Translator: Cinder Translations
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After opening the packaging, there were several boxes of seafood neatly packed inside.
A quick glance revealed flying crabs, prawns, spicy crayfish, and a bread crab that had been cut into pieces and stir-fried.
"Doctor..." Fatty was almost moved to tears. In that moment, he felt that whether or not he had a girlfriend or a sugar mommy didn't matter; as long as he had the doctor by his side, that was enough.
"Eat while it's hot," Jiang Cheng patted Fatty's back.
"Thank you, doctor!"
Among all the dishes, seafood was Fatty's favorite, but it was expensive, so opportunities to eat it were rare.
He grabbed a flying crab and cracked it in half with a snap. As he looked at the overflowing crab roe, the earlier unpleasantness disappeared in an instant.
Jiang Cheng glanced back at the door and noticed the delivery man was still standing there, not leaving.
"Anything else?" Jiang Cheng asked.
The man smiled and, in a very polite tone, responded, "Mr. Jiang, you..." He rubbed his hands nervously. "You haven't paid yet."
Fatty stopped just before bringing the crab to his mouth.
Jiang Cheng was stunned. "Pay for what?"
"Of course, for the seafood," the man seemed confused, looking at Jiang Cheng. "Four flying crabs, one portion of spicy crayfish, one portion of prawns, and one portion of stir-fried bread crab. Your total comes to 1070."
The man handed over the receipt, pointing to it for Jiang Cheng to see.
"But I already paid," Jiang Cheng said, "I had them packed to go."
"Sorry, Mr. Jiang," the man's tone turned more forceful. "Today's a private event, all the ingredients are fixed, and we don't offer takeout. This is an order for delivery."
In the next second, Jiang Cheng turned around, snatched the half-cracked flying crab from Fatty's hand, and roughly put the two halves back together.
After restoring all the food to its original place, he handed it back to the delivery man.
"I don't want it," Jiang Cheng said, tilting his head with emphasis.
Delivery man: "???"
Fatty: "???"
With that, Jiang Cheng escorted the delivery man out before he could react.
The sound of water splashing came from the kitchen.
Fatty washed his hands, feeling a little awkward, and said, "Doctor, I don't mind not eating crabs, but I think you shouldn't make things difficult for the delivery guy."
He pursed his lips. "I've delivered food before. It's not easy for them, dealing with the weather, and sometimes with unreasonable customers. They don't just not earn money—they end up having to pay for the meal."
"That crab," he added quietly, "was probably his two days' wages."
Jiang Cheng was typing away at his computer, the sound of the keyboard tapping giving off an air of indifference.
Fatty sighed, realizing that the doctor hadn't listened at all.
Jiang Cheng was someone who acted according to his own style and rarely took others' advice—especially from Fatty.
After washing his hands three times with dish soap to remove the seafood smell, Fatty grabbed a towel and dried his hands before leaving the kitchen.
It wasn't that Fatty didn't want to use hand soap, but Jiang Cheng didn't keep any, so he had to make do with dish soap.
Fatty didn't know the reason, but it was probably because dish soap was cheaper.
"Fatty," Jiang Cheng called as he removed his headphones, "Stop using so much dish soap. Just rinse your hands in a bowl of water."
"I know, doctor."
"You'll have to wash them again. What a waste..." Jiang Cheng mumbled after putting his headphones back on.
Before Fatty could figure out what Jiang Cheng meant, there was a knock at the door.
Fatty hurried to open it, and it was the same delivery guy from before. However, this time, the delivery man was wearing a wide grin. "Is Mr. Jiang here?" His eyes scanned past Fatty, peering into the room.
"He's here," Fatty hesitated, lowering his voice to ask, "What's up, buddy? Did the boss not approve the return or something?"
"Mr. Jiang!" The delivery man immediately called out excitedly upon seeing Jiang Cheng. "Could you come here for a moment?"
Fatty turned around in confusion and looked at Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng took off his headphones and walked over calmly.
The delivery man handed over the large bag of seafood again, then began patting himself down as if searching for something.
"You don't need to look," Jiang Cheng said. "Give me the receipt, I've got a pen here."
The delivery man smiled awkwardly and handed over the receipt. Jiang Cheng took it, quickly signed it with a "shh, shh, shh," and handed it back.
"Thank you, Mr. Jiang," the delivery man grinned from ear to ear. "I'm new here, just started doing deliveries, didn't recognize you earlier. Sorry about that."
"No problem," Jiang Cheng replied.
After the delivery man happily left, Fatty sat at the table filled with seafood, still baffled.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What just happened?
"Eat," Jiang Cheng's voice called from across the room, still sitting at his desk, typing nonchalantly. "It won't taste good if it gets cold."
Fatty picked up the crab that had been broken in half and put back together, his mind wandering.
He recalled what Jiang Cheng had said earlier: "You'll have to wash them again. What a waste..."
"Doctor," Fatty asked, his eyes wide with surprise. "Did you know he would bring it back?"
"And who paid for this? What do you mean 'didn't recognize you'? Do you often go to these kinds of places?"
Fatty's eyes widened as he asked three rapid-fire questions. "Can you really just sign something and get a 1000 yuan meal?"
Though the sum wasn't huge, it was still a significant expense for Fatty.
"It's more or less like that," Jiang Cheng responded while entering something into his computer. "I know the hotel owner. We're friends."
"No wonder."
Despite his large fingers, Fatty was quite nimble at peeling prawns. Before long, a portion of prawns had been devoured, and he was focusing on the crayfish.
"Doctor," Fatty said between bites, his mouth full. He cracked open a can of cola, mumbling, "I really envy you. You know so many rich people."
Fatty's words were sincere. He had spent many years working odd jobs, dreaming of wealth and entering high society.
But unlike many others, he didn't resent the rich.
He understood that the rich had simply worked harder.
"Doctor," Fatty said, peeling another prawn and glancing up at Jiang Cheng with curiosity. "Did your friend work really hard to build up this hotel?"
Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, then replied, "It was fine. It took about two nights, and by the third day, the hotel was handed over to him. I even went with him to finalize the paperwork."
"By the way," Jiang Cheng added, as if remembering something. "You know that guy, Pi Ruan."
Fatty nearly choked on a crayfish.
(End of the Chapter)
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