What to Do if I Am Noticed by the Straight Guy Next Door?

Although the job of walking dogs was quite frustrating, receiving two part-time job offers within a week made Su Bin feel extremely happy and optimistic about the future.

To celebrate, Su Bin decided to go downstairs and pour himself a glass of juice, only to run into Jin Fei, who had just returned home.

“Wow! Did the sun rise in the west? Why are you home so early today?” It was quite rare to see the social butterfly who usually stayed out late and came home early at this hour.

Jin Fei, looking exhausted, replied, “Bro, I had kidney weakness today, couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Su Bin: “…” This shameless guy!

“Oh, by the way,” Jin Fei remembered the text message from last night and asked, “What is this ‘Cliff’ game you mentioned yesterday?”

Su Bin thought, “How can a Chinese person like you not know about the famous ‘Cliff’ forum! Are you trying to tease me…”

But before he could say anything, Su Bin hesitated. He remembered that his post was still prominently displayed on the front page of the forum’s supernatural stories section. If he explained it to Jin Fei, he might become interested and climb up the mountain to see the crazy thread. That would be embarrassing!

Forget it… “It’s nothing, just a random question,” Su Bin pretended to be calm.

Jin Fei didn’t suspect anything and casually threw his car keys, saying, “Hey, do you have time on Saturday?”

Su Bin asked, “What’s the matter?”

Jin Fei took out two tickets from his pocket and said, “A friend gave me two tickets for the M United vs. Chelsea match this Saturday afternoon.”

“…” Su Bin instantly felt the deep malice of the heavens. God, are you daring to play a little rougher?

“At the famous Trafford Stadium, you haven’t been there, right?” Jin Fei waved the tickets and invited with enthusiasm, “The seats are great too!”

“I’m busy on Saturday!” Su Bin exclaimed. (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Jin Fei was puzzled, “Your wife is in China, what are you busy with on Saturday?”

Could this guy ever think like a normal person? Su Bin glared at him fiercely, “I’m going to pick up litter!”

Jin Fei was a bit confused, “Picking up litter?”

Su Bin nodded and recalled the wording in the job posting. It said “pick up the litter”: “Literally, I mean exactly what it says. I’m going to the football stadium you mentioned to pick up litter as a part-time job.”

Jin Fei was stunned. His eyes went from shock to sympathy. He said with a compassionate expression, “Are you short of money? If you need money, just tell me, bro!”

Su Bin shook his head and explained, “I want to earn money myself to buy a gift for my girlfriend!” He thought to himself, buying a ring for his girlfriend, such a classy thing, you, a playboy, wouldn’t understand.

“What kind of gift requires you to pick up litter to buy?” Jin Fei asked.

Su Bin was getting frustrated, “Can you stop fixating on ‘picking up litter’? It’s just a job! I also have a job walking dogs…”

Damn it, why does it feel a little bitter when it comes to walking dogs?

… It’s all because of this annoying fly. It was originally a good thing, but he completely changed the topic with his interruptions!

Su Bin couldn’t help but say, “I want to earn money to buy a ring for my girlfriend!” There are some things that are awkward to say in front of Yang Chengzhe, but boasting a bit in front of Jin Fei is fine.

Unfortunately, Jin Fei couldn’t understand at all. He wore a constipated expression and said, “You’re really working hard!”

Su Bin instantly lost his appetite for the juice… The greatest communication gap between people is when my emphasis is on “buying a ring for my girlfriend,” but your focus is still on “picking up litter”!

The next morning, after Su Bin finished washing up, he efficiently cleaned the apartment.

Since he would continue to share the bathroom with Allen, it was better to get used to these things sooner. He couldn’t rely on the hope that “the other person will move out soon” anymore… However, recently, Su Bin noticed that Allen’s behavior had become more “casual.”

For example, Allen used to post a note on the bathroom door to allocate bathroom usage time, or more precisely, he announced his own bathroom usage time. So Su Bin tried to avoid being there during that time.

But several times, Su Bin found that Allen himself broke the rules first. Allen would occasionally appear when Su Bin was about to finish brushing his teeth or washing his face, and he would enter while talking to him…

At first, Su Bin thought it was his own fault for exceeding the time limit, but later he realized that no matter how he tried to avoid that time, there was a possibility of “coincidentally” running into Allen. So Su Bin had to give way to the other person immediately after such a situation occurred.

However, Su Bin later thought that it was difficult to avoid such incidents because using the restroom was beyond one’s control. For example, if someone said they needed to urinate at 8 o’clock, the urge would inevitably come at 7:59… which was definitely not scientific.

On this day, while Su Bin was cleaning the bathroom, he noticed the shower gel and shampoo on the shelf and remembered that he needed to buy shower gel. Due to limited space on the shower shelf, Allen had mentioned before that if Su Bin could get used to it, there was no need to have two sets there. They could share one set, and now that the shower gel was almost used up, it should be Su Bin’s turn to buy it.

After class in the afternoon, Su Bin asked Sun Yujie, “Do you know which supermarket sells this brand of shower gel?” Su Bin had already looked around in the HappyMart but didn’t see this brand.

Sun Yujie glanced and replied, “L’Occitane? You need to go to their specialty store, not the supermarket.”

Su Bin asked, “This thing also has a specialty store?”

