Wandering in the vast darkness

015 Qiqi

The next afternoon, someone added him on WeChat. Yu Wenhao accepted without thinking, and immediately in the chat window that popped up, Qiqi bombarded him with questions:

"Tell me, did you take me home last night and get me into bed?"

Even through the phone screen, Yu Wenhao could still smell the alcohol on her, guessing that she had just woken up.

Yu said yes.

"You even helped me take off my clothes?" Qiqi pressed.

Yu Wenhao's heart skipped a beat. Sure enough, they had come to her door to demand an explanation. Fortunately, she had already prepared herself.

He said yes, "You have vomit on you, and in this cold weather, you'll catch a cold if you don't cover yourself with a blanket, but covering yourself with a blanket will make the blanket dirty, so I took it off for you."

Qiqi remained silent, so Yu Wenhao quickly continued to explain, "I just helped you take off your clothes, I didn't do anything else."

Kiki asked, "Really? You really didn't do anything else?"

"Really," Yu Wenhao said. "I had your building's security guard come up with me; he can vouch for me."

"Hmph, don't think I don't know. You even wiped my face with a towel and poured me water, right? I was almost dying of thirst in the middle of the night, and when I opened my eyes, I found there was still water. Okay, thank you!" Qiqi said.

Yu Wenhao held the phone and breathed a long sigh of relief. Goodness, so they weren't here to interrogate him. That's good.

"The security guard told me everything," Qiqi sent a smiley face, then continued, "If he hadn't told me, how would I have known about your WeChat? I added you just to thank you."

"It's nothing, it's nothing, just a small favor," Yu Wenhao said.

Kiki then asked, "By the way, I remember yesterday was really embarrassing; I threw up in your car as soon as I got in, right?"

Yu Wenhao said yes.

Qiqi immediately transferred 100 yuan to him and said, "Take this, it's to make up for your car wash fee."

Yu asked without accepting the payment, saying, "A car wash shouldn't cost that much."

"Then consider it payment for the ride. You'll still come pick me up tonight, okay? Wait for me at the KTV entrance at one o'clock," Qiqi said.

After saying hello and agreeing, he clicked "accept".

That evening, Yu Wenhao picked up Qiqi. It was also that night that Qiqi and Yu Wenhao made a promise that he would pick her up every night. She said that knowing he would be waiting for her downstairs made her feel at ease.

For women in their line of work, it's common to be forced to drink too much in private rooms. Some drivers on the road, seeing that she's drunk and works in this line of work, become very bold and take advantage of her. She feels disgusted but is powerless to resist. As long as it's not too excessive, she can only pretend that she didn't notice.

"You're a good person, you wouldn't," Qiqi said to Yu Wenhao. "I believe you."

From that day on, Qiqi became Yu Wenhao's last customer every night.

Yu Wenhao was waiting for her at the entrance to encourage her. When Qiqi saw a customer she liked, she would let loose and drink a lot. Anyway, it didn't matter if she drank too much. She would fall asleep as soon as she got in the car. When they arrived at Tenglong Building, Yu Wenhao would carry her upstairs, settle her down to sleep, and then leave.

There's no need to have security guards follow him around to testify anymore.

After visiting the building so often, Yu Wenhao became familiar with the security guards at Tenglong Building.

Most of the time, Qiqi is still quite alert when she gets off work. Halfway home, if she sees a roadside stall, she'll yell, "I'm hungry! Brother, stop the car!" Yu Wenhao will pull over, and the two of them will get out. Qiqi will then treat Yu Wenhao to a bowl of dumplings or fried noodles/rice noodles.

After finishing their meal, Yu Wenhao dropped Qiqi off at the Tenglong Building, and the two parted ways. He didn't need to escort her upstairs.

At first, Qiqi called him Brother Yu, but after they got to know each other better, she dropped the first two words and just called him Brother. She told Yu Wenhao that she now felt like she really had a brother in Hangzhou, and that she could ask him for help with anything, and he would take care of her.

Yu Wenhao seemed to have also stepped into the role of the older brother and was quite pleased with it. Taking advantage of the fact that he was a man and more than ten years older than Qiqi, he would unconsciously give Qiqi a few words of advice and tell her how to protect herself.

Every time Yu Wenhao did this, Qiqi would look at him, purse her lips, blink her big eyes, and then obediently say "Oh".

When Yu Wenhao drove to Shuguang Road and was almost at NOC party KTV, his phone rang. It was Qiqi. Yu Wenhao quickly answered, and Qiqi lowered her voice and said to him:

"Brother, are you almost there?"

Yu said, "Soon, I've already arrived at Shuguang Road."

"Oh, I'm going to Shengli River Food Street for a late-night snack with some guests. Can you wait for me there?"

Yu said hello.

Qiqi said, "Then drive slower, or rest for a while in front of our store. I'll send you my location when I get there, and then you can come over. You'll have plenty of time anyway."

Yu said hello.

Parking is difficult and expensive near Shengli River Food Street. At this time, most of the KTV rooms are closed, and parking in front is convenient and free. Yu Wenhao decided to continue driving to the NOC party KTV.

Yu asked and parked the car. Thinking that Qiqi and the others probably wouldn't be here for a late-night snack, he reclined the chair, set the alarm for 35 minutes, lay down, and had a good sleep.

When the alarm clock woke him up, he checked WeChat and saw that Qiqi had sent him her location a dozen minutes earlier. Yu Wenhao straightened his seat, rubbed his face with his hands, and then started the car, slowly driving towards Shengli River Food Street.

Shengli River Food Street is located in Xiawan Lane, next to a ditch that connects the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and Shangtang River. This ditch is Shengli River, a famous place in Hangzhou for late-night snacks.

After driving for more than ten minutes, when he was about to reach the intersection of Desheng Lane and Xiawan Lane, he pulled over and stopped. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to find a parking space and that he would have to pay parking fees if he parked there for too long.

After waiting for five or six minutes, his phone pinged with a WeChat message from Qiqi.

Qiqi said, "Call me and tell me you've arrived, then drive over right away."

Yu Wenhao dialed Qiqi's number, and as soon as the call connected, Qiqi exclaimed on the other end:

"Honey, you've arrived? Great, I'll be right out."

Yu Wenhao smiled slightly, knowing that Qiqi was waiting for him to rescue her.

Yu started the car and drove to Xiawan Lane, then turned right. When he was almost at the entrance of "Old Man's Fried Shrimp" restaurant, he saw Qiqi standing at the entrance with a vest bag in her hand. A man in his fifties was next to her and reached out to pull her free hand, trying to pull her into the restaurant.

Yu Wenhao quickly stopped the car a short distance away from them, rolled down the window, and called out "Qiqi." Qiqi looked over and said to the man:

"My boyfriend has arrived."

The man glanced in their direction, released Qiqi, and went back to the shop dejectedly.

Qiqi walked over, opened the passenger door and got in, calling out, "Let's go, brother, let's go!"

The road was too narrow to make a U-turn, so Yu Wenhao continued driving forward, exiting Xiawan Lane, and then turned right under the Shangtang Elevated Road.

"Pull over," Qiqi said.

Yu Wenhao, unsure of Qiqi's intentions, pulled the car over. Qiqi handed him the vest bag she was carrying and said:

"Eat quickly, don't let it get cold. This is a fresh order for you, not a takeout."

Yu Wenhao took it. Inside the vest bag were two plastic lunch boxes, one containing a box of stir-fried shrimp and the other containing a box of fried noodles.