Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Uncle Li drove the two of them to the market entrance and said respectfully that he had booked a cleaner to come by today, so he needed to go back to let them in. Once they finished buying the ingredients, they could call him to come pick them up.

So the heavy responsibility of pushing the wheelchair fell on Shen Gali’s shoulders.

Under the glaring sunlight, Shen Gali felt like being pricked by needles all over, and he had visibly grown thinner.

He hated the sun, the market noise, and pushing that wheelchair.

This was the first time he had pushed a wheelchair for Nan Liujing. The combined weight of the person and the wheelchair was as heavy as a massive iron ingot. He shoved it hard, but the wheelchair and person didn’t budge an inch.

He then turned around and tried to push it with his butt. After pushing and grunting for a while, the wheelchair finally moved forward a centimeter, but then slid back half a meter the next second.

Shen Gali: …

Forget it. He gave up. Just leave Nan Liujing at the market entrance like a statue.

He walked around Nan Liujing and went ahead.

Seeing this, a kindly old lady nearby trotted over to the wheelchair and kicked away the broken bricks blocking the wheels. “Oh my, the wheels were stuck on a brick—no wonder you couldn’t push it. Hey, young man, don’t rush off! You’re not gonna just abandon your friend here, are you?”

Shen Gali hated everyone who had no sense of boundaries equally.

This way, he couldn’t line his own pockets right in front of Nan Liujing.

This time, to prevent Shen Gali from buying the wrong things again, Uncle Li had given him a shopping list.

First on the list was spinach, for tonight’s soup: spinach and tofu soup.

The vegetable stalls were lined up in a row, offering a dazzling variety of produce. An enthusiastic stall owner touted his “Yamashita spinach,” claiming it was the freshest and specially supplied to Michelin-starred chefs. He said he had gone to great lengths to get it, and it was originally priced at 87 yuan per jin, now only 67 yuan.

For a spoiled rich young master from a business empire like Nan Liujing, who was born with a silver spoon, he had no concept of vegetable market prices. He only knew he had to buy the best and most expensive.

The stall owner was also super friendly. Seeing Nan Liujing’s expensive attire, he figured he was some rich kid slumming it and pulled out all the stops: “Sir, you must eat this kind of spinach often, right? Although it’s a bit pricier than regular spinach, it perfectly matches your refined taste, don’t you think?”

Nan Liujing had certainly heard his fair share of flattery, but since the stall owner said such nice things, he decided to buy it.

He looked up at Shen Gali, signaling that they should buy this spinach. But when he glanced over, he saw Shen Gali already squatting in front of the next stall, picking through.

He was holding mostly wilted spinach with yellow tips. As the lady vendor put it, “Young man, check out these ones over here. The ones over there are just waiting to be taken back to feed the pigs after the market closes.”

But Shen Gali remained unmoved, grabbed a bunch and stuffed them into a bag.

These spinach leaves might look shabby, but they were cheap.

Nan Liujing coldly looked down at him, suddenly understanding why this lazy man had volunteered to go grocery shopping. He had his own little scheme going on.

“Shen Gali, do you know how much this kind of spinach costs?”

Without looking up, Shen Gali replied, “One fifty.”

Nan Liujing sneered. “And how do you plan to spend the leftover money?”

Shen Gali held up a small bag of spinach, weighed it in his hand, and handed it to the stall owner to be weighed. Then, evading the question, he said:

“Spinach contains a lot of oxalic acid. Eating it with calcium-rich tofu forms calcium oxalate, which is hard for the body to absorb. Over time, it can even cause kidney stones.”

He lazily half-closed his eyes and asked with a straight face:

“Since the goal is to form stones, why use the most expensive premium spinach?”

The stall owners: …

Nan Liujing: …

That was so logical, he couldn't argue.

Nan Liujing was silent for a long time, then waved his hand, meaning, “Do as you please.”

They bought the spinach and then went to the potato stall. Instead of choosing the thin-skinned, large, fresh ones, Shen Gali picked only the ugly, bumpy ones. According to Shen Gali:

“These potatoes might be ugly, but they have more starch and higher nutritional value.”

And they were cheap.

Nan Liujing couldn't argue that either.

