Chapter 54: Come and stay with us
When lunch break came, a colleague came over to call Wang Qiang to go eat together.
Wang Qiang touched his soft, pudgy belly and firmly refused: "I'm not eating. I'm starting my diet from today."
He couldn't afford to get any fatter. He had to work hard, he had to rise to the top and become a phoenix.
What if he got too heavy and broke the branch he was perching on?
His colleague was shocked: "What's gotten into you? Why do you suddenly want to lose weight? Chubby guys are adorable!"
Wang Qiang shook his head: "You don't get it. The opportunity of a lifetime has come for me! I have to seize it!"
His colleague became instantly curious: "What's up? Are you falling in love? Does she not like chubby guys?"
Wang Qiang sneered. Falling in love? How boring!
He vaguely boasted to his colleague that he had made some really awesome friends and would soon become awesome himself.
His colleague couldn't help frowning: "You're not talking about those two who just borrowed two hundred bucks from you, are you?"
He had just asked his colleague to exchange some money, and the colleague casually asked about it.
He didn't hide it and told his colleague he was helping out a friend in need.
Now, as soon as he mentioned it, his colleague immediately connected it to those two hundred bucks.
Wang Qiang hesitated and nodded: "Yeah, why?"
His colleague said with disappointment: "Are you stupid? Someone who can't even scrape together two hundred bucks—what kind of future do they have? You've been scammed!"
"Really? That can't be..."
Wang Qiang couldn't believe it. Last time, Han Mo and the others had flashed a black card when buying a BYD car!
His colleague sneered: "A black card to buy a BYD? Use your brain—does that make any sense?"
It didn't seem quite right...
"You've definitely been scammed!"
His colleague quickly asked him: "You didn't lend them anything else, did you? Forget the two hundred—they didn't take your phone or anything, did they?"
Wang Qiang's tears nearly fell: "I lent them my phone, I lent them my e-bike, I even lent them my food delivery account..."
His colleague was speechless: "Did a donkey kick your head? You lend all that to people you don't even know? Since when are you this generous with me?"
Wang Qiang said aggrievedly: "But she said we're friends... She wouldn't trick me, would she?"
Never mind He Huanhuan—Han Mo looked so trustworthy. He wouldn't deceive him, would he?
Would he?
An e-bike cost over four thousand—he couldn't afford to lose that!
His colleague was exasperated: "These days, only scammers make friends with strangers. Get a clue!"
After his colleague's warning, Wang Qiang grew extremely anxious.
The spare phone and the e-bike together were worth over four thousand!
That was almost two months of his salary. His base pay was only three thousand, and that was before taxes...
The whole afternoon, he couldn't do a thing.
He stood at the doorway, staring longingly into the distance, hoping to see his beloved e-bike being brought back.
But nothing. By the time it got dark and his shift was over, he still hadn't seen anyone.
His colleague got on his own e-bike and said helplessly: "Want me to give you a ride? After payday, you can buy a used e-bike from someone."
Wang Qiang stubbornly shook his head: "I'll wait a bit longer. You go ahead."
His colleague was speechless: "Your place is a two-hour walk from here! Don't you have work tomorrow?"
The area where they lived was remote, and there were no buses at this hour.
What was he even waiting for? Those two were definitely scammers!
What part-time job? As far as he was concerned, it was all nonsense.
Two people that good-looking needed to work part-time?
With their looks, they could make money any way they wanted.
They were scammers!
But no matter how much he tried to persuade him, Wang Qiang insisted on waiting there.
His colleague stayed with him for an hour and then had no choice but to leave.
His girlfriend was waiting for him at home!
Once his colleague was gone, Wang Qiang was left alone.
The pitiful little Fatty crouched on the ground, motionless, muttering to himself: "You've got to come back. Please don't trick me..."
He had never been this kind to anyone in his whole life. He hoped they wouldn't let him down.
But as time passed, his heart grew heavier and heavier.
Until...
"Little Fatty! Are you still there?"
He Huanhuan's loud voice suddenly rang out in the night. Wang Qiang jumped up excitedly: "I'm here! I'm here! I've been waiting for you all along!"
Then came He Huanhuan's annoyed voice: "Why didn't you say your e-bike was out of juice?! I pushed it the whole damn way!"
Uh...
Wang Qiang felt embarrassed: "I bought it secondhand... The battery really isn't that great anymore..."
"Why didn't you say so!"
She and Han Mo had never delivered food before. They spent the better part of an hour just figuring out how to take orders and make deliveries.
They completed one order first and earned five bucks.
Then they took another order that was farther away, earning twelve bucks.
After that, the e-bike ran out of battery. When they checked their phones, they found it was a three-hour walk away...
She tried to quick-charge the bike, but the charging station only took mobile payments.
Wang Qiang's spare phone had zero balance.
So the two of them had to push the bike all the way back, huffing and puffing. By the time it got dark, they were still halfway there.
He Huanhuan jumped up and smacked Wang Qiang on the head: "Why didn't you charge the e-bike!"
Wang Qiang scratched his head guiltily: "I forgot..."
He only rode it to and from work every day, so it never occurred to him to charge it daily.
He had planned to charge it after work today, but when He Huanhuan suddenly asked to borrow it, he got so excited that he forgot.
Now, with the e-bike completely dead, he had no way to get home.
He Huanhuan asked him: "Where do you live? How far is it from here?"
Wang Qiang: "Not too far—just a two-hour walk."
He Huanhuan looked at the pitch-black night and waved her hand: "It's too far for that. You're coming home with us for the night."
Han Mo frowned. Their place—did they have the conditions to host someone?
Oh, they did!
You just wipe down the concrete floor, and that's good enough to sleep on!
Wang Qiang had no idea that "coming home" meant sleeping on concrete. He asked He Huanhuan excitedly: "Really? Can I?"
They had just met—was it okay to crash at their place already?
They hadn't even talked much, hadn't discussed their families or their heartbreaks.
Wasn't this moving a little too fast?
He Huanhuan rolled her eyes at him: "What, are you dating or something? Hurry up and park the bike. We're going home!"
"Okay!"
Wang Qiang scurried off to park his e-bike.
Han Mo leaned in close and asked her: "Is our place really suitable for him?"
He Huanhuan blinked her big, innocent eyes: "Why wouldn't it be?"
It was just one night—what was the big deal?
She could tell just by looking at Wang Qiang that the little Fatty was like her—a kid from a poor family.
Clothes that didn't fit, a phone that cost a few hundred bucks.
So young but already changing jobs countless times.
People who didn't know him might think he was unreliable, never sticking with one job for long.
But the truth was, he was so young his brain hadn't fully developed yet before he had to start working to support his family.
This was what happened to kids without families to fall back on. Most of the time, they were completely muddleheaded.
Because they had no time to think, no time to learn.
They just had to earn money—money earned through hard, grueling work.