Moonlight falls into my arms

"Sir, we really have no more wine. Everyone's off work, and the wine cabinet is locked. I was just waiting for the last table to leave before I went home." Ruan Li said helplessly, not expecting the guests in the private room she was assigned to to drink so late.

Now she's all alone keeping watch over things.

Apart from a security guard waiting for her to finish her shift and lock the door on the first floor, the entire hotel was deserted.

The heating in the corridor was also turned off, and Ruan Li was so cold that she kept stamping her feet. She went in and urged them several times, but to no avail.

To save energy, she could only turn on the corridor light outside the private room; the rest of the room was pitch black, and Ruan Li didn't dare to go to the toilet even if she wanted to.

"Alright, thank you for your hard work. It's really inside...tsk, if the boss won't leave, there's nothing I can do."

As fellow animals, Ruan Li nodded with a wry smile and escorted the person back to the private room.

"It's all about money, it's all about money," she told herself, trying to convince herself.

I wonder if Jiang Yanhui, that sucker, will actually give her the money.

First floor.

The security guard was scrolling through his phone, half asleep, when the main gate light came on and a man entered.

He yawned, and before he could even see who it was, he blurted out, "Sorry, we're already closed."

Jiang Yuci, covered in wind and snow, her coat and hair soaked, looked at him and asked, "Is there another temporary worker here?"

"I don't know about temporary workers, but there is indeed a young girl still here, and there's still a table of customers who haven't left." The security guard stood in front of him, sizing him up.

The overhead lighting in the hall shone on him, and the frameless glasses reflected the light, obscuring his features. He seemed to be surrounded by a shadow, exuding a profound aura.

"You know her?"

"I'm looking for her."

Seeing the person in front of him hesitate, Jiang Yuci added, "That's my sister."

The security guard understood. "Ah, that's right. It's worrying that the young lady hasn't gone home yet so late. I'll take you to find her."

Jiang Yuci followed him to the elevator entrance.

While waiting for the elevator, the security guard chatted with him again: "You don't look like you're short of money. How come your little sister is working to earn money at such a young age? This afternoon, the wrong dishes were served on the wrong floor. The little girl carried the dishes from the second floor to the fourth floor. It was such a big plate of shaved seafood platter, it looked like it was three times the size of her head. The little girl's hands were shaking uncontrollably. I was worried for her."

Jiang Yuci knew that during peak hours at Huanrong Hotel, waiters were not allowed to use the elevator.

When Dr. Li said he saw her at Huanrong, Jiang Yuci assumed she was with them.

The elevator arrived, and Jiang Yuci followed the security guard inside, asking, "Is Huanrong hiring temporary workers now?"

"We haven't been hiring for a while, but two people suddenly quit. Today, both the private rooms and the main hall are full, and we're short-staffed, so we temporarily hired a few people. I remember one of them was even hired without his ID card. We're just really short-staffed, otherwise we wouldn't be so casual."

"We're here. Walk to the front of this floor and turn right. She should be guarding outside that private room."

"Well, thank you."

Jiang Yuci walked straight ahead, and just as he was about to turn the corner, he saw a figure outside the empty corridor. The figure then walked towards a private room that was not lit.

He walked over.

Outside the private room was a large food cart, covered with collected tableware. The plates were piled up in layers, and Jiang Yuci estimated that the food cart reached up to Ruan Li's chest.

He looked through the crack in the half-open door of the private room; it was dark inside and he couldn't see anything.

"Waiter, pay."

The door to the opposite room was pushed open, and a man reeking of alcohol came out.

Jiang Yuci subconsciously took a step back.

"Are you the manager? The young lady provided excellent service. Here's a tip for her; I'll just pay the bill at the front desk by scanning the code."

Jiang Yuci took the tickets.

Ruan Li also came out of the private room.

She couldn't hold it in any longer, but she didn't dare go to the restroom at the end of the corridor, so she had to relieve herself in the restroom of the private room. As soon as she heard the words "check out," she rushed out immediately.

Pushing open the door, you bump into a wall of flesh.

"Jiang, Jiang Yuci?" Ruan Li didn't have time to ask him what he was doing here, and hurriedly ran to the front to settle the bill for the guests.

After printing out the receipt, I handed it over with both hands and smiled, saying, "Welcome to visit us again next time."

Jiang Yuci looked at her practiced, polite smile and instantly felt a headache coming on.

