Actresses

Is Chapter 7 really that strict?

He Yuran didn't ask any more questions, but silently followed Shi Jiahe, looking around as if he was thinking about something.

Shi Jiahe skillfully navigated the area, first turning a corner, then entering the residential complex through a wide-open, unguarded side gate. After crossing the entire complex, she reached another side gate, turned out again, and walked several dozen steps before stopping in front of a stall set up outside. Two staff members in blue vests stood in front of the stall, enthusiastically greeting her, "New users registering for the app get free eggs! It's a great deal!"

Shi Jiahe smiled and said, "Okay, okay, we'll sweep it up after we finish buying the groceries." Then she pulled He Yuran, who had just stopped, and said, "Shall we go?"

He Yuran asked in confusion, "Get... eggs?"

"Hmm." Shi Jiahe pulled He Yuran up the steps to the upper bunk next to them. After lifting the thick plastic curtain, a fairly large supermarket came into view.

He Yuran's eyes were still wide open. "I didn't see a supermarket sign outside!"

"Yeah, the storefront's been renovated, but all the residents around here know this place," Shi Jiahe said as she walked through the shelves and headed straight for the back of the supermarket. After turning a few corners, she stopped at an egg stall. "Two pounds of eggs, please."

"Aren't we just getting free eggs? Why are we buying eggs?" He Yuran asked but didn't get an answer, so he looked closely and found a piece of paper posted next to the stall: Today's special offer on red-skinned eggs, 3.99 yuan per catty.

A simple-looking girl in a red vest answered, slapped aside a plastic bag, bent down and picked out clean eggs from a plastic basket full of chicken droppings and feathers. She counted about 20 eggs, stopped, and began to weigh them. "Exactly 2 jin (1 catties)."

Shi Jiahe accepted it and replied, "Okay, thank you!"

"Is it really that accurate? 20 pieces equals 2 jin?" He Yuran muttered.

Upon hearing this, the little girl immediately said enthusiastically, "Yes, the eggs in our supermarket are all weighed by the standard gram; usually, 10 eggs make 1 jin (500 grams)."

"Oh... this is the first time I've heard of this," He Yuran said softly.

Shi Jiahe smiled but didn't say anything, then turned and went to the vegetable section.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm eating?" He Yuran said, following behind.

"The budget doesn't allow for ordering food, so you'll eat whatever I cook," Shi Jiahe said bluntly.

"Okay." He Yuran shrugged.

Shi Jiahe swiftly grabbed several bags of vegetables and mushrooms, then went to the butcher shop to weigh out some minced meat and ribs before turning around to pay at the counter.

"A total of 62," the staff member said with a smile.

After paying the bill, Shi Jiahe picked up her things and walked out without saying a word. He Yuran followed and asked, "Less than 100 left?"

"Yes." Shi Jiahe answered, handing the bag of vegetables she was carrying to He Yuran, "Take this."

The famous star He Yuran obediently accepted it. Now that she wasn't by the Liangma River, no one was watching her performance, and she didn't need to perform.

After a few steps, the two returned to the blue-vested stall. Shi Jiahe stopped again and asked, "For new users, how many eggs do we get for scanning the QR code?"

Two people in blue vests immediately surrounded them, smiling broadly. "Ten each!"

Shi Jiahe pulled He Yuran, who was still in a daze, over. "She's with me, the two of us."

He Yuran muttered to himself, "Ten eggs cost four yuan a pound, so that means I made eight yuan?"

"Those eggs were definitely worth buying." Shi Jiahe smiled. "Yes, Sister Ran, you're on the right track."

"Yes, I fell for your trick." He Yuran handed the phone to Shi Jiahe quite consciously, because she knew she definitely wouldn't know how to operate it.

Shi Jiahe placed the things in her hands on the table set up by the blue-vested man and stood there following the steps instructed by one of the blue-vested men, installing the same-city fresh food delivery app on both of her phones.

He Yuran, carrying groceries, looked around aimlessly.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Shi Jiahe saw another person in a blue vest hand two bags of eggs to He Yuran, saying, "Hello, you can take your eggs now."

He Yuran seemed to be in a daze, blankly reaching out to take it without saying a word.

The man in the blue vest still smiled broadly: "You look so beautiful, you have the air of a big star."

He Yuran then politely forced a smile and said, "Haha, thank you."

Shi Jiahe quickly put her phone in her pocket and leaned over to the man in the blue vest who was getting the eggs, adding, "Thank you for helping us get the eggs."

"It's nothing. Thank you for participating in our event!" Judging from her face, she was a very young girl, and her voice was full of the liveliness that one would expect from someone her age.

Shi Jiahe glanced to the side and saw many boxes of eggs, all filled with bags. She didn't leave immediately, but deliberately continued chatting with the woman in the blue vest. "I wanted to ask, are all your eggs pre-bagged?"

