NCCnovel Chapter 45 June
Chapter 45 June
The beginning of August coincides with the last day of the sixth lunar month, so the City God Temple has to prepare offerings for the first day of the new year in advance.
"How are you feeling, Xiao Ye? Is it much more tiring than making offerings at home?"
"It's alright, just a bit busy."
Leaning against the red jacaranda tree, Ma Ye wiped the sweat from his chin with a towel on his shoulder.
I spent the whole afternoon working on things, but I wasn't tired. It was just too hot in the kitchen.
The girl, who was lying on the table, lifted her ponytail and let the breeze behind her blow away the fine sweat from her hair.
"Brother, are you sure you can handle this? I see you've started practicing swordsmanship now; you can't just be getting weaker and weaker!"
Zhu Jin was always arranged to set out fruit on the side. The main hall and the surrounding rooms were air-conditioned, and she was quite happy drinking the milk tea she brought with her.
The other staff members inside the City God Temple wouldn't say anything to her, and even installed a wind deflector on the air conditioner so she wouldn't get too cold from the wind.
"If you keep sneaking fruit there, be careful, the City God will punish you."
Zhu Jin popped the peeled orange segments into her mouth with a relaxed expression.
"I'm such a cute little girl, the City God won't be angry just because I ate some offering fruit."
Sweep the orange peels into the trash can; there's already a layer of them inside.
The altar has been cleaned, and all that's left is to set up the offerings and burn incense tomorrow morning.
"Xiao Ye, why don't you two make do here for the night? I have a folding bed in my office."
"No need, I need to go home and prepare for tomorrow. Don't worry, Uncle Sun, we'll definitely be there tomorrow morning!"
Wrap a towel around his neck and pull Zhu Jin, who was lying on the table, up.
The fruit shop should still be open, and the two of them haven't bought any fruit yet.
Just as I stepped out the door, I heard hurried footsteps behind me.
Turning my head, I saw Sun Xu running towards the front door with two envelopes in his hand.
"I was planning to give it to you two this afternoon, but there were too many people in the temple, and they didn't know about the City God's existence."
Here, remember to set up online banking at the bank when you have time.
The two envelopes were addressed to Zhu Jin and Ma Ye respectively, and the hard card inside was quite uncomfortable to hold.
Zhu Jin wasn't afraid of being seen; she simply tore it open from the side, and a bank card fell into her hand.
"Bro, this isn't your salary card, is it?!"
"It should be that you're buying offerings tonight."
"what!"
After dark, there were fewer pedestrians on the road than usual.
The outdoor temperature hasn't dropped yet, and most people won't feel uncomfortable on a night as July approaches.
The area around Qingmutang is full of construction sites, so if you want to buy fruit and offerings, you have to look for shops in nearby residential areas.
The streetlights flickered, and a fruit shop started a clearance sale because its refrigerator compressor was malfunctioning.
"Apple, banana, Xiao Jin, go get six oranges."
"Can I buy ugly oranges? I can still eat them after they're taken down."
"Anyway, it's your money, so you can buy whatever you want."
Zhu Jin pouted and went to the shelf inside to take out six ugly oranges, but after thinking about it, she put them in a bag.
The woman behind the cashier was dozing off, but she jumped up the moment Ma Ye brought in the fruit from the discount shelf by the door.
Do you...do you have a membership card?
The girl seemed a little uneasy after waking up; it's unclear what she was dreaming about.
Ma Ye glanced at her name tag: Li Qianqian, not a very good name.
No, ask her to pay.
She dodged backward, giving Zhu Jin the space to scan the QR code.
"Brother, you're really making me pay?"
"Since you already have a salary, consider it a tribute to the Three Pure Ones and your master and mistress."
Reluctantly opening the payment code, Zhu Jin stood in front of the counter waiting to pay.
Despite being a fortune teller who had never learned physiognomy since childhood, Ma Ye still managed to discern a clue from Li Qianqian's face.
Her ears were as thin as paper, her nose was small, thin, and sunken inwards, and her red hair must have been newly dyed, as the roots weren't even black.