One of the main dishes for dinner was steamed fish head with chopped chilies, with the main ingredient being bighead carp. Nan Liujing picked the biggest, fattest, most energetic one from the tank and was about to call Shen Gali over to pay when he saw him already squatting in front of the fish-cleaning stall, eyeing a pile of unwanted fish heads.

A bad feeling creeped up on Nan Liujing.

He wheeled himself over to Shen Gali and lowered his voice. “What are you trying to do?”

“Make chopped pepper fish head.”

“So?”

“Buy a fish head.” He was brief, as if saying one more word would be disrespectful to the bighead carp.

“Buy the whole fish.” Nan Liujing’s fingers tightened, and he hissed through clenched teeth.

“And the body?”

“Put it in the fridge and use it for another dish next time.”

“Have you ever eaten meat that wasn't slaughtered the same day?”

Nan Liujing: “No.”

Shen Gali: “Boss, give me one fish head.”

Fish like that needs to be refrigerated; taking it out later would require thawing, and you'd need to boil water to thaw it—too much trouble. Besides, how could a pampered young master ever eat frozen meat that wasn’t slaughtered the same day?

And most importantly, fish heads were cheap.

All the ingredients for dinner cost a total of 35.7 yuan, saving 464.3 yuan. Shen Gali’s secret stash kept swelling.

After returning home, Shen Gali did his thing and put together a sorry-looking dinner that looked nothing like its original form. Nan Liujing stared at it for a long time and couldn’t help but recall the image of the bloody fish head tossed onto a burlap sack, instantly losing his appetite.

He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he had eaten dinner, but…

Late that night, Nan Liujing sat alone in his study, opened his computer, and clicked on “Engagement Cancellation Plan 5.0.”

Under the column “Shen Gali’s Crimes,” a new entry was added: “Trifling with dinner.” The list of charges was so long that scrolling from top to bottom took forever—countless.

But they were all household trivialities; taking them to a divorce court wouldn’t guarantee a sure win.

There had to be a fatal blow that would leave the Shen family speechless.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Nan Liujing closed the "Engagement Cancellation Plan 5.0" and said, "Come in." Uncle Li entered, carrying a bowl of warm pear stewed in milk.

He placed the sleep-aiding soup by Nan Liujing's hand, a hint of worry in his eyes.

His young master had visibly lost weight these past few days, likely because he hadn’t been eating properly.

The young master disliked having outsiders in the house, so he never hired maids or servants. It was only because Uncle Li had taken care of him since childhood that he had a place in this cold mansion.

After pondering for a long time, knowing it was unlikely, Uncle Li still asked, "Young master, I see you haven’t been eating well lately. You look thinner. How about I take over the dinner preparations from now on, like before?"

Nan Liujing half-closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "No need. Let him do it."

As expected. Uncle Li sighed, wondering why his young master was being so stubborn. Shen Gali wasn’t malicious, but he wasn’t exactly a genius. He had been cooking dinner for so long, yet there was no improvement at all.

Tonight’s chopped pepper fish head, unsurprisingly, had turned out wrong again.

The moment he stirred it with the chopsticks, bloody water mixed into the broth.

But having served the young master for so long, Uncle Li had never seen anyone stay by his side this long. Shen Gali was the first. So as long as the young master could live peacefully, he would turn a blind eye to Shen Gali.

"Uncle Li," Nan Liujing suddenly said, "What do you think a boy Shen Gali’s age usually likes?"

Uncle Li’s heart leaped with joy, thinking Nan Liujing was planning some romantic little surprise for his partner.

"Mr. Shen is twenty-two, just graduated from school and entering society. Society these days is really tough on young people. Without family support, they often face a lot of difficulties. So giving him a stable life outweighs any material gifts."

Nan Liujing frowned slightly. "In plain English."

"Playing games, spending money on in-game purchases."

"What does that mean?"

"For young people today, playing games after work is the most relaxing way to unwind. First, most players are the same age, so it's easier to have fun with them than with coworkers. Second, they can find a sense of self-worth in games, like carrying teammates to an easy win or showing off skins they paid for."

Nan Liujing looked thoughtful.

He conveniently skipped over the second point and kept mulling over that line: "Most players are the same age, so it's easier to have fun with them than with coworkers."

"Uncle Li, please find a game with lots of players and a young audience."