Chapter Fifty-One

  The next morning, Ai Zi Qing got up and saw that the three people in the dormitory were all packing their things. She remembered that today was the weekend, and several people would go back home to live for two days. Wen Yao Hui and Zhao Zi Jun had already asked for leave because of this weekend's game.

  The two-person racing and taekwondo competitions were not originally scheduled for the same day, but in order to make it convenient to ask for leave, they were specially set for this weekend. As for how the opponent's side was arranged, Aizi Qing didn't know.

  "Mainland girl, where are you going today?" Li Hui dressed up and packed the clothes she had exchanged this week into her backpack, ready to take them back to wash.

  Ai Zi Qing heard this and slightly shook her head, it seemed that she had no choice but to spend the next two days alone in her dorm room.

  "Otherwise, come to my house to live, as long as you don't mind the squeeze." Xiang Yao shook her newly washed long hair and picked up a hair dryer to blow it dry.

  "It's fine to go to my place, but you have to be able to withstand the strong aura of my old man." Li Hui threw the packed bag on the table and opened her computer to make a final effort to pass the game that she didn't clear last night.

  "This time at my place is just forget about it, I'll take you there after a while, they have too many things going on." Abao slightly shook his head and lit another cigarette. The "they" in his mouth should be referring to his family.

  Ai Zi Qing was slightly stunned, feeling a little moved. After all, being away from home without friends is a very lonely thing, although she had already learned to get used to and enjoy this loneliness.

  Moreover, being concerned about these trivial matters makes her feel more touched and cherished.

  So she curled up the corners of her mouth, revealing a row of neat white teeth, and smiled brightly: "Then I'll go to A Yao's house, forget about A Hui's house, my wonderful weekend won't be shattered by your dad's overbearing aura."

  "Actually, my old man is quite easy to get along with, he's just a bit stubborn, otherwise he wouldn't still be a deep-sea inspector after all these years." Ah Hui quickly typed on the keyboard, not forgetting to respond.

  "Go ahead, go home and help your mom." Xiang Yao dried her hair, tidied up, and started packing.

  ……

  Xiang Yao's home is not in the downtown area where Lian Hui High School is located, but rather in a bustling commercial district separated from the downtown area by several major streets. To say it's close would be an exaggeration; at the very least, it takes half an hour to get there by bus.

  The downtown area is crowded with people, and there are also many street stalls selling second-hand goods along the road.

  "My home is not very big, it's okay if you and I share a room, right?"

  Ai Zi Qing heard this and smiled, shaking her head.

  Xiang Yaolai led Ai Ziqing along a bumpy little road, then walked into a roast goose shop. The two of them went inside.

  The interior was not a pure dessert shop as Ai Zi Qing had imagined, but rather rows of roasted goose dishes emitting wisps of heat and fragrance that assailed the nostrils.

  Men crowded around the tables, eating and drinking, creating a lively atmosphere. At the entrance of the store, there was also an open window, specializing in selling roasted goose and other cooked food, with business booming.

  "Mom, I'm back." Xiang Yao pulled Ai Zi Qing into the backyard kitchen and said to a woman in her forties, who although looked like she was in her forties, had already left marks of time on her face, unlike those well-maintained noblewomen with smooth and lustrous skin.

  "Ah Yao is back?" The woman heard and raised her head, a warm smile spreading across her face.

  "Where's my dad?" Xiang Yao looked around, but didn't see anyone, so she asked.

  The woman put down the meat cleaver in her hand, wiped her hands with a nearby towel, and then walked over: "Your dad went to the market, you're Yaoyao's classmate, right? This girl hasn't caused any trouble for you at school, has she?" She said, looking at Ziqing with a smile.

  "How could it be? It's all A Yao taking care of me." Ai Zi Qing smiled.

  "Huh? Are you from mainland?" A Yao's mother asked in surprise after hearing Ai Zi Qing's Mandarin.

  "Yes, Zi Qing is a transfer student, in the same dorm as me. She had nowhere to go over the weekend, so she came here to stay for a bit." Xiang Yao explained. Then she said: "I'll take Zi Qing to her room first, and then I'll come out to help."

  "Go play with your classmates, I'll be busy for a while." Yao's mother said hastily.

  "It's okay, let Zi Qing come and help too." Xiang Yao made the decision without asking for anyone else's opinion.

  ……

  "Alright, we'll stay here. This is my room." A Yao led Ai Zi Qing to the backyard of the Burn Goose Pavilion, where there was a separate small bungalow that was not simple but absolutely not luxurious.

  "Is your family running a roast goose restaurant? The business seems to be doing very well." Ai Zi Qing nodded upon hearing this.

  Upon hearing this, A Yao revealed a proud smile: "Of course, my dad's cooking skills have been passed down from our ancestors and are very famous in this area. Many people drive over just to buy his night snacks."

