Chapter 2: Chapter 2: 2, what a coincidence

Holiday International.

The developer positioned it as a high-end community, but in reality, it was at best upper-mid-range, a far cry from the truly upscale neighborhoods in Jiangcheng.

Deliverymen with electric scooters weren’t allowed into the complex, so Yang Hao had to go on foot. Since he was delivering a birthday cake, he dared not run and proceeded with utmost caution.

With two minutes to spare before the delivery deadline, he arrived at the customer’s door.

He rang the doorbell on the fingerprint lock, and soon the door was opened.

“Thank you.”

A beautiful, apron-clad woman in her early thirties received the cake and thanked him with a radiant smile.

“No problem.”

Yang Hao replied and casually marked the order as delivered.

As he prepared to leave, the beautiful woman suddenly called out to him, “Big brother, wait a moment.”

“What’s up?”

Yang Hao glanced at her, puzzled.

“Some cockroaches have crawled out from somewhere in the kitchen, could you help me get rid of them?”

“I can give you fifty yuan.”

The beautiful woman said somewhat dejectedly.

“Uh, sure!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yang Hao, short of cash and ambition, found fifty yuan very significant, as it meant he could afford an extra meal for his daughter that night.

“Thank you, then please come in.”

The beautiful woman took out a pair of men’s slippers from the shoe cabinet.

As she bent down to grab the slippers, her sleep pants inadvertently tightened, accentuating the rounded curves of her buttocks, a charm unique to mature women.

Once inside, Yang Hao subconsciously scanned the room and then saw the wedding photo on the wall. The woman had indeed been beautiful in her youth, and through the V-neck of her wedding dress, one could glimpse her tempting cleavage.

The man beside her looked refined, with gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

Huh?

That man looked somewhat familiar.

What a coincidence!!

Yang Hao was shocked. This was none other than the BMW driver he had spat a glob of ’82 vintage phlegm on!

He didn’t know the man’s name, but he knew his surname was Shen and that he was Director Shen at the advertising agency where Li Manshu worked.

Li Manshu had been talking about the highly capable Director Shen not long after she started working, so Yang Hao wasn’t surprised they ended up together.

However, he hadn’t expected the beautiful woman in front of him to be Director Shen’s wife.

“Big brother, the kitchen is this way,”

Seeing Yang Hao standing still in a daze, Wang Xueru reminded him.

“Oh, right.”

Yang Hao collected his thoughts, his gaze inadvertently sweeping across Wang Xueru’s cheeks. The woman’s features weren’t as striking as Li Manshu’s, but her figure was more voluptuous, with a charm in her eyes and brows, like a ripe peach.

Mr. Shen is quite the lucky man!

Yang Hao sighed inwardly, while an unsavory thought emerged in his mind.

MD, I’m a decent man!

Yang Hao rubbed his temples, driving away the little devil in his thoughts.

The kitchen was fairly spacious, at seven or eight square meters, with a row of cabinets against the left wall.

Catching a few cockroaches in such space wasn’t easy.

To catch them, one needed to figure out where they were coming from. Cockroaches like dark, damp places, so the area near the drainpipes was the primary spot to check.

There was only one drainpipe under the sink in the kitchen, and Yang Hao examined it carefully; it was well-sealed, so the cockroaches couldn’t have come from there.

That left the ventilator duct as the only connection to the outside, and when he opened the top cabinet, sure enough, the check valve was loose, leaving a gap between the exhaust pipe of the range hood and the wall.

“You’ve been getting backdrafts when cooking lately, haven’t you?”

Yang Hao asked Wang Xueru, who stood at the kitchen entrance.

“Yes.”

“How did you know?”

Wang Xueru’s eyes twinkled with surprise as she looked at Yang Hao.

“The check valve was loose, and the cockroaches must have come from either the neighbors above or below. It’s a good thing we found it in time.”

Yang Hao explained as he tightened the check valve and then said to Wang Xueru, “Close the door tightly; I’ll look for those few roaches.”

“`

“Okay.”

Wang Xueru nodded and quickly closed the kitchen’s sliding door.

