Chapter 66: Is He Reliable?
“Awoo?” Daddy, what’s wrong?
The white ball of fluff held in Tang Yinlang’s arms felt the man’s body tremble and asked in confusion.
“It’s nothing,” Tang Yinlang said calmly. Although Lin Xia had already returned to his original position after speaking, that warm breath seemed to linger on his ear.
“Let’s go, let’s go buy eggs.” Lin Xia put away his triumphant, mischievous smirk and instantly switched back to his usual expression. He had sensed Tang Yinlang’s reaction; he could only conclude that this man really couldn’t handle being teased.
“Awoo?” Papa, are we still going to Grandma Wei’s to buy eggs? The white fluff ball blinked his large eyes and asked.
“Yes, to Grandma Wei’s place,” Lin Xia nodded with a smile.
Whenever they bought free-range eggs here, they almost always bought them from this elderly grandmother. She sold authentic, free-range eggs.
“Awoo!” Awoo, Grandma Wei’s eggs are delicious!
Grandma Wei’s free-range eggs were excellent when boiled. If cooked into soft-boiled eggs with runny yolks, they had a rich, concentrated egg fragrance and a delicate texture that was incredibly tasty.
“How tasty are they?” Tang Yinlang lowered his head slightly, his broad palm stroking the white fluff ball’s back.
He asked with genuine confusion. He had eaten both expensive and cheap eggs before, but they all tasted about the same to him.
“…Awoo?” Just… very tasty? The white fluff ball didn’t know how to describe it and could only give a dry answer. Feeling that this answer was insufficient to explain the deliciousness of free-range eggs, he squeaked and yipped, asking Lin Xia to help answer.
The white fluff ball quickly climbed from Tang Yinlang onto Lin Xia, his pair of large, watery eyes filled with anticipation. He looked at Lin Xia expectantly, hoping he could describe it better.
“Very delicious. Baby won’t be able to stop eating them. Wait until we get back and I cook them; you’ll know once you taste it.” Being stared at by the white fluff ball’s expectant gaze, Lin Xia unconsciously straightened his posture, a smile spreading in his eyes.
“Awoo!” That’s right, An An ate so many free-range eggs! The white fluff ball climbed back into Tang Yinlang’s arms, wagging his tail happily.
“Then they must be very delicious.” Tang Yinlang smiled. Seeing the white fluff ball looking up at him with sparkling eyes, his heart melted. He spoke in a tone of affirmation.
Weaving through the bustling crowd, and ducking in and out of the meat and fish gathering spots, Lin Xia led Tang Yinlang and the white fluff ball to a corner of the market.
“This is the place,” Lin Xia said, having already spotted Grandma Wei selling eggs.
Grandma Wei was already seventy years old. Her frame couldn’t compare to the young people, so she didn’t set up her stall in the busy areas. Instead, she found a corner for some peace and quiet, where she could even take a nap now and then.
“Grandma Wei!” Lin Xia had bought eggs from her several times, so Grandma Wei recognized him.
“Awoo!” / “Hello, Grandma.” The white fluff ball and Tang Yinlang greeted Grandma Wei.
“Oh my, isn’t this Little Lin?” Grandma Wei remembered Lin Xia because he was handsome and always carried a cat.
“It’s me,” Lin Xia laughed. Grandma Wei looked to be in good spirits; even her head full of silver hair couldn’t hide her vitality. Seeing them, the wrinkles on Grandma Wei’s face bloomed into a smile like a camellia flower.
“Here to buy eggs, right?” Grandma Wei shook her legs, then braced her hands on her thighs to stand up, uncovering the basket of eggs. “My hens just laid these yesterday, very fresh!”
“Yes.” Lin Xia nodded with a smile and stepped forward to pick out the eggs.
“Hey, this young lad is your friend, right? He sure is handsome!” Selling eggs and getting to see two handsome guys was a treat for the eyes. Grandma Wei smiled, revealing her silver-capped teeth.
