The man looked like he was in his twenties. He was quite tall, about 1.8 meters. His skin had a healthy tan, and his face looked like it was carefully shaped. Even though he was just wearing casual clothes, he made them look expensive, like they were made just for him. He was holding a box, and no one knew what it was for. He stood next to Jowed.
These days, do people really offer their seats just because someone looks good?
The man was a little surprised by the offer. After a short pause, his face went back to calm. His voice was flat as he said, "No need, thank you."
His voice was deep and smooth. It sounded very nice and made people feel comfortable.
The girl didn't give up. She said again, "That box looks heavy. Do you want me to help you carry it?"
The man shook his head. "No, I can carry it."
As he spoke, he moved the box behind him a bit, without thinking. It was clear he cared a lot about what was inside.
The girl didn't notice this small action. She clearly just wanted to start a conversation with the handsome man. She suddenly stood up and smiled. "Don't be so polite. Come on, let me help you."
She started walking toward him.
Sometimes women can act worse than men when they're trying to flirt.
Jowed was drinking water. When the girl walked past her, she didn't try to move out of the way and bumped into Jowed's hand. The water bottle fell and spilled everywhere.
The girl didn't notice and kept reaching for the man's box. The man stepped back and his voice turned cold. "Move. Don't touch it."
"Hey." Jowed got angry and stood up. "You knocked over my water."
The girl turned around and said without care, "So what? It's just a bottle of water. I'll pay you for it."
Jowed saw her rude attitude and got even more upset. "I don't want money. I want my water."
Jowed was not someone who backed down easily. She knew she was right and didn't want to let it go. If the girl had just apologized, she wouldn't have said more. But now, the more rude the girl acted, the more Jowed didn't want to lose.
While they argued, the man turned and walked away. He went to stand further away. He didn't want to be part of the problem. Other passengers nearby also moved away.
It was clear that people could see both of these girls were not easy to deal with.
As they were still arguing, the train stopped and more people came in.
An old woman passed by them. Jowed stopped the argument. She didn't want the old woman to slip and fall because of the water. She planned to clean the floor first, let the woman sit, and then continue the fight.
Suddenly, the girl stepped forward and stopped the old woman. She said, "Granny, wait, the floor is dirty."
She took a tissue from her bag, wiped the water on the floor, and threw the paper in the trash.
"Granny, you can sit here," she said, pointing to her own seat and helping the old woman sit down.
The old woman thanked her many times. The girl just smiled and went to stand.
Seeing this, Jowed started to think the girl was not too bad. Her temper was strong, but she still had a kind heart.
"Forget it. I don't need you to pay for the water," Jowed said and sat back down.
"What? You don't think I can pay?" the girl raised her eyebrow. "I'm going to pay you back. Which station are you getting off at? I'll get off too and buy your water."
Jowed stayed quiet.
Did this girl really have to go against everything she said?
Jowed was getting off at the next stop. She didn't answer the girl. When the train stopped, she just got off. She thought the girl was just talking and wouldn't really follow. But when she turned to look, the girl had followed her out.
Jowed felt a bit annoyed. Did she have to take this so seriously?
"Hey, you're going to get off and get back on? Isn't that too much trouble?" Jowed stood and waited for her. "I wasn't serious about you paying me."
The girl crossed her arms and said confidently, "I'm not getting back on. This is my stop too. Come on, I'm buying you water. And my name isn't 'hey.' I'm Carol."
"I'm Jowed," she replied. "I've never met someone who takes things this seriously."
Carol gave a proud smile. "Then today is your unlucky day."
At the subway exit, there was a vending machine. Carol bought a bottle of water and gave it to Jowed. "Now we're even."
Jowed was just about to say something when she heard someone shouting in the distance. "Stop right there."
She turned to look. Two guards in uniform were chasing a young bald man. He was holding a box and running in their direction.
Jowed looked at the box. It seemed familiar.
"Is that a thief?" Carol looked excited. "I'll go help."
Jowed saw that the bald guy was almost in front of them. She looked around and saw a trash can. An idea came to her. She reached in, pulled out a banana peel, and threw it on the ground right in front of the guy.
"Ah!" The guy stepped on the peel, slipped, and fell to the ground.
The guards caught up and pinned him down.
The owner of the box came running. When Jowed saw him, she remembered why the box looked so familiar. It was the handsome man from the train.
One of the guards took the box from the thief and handed it to the man. "Please check if anything is missing."
The man took the box and thanked the guard. "Thank you for getting it back."
The guard smiled. "It's no problem. It's our job."
Carol recognized him and her eyes lit up. "Hey, it's you."
The man didn't answer. He carefully opened the box.
