It was already late at night when Heather returned to the Qifan Street slum.
Most of the houses in the Qifan Street slum have turned off their lights. Only the cheap neon lights on the street made of waste materials from the upper floors are still shining with colorful light.
Heather walked through the dark streets shrouded in shadows and scared away several wild cats that were digging through trash cans.
Stepping up the metal stairs of Tianwang Village quietly, Heather walked to the door of Room 202, took out the key and opened the door. Just as he was about to enter, the door of Room 201 next to him opened with a creak.
Tifa stood in front of the door, clasping her hands in front of her belly and twisting her fingers together, looking at Heather timidly.
“Brother, Granny Mare has already told me about the walled commercial street.” Tifa mustered up the courage to say to Heather: “I will never work there.”
…”
Heather just looked at her quietly for a few seconds, then walked into room 202, closed the door, and left a sentence lightly:
“Come to me at six o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Looking at the closed door, Tifa's mood suddenly became relaxed. She softly said good night in the direction of 202 and then quietly closed the door.
It is gratifying that the relationship between the brothers and sisters has returned to normal.
…………………………………………
In the first month, Tifa's life was not easy.
She has just recovered from a serious illness. She still has metal braces in her body and her physical strength is much weaker than before being admitted to the hospital. But she still insists on exercising with Heather every day and never slackens off.
Heather developed a rehabilitation training plan based on Tifa's physical function, and constantly monitored her physical fitness progress to make adjustments to the exercise plan.
The repertoire after training every morning is breakfast time.
The two of them ate all the breakfast stalls in the station square of the Qifan Street slums, and would be very interested in making their own evaluations of the food taste of each stall. Regarding this, Heather was obviously much stricter and would make most of them
Some breakfast stalls were criticized as being useless. On the contrary, Tifa felt that most of the breakfast stalls were delicious, except Tang Xinzi noodles, which she really couldn't get used to.
Over the past month, Tifa has also met some residents of the Qifan Street slums under the introduction of Granny Mare. But none of them can be called "friends".
On the fourth day of her stay at Tianwangzhuang, Tifa found a job - working for Dimo Restaurant in the slums of Qifan Street. Washing dishes, cleaning, and serving as a guest waiter, she gradually became more proficient from being busy at the beginning.
It takes her too much time.
The restaurant owner's name is Dimo, a bald old man with a beard and an old friend of Marley's mother-in-law. For Marley's sake, Dimo takes good care of Tifa. However, the atmosphere in the Qifan Street slum is relatively different from other places.
The slums were not bad, and the other 'temporary workers' working in the restaurant did not show any hostility towards Tifa.
On the one hand, they didn't believe that such a beautiful girl would stay in Old Dimo's shabby restaurant, and of course it wouldn't pose much of a threat to their jobs. On the other hand, they heard that Tifa was Heather's distant relative and junior sister.
, came from a rural village called Gongaga to join his famous senior brother Heather.
Has Heather become famous? They don't know, but one thing is certain - no one in the Qifan Street slums dares to provoke Heather. From this aspect, Heather can indeed be protected.
In this way, Tifa gets up at 5:30 every morning, washes up and then does warm-up activities in her room. When it is almost 6 o'clock, she goes out to find her senior brother. The two of them set off to exercise in the open space near the outer wall. Near 7 o'clock,
Return to Qifan Street Station for breakfast at 0:00.
Then Senior Brother Heather would often disappear mysteriously. According to Granny Marley, he was busy with his own affairs. Tifa would go back to the room to wash up and then rush to Demo's Restaurant to start working.
Lunch was served at Demo's Restaurant. It was not a greasy meal, but it was better than a free working meal. Tifa still ate happily.
After working until around 8 o'clock in the evening, Tifa changed shifts with the person who came to take over, and then went to the market to pick out some cheap and high-quality ingredients, trying to learn from her senior brother's bargaining method. Even though she had a serious lack of experience in bargaining, she had a sweet face.
, you can always buy the right ingredients at discounted prices.
After returning to Tianwang Village, Tifa would cook dinner with Granny Mare, or Granny Mare would teach Tifa how to make some home-cooked dishes. Heather would sometimes come to eat together, and sometimes she would come back very late.
But I never stayed out all night.
Marai said that this situation was very rare. In the past, Heather often did not return to Tian Mang Village for several days in a row.
One month, two months……
Gradually, Tifa's body became healthy and energetic again with abundant nutrition and targeted rehabilitation exercises, and her face no longer looked as pale as when she was just recovering from a serious illness.
She even had the courage to take the train by herself to the Staple Mall on Bafan Street to buy two cheap clothes and replenish some daily necessities.
Dimo's restaurant paid very little wages. Thanks to Tifa's frugality and free lunch, Tifanu managed to save some money. She hid all the money in a shoe box in the closet in her room, and kept it every day.
I would count it every few days to calculate how long it would take to pay off the rent and medical expenses owed to Grandma Marei.
In the third month, Tifa paid off the rent arrears, which was a huge victory for her.
Ma Lei smiled and expressed congratulations to her, and Heather just said "oh" and had no other reaction.
Tifa was not discouraged by her senior brother, and she is still very motivated. She is even planning to use the break to work an extra job. The treatment fees she owes Granny Mare and her senior brother have not yet been paid off, so she will continue to work hard!
In May 2003, the fourth month after Tifa arrived in Midgar, Heather announced that Tifa's rehabilitation training had come to an end.
“Your recent activities are no different from ordinary people. The metal brace is no longer uncomfortable, right?”
In the deserted clearing in the early morning, Heather said to Tifa:
“Physically, there is no difference between you and ordinary people. It is even stronger than some men with poor living habits. Coupled with your flexible body skills and Zanganliu fighting skills for protection, I think you already have some means of self-protection.”
Tifa is wearing a black short-sleeve and short skirt that is easy for movement, and she still has the same pair of red sneakers on her feet. Compared with when she first came here four months ago, she is no longer pale and timid, and has become much more cheerful: "Senior Brother
, don’t you need to continue the rehabilitation training?”
Heather nodded slightly: "Well, then we should start the formal advanced training of Zanganliu fighting technique. You should come to me at six o'clock every morning. Be mentally prepared, this is much harder than rehabilitation training."
“I won’t slack off.”
“Also, go to Dimo today to put your work on hold. I found a new job for you.”
“Huh? It’s so sudden, Mr. Dimo…”
“I will tell Dimo that working in a restaurant is not a good option if you want to repay the treatment expenses.”
“Here, what kind of job is it?”
Tifa was not worried about where her senior brother would abduct her, but she was a little uneasy when she had just adapted to working in a restaurant and suddenly had to change to a new environment. Speaking of which, when she first met Master Zangan, she thought he was abducted.
The child is a human trafficker.
Heather pointed to the top: "Go to the downtown area of Bafan Street to work as a bartender apprentice. The salary is higher than in a restaurant. The most important thing is that you can learn something. As I said..."
“As long as you have learned it, no one can take it away from you. I will always remember it, senior brother.” The girl’s smile was bright.
“…You can still answer. It seems you still have the strength to run around the open space three more times! Hurry up!”