I Really Didn’t Want to Increase My Favorability!

Chapter 141

“Family…”

“After all, we are going to do business together, so we can indeed be considered a family,” Xu Lin deliberately added another sentence.

“Oh.” Hearing Xu Lin say this, Bai Xiaoxiao lowered her head again.

Xu Lin looked at her with no hidden emotional changes, and also smiled helplessly. She’s a girl who can’t lie, not even hiding her emotions.

“Today I have good news for you, let’s go.”

“Are you having lunch at home today? I’ll go buy some food.”

“I’ve eaten, have you guys eaten yet?”

“Not yet.”

“It just so happens that, let me see if you have helped improve your diet, have you?” Xu Lin looked at her seriously.

“Improved…” Bai Xiaoxiao raised her head, not nervous at all. Xu Lin also believed that it would be better if it improved.

“But your father earns 4 to 5 thousand yuan a month, even if your mom doesn’t work and you move here, you still wouldn’t be able to buy a house is…”

His meaning is that you don’t have money now, but originally your parents could both work.

Saved money, it shouldn’t be little, so how could they be stuck because of a surgery costing a hundred or eighty thousand?

“Xu Lin, you know my father is from Sichuan Province, and my mother is local, right?”

“Hmm.”

Bai Xiaoxiao raised her head, squinted as if recalling something, and the sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting a mottled butterfly-shaped shadow on her face.

“My mother went to Sichuan province to work with relatives, where she met my father. Then the two got married, originally without any issues.”

“But because my grandfather had an accident at work and accidentally killed someone.”

“The other party didn’t opt for procedures like reporting to the authorities, but instead, they wanted to settle privately with us, demanding a compensation of 150,000 yuan.”

“In those days, my parents’ wages were only about 500 or 600 yuan.”

“150,000 yuan was an astronomical figure; my grandfather had saved his whole life, and he only had about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan in hand. In the end, after my dad and mom discussed it, they sold the house and borrowed another 50,000 yuan to make up the amount.”

“Afterwards, it was the days of them earning and repaying money, but when I was 13, my grandfather passed away before he was even 60 years old.”

“The burden on the family became heavier, but fortunately, my parents had also saved a lot of money. Before my grandfather passed away, he also gave us all his savings, and the following year, we also cleared the debts.”

“However, after so many years, my parents didn’t want to stay in the place of sorrow, so they came to my mother’s hometown, which is here.”

“In my hands, there’s not much money, and then my mother fell ill again, so I can only… do this…”

After speaking, Bai Xiaoxiao’s face showed no signs of pain or sadness; she remained calm, as if all of this were just ordinary occurrences to her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. From now on, I’ll take care of everything. There won’t be any problems. In the future, you will have your own big house and a better life.”

“Um.” Although Xu Lin spoke confidently, she naturally believed it and nodded.

After walking for ten minutes, they finally arrived at Bai Xiaoxiao’s house. Xu Lin suddenly felt a bit disoriented, wondering how he had entered.

Oh well, forgot it. Probably need to come a few more times to remember completely it. But having to turn ten corners to get to her house is quite scary.

After entering the house, the courtyard was slightly messier than last time, after all, they had just been discharged from the hospital two days ago, and Bai Xiaoxiao was at school, so no one had cleaned up.

Entering the room, Mother Bai was cooking in the kitchen. Seeing Xu Lin, she immediately put down the spatula in her hand.

“Sit down, I’m cooking. Would you like to have a bite?”

“I have already eaten, I just came to see uncle.”

“Alright, he is watching TV in the inner room.”

Entering the inner room, Father Bai was still so thin, sitting on the bed at this time. His head and back leaned against the head of the bed, watching TV dramas attentively.

“Hey, Xu Lin is here. Take a seat, there are fruits over there.”

“Uncle, do you feel better now?”

“What’s wrong? I’m feeling quite energetic!” he said, revealing a pair of big white teeth.

