A Rose I Picked Up

Lu Jiaran was broke.

To escape his circumstances, he applied for a job as a food delivery courier.

On his first day delivering food, he received a strange order.

The instructions said: Leave it outside the door, knock, and don't speak.

Well, there were three conditions, plain as day.

Lu Jiaran did as instructed.

The next day, by chance, he got another order from the same customer.

The instructions were the same.

Lu Jiaran found it strange, but did as he was told.

He hung the food on the doorknob and walked a few steps away. Looking back, he saw a hand so pale it was almost transparent reaching through the gap beneath the door. It fumbled around, barely managed to grab the delivery bag, then quickly shut the door.

Lu Jiaran: There's a ghost QAQ

Later...

Maybe because he was so good at delivering food, he not only got the little ghost's contact information, but also lured him back home.

Chen Wu had severe social anxiety. He liked being alone, could go all day without letting sunlight into his room or saying a word, and had only one outlet for his emotions: creating.

For someone with social anxiety, life meant ordering takeout, over and over again.

Chen Wu was afraid of any source of noise, including every takeout order, because it meant interacting with different people.

Then, several times in a row, the same delivery courier got his order.

He was secretly delighted. Carefully, he asked the courier if he could come next time, and the time after that, and if he could be the one delivering every order from then on.

He thought the other man might find it difficult or refuse, but the man agreed without a second thought.

Chen Wu froze for a moment, thinking he really was a good person.

Overcome with guilt, he shoved a wad of cash into his hands. "I can give you lots of money. You don't have to worry about getting fired."

Lu Jiaran, who was just trying to earn some money from a part-time job and tease the poor little guy: "..."

Holding the stack of cash the poor little guy had given him, he hesitated, unsure what to say.

A man who takes other people's money isn't a good man, but living off someone else sure is sweet.

"Rich delivery courier pretending to be broke x socially anxious author who orders takeout all the time"

Theme: I found a rose in the wilderness, and it's mine.