Breakfast was a must. Whether he ate at four or five in the morning, or waited until noon, he had to eat *something*.
Chen Jingle’s breakfasts usually fell into a few categories: heating up pre-made bread from the fridge, cooking egg noodles, or making instant noodles. If he was feeling particularly lazy, he’d just munch on dry snacks. Or, he would simply go out and buy something: a one-yuan cup of soy milk, a one-yuan deep-fried dough stick or steamed bun, a two-yuan egg burger, or a five-yuan rice noodle roll with egg and meat. Such were the low prices in the suburban countryside.
The only thing he absolutely refused to do was cook rice in the morning. After struggling to drag himself out of bed, with no rush and no obligation to cook a full meal, he preferred to eat something else.
He opened the door and first fed his meowing little tabby cat. Then, he put on his helmet, hopped onto his beloved electric scooter, and headed out to buy breakfast. He planned to stop by the supermarket to pick up some groceries along the way.
There was actually a wet market nearby, formed at the intersection of several villages. Breakfast was usually sold there too, but Chen Jingle hated buying groceries from that market. When he first moved back, he went there a few times and got scammed by some dishonest vendors. Ever since then, he preferred to travel a bit further to the large supermarket in the city. Even if the prices were slightly higher, he refused to set foot in that wet market again. At least the supermarket had clearly marked prices and honest scales.
Men were just like that. They could go to the same barbershop for years, or eat the same pork trotter rice at the same restaurant for three months straight. But the moment they realized they had been scammed, they might not complain to the owner’s face, but they would never patronize that business again for the rest of their lives.
Chen Jingle decided to hit the supermarket first. The breakfast stalls were closer to home, so he could just grab food on his way back. After all, carrying his breakfast around while grocery shopping would be too much of a hassle.
Outside the village entrance was a provincial highway. The traffic was somewhat heavy, and there was no shortage of reckless dump trucks barreling down the road.
"Fuck, why are you driving so fast? Rushing to your next life?" Chen Jingle cursed all the way.
You really couldn’t blame him for cursing at drivers when he was on his scooter, or cursing at scooter riders when he was driving. Live long enough, and you’d realize the world was truly full of idiots.
Passing by People’s Park, he spotted a group of retired ladies square dancing. Nearby, someone was sitting in a pavilion playing the erhu, an old man was violently slamming his back against a tree to practice the Iron Mountain Lean, and another was fiercely thumping his chest to train his Iron Cloth shirt technique.
Yikes. It was a morning fit for the gods.
Just past an intersection was the supermarket. It was a local brand, and its prices were much cheaper than its competitors like Vanguard or Lotus. As for the legendary Pang Dong Lai, Chen Jingle felt the online reviews were somewhat exaggerated. If it was really that good, why hadn’t they opened a branch right outside his door?
But enough about that. Today, he was here to clear the shelves. Charge!
The supermarket was bustling in the morning, packed with elderly folks buying groceries and middle-aged housewives. Young men like Chen Jingle were few and far between. Consequently, quite a few old ladies subconsciously cast extra glances his way. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, so no one recognized him. As long as he didn’t hear it to his face, he couldn’t care less what they murmured behind his back.
"I have to eat something good today!" Chen Jingle decided that for today’s practical lesson, he would continue studying culinary arts. With the system’s help, every dish he made was of master-class quality. Why wouldn’t he treat himself? It was hitting two birds with one stone—learning and eating.
Delicious food was the cheapest source of happiness! As long as a person could eat, drink, and be merry in this life, that was more than enough. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
"Please give me a rack of pork ribs. Chop them a bit smaller, I’m using them for soup. Do you have any pork neck left? Cut two catties for me, I’m making char siu. Make sure it’s on the leaner side! How much is a catty of beef brisket? Thirty-five? Didn’t the price of beef go down? Why is it still so expensive? Give me two catties."
That was it for the meat.
Next were the vegetables. He needed corn and carrots for the soup. He had originally planned to buy some lotus root, but today’s batch didn’t look too fresh, so he passed. He grabbed some potatoes next. Chen Jingle felt that potatoes were truly the perfect vegetable; they tasted amazing no matter how you cooked them—like potato and beef brisket stew. The exact opposite was ginger, a cursed root in his eyes.
Then came the fruits. Hami melons were quite cheap, so he grabbed one. Seedless red grapes weren’t expensive either, so he bought two catties of those as well.
If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t eat it all, Chen Jingle would have stuffed his shopping cart to the brim. Still, there was no need to hoard too much. Without a typhoon, a snowstorm, or any other emergency, stockpiling supplies was pointless. As a Southerner, he still preferred to buy his ingredients fresh.
While lining up to pay, Chen Jingle made a rough mental calculation and realized he had gone slightly over budget. However, it wasn’t a big deal. He couldn’t exactly cook four dishes and a soup for just twenty yuan every day. A man had to treat himself well!
Just as he was queuing, a woman suddenly squeezed past him from the side, cutting right in front of him.
Chen Jingle was instantly annoyed. "Miss, please wait in line."
He wasn’t going to indulge this kind of behavior. He was wearing a mask anyway.
The woman turned her head and glanced at him. She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, wearing an expression that suggested going to work was akin to visiting a grave. Without saying a word, she turned her head back around.
Chen Jingle grew even angrier.
However, before he could say anything else, the elderly man in front of her spoke up. "Don’t cut in line, alright? If you want to pay, go queue up yourself."
The others quickly joined the crusade.
"Exactly! Everyone else is queuing up, why shouldn’t you?"
"Get in line! If you’re not going to line up, stop blocking the way!"
"Dressing so nicely but lacking basic social decency. You’re a disgrace to the neighborhood!"
Seeing that she had provoked public outrage, the woman instantly flared up in humiliation. "So what if I don’t queue? I’m in a hurry! Can’t I just cut in?"
A middle-aged lady behind Chen Jingle raised her voice, "Who isn’t in a hurry? If you were really pressed for time, you could have at least asked nicely. Shoving your way in without a word—who do you think you are?"
"I’m pretty, isn’t that enough?" The older woman said, acting completely high and mighty. "I’m so beautiful, why can’t I cut in line?"
BOOO~
As soon as she said that, the surrounding crowd was genuinely dumbfounded, their faces twisting in disgust. What kind of person was this? Her? Pretty? Did she ever look in a mirror? Or if she didn’t have a mirror, could she not just look at her own reflection in a puddle of piss?
Chen Jingle was utterly speechless. He took a slight step back, afraid that this woman’s spit might be toxic.
Seeing the situation escalating, a supermarket staff member hurried over to intervene. "Here, here, line up over here. You can check out at this register too."
The arrogant woman let out a heavy snort, turned around, and switched to the other line. Shoving ahead of the others, she dumped the entire contents of her shopping basket onto the counter.
"Fuck, it’s like stepping in dog shit first thing in the morning. Absolutely disgusting," Chen Jingle said, shaking his head.
The old lady queuing behind him huffed angrily and muttered to her friend who had come grocery shopping with her, "That woman has a mean face and a reckless mouth. People like her are bound to get into an accident sooner or later. Just you wait and see."
Hearing this, Chen Jingle couldn’t help but chuckle, though he didn’t take it to heart.
However, when he walked out of the supermarket and was about to ride off, he noticed a commotion at the intersection across the street. The line-cutting woman’s electric scooter had scraped against a car. Right now, she was throwing a massive tantrum, pointing at the driver inside the car and cursing loudly.
Yet, judging from the scene, it looked much more like she had jaywalked and crashed into the car herself.
Chen Jingle was stunned. "That granny’s words were a prophecy! She actually got into an accident. Too bad she’s unhurt."