Chapter 86 Big Tomato, My God!

"...Do you really want to calculate the specific expenses incurred here?"

In the living room, Zhou Chi looked at the little figures and nervously swallowed.

"We need to calculate it! We need to calculate it clearly!"

The little children puffed out their cheeks and nodded earnestly, saying:

"Zhou Chi, don't be afraid! No matter how much money we spent, we will pay it back!"

Zhou Chi: ...That's not what I meant!

"Actually, it didn't cost much, so you don't need to pay it back at all."

Zhou Chi's eyes darted around, trying to bluff his way out by quoting a few thousand or ten thousand, but he couldn't fool Cang Lan's eyes:

"Don't be nervous. Even among relatives, accounts must be kept clear. If we settle the accounts clearly, we can interact more comfortably in the future."

Having said that, Zhou Chi could no longer delay and had no choice but to nod in agreement.

The third party, Ning Jia, as an impartial and selfless auditor, looked around and asked with great experience:

"Zhou Chi, do you have a whiteboard? A small blackboard will do too."

Zhou Chi shook his head. "It seems like none of them are."

He thought for a moment, then went to his study and brought back an extra-large glossy paper album and a brass clip, intending to clip a few sheets of white paper onto it.

Looking at the row of large Chinese characters on the album, Ning Jia and Cang Lan both fell silent.

Xuecao, who often reads books, couldn't help but say:

"Such a good book...how can you use it as a blackboard?"

Although Cang Lan didn't speak, her gaze towards Zhou Chi already revealed a hint of reproach.

Those are books filled with valuable knowledge; it's so inconsiderate to use them as cushions...

Although Bai Zhi and the others had never been to the study at home to read books, judging from the expressions on their faces, they clearly disapproved.

Ning Jia, who was standing to the side, was about to burst out laughing. She silently looked at the "100 Home-Style Recipes" on the cover of the album and held back from making a sound.

You've all misunderstood.

Zhou Chi scratched his head, opened the picture book, and showed them the colorful pages inside, which depicted various dishes:

"This isn't really a book; it's a cookbook I bought to use for cooking, but..."

He sighed sadly:

"Ever since I started cooking according to the recipes in this book, the food has tasted even worse than before. I don't know how this book was written..."

Ning Jia and the villains fell even more silent upon hearing this.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhou Chi suggested:

"If everyone really can't accept this, how about I go and get my laptop?"

This time, the little people all quickly shook their heads:

"No need, no need! This will do!"

This cookbook is so terrible, I'd rather use it as a liner!

Ning Jia waved her hand, "I don't need a computer, I prefer the feeling of taking notes with pen and paper."

Zhou Chi nodded, puzzled. "Oh, okay."

Then, suddenly realizing what she had done, her face turned bright red, and she was too embarrassed to speak.

Ning Jia barely managed to suppress a second wave of laughter, glanced at the blushing young man, and thought to herself:

No wonder people say handsome guys are likable; even with a band-aid on their face and it's as red as a tomato, they still don't look bad.

Seeing that the "big tomato" was getting redder and redder, Ning Jia very considerately spoke up, breaking the silence:

"Let's get started quickly, we need to get back soon."

...

So, a large-format "temporary whiteboard" was placed on the coffee table. Zhou Chi looked down at his phone and flipped through the spending records, while Ning Jia held a black Parker ballpoint pen, twirling it deftly, ready to take notes at any moment.

"Well, Bai Zhi and the others should have arrived at my house around..."

Zhou Chi scrolled through his phone for a while, then exclaimed, "Ah, found it! May 26th!"

He also took the opportunity to explain:

"Before that day, I always ordered takeout from home, so my consumption records were all takeout orders."

"But after Bai Zhi and the others came to my house, I felt that the little people shouldn't eat those unhealthy things, so I contacted the grocery supplier who usually delivers vegetables to my house and bought some fresh vegetables and meat..."

"So, May 26th was the first time I bought groceries."

As he spoke, he glanced at the amount spent on his phone:

"Hmm... I think I spent 2602 on groceries that night, let's say 2600."

How much? How much do you want?

Ning Jia, who had just written "5.26" on the whiteboard, suddenly trembled and almost wrote the words out of the blue.

