Chapter 47: The Routine Isn’t Deep Enough
Having finally managed to ask her out, how could she just leave after only eating a meat bun? That was too unfair! Huo Ningning absolutely wouldn’t agree!
“Let’s hang out a little longer!”
“I have to work. If I don’t work, will you support me?”
Throwing the leftover plastic bag into the trash can, stretching her muscles, Yu Linna had no intention of wasting time here. She had to go to work at the convenience store. For this month’s food and rent, she had to work hard.
“Don’t! I’ll treat you to something else. Look, that hot dog is still fresh. Don’t you want to eat it before you go?!”
Huo Ningning pointed to the sausage stall across the street. At this moment, the sausages were just grilled, and a fragrant aroma slowly wafted over. Although she was already somewhat full after eating the buns, who doesn’t like free things? Thinking this, Yu Linna felt the urge to be cheap again.
“Alright, just one more bite.”
Huo Ningning went to buy her a hot dog. When the fresh hot dog reached her mouth, it was still hot. Yu Linna brushed aside the hair on her left side, blew on the hot air, and slowly licked the freshly cooked hot dog. Her way of eating, even Huo Ningning, as a girl, couldn’t help but blush and her heart beat faster.
Don’t look at Huo Ningning being usually enthusiastic, but seeing this scene, her thoughts had already become unhealthy.
Because the hot dog was very hot, the blonde girl didn’t bite down all at once, but just stuck out her tongue to lick it, biting it little by little. Huo Ningning blushed, her mind filled with strange things.
“Hey, don’t fantasize, duck…” (Note: “鸭” (yā – duck) is likely a typo for “呀” (ya – an interjection), or possibly internet slang.)
Didn’t Fang Jianing understand her friend? She had long known her personality clearly, okay? But she still didn’t want Huo Ningning to fantasize about strange things regarding this girl.
“Cough, my apologies.”
Huo Ningning calmed herself down, trying hard to restore her complexion, but after seeing that scene just now, asking herself honestly, could she calm down?
“Speaking of which, why do you insist on treating me? Although I know you want to get closer to me, it’s really not necessary. Can’t we just be normal?”
Yu Linna took a bite, eating a section of the sausage, talking while chewing. She looked extremely cute like this.
Although she was a bit direct, it was indeed the truth. Huo Ningning seemed a bit too anxious. She could clearly interact with her normally. Besides, although Yu Linna didn’t like getting close to people, it didn’t mean she was unwilling to make friends.
Huo Ningning fell silent, lowering her head and stealing glances at Yu Linna’s face. Yu Linna’s face was very delicate, and she wasn’t tall. Despite having Western ancestry, her height was average for an Asian, no, perhaps even below the average Asian level. And her appearance was also very youthful. If she weren’t wearing a high school uniform, people would think she was in middle school.
“I want to build a good relationship with you. Is that not okay?”
“It’s not that it’s not okay…”
Finishing the rest of the hot dog, Yu Linna mumbled indistinctly.
She really didn’t have much of a connection with Huo Ningning. Just like with Fang Jianing, they only became classmates in their third year of high school. The experimental class they were in was ranked based on grades. The higher the rank in the grade, the greater the chance of entering the experimental class. And Yu Linna was the one with the highest grades, so naturally, she was assigned to the experimental class.
After the experimental class came the special talent class. The specialty students in this school were highly valued by the school authorities. For example, Nangong Ying was one such case.
But solely based on academic performance in cultural subjects, Yu Linna was definitely outstanding.
“Forget it, I should go to work. Thank you for treating me, saved me a meal’s money. By the way, Jianing, do you have a shift today?”
She threw the bamboo skewer from the finished sausage into the trash can and casually asked Fang Jianing. Because Fang Jianing worked at the same convenience store as her, although she was only a temporary worker, their work hours should be roughly the same.
“Yes, wait for me, let’s go together. That’s it, Ningning, see you tomorrow.”
Patting her good ji you‘s (close female friend, often used in otaku circles) shoulder, Fang Jianing whistled and walked away with Yu Linna. And Yu Linna didn’t even plan to look back, just left directly.
“Eh, Ningning, how could you do this…”
Huo Ningning was almost crying, but it was useless. Yu Linna had already left with Fang Jianing.
So nice, so envious. She also wanted to go home with Yu Linna.
Huo Ningning sighed heavily. Although extremely disappointed, she had made significant progress. Being able to talk to her today was already very good. In the past, she never dared to talk to her. It was good that she mustered the courage today. But that being said, wanting to be as close to her as Fang Jianing was still a bit difficult.
How did Fang Jianing become so close to Yu Linna? Clearly, everyone treated her to food.