"Yes, we need to give each person ten; there's no time to pack them on the spot."

"Wow, you've prepared so much! I don't see many people here right now. Will you be able to send it all out today?"

"Yes, the peak season is in the afternoon."

Seeing He Yuran still standing there in a daze, Shi Jiahe tugged at her, and He Yuran finally turned her face away. Shi Jiahe continued to ask the girl in the blue vest, "Why were there so many people coming to collect the eggs this afternoon?"

The young man answered honestly and enthusiastically: "In the morning, the elderly usually go to the morning market to buy groceries. They also need to cook in the morning. Before picking up the children in the afternoon, they will come here for a stroll and pick up the eggs."

"Oh, you all know so much about this?"

"They'll ask in the group chat," said the person in the blue vest next to me. "Do you want to join the group?"

"Let me take another look. Thank you, I'm sorry to have taken up your time," Shi Jiahe said.

"It's alright, feel free to order through our app. It's a good deal today, we have coupons," the man in the blue vest said politely.

Shi Jiahe retrieved the things she had left on the table, left a bag of eggs, and handed it to He Yuran, saying, "Let's go, sis."

"Oh." He Yuran accepted it somewhat blankly.

The two walked back to the community through the side gate, one after the other. Shi Jiahe whispered, "Ran-jie, you should say thank you when someone gave you eggs earlier."

"Oh, okay. Didn't I say that? I thought I did."

"I had a feeling you were daydreaming. What were you thinking about?"

He Yuran paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sleepy."

"..." Shi Jiahe thought to herself, "I didn't even ask. Is she just being silly? I thought she was thinking about something profound." But she still patiently guided her. "Sister, have you realized something? All those bags of eggs they're distributing are pre-packaged."

"Yes, I heard you talking."

"Let's imagine, they must need to do a lot of preparation beforehand, right?" Shi Jiahe stared into He Yuran's eyes, thinking to herself, am I taking care of a child? I might not be this patient when I have my own children in the future.

He Yuran blinked, looking a little confused, and said, "I know."

"Then tell me, what are they going to do?"

He Yuran opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Shi Jiahe got anxious and rattled off a string of words: "For example, we need to get up very early, allocate time for packaging eggs based on the estimated number of customers, and then hold a meeting in advance to determine the division of labor, such as how many boxes and how many eggs this person will pack, how many boxes and how many eggs that person will pack, and then check the number of eggs and bags. Eggs are fragile and can be damaged, so we have to be careful when packing them, and we have to count ten eggs in each bag. We can't put in too many or too few. Even opening and retying the plastic bags needs to be done many times."

"You saw them pretending, how could you be so clear about it?" He Yuran asked curiously.

"Anyone who has worked for a few days could think of these things in advance!"

"Oh, I've got it! I just don't talk as fluently as you. I'm still half asleep." He Yuran said, yawning.

Just then, the elevator arrived. Shi Jiahe sighed and stepped inside, with He Yuran following behind, still relentlessly asking, "Say something! Why aren't you talking to me?"

Shi Jiahe didn't answer. After the elevator dinged, she silently walked out and opened the door. He Yuran continued, "The eggs we just got are worth eight yuan. Shouldn't we add them back to the budget?"

"No more!" Shi Jiahe flung open the door. "Money spent is money spent!"

"Oh, can't you speak properly? Why are you being so fierce?" He Yuran yawned again. "I see you're still grumpy from waking up. How are you going to cook?"

"We only have this much money left, so we can't go out to eat today. Whether we feel good or not, we have to stay home and cook!" Shi Jiahe's tone was clearly emotional.

Perhaps because she was inside, He Yuran didn't bother to maintain her composure and casually tossed the things she was carrying into the entryway. Shi Jiahe clearly heard the sound of eggs hitting the ground.

"Where's the restroom? I need to use the restroom," He Yuran said coldly.

Shi Jiahe pointed, and the two walked expressionlessly to the bathroom and the kitchen respectively.

Shi Jiahe first put the vegetables she was holding aside, then gently placed the eggs down. She freed one hand to grab two sheets of kitchen paper and place them on the table before putting down the ribs and minced meat. Bloodstains seeping through the bag spread across the kitchen paper.

Afterwards, Shi Jiahe returned to the entryway and took the bags that He Yuran had left on the floor into the kitchen, paying particular attention to the eggs at the bottom. Fortunately, two of them had cracked shells but weren't completely broken.

She took out the two eggs and counted four more. Just then, He Yuran's soft voice came from behind her.

"You want to settle accounts with me?"

Oh, so Sister Ran knew all along and was secretly watching.

Shi Jiahe wasn't in a hurry to speak. She slowly placed six eggs into the pot and added water. "We'll eat them all in a bit."

"Six eggs for the two of us? Are you crazy?"

