After wiping down the tables, Veronica immediately went to learn how to make the fruit platter with V.
Mickey had nothing to do, so he sat in the corner, feeling awkward, and ate some fruit.
After a little while, Mickey was seriously bored and felt uncomfortable with the idleness. "When is Ding... when is the Boss coming over?"
"Hard to say, maybe around eleven," Veronica replied.
"Do you guys just hang out here doing nothing every day?" Mickey asked again.
Veronica heard him, thought for a moment, and understood what he meant. She looked back at Mickey and smiled. "Bored, huh? You can watch TV or even sleep, but you just can't leave."
"..." Mickey actually wanted to go wander the streets, maybe cause some trouble, and just come back closer to the time he was needed. "What kind of stupid rule is that?"
"A rule is a rule, you know?" Veronica chuckled.
Just then, an Amazon delivery truck pulled up outside the restaurant.
Soon, a middle-aged man carried several large boxes out of the truck and walked toward the restaurant, knocking on the door. "Hello, signature required."
Veronica went to sign for them.
When she opened the boxes, they were all filled with different kinds of books.
Seeing all those books, both Veronica and Mickey instinctively felt a headache coming on.
V, on the other hand, was the exact opposite—she was thrilled.
"What the heck is up with this place?" Mickey couldn't handle it, muttering his appraisal.
Around ten o'clock, Dexter arrived at the restaurant.
To make the xiaolongbao, he had to mix the dough, roll the wrappers, and grind the meat ahead of time—there was a lot to do. If he didn't come early, he really wouldn't finish in time.
When he saw Mickey, especially how normal and clean he looked , even though he'd seen it yesterday, Dexter couldn't help but crack a smile and say hello. "Morning!"
Mickey instinctively wanted to say, 'What's so good about it?', but stopped himself and just nodded. "Morning."
Dexter didn't linger and headed straight into the kitchen to get busy.
In a flash, it was lunchtime.
Thanks to the high trending on Twitter and the increasingly widespread word-of-mouth about the delicious food, the limited lunch servings were completely sold out in minutes, just like before.
At 12:30 PM, Mandy ran over to the restaurant after eating lunch at school, worried about Mickey.
Mickey was scrubbing dishes. When Mandy walked into the kitchen and saw him, she laughed. "You look great!"
Mickey hadn't noticed Mandy come in, and the sudden remark startled him. His face flushed with embarrassed anger. "What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"
"Watch your language!" Mandy snapped back, raising an eyebrow.
Mickey wasn't having it. "No one else is here, and the Boss is gone! What does it matter?"
Mandy knew Dexter had left a while ago and was actually a little disappointed. "It still matters!"
"You're such a pain!" Mickey grumbled impatiently. Then, he remembered something and asked with a hint of pride, "The Boss left a lunch portion—those dumplings. Did you eat yet? Want to share mine?"
Mandy had already eaten, but she was immediately tempted. "Sure, I'll try one."
"Then go wait outside, I'll be right there," Mickey hurried her along.
After getting rid of Mandy, Mickey quickly washed his hands, picked up a steamer basket, and sniffed the air. He couldn't help but feel a little fondness for this job.
Putting the wages aside, two meals a day was pretty sweet.
He walked out of the kitchen.
Mickey and Mandy sat across from each other and started eating.
"This is really good," Mandy sincerely praised after taking a bite of a xiaolongbao.
Mickey heard her and felt a little smug, a smile playing on his lips. "I get two meals a day. If you want some, you can come by in the evening and have my portion."
Mandy was surprised, truly astonished.
In fact, Mandy wasn't the only one.
Not far away, Veronica, who was still awkwardly eating noodles with chopsticks, was also shocked. She instinctively looked at Mickey, not quite believing her ears.
Has he really changed that much? Veronica wondered silently.
"What about you then?" Mandy was touched. She thought for a second and asked with a smile.
Mickey was uncomfortable with the sentiment and quickly turned his head slightly. "I can sneak a bite in the kitchen!"
Mandy: "...Get out of here!"
"Just eat your dumpling and stop talking nonsense."
The brother and sister bickered while eating. Their way of interacting was unique and quite amusing.
