News from Taiwan

Chapter 58 Extremely Embarrassing
Jiang Guier suddenly stopped in her tracks, held the bag to her chest, and rummaged through it, even emptying out the coins at the bottom of the bag and counting them three times, but she only found 235 NT dollars.

I go! !
Where's my money?!

When she went out, she put all the more than 10,000 NT dollars into her bag. Because mobile payment is now widely used in China, almost no one uses cash anymore, so she no longer carries a wallet. Therefore, Jiang Guier did not put the money in her wallet, but put it directly in her bag.

The only saving grace was that my great-grandfather's photo was tucked inside the notebook and didn't disappear along with it.

"Little sister, would you like some oyster omelet?" the stall owner called out to her, waving his shovel, but Jiang Guier could only shake her head, clutching the few coins in her hand.

She can't afford it now.

She remembered being bumped into in the crowd earlier, which must have been when she "fell"...

She didn't even want to use the word "stolen," as it severely affected her mood.

Although she had lost almost all her cash, she wasn't too panicked. She just lost her appetite for the night market and didn't want to eat any more snacks. She turned around and left the night market, then found a convenience store to buy a bottle of water.

When she took out her phone to pay for the water at the convenience store, the clerk smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Sorry, we only accept cash. We rarely use Alipay anymore. You can pay by card."

What the hell?

After carefully reviewing the payment options, Jiang Guier could only sigh and put the water down. She was currently without a card. "Thank you, but no thanks."

She decided not to drink anymore and to go back to the hotel first.

The adoption rate of electronic payments in Taiwan is really low!

She hailed several taxis at the intersection, and to avoid being unable to pay the fare after getting out of the car, the first thing she asked the driver was if she could pay electronically, but she received a negative answer every time.

After several attempts, Jiang Guier gave up on taking a taxi and could only follow the navigation to find the bus stop. After walking 2 kilometers, she was very thirsty and saw a milk tea shop on the street corner with a sign that read "Pearl Milk Tea 80 Yuan".

After calculating the money, Jiang Guier's feet automatically moved in that direction.

She paid the money hesitantly, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she received the milk tea and felt the cool cup against her palm.

At least I can still have some milk tea.

When she arrived at the bus stop, the navigation didn't show how much the bus ride would cost. Based on Jiang Guier's experience growing up, how expensive could a bus ride be?

But when she saw that the first leg of the journey would cost 35 NT dollars, she was completely dumbfounded after doing some calculations.

She didn't have enough money to get back to the hotel.

A bus ride costs at least 30 NTD. The distance isn't very far, but you have to change buses 5 times.

She didn't have enough money to get to the hotel, so she stood under the bus stop with her milk tea in her arms, watching the buses come and go, the chain of her hobo bag digging painfully into her shoulder.

The sun was already setting in the west, but it was still terribly hot.

The back of my linen shirt was soaked with sweat, sticking to my body and feeling sticky. Even the cuffs of my wide-leg pants were damp with sweat.

The thought of having to walk the last stretch of the road back made Jiang Guier feel uneasy.

When I got off the bus for the last transfer, I had drunk most of my milk tea, and the condensation on the cup had dampened the side pocket of my hobo bag. The navigation showed there were still three kilometers to go.

Jiang Guier walked along the arcade, her feet sinking into the hot cement ground, and the soles of her shoes gradually became covered in dust.

A humid breeze carrying the sweet scent of phoenix flowers blew by, but it couldn't dispel the stickiness all over her body. Sweat streamed down her forehead and down to her chin. When she raised her hand to wipe the sweat, she realized that the cuffs of her shirt were also wet, and even the stray hairs at her temples were stuck to her cheeks, making her even more irritable.

She tossed her YSL hobo bag in front of her; the leather was a little sticky from the sweat, so she tossed it behind her to avoid seeing it.

Just then, she passed by the glass door of a clothing store and caught a glimpse of her reflection. Her hair was disheveled; one of her other pearl hair clips had fallen out when she left, leaving only one hanging forlornly at the end of her hair. Her top clung to her back, revealing traces of sweat, and even her once-dignified wide-leg pants looked wrinkled.

I rely on!

Is this her?
Jiang Guier felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She had never been so disheveled in her life. No! She had to get back quickly. She bit her lower lip, threw the milk tea cup into the trash can, and quickened her pace. She couldn't accept looking so ugly.

When she finally saw the hotel's glass curtain wall, her steps felt as heavy as lead, her soles ached, and sweat streamed down her face into her collar; she was in great discomfort.

It was purely through sheer willpower that I managed to get back.

As she entered the hotel lobby, the air conditioning blew cold air over her, and she couldn't help but shiver.

Turning her head, the receptionist looked at her with a hint of surprise. She turned away indifferently and walked towards the elevator. Even in such a disheveled state, she kept her back straight, determined not to be looked down upon.

Once inside the elevator, she leaned against the metal wall before daring to breathe a sigh of relief.

How embarrassing...

She stared at the numbers flashing in the elevator, her mind filled with only one thought: she had to ask Lu Qing later if she could exchange the cash with her.

Or where can I exchange the money in my Alipay account for cash? I can't go through this embarrassing ordeal again.

"Beep." The door opened with a swipe, and the air conditioning inside was running at full blast.

After locking the door and putting down her bag, Jiang Guier rushed into the bathroom to wash up; she needed to smell nice.

However, while she was taking a shower, her phone, which was in her bag, kept ringing.

Unfortunately, the sound of water in the bathroom was too loud to hear at all.

The phone screen stayed on, and before it could go dark, it lit up again, and this continued indefinitely.

I don't know who called, they were in such a hurry.

As soon as Jiang Guier finished showering and turned off the showerhead, she opened the glass door of the bathroom and heard her phone ringing.

She was wrapped in a bath towel, drying her hair with a towel, and quickly walked out of the bathroom, taking her phone out of her bag.

Shen Huaizhou?
What does he want me to do?
She hesitated for a second, then hung up the phone.

Before she could react, the lights came on again, and she hurriedly answered them.

"Hello? Mr. Shen, you were looking for me?"

I could hear breathing on the other end of the phone, but there was no other sound.

"Hello?" Jiang Guier said "Hello" again.

"Jiang Guier, what were you doing just now?" This was the first time Shen Huaizhou had called Jiang Guier by her name directly. Usually, he would restrain himself and call her "Miss Jiang" in a distant manner.

"Me? Taking a shower? What do you want?" Jiang Guier was a little confused. She could clearly feel a sense of pressure from Shen Huaizhou's words, which made her feel uncomfortable.

"Take a shower?" Shen Huaizhou on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment. He composed himself and said, "I'm sorry, Ms. Jiang, I called you earlier but you didn't answer. I was a little worried because you're in a foreign country."

"Oh, I see. Thank you for your concern." Jiang Guier said politely, but then suddenly remembered Lu Qing's probing that annoyed her so much, and said sarcastically, "Mr. Lu should have given you a 24-hour all-round on-site report on my whereabouts, and Mr. Shen should know very well."

Shen Huaizhou could tell that Jiang Guier was upset as soon as he heard this, so he said softly, "I'm sorry, he's just a chatterbox. I'll tell him not to bother you in a bit."

"Um... thank you." Her hair was still dripping wet, sticking uncomfortably to her face and neck. Jiang Guier said helplessly, "I'd like to blow-dry my hair right now. If there's nothing important, can we do it later?"

“Okay, Miss Jiang.” Shen Huaizhou readily agreed and hung up the phone. He placed his phone on the tea table and squatted down to clean up the teacups that had just fallen.

A perfectly good white porcelain teacup was shattered into several pieces.

(End of this chapter)