Chapter 53 Broke but Spunky
Li Xiaoyao put on his clothes and walked out of the room.
Tang Youde, wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, stood at the door. He ended up not waiting for his sister but encountering a strange man instead.
For a brief moment, Tang Youde froze for two to three seconds.
"Who are you?" Tang Youde asked with his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.
Li Xiaoyao quickly sized up Tang Youde from head to toe. Tang Youde had been drunk last night, so Li Xiaoyao couldn't take a good look then. Now upon inspection, Li Xiaoyao found that Tang Youde was a quite handsome young man, probably around six feet tall, just a bit on the skinny side, suggesting a lack of regular exercise.
"I'm your sister's boyfriend, Li Xiaoyao."
"My sister's boyfriend?" Tang Youde looked at Li Xiaoyao skeptically, clearly not quite believing him. He remembered his sister had always been single, never mentioning a boyfriend. How could he not be skeptical when suddenly a boyfriend appeared out of the blue?
Seeing his disbelief, Li Xiaoyao didn't bother to explain further. He simply headed to the living room and said, "Your sister is still sleeping, don't disturb her now, come on, let's go out for some breakfast."
Still half dazed, Tang Youde followed Li Xiaoyao downstairs. When Li Xiaoyao was buying breakfast, he texted Tang Tiantian to ask what she wanted to eat.
Li Xiaoyao bought three baskets of soup dumplings, a pot of rice porridge, a jin of sesame-seed cakes, over ten sticks of fried dough, and another jin of potstickers. The two men carried a whole pile of breakfast upstairs.
Tang Youde exclaimed in surprise, "This is too much, it will be a waste if we can't eat it all."
Li Xiaoyao replied, "It won't go to waste."
By the time they got back, Tang Tiantian had already washed up and was sitting on the sofa in her lounge clothes. Seeing the amount of food they brought, she was genuinely astonished.
"Why did you buy so much?" Tang Tiantian asked as she helped them move the breakfast onto the table.
Li Xiaoyao said, "It's not too much, sit down and eat."
Once everything was ready, the trio started eating.
Tang Youde glanced at Li Xiaoyao and asked, "Sis, are you in a relationship?"
Tang Tiantian's cheeks flushed, she glanced at Li Xiaoyao, who was gobbling down his food, nodded, and hummed softly in acknowledgment.
Halfway through breakfast, Tang Tiantian suddenly received a call from her company. After hanging up, she said, "Two of my colleagues are sick today, I can't ask for a leave, I have to go to work."
Having said that, Tang Tiantian stood up and walked into her room to change clothes.
Li Xiaoyao set down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth and followed her into the room. Chapter Discover:
Inside the room, Li Xiaoyao casually shut the door, walked up to Tang Tiantian and said, "Don't go to work, I'll support you."
Tang Tiantian was stunned for a moment, then smiled happily. She tiptoed to kiss Li Xiaoyao on the cheek and said, "Thank you, Xiaoyao, but I don't want to be a woman who only knows how to spend money."
Li Xiaoyao scratched his head—he had only wanted Tang Tiantian not to have to work under someone's gaze; he hadn't thought too much beyond that.
However, since she wanted to work, Li Xiaoyao wouldn't stop her.
As Tang Tiantian changed clothes, Li Xiaoyao's eyes never left her. Under his brazen gaze, Tang Tiantian hardly dared to look up at him.
When she had finally changed, Tang Tiantian fled the bedroom as if escaping.
After Tang Tiantian left for work, Li Xiaoyao returned to the living room and finished off the rest of the breakfast, leaving Tang Youde agape with amazement.
"Li... Li Xiaoyao, how can you eat so much?" Tang Youde wasn't sure how to address him. Calling him brother-in-law felt awkward and he couldn't quite get used to it in just a moment's time.
Li Xiaoyao glanced at him and asked, "What are you calling me?"
Tang Youde felt that Li Xiaoyao wasn't quite like other people, but couldn't put his finger on what exactly was different.
"Brother-in-law," Tang Youde mustered his courage to call out.
Li Xiaoyao smiled and said, "Your sister has told me about your situation, heartbroken, right?"
Tang Youde scratched his head bashfully and nodded.
Li Xiaoyao asked, "What was the reason for the breakup?"
Tang Youde subconsciously reached into his pocket, but it was empty. Li Xiaoyao pulled out a cigarette and tossed it to him.
Tang Youde thanked him, lit the cigarette, took a couple of puffs, and said, "A rich kid at our school bought her a bag, and she broke up with me."
Li Xiaoyao wasn't too surprised; there were so many gold-diggers these days, bumping into one or two was pretty normal for Tang Youde.
"So then you dragged your sister out to the bar to drown your sorrows?"
Tang Youde, somewhat embarrassed, said, "I just felt it wasn't worth it."
Li Xiaoyao asked, "Have you ever slept with that girl?"
"What?" Tang Youde didn't expect Li Xiaoyao to ask something so direct and crude. Blushing, he hesitated for over ten seconds before shaking his head and saying, "No."
"Not even slept with her? That is a bit of a shame." Li Xiaoyao patted his shoulder and said, "No worries, being in university is about dating around. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a complete college experience. Come on, let's go out."
Tang Youde asked, "Where to?"
Li Xiaoyao pointed to his clothes reeking of alcohol and said, "To get you a change of clothes."
Stepping out, Li Xiaoyao realized even more how inconvenient it was to be without a car, which firmed up his intention to buy one.
They took a taxi to a high-end downtown mall. As soon as they got out, Tang Youde grabbed Li Xiaoyao, who was about to enter the mall, and said, "Brother-in-law, let's go somewhere else."
Buying an outfit from this mall would cost at least tens of thousands. Tang Youde was just a poor student, he couldn't afford it.
Li Xiaoyao said, "Come on, you think I'd let you pay for clothes? That would be a slap in my face."
Tang Youde shook his head and said, "I can't use your money."
Li Xiaoyao smiled, somewhat surprised, this kid actually had principles.
"My money is your sister's money. Don't overthink it, come with me inside." Li Xiaoyao's tone left no room for debate as he led Tang Youde into the mall.
Li Xiaoyao actually only had a few thousand yuan on him, and if they went by high standards, he definitely couldn't afford it.
He had planned to spend just two or three thousand, which should have been enough, but after casually checking the price tags on a few pieces of clothing, Li Xiaoyao suddenly realized that the money in his card probably wouldn't be enough to buy even a pair of pants.
It was his first time taking his brother-in-law clothes shopping, and he couldn't lose face. Without changing his expression, Li Xiaoyao confidently said, "Put together an outfit for my little brother-in-law. Nothing too old-fashioned, keep it youthful."
The attendants working in such high-end stores might not have Fiery Eyes Golden Gaze, but they definitely knew how to size people up with impressive accuracy. However, the attendant found Li Xiaoyao enigmatic; although he was dressed plainly, there was an unfathomable aura about him.
"Of course, sir, rest assured, I will make your brother-in-law look stunningly handsome," said the sweet-talking salesgirl.
Li Xiaoyao looked around and asked, "Where's your restroom?"
The salesgirl pointed in a direction and said, "Over there."
Li Xiaoyao nodded and made a beeline for the washroom.
[It's Monday, folks! Throw your recommendation tickets to the beauty, more tickets mean group creation and a photo blast from the beauty.]