Only after making sure both children had fallen asleep did Song Yi return to her own room.
She sat in the massage chair and spoke to Mo Zhicheng. “At first, I was honestly worried you’d ask our daughter to give that ¥500,000 back so you could lend it to your sister.”
If Mo Zhicheng had really done that, not only would Mo Fei have been heartbroken, even Song Yi would have been furious.
After a long silence, Mo Zhicheng finally said, “It took me eight years to understand one thing.”
“What is it?”
“A person shouldn’t spend their life fighting against themselves just because of other people’s opinions or some so-called sense of pride.”
“Oh? So your awareness is this high now?”
“How many eight-year periods does a person have in their life? From now on, I just want to spend however many eight years I have left with you and the children. No matter who comes, none of them are more important than you.”
The younger sister whom Mo Zhicheng had doted on all his life only ever came to him when she wanted money or needed a favor, and she even spread bad things about his daughter everywhere.
As for Chen Bingqing, whom Mo Zhicheng had watched grow up and treated like his own daughter, she had not even visited him once or made a single phone call when he had been hospitalized for surgery.
Instead, it was the daughter he had blamed for eight years who still remembered what he liked and what he enjoyed eating.
Love in this world should have been mutual.
Whoever loved him, he would love in return. There was even less reason to neglect his own daughter in order to cherish someone else’s.
Mo Zhicheng only regretted that he had not understood this truth sooner. Fortunately, it was still not too late.
He was only sixty years old. He still had many more eight-year periods ahead of him, enough to grow old with his wife and daughter, and to watch his grandson and granddaughter grow up.
Although it was already past nine o’clock at night.
The large supermarket was still as crowded and lively as the Spring Festival travel rush.
Chen Bingqing and her fiancé, Su Wenbo, each pushed a shopping cart as they squeezed through the crowd.
Just as Chen Bingqing reached for the last bag of rice on the shelf, her phone rang.
That brief moment of hesitation was enough for someone else to put the last bag of rice into their shopping cart.
She glared at the now empty rice shelf in exasperation before answering the phone irritably.
“Mom, why are you calling me at a time like this? You just ruined everything!” She had rushed straight to the supermarket after work to stock up, yet she had barely managed to buy anything. Chen Bingqing was already furious.
The domineering Mo Qiujin from Mo Fei’s house became as gentle as a spring breeze when facing her only daughter. Hearing Chen Bingqing’s harsh tone, she hurriedly apologized.
“Forget it. What is it you wanted?” Chen Bingqing gestured for her fiancé, Su Wenbo, to head toward the prepared foods section while asking her mother over the phone.
Mo Qiujin then explained how they had failed to borrow the money.
“My uncle and aunt are living at Mo Fei’s place to help her take care of her kids?” Chen Bingqing repeated, her eyes widening. “How does she have the nerve? Forget it, there’s no way we’ll get that money now. My uncle and aunt’s savings must have been swindled away by her. When I have time, I’ll go talk to my uncle myself… Mom, I can’t talk anymore. The supermarket’s too noisy, and Wenbo and I still have to hurry and buy things! Forget about this for now. If you have time, hurry to the supermarket and stock up on some supplies…”
“Why do we need to buy things again? Didn’t the experts already debunk the rumors…” Before Mo Qiujin could finish asking, Chen Bingqing had already hung up.
Still, her daughter was so clever that she was certain she could not be wrong. Mo Qiujin immediately instructed Chen Ming to drive to the nearest supermarket.
As soon as the Grain Circulation Management Regulations were introduced, they immediately caused a huge uproar.
Before the public even had time to panic, they discovered that not only grain but many other food products had also begun to be rationed through purchase limits.
The “apocalypse” discussions that had quieted down online some time ago immediately flared up again.
From the biggest first tier cities to tiny eighteenth tier towns, from the largest supermarkets to inconspicuous roadside convenience stores, countless people who believed every rumor rushed out overnight with their entire families. Before the purchase restriction policy was fully implemented, they hurriedly carried home bag after bag of supplies.
A smaller group of people sensed that something unusual was happening. Besides stockpiling food and drinks, they had already turned their attention toward daily necessities, first aid supplies, medicine, and fuel.
