Chapter 238: The Narcissistic Xiao Mo

Xu An and Xu Mo struggled to carry several bags as they squeezed off the train, feeling as if their bodies were about to fall apart.

The two brothers sat there for a while to catch their breath.

Xiao Mo lay on the luggage, weakly saying, “Second Brother, let’s find a place to eat. I really have no strength left.”

“Why don’t we just grab some snacks? With so much luggage, it’s not convenient to go out for a meal. We might as well take an earlier bus home and eat there,” Xu An suggested.

He took a snack out of the bag, unwrapped it, and handed it to him.

Xiao Mo took a piece, popped it into his mouth, and sighed as he ate.

After they sat there and consumed some snacks and drank a bit of water, they picked up their bags and headed outside.

Xiao Mo was carrying a bag filled with clothes, while Xu An had one on his back and was holding two others.

Lu Xiaotang stood at the exit and spotted them from a distance. The four large bags nearly buried the two of them.

He quickly walked over, took the bag off Xiao Mo’s back, and slung it onto his own. Then he grabbed the two bags Xu An was holding.

On the day they set out, his mother had sent him a telegram, mentioning that they had a lot of stuff and asking him to come pick them up.

Xu An and Xiao Mo were moved to tears when they saw him, especially Xiao Mo, who looked like he wanted to cling to Lu Xiaotang’s leg and cry.

“Brother-in-law, you arrived just in time! If you had been any later, I would have been flattened!”

Nearby, passersby found his exaggerated expression amusing, thinking to themselves how entertaining this kid was.

Lu Xiaotang laughed and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to get something to eat first.”

“Brother-in-law, how did you know we were arriving today?” Xu An asked, feeling lighter now that he had offloaded some of the weight.

“Second Brother, how else would he know? It must be that our parents or Uncle Lu and Aunt Lu sent a telegram. I told you they wouldn’t be so heartless to ignore their youngest son,” Xiao Mo chimed in.

Xiao Mo began to feel a bit narcissistic again. Now that he wasn’t carrying any luggage, he felt light and carefree as he proudly led the way with his little backpack.

Lu Xiaotang first took them to a state-run restaurant. As soon as he and Xu An set their luggage down, Xiao Mo went up to the window and asked if they had any large meat buns.

A plump auntie inside responded, “Yes, young man. How many do you want?”

Xiao Mo swallowed hard and said, “Big sister, let’s start with ten of those. Do you have any noodles or rice soup? Bring some of that too. We’re not short on money.”

After saying that, he began rummaging through his backpack, where he found a stack of change and various tickets.

This was money that Mother Xu and Aunt Lu had given him when he came, totaling more than twenty yuan.

His mother had even sewn a pocket into his underwear to hold his travel money, which was a full fifty yuan. He felt like a wealthy man now.

The ticket-selling auntie chuckled at his words. “We have both noodles and rice soup. What do you want to eat? Do you want to order some dishes?”

Xiao Mo thought to himself, having already ordered large meat buns, what else would they need? This auntie looked plump and well-fed; it was clear she wasn’t someone who had to worry about making ends meet.

He smiled and said, “Big sister, just three bowls of rice soup and ten large meat buns will be enough. There are only three of us, and we can’t finish that much.”

He had already calculated it: he would drink one bowl of rice soup and eat two buns. His brother-in-law and Second Brother would each have one bowl of rice soup and four buns, which would be enough to fill them about 70-80%.

The food at the state-run restaurant was so expensive; why bother eating to the point of bursting? It would be better to go home and cook instead.

If he hadn’t been so hungry, he wouldn’t have bothered coming to the state-run restaurant.

Lu Xiaotang walked over and cheerfully asked the auntie, “What dishes do you have today? Could you fry us up a couple as well?”

Xiao Mo, hearing that he wanted to order more dishes, grew a bit anxious. “Brother-in-law, we’ve already ordered ten large meat buns! Why do we need to fry anything else? We won’t finish it all!” He then shot him a meaningful look.

Xu An sat there, watching Xiao Mo’s frugal yet nonchalant attitude about money, and nearly laughed out loud.

Lu Xiaotang smiled as he patted his head. “We’ll finish it. I didn’t eat enough this morning, and I’m really hungry now.” With that, he took out the money to pay the bill.

Seeing him pull out so much cash, Xiao Mo felt a pang of regret. He thought to himself that his brother-in-law really didn’t know how to budget. Why hadn’t he eaten enough at home before coming out?

When the three of them finished eating and stepped outside, Xiao Mo was still chattering away. “Brother-in-law, you really need to make sure to eat enough before you go out next time. The food outside is so expensive! And look how small that Tang Tang was. There will be many more places to spend money in the future!”

Lu Xiaotang, carrying several large bags, responded with a smile, “Got it, brother-in-law will listen to Xiao Mo from now on and make sure to eat enough before heading out.”

Xu An glanced at him, not wanting to say anything. After all, he hadn’t held back when his brother-in-law ordered those two dishes; how could he have the nerve to say something like that?