Chapter 164
Chapter 164
Yun Youyou looked at the old man as if she were staring at the world’s greatest sucker.
No, no. She should call him the world’s greatest philanthropist.
She thumped her chest and promised, “Don’t worry. Leave the housework to me. With me around, not a speck of dust will survive in this house.”
The old man had no idea why Yun Youyou looked so fired up, but motivation was a good thing.
However…
“The cleaning can wait until this afternoon. Eating comes first.”
The old man opened the refrigerator, fell silent for a moment, then quietly closed it again.
“That grandson of mine is outrageous. He left an old man home alone without preparing a single thing to eat.”
The old man was furious.
Yun Youyou knew that when he said “that grandson,” he was not cursing someone. He genuinely had a grandson.
His grandson had gone to work during the day and would not return until evening.
The old man turned his gaze toward Yun Youyou.
Yun Youyou felt he had placed his hopes in exactly the wrong person.
Her cooking could poison one or two ghosts without difficulty. If she actually fed it to the old man, would that not be repaying kindness with murder?
He would bring her home in the morning, and she would send him to his grave that afternoon. Such efficiency would make even Yama admit defeat.
Yun Youyou decisively stepped back and said righteously, “For the sake of your life and health, I don’t think you should let me cook.”
The old man scoffed.
“Even if you wanted to cook, I wouldn’t want to eat it.”
With that, he dug a pile of small cards from a drawer and tossed them in front of Yun Youyou.
She picked them up and discovered that they were all much the same.
There were menus for everything one could want: Chongqing chicken pot, Shaxian snacks, Lanzhou noodles, and Cantonese cafes.
After producing the stack, the old man sprawled smugly on the sofa.
“Pick whatever you want. You can eat anything.”
His tone truly carried a hint of an elderly domineering CEO.
Paired with the little Shaxian-snacks menu in front of him, however, the swagger had a touch of the tragic air of “I’ll steal car batteries to support you.”
From the rich selection of cards, Yun Youyou chose the delicious Lanzhou noodles.
The old man expertly picked up his senior phone and called the restaurant for delivery.
He leaned back on the sofa and crossed his legs as if he were not ordering takeout, but negotiating a business deal worth tens of billions by the minute.
The call connected.
“One bowl of beef noodles, no chili.”
He paused and turned toward Yun Youyou.
Yun Youyou quickly said, “A bowl of beef noodles for me too.”
Apparently dissatisfied that she had ordered too little, the old man smacked his lips.
“Young girls like you eat far too little. You peck at food like baby chicks. How can that be enough? Think again. Is there anything else you want?”
He urged Yun Youyou to order more.
She had not expected him to be so generous.
“Then maybe add a plate of beef?”
The old man asked into the phone, “How much for an extra serving of beef?”
“What? Fifty? That’s outrageous!”
His gaze instantly began drifting.
Yun Youyou said, “…Actually, I don’t like beef that much. Just add extra cilantro for me.”
The old man’s wandering gaze immediately turned resolute.
He spoke firmly into the phone.
“Add your most expensive cilantro. Fill it to the top. Money is no object!”
The person on the other end was probably hearing such a ridiculous request for the first time. They answered weakly, “Cilantro is free.”
The old man tightly covered the receiver and launched into a masterful performance.
“Oh, oh, oh. Cilantro is expensive? That’s fine. Add as much as you have. I’ve got money to burn!”
The noodle-shop owner: “…”
Yun Youyou, whose hearing worked perfectly well: “…”
Forget it. She would spare the old man the humiliation of exposing him.
Out of kindness, Yun Youyou looked away.
Believing his performance had been flawless, the old man put down the phone in satisfaction.
He even boasted smugly, “I was famous for my generosity when I was young. Whenever anyone ran short of money, they came to borrow from me. It put me in such a difficult position…”
The old man’s bragging filled Yun Youyou’s ears.
To be honest, she only half believed anything he said, but he told the stories with such conviction that it was hard not to wonder.
Before long, the noodles arrived.
The restaurant owner certainly had not held back on the cilantro.
The moment Yun Youyou lifted the plastic lid, the compressed cilantro burst out.
Not far away, the old man took out his wallet to pay.
“How much?”
The deliveryman answered briskly, “Twenty-six for the two bowls. The cilantro is free.”
The old man instantly panicked and cast a guilty glance toward Yun Youyou.
“I know, I know. I know cilantro is expensive!”
The deliveryman: ???
Am I speaking wrong, or are his ears broken?
Fortunately, Yun Youyou remained obediently seated at the dining table, apparently having heard nothing.
The old man sighed in relief and hurriedly pulled the deliveryman toward the door.
He was terrified the man would say something else earthshaking and expose how stingy he really was.
The deliveryman dutifully held out a hand and waited for payment.
The old man paid with a flourish.
“Keep the change.”
After stuffing the money into his hand, he prepared to return to the villa.
“Wait!”
The deliveryman tried to stop him.
The old man waved him away.
“The extra is your tip. No need to be shy.”
The deliveryman said, “…I’m not shy. You only gave me twenty-five. You’re one short.”
The old man froze in mortification.
Yun Youyou heard every word from inside the villa.
The land of the living truly hid dragons and crouching tigers. It was every bit as impressive as the land of the dead.
The old man dug a coin from his pocket and slapped it into the deliveryman’s hand with a dark expression.
In his heart, he swore never to eat Lanzhou noodles again.
After returning to the villa, the old man furtively glanced at Yun Youyou.
Yun Youyou pretended she had heard nothing, although her body trembled slightly.
It took every ounce of strength she possessed not to burst out laughing.
The old man was relieved that she had not witnessed his humiliation, but he was also puzzled.
“Why are you shaking so badly?”
As Yun Youyou poured the noodles into the broth, she calmly answered, “I’m a little cold.”
The villa had a climate-control system that kept the interior at around seventy-nine degrees. How could she possibly be cold?
The old man’s stare grew increasingly suspicious.
Yun Youyou had no choice but to add, “These noodles are so high in calories that they chill my heart.”
The old man split apart a pair of disposable chopsticks.
“Young girls like you obsess over calories all day. You only eat a few bites and end up thin as matchsticks.”
In his eyes, Yun Youyou was naturally one of those matchsticks.
Anyone under four or five hundred pounds was probably a matchstick to him.
The old man began noisily slurping his noodles.
Yun Youyou had not tasted authentic Lanzhou noodles in a long time either. She lowered her head and ate heartily.
Yun Youyou was the first to put down her chopsticks.