  "That must be profitable." Ai Zi Qing nodded slightly and replied casually.

  Ke Xiang Yao's face turned slightly pale, and she pouted: "We can't even make ends meet, we have to support the hoodlums and the police, and it's hard to cover my tuition and living expenses at home. There's nothing left over."

  Ai Zi Qing wasn't surprised by his words, small businesses are actually even harder to run.

  On this day, Ai Zi Qing finally came to help...

  Not only serving dishes for guests, cleaning tables, sweeping floors, but also moving crates of wine and picking up empty bottles...

  Of course, all of these were done by Xiang Yao and Ai Zi Qing together. Apart from the two of them, there was only one service staff in the shop, who was also Xiang Yao's distant cousin.

  Even if three people are busy inside and out, they still lament why they didn't grow two more hands!

  It's just been too busy...

  Ai Zi Qing really couldn't imagine how Xiang Yao's older cousin had been busy before.

  "It's because it's the weekend, so there are a lot more people. It would be less crowded on weekdays." Yuxiang's mom explained, looking at Aizi with a somewhat apologetic gaze.

  "It doesn't matter, doing some work can make life more fulfilling. I haven't felt this fulfilled in a long time." Ai Zi Qing wiped the sweat from her forehead and helped clear away the last table of roast goose dishes.

  "It's really troubling you, and look at Ayao too... haha..." Ayao's mom felt a bit embarrassed, rubbing her hands together as she helped Aizi Qing take down the last table.

  At this time, Ayao's father shouted from the kitchen: "Come on, come on, eat first, I'll clean up after you finish eating. Zi Qing, also try your uncle's craftsmanship, this is a ancestral craftsmanship, guaranteed to make you forget after eating." As he spoke, he smiled and brought out a large plate of roasted goose from the kitchen, and the aroma immediately filled the air.

  Ai Ziying suddenly felt a bit embarrassed, after all, she was clear about the current situation of Ah Yao's family, but in order to entertain her, they still had to let others spend money. She hurried forward to help, smiling and saying: "Just smelling it makes me feel hungry, I'm afraid I'll get addicted to eating, so I have to come to Uncle's place to freeload."

  "Come and eat every day, Uncle and Aunt will cook for you every day." Ayao's father, Xiang Yongkang, is a very generous and honest person. When he heard that his daughter's classmate was coming to help at home, he hurriedly cooked a big goose himself to entertain Ai Ziqing.

  Ai Zi Qing rubbed her slightly numb arm, thinking that today was indeed too busy, making her waist and back ache, as if she had gone through a day of physical training.

  After everyone sat down, A Yao got up and lifted the lid. Suddenly, hot air filled the room, and the strong fragrance spread throughout the room, which indeed stimulated everyone's appetite.

  Ai Zi Qing took a bite of the roast goose and found it to be tender and flavorful, with a rich sauce that was unlike ordinary roast goose. She looked up in surprise to see Xiang Yong Kang smiling at her, and he began to explain: "Xiang's Roast Goose has been famous since the late Qing dynasty, known for its rich flavor and tender texture. The secret recipe is unique and there are no branches."

  "Alright, Dad, I've heard these words since I was a kid. Can't you change your tune for once?" Xiang Yao muttered with her mouth full of roast goose.

  "What your dad said is true, just look at how many people drive luxury cars all day and night, specially coming here to buy a roast goose pot to take back?" Xiang Yongkang's eyes widened in indignation, his expression was quite comical.

  Ke Ai Zi Qing noticed, however, that after Xiang Yong Kang finished speaking, his eyes dimmed slightly, almost imperceptibly.

  Looking at the happy family scene, Aizi felt very warm and fuzzy inside, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The sound of banging on the door suddenly rang out, and it seemed very abrupt in this warm atmosphere.

  Xiang Yongkang was also startled by the sudden doorbell, looked at his worried wife and daughter, then looked at Ai Ziqing, forced a smile and said: "It's okay, don't be afraid, I guess it's someone coming to buy midnight snacks." Although he was speaking to Ai Ziqing, it seemed like he was comforting himself.

  Xiang Yongkang got up and walked to the gate, pulled open the iron curtain, and saw several young men in their twenties standing outside. As soon as they saw the iron curtain open, one of them shouted: "What's going on, Uncle Xiang? What does it mean to close the door so early? Don't you welcome us brothers?"

  "How did you get here?" Xiang Yongkang was taken aback and frowned slightly.

  "Uncle Xiang, isn't it time to pay the 'land use fee'? The whole street would be complete if not for your family's non-payment." The leading young man raised his eyebrows and said to Xiang Yongkang.

