章 24: Chapter 24: This Is Fortune
Last night, Xu Qing had indeed thought for a long time; after the little disturbance with the thief, he couldn't sleep much, and he lay in bed pondering over Jiang He's matters.
Picking up an ancient person was quite novel, but there were heaps of troubles, both visible and invisible, like time bombs that could erupt at any moment.
Staying at home was possible, but in the end, he knew she had to learn to live her own life; he couldn't possibly support this girl forever.
Even if, retreating ten thousand steps, his handsome and dashing appearance attracted Jiang He and then blah blah blah... she still had to get used to this world; she couldn't become useless like a Winter Melon, doing nothing but eating and sleeping.
"Remember this day," Xu Qing said, looking back at Jiang He when they arrived at the entrance of the breakfast shop before finding a place to sit down and order.
Deep-fried dough sticks, steamed buns, side dishes, and porridge; the standard breakfast set.
The morning sunlight was glittering gold, shining through the windows onto the table. The traffic outside was getting busier as the city began to awaken, and the number of customers in the breakfast shop gradually increased, some taking away food and others sitting down to eat.
The two of them ate quietly; to an outsider, there was nothing unusual, and no one would guess that the girl eating steamed buns came from ancient times.
Jiang He took a sip of porridge and looked up at the street. What she liked most about this world was the variety of food. Although she'd never seen what the emperor ate, she was certain that delicious foods like steamed buns and deep-fried dough sticks weren't even available in the imperial palace.
"If you're not full, there's more. Here, you can have as much porridge as you want. If you want more buns, just go and ask for them. Tell her how many you want, and I'll settle the bill in a bit," Xu Qing told her after eating three buns, already feeling full. Thinking of the sweat on Jiang He's forehead when they left home, he guessed that someone who practiced martial arts likely had a big appetite and gave her a heads-up.
Jiang He thought for a moment and asked, "Are these buns expensive?"
"Not expensive. Breakfast here is the cheapest," Xu Qing whispered to her, "You don't need to worry about food here. If you're aiming to fill your stomach, these won't cost much. Just eat with peace of mind."
A deep-fried dough stick cost one yuan, a vegetarian bun was sixty cents, and a meat bun was one yuan. If one didn't dine at high-end restaurants for extravagant meals and stuck to these daily foods, anyone with a job or income could afford them.
After considering this, Jiang He got up and took a look at the ordering counter, "Add ten... five, fifteen buns."
"Cough... cough!"
Xu Qing choked on his porridge, coughed a few times, then quickly added, "For takeaway!"
The cashier nodded without saying anything.
"Can you finish them?" Xu Qing asked when Jiang He returned.
"Almost... did I eat too much?" Jiang He held her empty bowl, wondering whether to go and get another big bowl of porridge.
"I told you it's okay to eat. Just... it's too conspicuous. Maintain a normal amount of food in public, take the rest home to continue eating. ...And you can have two more bowls of porridge if you want," Xu Qing reassured her.
"When I make money by playing games, I will pay you back," Jiang He said softly, getting up to get more porridge.
Xu Qing was noncommittal. Whether she paid back or not... It was just some food after all. How could he chase a debt from an ancient person?
The thick porridge was very much to Jiang He's liking. In her own era, drinking porridge was essentially like drinking water; she had never seen such a practice where there was more rice than water. Even the porridge in a rich landlord's home was thicker, but they wouldn't dare to squander like this.
By the time Jiang He had gulped down three bowls of porridge and had her fill, the two of them finally left the house with the takeaway vegetarian buns—though they had eaten breakfast before, it always involved ordering takeout, which Jiang He would finish no matter the quantity, never complaining about not being full. Only now did Winter Melon genuinely realize the extent of Jiang He's appetite.
"One day, I'll take you to try a buffet."
Xu Qing looked towards a buffet hot pot restaurant in the distance, figuring Jiang He would probably love it.
"What's that?" Jiang He encountered another novel term.
"It's like paying a bit of money, and then you can have all you want from inside, until you can't eat anymore—just like the porridge earlier, but there's not only porridge; there's also vegetables, meat, and more... You'll understand once I take you there."
"Is there really such a good deal?"
Jiang He was surprised, "Is it like a relief organization or something?"
"No, it's a very common type of restaurant, just a different business model."
Xu Qing hefted the bag of buns in his hand, took one out of the bag to eat while walking, and signaled that she could eat too, saying, "Most people here do intellectual work, like emperors, sitting all day dealing with various tasks, basically without expending much effort, so naturally they eat less. If you ate these ten or twenty buns in a shop, it would be very conspicuous; we need to keep a low profile.
Likewise, because we don't eat a lot, some merchants set up these kinds of shops, where you pay money and eat whatever you want—since we can't eat much anyway, especially women and children. They might pay a hundred bucks and eat maybe thirty or forty worth of food, so the store makes a hefty profit."
After hearing his explanation, Jiang He sort of understood, "So some people might lose a little by eating more, but it's made up for by those who eat less?"
"Quite smart, huh!" Xu Qing was surprised at her intelligence, recalling that when he was taken to a buffet by Xu Wenbin as a child, he had marveled for a long time at how nice the owner was for letting people eat as much as they wanted.
"But why would those who eat less go there? Do they have too much money?" This was something Jiang He couldn't comprehend.
"There's a variety to choose from; you eat what you want, which is very convenient and satisfying. You don't have to fret over choosing dishes or worry about the prices."
The two of them ate while walking down the street. Xu Qing, having eaten to about eighty percent full in the store, only nibbled on two buns, leaving the rest for Jiang He to eat at her leisure.
For Jiang He, who was a complete blank slate, anything she talked about was a learning experience. Although the world was complex, many things were interrelated. Cumulatively combined in all aspects of life, they could eventually lead to a significant change, giving her sudden insights into how the world works.
Where there's a demand, there will be supply. If it exists, it's rational; finding that "rationale" is the correct approach.
For the irrational, it's better to keep your distance; those things are probably not good.
This simplistic and crude concept was exactly what Jiang He needed at the moment.
"Alright, you have fifteen minutes left to finish these buns."
Back at home, Xu Qing checked the time and said to Jiang He, then took out a bottle of soda from the fridge, drank a couple of sips, "We start playing games at nine in the morning, and, except for drinking water and using the restroom, do nothing else until noon at twelve—this is the normal life of most people, the nine-to-five, to give you a taste of it."
"Most people?"
"Hmm... theoretically speaking, letting you experience the blessing of a 996 schedule would be too much for you."
Xu Qing laughed, "After lunch, you can rest until one-thirty in the afternoon, then continue playing games until five in the evening. During this time, don't even think about doing anything else; just play the game honestly."
After arriving in the modern world for a little over a month, Jiang He thus encountered the nine-to-five lifestyle of the 'society livestock' quite abruptly.
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