[Yang Menghuo POV]
"What date? We are grocery shopping here," Ying Jie said.
"But..." Yang Menghuo wanted to say that he had prepared so many things for their second date today. As he was afraid that Ying Jie was mad at him. He even called his friend, a famous chocolatier from Belgium, to make a special chocolate bar only for Ying Jie.
'Turned out, a simple cup of coffee works better, huh?
'I guess my Baidu research has no use here,' Yang Menghuo thought. He watched Ying Jie, who read the list of groceries on her phone, and then she looked at Menghuo.
"Why are you standing there like an idiot? Let's go," Ying Jie pulled Menghuo's hand while pushing the trolley with the other hand..
Yang Menghuo followed Shi Ying, who went to buy a bag of rice first. This was the first time for Menghuo to come inside a public supermarket with so many people with their trolleys around.
He went to a supermarket owned by his grandpa when he was a child, but that supermarket was always empty since it was reserved only for Menghuo, who wanted to go to the supermarket.
Now he was in a public supermarket, accompanying a woman to do her grocery shopping. Just one thing was missing…
'If there is a little boy or little girl here with us, we will look like a married couple with children, buying our grocery for the week…' Yang Menghuo imagined. Then he was surprised by his own thought and shook his head.
'What the heck, Menghuo! Why did you imagine something like that! Of course, I am only going to get married to Batman-Jie!' Menghuo cemented his determination again. He shouldn't be charmed with another person except for Batman-Jie!
Shi Ying saw that Menghuo was dazed. She nudged Menghuo and asked, "Meng Bao, can you pick that vinegar on the top shelf?" Shi Ying pointed at the vinegar bottle that was too high for her reach.
"A—Ah, yes, Ying Jie," Menghuo picked one bottle of vinegar and put it on the trolley. "Do you want me to take something else—"
Yang Menghuo was stunned when he saw Ying Jie carried a five kilograms rice bag on her shoulder without breaking a sweat. She put the rice bag on the trolley and looked at Menghuo, whose mouth was gaping wide.
"What?" Ying Jie asked.
"That… that is very heavy, right? Ying Jie, you could've just told me, I will carry it for you," Menghuo said.
Shi Ying laughed heartily, "Ah, Meng Bao. You see, I'm very strong for a woman. I'm used to carrying those rice bags when I was in elementary because my dad worked as a transporter. He brought many heavy rice bags and sometimes, gallons of water, and transport it to richer families in my hometown."
"So I helped him around since I'm the oldest," Shi Ying said proudly. "Well, thanks to that, I can beat up men who tried to bully me!"
"Who bullies you? Tell me," Yang Menghuo reacted immediately. Shi Ying paused and glanced at Menghuo, who suddenly became very serious, unlike his usual cute self. Menghuo's gaze darkened, and he sneered full of contempt, "Who is he? I will make sure he will regret ever being born."
"Pffth! Ahahah!" Shi Ying laughed and patted Menghuo's head. "Okay, okay, big guy. I can protect myself. No need to be so pressed."
Shi Ying pushed the trolley as they walked to the dairy aisle. Menghuo watched how Ying Jie stayed in the dairy aisle for a while, staring at two gallons of milk from different brand.
"What are you looking at, Ying Jie?"
"Well, I'm just unsure which one to pick. This brand tastes better, but it is slightly more expensive. The other one doesn't taste as good, but it's cheaper and bigger," Shi Ying said.
"Just pick the one that tastes better," Menghuo commented.
"It's not that simple. You see, the cheaper one will last longer, though the taste is not that good. But hey, same protein inside, right?" Shi Ying put the cheaper one inside her trolley. Which confused Menghuo.
As they walked to another aisle, Menghuo asked, "Why are you buying the one that doesn't taste good?"
"Meng Bao, I have other priority ah! You need to spend your money wisely, and you need to have a saving for emergency money. Don't you drink milk too? Of course, you can't drink that expensive organic milk every day, right?"
'I own a dairy farm in Swiss,' Menghuo replied in his heart.
As they walked from one aisle to another, Menghuo gradually got frustrated by how thrifty Ying Jie was. She always prioritized discount, picked the cheapest, and checked whether it was a buy one get one free promo.
It was frustrating for Menghuo, who never thought someone could be this stingy for her own needs!
But he didn't dare to interrupt Ying Jie. Because Ying Jie seemed to be happy whenever she got a good deal off her purchase. Something that Menghuo never experienced. Since he was always loaded since birth, it was an eye-opener for him.
He spent almost two hours accompanying Ying Jie buying her groceries. Ying Jie stopped in front of the dessert aisle. She glanced at Menghuo and asked, "Do you like cake?"
Yang Menghuo nodded in response.
Shi Ying smiled at took two slices of cake from the dessert fridge and put it in the shopping trolley, "This is Jiejie's treat for you because you accompanied me for two hours doing grocery shopping."
Yang Menghuo was stunned on the spot because he instantly remembered what Batman-Jie said to him back then whenever he did a good job helping her.
Batman-Jie would buy a cheap rice cake with his money, and then gave it to him and said;
'This is Jiejie's treat for you because Mengmeng helped Jie today.'