Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 266 - 178: Scammer (Part 2)

Chapter 266: Chapter 178: Scammer (Part 2)

Gong Liang’s family lives in a tube-shaped building. The apartment is not big, Qin Huai estimated it to be only about 30 to 40 square meters, divided into three areas.

The living room, Gong Liang’s room, and his parents’ bedroom.

Qin Huai took a quick look; relatively speaking, Gong Liang’s room was considered large. It had a bed, two cabinets, and an iron fan, showing that as the only child, Gong Liang was quite doted on at home.

His parents’ bedroom was smaller by comparison, with only a bed, a cabinet, and some sundries.

Gong Liang’s father was lying on the bed with his eyes closed as if asleep, and his mother was not home. After returning home, Gong Liang first checked on his father in the bedroom, then skillfully pulled out a coal stove from a corner of the living room, lit the coal balls, and opened the lunchbox.

The lunchbox was packed almost eight-tenths full with braised quail eggs and pork, more meat than eggs. The quail egg shells had been fried, buried in the meat, some of the eggs got crushed, and the presentation looked a bit messy, but those who had eaten it knew that it tasted great this way.

The dish had cooled down, with fat congealed on the surface, and no aroma could be smelled, but it could be seen that the braised pork had a very beautiful color, rich and glossy. The chef had meticulously fried the sugar for coloring. The large chunks of pork belly had the right amount of fat and lean, looking delicious.

Gong Liang took out another iron lunchbox, all four corners had been battered, dented and uneven. He transferred about half of the braised quail egg and pork into it, covered it with a lid, and placed it on the coal stove to heat.

Gong Liang squatted by the stove, lost in a daze.

As time passed, the braised quail egg and pork in the lunchbox began to emit a fragrance, even a dazed Gong Liang smelled it, and his mouth began to water involuntarily.

Watching Gong Liang squat by the stove, dazed while instinctively swallowing saliva. Qin Huai couldn’t help but find it a bit funny, feeling that the scene was somewhat comical.

Soon, the crying of a child could be heard from next door.

"Mom, I want to eat meat too! Fragrant meat!"

"Don’t make a fuss, wait until the New Year when they issue meat tickets and you can eat to your heart’s content!"

"Mom, meat..."

"Don’t make noise and disturb Uncle Gong’s family next door, Uncle Gong is not feeling well and needs to eat meat to supplement nutrition. When you need to replenish your nutrition, Mom will get you some as well..."

Even though the voice next door was lowered, Qin Huai still heard the first few sentences. That’s the downside of living in a tube-shaped building; even the slightest noise can be easily heard by the neighbors due to poor sound insulation.

The lunchbox was still heating on the coal stove, Gong Liang was still in a daze, but there was a knock on the door outside.

Gong Liang rose from his daze to open the door, outside stood a lean woman with slightly yellowish skin from malnutrition.

Seeing Gong Liang open the door, the woman squeezed out a smile: "Xiao Liang, I still have some flour at home, made noodles at noon today, and there’s still about a bowl left. You weren’t home at noon, your mom didn’t take it when I brought it over, now that your mom has gone out to wash clothes, you should take these noodles to feed your dad."

"In his current condition, eating some fine white flour noodles with a poached egg is most beneficial."

"You know our family’s situation, the Silk Factory’s salary for last month hasn’t been given yet. Old Xia in our family is just an ordinary worker, really no money to lend you, consider this bowl of noodles an aunt’s gesture."

"Thank you, Aunt Xia." Gong Liang took the bowl.

"Ah." Aunt Xia smiled, peeked into the room, gave a bitter smile, shook her head, and left.

Gong Liang placed the noodles on the table and continued to be in a daze.

Qin Huai found it somewhat strange, staring at Gong Liang’s face, trying to figure out if he was overly dispirited due to the blows life had dealt him, remaining absent-minded regardless of the place. Or was he actually thinking about something, so deeply immersed that he appeared absent-minded.

The braised quail egg and pork on the coal stove was ready, and Gong Liang used tongs to take down the lunchbox. Without extinguishing the stove, he opened a pack of medicine, put the Chinese herbs into a pot to decoct, poured water, and continued boiling the medicine on the stove.

Boiling the medicine took a long time.

Gong Liang continued squatting in a daze, and after an indeterminate period, the door opened.

A middle-aged woman, small and thin, pale, with bloodless lips but cheeks flushed with the unhealthy red from exhaustion, came in holding a basin.

"Mom, if you’re not feeling well, don’t go downstairs to do the laundry, I’ve said before to leave the clothes at home and I’ll wash them after work." Gong Liang took the basin.

Mrs. Gong sat on a chair to catch her breath, and after a few seconds she spoke: "How could you wash them clean enough, you’re already tired enough from work, I can still manage this bit of housework."

After saying this, Mrs. Gong saw the hot lunchbox and noodles on the table.

"The noodles were sent by Aunt Xia, the lunchbox contains braised pork, given to me by Zheng Da when I was on my way back." Having said that, Gong Liang rummaged in his pocket, "He just received his salary today and handed some money to me."

"I’ve noted it all down."

"Mom, I won’t go to Jinling next week. The chief said there’s a high probability we won’t secure the deal in Jinling, and without the contract, the reimbursement will take some time. He’s going in my stead."

Mrs. Gong said nothing, quietly walked to the room door and closed it tighter, as if doing so would prevent the sound from passing through.

Mrs. Gong sat back down, as if having made some decision, her lips trembled slightly, her right hand unconsciously clenched, turning her knuckles white, her nails digging into the flesh.

"Xiao Liang, after you left the house this morning... your dad said, maybe we should stop treating." Mrs. Gong took a deep breath after speaking, like she had used up all her strength, her lips pale, not daring to look at Gong Liang.

Seeing no response from Gong Liang, Mrs. Gong continued.

"Though your dad was saved this time, he’s also worn out, and whether the medical expenses can be reimbursed is still uncertain. Old Zhang’s medical reimbursements never came through last year, and now the factory is in such a downturn, everyone is trying to get transferred to other factories."