“It was written by my aunt and uncle in 魔都.” Ah Yao explained.
“Huh?” Everyone was stunned.
“Is she writing a love letter to you?” Kang Er Zheng joked.
“What are you talking about?” Ah Yao glared at him angrily. “They transferred the money they spent on me during these few days of sightseeing to me, and they put it in an envelope because they were afraid I wouldn't accept it.”
“Here’s the bill.” Ah Yao handed a small bill to them.
The second sister-in-law quickly took it.
“It’s such a long bill.” After unfolding it, a list longer than an arm appeared before them.
“Park tickets, fifty yuan. Bus fare, ninety-eight yuan. Snake, one thousand three hundred and sixty-two yuan. Drinks, forty-seven yuan. Eight trips to the restroom, two jiao each time, total one yuan and six jiao.” The second sister-in-law read.
Everyone was surprised that they kept such detailed records.
“See? I told you people in 魔都 are pretty sophisticated. Otherwise, how could I go back to 魔都 to find a girl?” Looking at everyone's expressions, Ah Yao spoke proudly.
During these few days, their spending of Ah Yao's money had drawn some disapproval from the family.
“Alright, alright. You're impressive.” The old woman smiled and shook her head.
“We know you have face now, but hey, Lao San, what are you going to do with these two thousand yuan?” Ah Zong asked, turning to Ah Yao.
“What do you mean, what am I going to do? Of course it's mine.” Ah Yao said strangely.
“What do you mean it’s yours? Our whole family was involved in taking care of your relatives in 魔都.” Ah Zong said.
The second sister-in-law and the others agreed. “Yes, yes. We all played a part.”
“That’s right, Ah Zong is right. Ah Yao, I was going to let your cousin Coco stay at my place for these few days, but because of you, I generously let your aunt and uncle stay instead. I’m not charging you, but you should show some appreciation.” Kang Er Zheng said.
“That’s right.” Ah Zong and the others nodded in agreement. “We might not have merit, but we definitely had hard work.”
“So, what do you want?” Ah Yao watched them warily.
“Hehe.” They exchanged glances.
“Snake!” Everyone said in unison.
“What? Snake?!” Hearing snake, Ah Yao was startled. “Look, I just ate snake the other day. Eating too much is bad. How about we go to the tea house at the end of the street and have some late-night snacks?” Ah Yao knew he would suffer a loss today, so he had to find a way to minimize it.
Snake would cost them a minimum of one thousand yuan per person.
But eating at the tea house would only cost two or three hundred yuan.
A meat dish would only cost twenty yuan.
A stir-fried beef with rice noodles, a porridge, and a few stir-fried dishes, wouldn't even cost two hundred yuan.
“Cheapskate, you’re only taking us to a street food stall.” Ah Zong scorned.
“Do you want to eat or not?” Ah Yao asked back.
“Free food is better than no food.” Though Ah Zong was complaining on the surface, he thought that he wouldn't eat it for free if he didn't have to.
“Then let's go. We'll go now. Whatever you want to eat, just order it.” Ah Yao said, patting his chest generously.
“You said it.” Ah Zong was eager to eat.
Street food stall.
“Boss, what are some good dishes here?” Ah Zong asked as soon as he sat down.
“Do you want fish head soup? It’s very good.” The boss introduced.
“Alright, one fish head soup and one seafood porridge.” Ah Zong ordered two dishes. “What do you guys want to eat? Order whatever you want.”
He handed the menu to the others.
Kang Er Zheng took it and looked at it.
This street food stall had quite a few dishes.
“Let’s have two pounds of pee-pee shrimp and a stir-fried beef with green pepper, how about that?” Kang Er Zheng ordered the pee-pee shrimp.
“Okay, okay.” The second sister-in-law nodded.
“Just those two, you guys take a look.” Kang Er Zheng handed the menu to others.
Ah Yao quickly took the menu.
“One braised chicken feet soup and a big portion of stir-fried beef with rice noodles will be good.” Ah Yao quickly added two more.
There were quite a few people in the family, six dishes would be enough for them.
After all, this wasn't a high-end restaurant, the portions were quite large.
“Do you want some beer?” The boss asked after writing down the order.
“Get a few bottles.” Ah Zong said directly.
“You’re going to work tomorrow. Why are you drinking?” Kang Bo said.
“Dad, it’s just a few bottles, it’s not enough to get us drunk. You can’t eat late-night snacks without drinking some wine.” Ah Zong said.
“You’re right, a little bit is fine.” Kang Er Zheng agreed. “Without some wine, it wouldn’t be as enjoyable.” “So, Tianxiu and the old lady, since you guys don’t drink, just get an orange juice.”
“Ah Guang, I heard your place is about to go under?” Kang Er Zheng looked at Ah Guang and asked.
“Yeah, I heard recently that they’re going to lay off people, I don’t know if it’s true, and the factory hasn’t paid for two months.” Da Lao Guang was also very worried when he mentioned this.
“What do you do then? If the factory closes down, won't your dad and mom have no jobs?” The second sister-in-law was also worried about them.
After all, they both worked at the same place.
“We don’t know either. Hopefully, it won’t close down.” Da Lao Guang said with worry.
“Big brother, you have to be prepared, in case it really closes down, you can find a new job.” Ah Yao said.
“It's not that easy to find a job. I have no education and no skills.” Da Lao Guang said dejectedly.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll see if I can get you a job.” Kang Er Zheng patted Da Lao Guang on the shoulder.
“Thank you, uncle.” Da Lao Guang quickly thanked him.
“Uncle, what kind of job are you going to find for your dad?” The second sister-in-law curiously asked.
“I don’t know yet. I’ll see. I’ll tell you when I find one.” Kang Er Zheng didn’t tell the truth.