Chapter 163: Is this really a place for people?
“Is that everything?”
“Mm-hmm, that’s about it. Let me double-check.”
In the kitchen, Yu Xiaoxiao quickly listed the ingredients needed for lunch on her phone and sent them to her boyfriend, Xiao Luyu.
After checking, Xiao Luyu confirmed they were all common ingredients and forwarded the list to Mo Ziyang.
The two men stood together at the small kitchen doorway, exchanging glances while watching the two girls busily moving around inside.
Once Yu Xiaoxiao confirmed that was all, Mo Ziyang and Xiao Luyu finally got ready to head out.
But before leaving—
“Will you two girls be okay at home?” Mo Ziyang asked with concern as he looked at the two still busy in the kitchen. After all, in places like these old urban villages, theft and burglary were pretty common.
Hearing his question, Xiao Luyu also looked worried and glanced at Yu Xiaoxiao. But Lin Muxi just waved it off.
“Don’t worry, we’re not little kids anymore.”
Standing beside Yu Xiaoxiao, Lin Muxi held her friend’s hand and waved them off, telling them it was fine to go. With their girlfriends’ reassurance, the two men finally closed the door and left.
Not long after, when Lin Muxi and Yu Xiaoxiao heard the roar of the sports car driving away, they looked at each other and grinned mischievously.
They knew this was the “poor area” of the capital, and they were well aware of what the local wet market looked like. Both girls could already picture the two young masters’ disgusted faces once they arrived there.
After laughing in the kitchen for a while, the two “little chefs” remembered they still had ingredients to prepare and hurried to get started.
At that moment, Yu Xiaoxiao noticed the brown sugar drink Mo Ziyang had made for Lin Muxi sitting on the stove. Her eyes lit up.
“Wow, is this something Classmate Mo made?”
She looked curiously at the sweet drink, and the fragrant smell made her take a small spoonful to taste.
“How is it?” Lin Muxi leaned closer, waiting excitedly for her best friend’s judgment.
“I didn’t expect it, it’s really good! Almost as good as mine.”
“Pfft, what do you mean almost? My boyfriend is way better than you.”
Lin Muxi covered her mouth and laughed. In a way, that counted as defending her man.
While they kept busy in the kitchen, on the other side, Mo Ziyang and Xiao Luyu followed the location Yu Xiaoxiao sent and arrived at the wet market near the old district.
The rundown surroundings, piles of trash, and filthy ground looked totally out of place next to their luxury car. Just seeing the environment from inside made both men frown.
“Seriously… people actually live here?” Xiao Luyu muttered.
Even Mo Ziyang found it hard to believe food bought here could be edible. But this was the same market where Lin Muxi and Yu Xiaoxiao usually shopped whenever they cooked alone at home.
Thinking about that, both men suddenly felt a pang in their hearts.
“So… we’re really going inside to buy vegetables?”
From the passenger seat, Xiao Luyu kept staring at the messy market, his face full of discomfort.
It was just too dirty. He didn’t even want to step out of the car, afraid the ground would ruin his shoes.
Even Mo Ziyang, who usually feared nothing in the capital, backed down this time.
“Buy what? I still want to live a few more years. If anyone’s buying, you’re the one going.”
He looked disgusted. In his mind, the vegetables here weren’t even safe to eat. Just seeing the piles of garbage and meat stalls made his stomach turn. Without hesitation, he turned the car around to leave.
Of course, the two of them weren’t the only ones shocked. People nearby who came to buy vegetables for lunch stopped in their tracks when they saw a bright red sports car parked in front of their usual market. Many started snapping photos and guessing which young master had shown up here to buy groceries.
Very soon, the red sports car started up. After making a quick U-turn at the narrow entrance of the market, it sped away as if it was afraid that staying there for even a moment longer would let the dirty air get inside the car.
Just like that, the two men who had given up on the market sat in the car, looking at each other helplessly.
“So… where should we go to buy groceries now?”
“Sigh… let me check.”