"I want to fry a plate of golden coin eggs; I can't just fry two rotten eggs, can I?"

He Yuran pretended to grit her teeth, "So you're making veiled accusations, calling me a bad guy..."

"Sister Ran, I was a little angry just now. I'm sorry." Shi Jiahe apologized smoothly. She knew that He Yuran had already given her a way out, which was extremely rare. You can't be too harsh on a proud donkey.

He Yuran shrugged, his expression instantly becoming magnanimous. "Two bad guys and four good guys, does that count as an ensemble piece?"

"That's too much protein. Eat it sparingly."

"You've been with me for so many years, when have you ever seen me eat my fill?" He Yuran rolled her eyes.

That's true. Ran Jie is even stricter with her figure than most female celebrities. Most of the time, she eats between a few bites and about 40% full. 60% full is considered overeating.

"You can eat more today, I'm using very little oil and salt."

He Yuran pointed at the ribs and shouted, "That's no use, pork is high in calories anyway!"

Shi Jiahe slammed the pot down on the stovetop, then turned and pushed He Yuran towards the kitchen doorway. "Go stay in the living room. There's smoke in the kitchen; don't let it bother you."

"What, are you afraid I'll find out you can't cook at all, or are you afraid I'll see you poison me?"

"Then you can just stand there!" Shi Jiahe was too lazy to pay attention to her anymore and started to get busy.

After cooking the rice and boiling the eggs, while blanching the pork ribs, she started preparing the other ingredients, making the seasonings for each dish separately, and even mixing a batter. She wet the knife with hot water and sliced ​​the fully cooked, peeled eggs into thick slices. She took the pork ribs out, washed them, and seared them in a clay pot until the edges were browned. Then she added water, seasoned, and simmered it over low heat. Shi Jiahe then washed and dried her hands again, set an alarm for the stewing process, and finally looked up at He Yuran. "Let's go, we'll wait in the living room."

"Not cooking anymore?"

"The ribs need to be stewed for a while!" Shi Jiahe said irritably.

"Oh." He Yuran was still craning her neck to look into the kitchen. "It's the first time I've seen you cook. It feels so magical, like I'm meeting you for the first time. And you didn't even need to look up a recipe?"

"These are all dishes I make often, so I don't need to look at the recipes."

"You don't need to watch the pot when stewing pork ribs, do you?"

"Yes!"

He Yuran followed behind Shi Jiahe, exclaiming with an exaggerated expression, "You're amazing, Jiahe! I'm going to cut my wrists in response!"

Shi Jiahe was a little smug, but she still pretended to frown, sat down on the sofa, and handed a bottle of mineral water to He Yuran.

"The money we have left..."

He Yuran had barely opened her mouth when Shi Jiahe retorted.

"Not enough to buy more alcohol!"

After Shi Jiahe finished speaking, a sudden jolt ran through her. She and He Yuran were both used to this unspoken understanding—knowing what Ran-jie was going to say without being asked. But was this understanding mutual? Would Ran-jie know what she was thinking? Or rather, would Ran-jie actively consider her feelings? Even if she could, she probably already considered it perfectly natural.

Although the thought only flashed through her mind, Shi Jiahe stopped herself in time. An agent needs to be aware of their role and not have unrealistic expectations of their artists. When have you ever seen a boss trying to figure out what their employees are thinking? It's practically the opposite of what's going on.

"Just drink the water!" Shi Jiahe pretended to be angry.

"My mouth doesn't taste right!" He Yuran pouted and acted coquettishly. "We've already eaten ribs today, so how about this be my indulgence meal, and I'll have a little wine?"

Every time Ran Jie tried to back out, Shi Jiahe felt bad. She hesitated for a moment, then opened the food delivery app, found the nearest convenience store, and handed her phone to He Yuran. "Order something under fifty yuan."

"Does it have to be this strict?"

Shi Jiahe's expression was serious. "Sis, since you promised to follow my arrangements for the next two days, you have to stick to them. We've only spent a little over eighty yuan of the 2000 yuan, and we still don't have dinner planned for tonight. We have rice at home, but we have to buy all the other ingredients, which costs money. And if you don't want to ride your bike back tonight, we need to set aside money for a taxi..."

Before she could finish speaking, He Yuran's expression fell. "Alright, alright, I know, I won't drink anymore, okay? I should have just asked the driver to bring a bottle over. Look at you, giving me another long lecture."

Shi Jiahe didn't say anything more. She put her phone aside, got up, and went back to the kitchen. When she reached the stove, she paused for a few seconds to listen, and sure enough, the person behind her didn't follow.

The room fell completely silent, with only the casserole dish steaming proudly, as if it were simmering away her worries, the flavor growing stronger with each simmer.

Shi Jiahe opened the pot lid and poured in the torn mushrooms without hesitation.