Not Much Time Left

A while later, the mother and daughter’s order arrived—the bowl was filled to the brim, and the amount of beef on it was shocking as well!

“Please enjoy your meal!” The waiter put two sets of chopsticks in front of the two before leaving.

“They sure give a lot of noodles here, so that’s why it was so expensive!” The mother said, pleasantly surprised as she looked at the noodles. “This is way enough for us two!”

“It is…” Chen Xi smiled bitterly to herself. The waiter from before probably told the kitchen to do this for her. After all, she did come and look at the portions the customers have, and they were nowhere near this full.

Right now it seemed to have half a bowl’s worth of extra noodles! The beef pieces were a lot, as well—this entire bowl was likely fifteen kuai in cost alone!

Chen Xi looked gratefully at the busying waiter before giving her mother a pair of chopsticks. “Mom, let’s eat?”

“Yes, let’s eat! Xi, you go first!” The mother said lovingly as she looked at Chen Xin.

“This is great!” Chen Xi knew that her mother wouldn’t eat as long as she didn’t so she quickly gave it a taste before giving it to mom.

It was very delicious, but the more delicious it was the less she was willing to eat it! She had to leave it for her mom, she still had a long life ahead of her, and she could eat anytime she wanted, but her mom…

“So that’s why so many people come about, it is very good!” Chen Xi’s mother said after one bite, nodding pleasantly. “Xi, you’re still growing, you need to eat more meat!”

“You eat too, mom!” Chen Xi didn’t want to take too much, and so she gave herself a small piece before putting a huge one into her mom’s mouth…

“Look, the portions here really are big, I told you!” Feng Xiaoxiao said to Lin Yi as she pointed.

“Are you pretending to be stupid or what?” Lin Yi asked.

“!!!” Xiaoxiao almost jumped onto the table to step on Lin Yi—why was he so mean to her? Yushu always asked dumb questions too, why didn’t he ask if she was pretending to be stupid?

“Feng Xiaoxiao, just what do you want? I keep feeling that there’s something up with you?” Lin Yi said as he looked at Xiaoxiao.

“What’s wrong with me? I don’t want anything, I already told you I like you and I want you to be my boyfriend.” Xiaoxiao said.

Lin Yi shook his head. If Xiaoxiao didn’t want to tell the truth he couldn’t do anything about it.

At the other table, Chen Xi was still sharing the bowl of noodles with her mother, who’s still full of love in her eyes as she kept telling Chen Xi to eat more, but the more she did that, the worse Chen Xi felt, and tears dripped down her eyes. Worried that her mother would see, she quickly got up and ran to the washroom. “I’m going to the washroom, you eat first, mom…”

“Huh? Why is she crying?” Xiaoxiao said as she looked at Chen Xi’s movements, confused.

“Her mother’s dying.” Lin Yi said flatly.

“What!” Xiaoxiao almost stood up from her seat. “You said her mother’s dying? Really?”

“Look at her mother’s face—it’s dark and sickly. She doesn’t have much time left.”

“One look and you can tell that her mother doesn’t have much time left?” Xiaoxiao didn’t fully buy it.

“It’s like that story with the doctor and Cai Yigong. The doctor left with one look at Cai Yigong because he was beyond saving.” Lin Yi said. “Sometimes, one look is enough to know how long a person has left.”

“Then why don’t you look at me and see how long I have left?” Xiaoxiao said, keeping composed but was actually extremely tense inside.

“You? I don’t see any signs that you’re dying.” Lin Yi thought that Xiaoxiao was joking, so he didn’t think much of it.

“Oh…” Xiaoxiao was a little disappointed that Lin Yi wasn’t treating it seriously at all.

Lin Yi and Xiaoxiao’s bowls arrived as well but were completely and starkly different from the one from before. It probably took these two bowls together to be at the same portion as the Chen Xi’s bowl.

“See? Is one enough?” Lin Yi smiled.

“It is! I have a small appetite.” Xiaoxiao said.

“Who’s the one who ate so much she couldn’t move?” Lin Yi couldn’t help but remember that time with Xiaoxiao in Yanjin, where she ate so much seafood she couldn’t even walk properly, walking sideways like a crab instead.

“That’s because I wanted to bankrupt that Wu person!” Xiaoxiao blushed as she explained.

The two were talking when something happened at Chen Xi’s side!

Chen Xi was worried that her mother would see her tears, so she rushed to the bathroom—only to bump into a customer who had just entered the restaurant. He was lighting up his cigarette with his lighter, too, and Chen Xi bumped the lighter off his hand and onto the floor!

“Fuck, you don’t have eyes, little girl? Walk properly!” The man raged furiously.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Chen Xi quickly lowered herself to pick up the lighter, startled. “Here, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!”

“Sorry? Sorry’s enough is it? You know what brand this lighter is, it’s zippo! You knocked the paint off, you think you can pay for this?” The man flared at Chen Xi.

“I…” Chen Xi didn’t think that she’d bump into trouble right away—she didn’t know if the man was speaking the truth, but she had no choice. She lowered her head. “I’m sorry…”

“Stop with your bullshit, pay up!” The man slammed the table, flipping their beef noodle bowl. This was the noodle bowl she finally managed to buy her mom!

She couldn’t help her tears anymore- they dripped down…

“I’m sorry, young man… She’s still a kid… How much is the lighter, I’ll pay for it…” Chen Xi’s mom didn’t expect something like this to happen either. They were just enjoying their meal when something this serious hit them!

“Hmph, five thousand!” The man said. “Pay up, or I’ll call the police and charge you for breaking property!”

“Five thousand?!” Chen Xi’s mother jumped at the number, not knowing what to do. Five thousand may not be a small sum for a normal family, but it was still affordable. For Chen Xi and her mother, however, it was a number that they never imagined!