Seated at the dining table were three or four family members, and the atmosphere was relatively calm and harmonious. The only sounds were the clinking of forks and plates and the sound of people chewing their food.
A young boy sat there, with pronounced dark circles under his eyes, propping up his chin with one hand, looking bored as he idly poked at the food on his plate with his fork. His otherwise clean and handsome face showed impatience, and he complained, "Why are there mushrooms? I hate mushrooms, I'm not eating this."
With that, he flung his fork down and let out a yawn, preparing to get up and go back upstairs for more sleep. He had been staying up late practicing a new champion in Arena of Valor, which he had just purchased, and he was still not very familiar with its skills.
It was only past 7 o'clock now, and his mother was already dragging him out of bed for breakfast. His outburst interrupted the actions of the other three people. George, with a stern gaze, peered over the top of his newspaper, giving his son a warning look.
Sean's behavior was now somewhat more subdued, and he picked up his fork again obediently. "If you don't want to eat, you don't have to, but why throw your fork? How have you taught him?" George asked.
Malaya had only one son, and being the youngest, he was especially cherished. Seeing her husband "reprimand" their son, she couldn't help but chime in, "You can't really blame Sean for this; he's never liked mushrooms since he was little."
"In my opinion, it's all because of the poor cooking of the maid. If you're upset, why not just replace her?"
Still replace?
Nora, sitting quietly at the side, continued to eat her own food. They had only moved in about a month ago, and they had already gone through three different housemaids.
Without raising an eyelid, he replied casually, "You can handle it," and then returned his gaze to his newspaper.
Seeing that her father seemed to have acquiesced, the young boy gave a thumbs-up to his mother and playfully held onto Malaya's arm. "Mom, I have a friend's birthday this weekend. Can you give me 5, 000 bucks?"
This time, Nora couldn't help but frown, and she looked at her younger brother with a questioning look, asking in a low voice, "Didn't you have a friend's birthday last week? Why do you have another one already?"
Oops.
He had forgotten that he had already asked for money last week. Faced with the questioning looks of his sister and mother, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty, so he avoided their gaze.
"Ahem... This, this is for another friend. He's my good buddy, and he helped me with medical expenses when I got injured while playing basketball," Sean stammered.
Nora was in the same high school section as Sean, so why hadn't she heard about him getting injured while playing basketball? In reality, there was a basketball game, but Sean was in the liberal arts class, and it was tough to assemble a team. He knew they were going to lose from the start because the other team was much stronger. So, to avoid embarrassment, he intentionally fell and forfeited the game. He had just omitted this part of the story when telling his sister, Nora.
The money he had asked for last week had gone toward purchasing in-game skins and loot boxes for gaming. As for this time, he genuinely had a friend with a birthday.
Upon hearing that her son needed money for a friend's birthday, Malaya didn't think too much about it and sighed softly. She said, "Okay, let me finish eating first, and then I'll get you the money, alright?"
As long as there was money involved, Sean quickly returned to his "good boy" demeanor, using his fork to pick up a piece of spare rib and offering it to Malaya. "Mom, I remember you love corn spare ribs."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: She Became Rich After Divorce (Cheyenne and Kelvin)
Nice story...