Meanwhile, Dexter went to see the guy who had handled his various licenses before.
A fruit shop requires far fewer licenses than a restaurant, so the process is much faster.
He paid the fee, got the promise that the licenses would be ready within three days, and then left.
He had a lot to do that afternoon.
The water and electricity for the new storefront needed to be sorted out, and everyone knows that government bureaucracy is notoriously slow.
Around 1:00 PM.
Fiona finished her daytime gig, tired. She sat by the roadside and lit a cigarette, wrestling with a decision.
After a moment of internal debate, Fiona got up and decided to go back to the Gallagher house. She had to resolve the messy issue of Monica taking Liam while Lip and the other three were still at school—it couldn't be dragged out any longer.
As for Liam... he had to stay. He could not, under any circumstances, be taken away.
At the Gallagher house, Frank was thoroughly agitated. He also wanted to resolve the issue, get Monica to sign the settlement papers, and get his hands on the money.
The problem was that both his legs were broken. Without help, even basic movement was tough, let alone finding Fiona, who knows where.
"You guys are doing this on purpose!" Out of sheer frustration, Frank couldn't help but snap at Monica and Roberta again. "Liam is right here! If you want to take him, just take him! In my condition, I can't even find Fiona. How am I supposed to convince her?"
Roberta sneered, "Heh, what if Fiona and those brats call the cops and say I kidnapped Liam? Do you think I'm as stupid as you?"
"Monica is Liam's mother! What good would calling the cops do?" Frank yelled.
"Frank, those are the conditions!" Roberta roared, cutting him off fiercely. "I'm telling you, if you don't settle this today, tomorrow morning we're taking Liam to get a DNA test!"
"Liam isn't your son. Once the DNA results are back, we're taking him! You and your settlement papers can go to hell!"
Hearing that, Frank was desperate. No way!
He was going crazy, needing to find Fiona immediately, so he tried to move his legs.
The truth was that Frank's right leg, which was as resilient as a cockroach, could now be moved a little.
His left leg was still out of commission, the pain from the gunshot wound still too intense.
Frank wanted to see if he could walk using his right leg and a pair of crutches.
Just then, Fiona opened the door and stormed into the house, full of fire.
Seeing Fiona so suddenly...
Frank's face instantly lit up. He immediately gave up on trying to walk and quickly spoke to Fiona. "Fiona, you're finally back! Let's get this sorted!"
"Monica is definitely going to take Liam. No matter how much you object, Monica is Liam's mother!"
"A child this young should be with his mother!"
"Are you really going to deprive Liam of the chance to be reunited with his mother and enjoy a mother's love, all because of your stupidity?"
"??????" Fiona was completely blindsided. She hadn't even opened her mouth, and Frank had already beaten her to the punch. She was utterly confused.
But she snapped back in an instant. Her face was cold, and she spoke to Frank as calmly as possible. "Frank, I know you're a piece of garbage!"
"I know you don't care about Liam, or about the six of us."
"But if you have even a shred of humanity left, and more importantly, if you want to keep living in this house, you have to stop this!"
"Otherwise, if Liam is actually taken, I promise you will never set foot in this house again!"
"I sincerely hope that money lasts you until you drop dead!"
Frank heard this and paused, unsure if Fiona would actually go through with such a threat. He decided to test her and smiled. "You can't do that. I'm your father, after all, and you're too soft. You could never abandon your family."
"Then watch me!" Fiona's expression turned even colder. She spoke with certainty, then ignored Frank and turned to Monica, who looked distraught and completely overwhelmed.
"Monica, deep down, you know you're not a mother! And you don't deserve to be one!"
"What's the point of you taking Liam?"
Fiona couldn't finish her sentence...
Monica's voice broke through, tearfully saying, "Fiona, I know I wasn't a good mom before, but I've really changed. I'm not that person anymore, and I will take good care of Liam..."
"Ha! You've changed?" Fiona heard her and immediately gave a cold laugh. "You haven't changed, and you never will. You'll always be the Monica who only brings chaos. You're sick, you know that?"