Sun Yujie said, “Yeah, it’s similar to Kiehl’s and Lush. They specialize in these types of products, so they definitely have a counter… Do you want to buy this? I know the place; I can take you there!”

The two of them walked to a shopping center in the city center, and the first floor was filled with mid-to-high-end cosmetic and skincare counters.

As soon as Su Bin entered, he smelled a mixed fragrance. On each counter, different brands of perfumes, powder puffs, and bottles were sparkling under the crystal spotlights…

“Hey, what brand is that?” Su Bin pointed to a counter with a name starting with “L” and asked Sun Yujie. He remembered that Chen Xiaotian had a small bottle of perfume that seemed to be from this brand.

“Lancôme, it’s such a big brand. Haven’t you heard of it?” Sun Yujie was amazed at Su Bin’s ignorance. “You’re someone who has a girlfriend, you know!”

“My girlfriend has natural beauty and doesn’t need skincare products!” Su Bin said with some pride.

Apart from facial cleanser, Chen Xiaotian didn’t use anything else. When she was about to turn twenty, Su Bin had thought of buying her a set of cosmetics as a gift, but she rejected the idea. She insisted on not using these things until she turned twenty-five. Su Bin had little chance to get close to his mother since he was young, so he was unfamiliar with these products except for the ones frequently advertised in China, such as Chanel and L’Oréal.

However, there was a small bottle of perfume on Chen Xiaotian’s writing desk, emitting a strong fragrance even when it was just placed there. That was the only thing belonging to the “cosmetics” category that Chen Xiaotian had. Su Bin remembered it clearly, with the “Lancôme” English brand name on the small bottle. He had asked Chen Xiaotian about it at that time, and she said it was a free gift when she bought something. Su Bin didn’t think much about it then, but now, with Sun Yujie as a living encyclopedia, Su Bin immediately asked, “Does Lancôme sell perfume?”

Sun Yujie said, “Yes, do you want to take a look?”

Su Bin went to the counter and looked around but didn’t see the small bottle like the one on Chen Xiaotian’s writing desk. He described the details to Sun Yujie.

Sun Yujie made a hand gesture and said, “This small? Then it’s probably a gift.” He then asked a staff member at the counter on behalf of Su Bin, and the staff member brought out a few small boxes for them to see. Su Bin pointed to one of them excitedly and said, “This is it!”

The staff member immediately explained that if Su Bin purchased products of a certain price range in their store, they could offer him various promotions. Su Bin paused for a moment and asked, “Can I only buy things from your store?”

Sun Yujie couldn’t help but look at Su Bin like he was looking at an idiot. “Isn’t that obvious?”

Su Bin felt a little strange at this point. Chen Xiaotian didn’t buy cosmetics, so where did her perfume come from?… Could it be a free gift when her mother bought cosmetics? Well, that explanation seemed plausible. Su Bin didn’t doubt it, and after looking at the prices, he exclaimed, “So expensive!”

Sun Yujie said, “This brand is considered high-end… Let’s go, let’s quickly look for your shower gel.”

Reluctantly, Su Bin took one last glance before leaving, feeling a slight impulse to buy a bottle of perfume for Chen Xiaotian… Unfortunately, as someone who had experienced walking dogs, Su Bin now understood the hardships of life and the difficulty of earning money!

Sun Yujie, like a girl, led Su Bin through the store, imparting various skincare knowledge about toners, creams, essences, and moisturizers… Su Bin was bombarded with a wealth of information.

As Su Bin walked, he listened in a daze, thinking that asking Sun Yujie, this knowledgeable person, was the right move!

When he arrived at the L’Occitane counter, although the prices of various products were not as high as those at Lancôme, Su Bin was still shocked.

Back in China, Su Bin never cared about the brand or price of shower gel. A bar of soap would last him a couple of months… Well, not to sound frugal, but even popular brands like Lux and Dove in supermarkets would cost at most twenty or thirty yuan!

But the bottle in front of him, Su Bin couldn’t possibly mistake it. It was exactly the same as the one placed in Allen’s bathroom, and the price tag was a whopping 15 pounds – nearly 200 yuan when converted to Chinese currency.

…Damn, was this a robbery? Su Bin remembered that Allen also used a body lotion from the same brand. Should he be this extravagant?

“Is this the one?” Sun Yujie stood by and said casually, without being at all amazed.

Su Bin glanced at Sun Yujie and said, “Don’t you think this is expensive?”

Sun Yujie replied, “It’s alright, it’s in the mid-range. But it’s a bit expensive for personal use. Let me recommend a local brand from Country B called Beauty Store. It’s slightly cheaper, around 10 pounds, and works just as well…”

“…” Su Bin realized that his consumption perspective in this area was completely different from that of Sun Yujie, Allen, and the others!

But he had no choice. He had been using this high-end shower gel for almost half a month. Could he just switch to a bottle of Safeguard? Definitely not!

Su Bin gritted his teeth and decided to buy a bottle anyway…

He picked up a bottle of herbal-scented shower gel and went to the checkout counter. The cashier smiled and pointed to a perfume displayed on the counter, recommending it to Su Bin. “Sir, we recently launched a men’s fragrance with a vervain scent. It’s discounted to only 10 pounds. Would you like to try a bottle?”

…Huh? Vervain?

Wasn’t this the one that internet users said could repel vampires? (⊙_⊙)

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