Chapter 923 - 274: [Mental Realm Shift]
The two gradually turned into an argument.
Echoing around the dinner table were Lu Xiuting’s sharp, distorted voice and Yang Jiaming’s cold and impatient words.
Lu Sisi watched as her brother indifferently finished a bowl of soup, then silently took out his phone, ready to scroll through some short videos.
Suddenly, Lu Sisi had a thought and slowly stood up.
She deliberately made a bit of a commotion, and as she stood, the chair made a dragging noise on the floor.
This sound interrupted the couple’s quarrel.
Seeing Lu Sisi’s indifferent expression, Lu Xiuting immediately realized something, her face slightly changed, and she hurriedly curbed her expression, whispering, "Sisi, you..."
"I’m done eating," Lu Sisi said calmly and glanced at her brother, "He’s full too. You both can continue eating here; I’ll take my brother out for a walk."
Yang Jiaming frowned, "Eating and going out for a walk..."
"I saw there’s a mall next door when we came in, with an arcade and claw machines on the first floor. I’ll let my brother accompany me for a while."
This time, before Yang Jiaming could say anything, Lu Xiuting’s eyes carried a hint of appeasement, "Alright, you two go ahead... have fun. Um... do you have money on you, or I..."
"I have money," Lu Sisi interrupted her mother directly, looked down at her brother, grabbed his arm, and pulled him up, "Let’s go."
Her brother looked up, with a hint of surprised delight in his eyes, "Ah? Really, is it okay?"
"Let’s go, you can accompany me on a walk," Lu Sisi squinted and smiled at her brother.
After two seconds of silence, the light in her brother’s eyes was something he’d never had before. He hurriedly stood up, firmly grabbed his backpack, not even glancing at their parents, and followed Lu Sisi out of the restaurant.
As for Yang Jiaming’s dissatisfied complaints to Lu Xiuting behind them, blaming her for indulging the kids so recklessly and agreeing to such unreasonable requests...
Lu Sisi pretended not to hear!
·
After the siblings ran out of the restaurant, Lu Sisi pulled her brother to stand by the roadside.
Very quickly, an online car stopped in front of the two, and Lu Sisi went over to open the door, inviting her brother, "Come on, get in."
"Huh? Aren’t we going next door to the claw machines?"
"There’s no claw machine, no arcade; I just made up that excuse earlier," Lu Sisi laughed.
Her brother hesitated for a moment, but seeing the smile on his sister’s face, he still climbed into the car.
"Where do you want to go?" Sitting in the car, Lu Sisi looked at her brother, "Just so you know, I didn’t really get enough to eat earlier, and I guess you didn’t either—you were just drinking soup, and you took only one bite of the pigeon before discarding it. There was a table full of dishes, and you barely ate any."
"I don’t like it," her brother shook his head.
Lu Sisi smiled, "I’ll take you to eat something you like—tell me, what do you want to eat?"
Her brother’s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he said decisively, "Hot pot! Let’s go to Haidilao!!"
Lu Sisi took out her phone and quickly adjusted the destination on the ride-hailing app, then greeted the driver.
"Then let’s go to Haidilao!"
·
More than twenty minutes later, in a nearby Haidilao, the siblings sat in front of the steaming pot, with crispy fried pork and a fruit platter on the table.
Her brother widened his eyes, looking with curiosity and joy at the bustling hall around them.
"Is this your first time here?"
"Second time," he shook his head. "I came once for a classmate’s birthday. Usually, Mom and Dad never bring me to this kind of restaurant. Dad doesn’t like hot pot. Mom... she likes those fancy restaurants where the food is pretty and good for photos, but not tasty."
As a result, the meal lasted a long time.
Her brother was enthusiastically trying different combinations of sauces at the condiment station, using a plate to get more fruits.
Lu Sisi invited a waiter to make noodles on-site, and as the noodles flew in the air, her brother laughed, clapping his hands.
Even though it wasn’t anyone’s birthday, Lu Sisi still asked the staff to sing a song.
"Say goodbye to all worries..."
Looking at the simple yet colorful LED sign flickering, her brother’s eyes sparkled with a never-before-seen light.
Lu Sisi patiently cooked duck intestines, duck blood, and slices of lamb for her brother.
Her brother scooped luncheon meat and seaweed sprouts for his sister.
Both of them filled each other’s plates like small mountains.
The meal lasted nearly an hour, during which Lu Xiuting called twice, and Lu Sisi simply told her mother that she took her brother out for dinner.
This action put her brother’s mind at ease.
He looked at Lu Sisi sheepishly and said in a low voice, "I thought, once we got the call, we’d have to go back."
"It’s fine, I told Mom and Dad to go home first."
After the meal, the toy gifts from the staff made her brother smile even more.
Truthfully, his family was well-off and didn’t lack high-end toys—yet the toys from Haidilao were rather cheap.
But, happiness!
After leaving Haidilao, Lu Sisi took her brother downstairs to an arcade in the mall and played the claw machines for a bit.
The hundred-dollar tokens turned into four stuffed animals, and her brother gave the biggest one to Lu Sisi.
Then, as they walked downstairs to the roadside, her brother stood for a moment and suddenly spoke with a strange tone.
"Sis..."
"Hmm?"
"Can I not go home tonight? Can I go home with you?"