2600? Did she hear that right?

With only a dozen or so tiny children like Bai Zhi and her coin-sized bellies, spending so much money on groceries, are they expecting to eat food made of gold?

They are college students who have never earned their own money or been through the harsh realities of work; they spend money quickly and ruthlessly.

Bai Zhi and the others weren't very sensitive to these numbers and didn't have a clear feeling about them yet, but Cang Lan, Xue Cao, and the others were already stunned.

They looked at Zhou Chi in disbelief, then at Bai Zhi and the others, a terrifying thought suddenly flashing through their minds:

It's over.

I thought their thank-you gift was quite sincere, but now it seems it's completely inadequate.

Zhou Chi also vaguely sensed something, hesitated, and stopped. "Um, should we continue?"

"certainly."

Canglan's voice was strong and resonant.

As far as she knew, the money in the clan's account had accumulated for quite some time, and the amount was still considerable. Even if the expenses here were high, it wouldn't be impossible to repay the debt.

"On May 30th, I had groceries delivered to my door, costing 1500 yuan; on June 1st, I went to an imported fruit store, costing 1000 yuan."

On June 1st, five automatic litter boxes were purchased from a pet store for a total of 5000 yuan; also on June 1st, custom-made mini beds and other furniture, as well as a four-piece bedding set, small pillows, etc., totaled 8000 yuan…

Good grief, Ning Jia thought to herself as she scribbled down the notes:

This young man is full of energy!

On June 1st alone, all the food, drinks, supplies, and toys for the little ones were purchased, and cooking was not delayed at all!

"On June 12th, I ordered doll clothes online, 500 yuan per set, 32 sets in total, costing 16,000 yuan..."

What? This dress costs 500?

Gan Cao opened her mouth in surprise, staring at Yun Zhu's cotton dress with a bamboo pattern, unable to believe her ears.

You know, they work so hard to make these sachets, and they sell them for tens of yuan each, yet they're still worried that customers will think they're too expensive.

"On June 14th, I purchased four white iPhone 16s from an Apple store. Because of the national subsidy, the total price was 18,796 yuan..."

Ning Jia couldn't help but raise her head and glance at Zhou Chi again.

This person is really generous; he's still using an iPhone 13 himself, yet he bought so many new Apple phones for the little people...

At this point, Zhou Chi felt a little guilty for some reason. He glanced at the expressions on the faces of the villains before continuing.

...

"On August 9th, I ordered three dollhouses at Delong Plaza, which cost 18,000 yuan..."

The whiteboard is already filled with three pages of projects and expenses, each page densely packed with information.

Ning Jia, whose hands were aching from taking notes, was now very calm.

After quickly noting down "3 dollhouses cost 18,000 yuan", she suddenly became curious about what those three expensive dollhouses were like.

As she recalled what she had seen at Place de Long, a thought suddenly popped into her head:

Actually, those dollhouses are indeed very exquisite, and there's a reason why they're expensive. If your little one likes them, it's not a bad idea to buy one for them.

Zhou Chi's voice continued:

"August 23rd, groceries delivered to your door, 4800..."

At this point, he further explained:

"Because there was a live Australian lobster that was airlifted in, the cost of the vegetables was a bit higher that day."

And this Australian lobster, which added "a little" to their meal cost, was one of the dishes for their lunch today.

Upon hearing this, Xuecao, Gancao, and the others were completely stunned.

The giant sugar bird that Ning Jia brought back before was also quite large, but it only cost 30 yuan. Why does this lobster, which is about the same size, cost so much...?

Luckily, they managed to finish all the shrimp at lunchtime, otherwise it would have been such a waste!

Meanwhile, Dongkui silently wondered why such expensive ingredients could produce such an indescribable taste...

Ning Jiaming only spends a small amount of money on groceries, yet the food she makes is always plentiful, delicious, and sometimes even very interesting!

Is the difference between giants really that great?

After thinking it over, Dongkui became even more determined to continue learning to cook from Chef Ningjia.

After Zhou Chi recounted all the expenses related to the Little People in chronological order, Cang Lan's usually calm face became unusually blank.