“That’s good. I came over now because I have some good news to tell you, Uncle. It’s about the business we talked about last time at the hospital.”

“Oh, oh, the hot pot business.”

Father Bai also recalled, but he wasn’t really enthusiastic about it. After all, the other party was young, and where would he get so much money from?

“I’ve already rented a place, it’s been renovated, so we can open for business.”

“Wow, so soon?”

“Of course it has to be fast. Uncle’s leg is better, so we can start working.”

“Alright, but with this salary of yours, if it’s still the same as last time, can you handle it?”

“The salary is still fine, you don’t need to worry.”

Xu Lin also made a grand gesture, almost as if he had ‘I’m very rich’ written on his face, even though his money, minus the principal, was barely enough to pay salaries.

Father Bai glanced at his daughter, as if saying:

Didn’t you say his family is just an ordinary one? How come he’s acting like a rich kid?

“But if the business doesn’t improve, I’ll have to consider other options. However, there won’t be any problems this year, Uncle, so rest assured.”

“Alright, I’m on board with you, nephew!”

Since the other party has already laid out everything, and he has no excuse, it’s just hotpot, something he’s skilled at. If the salary can keep up, he thinks the job is pretty good, but he’s also worried the shop might not make money.

Xu Lin has helped his family so much and has been paying him regularly, he feels indebted. So, he and his wife will put in their best effort to make it work!

Later, the two of them chatted about some practical operational matters, and Bai Xiaoxiao then went to help her mother cook.

A few minutes later, the dishes were served.

Upon seeing them, Xu Lin couldn’t help but think, ‘Is this what she meant by improving the meals?’

On the table were three plates, which was enough for three people, but one contained vinegar-sautéed cabbage, another had a small pickled vegetable platter, and the last one had stir-fried baby bok choy, without a hint of meat or fish.

Xu Lin glanced at the obedient and well-behaved Bai Xiaoxiao sitting there, the meaning was quite clear, ‘Is this the situation after you improved your life?’

The other party, puzzled, also looked at him.

Xu Lin pointed to the steamed buns beside her, and she immediately picked one up and handed it over.

“Have some, I added some sugar, it’s delicious.”

Xu Lin also felt a bit amused and helpless by the girl’s silly appearance.

It seems she really thinks this is improving her life. He couldn’t help but think about how tough life must have been for her before.

Although his family doesn’t have meat every day, they still manage to cook 4 or 5 proper dishes each week, which is relatively frequent.

However, seeing her sincere expression with her small eyes, he also took it and took a big bite. The taste is still good.

Whole grains are actually good for the body, but if you eat them for a long time, you will definitely want to eat steamed white buns.

“Didn’t I buy some bones last time?”

“I stewed them, we ate them the day before yesterday.”

“I arrived in a hurry this time and didn’t buy anything.”

“Don’t worry, there’s meat and vegetables at home.”

“But you should eat more meat. You need to eat well to maintain your health. Don’t be stingy. I still have some here…”

But before he could reach into his pocket, Mother Bai grabbed his hand with a slap.

“Don’t take out money, or both your uncle and I will be angry. Xiaoxiao?” Mother Bai said.

With that, Bai Xiaoxiao immediately understood. She wasn’t foolish; she had also grasped Xu Lin’s implication just now.

Are you blaming me for not improving my life? In fact, I actually bought 3 pounds of meat, but we shouldn’t just let it go to waste; we can just cut a few portions and eat them over the next couple of days.

“Xu Lin, don’t take out money anymore; we just want to eat some vegetables today. We’ve been eating meat for the past few days, it’s too oily and not good for our health.”

Bai Xiaoxiao said so, and Xu Lin also put down his hand, looking at the family, and began to gnaw on the steamed bun again, eating it up bite by bite.

Self-esteem, this thing, many people can abandon it for a better survival. But for some people, even if it’s difficult, they can’t abandon it, because it may be the last thing they have.

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