The elderly here didn’t really go for dentures; if a tooth went bad, they capped it with silver. When they opened their mouths, it glittered with silver light—quite stylish.
“Yes, he is.” Lin Xia took the black bag Grandma Wei handed him and efficiently placed the selected eggs inside. The eggs were all excellent, so there wasn’t much need to be picky. Lin Xia moved quickly and filled a bag in no time.
“He looks really good; one look and you can tell he isn’t an ordinary person.” Grandma Wei looked Tang Yinlang up and down, nodding with satisfaction. Tang Yinlang’s facial features were sharp, and his presence was commanding. Even holding a cat, he couldn’t hide his aura. Grandma Wei had seen all sorts of people, but someone like Tang Yinlang was rare.
“Grandma, you have great taste,” Lin Xia said simply, which amused the old lady into talking about her keen eye. She recounted how so-and-so brought a son-in-law for her to see, and she said he wasn’t suitable, but the daughter wouldn’t listen and insisted on marrying him, only to divorce not long after…
Lin Xia listened patiently while picking eggs. When Grandma Wei finished, he interjected with a question.
“Then, do you think he is reliable?” Lin Xia pointed at Tang Yinlang.
Tang Yinlang immediately stood up straight, waiting with a solemn face for Grandma Wei’s inspection.
Hearing Lin Xia’s words, Grandma Wei paused for a moment, not expecting Lin Xia to be so direct in asking her to assess his friend. However, she had seen the world and figured Lin Xia was joking, so she sized up Tang Yinlang once more.
“Absolutely reliable. Look at his full forehead and mid-face; he is a man of good fortune. His eyebrows extend to the corners of his eyes, meaning he isn’t a stingy person. His lips aren’t particularly thin, showing he isn’t heartless…” Grandma Wei analyzed Tang Yinlang’s physiognomy with all seriousness.
Lin Xia listened in a daze, quite surprised. He thought Grandma Wei was just talking, but he didn’t expect her to actually know how to read faces.
“In short, whoever marries him will be happy!” Grandma Wei concluded with one sentence: Marrying Tang Yinlang is the right choice!
Tang Yinlang successfully passed Grandma Wei’s inspection, and a trace of pride rose in his heart. He couldn’t help but feel fortunate for his good looks.
“Is that so?” Lin Xia said with a smile, though he very much agreed with Grandma Wei’s words. He could feel Tang Yinlang’s reliability. He had just asked casually without any other meaning.
“The big cat still hasn’t learned to meow? How will he play with other cats…” Grandma Wei looked at the snowy white fluff ball, her brows almost knitting together. She liked the cute and sensible white fluff ball and worried that he would be rejected by other cats for not knowing how to meow.
“Even if he can’t meow, cats still play with him. You don’t need to worry.” Lin Xia couldn’t explain to Grandma Wei that the white fluff ball wasn’t a cat, so he made up an excuse.
“That’s good then.” Hearing Lin Xia say this, Grandma Wei felt relieved, and her furrowed brows smoothed out.
“I’ve finished choosing.” Lin Xia handed the selected eggs to Grandma Wei, asked for another bag, and started filling the second one.
Lin Xia wanted to buy over ten jin (approx. 5-6 kg). Besides eating them himself, he wanted to send some to Chen Mingjie’s family, He Chen’s family, and Sister Sui. They usually took good care of him, so Lin Xia wanted to give them something in return.
One bag wasn’t enough; it took two bags to hold them all. Buying ten jin at once was rare in these parts. The first time Grandma Wei saw Lin Xia buy so much, she had asked in surprise. Now that Lin Xia came often, Grandma Wei didn’t even raise an eyebrow when she saw him buy this much; she was used to it.
“Grandma, do you raise ducks too?” After buying the chicken eggs, Lin Xia waited for Grandma Wei to weigh them and noticed a basket nearby with the word “Duck” written on it. He guessed it contained duck eggs.
