"Su Xiaoxiao, where are you heading?"
Upon hearing a familiar voice, Su Xiaoxiao turned around and saw the proud face of Zhang Dongmei.
Has this person been kicked by a donkey or what? She's actually striking up a conversation with her?
As Su Xiaoxiao's year's end just dropped, Zhang Dongmei waved the items in her hands with an air of triumph.
"See this? Imported chocolate. My boyfriend sent it to me."
After speaking, she opened another small box in her hand, which contained a glittering golden pen.
Under the dim light, the pen's body emitted a faint yellow glow, looking quite classy.
Zhang Dongmei's face was full of pride: "Have you seen a Hero Golden Pen before? My boyfriend sent it to me too."
Su Xiaoxiao was speechless. No wonder this person suddenly acted generously and greeted her—she just wanted to show off.
"Are you a maggot in the pickle jar? Just spewing nonsense."
She rolled her eyes and turned to leave.
There was serious business to attend to, and she didn't want to waste time with this nutcase.
"Humph, I think you're just jealous. A person like you who couldn't even recognize a few words probably can't even write. You surely don't have such a fancy pen, and even if you did, you wouldn't know how to use it."
Zhang Dongmei was smug, but as soon as she finished, Su Xiaoxiao just turned around and walked away, even looking impatient.
Why is she leaving?
She was flaunting the stuff sent by Zhou Cheng to Su Xiaoxiao just to see her envious and jealous face.
Su Xiaoxiao's current indifferent appearance made her feel very displeased.
She talked for so long without getting a reaction—was she just showing off for nothing?
At this thought, Zhang Dongmei gritted her teeth and followed: "Forgot to tell you, I just got a boyfriend who's a battalion commander. He has quite a few soldiers like you from the countryside. Want me to introduce one to you?"
Su Xiaoxiao was somewhat annoyed. Does this woman have a problem? Why isn't she rushing home after work, instead hanging around pestering her?
"Get lost. Good dogs don't block the way."
She pushed the obstructive Zhang Dongmei aside and quickened her pace.
"Su Xiaoxiao, I'm being nice. Don't snub my kindness."
"In the future, I'll be a battalion commander's wife. You'd better connect with me now, maybe I can introduce a decent partner to you when the time comes."
Zhang Dongmei jogged to catch up with her.
Battalion commander? Su Xiaoxiao suddenly realized that the man she met at the convenience store was also a battalion commander, and he kept calling her Mr. Zhang.
Could that man be Zhang Dongmei's boyfriend?
Thinking of that man's perfect figure and that angular handsome face, and then seeing Zhang Dongmei, who was bulky and not very tall.
They seemed such a mismatch.
But that's none of her business. Maybe he likes a woman who can bear sons with a big behind.
Zhang Dongmei didn't see jealousy in Su Xiaoxiao's expression, but instead, it seemed like she was staring intently at her chest.
Her face turned red immediately, and she covered her chest: "What are you looking at? You don't have one yourself, you must be sick."
After speaking, she puffed out her chest haughtily and left. After a couple of steps, as if remembering something, she turned back, sneering at Su Xiaoxiao.
"By the way, I forgot to tell you, I've already applied for the recruitment exam at the city's department store. Maybe soon I won't come to your shabby place again."
Su Xiaoxiao: "..."
Why should she care? She's really not interested, okay?
"What's this? Envious, jealous, right? That's typical—someone like you, who can only toil in the fields for a lifetime, might never have the chance to visit a city department store."
Department store recruitment?
Su Xiaoxiao thought of the mall's rebate system and felt instantly tempted.
If she could become a sales clerk at the department store, she could use the mall's rebate to earn more money.
At this point, individual businesses hadn't taken off. Opening her own store seemed unrealistic.
Being a sales clerk at a department store was indeed a good choice.
A few years later, when individual businesses take off, she can venture into entrepreneurship, and she'd have gained some experience by then.
"Hey? Why do you look stunned? Jealous? Being jealous is pointless; not everyone can enter the department store as they please."
Zhang Dongmei contentedly saw the expression she was hoping for and turned to leave, but was grabbed by the wrist by Su Xiaoxiao: "When's the application deadline?"
"What?"
Momentarily stunned by the question, Zhang Dongmei quickly recovered and flicked away Su Xiaoxiao's hand disdainfully: "Why should you care? Are you planning to apply too?"
Su Xiaoxiao raised an eyebrow, her eyes filled with disdain: "Are you afraid that if I apply, I might beat you?"
Zhang Dongmei's face looked as if she'd heard an enormous joke, disdainfully surveying Su Xiaoxiao: "No way. You, a bumpkin who can't even recognize a few words, could hardly write though an application—yet you want to take the department store's sales clerk exam?"
"How would I know without trying? What if I get lucky? Are you afraid I might go?"
Su Xiaoxiao crossed her arms, glaring at her provocatively.
Zhang Dongmei exploded right away: "You? What a joke."
She pulled out a red paper from her handbag and tossed it to Su Xiaoxiao: "Take a look, this is the recruitment application notice. Go ahead and apply, I won't stop you."
Someone like Su Xiaoxiao, who hasn't even attended school much, thinking about participating in the department store's exam—it's laughable.
If she can't even fill out the application form and gets kicked out on the spot, Zhang Dongmei would certainly mock her.
Thinking of this, Zhang Dongmei felt a huge sense of satisfaction.
Of course, she's not worried about Su Xiaoxiao having the luck of a blind cat catching a dead rat. Even if she gets through, the exam is in less than half a month; she wouldn't know a thing about the test content.
Conceited, Zhang Dongmei was determined to ridicule this brat a couple more times. She felt nothing else could be as satisfying.
"Humph, the most annoying thing is someone like you, cluelessly arrogant, barely literate, yet dreaming of taking the exam? Aren't you afraid of embarrassing your family?"
Su Xiaoxiao leisurely stuffed the registration notice into her pocket: "It's fine if you dislike me. After all, even dung beetles hate gold ingots." Zhang Dongmei: "..." Since when did this wretched girl become so witty?
While the two were verbally sparring, Zhou Cheng received Zhang Dongmei's reply.
Excitedly tearing open the envelope, he glanced at it and instinctively frowned.
Such a beautiful, graceful person, yet her handwriting looked like a dog's scribble.
Upon seeing the contents further, his frown deepened.
He couldn't quite connect the text with the shy, pretty girl he'd met.
Was it because they weren't face-to-face that she didn't hold back?
Zhou Cheng frowned, scanning the paper quickly, until the last sentence made his heart skip a beat.
She agreed to be his girlfriend.
He gently tapped that line twice, his doubts transforming into excitement.
Carefully rereading the sentence, he folded the letter and placed it in his pocket.
Just as he secured it, there was a knock on the door.
"Commander, we're ready to depart."
Zhou Cheng nodded, envisioning that delicate, lovely face, feeling as if the letter in his pocket was burning.
As he followed Xiao Wang into the car, he was thinking about Zhang Dongmei's letter which mentioned she had already applied for the Red Star City department store recruitment exam.
And the place he was headed was precisely Red Star City.