The old man glared angrily.
"You, you..."
Hua Qingqing remained gentle and polite. "Sir, you have one more minute to make a decision. I never joke. Do you want to take out five yuan, or should I go to your grandson's school later? It's up to you."
The old man's face grew increasingly ugly. Finally, he took out five yuan and threw it on the ground, then left with the schoolbag.
Guang Bai picked up the money from the ground, dusted it off, and put it in her bag.
She let out a loud snort towards the old man's back.
"It's so excessive! I think he did it on purpose just now. He clearly wanted to soil the schoolbag so that we'd sell it to him at a lower price. How could there be such a person!"
"Qingqing, you're really amazing. You got him so angry and made him leave with just a few words."
Hua Qingqing shook her head. "It's easy to deal with this kind of person. If he acts like a hooligan, we can act like one too. Let's see who's more of a hooligan."
"But don't be so impulsive next time. If we really got into a fight and he just lay on the ground, we might have to pay all the money we earned today. Even if we were right, we'd end up being wrong. Don't underestimate human nature. A bad person remains bad even when they get old."
Guang Bai nodded in deep agreement.
"My brother always says I'm too impulsive. I didn't really care before, but now I've learned my lesson."
Seeing that there were still more than a dozen schoolbags left, Hua Qingqing asked Guang Bai if she could watch the stall alone.
"Sure! It's just watching a stall. I'm even a year older than you!"
Hua Qingqing then left with confidence.
She had just seen a few girls come over with books to look at the schoolbags. When she casually asked, she found out that there was a bookstore up ahead.
It was just nearby, so she could go and take a look.
It had been over a month since she came here, and Hua Qingqing felt a bit uneasy for not having read any books.
Her exam results were already out. Principal Song had called her specifically to tell her that she was the first in the whole of Nan County. The school, the commune, and even the county had prepared bonuses for her. She just had to go to the school to collect them later.
The capital really lived up to its reputation. Even the bookstore was beautifully decorated. Hua Qingqing had been to book stalls and small bookstores in Nan County, but they were only about one-tenth the size of this Xinhua Bookstore in the capital.
Hua Qingqing walked in and asked the bookstore staff if they had any exercise books or test papers for senior high school students. The staff member immediately understood.
"This is our second-hand book corner. There are a lot of newly arrived books here. Some were sold after the college entrance examination. You're really lucky. They haven't been taken away yet."
Hua Qingqing also thought she was lucky.
Look what she saw!
It was a stack of test papers!
The papers were densely filled with words. It was obvious that the student's grades were average. Although the questions were all answered, the correct answer rate was not high. Fortunately, the specific questions were still legible. The student had even clearly written the corrected answers beside them.
What a good student, a good kid.
It was really difficult to find practice questions at this time, so Hua Qingqing immediately picked up this stack of test papers.
She'd ask Hua Jia later. But this cheap father was always preoccupied with work. If she asked him directly, he might just agree verbally but forget about it later.
Hey, she could ask Aunt Wu!
She was a high school teacher!
...
"Excuse me, ma'am. I saw this book first. If you want to read it, you can wait for the next time."
"Comrade, we can read it together. I read very fast. I'll give it to you as soon as I'm done. Which work unit are you from?"
"I don't really like this way of reading. I borrowed this book first, ma'am. You have to queue up. Cutting in line is impolite."
"... You, you're so rude!"
Just as Hua Qingqing walked to the classic literature section, she heard a familiar voice.
That way of speaking that was so blunt. Immediately, a handsome face came to her mind.
No way?
Could it really be this coincidental?
She peeked out from behind the bookshelf and just saw a girl angrily put the book down and leave. The upright man hesitated for a moment and then picked up the book.
"... Why is she still angry?"
Guan Ciying was confused.
Then he turned around and saw a pair of big, hard - to - read eyes staring at him.
He was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward in surprise. "It's you!"
"What a coincidence. We're so fated to meet here!"
Hua Qingqing just let out a soft "hmm".
This guy was really handsome, but his EQ was zero.
The girl just now clearly wanted to ask him out, but this guy didn't even notice.
Hua Qingqing picked up a few books. Immediately, the man beside her took them.
"... These are my books. What are you doing?"
Guan Ciying smiled slightly, showing his white teeth. "It's what a gentleman should do to serve a lady."
A gentleman?!
You have a serious misunderstanding of yourself... Hua Qingqing swallowed back this thought.
"Thank you. Sorry to trouble you."
Guan Ciying shook his head repeatedly. "It's not a trouble. You saved me at the train station before. This is what I should do."
"What's your name? My surname is Guan, Guan Ciying."
"You said last time that you'd tell me your name when we met again."
Hua Qingqing was really annoyed by him.
Wasn't this guy quite cold before? Why was he like a chatterbox now?
"Shh. Save your words until we get out. This is a bookstore."
The girl's slender finger gently touched her lips, and her eyebrows frowned slightly. She looked a bit unhappy.
Guan Ciying was stunned by this scene. His fair face inexplicably turned red. He just let out a soft "hmm".
Hua Qingqing took a few more glances.
"..."
What's with this bashful look? He looked quite handsome with his blushing face.
When it was time to pay for the books, Guan Ciying wanted to pay, but Hua Qingqing's look made him stand still.
So cool.
This female hero was not only extremely smart but also had such an amazing aura.
Guan Ciying secretly touched his heart.
It was about to jump out.
"Let me treat you to a meal, lady. You helped me a lot last time."
Hua Qingqing took back her books and said casually, "It was just a small effort. We're not really familiar. I can't just have a meal with you because you're good - looking. Let's leave it to fate. If we meet again, I'll treat you."
Seeing that she was about to leave, Guan Ciying chased after her and asked, "You still haven't told me your name."
He was really persistent.
Looking at the man's bright eyes, Hua Qingqing couldn't bear to refuse.
"Hua Qingqing. See you again."
Then she left without looking back.
The handsome guy was left standing there, waving his hand dejectedly.
When she got back to the stall, she found that Guang Bai had sold most of the remaining schoolbags. There were only three left. Considering that they had had a good business today, Hua Qingqing suggested going back first and selling the rest tomorrow. They'd move the stall to the opposite of the library tomorrow. Since the Children's Palace was also nearby, she was sure they could sell all the schoolbags.
Hua Qingqing had bought several books, so she simply took a schoolbag to put the books in.
Before leaving, she handed the money from the sold schoolbags to Guang Bai.
"We sold sixty - seven schoolbags today. Here's thirty - three yuan and fifty cents for you. As for your brother's share, I'll calculate how many we sold and give you the commission tomorrow."
Guang Bai nodded quickly.
This job was really great! It was much more fun than selling pants!
She had earned thirty - three yuan and fifty cents in one day. That was almost as much as what those who ate commercial grain earned.