Chapter 386: Shopping and Dinner
As the clock hit one, they finally headed out after Yezi and Huayi arrived at their house to take care of the babies.
It only took Xiaoyun to create a single bottle of the most expensive wine to bribe the two to stay over until they came back home.
---
"There's so many people today..." Xiaoyun murmured as they arrived at the entrance to the commercial zone.
"It's the weekend. It's obviously going to be full of people." Leyan replied as they continued walking down.
After walking past the entrance, it finally became more spacious as most people were hanging inside the shop.
"Let's go to that one." Yueyue excitedly pointed at a clothing store, walking in the front with Shuli.
The rest of the girls quickly followed the two, heading inside the store along with them.
As Xiaoyun stepped foot inside the shop, he quickly stopped right at the entrance as he began to realize why Yueyue picked this shop.
It was a store selling undergarments specifically targeted at women.
"Honey, you can stay here, okay? Lily, let me help you pick out a new pair of bras.
Your old one doesn't fit you anymore, right? I know the perfect type for you..."
Leyan held Lily's hand, walking deeper inside the shop along with the rest of the girls who walked inside as well.
"You aren't going to check how your wife is going to look like?"
As Xiaoyun turned around, he saw the middle-aged man who had been talking to him sitting in the cleverly set up men's waiting area.
"Nah, she's buying it for my daughter... I probably shouldn't check it." Xiaoyun replied as he sat down in the waiting area.
Seeing Xiaoyun as the only other man sitting in the men's waiting area, the middle-aged man spoke up again.
"Don't you want to be like those two men? Being able to walk in with their pregnant wife and see what they are changing into?"
Xiaoyun let out an awkward chuckle as he watched Yuqi and Yueyue both walk into their changing rooms with their alleged pregnant 'wife.'
"Why would I want my wife to be pregnant at this time? That sounds like a burden at this time." Xiaoyun pointed out.
"What? How is it a burden? Have you not seen the new government policy?"
"What government policy?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
"A pregnant woman can get one free food stamp per day. The later the stage, the more food stamps you get.
You still get food stamps until the kid is six. Not to mention free childcare and schooling. Even my wife and I have been trying to have kids."
After hearing the man's answer, Xiaoyun was even more surprised. But he quickly realized why it was implemented in the first place.
"Is it enough to cover their food cost?" Xiaoyun asked in a little concerned voice.
"Obviously, yes. If they work and their husband works, it's enough for them even to buy a full-blown house after saving for three months."
Seeing the smile on Xiaoyun's face, the middle-aged man was now the one who was confused.
"Why are you smiling? Is your wife pregnant or something? Your daughter doesn't look to be under six."
"I'm just smiling because the town is growing——Ahem, I'm smiling because my wife just got pregnant a few weeks ago."
Xiaoyun quickly fixed his answer after snapping back to reality, his face blushing a little as his initial answer sounded way too edgy.
"Ah, congrats on your second kid..."
As the shop filled with women chattering, Xiaoyun decided to shift the conversation away from himself.
"Ahem, why are you sitting here? Where's your wife?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
"My wife is still a little shy... Me and her just married a few weeks ago."
Seeing the middle-aged with a bearded man looking shyly at the ground, Xiaoyun held in the urge to poke fun at it.
"Make sense. My wife and I were the same when we first married. She was super shy, too.
Even though we had seen each other for the hundredth time, she always asked me to leave the room first."
The middle-aged man felt a little better, but before he could speak up again, a middle-aged woman with a little girl walked over to them.
"Daddy!" The girl excitedly ran over to the middle-aged man.
"Here's my good girl."
As the middle-aged man lifted the girl to his elbow, the woman finally arrived at him with a plastic bag in his bag.
"Li Ke, let's go. I finished buying it." The woman said.
"Okay... It was nice talking to you, brother."
"Nice talking to you too... Hey, I thought you were trying to have a kid. You already have one, too?" Xiaoyun suddenly asked.
