Chapter 28: "This isn’t even as big as my doghouse!
"I heard you’d stooped to running a street stall, doing business with the lower class. I didn’t believe it at first. Shen Lu, aren’t you the one who’s most concerned with her pride? The one who despises the lower class more than anyone?"
"And now you’re putting on a fake smile for a bunch of lower-class people every day. Tsk tsk, how impressive."
"Oh, and is that Fu Cheng lying back there? To think you’re still dragging him around. You really are deeply devoted to him."
"But no matter how much you dote on him, he’s never going to stand up again. I have friends who’ve looked into his condition. Unless there’s a medical miracle, even if Fu Cheng doesn’t die, he’ll just lie there like a living corpse."
Having said her piece, Bai Wanwan put her hands on her hips, leisurely waiting for Shen Lu to lose her mind.
She loved watching Shen Lu’s powerless rage. She was just like a rabid dog.
Having been rivals for ten years, Bai Wanwan might not have understood Shen Lu one hundred percent, but she had at least an eighty-percent grasp on her personality.
She was certain that after hearing all this, Shen Lu would fly into a rage. Especially since Bai Wanwan was airing her dirty laundry and picking at her scars in public. Bai Wanwan didn’t believe she could possibly endure it.
The original Shen Lu, indeed, would not have been able to take it.
But this Shen Lu wasn’t the original one, so she was completely composed in the face of Bai Wanwan’s taunts and ridicule.
She placed the freshly made egg waffle into the hands of the stunned customer and reminded them in a gentle tone, "Oh, you can’t take the bowl. If you want it to-go, you can buy one with Star Coins."
Shen Lu turned to the next customer. "Hello, sir. What can I get for you?"
She showed no intention of engaging with Bai Wanwan at all, reacting to her words as if she were listening to a story about someone else.
"Shen Lu!" Bai Wanwan was stunned for a moment, then shrieked her name.
She had already made her move. How could Shen Lu just ignore her? Wasn’t she supposed to fight back?
’This feeling is so annoying. It’s like punching air.’
Shen Lu continued to ignore her, turning instead to Ma Laosan, who was enjoying the drama from the sidelines. "Brother Ma, if I pay the management fee, can you get rid of this troublemaker for me? She’s disrupting my business."
"Huh?" Ma Laosan was still a bit dazed. "Well..."
Although Ma Laosan was in charge of security on Gold Street, he wasn’t very effective. He was the type to see which way the wind blew—bullying the weak and fearing the strong. He only dared to throw his weight around with commoners who had no family background.
He didn’t know Bai Wanwan’s specific background, but he could tell just from the luxury car that she wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
Never mind that he hadn’t even collected a management fee from Shen Lu yet; even if he had, he wouldn’t dare do anything to Bai Wanwan.
But he couldn’t just do nothing, either.
After all, Shen Lu had put him on the spot. And her relationship with Xue Can wasn’t shallow; he had to at least put on a show for appearance’s sake.
"Of course." Ma Laosan gave a fake cough, smoothed his hair, and tried to stand up straight. He walked up to Bai Wanwan and said in an affectedly soft voice, "Miss, please don’t cause trouble here. If you have business with Boss Shen, you can wait in your car."
Bai Wanwan paid no attention at all to Ma Laosan, who was half a head shorter than her. She simply walked around him and stepped right into Shen Lu’s stall.
"How dare you ignore me!" Bai Wanwan grabbed her arm, furious. "Shen Lu, you’ve gone too far!"
Shen Lu was torn between amusement and exasperation. With the way Bai Wanwan was pestering her relentlessly, anyone who didn’t know better would think she had a crush on her.
"I really am busy." Shen Lu put a freshly made egg waffle in a bowl and pushed it into her arms. "Here. I remember you like sweets. Just sit here, eat this, and wait. I’ll be almost sold out after this batch."
"Who wants to eat...!" Bai Wanwan’s red lips parted to voice her disdain, but before she could finish, Shen Lu broke off a piece of the egg waffle and stuffed it in her mouth. "Be good. And be quiet."
Bai Wanwan may have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and grown up on gourmet food, having eaten plenty of delicacies, but Shen Lu’s egg waffle was a revelation.
’So fragrant, so soft, so delicious.’
She liked sweets, but not the cloyingly sweet kind. This egg waffle had the perfect level of sweetness. Both the flavor and the texture hit the spot perfectly.
’Delicious! I love it!’
Bai Wanwan fell silent, clutching the bowl and wrestling with her thoughts for a good while.
’Should I eat more?’
’Probably not. Wouldn’t that make me look shameless, just for a snack?’
’Besides, this is the kind of stuff the lower class likes to eat. How could she, the dignified young miss of the Bai Family, eat something meant for the lower class?’
’If anyone found out, how could she keep her reputation?’
’But it smells so good.’
’Sniffle...’
’Maybe I’ll just have one more secret bite?’
’Besides, nobody here knows me except Shen Lu.’
’Right. I’ll just eat it.’
’Worst case, I’ll just eat it quickly. As long as I eat fast enough, no one I know will find out I ate lower-class food.’
With Bai Wanwan’s commotion, business didn’t get worse; it actually got better.
After all, a luxury car like the one Dog Hero drove was a rare sight in a place like this. The owner was a beautiful young lady, and she was sitting right at Shen Lu’s stall. It was hard for people not to come over and see what all the fuss was about.
By half past three, everything was sold out.
[DING! Detected: 40/40 Mint Water sold, 30/30 Egg Waffles sold, 30/30 Malatang sold. Mission complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]
While packing up, Shen Lu glanced around. Zeng Xiaodao hadn’t shown up today.
’Did he forget, or was he just busy?’
Wang Daguo also arrived early today. He’d heard from his colleagues that someone was causing trouble for Shen Lu, so he came over ahead of schedule to see if he could help.
As soon as he arrived, he saw a young woman in sunglasses standing under the large umbrella. Her posture was haughty, and she radiated a thick sense of disdain for her surroundings.
Wang Daguo frowned. He spent most of his time in the Lower City District and occasionally saw people from the Upper City District. Most of them were just like Bai Wanwan: arrogant, cold, and filled with a heartfelt scorn for the people of the Lower City District.
"Boss Shen, she..." Wang Daguo lowered his voice, about to ask for details, but Shen Lu cut him off. "Hurry up and help me pack. I have other things to do today."
"Oh, right." And with that, Wang Daguo started moving things.
Bai Wanwan grew impatient and poked Shen Lu’s shoulder. "I’ve been waiting for you for a long time!"
"Good for you," Shen Lu said casually.
Bai Wanwan gave a haughty hmph. Of course she was good.
’It was strange. When other people praised her like that, it never felt this good. But hearing those words from Shen Lu’s mouth, why did they sound so pleasant?’
On account of Shen Lu’s praise, Bai Wanwan managed to muster a little more patience. She even condescended to go with them to the rental apartment.
When she saw the small rental apartment where Shen Lu and Fu Cheng were temporarily living, Bai Wanwan let out a gasp of shock.
"Oh my god, is this a place for humans to live?"
Bai Wanwan stood at the door, unwilling to enter. Just stepping on the ground of the Seventeenth District had made her skin crawl. If she were to enter Shen Lu’s shabby, ten-square-meter rental, she suspected she would suffocate and die.
"This isn’t even as big as my dog’s kennel!"