Chapter 117: Chapter 117: So Miserable
Therefore, when Lin Ye met Jiang Xin’s questioning gaze, he felt a bit embarrassed.
Originally, he hadn’t taken Jiang Xin’s words to heart because he thought that washing lunch boxes was just a small matter. He figured he could casually ask a store to use their kitchen sink, and surely no one would refuse.
But, the truth of the matter was vastly different from what he had imagined.
Not only did he encounter rejection everywhere, but some people even regarded him as a rival trying to steal their recipes and kicked him out of their stores.
Lin Ye was too embarrassed to mention this in front of Jiang Xin, fearing that she would make fun of him.
He couldn’t believe that as a man almost thirty years old, he was outthought by someone as young as Jiang Xin in dealing with matters like these.
If word got out, wouldn’t he be laughed at?
So, when he met Jiang Xin’s gaze again, Lin Ye was somewhat evasive.
Afraid that Jiang Xin might notice the series of embarrassing events he had just experienced.
Because over the past few days, through his interactions with her, Lin Ye discovered that Jiang Xin was not just normally smart; there was almost nothing that could escape her notice.
Therefore, upon sensing Jiang Xin’s inquisitive intentions...
Lin Ye chose to directly conceal all those recent events, rounding down the details until it became simply:
"I checked the nearby stores, but they were all quite busy, so I didn’t want to disturb them."
"So after making a round, I went to the small river beside the town to wash the lunch box. Although it was a bit far, there was plenty of water, and it got cleaned properly."
After briefly saying these sentences, Lin Ye chose to shut up.
He didn’t say another word about the rest; after all, he had completed the task, and the process didn’t matter much, right?
While he was speaking, Jiang Xin caught all those evasive glances in her eyes.
Jiang Xin wasn’t foolish; with a quick connection in her mind, she immediately understood what had happened just now.
What Lin Ye encountered was probably within her expectations.
However, since Lin Ye didn’t want to tell her, Jiang Xin simply decided not to ask. After all, nobody really wants embarrassing situations to be known by others.
Jiang Xin curled her lips into a smile and then said:
"Thanks for your effort. As long as the lunch box is clean, that’s good."
After saying this, Jiang Xin didn’t hurry to leave the market but continued to sit in front of the stall, thinking about observing what customers might be interested in as more people arrived. If there was something specific, she planned to bring more of it from her stash for tomorrow’s stall.
Lin Ye originally thought that Jiang Xin would want to leave as soon as she saw him return since he assumed Jiang Xin probably didn’t like the stall environment.
Yet, unexpectedly, she stayed put without any intention of leaving.
But, she was the boss after all, and he had no reason to tell his boss to leave or stop her from overseeing the stall.
So, the two of them sat there, suddenly feeling a bit awkward, somewhat akin to working with your boss watching over your shoulder.
Even though Lin Ye wasn’t the type to slack off, being watched like that felt uncomfortable.
He tried his best to remain calm and not be too flustered. As long as he didn’t make mistakes in his work, it was fine.
At this time, people had come out to eat, so quite a number of them were visiting the market to decide on dinner groceries, making it quite crowded at the moment.
The crowd gradually increased.
More people came to browse at their stall. After Lin Ye sold a couple of items, he suddenly seemed to remember something, looked up at Jiang Xin, and then took out the one yuan bill she had given him from his pocket.
He had intended to spend it, but he couldn’t use it after all.
Lin Ye didn’t want Jiang Xin to know about his embarrassing incidents earlier, so the words in his mind transformed into:
"Boss, here’s the one yuan back. The store I approached refused to let me use the faucet, so I didn’t spend this money. It feels odd keeping it, so I’m giving it back to you."
"I forgot to return it when I just got back because I was busy checking if any items were sold at the stall. Now that I remember, I should return it to you."
Lin Ye was rather honest and straightforward, so even though Jiang Xin hadn’t asked whether the money was spent or not,
he still chose to give the money back to Jiang Xin truthfully.
After all, it was quite nice to have the boss’s trust as a worker.
He wasn’t daring enough to pocket the money, especially since Jiang Xin paid him a monthly salary of sixty yuan.
What more could he possibly need?
Jiang Xin had given him a chance. If it weren’t for her, he might have no idea where he’d be now.
Therefore, he needed to know how to repay her.
He couldn’t bully a young girl just because he was older, and he was well aware that, despite her age, Jiang Xin was incredibly smart; nothing he did could be hidden from her keen eyes.
Jiang Xin looked down at the one yuan, and she had already guessed. After all, it took Lin Ye so long to come back with the lunch box cleaned.
She estimated that he faced obstacles everywhere and ended up at the riverbank to wash it out of necessity.
His return time matched her estimation.
So, when Lin Ye returned the one yuan to her, she immediately understood what had happened.
Initially, Jiang Xin had only speculated, but now she was a hundred percent sure Lin Ye had encountered setbacks when discussing with shopkeepers about washing the lunch box.
If not, just by handing that one yuan to those shopkeepers, they would have willingly let him wash the lunch box.
Hence, piecing together these clues, one could imagine how unsuccessful he just was.
An unexpected sympathy welled up in Jiang Xin’s heart for Lin Ye, feeling for him as he braved the midday sun hustling to find a place to wash the lunch box.
And in the end, it turned out so miserably.