It was finally a day off as all five of Xiaoyun's family and Lily got together to go outside for once, rather than staying home.
"Xiaoyun, do you feel like the days have been getting colder? And the day becoming shorter?"
Yuqi curiously asked as the six of them walked down the sidewalk, heading closer and closer to the commercial district.
"Maybe because it's November now... Almost five months? Or has it been six months since the outbreak?"
Xiaoyun answered as both Yuqi and Yueyue both tightly held onto his arm, leaving Leyan behind the three of them with Nami and Lily.
"I still can't believe it's only been that short... It felt like a year or two had already passed." Yuqi murmured.
"And both of us are pregnant in the 2nd trimester. We are still so young too... feel like we have missed out a lot in life." Yueyue murmured next.
"Come on, don't be so gloomy. I was pregnant around your age as well, and I was perfectly happy."
Leyan tried to cheer the two up from the back, but they didn't look happy at all. Instead, their faces both looked even more gloomy than before.
"Shut up, Mom, that's because you are just old-fashioned. Nobody gets pregnant this young anymore."
Seeing both of them yelling back at Leyan at the same time, Nami and Lily were both taken aback by it.
"Is this what they call a pregnancy mood swing? So anxious and gloomy today." Nami murmured as she watched Leyan awkwardly scratch her head.
"Nami! I want that!"
Lily quickly dragged Nami to the clothing store that just coincidentally had a Doraemon crochet in the front.
---
After shopping for an hour, the six stopped at a restaurant store. As everyone sat down, it was the same waiter that Xiaoyun and Yuqi had gone to.
"Oh, hey, what a coincidence." Xiaoyun waved.
"Oh, good morning, Mr. Mayor, what order can I take for you?" The waiter asked as she brought up the menu for the six of them.
"What do you guys want?"
All five of them were already reading the menu as Xiaoyun asked his question, with Yuqi speaking up first.
"I'll just have the Beef noodle soup."
"I want fried noodles with shrimp," Yueyue ordered next.
"Hm, I will take a Beef chow mein," Leyan ordered
"Lily and I want spring rolls," Nami added.
"Chives with eggs stir-fry with a bowl of rice for me," Xiaoyun ordered.
"Okay, so Beef noodle soup, fried noodles with shrimp, beef chow mein, and two spring rolls. Is that all?" The waiter asked as she repeated the order.
"Yep, that's all."
"I'll go place the order."
As the waiter headed over to the kitchen, the six of them waited at the table as Xiaoyun looked around his surroundings.
He could see the freshly painted walls, with actual folding tables and wooden stools used together.
The building itself felt barebones, but it was still better than the old cabin restaurants that had plastic chairs and flimsy tables.
"Your food is here, please enjoy."
As the waiter unloaded the food one by one, everyone's face was filled with excitement as they grabbed their chopsticks on the side.
"Thank you."
A few minutes later...
Just as the six of them were about to finish the food, suddenly the table behind them got into an argument with the waiter.
"Why the hell is the food five food stamps? This is way overpriced." The middle-aged man yelled, rejecting the bill the waiter had placed.
"Sir, the beef can cost two food stamps, combined with making the noodles from scratch, five is just enough to cover the cost.
You read the menu and it had the cost there. You should have known the price when you ordered the food."
"How dare you argue back? I used to be a constable 2nd class." The man yelled out once again as he stood up from his seat.
"So? You said it yourself. You 'used' to. Now, please pay up or else I'll be forced to call the guards."
Seeing the waiter unwilling to compromise, the man's anger finally seemed to have reached a boiling point as his two other peers got up as well.
"And what if I don't pay?" The man questioned, trying to intimidate the waiter as all three of them started approaching closer and closer.
"Honey, you aren't going to do anything?"
Leyna quietly asked, with all six of them looking a little excited as if they were waiting for him to intervene.
"For fuck sake, I just can't catch a break... I should have implemented a police department earlier."
As Xiaoyun stood up from his seat, the man had already scared the other customers into moving all the way to the corner of the restaurant.
"Hey man, why don't you just pay up and leave? You really going to dine and dash in a restaurant that just opened?"
Everyone's eyes immediately shifted towards Xiaoyun as he approached the three men, freeing the waiter as she looked over to him with gratitude.
"Who the hell are you?" The man in the front questioned, his face showing zero respect for Xiaoyun.
The five of them tried to hold their laughter, but accidentally laughed a little as the waiter started smiling as well.
"Really, you don't recognize me?" Xiaoyun questioned again.
Some of the customers in the restaurant finally realized who Xiaoyun was as the worries on their faces all vanished.
In its place was the same excitement Leyan and Yuqi felt, all seemingly to be hoping for some sort of fight.
"Why should we recognize you? Move out of the way."
The man tried to shove Xiaoyun aside, but he took a step back before his hand could reach him.
"One last warning, pay up or you're going to regret this," Xiaoyun murmured as he reached into his pocket.
"Shut the hell up! What the fuck are you going to do——"
Just as the three of them were about to walk closer to shove Xiaoyun to the floor, they all froze in place.
"What did you just say?" Xiaoyun coldly questioned as he pointed his gun right at their face.
"S-sorry w-we d-didn't say anything. W-we will pay and leave right now."
