Chapter 36

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After work, Zhang Tan was about to leave when Luo Ming hurried over.

"Still here, good. There's something I need to tell you. Did you receive your salary today?"

What? Is it something related to the salary?

"I received the email."

"It's like this..."

...

In the middle, Liu Dawei darted in, saw Luo Ming, and awkwardly retreated.

"I'll send you the materials on WeChat. There's plenty of time, no need to rush."

After saying this, Luo Ming hurried off. He had to pick up his daughter from school. Tomorrow was the weekend, and he planned to take his wife and children on a vacation to an island.

After Luo Ming left, Zhang Tan changed the water for the spider plant and the lucky bamboo in the office, then locked the door and left. Liu Dawei, who had come to find him earlier, had already gone, and he didn't know what it was about.

Exiting the production company gate, he saw someone waiting there—Jiang Rong.

"Let's go, since we got our salaries today, let's have dinner together."

"No way, you're inviting me again?"

"Being so stingy, I'm the one inviting you."

"Where's He Chao?"

"He Chao has a girlfriend, unlike us, who are single dogs."

After dinner, Jiang Rong tried to pay, but Zhang Tan beat her to it.

"How much do you earn?" Zhang Tan said.

Jiang Rong came from a wealthy family and drove a luxury car, but her salary was really low, even lower than Zhang Tan's base salary.

"Want to go to a bar?" Jiang Rong suggested as they left the restaurant, eager to go, as she was someone who liked to have fun, somewhat like Zhang Tan used to be.

"Maybe another time, I have something to do."

Zhang Tan didn't like going to bars. He had once gotten drunk there and didn't like it at all.

Jiang Rong curiously asked, "You just go to work and come back, like a married person. Are you married? Do you have kids at home?"

Zhang Tan laughed and said, "Not only do I have kids at home, but many of them, dozens. I have to take care of them every day, so I have no time to go out and play."

Jiang Rong rolled her eyes and waved her hand, "Go back, go back, you're a homebody."

Zhang Tan laughed and said goodbye to her.

"Hey you..."

Jiang Rong didn't expect Zhang Tan to turn and leave without hesitation. Was she really that unattractive?

Back in the urban village, after parking his car, he walked back to Little Red Horse Academy. Walking outside the school's wall, Zhang Tan heard a burst of children's laughter. He looked around but saw no one. The laughter was clear and seemed to come from inside the school. Upon closer inspection, oh, there were two children standing at the base of the wall inside the school, with a row of sycamore trees providing good cover.

The children were covering their mouths and giggling, trying not to make too much noise, but it was still clearly audible. They must have been very pleased with themselves.

"Are you two here? Aren't you afraid of mosquitoes?" Zhang Tan asked. The children were Xiao Bai, with short hair, and Shen Liuli, with pigtails, bouncing around.

One side of the school bordered West Chang'an Street, and a row of tall, lush sycamore trees had been planted there. The children, standing under the trees, were hard to spot in the dim light.

"Uncle."

"Good Ren Uncle."

The two children, excited to be discovered, jumped around.

Children playing hide-and-seek are always most excited when they are found.

Zhang Tan told them to go back quickly and not to play under the trees at night, as there were many mosquitoes.

"Uncle, look, those are the drunk people," Xiao Bai whispered, pointing to a short distance behind Zhang Tan.

Zhang Tan turned to look. The "drunk people" Xiao Bai referred to were three young men, walking unsteadily and shouting loudly. As they got closer, a strong smell of alcohol could be detected.

Zhang Tan knew without guessing that they had just come out of a bar, clearly drunk.

This road often had drunk people coming out of bars at night.

"Go back quickly, if they hear you calling them drunk, they'll get angry."

"They won't catch me, running is my specialty."

"Then I'll come in and catch you, let's see if you can run away."

Zhang Tan turned into Little Red Horse Academy and saw Xiao Bai dragging Shen Liuli into the building in a flash.

They ran really fast.

Old Li laughed, "Xiao Bai often hides under the trees to watch drunk people."

