NOVPUBHaving escaped from Xu Qingfan’s house, Xia Xiaoxiao ran non-stop all the way back to her own home. After flinging the living room door shut, the girl rushed into the bathroom, both embarrassed and anxious.
Five minutes later, the girl sat on the toilet, her hands covering her face, too ashamed to see anyone.
Her pink cartoon underwear had slipped down to her knees, clearly visible from Xia Xiaoxiao’s seated point of view.
What used to be clean and dry underwear now had a small dirty spot that strangely formed an artistic rabbit shape.
She felt she must be going insane, otherwise how could she have lain in bed for more than ten minutes before realizing she needed to run away.
"Ah, so annoying, so annoying!" Xia Xiaoxiao murmured to herself like a madwoman, hiding in the bathroom while continuously slapping her smooth cheeks.
Recalling the electrifying sensation she had felt earlier, she curled her toes in embarrassment. Her flushed face, reflected in the mirror, spread like fire across her cheeks—Xia Xiaoxiao couldn’t tell if it was from the shame or from the slapping.
"It’s all Xu Qingfan’s fault..." she uttered, but even she didn’t have much conviction, so her voice was weak.
Xia Xiaoxiao placed her hand under her clothes, imitating Xu Qingfan’s earlier movements with a gentle wandering touch, but she felt nothing.
"Why don’t I feel anything?" the girl blinked in confusion, unable to understand why her body had frozen as if struck by an immobilization spell when Xu Qingfan touched her.
Touching her stomach was already her limit. Going any lower was something only bad girls would do, or at least that’s what Xia Xiaoxiao believed.
A few minutes later, the girl shed her clothes and turned on the shower for a bath. As warm water flowed down from her head, the secret of her first adolescent embarrassment was thoroughly buried deep within her heart.
...
For the next two days, Xia Xiaoxiao was like a changed person—she didn’t bicker with Xu Qingfan as usual, nor did she go to his bedroom to play QQ Speed anymore. When Xu Qingfan approached, she avoided him as if he were something filthy.
Xu Qingfan was at a loss, unable to comprehend the sudden change in the girl’s behavior.
They had stayed at home during the three days of New Year’s Day. As it was a legal holiday, they usually didn’t travel, preferring to save the crowded trips for the summer or winter holidays when they could enjoy themselves to the fullest.
Over the New Year’s days, the five girls frequented Gale Kingdom, diligently contributing to Old Ma’s business. Meanwhile, Zhang Chunxue took Xu Qingfan out to survey factories, dine out, and gain exposure.
Good Taste Takeout, after nearly half a month of hard work, had essentially secured its foothold in Hong Kong. At its peak, the website boasted nearly fifty thousand concurrent online users and delivered almost two hundred thousand takeouts in just two weeks, nearly half of which were ordered by university students on campus.
What they needed to do next was to continue digging into the college market, and it just so happened that Zhang Chunxue’s sister-in-law was in the education system...
The problem of mobile vendors around college campuses had always been a headache for schools, affecting not only city appearance but also hygienic safety, while on the other hand, the growing material needs of students needed to be met.
Good Taste Takeout clearly had the capability to reconcile the two sides’ conflicts. Through Xu Qingfan’s proposal and Zhang Chunxue’s refinements, the College Food City project was born.
The operation plan involved Good Taste Takeout investing capital either inside or outside the campus to buy or build a food city. First, they would use the prospect of free rent to attract vendors. Once these vendors began making money, they would start collecting rent.
At the same time, they promised to gift the equity to the school at no charge once the food city had recouped its costs. As for the amount of those costs, professional accountants would calculate them. The completed food city could also be mortgaged to banks for a loan. Either way, they wouldn’t lose money.
Of course, the premise for the gift would be to allow their takeout riders free access to the campus. Currently, all of Good Taste Takeout’s riders were formally employed, having signed labor contracts and contributing to social security and housing funds, so security issues were guaranteed.
This way, the vexing problem of city appearance that plagued the schools could be solved, college students’ desire for improved meals would be met, mobile vendors’ aim to make money would be fulfilled, and Good Taste Takeout could take over the entire college market without spending a penny on advertising.
It all sounded easy, but in practice, it was far from so.
After all, most leaders weren’t actually concerned about whether the school made a profit; they were more interested in whether they could take advantage of the opportunity to reap sufficient benefits for themselves.
However, these were not difficult challenges for Zhang Chunxue, who after all...
If they could secure the national college market before the year 2012, then Good Taste Takeout would inherently possess an invincible moat, leaving any followers in the dust, no matter how much money they poured into catching up.
Good Taste Takeout was rising with an unstoppable vigor.
...
New Year’s Day was over in the blink of an eye, Yao Jiping’s enthusiastic treatment of him lasted only one day. By the second day of the holiday, she began calling him "jinx" and asked him to cook.
Xu Qingfan saved the document on his computer and glanced at the time on the bottom right.
"Nearly twelve o’clock again, time to buy groceries," he said as he shut down the computer and got up, patting his back.
Exiting his room, the living room was empty.
"What’s with this Xia Xiaoxiao, what’s she up to?" Thinking that Xia Xiaoxiao hadn’t visited his house for the past two days, Xu Qingfan shook his head, feeling resigned.
After grabbing his money and keys and putting on his shoes, he left his house. When he reached Xia Xiaoxiao’s next door, he found her door securely locked. Since security wasn’t what it used to be, residents of Lianhua Courtyard now also kept their doors locked during the day.
