Chapter 17: Phone Card

Before her was the reset Employee Dormitory, Wang Jiexiang took a deep breath, full of enthusiasm, facing this new loop.

“Cough cough.” The smoke irritated her as she inhaled.

“Little one…”

Her shoulder was supported by someone behind her, meaning she could move freely now.

“Uncle,” she turned around, cutting him off: “I’m here to find someone, you don’t need to help this time.”

Unlike the previous loops where she was sneaky and played a minor role, this time, she planned to step onto the big stage and try to engage with Yin Xian as much as possible from the start, fighting for more screen time.

Wang Jiexiang bypassed the people playing cards and reached the farthest Mahjong table.

Yin Xian, who was smoking, looked at his hand. She stood beside him, and he didn’t look up.

She immediately took action, removing his cigarette and putting it out in the ashtray.

He looked at her.

“Hello, Yin Xian, I’m a child of your mom’s relative. Your mom asked me to come find you. I’m twelve years old, a cute Primary School Student.”

A new opening line, Wang Jiexiang intentionally added some friendly elements.

She had never used this identity before, so she decided to test it out.

Yin Xian didn’t understand her purpose: “So?”

“So, we’re relatives! My parents aren’t free today, and your mom told you to take care of me. It’s already mealtime, we should go eat together.”

The people at the table heard the child’s words and weren’t happy.

“Ah Xian, you can’t leave, we’re three short.”

“We won’t be three short,” Wang Jiexiang pointed to the middle-aged man walking toward them, “He’ll play.”

Yin Xian saw Brother Xu and greeted him.

“Brother Xu, you take my seat,” Yin Xian stood up and gave up the chair. “I’ll go to the cafeteria to eat, and I’ll check the factory in the afternoon.”

Brother Xu agreed readily: “Oh, okay, you can come back after eating to continue playing. The factory’s fine, no need for you to worry about it.”

He agreed, turned to grab his work uniform hanging on the back of the chair.

“I’ll hold it for you,” Wang Jiexiang hugged it to her chest and urged, “Let’s go.”

Her actions and tone were too familiar, and he gave her a strange look.

Wang Jiexiang boldly met his gaze.

Yin Xian most likely wouldn’t question her identity. In previous loops, she had displayed even stranger behavior, and he never pried.

Sure enough, he didn’t ask anything.

After taking the work uniform, Yin Xian put it on and led Wang Jiexiang downstairs.

Noticing their path, she spoke.

“I guess you’re thinking, there’s no place here for kids. So, you’re planning to find me a ball so I can play with it outside by myself.”

“…”

She had remembered his line and said it first.

Wang Jiexiang secretly laughed in her heart: It’s rare to see the sharp-tongued Yin Xian get caught off guard.

“Don’t you want to play with a ball?”

“Huh?” She didn’t follow the script: “How could I not want to play? Playing with a ball is my favorite.”

Wang Jiexiang performed an imaginary ball game, her hands moving in a dazzling way.

They arrived at He Shan’s office. She was one step ahead and knocked on the window.

He Shan looked up and saw Yin Xian, along with Wang Jiexiang who was leaning over the windowsill, half her head sticking out.

She smiled and walked over to open the door for them.

“At this time, instead of playing Mahjong with them, you came to find me?”

Yin Xian asked: “Do you have a ball? Or something for kids to play with?”

“I’ll have to look,” she bent over and looked at Wang Jiexiang, “Who’s this child?”

“She said she’s a child of my mom’s relative.”

He Shan pinched her cheek: “What’s her name?”

“My name is Wang Jiexiang!”

Wang Jiexiang announced her full name and complied as her face was pinched.

“I’m He Shan, you can call me Little Shan Sister.”

Wang Jiexiang nodded.

“Okay, Little Shan Sister,” she couldn’t help but compliment her: “You’re really a big beauty.”

He Shan was amused by her.

“Yin Xian, what relative of your mom is this child? She’s so cute.”

“…” Wang Jiexiang hadn’t figured out this part yet.

Yin Xian’s mouth moved, seemingly about to ask her.

“Wow! Wow! Suddenly, I really want to eat a Popsicle!” She awkwardly interrupted him, her gaze drifting into the distance. “Looks like there’s some being sold over there! I’ll go for a bit, you guys continue talking.”

“Wait a minute.”

He called out to her.