At that, Roberta couldn't take it anymore. He shot up and glared viciously at Fiona. "You don't talk to your mother like that!"
Fiona wasn't exactly brave, and facing the gorilla-like Roberta, she was genuinely intimidated.
But when she thought of Liam, Fiona found her courage and pushed back. "Bob! This is my family's business. It has nothing to do with you! You have no right to butt in!"
Roberta exploded in anger at the disrespect, making a menacing threat. "Say that to me one more time! Looks like you need a lesson in manners!"
With that, Roberta made a move as if to strike her.
Instinctively, Fiona immediately recoiled and took a step back in fear.
Seeing this, Monica panicked. "Roberta! Don't!"
Roberta shot Fiona a final, hard glare and then turned to Monica. "I don't want to spend another second in this shithole! Monica, let's go! No need to wait for tomorrow. We're taking Liam for the DNA test right now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Roberta quickly strode over to Frank, reached out, and forcefully yanked a clump of hair from Frank's head.
Frank yelled in pain, swearing, "Motherfucker!"
After cursing, and seeing the settlement money about to fly away, Frank freaked out. "Bob! Don't rush! I can fix this!"
He said that to Bob, then turned back to Fiona and started screaming directly at her. "FIONA!! This is between your mother and me!!! It has NOTHING to do with you!!!"
"I AM going to get that money!!!"
Everything happened so fast.
Fiona's brain couldn't process everything. She didn't grasp what Bob was doing until a few seconds later.
"FUCK YOU!" Realizing the situation, Fiona couldn't hold back anymore and screamed at Frank. Then, seeing Roberta pick up Liam, she was terrified. She instinctively moved and stood in front of Roberta, yelling, "You are NOT taking Liam!"
Roberta was already fed up with Fiona. He didn't say a word, just shoved Fiona aside.
The size difference was too great.
The push sent Fiona flying, and she crashed hard against the wall.
Roberta didn't even look back, simply shouting to Monica, "Monica, let's go!"
"Fiona..." Watching Fiona get slammed against the wall by Roberta, Monica was in a total panic and didn't move.
Fiona was hurting. She realized she couldn't stop the gorilla that was Roberta on her own and finally broke down, tears streaming down her face.
Roberta still ignored her, intensifying his tone as he spoke to Monica. "MONICA!"
Monica never expected things to go down like this. She wasn't exactly bright to begin with, and now her brain was completely fried. She had no idea what to do, her face full of terror. "Roberta, we can't do this..."
"MONICA!" Roberta roared again, his voice much harsher.
Monica flinched at the sound, then finally moved.
She walked over to Fiona. "Fiona, I'm sorry..."
"FUCK YOU!" Fiona sobbed, gritting her teeth as she spat the insult.
Monica immediately burst into tears at the rejection.
Roberta saw this, grabbed Monica's arm, and said, "We're leaving!"
Soon after, Roberta, holding Liam and pulling Monica, left the Gallagher house and got into the truck.
Inside the house, Fiona was slumped on the floor, weeping uncontrollably.
Frank was running his hands through his hair, agitated, his mind consumed by the thought of the settlement money.
The more he thought about it, the more restless Frank became. "Fiona, I mean, you really..."
Frank started to complain and blame her.
As Fiona listened, she felt the urge to kill!
Kill Frank, kill Roberta, kill Monica!
Kill them all!
From the break of dawn, Svetlana had been running all over town, walking into one Chicago fruit shop after another. She secretly took pictures of the store layouts, jotted down the prices of the fruit in a little notebook, and even paid attention to the customer traffic and what patrons liked once they walked in.
After visiting dozens of decent-sized fruit shops nonstop, Svetlana had a general grasp of the business and knew how to proceed.
At 4:00 PM, Svetlana got back on the elevated train and headed straight for Chicago's largest fruit wholesale market.
Once she reached the market, Svetlana interacted with various bosses, occasionally flashing a little skin—an "asset"—to try and figure out the rock-bottom prices...
Well, that "asset" was considerable, and everything went very smoothly.
Before she knew it, night had fallen.
Svetlana had a great time at the wholesale market, eating her fill of fruit and saving herself the cost of dinner.