever."
Chu Shan waved her hand. "I can’t. I have to be up early for the morning shift tomorrow. You guys go ahead."
Qian Ling said to Jiang Moli, "Then let’s get a bottle of beer for the two of us."
Just as Jiang Moli was about to agree, a mocking voice came from behind them. "How boring is it for two women to drink alone?"
Recognizing Fang Qihong, Qian Ling grew nervous.
Fang Qihong’s face was grim; he clearly wasn’t there to be friendly.
"Jiang Moli, it’s been a few years. You’ve gotten a bit prettier. No wonder you managed to get into the art troupe."
Jiang Moli looked at him. "Sorry, I have face blindness. I can never remember the faces of ugly people."
Chen Zhiyuan’s expression chilled. He sneered, "Your mouth is as nasty as ever."
Jiang Moli sighed. "I’m just the kind of person who speaks to humans like a human and to ghosts like a ghost. When I see a scumbag, I just can’t help but talk trash. It’s a real problem for me."
"You!" Chen Zhiyuan was livid.
Disdain Value +1. 10,000 yuan credited to account.
Seeing Chen Zhiyuan get shut down by Jiang Moli gave Fang Qihong a strange sense of balance.
From a psychological perspective, this is called cognitive contrast.
When you’re having a bad time, seeing someone else go through the same misfortune makes you feel balanced and even relieved.
Annoyed as he was, Chen Zhiyuan hadn’t forgotten his goal. "Vice Yang of your art troupe is a good friend of my older sister. They just had dinner together a couple of days ago. How about this: you come up to our private room for a round of drinks, and the next time I have dinner with Vice Yang, I’ll bring you along. I’ll give you a chance to make a good impression on her. What do you say?"
"Really?"
Seeing Jiang Moli’s seemingly overjoyed and greedy expression, Chen Zhiyuan shot a triumphant look at Fang Qihong.
’See? She’s taking the bait.’
Fang Qihong felt a flicker of excitement as well.
’Jiang Moli’s mouth might be annoying, but she was genuinely good-looking, especially with that slender little waist. She was practically begging for it.’
’If we get her drunk later, we might even get to have some fun with her.’
"What a coincidence! I know Vice Yang, too. We just had lunch together today. How about I give her a call right now and ask her to come join us for a drink?"
With that, she headed for the restaurant’s counter, picked up the phone, and started dialing.
Chen Zhiyuan never expected Jiang Moli to pull a stunt like this. He hurried forward and snatched the phone from her.
"It’s all guys in our room upstairs. It wouldn’t be appropriate to have Vice Yang come over. Let’s do it some other time."
After saying that, he slammed the phone down and pulled Fang Qihong back upstairs.
Watching their hasty retreat, Jiang Moli returned to her seat with a slight smirk.
Qian Ling and Chu Shan both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Forget it, let’s not drink after all. Let’s just eat and go home."
Qian Ling said to Jiang Moli, clearly worried that Chen Zhiyuan and Fang Qihong would come back down to bother them.
Jiang Moli agreed.
’Even though Chen Zhiyuan was a cowardly poser, who knew what kind of irrational things he might do after drinking too much.’
So, after finishing their meal, the three of them went their separate ways home.
...
At the crack of dawn, a dozen or so elderly men and women were practicing Tai Chi in an open area of People’s Park.
Seeing Jiang Moli walking toward them, one of the old ladies quickly said to her companion:
"Look, that annoying girl is here again!"
When she saw the elderly men and women looking her way, Jiang Moli smiled and waved. "Good morning!"
Not a single one of them responded. Every one of them looked at her with undisguised disdain.