Qiong Dafang really couldn"t find a dime at home. He thought about it carefully, but he couldn"t figure out where he spent his money.
When he ate with his colleagues, he paid the bill. When he helped others to buy milk tea, he did not asked for money. When he walked past the subway and saw an old man begging, he gave some big dollar notes… with that many instances… anyway, he could no longer be generous and was just poor.
What was he going to do now?
347 yuan, no, now it was 337 yuan. This huge sum, Zhen Xiaoqi definitely would not let him off.
Thinking of how Zhen Xiaoqi would be like a spirit that would pester him to no end, Qiong Dafang was terrified.
As expected, a week had yet to pa.s.s, Zhen Xiaoqi came to his door with teary eyes.
Qiong Dafang used the cup noodles to cover his face. "Xiaoqi ah, it is not that I do not want to pay you back… wait for me…"
"Wa…" Zhen Xiaoqi did not wait for him to finish talking and wailed. "What is wrong with me? Am I not just a little bit more frugal? Why must everyone laugh at me?"
Looking at the nose covered with snot and tears, Qiong Dafang reluctantly put the noodles down and asked him, "What happened again? Who bullied you?"
Zhen Xiaoqi cried while complaining, "They talked bad about me in front of a new colleague! Said that I am shabby and stingy!"
While listening to Zhen Xiaoqi, Qiong Dafang opened a cup of Master Kong braised beef noodles, added a ham sausage, poured hot water and placed it before Zhen Xiaoqi.
"Why did they talk about you to the newcomer?"
Zhen Xiaoqi did not say a word. His teary eyes looked everywhere but just not at Qiong Dafang.
Qiong Dafang slurped the noodles, and asked in a vague voice, "Is your new colleague a man?"
Zhen Xiaoqi did not answer.
"Is he good-looking?"
Zhen Xiaoqi touched the cup noodles before him, picked up the fork and prepared to eat the instant noodles.
"Did you do something weird again?"
"I didn"t do anything weird!" Zhen Xiaoqi angrily stabbed the fork into the cup noodles, and his voice got louder. "I want to date, what"s wrong? I am already 26 years old. I want to pursue someone, what"s the problem?"
"No, no." Qiong Dafang buried his face in the noodles, his voice was stuffy. "Then you pursue him well ah, don"t be reluctant to spend money every time."
Zhen Xiaoqi glared at him. "Then should I be like you? Like someone and you will buy them anything they want? And then you have to hide at home and eat instant noodles? Eat a month of plain porridge?"
Qiong Dafang got angry too. He lifted his head and lashed out at Zhen Xiaoqi. "Can you stop bringing up old debts everytime? How long ago was that? You still remember what happened in university? Then why don"t you remember what happened in high school, in order to buy you a birthday present, I ate pickled mustard for a month ?"
"Yes, you ate pickled mustard for a month, and finally bought me a page, but in a few month time, pagers became obsolete!"
"So could I afford to buy a mobile phone?"
"Then can you afford it now? You still owe me 337 yuan!"
Qiong Dafang was so infuriated his liver hurt. He angrily smacked the table. "Isnt it just 337 yuan? I don"t have money, paying with my body will it work? Don"t you just want to date someone? From tomorrow onwards, I will fetch you from work!"
"What?" Zhen Xiaoqi was shocked. "I spent 337 yuan to date you? Do you think it is that easy? All the people I chased, adding up all that I spent and it is not even 300 yuan!"
Qiong Dafang felt that he was already bleeding internally. He pointed at Zhen Xiaoqi"s instant noodles to change the subject. "The noodles are soggy."
"Aiya!" Zhen Xiaoqi lifted the lid, heart achingly looked at the noodles that were all soggy but he still picked up the fork to eat.
"I realized that the soggy noodles can be filling, one cup would be enough to fill two cups. Next time when we eat, just make one cup will do."
Qiong Dafang felt like he had died.
He got angered to death by Zhen Xiaoqi.
Zhen Xiaoqi rejected Qiong Dafang"s suggestion and even expressed strong condemnation and protest against his attempted reconciliation.
Before he left, he did not forget to remind Qiong Dafang, "Do not get strange ideas. Remember to pay me once you get your salary."
"I know." Qiong Dafang promised him tiredly, he did not even have the mood to send him to the door.