The man in the front quickly took out his wallet and put down five food stamps. But before he could leave, Xiaoyun yanked him back by the collar.
"Stop right there. Who says you can leave now? Go outside and stand there." Xiaoyun warned as he put his finger on the trigger.
All three men followed his instructions as they walked out and stood outside with both hands in the air.
Just as Xiaoyun was about to pull out his phone to call Yiming, an on-duty militia member happened to walk past and noticed Xiaoyun with his gun drawn.
"Mr. Mayor, is there any danger?" The militia member urgently asked as he readied his hand on his pistol on the side.
"These three just tried to dine and dash... You tell me, what should their punishment be?" Xiaoyun asked.
"According to the law book, it is banishment for any crime committed, big or small." The militia replied.
"Good, you go send these three out of the town."
"Wait, M-Mr. Mayor, we didn't——"
"Get moving. Don't make me fire my gun." The militia warned as he quickly took the three men over from him.
As Xiaoyun turned around and walked back inside the restaurant, everyone was clapping, from the waiter to the customers to even the chef, who had come out from the kitchen.
"Hm? Why is everyone clapping?" Xiaoyun asked in confusion.
"Mr. Mayor, you saved us!" The waiter and the chef walked up as the two of them both bowed in gratitude.
"It's my responsibility to keep everyone safe. No need to thank me for this. I should be the one saying sorry for not creating a safe environment for business."
Xiaoyun quickly helped the two back up, only to get an even louder clap from the nearby customer. Even his family and Lily joined in the clapping.
"Tomorrow, you will feel much safer. I can promise you all on this. No town of mine will tolerate any crimes."
As Xiaoyun left a strong message for the customers, he quickly turned around to face his family.
"Yuqi, can you pay for me? You guys can go back home after finishing shopping. I need to go do something."
All five of them let out a small sigh as they watched Xiaoyun run out, leaving the five of them inside the restaurant with the bill.
---
"Mannn, our break day is ruined now," Yuqi complained as the five of them arrived back home just as the clock hit noon.
"All thanks to him wanting to be a hero," Nami added.
"I mean... I would have done the same thing, too." Yueyue argued, trying to defend Xiaoyun's choice to stand up against crime.
"But he could have made the police force tomorrow, I heard him mumbling about it," Yuqi pointed out.
"He's the mayor after all, we have to be understanding as his wives," Leyan murmured as she unlocked the doors.
"I'm so bored! The Internet is all down now!" Nami complained as she fell straight onto the sofa, rolling up and down.
"You guys want to play Mahjong?" Leyan suggested as she pulled out an entire box from below the sofa.
"When did we have this?" Yuqi curiously asked, with Yueyue, Nami, and Lily looking just as intrigued as her.
"Well, I had this since my parent came over a few years ago... Come on, let's go to the kitchen table.
I will teach you guys how to play. It's very simple, you can just learn by playing along and watching how I win."
A few hours later...
When Xiaoyun came back home at six o'clock, he was a little surprised to see no one in the living room.
"Where's everyone?"
Xiaoyun wondered as he headed towards the sofa, only to hear a bunch of crackling sounds coming from the kitchen.
"I finally won! Hand that money over!" Nami jumped in excitement as Lily sat behind her, watching.
"I wouldn't be so happy for winning once after losing three rounds back to back," Leyan reminded her as the three handed Nami one food stamp.
"Oh damn, you guys are playing Mahjong? Let me play."
Xiaoyun quickly rushed in excitement as he finally saw what they were playing at the kitchen table.
"Sure, you can take my spot."
As Nami moved to a chair next to Lily, Xiaoyun quickly threw out a warning to the three of them.
"Let me warn you, they call me the God of Gamblers back in the countryside," Xiaoyun murmured as a flashback of Uncle Li popped up in his head.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. I had played this since I was ten, you ain't beating me." Leyan murmured as she began shuffling the mahjong tiles.
"How about this, whoever wins gets to make a wish, and if I win, I get to make a wish," Xiaoyun suggested as he ups the stakes.
"Sure, the bet is on."
Leyan accepted, with Yueyue and Yuqi looking to each other as if they had developed some sort of secret scheme.
Two hours later...
"This can't be happening. How can I be this unlucky? You three must have cheated together,"
Leyan slams the table in frustration as even Yuqi and Yueyue somehow manage to win more than her.
"Me? I didn't do anything. Maybe you won too much too early, so you ran out of luck." Xiaoyun murmured as he patted Leyan's back.
"Hmph! Whatever, I'm going to go cook dinner now."
As Leyan pushed his hand and head towards the stovetop, Xiaoyun quickly reminded her of something.
"Don't forget I won the bet!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Leyan's face blushes as she shakes her head a little before turning on the exhaust fan to start cooking.
"Hmm, I had a wish from Yuqi to beat her bet last week. And now I have a wish from Leyan just now... Just Yueyue left now."
Xiaoyun thought to himself as his brain started having an idea develop, one that could make him all excited.
"My turn!"
As Nami quickly took over Leyan's spot, Lily quickly moved over to sit near her side of the table while Yuqi and Yueyue started shuffling the tiles.
"Yueyue, you want to do a bet?"
"No thanks, you."
Yueyue rejected, as she could feel an evil intention just from the look on his face. A pervy look that instantly reminded her of something.