Midnight Cinderella (Ban Li Zi)

Chapter 16

Feng Jing regretted his words. That had been a rather forward statement, and it wouldn't do to scare her off now. He was debating how to step back gracefully when Jiang Ran laughed, teasing him.

"Well then, the next time I eat seafood I'll call upon you!"

Seeing her smile, Feng Jing heaved a sigh of relief. Smiling back, he said, "Just kidding."

He would have liked to eat with Jiang Ran, but eating meant taking off the mask and exposing his identity.

When the two were preparing to go upstairs, out came another resident who seemed to know Jiang Ran fairly well.

"Little Jiang." She called to her affectionately. "Did you go collect veggies again?"

"Yes! The tomatoes look gorgeous this time! Sister Wang, why don't you take a couple?"

Sister Wang and Jiang Ran were old neighbors. When the old building had not yet been demolished, they lived in the same apartment complex. Later, the developer bought up the land it sat on and made some changes to the building, so Jiang Ran's parents moved to a different house. Once the original was repaired, they were too lazy to move back, and now Jiang Ran lived there alone.

Sister Wang checked out the produce in Jiang Ran's bag. "Those tomatoes look lovely, very red."

Seeing them chatting, Feng Jing took the initiative to say goodbye. "I'll go up first."

Jiang Ran nodded to him. "Sounds good."

Feng Jing brought his vegetables into the elevator. Sister Wang looked at his back, then turned around and asked Jiang Ran, "Are you and Mr. Feng very close?"

"We're all right, is there an issue?"

"I've always wondered if there was a problem with him." Sister Wang's voice was light, but she looked serious. "He's moved in for a while but still always wears a mask and hat. No one's ever seen his face."

Jiang Ran said, "Oh, that. Mr. Feng said he had a cold."

"Anyone can say anything! He just says it and you believe it." Sister Wang looked at Jiang Ran, a little worried. "Little Jiang, no offense meant by this, but you're a young girl living alone, and you're very beautiful. You're easily remembered. Mr. Feng's mysterious and secretive, make sure to keep your guard up."

"I'm not alone. " Jiang Ran protested. "I have a dog."

"What can that little dog of yours do?" Sister Wang imagined the scene, and couldn't help but urge her. "In short, don't get too close to him. He doesn't appear to be a good man."

Jiang Rans smiled and did not answer, instead took out two tomatoes from her bag, stuffing them into the other's hands. "Sister Wang, here take these two tomatoes."

"Thank you." Sister Wang bid her goodbye and went outside the gate.

Jiang Ran carried her bag of vegetables into the elevator, thoughtful.

There really were a lot of strange things about the newly moved-in Mr. Feng. Though his clothes were very low-key, Jiang Ran was a saleswoman who came into contact with many luxury brands, and she could easily see that all his belongings were well-made and valuable. But she had never seen him go out to work. What did Mr. Feng do? Was he a rich second generation? But then why would a rich man rent a house here?

Sister Wang's suspicions were not unreasonable, but Jiang Ran instinctively felt like Mr. Feng was a decent man.

Over on the other side, Feng Jing was full of joy, completely unaware that he had been classified as a "suspicious person" by his neighbours. He couldn't wait to post on Weibo and show off the vegetables Jiang Ran had just given him.