Thus, the kitchen became an enclosed space, ready for a dogfight.

Only, the “dog” Yang Hao was after wasn’t easy to find; it took the strength of nine bulls and two tigers for him to kill five cockroaches.

Who knows how many more were hiding in places he couldn’t find.

Yang Hao stopped searching and came out of the kitchen with the five roaches wrapped in a paper towel, “I only found these five for now. There should be more, but it’s too hard to continue like this.”

“I know a type of cockroach medicine that works really well. You can buy a pack later, and scatter some in the kitchen tonight. Seal the kitchen door, and you should see results by the next day.”

“Thanks so much.”

“Let’s add each other on WeChat, and I’ll transfer the money to you.”

Wang Xueru kept thanking him. In fact, she was just trying her luck earlier and didn’t actually expect the delivery guy to be able to solve the problem.

However, he surprised her not only by finding the cause of the cockroach problem but also by fixing the issue with the oil smoke.

She had mentioned the cooking smoke issue to her husband several times, but he had shown an utterly indifferent attitude.

After adding each other on WeChat, Wang Xueru thought for a moment and then said, “Brother, could you please buy the cockroach medicine for me? I don’t even know where to buy it, and I’m afraid of buying the wrong kind.”

“If possible, I’ll transfer you a hundred for your trouble.”

“Uh, okay then.”

Yang Hao nodded. In fact, he wasn’t doing this for the money anymore, but rather, he was intentionally trying to make the acquaintance of this beautiful young woman.

“Thank you so much!”

Wang Xueru hurriedly expressed her gratitude and also transferred the hundred yuan to him.

“I’ll go buy it now.”

Yang Hao didn’t put on any airs and simply accepted the money.

He was quite experienced in dealing with cockroaches, having worked in the catering industry for over a decade. Restaurant kitchens were always a paradise for roaches, and in his efforts to exterminate them, Yang Hao had tried many methods and various cockroach medicines. Among them, one called “Cockroach Gel Bait” proved to be quite effective.

Half an hour later.

Yang Hao returned, holding a box of Cockroach Gel Bait.

“There are instructions inside; just follow them and you’ll be fine.”

He handed the cockroach medicine to Wang Xueru, offering advice as he did.

“Thank you. How much was this? I’ll transfer the money to you.”

Wang Xueru took out her phone ready to transfer the money.

“No need, the hundred you gave is enough.”

Yang Hao waved his hand. The box of medicine cost thirty yuan, so he had seventy left, which was fine.

Of course, the main reason was to create some good karma.

“I’ll still give it to you, though; you’ve gone through a lot of trouble for me.” Wang Xueru felt somewhat embarrassed; the man had been busy running around for her for more than an hour.

“If you really want to return the favor, just give me a bottle of water to drink.”

After being busy for half a day, Yang Hao was indeed thirsty.

“Look at my head, I didn’t even think to offer you water…”

Wang Xueru, chiding herself, quickly grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to Yang Hao, “Brother, I truly appreciate your help today!”

“I’m not volunteering here, no need to be polite.”

Yang Hao gestured dismissively. This beautiful young woman was truly polite, continuously saying “thank you” since they’d met.

“Is the cake for your child?”

Drinking some water, Yang Hao casually pointed to the cake on the table.

“Yes, today is my daughter’s 8th birthday.”

“8 years old, a little first grader.” Yang Hao said.

“Yes, she’ll be in second grade starting September.”

Warmth glowed in Wang Xueru’s eyes as she spoke of her daughter.

Yang Hao took another sip of water. He had intended to leave directly, but then he thought of Mr. Shen by the Civil Affairs Bureau and couldn’t help but ask, “Saw the wedding picture on the wall; your husband seems familiar. Is his surname Shen?”

“Yes, do you know him?”

Wang Xueru was very surprised, not expecting the delivery guy to know her husband as well.

“Not really; just saw him at the stairs in Inspiration Advertising when I was delivering food and with…”

“Oh, a customer is calling me, sorry.”

Yang Hao intentionally left his sentence hanging and pretended to answer a call as he headed for the elevator.