My mistake was that I shouldn’t have brought Ai Mi to eat at the street restaurants by the side of the road on food street to correct her misunderstanding of Chinese cuisine.
They didn’t have ‘Bao Zai Guo’, but I ordered ‘Fu Qi Fei Pian (Beef)’ and ‘Shi Zi Tou (Pork Meatball)’ to let Ai Mi confirm the dishes weren’t made of husband and wife lung slices and it wasn’t a lion’s head.
At the beginning she was slightly skeptical, but then her curiosity gave in and she began to pick at the dishes that were quite luxurious for 28 Middle students. After we exited the restaurant, Ai Mi looked at me, then… she began to vomit.
“My, my stomach hurts. Who put poison in my food?”
Ai Mi, who had virtually emptied out all the contents in her stomach, squatted by the side of the road clutching her stomach which attracted a lot of attention.
Hey, I often eat at this restaurant and I’ve never gotten a stomachache! We also ate the same food earlier, so why am I fine!
I then came to my senses.
Everyone knows there are differences between China and foreign countries. In order to deal with harmful substances, Americans rely on science and technology while Chinese rely on mutations.
It looks like Ai Mi hasn’t mutated nearly enough to catch up to her brother!
For Chinese people, who essentially ate the entire periodic table of elements, we wouldn’t get stomachaches even if we ate food that went slightly bad. But Ai Mi was pampered and spoiled in America and if she eats food from these slightly unhygienic restaurants, she will definitely vomit out whatever she eats.
It’s the most accurate sanitation test! In order to see if they pass the health inspections, all we have to do is check to see if my sister vomits after eating the food! But I’m never going to bring Ai Mi to these places again since it’s a matter of life and death!
The restaurant owner who saw Ai Mi vomit near the door, ran over with a full head of sweat and tried to negotiate with me:
“Can you bring your companion somewhere else, so we can clean up her vomit. Otherwise, customers wouldn’t want to come to our restaurant…”
He said as he stuffed me a one hundred dollar bill, “Use this money to go buy her some medicine. We actually didn’t use any food that’s gone bad. It’s just really hot outside and we may have left the meatballs outside for a tad too long…”
So you gave me money to pay for her medicine because you were in the wrong? So that’s how you treat 28 Middle students. If it wasn’t for Ai Mi’s weak stomach, I would have actually believed the C Health Level Grade posted in your restaurant.
I glared at the owner without taking the money, which meant ‘It’s not over if anything goes wrong with my sister’. I then brought Ai Mi to rest at a nearby park. The octagonal pavilion was a great place to cool down and avoid the summer heat.
It was currently around the time of the final class for the day. Since I was accompanying Ai Mi, it meant I was skipping class.
But I already called Xiao Qin in advance and asked her to request a leave of absence from the class leader. Xiao Qin easily agreed since she knew I was with my sister.
“I will definitely help you ask for a leave. I will also bring your bag to your home after school.”
“Don’t worry about my bag.” That’s how I responded to Xiao Qin on the phone at the time, “I don’t feel like doing homework today, so you can just leave my bag at school. Oh, what are you going to tell the class leader when you when you ask for my leave.”
“Hmmm…. what about menstrual pain?”
Menstrual pain would work for you, but it wouldn’t work for me! The class leader might have to approve since I’m already out, but she would definitely write menstrual pain in big bold letters on the approval forum!
“You can’t say menstrual pain, think of something else. How about you say my teeth hurts.”
“Okay.” Xiao Qin said with regret, “I’ll tell the class leader you can’t come to class cause your ass hurts.”
Whose… ass hurts. I might deal with things that are a pain in the ass everyday, but my ass doesn’t actually hurt! What would the class leader think if you told her I can’t come to class because my ass hurts.
I wanted to stop Xiao Qin from making up nonsense, but then I heard the bell ring and she hang up.
I could only sit and rest in the pavilion with Ai Mi.
Ai Mi gradually got better after getting some fresh air. She looked at me in contempt as she spoke in an I told you so tone:
“Chinese cuisine is scary, right? Even if they don’t use people as ingredient, they must have added strange stuff inside. It might taste okay, but it will harm you if you eat it. The reason why you like that must be due to eating Chinese cuisine for a long period of time…”
No, Shen ShaoYi ate here numerous time, but he looks great and has never vomited either. The main reason I look like this is all because of Xiao Qin.
“Buy me another bag of chips.” Ai Mi ordered, “I want cola too.”
I went to check the change I had in my pockets, but found a one hundred dollar bill. Looks like the restaurant owner had quick hands and stuff it into my pocket when I didn’t notice.
I used the money to buy cola and chips for Ai Mi, and ice cream for myself from a nearby convenience store.
Ai Mi may love to eat chips, but she hates it when her fingers get oily from touching chips. She suddenly got a good idea as she laid down on the side of her body and crossed her legs as she intended for me to feed her.
“Close your legs.” I said, “You will expose yourself when your wearing that short skirt.”
“It’s not like there’s anyone else around. If you see it, then consider it a small gift.”
She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, waiting for me to feed her.
My sister’s face is so cute it doesn’t even matter if she’s not that well known in China. As long as she says ‘I’m hungry’, then wait with her mouth open, there will definitely be people to offer food to her.
I held a chip and gently placed it between Ai Mi’s lips. Her eyes may have been closed, but she quickly bit down when she felt it and chewed with satisfaction.
“Hurry up.” She urged, “And give me more.”
I took three to four chips in one handful to feed my gluttonous sister.
After she finished the 500g bag of ships, she told me to go and buy more. I considered the harmful effects of fried foods and told her that was all she could eat for today. Since she didn’t have her wallet, she couldn’t buy it herself.
She looked at me with a gaze that bordered on hatred, but I didn’t break down. To be honest, if she softened her attitude and said:
“Brother, I want to eat chips. Can you buy it for me pleaaaaase~~~”
Then I would buy her as much as she wants.
I felt I was not qualified to criticize the class leader for pampering her brother.
I suddenly heard familiar barks from next to me.
I looked towards that direction and saw 004 and 005 walking towards us with Obama in the lead.
004 was holding Ai Mi’s phone and 005 was holding Ai Mi’s wallet. They both looked anxious as they said:
“Miss, how can you just toss your phone and wallet into bushes to purposely interfere? Do you know how worried we were?”
Ai Mi snorted. She jumped down from the bench and put her hands on her hips and said:
“I know you guys added trackers to my phone and wallet. If it wasn’t for Obama picking up my scent, you guys still wouldn’t have found me yet.”
Obama jumped onto Ai Mi, but he threw me a look of expectation when he saw food in my hand.
I showed him the empty bag and he lost all interest in me and continued to play with his owner.
“Also, I got some good news today.”
Ai Mi said to me before she left.
“For some reason, my mom found out I was hanging out with you. I thought she would be against it, but I never expected…”
A heartfelt smile bloomed on Ai Mi’s face that was even brighter than the sun.
“I never expected my mom to say she did a background check and you were the son of a friend. She said you were trustworthy and it was fine to trust you more…”
A friend’s son. It’s not friend, but ex-husband! Also, what’s her goal? Did she realize I didn’t have any evil intentions towards Ai Mi, so she might as well do her a favor and allow her to get close to me? Is this also a warning to me that if I don’t do what she says, she will prevent Ai Mi from knowing the truth?
“But don’t get complacent because she praised you.”
Ai Mi warned me.
“I will continue to test you in the future. Don’t forget your promise, you have to stay loyal to me.”
Obama wagged his tail as if to say, ‘I understand’.
“I will love you more than your mom does.”
Ai Mi and I waved goodbye and I watched her leave with two escorts and a dog.