"Nah, she's my stepdaughter... But I love her as my daughter. Anyway, see you."
Xiaoyun waved goodbye back as he watched the three walk out of the shop.
"Who are you talking to?" Leyan curiously asked as she came back with Lily and a bag in her hand.
"Just a stranger that I had met... Anyway, you two finish shopping?" Xiaoyun asked as he grabbed the bag to carry it for her.
"Yeah. Let's go to the shop next door... They're going to take forever to shop inside there." Leyan murmured.
"Okay."
---
A few hours of shopping later...
Xiaoyun and the girls were finally home just as the sun was setting on the horizon.
Yezi and Huayi quickly left the house after they came back, despite Leyan's offer to cook them dinner.
"I'm so exhausted... This is more tiring than when I was under the rubble." Xiaoyun murmured as he lay flat on the sofa.
"Come on, you say that every time you go shopping with us." Yuqi pointed out as she started looking over the stuff she brought in her bag.
"You tell me. Why does it take someone to walk ten different shops just to buy a pair of socks at the third shop?" Xiaoyun argued.
"Honey, we have to find the best price for it and see what is there to offer," Leyan argued, siding with Yuqi.
Seeing all of the girls siding with Yuqi as well, Xiaoyun rolled his eyes as he looked lifeless at the ceiling.
"I never knew women's clothing could be heavier than a ton of concrete," Xiaoyun murmured as he thought back to all the bags in his hand.
"Sorry... We probably should have held our bag."
Shuli was the only one apologizing, as she felt a little guilty for the role's failure, which quickly fell apart after their makeup disappeared.
None of the girls was recognized, as their roles in the town weren't that important.
Except Yuqi, who became a beacon of attraction as everyone in the town knew her as the de facto mayor.
But nobody was stupid enough to step up to cause trouble.
They had all seen the newspaper reports where a few people once tried to harass her disappeared from public.
Meanwhile, Xiaoyun was covered in the bag, so he didn't need to disguise himself when the makeup fell off from the burning heat.
"Ahem, what do you guys want to eat for dinner?" Leyan asked as she put her bag back down.
"How about sushi? I haven't eaten that for so long." Nami suggested, her mouth watering just from the thought of it.
"Not happening. I don't know how to do that. And no seafood while Wuli and Shuli are still pregnant."
"How about fried rice?" Yueyue suggested as she started looking over her bags.
"Don't have left-over rice. Besides, we ate that just a few days ago. I'm not cooking that again."
"How about just cooking the usual?" Yuqi suggested, holding Lianrong in her arms as she tickled her.
"That's boring..."
Wuli and Shuli both showed strong rejection, as she had been sick of eating the same menu for the past week.
"Someone better tell me something, or else you all are going to sleep hungry," Leyan warned as she went back to playing with Yongyi.
"How about just some light desserts?" Tianci suggested.
"That's not dinner... Kate and Anna, do you two have any suggestions?"
Both of them quickly shook their head, as they felt a little inappropriate to suggest food as guests.
"Lily, what do you think?"
"Um, I don't mind whatever food you cook, Mrs.Leyan." Lily softly replied.
"Ah, you're so sweet. I wish I had a daughter that isn't as picky eater as you." Leyan murmured as she patted Lily on the head.
"I literally just said the usual menu..." Yuqi quietly whispered to herself.
Seeing the debate of what to eat falling into limbo, Xiaoyun suddenly rolled back up from the sofa and threw in his suggestion.
"How about BBQ? I can cook it——Don't worry, I'll cook it fully through with zero bacteria."
Xiaoyun quickly added the last part after seeing Leyan's face change for a second.
"I haven't eaten BBQ for so long! Mom, please!" Yueyue asked, with everyone siding with her as they hadn't eaten BBQ for ages.
"Fine... But it better be cooked, or else Wuli and Shuli can't eat it." Leyan warned as all of them excitedly jumped out of the sofa.
"Finally!"