I Have a Lake as I Walk Through the Courtyard

More than a month later, Lin Feng saw off Chen Liansheng's family. After a tearful farewell at the train station, Lin Feng returned to the small shop where he worked.

This is a very small shop of the supply and marketing cooperative. Apart from some daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil and salt, it has almost nothing. What makes Lin Feng happy is that there is little work here and it is close to home. It is only a leisurely 5-minute walk from No. 95 Courtyard!

"You're back?"

"Yes, Sister Zhou! You go inside and rest for a bit, let me take care of things here!"

"Hehe, okay then, you keep an eye on things for a bit, I'm going to take a nap in the small storage room!"

There are only two people in the shop: the manager and him. This is why we chose this place instead of a big shop. The staff here is simple, making it a dream place to coast along.

After Manager Zhou left, Lin Feng habitually picked up a rag and wiped the glass counter. It wasn't that he was diligent; he was just too bored if he didn't find something to do! If this were in later times, you wouldn't be able to get to the end of the workday without bringing three batteries with you when you brought your phone to work every day.

"Raymond Lam, could you buy me 5 cents worth of soy sauce?"

Lin Feng looked up and his face immediately darkened. The last people he wanted to encounter here were the three aunties and their husbands; they were the worst of the worst.

I took the bottle from the auntie, placed it on the counter, picked up the funnel and scooped out a full scoop from the soy sauce jar. Five cents for five scoops!

The old woman stared intently at the grapes in Lin Feng's hand until all the soy sauce inside had flowed into the funnel. After shaking the grapes a few times until not a drop remained, the old woman smiled with satisfaction.

Five containers of soy sauce weighed about half a pound each. When they all flowed into the bottle through the funnel, not a single drop remained in the containers! After finishing, Lin Feng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Making a deal with this guy meant he could at least entertain a dozen customers.

"Hey, we're all neighbors, can't you give me a little more?"

Lin Feng shook his head expressionlessly, like an iron-faced judge. "Third Auntie, there's a discrepancy in our end-of-month inventory; we'll have to cover it!"

"Okay, okay, Auntie was just kidding."

Watching the three women's retreating figures, Lin Feng's lips twitched. "What a joke! They'll turn on you if you're even a drop short!" Recalling his early days here, the carefree Lin Feng had learned his lesson the hard way about such situations!

Before anyone knew it, Sister Zhou had emerged from the warehouse, smiling broadly at Lin Feng. "You've improved so quickly!"

"There's no way around it! I don't want to argue with these people endlessly..."

"I was worried you wouldn't be able to handle it, but I didn't expect your temperament to be so well-suited for this!"

Lin Feng smiled outwardly, inwardly scoffing. What's so special about this? Back when he was a delivery driver, he'd call women more than ten years younger than him "big sister" anyway... Making money isn't about being ashamed!

As the two were chatting, a woman in her forties hurried in. Sister Zhou exclaimed, "Oh, Matchmaker Zhao, you've finally arrived!"

After saying that, he habitually looked outside and, seeing that no one was coming in, took out a dozen or so eggs from the counter. These eggs were picked out by the two of them, and the shells were a bit broken. These things just can't be kept in the summer!

Matchmaker Zhao readily paid the money, and after receiving it, Manager Zhou lowered his voice. "Come early the day after tomorrow; we've been notified that the sesame oil is arriving!"

To avoid suspicion, Lin Feng stayed far away to the side, keeping his head down and pretending to be busy. He was too lazy to pay attention to the two guys' shady dealings. Cats have their ways, and mice have theirs. Besides, he didn't even care about this little thing. Right now, he had at least a hundred of the three kinds of eggs in his space every day, and he couldn't sell them all!

The matchmaker beamed with joy at having bought cheap eggs, carefully placing them in her basket and covering them with a cloth.

"Lin Feng! You're not young anymore. Tell Aunt Zhao what kind of girl you like? Aunt Zhao can help you find out."

Sister Zhou has been quite satisfied with Lin Feng these days. He not only doesn't like to meddle in other people's business, but he also listens to her almost every word. Most importantly, they have a great time chatting.

"Yes, Lin Feng! You're getting on in years, you can't be so careless! Matchmaker Zhao is one of the best in this alley, she knows a lot of pretty girls."

Lin Feng had a bit of a headache. He was enthusiastic about talking about other things, but this was something he had absolutely no interest in. "Sister Zhou, please don't make fun of me. I'll only be 20 next year, I have a long way to go!"

Matchmaker Zhao didn't press the issue. After several interactions, she realized that this guy genuinely didn't want this relationship. But what could she do? He was a good catch! A sales clerk, sheltered from the wind and rain, with priority access to scarce goods—which girl wouldn't have her eyes light up?

"Remember to call me when you have an idea, okay? Let me tell you, even if you wanted Chang'e from heaven, with your qualifications, Aunt Zhao would find her for you! Hahahaha!"

Lin Feng was speechless. People these days are great in every way, except they can't stand single people, especially those who have jobs. They can't even get to the topic of single people after three sentences! There's no way to avoid it.

As the end of the workday approached, the two busied themselves for a while longer. Sister Zhou glanced at the sky outside and gave Lin Feng a meaningful look. Lin Feng understood and checked his watch. "Five minutes left!"

Upon hearing this, Sister Zhou glanced at the few customers still queuing at the door. "Come back tomorrow after get off work!"

"Oh dear, Sister Zhou! It'll be my turn soon, just a few minutes... The vegetables at home are still waiting for soy sauce!"

"It's time to get off work! If you're in such a hurry at home, why didn't you come earlier? Come again tomorrow, I'm not selling today!"

After Sister Zhou finished speaking, she started packing up her things. Lin Feng followed suit. If they let these customers have their way, they wouldn't be able to leave work until 6 o'clock, let alone 5 o'clock!

A middle-aged man, whose turn was about to come, glanced at his watch. "There are still five minutes left, aren't there?"

"I'm organizing the accounts and tidying up the shop, it doesn't take time! If you're not satisfied, you can talk to my supervisor! Get out of here, I'm closing the shop..."

After being angrily rebuked by Manager Zhou, the middle-aged man looked at Lin Feng with pleading eyes. Lin Feng turned his head away cruelly. No, he didn't want to help. He had been burned before, and once he started, there would always be another one! The problem was that he would still get scolded by Manager Zhou. Being a pushover was really not a good thing.

The two of them finished work quickly. There wasn't much to do at the small shop anyway, and they worked together seamlessly, closing the shop promptly at 5 o'clock without lingering for even a minute longer!

"Please give us the time earlier next time; everything was so rushed today..."

"Understood, Sister Zhou!" What customer first? In this era where workers are in charge, leaving get off work on time is the right thing to do; even one minute longer is exploitation!

Because it's close to home, Lin Feng no longer even rides his bicycle. Looking at the dejected middle-aged man standing at the shop entrance, he said, "Uncle Liu, come earlier tomorrow!"

"Ugh! This woman... she has absolutely no mercy! And you've gone bad too!"

Lin Feng chuckled and didn't argue. "Uncle Liu, see you later!"