Wang Jiexiang panicked: What should I do? Has this loop ended already? If I lie about being a “distant relative,” they’ll ask more questions. I should say “my mom’s new family’s kid,” but how would I know about his mom’s relatives… What if I say the wrong thing and Yin Xian finds me suspicious, kicking me out of the Auto Repair Shop again?

“Do you have money on you?”

Her train of thought was interrupted by Yin Xian’s words.

“What?” She didn’t understand the situation.

“I’m asking, do you have money? Didn’t you say you really want to eat a Popsicle?”

He pulled out his wallet and handed her a bill.

“Oh, okay.” Wang Jiexiang took the money dumbly.

Holding the bill in her hand, she saw Yin Xian about to put his wallet back into his pocket.

Wallet!

Her eyes suddenly lit up: The wallet I couldn’t steal last time, it’s within reach.

“I can borrow your wallet?” Afraid of being rejected, she quickly added a reason: “I promise not to spend recklessly. You… does your wallet still have small change? I’ll use the small change first. The convenience store often doesn’t have change, and it’s super troublesome if they can’t make change. They might not sell to me…”

Yin Xian looked at her silently.

Wang Jiexiang didn’t stop talking, rambling about why she needed to borrow the wallet. She wasn’t good at lying, and the more she spoke to gain trust, the more she said.

When she ran out of words, she cautiously looked at Yin Xian.

He handed her the wallet.

“There’s not much money for you to waste.”

Wang Jiexiang was so happy she nearly jumped three feet high.

With Yin Xian’s wallet in hand, she walked briskly, quickly disappearing from their sight.

Phone card!

That damn phone card she had been obsessed with!

Wang Jiexiang pulled it out from the wallet and eagerly bent it with all her might.

“What the hell?”

The phone card didn’t break, and her hand turned red.

Was Yin Xian’s phone card made of steel?

Not believing in evil, she went to the convenience store and borrowed a pair of scissors from the owner.

Still couldn’t break it!

“Is this science?” Wang Jiexiang was furious, but had no idea what to do. “Could it be that task items can’t be destroyed?”

What now?

She could throw it in a trash can, but what if someone finds it and returns it to Yin Xian?

Throw it outside the Auto Repair Shop, but the Barrier is for me, not for Yin Xian.

Bury it in a hole, but would that be too suspicious? There’s a risk of someone seeing and reporting it.

After thinking it through, Wang Jiexiang took out the insole from her shoe and put the phone card inside.

To prevent uncontrollable accidents, it would be safer to carry it with her.

She put on her shoes again, carefully bought her favorite milk Popsicle from the convenience store owner.

On the way back, she was deep in thought about how to respond if Yin Xian asked where the card went.

He Shan and Yin Xian were talking at the office door.

Wang Jiexiang approached and noticed He Shan’s expression wasn’t very good.

“Have you made up your mind?”

He Shan’s tone was full of frustration.

Yin Xian answered briefly: “Mm.”

She bit her lip until it almost bled, her voice tinged with a crying tone.

“But, isn’t being an engineer easy? At my dad’s factory, you can do whatever you want. If you don’t want to manage things, you don’t have to. You’re an engineering graduate, you have a diploma, you know so much about this field. Changing to another job… I don’t understand why you made this decision, and you’ve never told me.”

He might have wanted to say something, or maybe not.

He Shan didn’t give him a chance to speak.

Her emotions broke through, and tears began to fall.

“You know…”

“Many times, I wonder if I’m really in a relationship with you? Your feelings, your thoughts, I don’t know any of them. The colleagues at the factory, their understanding of you, their communication with you, maybe it’s more than mine. Honestly, you quit because you’re dissatisfied with me, right?”

She stopped her tears and questioned him.

“Yin Xian, do you think you’ve wronged me?”

Wang Jiexiang sighed deeply, lost in thought: Really, I want to sit down and drink with He Shan.

The slight sound drew their attention to her.

“Jiexiang? When did you come back?” He Shan awkwardly wiped her tears and forced a smile at her.

“I’ve been here for a while. I’m short, you didn’t see me.”

She listened intently, and her hand melted the Popsicle. Remembering, she quickly licked it.

The sad breakup scene of the couple, Wang Jiexiang desperately licked her Popsicle.

The two stopped talking and just watched her lick.

“Don’t mind me, don’t mind me!”

She knew she was interrupting them, but the Popsicle couldn’t stop being licked, so she could only retreat while licking it.