Zhang Tan said, "She's really brave, not afraid of drunk people getting rowdy and hitting children."

Old Li nodded, "I'll pay more attention in the future and stop her from doing this."

"The trees at night are not safe, and there are many mosquitoes."

"Indeed, there are many mosquitoes in the summer, especially under the trees. I'll keep an eye on Xiao Bai. She's the leader, so if I watch her, it will be mostly prevented. Before you came, Xiao Mi and Meng Chengcheng were also here, but when Teacher Xiao Liu called them, they went back. Only Xiao Bai and Shen Liuli were left. Shen Liuli is a very mischievous child, and in the future, she might be even more troublesome than Xiao Bai."

Shen Liuli, indeed, was mischievous.

Zhang Tan was just scaring Xiao Bai and didn't plan to catch her. He went straight home. As soon as he entered, there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Xiao Bai.

"Uncle, I ran fast, didn't I?" Xiao Bai asked proudly, implying that the uncle who wanted to catch her could only eat her dust.

"Indeed, you ran fast."

"Go go go~~ I run as fast as a snake," Xiao Bai said.

A snake, Zhang Tan looked it up online.

"Come in and sit down."

"Okay."

Just as she was about to take off her shoes and come in, she remembered something and asked guardedly, "Uncle, did you drink?"

"No."

"Then I'll come in. Uncle, here's something for you."

Xiao Bai changed into slippers and handed Zhang Tan a glass bottle of fish belly, which contained candied fruit.

"Really sweet." Zhang Tan pinched a piece and asked, "Do you like it?"

"Yes." Xiao Bai nodded and took a piece for herself, closing her eyes in delight. Her eyes seemed to be smiling. She looked very cute and sweet, with eyes that formed two crescent moons. If you hadn't seen her angry, you would think she was a sweet girl, sweet and cool.

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Don't be too frugal, eat when you want to. I have more, and I'll give you some more later."

These candied fruits were from Zhang Tan, who had given them to Xiao Bai. Last time, Xiao Bai had given him half a jar of salted peanuts, and in return, he had finished the peanuts and filled the jar with candied fruits, giving it back to Xiao Bai.

The candied fruits were very sweet. Zhang Tan poured a glass of water and asked Xiao Bai, "Do you want some water?"

Xiao Bai nodded and said she could go to the kitchen to drink.

"Sure, is your water in the kitchen?"

Xiao Bai ran to the kitchen, stood on a small stool, and turned on the faucet to drink directly.

"Wait, don't drink."

Zhang Tan quickly lifted Xiao Bai down and put her on the ground, saying, "Don't drink the water from the faucet. It's raw water, and children can get a stomachache from it."

"I always drink like this."

This child drank water like this at home, without much fuss.

Zhang Tan turned off the faucet, took her out of the kitchen, and got a can of bear-shaped drink from the fridge, opening it for her.

"Drink this."

He originally wanted to tell her not to drink water like that anymore, but he held back, thinking that maybe her family's conditions were like that, and it would be better to talk to her aunt.

"Another bear!" Xiao Bai said happily, holding the bear-shaped drink.

"Children all like to drink bear-shaped drinks."

Xiao Bai took a sip through the straw, smacked her lips, and said it was good, her big eyes squinting in delight.

After a few sips, Xiao Bai staggered, laughing, and hugged Zhang Tan's leg, saying, "I'm drunk, I'm a drunk~~~"

Zhang Tan: "..."

"Ugh ugh ugh~~~"

"What are you doing?"

"When you're drunk, you vomit, and it stinks."

Zhang Tan: ----

"Then you vomited all over my feet."

Xiao Bai jumped up, lively, and sat on a small stool, saying, "Uncle, I was just teasing you, go go go."

Zhang Tan, amused, said, "You, a child, pretending to be drunk. I'm telling you, don't go and provoke those drunk people on the street. They will hit you, even children. Be careful."

Xiao Bai, hearing this, tightened her face and nodded, "Sure! My uncle is like that too."