"Are you the owner of this room?"
Ke Teng didn't know what they were doing and asked back.
"Is there something?"
"Yes, we are from the neighborhood committee."
One of the girls waved the folder in front of him.
"Because our community is quite old, many bacteria will breed in winter. Therefore, before the temperature drops, the neighborhood committee organizes a unified disinfection and sterilization."
"Tonight at ten o'clock, please take back all the clothes and shoes you hang on the balcony and seal your house completely. We will conduct unified disinfection and sterilization. Please cooperate."
So they were really from the neighborhood committee.
There was such a good thing, Ke Teng had no reason to refuse.
"Okay."
After the girl finished speaking, she took out two long-shaped medicines from the bag in her hand and handed them over.
"This is for the interior of the room, spray it in closets, under beds, and in all the crevices. Remember to spray it during working hours. Leave the doors and windows slightly ajar to ventilate when you leave, so you don't get poisoned."
Ke Teng thought they were giving them away for free and reached out to take them.
As he took the medicine, the girl began to write in the folder.
"Owner of room XX, what's your name?"
"Jian Fei."
"Leave your phone number."
Ke Teng didn't know her phone number, so he left his own.
"That will be 298. Cash or scan?"
Huh? They actually wanted money?
He was immediately astonished in his heart.
Being penniless was really awkward. He had already taken the items and couldn't return them. For the first time in his life, Ke Teng experienced what "social death" meant.
"My phone is out of battery, I'll be right back."
Fortunately, his upstairs neighbor was home. He had seen the elder sister go back earlier and thought he could borrow some money from her.
Ke Teng knocked on the door, used the excuse of his phone being out of battery. The elder sister had seen him once that morning and thought he was Jian Fei's boyfriend, so she gave him three hundred yuan.
"Thank you, I'll return it as soon as Jian Fei gets back."
The two girls didn't have change for two yuan, and Ke Teng didn't have a collection code for them to scan, so they gave up on the extra two yuan.
Holding two boxes of medicine, Ke Teng waited at the door, feeling much more confident.
If it weren't for me, you would have missed the important pest control for the entire winter.
I did such a big favor for you today. Maybe you can forgive me for not finding a job for now.
He waited confidently at the door, from six to seven, from seven to eight.
He stood, sat, and squatted, his legs almost giving out. He felt like he was going crazy, and his stomach was almost empty. It was almost ten o'clock when Jian Fei finally came up slowly, dragging her tired body.
When he saw her head appear in the hallway, Ke Teng felt as if he had seen the hope of life and hurried forward to greet her.
But he saw her eyes were unfocused, her hands were empty, and then he felt disappointed again.
"Why are you back so late? Where's dinner?"
"I've been waiting for you since five o'clock, and I'm starving. You didn't buy groceries or bring food..."
Jian Fei finally came up. Her hair, usually meticulously pinned up, was a little messy today. Her lips were pale, and her eyelids were swollen, as if she were seriously ill.
Seeing her like this, Ke Teng swallowed the rest of his words in shock.
"What's wrong with you? What happened?"
Jian Fei didn't even lift her eyelids. She didn't want to look at him or talk to him. She walked straight to the door and mechanically opened it.
She threw her canvas bag on the ground, didn't change her shoes, and entered the room like a lost soul.
Ke Teng was stunned. He followed her in with the medicine and saw her shaking the quilt on the ground, looking like she was about to sleep. He couldn't help but remind her.
"Maybe you encountered something and you're in a bad mood and don't want to tell me, I understand."
"But you can't sleep now. The community is organizing pest control tonight, you need to pack your things."
Jian Fei ignored his words and continued with what she was doing with a blank face.
Seeing that she was about to fall asleep, Ke Teng couldn't help but walk over and grab her wrist.
"Alright, alright, if you want to sleep, then sleep. If you don't want to pack, I'll help you. But before you sleep, please give me 300 yuan."
When money was mentioned, Jian Fei's face finally showed some expression.
However, it was an impatient expression.
She lifted her eyelids, gave him a cold look, and asked, "Do I owe you money?"
Facing her gaze, Ke Teng felt like he had sunk to the lowest level.
He didn't live in his spacious house, didn't spend his abundant money, and didn't live a good life, yet he came here to be looked down upon by her every day.
What kind of look was that? In all his years, this was the first time a woman dared to look at him with such an unreasonable gaze.
If it weren't so late and he had nowhere else to go, Ke Teng would have really turned hostile towards her.
"You don't owe me money, but you owe the neighborhood committee."
"Didn't I tell you, they're doing unified pest control tonight, and they gave us two cans of medicine and asked for 300 yuan..."
Jian Fei's face grew increasingly displeased, with an expression that suggested he was talking nonsense.
To prove his innocence, Ke Teng raised his voice.
"Really! Every resident in the building has to pay. They said it's unified pest control and they've registered everyone. Haven't you experienced this before?"
"You know, I'm penniless and don't have money to give her, but in order not to miss such a good opportunity, I borrowed 300 yuan from your upstairs neighbor. You should go and pay her back first."
Jian Fei's eyes flickered up and down as she sized him up and the two cans of "pyrethroids" in his hands.
The cheapest insect spray in the hospital pharmacy, eight bags for ten yuan, and he spent three hundred yuan on it?
This must be the work of those two female scammers who prey on the elderly, as the neighbors had mentioned before!
But he was so young, and when dealing with her, he was so sharp. How could he be so easily tricked?
Jian Fei had an incident at the hospital today, her chance of becoming a permanent employee was gone, and whether she could graduate smoothly was still uncertain.
She was already so miserable, and now she couldn't even keep the remaining six hundred yuan in her pocket...
After sizing him up for more than ten seconds, she was too angry and couldn't help but grit her teeth and push Ke Teng back forcefully.
"Whoever borrowed the money should pay it back themselves! How can there be someone as stupid as you in the world?"
"Your father only knows how to spend money to let you eat, drink, and dress up. Did he not teach you to study? Others have brains to think, but yours are just for decoration, right?"
"How can anyone be so stupid? My family is too poor to support such a foolish young master, and we can't repay the money you owe. Please leave, I don't want to see you for another second!"
Ke Teng seemed to see himself from twenty days ago.
At that time, Jian Fei had just arrived at his house, and he had spoken to her with his finger pointed at her nose.
Unexpectedly, in just about 20 days, their positions had been swapped.
It was too harsh. He hadn't realized it before, but those words were really hurtful when spoken.
He had only eaten a few meals at her place and slept in her bed for two days. He had kindly bought medicine for her, and yet he was being scolded like this...
Ke Teng's self-esteem was shattered. His neck and face turned red, and he was so embarrassed that he couldn't say a word.
Seeing that he still hadn't left, Jian Fei added fiercely,
"Still not leaving? Are you waiting for me to kick you out?"