Grandpa Hoon listened attentively to his wife's angry words as she described the dirty deeds Gu Wing had secretly plotted in the past years. She was spurting out words that sometimes didn't make sense, yet seem terrifyingly true because of the way she presented it.
He asked after she had finished yelling out random statements, "Where did you get all this information?"
"I've known about it, but was told to not tell anyone about it. I couldn't hold it in any longer because my son is being tortured by that witch! He's miserable. Our family would have been so harmonious and peaceful." She panted and rubbed her chest to soothe her vexation.
"Alright. I'll look into it, so don't vent about this in front of others. When I am sure about what you just said, I will tell you whether those words were the truth." He handed her a cup of hot tea and frowned in deep thought.
Meanwhile, at the center of the city, Qiu Rei was wandering in just his bathrobe. It was in the middle of the changing seasons, so the weather had been wild. The weather could be unpredictable. For example, the sun could get covered up by gray clouds leading to a heavy rainstorm that could last for minutes to hours even though the weather channel said the opposite.
He was roaming down the block with three dollars in his pocket. His eyes concentrated on the ground as he walked from alleyways to different streets and back to his original starting point; his favorite steakhouse. He was craving for the juicy, perfectly done medium rare sirloin steak, paired with his favorite red wine that amazingly brings the taste of the meat to a higher level.
He saw people enjoying their steaks happily as he stood there, noticeably agitated as he rustled the three-dollar bills and some change in his pocket. He couldn't believe that one day, he would be regretting so much about dropping quarters and dollar coins on the floor without giving a second thought in picking it up. 'If only I collected them back over the years, then maybe right now I could at least have a decent meal.'
His drool streamed out of the corner of his mouth and he quickly wiped it away. He continued walking down the block with his eyes on the floor, hoping to spot some dollars or coins dropped by strangers. After the fifth walk around the neighborhood, he counted the heavy amount of change in his pocket.
"Pennies... nickels... quarters...plus my dollar bills... Only four dollars and fifty-seven cents. I need at least fifty dollars to get that meal... and that doesn't include the wine..." His stomach grumbled and his intestines shrunk inside his body from the lack of lunch. He rubbed his stomach and patted, "Yeah, yeah, I want to eat too."
On the other side of the street, Ying Ying spotted his helpless appearance. With just his bathrobe and a pair of house slippers, he looked worse than a homeless beggar. She bit her lips; extremely tempted to go up to him and hug him. 'I can't do that. Not now.'
She noticed his hungry stares targeting the steakhouse direction and counted the number of times he had already wiped his drools using his bathrobe sleeve. She nodded and walked into the steakhouse with a hat hiding her face. She typed his favorite steak dish paired with the red wine he fancied on her phone to the counter and requested the waiter to deliver it to the man across the street.
She gave the waiter a generous hundred dollar tip to help her pass him a white envelope along with the food. Soon, the steak and wine had been prepared, and the waiter walked over to Qiu Rei, handing it to him in a courteous manner. Qiu Rei took the hot sizzling plate of steak with the bottle of red wine immediately; afraid that the waiter may change his mind.
"I have no money to tip you," he didn't forget to mention about being broke. The waiter smiled, "Someone paid for your food and told me to hand you this envelope. That customer already paid for the tips as well. Enjoy your food."
Qiu Rei sat on the edge of the sidewalk and started gobbling down the steak. He already didn't care how he looked in front of other people because of how hungry he was. He took the knife and cut out big pieces of the steak and stuffed it in his mouth. The food and wine warmed him up. In the middle of eating, he caught a glimpse of Gu Wing coming out of the steakhouse.
'Could it be? She bought it for me? She still cares for me? Should I go to her now?' He thought silently to himself as he rushed the last piece of steak into his mouth. He wiped his dirtied mouth with tissues and wanted to run to Gu Wing. It was only then, that he saw a younger looking fellow with a sharp, stylish gray suit holding the door for her. The man was extremely careful around her and treated her in a way that Qiu Rei had never done for her before.
That moment, his head lowered and he turned around; ashamed to let her see his miserable state. He waited until their Maybach car drove off before sorrowfully watch it get farther away until it was out of sight. 'Right... even if she got me the steak, it was probably out of pity. She's better off with that fellow than me. I can't even afford to support myself. Forget about supporting her and saying I love her.'
He took the plastic bag with the bottle of wine, utensils, and sizzling plate with him. 'Don't waste food. I should save this sauce so later on I can at least lick the plate clean. I should have saved half or a third of the steak. What should I do for my next meal?'
At the corner of the block, he spotted someone familiar. Someone who made his fury blast out to flames. His eyes squinted in hatred as he stared at the happy, cheerful couple half a block away from him. His fist tightened around the paper bag and he lost his mind. 'Yang Ya Nuo!'