He didn't believe she was really working there temporarily; he came to expose her.

But she acted so convincingly that he couldn't find a single flaw.

After seeing the guests off, Ruan Li changed back into her own clothes and stood in front of Jiang Yuci. "What are you doing here so late?"

Jiang Yuci lowered his eyes and looked at the person in front of him whose hands were red from the cold and who was constantly rubbing them.

He pressed the down elevator button and said casually, "I'm out buying an apron."

"Are you the kind of baby who can only fall asleep with an apron over your head at night?" Ruan Li raised an eyebrow at him, reached into his pocket, and took out his phone. "Did you receive the money Jiang Yan sent you?"

"Sent to you?"

The two entered the elevator, and Ruan Li opened WeChat: "Yes, I earned it!"

"earn?"

In the confined elevator, Jiang Yuci's voice sounded a little muffled.

Ruan Li bit her lip and looked at him seriously: "Jiang Yuci, I have to ask you something."

"Ah."

"Is your first love still alive?"

A moment of silence.

Ding--

The elevator doors opened, but neither of them moved.

As the elevator doors closed again, Jiang Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, "She has passed away."

Ruan Li carefully followed him out of the elevator, clutching her phone.

If he's dead, then why did he agree to help me pursue my first love...?

Ruan Li followed Jiang Yuci into the car. She sat in the passenger seat and secretly glanced at Jiang Yuci several times.

"What do you want to ask?" Jiang Yuci spoke first.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask about your sad things. Jiang Yanhui told me about it today, and I didn't believe him, so I asked you."

Jiang Yuci's eyes flickered for a moment.

They didn't believe him, that's why they came to ask.

You believe what I say?

Ruan Li replied matter-of-factly, "I only trust you now."

"..."

Jiang Yuci really took the person to buy an apron.

Ruan Li followed behind him, secretly glancing at the pretty apron next to her several times.

When she saw Jiang Yuci pick up a basic coffee-colored item, her hopeful eyes completely dimmed.

But when it came time to pay the bill, Jiang Yuci asked, "Aren't you going to pay?"

Ruan Li was stunned for a moment before she realized what she meant, "I want it!"

She quickly ran to grab the light pink apron with a cat pattern. "Will this be okay?"

Jiang Yu didn't reply to her, but simply paid the bill.

After leaving the store, Ruan Li saw him take out a gray scarf he had just bought.

She lowered her head and pouted. "Hmph, it's just a scarf. When I had my mother, I had an endless supply of scarves!"

The next second, the gray scarf was hanging around her neck.

Ruan Li's cold neck touched the warm, soft fabric. When she looked ahead, Jiang Yuci had already walked to the parking space.

"You should have told me you were buying it for me! I wanted the red one!" Ruan Li ran over, twirling the scarf around her neck.

"I don't want it." Jiang Yuci glanced at her.

Ruan Li had half her face buried in her scarf, her hair was messy, but her smiling eyes were bright, reminding Jiang Yuci of a messy little dog wagging its tail enthusiastically by the roadside, with bright eyes staring at people.

He couldn't help but smile.

Ruan Li was stunned, but Jiang Yuci had already turned away, leaving her only with the hurried back of his head.

Ruan Li ran over and immediately got into the passenger seat. "You should smile more. You look so beautiful when you smile, like a begonia flower."

Jiang Yuci stared straight ahead without turning her head: "You smile like a puppy."

Ruan Li: "...Compensate me for emotional distress."

On the bus, Ruan Li took the apron out of the bag and looked at it again and again.

While waiting at a red light, Jiang Yuci happened to see Ruan Li rubbing against her apron again. He didn't quite understand this behavior. "Do you like it that much?"

“Jiang Yuci, look at this cat, doesn’t it look familiar?” Ruan Li unfolded the pattern for him to see.

Jiang Yuci glanced at it. "No."

"It's that little stray cat downstairs from my house. It's very small, with bright black eyes, and it's so cute when it eats."

"never seen it."

"You pay no attention to the things around you."

Jiang Yuci remained silent.

"Let me use my phone." Ruan Li took her phone out of his pocket, leaned forward, and stared at Jiang Yuci: "The manager said daily payments are made on WeChat, so I gave him your WeChat ID. Can I add you as well?"

Ruan Li saw that Jiang Yuci remained silent, which meant he agreed.