The aloof beauty always has weak legs; the crazy boss is too ruthless.

Chapter 15: Sense of Disappointment

The next day, Lu Siqi, who no longer needed to study for the exam, got up early and went to buy breakfast with Duanzi.

Mu Sen hadn't gotten up yet. The joke was that he never ate breakfast and always slept until noon.

The breakfast shop was at the very beginning of the street. This was the first time Lu Siqi had walked this far since she had been here for so many days.

She was curious about everything around her. Jianghong County was right next to Bangnan, and people from all over the world lived there. The bustling morning market sold all sorts of things. Those who didn't speak Bangnan used English, and those who didn't understand English used gestures.

The joke goes that he can understand some Bangnan, but he can't speak it.

On the way back after buying breakfast, Duanzi bought a pair of rubber gloves and handed them to her: "This is for you, Cuiying. Wearing these will prevent your hands from getting hurt when washing clothes."

"Thank you for the joke." Lu Siqi took it.

"No need to thank me, you've washed a lot of my clothes too, it's only right." Duanzi scratched his head sheepishly, then pulled out a few Bangnan banknotes from his pocket. "Take these to Hua Cuiying, don't be shy with me."

He added, "This is all money I earned from odd jobs outside, so don't let Brother Sen know."

"Doing odd jobs?" Lu Siqi was surprised: "Where did you do your odd jobs?"

"Delivering takeout." Duanzi pointed to another street. "There are restaurants all over there, and many small casinos in Jianghong. A lot of gamblers are very generous. If I deliver a dozen or so orders on my motorcycle, I can make some money."

"Is the tattoo shop not doing well?"

"You've been here for so many days, how many customers have you seen come to the shop for tattoos?" The joke goes: "Brother Sen only takes big jobs. He doesn't take small tattoos that cost a few hundred or a thousand yuan at all. He can live on one job for a month, and if he doesn't get a job, he can't eat."

Upon seeing a shoe store, Duanzi went in and bought a pair of black men's leather shoes. "Sen only has one pair of leather shoes. The night before last, I found that the leather was peeling off, and he spent half the night polishing them with shoe polish."

He handed her the packed leather shoes as well, saying, "Take these and give them to Brother Sen. Don't say I bought them; just say you brought the money from home."

Is Mu Sen living such a frugal life here?
Lu Siqi asked doubtfully, "Doesn't he also take on big jobs?"

Can't even afford a pair of leather shoes?

“Cuiying, you still don’t understand Brother Sen.” Duanzi said to her as they walked, “Our Brother Sen is a well-known living bodhisattva here. If any of the neighbors encounter any difficulties, he will lend a helping hand.”

He pointed to a vegetable stall not far away, "That family's son got into university, but they didn't have the money to pay for it, so Brother Sen raised the tuition fees for them."

The vegetable vendors were a couple; one was in a wheelchair and the other was using crutches. They appeared to be of Chinese descent.

"He gave away all his money, but he wouldn't even buy himself a new pair of shoes." Duanzi sighed, "Sigh, sometimes I really don't know what Brother Sen is thinking. He's so generous to others, but so stingy with himself."

Hearing him say that, Lu Siqi remembered that she went to the mall to buy clothes yesterday. The dress she wore was a brand name, and Mu Sen bought it for her without even blinking.

Whether it was because she had heard too many stories about Mu Sen's good deeds or because of their intimate moments last night, Lu Siqi found herself developing an indescribable fondness for him.

This positive feeling led her to return to the tattoo shop and stand outside Musen's room with her shoes in hand, carefully choosing her words to avoid saying anything that might damage her image.

Suddenly, the door opened from the inside, and a sleepy Mu Sen stood half-naked, wearing only a pair of patterned shorts. "What are you doing here?" He thought Duanzi had gotten into trouble again and didn't dare to knock.

"Um..." Clutching the shopping bag in her hand, Lu Siqi stammered nervously, "I...I came here to..."

"Speak properly! Don't pull that kind of stunt!" Mu Sen went back into the room and casually picked up his shirt from the messy bed and put it on.

His speaking style remained the same as before, unchanged despite their intimacy the previous night; Lu Siqi felt a strange sense of loss, but she quickly accepted this psychological gap and presented the shoebox with both hands: "The joke said your leather shoes were peeling, so I bought you a new pair."

With his buttons not even fully fastened, Mu Sen frowned and turned around: "Where did you get the money?"

Lu Siqi then remembered that on her first day here, this man had searched all her belongings, including her wallet, and taken all her bank cards. She hadn't brought any cash with her.

Knowing she couldn't hide it any longer, she had no choice but to confess: "I bought the joke for you."

Mu Sen: "Where did he get the money?"

I haven't taken any work lately, and I haven't paid my monthly allowance to the joke writers yet.

"Can you not be so fierce?" Lu Siqi was afraid that he would scold Duanzi like before. "Duanzi treats you like his own brother. He thinks of you in everything. When your leather shoes were peeling, he didn't want to replace them, so he bought you new leather shoes with his own money..."

"Don't change the subject!" Mu Sen said coldly as always. "Answer my question first! Where did he get the money?"

Realizing that if she didn't tell him the truth, his anger would only intensify, Lu Siqi had no choice but to confess first.

I thought he would get angry and find a joke to settle the score after hearing that, but to my surprise, he laughed instead.

"Delivering takeout to a casino? How did he even think of that?" Snatching the shopping bag, Mu Sen took out a shoebox, opened it, took out the leather shoes, tried them on, and found they fit perfectly. "He's quite thoughtful. It wasn't a waste of half a year of raising this kid."

Fearing it might be the calm before the storm, Lu Siqi dared not relax for a moment and didn't dare say a word more than necessary.

A little while later, Mu Sen came downstairs looking refreshed. He went to the backyard and saw Duanzi eating breakfast. He kicked Duanzi with his new leather shoes and said, "You're getting so fat you're practically dripping with oil. You've eaten enough."

Duanzi was only half full, looking aggrieved, "I need to be full so I have the energy to work, Brother Sen!"

"What are you doing! You've been drawing that wolf for days! If you don't finish it today, I'm really not keeping you here!" Mu Sen picked up his chopsticks and took out a steamed dumpling. "Brother Kai didn't have enough people this month, so you can fill in for him."

Upon hearing that they needed to gather enough people to go to Bangnan, Duan was so scared that he quickly put down his chopsticks and bowl, "I'll go draw! Brother Sen, I'll go draw right now!"

Lu Siqi knew that Mu Sen was deliberately scaring Duanzi. He was only being fierce to Duanzi on the surface. She remembered what Liu Zi said last night, that Duanzi was able to leave the Bangnan Park because he asked Kai Ge to redeem him. "Did you protect Duanzi from going to Bangnan?"

Mu Sen snorted: "What's with all this talk about protecting him? Let Jiang Hong handle the jokes. It'll just give my shop an extra free helper. I don't even have to pay him. What a great deal!"

“With your connections in Jianghong, you shouldn’t lack people to do odd jobs for free.” After saying that, Lu Siqi got up and went to the backyard.

Glancing at her retreating figure, Mu Sen put another steamed dumpling in his mouth. As he chewed, he looked down at his new leather shoes, and a smile of satisfaction gradually appeared on his lips.