Chapter 3: Ride-hailing

On Tuesday, Ji Xinchen could finally sleep until he naturally woke up, no longer needing to clean upstairs.

After getting up and taking a shower, Ji Xinchen, wearing only underwear, struck what he thought was a handsome pose in front of the mirror, even combing through his semi-long hair. At a height of 184cm, weight 65kg, with broad shoulders and fair skin, everything seemed fine, but... he pinched his chest muscles while trying to flex, then shook his head after feeling them.

The poker-faced guy’s body was simply too good, how did he manage to get it like that? He couldn't compete... Ji Xinchen looked again at his own skinny body in the mirror, then returned to his room in resignation.

He pulled out a pair of cargo pants and an oversized white T-shirt from the wardrobe, put them on, ate some bread and milk, and then left the house. No sleeping during the day, it was time to make some money!

Ji Xinchen took the elevator to the parking lot on the lower level. Behaving like a middle-aged taxi driver, he first took out a duster from the trunk and dusted off the car. Only when it was clean did he put away the duster and get into the car.

As soon as he turned on his phone, there was a ride request from DiDi just a few dozen meters away. Ji Xinchen hurriedly accepted it. After accepting, he checked the location; it was right at the entrance of his community.

Getting a job right after leaving the house, not a drop of gas was wasted. Ji Xinchen immediately started the car, not even bothering to stop for a smoke.

After leaving the parking lot and driving onto the main road, the glaring sun irritated Ji Xinchen's eyes. He quickly lowered the sun visor and cruised to the community entrance to find his passenger.

"No way!" Ji Xinchen was surprised when he saw the poker-faced guy, "Such bad luck?"

There was no one else by the roadside, just Qi Shen checking his phone and the car license plate while signaling for the car.

"Small world." Ji Xinchen stopped the car and looked back at the rear door.

Qi Shen opened the door and got in. After closing the door, he looked up at the driver and said "Hello," then paused.

"Hello." Ji Xinchen responded, then turned his attention back to his phone to mark the passenger as picked up, and slowly started driving.

Throughout the ride, Qi Shen remained silent, his face turned towards the window, seemingly lost in thought.

At a red light, Ji Xinchen stopped the car and caught a glimpse of the poker-faced guy in the rearview mirror, feeling annoyed again. He decided to adjust the rearview mirror down a bit to face the guy's chest.

Qi Shen was still in a shirt and casual pants. Sitting as he was, the shirt was stretched over his chest, outlining his pectoral muscles and revealing a clear contour. Ji Xinchen sneaked peeks for a while until a car horn from behind made him realize his mouth was dry. He quickly averted his gaze, licked his lips, and then hit the gas.

"Ahem... uh..." Ji Xinchen cleared his throat while driving, "So... I see your destination is Cultural Street. Are you planning to stroll around there?"

Qi Shen grunted in affirmation.

"I must tell you, you can wander around there, but it's best not to buy anything. The souvenirs, snacks, and the like are all very expensive. If you see something you like, take a photo and I'll tell you where you can get a better deal."

"Okay, thank you."

Seeing that the poker-faced guy didn't say anything more, not even turning his head back, Ji Xinchen didn't want to continue the conversation either. Initially, he had intended to kindly warn him, as he saw Qi Shen as an out-of-towner about to get fleeced. As a local, he naturally wanted to help, but this poker-faced man didn't seem to appreciate the advice. If he got ripped off, it would serve him right!

While silently grumbling, Ji Xinchen didn't stop sneaking peeks at Qi Shen's chest muscles whenever they were stopped at a red light. He really admired this kind of physique. Whether they were of the same kind or not didn't matter, he didn't plan to develop anything with this poker-face anyway. He was simply enjoying the view.

Before long, they reached their destination. Qi Shen thanked Ji Xinchen before getting out of the car and walking towards the entrance of Cultural Street, settling the fare as he went.

Qi Shen had been to this street more than once, each time accompanying Pei Xin. Sometimes they would wander around and buy some tasty food, sometimes they would go to the Celebrity Teahouse to listen to a cross-talk performance.

Pei Xin was a local. Although he left home to go to university and then worked in other places for many years, he still maintained the style and habits of this city at heart, such as listening to cross-talk.