The young man with the shaved head, who had just been caught by the security guards, leaned over to look into the box. He had been running the whole time and didn't have a chance to see what he had taken. He just noticed how carefully the owner had been holding it and thought it must be something valuable, so he grabbed it.
He had done this kind of thing many times. After grabbing something, he would quickly push a child toward the victim to distract them, then turn and run. But this time, right after running a short distance, he ran into two security guards on patrol. They started chasing him like crazy. He didn't expect someone to throw a banana peel at him either.
When he finally saw what was inside the box, he felt like crying.
Inside the box were two big pieces of meat, still bloody. When he looked more carefully, he saw a small screen showing the temperature. The box was sealed and had temperature control, clearly made for storing food.
If he had seen it was a food storage box, he wouldn't have tried to steal it.
This day was just full of bad luck.
Jowed looked at the contents of the box but didn't feel surprised. The meat looked like beef. Maybe that guy really liked to eat beef.
But Carol, who was standing next to her, suddenly rolled her eyes and fell backward.
Jowed quickly held her up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Carol didn't pass out. She kept her eyes closed and said with effort, "Blood... makes me dizzy."
Jowed didn't say anything.
She helped Carol to a public bench nearby so she could sit down.
The man closed the box and was about to leave when one of the security guards stopped him. "Sir, we're going to take this thief to the police station. The police may need you to give a statement later. Can we get your name and phone number?"
The man thought for a moment and said, "Okay. My name is Shiro. My phone number is 135xxxxxxxx."
The guard wrote down his number, then left with the thief.
Shiro bent down, picked up the banana peel from the ground, and threw it into the trash. As he passed by Jowed, he stopped and said, "Give her some water. She'll be fine after resting a bit."
He paused for a second, then added, "Thanks for earlier."
Even though they were far apart, he had seen Jowed throw the banana peel that tripped the thief.
"You're welcome." Jowed gave Carol some water. Not long after, Carol opened her eyes and slowly looked better.
But when they turned around, Shiro was already gone.
Seeing that Carol was okay, Jowed stood up. "I'm going now. It's lunchtime. I need to find something to eat. Do you want to come?"
Carol nodded. "Let's go."
Jowed took out her phone and opened a group-buying app to look for food deals. Group buying was usually cheaper. Sometimes it could save up to half the cost. She usually checked the app first when eating out.
Carol gave her a judging look. "You're so stingy. Come on, I'll treat you. It's a reward for being loyal earlier and not running off and leaving me."
Jowed didn't say anything.
Just say thank you instead of calling it a reward.
There was a restaurant nearby that sold spicy shrimp. Carol pulled Jowed inside and ordered a spicy shrimp hotpot. They found a seat and sat down.
While eating, Carol kept staring at one of the waiters who was pretty handsome. She kept finding reasons to call him over.
When they finished eating, Carol even gave the waiter a 100 yuan tip. Tipping wasn't common in the country, but the waiter only smiled and said thanks, like he was used to getting tips.
"You don't look like it, but you're actually rich," Jowed said as they walked out of the restaurant.
"Me? Rich? No way. Even landlords don't have money nowadays," Carol answered. She looked back through the window one last time at the handsome waiter. "But he really was good-looking."
Jowed stayed silent.
She had seen women who liked handsome guys, but never one who was this obvious.
"Alright, let's split up here," Carol said after the waiter disappeared around a corner. "I'm going to the rental agency to rent out a room in my apartment. If I get lucky, I can make a few thousand a month. Let's hang out again soon."
Jowed suddenly stopped. "Wait... did you say rent a room?"
"Yes," Carol said. "Are you offering to find someone to move in?"
Jowed was on her way to find a place to rent. If she could rent from Carol, it would save her the agency fee.
She pointed at herself. "Me."
Carol looked her up and down, then took a step back. "Don't think I'll give you a discount. I won't."
Jowed replied, "I'm not asking for a discount. I just want to know if you have a boyfriend."
She didn't want to share a place with a man. Living with a guy could be uncomfortable unless they were a couple.
Carol snorted, "What kind of person do you think I am? If I had a boyfriend and was living with him, I wouldn't be renting out a room. Besides, if I had a boyfriend, would I still be flirting with every handsome guy I see? I'm not the type who messes around like that."
She gave Jowed a look. "I get what you mean. You don't want a guy as a roommate. Don't worry. I never bring guys home."
Jowed finally relaxed. "That's good. So where is your apartment?"
"Third Ring, Jiahe neighborhood."
There were many neighborhoods in B City. Jowed didn't know exactly where that one was, but if it was inside the Third Ring, then the location was good and transportation was convenient. That was the area she had been looking at before.
"Tell me the price," Jowed said directly. Carol's place fit her needs, and Carol seemed like a good person. She would be a good roommate.
Carol stared into her eyes. "You're serious? Alright, then I'll tell you..."