Many more people, however, remained exactly as they had before. They believed the experts would soon come out to refute the rumors again.
They also believed the authorities would quickly issue a statement assuring everyone that supplies were sufficient and there was no need for panic buying.
They bought nothing and stockpiled nothing. Instead, they mocked those posting photos of their supplies online, calling them attention seekers.
Little did they know that they would soon lose the ability to laugh.
“Feifei! Feifei! I heard on the morning news that everyone’s rushing to the supermarkets to grab supplies! Shouldn’t we go too?” Song Yi hurried out of her room looking for Mo Fei.
Mo Zhicheng, who had gotten up earlier than Song Yi, was practicing tai chi in the living room. Mo Fei, who had gotten up even earlier than him, was arranging breakfast on the kitchen island outside the kitchen.
Father and daughter turned to look at Song Yi at the same time.
Mo Fei nodded. “Yes, but the supermarkets are probably already out of stock. It’ll take at least a day for them to replenish their inventory.”
“Oh dear, how can you still be so calm?” Song Yi was extremely anxious. All of her former colleagues had been posting on Moments about how much they had stockpiled, yet ever since she came to her daughter’s home, she had not even gone to a supermarket once.
Mo Fei smiled helplessly and opened the large double door refrigerator beside her. “Mom, look.”
She then opened the rows of overhead cabinets and cupboards in the kitchen. “Now look again.”
Looking at the refrigerator stuffed full of every kind of ingredient, along with the cupboards and cabinets packed with enough rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil to last a year, Song Yi calmly said, “Oh. What’s for breakfast today?”
“There are Chinese and Western options, sweet and savory choices. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.” Mo Fei smiled.
She had deliberately bought a wok that looked exactly the same as the magical iron wok.
Whenever she cooked at home herself, she used the magical iron wok.
Whenever she was away, she switched it out for the ordinary wok so her mother would not notice anything unusual while cooking.
During the three days she had spent in Hei City, she had not had a chance to cook at all, and her hands had been itching to get back into the kitchen.
Today she had deliberately gotten up early and prepared a lavish breakfast spread.
To a chef, working with food was an incomparable joy. Every time she cooked, it was a silent conversation with the ingredients, the creation of a work of art.
Allowing diners to taste her creations and experience the happiness that delicious food brought had always been the reason Mo Fei became a professional chef. It was also the belief that had supported her through every struggle and challenge in the culinary world.
“Ahem. Now, let me introduce today’s menu.” Once everyone had taken their seats at the dining table, Mo Fei cleared her throat and began announcing the dishes.
“For our Chinese breakfast, we have pan fried dumplings wrapped in egg, mini pan fried buns, and seaweed shrimp pancakes. Our Western breakfast includes toasted bagels, sautéed button mushrooms, and butter croissants. For drinks, we have milk, green tea, soy milk, and coffee. For our two friends watching their blood sugar, I recommend the sugar free soy milk. For our two little ones who are still growing, I recommend high calcium milk. That concludes this chef’s introduction.”
Standing beside the dining table, Mo Fei seemed to have returned to the days when she was a head chef introducing dishes to her guests. She was calm, confident, and radiant.
It was impossible to look away from her.
After breakfast, Mo Fei had the two children return to their room to play, while she solemnly brought up what had happened the previous night with her parents.
She emphasized the danger of exposing their home address to relatives, elevating its seriousness to the highest possible level. Mo Zhicheng and Song Yi both turned pale, completely at a loss. On one hand, they had lived peaceful lives for decades and could not imagine famine ever happening in this era. On the other hand, they still had not learned to guard themselves against the darker side of human nature.
Fortunately, Mo Fei had not raised the issue too late.
The two of them quickly asked her what they should do now.
Mo Fei told them not to worry. She asked them to stay home and watch the children while she put on a sun protective jacket, took a parasol, and drove out.
At this moment, everyone in Bai City was searching everywhere for ways to stockpile vegetables and grain, but whether online or offline, everything showed as out of stock.
For the time being, Mo Fei had no intention of competing with everyone else for those supplies.
She first called the real estate agent, Xiao Luo, and explained her latest rental requirements. Then, following her procurement checklist, she drove to the hardware and building materials market that sold generators.