“Oh, those are Sister Xie’s duck eggs. She had to go home for something and asked me to help sell them,” Grandma Wei said while weighing, her eyes fixed on the scale without looking up. “I raise a flock of chickens, and that’s enough to keep me busy. Raising ducks requires putting them out in the pond; an old woman like me can’t handle that!”
She was old and her eyesight was poor; she couldn’t see clearly without getting close.
“Let me look at the duck eggs.” Lin Xia wanted to make salted duck eggs—the kind with runny, oily yolks.
“Take a look. I’m not just saying this, but these duck eggs are good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t help her sell them!” Grandma Wei hummed lightly, showing a rare bit of pride.
She couldn’t allow bad eggs to sit next to her eggs.
“Is that so? Then I really made the right choice.” Lin Xia laughed. He rarely bought duck eggs, so he selected them using the same method he used for chicken eggs.
After paying, Grandma Wei stuffed a few extra eggs into their bags. Lin Xia thanked her, and they left carrying three bags of eggs.
Tang Yinlang took the initiative to carry all the eggs, and the white fluff ball spontaneously moved back to Lin Xia’s body, finally returning to Lin Xia’s embrace.
“Let’s put these in the car first, then go buy other things.” It wasn’t easy to stroll around carrying heavy items, so Lin Xia planned to drop everything off in the car before coming back out.
The family of three returned to the parking spot, put the things in the car, and then went to buy the other items on their list.
Next, they went to buy free-range chickens ( Tu Ji ). The place selling live poultry was on the other side, but not too far from where they parked.
“This place is good.” Lin Xia spotted a familiar boss selling free-range chickens; he had bought from here many times.
“Oh my, you’re that young lad from the city, right?” The seller was an old man who didn’t sell many chickens. The chickens he raised were fed on grain and vegetables, and he only brought them out to sell when his family couldn’t finish eating them.
“Yes…” Lin Xia nodded, exchanging pleasantries with the old man. After the small talk, Lin Xia began buying chickens.
There were a few old hens left in the cage, and the rest were roosters. He checked the hens; they were fine. Lin Xia took them all and bought two roosters as well.
The old man separated the chickens into groups of two or three and put them into washed feed sacks. He cut a few holes in the sacks so the chickens could stick their heads out to breathe and not suffocate.
Tang Yinlang carried a sack in each hand, and Lin Xia carried one as well. They returned to the parking spot again, put the chickens in the car, and cracked the windows.
Next, Lin Xia and the others went to buy vegetables and meat. Winter melon, radish, greens… chicken meat, pork, fish… Tang Yinlang thought Lin Xia was done, but when he saw Lin Xia walking toward another stall, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
He had witnessed Lin Xia’s shopping desire at the mall last time, but compared to this, that was truly insignificant.
Fortunately, Lin Xia knew when to stop. He didn’t buy much of what wouldn’t keep for long, mostly buying things that had a long shelf life.
“I’m used to it. It’s a habit from the orphanage when I was little. I always went with the Director Mom for the big purchases…” Lin Xia guessed Tang Yinlang’s thoughts and explained to him.
When he was still at the orphanage, the Director often took him on major shopping trips. They bought the cheapest things and bought a lot at once, so now, whenever Lin Xia saw cheap things, he wanted to buy them all.
Things here were very cheap; Lin Xia’s heart itched looking at them, and he couldn’t help but go on a shopping spree.
“It’s okay…” Tang Yinlang had investigated Lin Xia and knew his past wasn’t happy. When Lin Xia mentioned these things, he couldn’t stop his heart from aching for him.
“So, you have to tolerate me!” Lin Xia said in a domineering tone, but he couldn’t help laughing after he said it.
“I can afford to raise you. You can buy as much as you want!” Tang Yinlang said seriously.
It didn’t matter how much he bought; he could afford it.
“Wait, that’s not right. Aren’t you unemployed right now?” Lin Xia remembered what You Hai had told him—that Tang Yinlang had resigned from his position as CEO of the Tang Group and was now an unemployed wandering tiger.
“…” Who betrayed him…
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