But the shirt underneath the apron is made of very fine fabric; it's not the kind of outfit someone of this poor appearance could afford.
The palm was thin and slender, but the jade bracelet on the wrist was warm and smooth. If Ma Ye hadn't studied luxury goods appreciation in school, he would have thought it was made of glass.
"Could you please put it in another bag? We still have a while to go, and we don't want it to leak halfway through."
"Okay, this cloth bag is very sturdy."
"Thank you, miss."
Zhu Jin, who had just paid for the three kinds of fruit and was about to leave, was grabbed by Li Qianqian's wrist when Li Qianqian grabbed her wrist.
"Miss, the cloth bag is two yuan."
"What? And it's a paid service!"
The last vestige of joy from receiving a salary vanished without a trace after the "ding."
It wasn't because Ma Ye asked her to spend money; it was mainly because they had plenty of those tattered bags at home!
The night in Jinchuan City was a bit stuffy. The cicadas chirping in the trees made Zhu Jin grit her teeth. She picked up a brick from the ground and threw it, startling countless birds into flight.
Ma Ye was holding a steamed bun, and Zhu Jin was still paying for it.
"Brother, is your birthday coming up soon?"
"It's still a long way off, a month from now."
"I'll buy you a new outfit this year. You've been wearing this tattered short-sleeved shirt for the past two years."
Upon hearing this, Ma Ye also glanced down at himself.
This shirt was from a link my roommate shared; two for 29.9 yuan each, and it was pure cotton.
It's just that after washing for a long time, the fabric became a bit thinner, and I didn't notice any holes.
"Can't you buy me something more expensive? The store is short of a computer, and we're waiting for you to buy it for us."
"Get lost! I only make five thousand yuan a month, not fifty million!"
"Two jobs have been done recently, isn't that enough to buy you a computer?"
"It's enough, but if you buy it, wouldn't that save me money?"
A drop of sweat trickled down her brow and into Zhu Jin's eye. Unable to contain her anger any longer, she closed her eyes and kicked Ma Ye.
Fortunately, Ma Ye reacted quickly and picked up the steamed bun in his hand, so he didn't have to go back to buy it.
Feeling no weight on her feet, Zhu Jin rubbed her eyes and charged towards Ma Ye.
Using both hands and feet, he hooked Ma Ye up onto his back and bit down on his ear.
"It hurts! It's so loose!"
Little Tiger Tooth almost pierced Ma Ye's ear, and Zhu Jin only stopped talking when she felt relieved.
"Pooh!"
With an extremely salty taste in her mouth, Zhu Jin spat fiercely onto the manhole cover beside her, tightened her grip on the bag in her hand, and prepared to throw it at Ma Ye.
But remembering that he had paid for the fruit inside, he stopped what he was doing.
"Take it!"
"What's wrong? Are you tired?"
Zhu Jin took out her bank card from her pocket and then downloaded the relevant app on her phone.
The one above is Ma Ye's. After a series of facial recognition scans, a number that doesn't start with 5 quickly appeared.
Standing there, Zhu Jin couldn't help but scratch her head. She remembered that Wen Liang had said before that their combined salary was five thousand yuan.
How come it's less than four thousand!
Ma Ye, who was standing nearby, also came over, not particularly surprised by the numbers on the screen.
"Xiao Jin, don't you know that the adult world has things like social insurance and housing fund?"
"What the heck?"
Fearing that her salary would also be drastically reduced, Zhu Jin quickly entered her bank card number.
Fortunately, she is still an intern, and the five thousand yuan is quietly lying in her balance.
"I was terrified! I thought that was all the salary I was making."
"What does 'dot' mean? There are quite a few of these!"
We'll just go for a visit on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month; consider it a perk the City God gives us.
Suddenly realizing that her student status could bring her some advantages, Zhu Jin grabbed the fruit bag and skipped towards the entrance of Qingmu Hall.
Suddenly a breeze blew by, and the sturdy cloth bag in Li Qianqian's mouth was quickly torn open.
In addition, Zhu Jin's unsteady gait caused the wound to widen further.
When the two of them came to their senses, the ugly orange and the apple were rolling freely on the ground.
"No! My money!"