Qi Shen didn't understand cross-talk. To be precise, Qi Shen could understand each sentence, but he could never grasp the humor, especially in the teahouse, where the cross-talk was more localized, colloquial, and dialectal than that on the Spring Festival Gala.

Pei Xin also liked sugar painting, he could stand there watching the artist for a long time. After buying one, he would hold it in his hand, taking small bites as he walked, not minding the dirt whether it rained or was windy.

As a fitness enthusiast, Qi Shen couldn't accept this kind of empty calories. He would feel guilty even after eating a tiny bit. But Pei Xin liked to coax him into eating these things. Seeing him in distress, Pei Xin would burst into laughter, a mischievous expression on his face.

Walking and reminiscing, Qi Shen unconsciously curled up the corners of his mouth, but the fleeting smile quickly disappeared.

Why...

Qi Shen was the kind of person who needed clear and logical explanations for everything. Pei Xin knew this about him, yet chose to end their relationship with a single phone call, without any reason or explanation. This was an outcome he couldn't accept.

Thinking about it, Qi Shen quickened his pace. He would observe for another day today, and take action tomorrow.

Going by his memory, Qi Shen soon found the candy painting stall. There was no one in line, so he went over, scanned the QR code to pay, and ordered a rabbit.

The old master used a thin-handle spoon to scoop a spoonful of maltose syrup. While tilting it to let the syrup flow down, he was drawing on the marble slab with an expressive flourish. Before the spoonful of syrup was used up, a lifelike rabbit was complete. The old master then took a bamboo stick, dipped a few drops of syrup on it and stuck it on the candy painting, used a flat spatula to fan and cool the syrup quickly to solidify it, and then inserted the spatula between the candy painting and the marble slab to pry the candy painting up bit by bit.

"Here you go, young man." The old master held up the candy painting in front of Qi Shen.

Qi Shen took it and said thanks, turned around and walked back while taking out his phone to order a ride with DiDi.

"You have a new order, 1.1 kilometers away from you, destination…”
"You have a new order, 1.8 kilometers away from you, destination…”
"You have a new order, 100 meters away from you, destination Mediterranean Diamond Bay."

After dropping off Qi Shen, Ji Xinchen had two more short-distance orders, with the final destination being a Ear-Eye fried cake shop not far from Culture Street. After the passenger got out of the car, he parked on the side of the street, went to the shop to buy two fried cakes and ten sesame buns, and sat in the car eating the fried cakes while waiting for orders.

When Qi Shen's order came in, he had just finished a fried cake. Hearing that the distance was so close, he quickly accepted it. After accepting, Ji Xinchen took out a tissue to wipe his mouth, took a look at the location, and had a bad feeling — wasn't that location where Poker Face got out of the car? And the destination was Diamond Bay again... it couldn't be such a coincidence...

Ji Xinchen wiped his hands, started the car and drove towards the location, slowly approaching the side of the street. Soon enough, he saw Poker Face standing there, holding a candy painting.

"What's this..." Ji Xinchen couldn't help but laugh — a 1.85-meter-tall, excellent physique, dressed in a shirt and pants, handsome-looking guy, holding a candy painting of a little rabbit, how did these things go together?

Qi Shen obviously knew who the driver was from the license plate. Seeing Ji Xinchen's car stop at the side of the road, he didn't show any surprise, just opened the car door and sat in, still protecting the candy painting.

"Hello," Qi Shen still greeted politely.

"Hello," Ji Xinchen responded politely as well.

Then Ji Xinchen drove again, once again adjusting the rear view mirror lower.

The ride was silent. When he parked at the entrance of the community, Ji Xinchen's kindness kicked in again. He passed the fried cake to the back seat, "Take this home and try it. Ear-eye fried cake, a famous snack, very delicious."

Qi Shen looked at the plastic bag oozing with oil and wrinkled his brows imperceptibly. "No need, thank you." After saying that, he didn't wait for Ji Xinchen to respond before he opened the door and got out of the car.

"Tsks!" Ji Xinchen sneered, "It's so delicious, I'm reluctant to give it to you!" After saying that, he opened the plastic bag and took a big bite, while grabbing his phone to send a voice message in the band's WeChat group, "I bought sesame buns! I'll bring them over tonight! From Ear-eye!"

After putting down his phone, Ji Xinchen looked towards the community gate, the silhouette of that Poker Face was already gone.