Chapter 25 - 215: Careless Speaker, Mindful Listener
The Hai City Library construction site was near several residential and office districts. The customers here weren’t just workers; local residents and office employees came to spend their money too.
The stall had just been set up when the workers who’d bought his boxed lunches the day before flocked over.
Crowds draw crowds. In addition to the workers, residents and office employees passing by also gathered in small groups to see what was going on. Of those who were already planning to eat out, many left with a boxed lunch in hand.
Within forty minutes, all thirty-five boxed lunches were sold out. The pace was comparable to when he first started his stall at the Zijing Garden construction site.
Xu An’s booming stall attracted quite a crowd, but not everyone was interested in boxed lunches. After checking out Xu An’s offerings, some people turned their attention to the other nearby food stalls.
The boxed lunch stall had effectively boosted foot traffic in the area, and whatever little resentment the other stall owners felt about Xu An stealing their business instantly vanished.
Sales at Zijing Garden were the same as usual; the twenty boxed lunches were bought up by his regulars. A couple of workers who came out later complained that the food was already sold out, but there weren’t many.
Seeing that all sixty boxed lunches had sold out, and that the library construction site was clearly far from reaching its sales ceiling, Xu An felt the urge to increase his stock again.
’Since I’m already cooking in two separate batches, adding another ten or twenty portions shouldn’t be too much trouble, right?’
Wang Qiang had been living a pretty carefree life lately. He’d get up at four in the morning to pick up the supplies, then find a corner to lie down and play on his phone when he got back. Once the cafeteria closed for the day, he was free to go hang out with his troublemaking friends.
Because of the last incident, Sister Wang was no longer so opposed to Wang Qiang’s friends and would even occasionally reimburse him for his recreational expenses.
The days had grown increasingly hot; it was like an oven no matter where you went outside. Wang Qiang and his friends went to a karaoke bar, rented a private room, and blasted the air conditioning.
Fewer people went during the day, so the rooms were cheap. They also had free lemonade, making it a great hangout spot for Wang Qiang and his buddies.
"Have you guys ever eaten at Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant or Good and Come Again Fast Food Restaurant?" one of them asked while shuffling the cards.
"Yeah, I’ve eaten at Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant a few times. No reason other than the owner being a total smokeshow. Just looking at her helps me put away a couple more bites of food."
"Looks like none of you know, huh?" The one who spoke tutted, looking like he was sitting on some earth-shattering secret.
"What is it? Just spit it out. Don’t be all mysterious."
"So, I’ve been seeing this girl from town recently. When I went to pick her up, I saw the owner of Jiajia Fast Food Restaurant with the owner of Good and Come Again Fast Food Restaurant." He trailed off, waiting for their reactions.
"No way. Are they having an affair? Old Liu from Good and Come Again Fast Food Restaurant runs the place with his wife! She’s always in the shop. How’d they even manage that?" At this, the group perked up, abandoning their card game to press him for details.
"It’s not what you guys are thinking. I just saw them go into the same shop to buy meat."
"Tch, and here you were being all mysterious. I thought you were about to drop some major gossip. Turns out you just saw them stocking up. What’s the big deal? There are only a few wholesale markets around. It’s totally normal for them to run into each other."
"It would be, if they were at a wholesale market. But the shop they were buying from isn’t exactly legit." He motioned for the others to lean in and lowered his voice. "The place sells expired food. The prices are super low, so a lot of people go there to get their stock."
"Holy shit, I’ve eaten at both of those places! Damn it, am I gonna get sick?"
"Haven’t you seen how many customers those two places get every day? Tons of people have eaten there and been fine. It probably won’t make you sick, but it’s still gross."
"Whatever. Now that I know, I’m not eating there anymore. It’s a real shame, though. No more admiring the hot owner while I eat."
The words were spoken casually, but one person listened with intent. Wang Qiang, who seemed completely absorbed in his game, had heard every single word.
Wang Qiang had never liked school, preferring video games ever since he was a kid. He was caught skipping class and climbing the school wall to go to internet cafes so many times that, after showing no signs of changing, he was expelled in the second semester of his freshman year of high school.
His dad found him several jobs, but he was fired from every single one for neglecting his duties to play video games.
Eventually, Sister Wang couldn’t bear to watch it anymore and took him under her wing, putting him in charge of procurement. With Sister Wang keeping an eye on him, Wang Qiang finally settled down.
