Chapter 39: Buy Something Else or Go Home

Chapter 39: Either Buy Something Else or Go Home

Even though there weren't as many people at Xuehe Rice Ball today, there were still a dozen or so customers, including Chen Jinbin.

Chen Jinbin had received money from his grandparents last night, so he was determined to complete his task today. His teacher had held the class over at noon, and he thought he would have to queue for a long time, but unexpectedly, it was pretty quiet today.

He bought enough to feed the whole family: two shrimp and seaweed rice balls, two pork chop and seaweed rice balls, eight skewers each of fish balls and shrimp balls, and four cups of Qiong Peach Juice.

He also noticed Huilong Rice Ball. Curious, he bought from both Xuehe Rice Ball and Huilong Rice Ball, wanting to see what the newly opened Huilong Rice Ball was like.

He first took a bite of the chicken strip rice ball from Huilong Rice Ball. As soon as he tasted it, he frowned. The taste was completely unremarkable, and the shredded egg inside wasn't as good as the one in Xuehe's rice balls.

With a silent sigh, he put the chicken strip rice ball into his bike basket. With the same type of food, once you've tasted the good one, you can no longer settle for the average one. The gap between them was so vast that he didn't want to take a second bite.

Time went on. School had been out for over ten minutes. Suddenly, groups of older elementary school kids appeared on the street, and some were walking with their families. Some students had heard from their older siblings or neighbors' older siblings that there was an amazing rice ball shop at the middle school gate, so they came specifically after school to try it.

Liu Minmin, Zhang Xuhao, and Liang Zecheng were sixth-grade elementary school students. Liu Minmin's older sister, Liu Jingjing, was in eighth grade at Taoxi Middle School. Last week, she brought her pork chop and seaweed rice balls, meatballs, and Qiong Peach Juice from Xuehe Rice Ball twice, and Liu Minmin loved them.

Now, with her allowance and two good friends, she came specifically to the middle school gate to buy some.

"Xuhao, Zecheng, I'm really not lying to you! That pork chop rice ball is so delicious! The meatballs are so good too! But my favorite is still the Qiong Peach Juice; it's super fragrant! You guys have to try it today!" Although everything was delicious, Liu Minmin particularly favored the sweet Qiong Peach Juice. After drinking it, her whole day felt sweet.

"Of course we'll try it if it's delicious. Minmin, what's the name of that rice ball shop?" Zhang Xuhao was a little foodie. When Liu Minmin suggested coming to the middle school to find food, he was all for it.

"Mhm, mhm." Liang Zecheng was Liu Minmin's good friend and deskmate. He came along to accompany her.

"I didn't get the name, but my sister said there's only one rice ball stall at the school gate. We'll know when we get there; it's easy to find." Liu Minmin was too busy eating and listening to her sister talk at the time; she didn't ask at all.

"Huh?" Zhang Xuhao craned his neck to observe the roadside stalls. The next second, he was surprised to find the number wasn't what Liu Minmin had said.

"Minmin, that's not right. There are two rice ball stalls on this street," Zhang Xuhao pointed at the two rice ball stalls side by side ahead and asked, "Which one is it, Huilong Rice Ball or Xuehe Rice Ball?"

Liu Minmin looked in the direction Zhang Xuhao pointed. Indeed, there were two rice ball stalls. Remembering her favorite Qiong Peach Juice, she observed the small blackboards of both stalls.

"Qiong Peach Juice! Xuehe Rice Ball, let's go here." Huilong Rice Ball had peach juice, but Xuehe Rice Ball had Qiong Peach Juice. Liu Minmin recognized that Xuehe Rice Ball was the stall they were looking for based on the words "Qiong Peach Juice."

Liang Zecheng said, "Xuehe Rice Ball is much more expensive than Huilong Rice Ball."

Liu Minmin replied, "And much more delicious too."

Liang Zecheng thought of a phrase he often heard his mother say at home—"You get what you pay for"—and made his choice.

The three of them headed straight for the Xuehe Rice Ball stall. There was no one in front of the stall, so they could order directly without queuing.

"Sister, I want a Qiong Peach Juice. Wait a second..." Liu Minmin tilted her head, her gaze lingering on the small blackboard. "Sister, I want a cup of freshly squeezed Qiong Peach Juice, not the 20-yuan one. I also want an egg, ham, and seaweed rice ball."

She had already tried the 20-yuan cup of Qiong Peach Juice; now she wanted to try the freshly squeezed one. She had also eaten the pork chop and seaweed rice ball before; today she wanted to try the ham and egg seaweed rice ball.

Remembering she had a hundred-yuan bill, Liu Minmin added, "Sister, I also want two skewers of fish balls and two skewers of shrimp balls. That's exactly one hundred yuan. Here you go, sister."

"Okay, little one, please wait a moment." Jiang Yingxue gently took the hundred-yuan bill from her hand. The girl looked so sweet that Jiang Yingxue found herself being extra gentle and patient.

Jiang Yingxue quickly packed the food Liu Minmin ordered. After packaging the freshly squeezed Qiong Peach Juice, she placed the free packet of Spirit Guzhi Powder inside the bag and additionally gave two Qiong Peaches. "These two Qiong Peaches are for you. You've already had a cup of Qiong Peach Juice today, so eat these Qiong Peach fruits tomorrow, okay?"

Liu Minmin took the bag and said sweetly, "Okay, thank you, sister!"

She turned her head to look at her two companions and asked, "What do you guys want?"

"Same as you," Zhang Xuhao said to Liu Minmin, then turned to Jiang Yingxue. "Sister, I want the same as her, and I also want to add a pork chop and seaweed rice ball."

"Okay, little ones, please wait a moment." After receiving the money, Jiang Yingxue got to work. Since the three kids were together, she also gave them two extra Qiong Peaches.

The two of them got their packed bags, leaving only Liang Zecheng who hadn't ordered yet.

"Sister, I want the same as her too." Liang Zecheng finally chose the same as Liu Minmin.

The three of them happily walked away with their food.

As soon as they left, a young student pointed at Jiang Yingxue's stall and said to his mother, "Mom, let's buy from there. I heard the meatballs there are really delicious."

His mother glanced at the prices on Xuehe Rice Ball's small blackboard and said, "Jie, that's not a good deal. Let's look at something else."

One skewer of meatballs here cost 10 yuan, while over on the walking street, you can get a skewer for just 1 yuan! Not just the meatballs, everything else at this Xuehe Rice Ball was expensive too. Selling the same rice balls, their juice was twice as expensive as the neighboring stall's, and the rice balls were even more outrageous, with the most expensive one selling for 100 yuan a portion. Zou Qianyi didn't want to be that kind of sucker.

Yuan Jie instantly became unhappy. He tugged at his mother's clothes and said, "Mom, how do we know it's not delicious if we haven't tried it? Let's go buy one to try, okay? Just one skewer."

"No," Zou Qianyi didn't give in. Her voice took on a stern tone. "Jie, Mom said we're not buying meatballs. Either we go to another shop to buy something else now, or we go home right now. Which one do you choose?"

Yuan Jie's face was full of grievance. He said stubbornly, "I don't want rice balls. I want to go home."