"Did you go buy snack noodles again?" As soon as Leng Zhiwen's door closed, her mother's angry voice rang out again, followed by a torrent of wailing.
Huang He glanced over and saw Leng Zhiting being lectured, with two packets of snack noodles in her mother's hand.
"What's wrong?" Huang He asked, confused.
"Sister definitely used money to buy more Little Raccoon snack noodles!" Leng Zhiyuan, who was watching cartoons, said in a childish voice. "Sister has been buying snack noodles every day lately, and even used her lunch money for them. Mom is furious."
"Little Raccoon snack noodles? What a nostalgic name!" Hearing the familiar yet unfamiliar name, Huang He sighed again. It truly was 2001, and everything was so reminiscent of the past.
"Brother-in-law, are you really going to buy me a QQ?" Leng Zhimeng was still chattering incessantly.
"I'll buy it, I'll buy it, alright!" Huang He, seeming annoyed by Leng Zhimeng's persistence, nodded helplessly.
"Ah, you're really buying it?" This time, Leng Zhimeng was stunned. She hadn't actually intended to buy a QQ; she was just using it as an excuse to pester her brother-in-law and relieve the pressure of her upcoming college entrance exams. She knew, of course, that even a QQ would cost at least five million yuan, and there was no way it would be bought just because she said so.
"This brother-in-law is definitely just placating me!" Leng Zhimeng quickly realized that Huang He was just annoyed by her nagging and had said it casually. It would be a miracle if he actually bought it.
So she casually said, "Then, brother-in-law, why don't you take me to Shenzhen in a few days? I remember the QQ company is located there. We can go buy QQ!" xxs
"No!" Huang He shook his head. Leng Zhimeng was about to expose Huang He's pretense, but he continued, "Your college entrance exams are in two weeks, so you can't run around now. Let's wait until after your exams, and then I'll take you to Shenzhen to buy QQ!" Huang He said with a serious expression.
QQ definitely needed to be bought; not buying it would be foolish. But the problem was that the money from the first blind box hadn't returned yet, and Huang He was short on cash. Going to Shenzhen would be pointless.
Ultimately, Huang He was still poor!
As he was sighing, his mother-in-law let out another shout, and everyone quickly gathered around the dining table. The table was already laden with over a dozen dishes: chicken, duck, fish, and meat. They were all dishes that Huang He liked... or rather, that *another* Huang He liked. The current Huang He found that apart from a few vegetables, braised chicken, and stir-fried chili pork, which he could eat a few bites of, everything else was a dish he disliked!
So Huang He naturally sat down in the seat closest to the stir-fried chili pork. The other younger sisters-in-law also took their seats. Only Leng Zhiwen, who was still in her room, hadn't come out. Despite her mother-in-law calling her a few times, it was no use, so she could only shake her head and say, "This child, raised for nothing."
"As if I wanted you to raise me!" a huffy voice said. Leng Zhiwen emerged from her room, having changed out of her sportswear into a decent casual outfit. A faint scent of shampoo could still be detected. It turned out Leng Zhiwen had gone to take a bath after returning, which explained her delay.
"Wenwen, did you sweat a lot again today?" Leng Zhiruo asked curiously.
"What's it to you?" Leng Zhiwen shot a glare at her sister. Leng Zhiruo smiled, her face etched with awkwardness.
"Dinner! Dinner!" Huang He was stirring the rice, about to devour the stir-fried chili pork in front of him, when a chopstickful of something black was placed into his bowl.
"What is it?" Huang He asked hesitantly, looking at the unidentified object.
"Knife-carved pork kidney. This is your favorite dish. What, you haven't been home for more than ten days, and you don't even recognize your favorite pork kidney?" his mother-in-law said with a smile.
"Uh... I'm indeed very tired!" Huang He said, his face a mask of inner turmoil. Huang He had a habit of never eating animal offal. Now, with the bright pork kidney placed in his bowl, Huang He felt an urge to pour the entire bowl of rice away immediately.
But he couldn't. They had said it was Huang He's favorite dish. If he immediately dumped it, would he still be the same Huang He as before?
So Huang He could only look helplessly at the pork kidney in his bowl, unsure how to proceed.
"Good child, eat quickly. Is it possible that Mom's cooking is not good today, and you don't even want your favorite pork kidney anymore?" his mother-in-law said somewhat melancholically. Huang He could only resign himself, close his eyes, grit his teeth, and then put the pork kidney into his mouth.
Huang He had originally planned to pretend to take a few bites and then excuse himself to go to the restroom to spit it out. However, as soon as the pork kidney entered his mouth, an unimaginably satisfying texture and flavor filled his mouth. By the time he came to his senses, the pork kidney was already eaten.
Damn it, this thing was unexpectedly delicious.
Seeing that Huang He had finally eaten the pork kidney, his mother-in-law nodded with satisfaction and then turned her fire onto Leng Zhiting, whose face was still streaked with tears. "Remember, if you ever spend money on those money-grabbing phantoms again, I'll kick you out! You're not my daughter!"
"These aren't money-grabbing phantoms, they're Water Margin hero cards. Some cards are quite valuable. I drew a Lin Chong today, and my classmate is willing to pay 10 yuan for my Lin Chong!" Leng Zhiting retorted indignantly.
"Nonsense. For a worthless card, spending fifty cents on snack noodles is stupid enough. And someone is willing to pay 10 yuan for it? Are there really such stupid people in the world?" his mother-in-law said displeasedly.
"Mom, actually, this Lin Chong can really be sold for ten yuan," Huang He couldn't help but interject. "Some cards in the Water Margin hero cards are very rare, like this Lin Chong, which is considered relatively rare. Many people are willing to pay money for these rare cards to complete a set of 108 cards!"
"Selling this Lin Chong for ten yuan is still cheap. If you meet someone who likes it, buying it for 30 yuan is normal. However, this Lin Chong is relatively rare. If it were the rarest Song Jiang, one card could be sold for over 300 yuan!" Huang He said as if reciting a familiar list, clearly very knowledgeable about these Water Margin hero cards.
Nonsense. When Huang He was a junior high school student in his previous life, he spent over a thousand yuan in three years collecting Water Margin hero cards. That was all money he painstakingly saved from his living expenses. Enough said, it was all tears now!
"Xiao He, don't try to cover up for your little sister. Even a pair of leather shoes is hard to sell for 300 yuan, so how can a piece of paper sell for 300?" his mother-in-law snorted. Huang He could only shake his head helplessly. This was the generation gap, something unavoidable.
Wait a minute... Huang He's eyes lit up... Yes, if one card can sell for 300, why can't a pair of leather shoes sell for 3000?
Suddenly, countless interesting ideas flashed through Huang He's mind. He had already figured out how to solve the problem.