  "This month's rent hasn't been paid yet!" Xiang Yongkang was somewhat angry, but seeing the whole family inside the house, he didn't think it was a good time to get into an argument with them.

  "That's right, this month's has been paid, but next month's hasn't been paid yet. Well, let's collect it in advance." The young man said casually.

  "Every time it's like this, if we keep going on like this, how many next months will I have paid..."

  ……

  Listening to the quarrel outside the house, Xiang Yao felt a little uneasy, looked at Ai Zi Qing again, and held her mother's hand.

  "It's okay, I'll go take a look. Your father is too stubborn." Xiang Yao's mother patted Xiang Yao's hand to comfort her, then got up and walked out of the house.

  Then, he heard Item Mother's apologetic voice and a string of clinking coins.

  Finally, amidst the triumphant laughter of several young people, Item Father and Item Mother returned to the house one after another, their faces not looking too good, as if they had aged a few years in an instant.

  Yuan Yongkang saw his daughter worrying and opened his mouth to Ai Ziqing: "Let Xiaoqing laugh, it's okay, we continue eating ours."

  "Dad, my roommate's father is a deep-water zone inspector. Otherwise, I'll talk to her and think of a way. I don't believe those little rascals can't be dealt with!" Xiang Yao pursed her lips and suddenly raised her head to say this, at which time her eyes were slightly red.

  Her words made both Item Father and Item Mother stunned, and Item Mother's expectant gaze turned to Item Yongkang.

  The latter thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly and sighed: "It's useless. Now the officials and bandits are mutually beneficial to each other. We ordinary people, who can help us at the risk of conflicting interests? Moreover, the deep water area is not close to this side, and the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Even if we want to manage it, we can't manage it."

  Xiang Yao's eyes dimmed slightly after hearing her father's words, although she didn't quite understand, but she also heard that there was a lot of reason in her father's words, and she didn't want to trouble others with family matters.

  Ai Zi Qing watched all of this with a tinge of sadness, lowering her eyelids without saying a word, silently lamenting the helplessness of being a small town citizen at the bottom rung of society.

  A few young people came to collect the venue fee, which is actually a protection fee. She didn't show up to help Xiang Yongkang.

  Because such things may be controlled by her for a while, but cannot be controlled forever.

  If she had confronted them just now, even if they could have scared off or driven away a few young people, it would undoubtedly have escalated the conflict, which would be extremely unfavorable to the Xie family. As the saying goes, you can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple. The Xie family wants to take root here, and offending the local snake is undoubtedly an unwise choice.

  After dinner, Aizi Qing and Xiang Yao went back to their room to sleep.

  At night, Ai Zi Qing suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach and silently cursed herself for being greedy, having eaten so much greasy roast goose.

  I got up quietly, put on my slippers and went out the door to the toilet. On the way, I passed by my parents' room and found that the light was still on inside, and there were intermittent sobbing sounds coming from within.

  Ai Zi Qing slightly furrowed her brow and leaned in to listen carefully.

  "Just sell it to them if it's not working out, otherwise this isn't a solution either," said Xiang Yao's mom with a hint of tears in her voice.

  "No way! This is our family's ancestral secret recipe, and I won't sell it even if I die! And what makes them think they can just spend some money to get me to sell this secret recipe?" Item Yongkang's voice was extremely resolute, and due to his indignation, his voice was quite loud.

  "Speak softly, let A Yao hear what to do!" Mother Xi hurriedly persuaded with red eyes.

  "You didn't tell Yaoyao, did you?" Xiang Yongkang sighed and asked, turning his head.

  "I told Yaya that you went to the market, nothing else was mentioned, but Director Deng didn't see you either, what can be done about this... Isn't this going to cut off our livelihood?!" Item Yaya's mother's voice became more and more choked with sobs.

  "We'll have to think of a way to ask Director Deng for help, after all Wu Laoban is his uncle..." The voices inside the house gradually faded away, and half a minute later, the lights went out.

  Ai Zi Qing returned to her room after using the restroom and lay down on her bed, quietly thinking about the conversation she had just overheard.

  It seems that there is a Mr. Wu who wants to buy the secret recipe of Item Family's roast goose, and this Mr. Wu is also the uncle of Deng, the head of the Western Kowloon Police Station.

  The Commissioner of Police has incredibly great power, among the several major regions in Hong Kong, Tang King-shing of West Kowloon is already the highest administrative official of the police force, the Commissioner of Police!

  These were the general circumstances that Ai Zi Qing had learned from David over a period of time. After all, when she first arrived in Hong Kong, it was natural to familiarize herself with the general situation. However, she did not expect that the Xie family would offend Deng's uncle because of a secret recipe...

  A good man is innocent, but he who carries jade will be guilty!

  Ai Zi Qing raised a faint smile and entered dreamland...