Thinking of the two little “chefs” waiting for them at home, Mo Ziyang opened his phone and started searching on the map for a department store or a fresh-food supermarket nearby.
But in this poor neighborhood, it was almost impossible to find such big supermarkets. Luckily, after some effort, Mo Ziyang finally found one a few kilometers away from Lin Muxi’s house. Otherwise, he couldn’t imagine himself going back to buy groceries in such a dirty place. Because of this, he decided that whenever they went shopping in the future, they should buy a lot at once, so Lin Muxi wouldn’t suddenly drag him back to that kind of market again.
After buying all the vegetables, meat, and fruits from the list Yu Xiaoxiao had given them, they walked out of the supermarket carrying big bags in both hands and hurried back to Lin Muxi’s house. Considering the distance and the time they spent finding the supermarket, the two little ones at home would probably be so impatient that they’d call soon.
And sure enough, just as they were almost home, both of their phones rang at the same time.
“Oh no. You answer it, I’m driving,” said Mo Ziyang, who was speeding up. He couldn’t be distracted, so he had no choice but to let Xiao Luyu pick up Yu Xiaoxiao’s call and explain for him.
The moment the call connected, Yu Xiaoxiao’s playful but impatient voice came through.
“Where are you two? How can it take two grown men so long just to buy some groceries? Did you get lost?”
“We’re almost there, darling. Brother Mo and I are just about downstairs, just wait a little longer.”
“Fine, but hurry up. Oh, by the way, why didn’t Classmate Mo answer his phone? Sister Lin asked me. Aren’t you two together?”
Hearing this, both Yu Xiaoxiao and Lin Muxi at home couldn’t help but laugh. If not for the fact that they had to stay home to handle the leftover ingredients, they really would have gone with their boyfriends to the market, just to see their constipated-looking faces in person.
“Brother Mo is driving, so he couldn’t pick up. We’ll be home very soon.”
“Alright… drive safe then.”
After hanging up, Mo Ziyang’s sports car finally drove into the familiar alley, passing by the familiar noodle stand.
“We’re here. Get ready to carry the stuff upstairs.”
They pulled the big bags of food out of the front trunk. The two men felt as if they had just completed some huge mission and ran upstairs happily with lightning speed. Of course, there was another reason too. They were afraid the little “princesses” at home would get angry if they came back too late.
The two little chefs in the kitchen had already guessed they were back the moment they heard the roar of the sports car downstairs. They came out to the living room to wait, and soon they heard the sound of plastic bags rustling, followed by loud knocks on the door.
When the door opened, the two men stood proudly in front of Lin Muxi and Yu Xiaoxiao, holding big bags in both hands, clearly waiting for praise. After all, this was probably the first time in their lives they had ever gone out to buy groceries themselves.
Mo Ziyang and Xiao Luyu, who knew nothing, had wandered around the supermarket many times before finally buying everything Yu Xiaoxiao had listed.
But Yu Xiaoxiao’s next sentence immediately made their hearts skip a beat.
“Let me see how much money you spent.”
“This… but we already bought everything, didn’t we?”
Xiao Luyu knew his girlfriend’s thrifty personality very well. If she found out they had gone to a supermarket instead of the market, he was sure he’d get scolded later that night.
But before he could react, Mo Ziyang handed over the paper receipt and said calmly.
“That market you mentioned, we’re not going there anymore. If we buy food from such a dirty place, what if we get sick from eating it?”
“Ah… I see… alright then,” Yu Xiaoxiao said while scratching her head in slight embarrassment.
Seeing this, Xiao Luyu was shocked. Normally, no matter how many times he said the same thing, she wouldn’t listen. But when Mo Ziyang said it just once, his girlfriend accepted it right away?
After carrying the groceries into the kitchen, the two girls quickly got busy preparing lunch. Mo Ziyang originally wanted to help, but both Yu Xiaoxiao and Lin Muxi refused him. So he and Xiao Luyu had no choice but to sit on the sofa and look at their phones.