He looked at the two cup of noodles on the table. He remembered that those were his rations.He did not know how he was going to survive in the coming week. Qiong Dafang laid down on the sofa and took his phone.
The next day, Qiong Dafang who wanted to borrow money from his colleagues, could not open his mouth in the end. He held his rumbling tummy and walked into the toilet miserably to call Zhen Xiaoqi. "Xiaoqi ah, hey hey, today I will go pick you up from work okay?"
Zhen Xiaoqi was facing a bunch of reports, pressing the calculator really quickly and when he heard Qiong Dafang"s nonsense, he immediately stopped. "What are you up to? I told you to not think about using yourself to repay the debt."
"You are thinking too much. It is just on the way. I rode an electric scooter to work today. If I pick you up, aren"t I helping you to save 2 yuan of bus fares?" Qiong Dafang was already weak from being hungry, his voice softer than usual.
Zhen Xiaoqi pushed his gla.s.ses up his nose and calmly replied, "It is 3 yuan and 20 cents."
"What?"
"Going back to my place would be 4 yuan by coins. I topped up by transport card so it would be 3 yuan and 20 cents." Zhen Xiaoqi placed down the report in his hand. "But there is no need. I cycled to work."
When Qiong Dafang heard the sound of call being hung up, a"beep-" sound, his heart was desolate. Didn"t he just want to have a meal? How was it so difficult!
Just when Qiong Dafang felt like he was about to faint from hunger as he returned to his work cubicle, his phone rang and it was the ringtone he used specially for Zhen Xiaoqi. "G.o.d of Wealth is here, G.o.d of Wealth is here…"
The moment Qiong Dafang picked up, he heard Zhen Xiaoqi say, "You come and pick me up after work. I just remembered I have to be at the mart by 6pm. It is too slow to go by bicycle."
"Sure!" Qiong Dafang immediately agreed. "Then I will send you home and have dinner at your place."
Zhen Xiaoqi got off from work. The moment he exited the building, he saw Qiong Dafang. He had casually parked at the building"s entrance. His entire body was leaning against the handlebars of the electric scooter with one foot firmly on the ground.
Under the watchful gazes of a group of colleagues, Zhen Xiaoqi slowly walked towards Qiong Dafang and poked his shoulder. "Hey, did you wait long?"
Qiong Dafang was already so hungry that he barely had any strength left. He used the last bit of strength remaining to say. "Let"s quickly go."
At this time, someone walked past them and suddenly stopped. He looked at Qiong Dafang weirdly as he smiled at Zhen Xiaoqi. "Zhen Xiaoqi, is this your friend?"
Zhen Xiaoqi was like a cat that had its tail stepped on. His hairs were all standing up and he hugged Qiong Dafang"s arm forcefully while smiling proudly at the other person. "That"s right, my friend, Qiong Dafang."
That person laughed with a "pfft" sound. "Dafang, hahaha, well done. Just from the name and I can tell you guys are compatible." He waved at both of them. "Then I will go first."
When the person walked far away, Qiong Dafang hurriedly removed Zhen Xiaoqi"s hand. "Pain, pain pain! You pinched me so painfully. Who was that?"
Zhen Xiaoqi looked at the man"s back. "I told you before, he is called Han Bai."
"He is that Han Bai?" Qiong Dafang was not hungry for a moment, and straightened his waist: "I see that he is just so-so."
He examined at Zhen Xiaoqi"s expression, and reminded him lightly, "You even bought 2 bottles of beer because of him, drown your sorrows in alcohol, how much did you spend?"
Zhen Xiaoqi was a little melancholic. "6 yuan and 60 cents. You say, if I had really invited him to a cinema for a movie that day, is there a chance he would be my boyfriend now?"
"Hey, two movie tickets would cost at least 70 yuan. And if you buy popcorn and drinks, it would cost a total of about 100 yuan." Qiong Dafang was looking down and criticising. In his heart, he was thinking what was so good about that guy that Zhen Xiaoqi would actually think about spending money on him!
He has known Zhen Xiaoqi for ten over years. He could use one hand to count the number of times Zhen Xiaoqi has treated him to a drink!
Qiong Dafang felt the treatment was not unfair and his heart felt sour, and was extremely uncomfortable. He decided that for this entire week he would go to Zhen Xiaoqi"s house to eat. And everyday fetched Zhen Xiaoqi to the supermarket to s.n.a.t.c.h the discounted eggs from those experienced old ladies.