This girl just didn’t understand. Actually, Fang Jianing had also spent quite a bit of money. Of course, the main thing was that she had spent a long time with her, something Huo Ningning could never compare to.
“You’re really cold. Getting along well with classmates is also part of social interaction. How about being a bit more enthusiastic? I heard Americans are very enthusiastic.”
On the way to the convenience store, Fang Jianing smilingly mentioned Yu Linna’s coldness towards Huo Ningning.
The girl sighed. What did she think this was? So it was about this. Getting along well with people, is it really necessary? We’re not kids anymore, playing friendship games.
“First, I am 100% Chinese, born and raised. There’s no such thing as enthusiasm. Also, you don’t need too many friends, just getting along is enough.”
She, Yu Linna, wasn’t afraid of having no friends; she just didn’t want to casually get close to people. She didn’t like that.
Who told her to move so often in her early years, constantly changing schools, making her dislike making friends? Otherwise, she would definitely have one or two compatible friends around her.
But it wasn’t like she had no good friends at all, for example, Nangong Ying. Her relationship with Nangong Ying should be considered the best. They met in their first year of high school, and their relationship had always been good. Although Nangong Ying often had to run around due to her own issues, her relationship with Yu Linna remained good, basically never arguing.
But their relationship had become a bit awkward, mainly because they competed on the same stage during the screen test, and in the end, the one who got the role was Nangong Ying, while Yu Linna got nothing. Because of this incident, the two became very awkward.
Although they didn’t argue, it always felt like there was a barrier between them.
“Linna, weren’t you and Classmate Nangong getting along well? She hasn’t come to class. Do you know what she’s up to?”
“…Her? She should have joined the film crew by now, right?”
“Huh?”
Fang Jianing looked bewildered. She still didn’t know what had happened between Nangong Ying and Yu Linna. Although she knew Yu Linna failed the screen test, she didn’t know who ultimately got the role.
No choice, Yu Linna briefly explained the matter, roughly clarifying her relationship with Nangong Ying. Fang Jianing only felt her head ache. What the heck? How did the relationship become so complicated?
“So you two are considered… fighting?”
“Not really fighting, just haven’t contacted each other.”
She said gloomily.
She and Nangong Ying weren’t fighting, just feeling a bit awkward.
“Speaking of which, I recently found a new job, delivering food.”
To ease the atmosphere, Yu Linna took the initiative to change the topic. Staying on this topic for too long always felt uncomfortable.
“Food delivery? Don’t you think you have too many jobs? I heard you say you were working as an assistant teacher before. You also have the convenience store job, and the library cleaning job. Now you have another food delivery job? How do you have so many jobs?”
“Well… I need money. These jobs are all paid daily, which suits my needs. You know I’ve been fired from several jobs. Can I not find new ones?”
For survival, working more jobs was necessary. Although tomorrow might not necessarily get better, today she must strive to live on. This was Yu Linna’s creed.
“Why do I feel like you’re really poor? Don’t your parents care about you?”
Speaking of this matter, Yu Linna fell silent.
Her nominal guardian, after handling her guardianship rights a few years ago, had abandoned her. It was slightly better at the beginning, leaving her a little bit of money. But after that, there was no news, the phone number didn’t work anymore. Left with that meager amount of money, Yu Linna struggled for three months before having no choice but to go out and work part-time to earn money. Otherwise, she would really starve to death on the streets.
And at that time, she seemed to be only 11 years old.
Well, things from so long ago were already unclear.
“Let’s not talk about these for now. Let’s go to work. After all, money is the most important thing.”
Although she didn’t know if tomorrow would be better, at least today she had to live well. This was also Yu Linna’s life creed.
In this world, no one could help her. The only one who could help her was always herself. She took this as her life philosophy.
Their figures disappeared into the street corner, no longer visible.
Meanwhile, on Nangong Ying’s side, having secured the role, she was preparing for the preliminary work. The director also asked the screenwriter to refine the script, and addressed issues with hiring action choreographers and the post-production team. As the central figure of this movie, Nangong Ying got acquainted with several co-actors after joining the crew and exchanged acting experiences.
Before the official filming started, they had time for trial performances. It was during this time that Nangong Ying began to systematically study acting. Although she hadn’t undergone formal acting training, fortunately, there were many official actors on set, with enough time to teach her things. Nangong Ying was also smart and learned quickly. Except for the fact that filming hadn’t officially started, everything else was going relatively smoothly.
And as a newcomer, Nangong Ying’s biggest advantage was that she had learned martial arts. Her movements were elegant and highly ornamental, like a dance. This was something no action choreographer could replicate. It wasn’t unreasonable for the director to choose her.
“Nangong, get ready. We start filming tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Packing her things, Nangong Ying was about to enter work mode. Occasionally, she would think of her friend, but the busy schedule gradually made her forget.
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