Wang Qiang didn’t just like playing games; he loved pouring money into them. He’d drop 268 or 648 yuan on in-game purchases without a second thought. Whatever he earned, he spent on games.
When Sister Wang found out, she started taking his salary every month to "keep it safe" for him, leaving him with only three hundred yuan for pocket money.
That wasn’t nearly enough for him, so Wang Qiang started getting crooked ideas.
For instance, he’d deliberately pick the cheapest pork, pocketing the difference. When buying vegetables, he’d ask the vendor for yesterday’s unsold, wilted produce, adding another sum to his personal slush fund.
He did the same with seasonings and other supplies, always buying the cheapest option available, as long as it wouldn’t make anyone sick.
Now, hearing them talk about a company with cheap meat that supposedly wouldn’t make anyone sick, the gears in his head started turning.
’Maybe I should go check it out?’
Wang Qiang didn’t ask them for the company’s exact location. He knew it was in Qianhai Town, and there weren’t many markets there—just a few dozen shops. He figured he could find it eventually if he looked around.
「At the aunt’s home.」
The aunt’s mother-in-law must have been provoked by something that morning. At the dining table, she let loose a torrent of abuse, one moment calling the aunt a "hen that can’t lay eggs," the next accusing her of "squatting in the outhouse but not taking a shit." The aunt was absolutely livid.
After washing the dishes, the aunt returned to their room. The sight of her husband sprawled lazily on the bed, playing a card game on his phone, only made her more irritable. She locked the door, stormed over, and snatched the phone from his hands.
"Hey, hey! What are you doing? I’m not done with this round! I was about to win! Give it back!" Her husband lunged for the phone several times, but she dodged him each time.
"Your mother was tearing into me at the dinner table just now, and you didn’t say a single word, did you? Looked like you were enjoying your meal just fine." The aunt flopped down beside her husband, complaining, "Is having a baby my responsibility alone? I’ve gone for check-ups several times, and they all came back fine. But when I ask you to go, your mother throws a fit and insists the problem has to be with me."
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. She grabbed her husband’s shirt and tried to haul him off the bed.
"No! I don’t care what you say, you’re going with me to the hospital today for a check-up! We’re going to see whether the problem is with me or with you!" the aunt said, her teeth clenched. "Why should I have to listen to her call me a ’useless hen’ and say I’m ’squatting in the outhouse but not taking a shit’?"
Hearing he had to get a check-up, her husband grew nervous. He violently shook off her hand and put on a ferocious expression. "So what, you think I’m the one who can’t get the job done?"
"If you can, then why won’t you get checked? I’m putting my foot down. Ma Dexing, you either go get a check-up, or we’re getting a divorce!"
The moment he heard the word "divorce," her husband’s forced bravado vanished. He wrapped his arms around her and cooed, "Don’t be angry, okay? I asked a friend to pull some strings and managed to get an appointment with that Divine Old Physician, the one who’s famous for treating fertility problems. So many childless couples have gone to him for treatment and ended up having their own kids."
"Why didn’t you tell me something so important sooner! When’s the appointment?" The aunt was ecstatic. She’d heard of this Divine Old Physician’s reputation but had been frustrated by her inability to get in touch with him. She never imagined her husband would be the one to find a connection.
"It’s not a sure thing yet. The Divine Physician requires an initial consultation before starting any treatment. Only if you pass the consultation can you get on the waiting list."
"Just getting an appointment is a miracle." The aunt suddenly recalled the advice from the Witch of Ma Family Town and asked, conflicted, "So... should we still do what the Witch said? About bringing a child into the house?"
"Let’s put that on hold for now," he said. "If the Divine Physician can’t help, then we can try what the Witch suggested."
Her husband was very resistant to the idea of bringing a child home. The main problem was that taking Xu Kang meant they couldn’t leave Xu Le behind; they’d have to bring her along too. If they could just take Xu Kang by himself, he might have considered it.
’But Xu Le is a girl. What would be the point of bringing her here?’
’What if the Child-Giving Guanyin sees Xu Le and sends us a girl instead? What would we do then?’
’Besides, both kids are almost school-aged. We’d have to pay for their education.’
’The thought of his own hard-earned money being spent on two children who weren’t even related to him was like a thorn in his side, making the whole idea unbearable.’