Although Xuecao wasn't very good at math, she kept doing addition in her mind, her little face growing more and more tense, with a very bad premonition.

Ning Jia was completely absorbed in the accounting, focusing intently on writing and drawing on the whiteboard. Then she opened the calculator on her phone, checked the results of her calculations, and announced:

"According to calculations, from the day Bai Zhi and the others arrived at Zhou Chi's house, their total living expenses amounted to..."

"etc--"

Cang Lan suddenly interrupted, "It seems that Lord Zhou Chi's bill just now...did not mention rent or utilities?"

"Huh?" Zhou Chi's eyes widened. "These need to be counted too?"

"The house has been empty and no one lives there, so we shouldn't charge rent, right?"

After a heated discussion, they finally decided to include the rent in the calculation.

Using the prices on a certain rental website as a reference, and at Zhou Chi's strong suggestion, a discount was offered. Based on a single room for two and a half months, an additional 15,000 yuan was added.

A moment of silence fell over the room. Zhou Chi thought for a moment and then quickly added:

"I forgot to mention earlier that the food expenses shouldn't be calculated that way. After all, I eat with everyone, and I have a big appetite!"

“I know,” Ning Jia nodded. “I’ve already calculated the cost of all the groceries at 60% off.”

She said slowly, "If we add everything, it would probably cost tens of thousands more."

Zhou Chi: ...

"Ahem," Ning Jia cleared her throat, and under the curious yet nervous gazes of the little ones, slowly announced the final number:

"According to calculations, from the day Bai Zhi and the others arrived at Zhou Chi's house, their total living expenses amounted to..."

"189,080".

"..."

Xuecao screamed in fright, "This, this is more than ten times our usual living expenses!"

When she said that, the others suddenly had a very concrete sense of reality, and they were all stunned.

After a moment of silence, gasps of surprise erupted one after another:

"My dear tree spirit!" "By the tree spirit above!" "Oh, tree spirit!" "My dear tree spirit!"

At this moment, the tree god in the sky received an unprecedentedly enthusiastic call from the little people.

Ning Jia and Zhou Chi exchanged a glance but remained silent.

"Actually, I don't want them to pay me back a single penny," Zhou Chi suddenly said in a low voice.

“After my parents passed away, I have entrusted my aunt to put 95% of their estate into a trust for me. As for the remaining money, it is all in my personal account as living expenses.”

"I'm happy to spend this money on the little people."

“I genuinely like them. When you like someone, you'll spend money on them. Do you expect to get that money back? What kind of person would that be…”

"Yes, I understand."

Ning Jia nodded. Money is where love is, and as someone who was raised in luxury, she understood this perfectly.

When Ning Fang's restaurant business was booming, she had seen too many superficially wealthy second-generation heirs.

He drives luxury cars and lives in mansions, but his family is already heavily in debt, yet he still can't shake his extravagant spending habits...

Fortunately, Zhou Chi is not that kind of person.

Since the money is their legitimate income, as long as it is spent legally, there is no problem with how they spend it.

But she glanced at Zhou Chi with mixed feelings, knowing that even if he said no, it wouldn't matter.

Because the Lilliputians also have their own principles for living.

...

Over there, Canglan had recovered from her shock and calmly said to Ning Jia:

"Now that the total has been calculated, let's settle this debt."

"Okay."

Ning Jia opened the Little Clan's online banking account, showed everyone the balance, and then quickly calculated it:

"Well, there's a total of 207,631...04 mao in this account. After deducting the living expenses with Zhou Chi, there's 18,551 left..."

Thankfully, there's still some left... otherwise it would be too terrible!

Upon hearing the numbers Ning Jia announced, some of the scoundrels quickly breathed a sigh of relief. Ning Jia continued:

“The clan leader discussed with everyone beforehand that we should give Zhou Chi a thank-you gift. The amount we agreed on was 20,000 yuan. If we deduct this amount, we won’t have enough money in the account…”

As she spoke, she glanced at Canglan and asked:

"Chieftain, how about I cover the shortfall first?"

Cang Lan nodded and bowed deeply to Ning Jia, "I'm sorry to trouble you again."

“It’s nothing, it’s just 1449 yuan,” Ning Jia waved his hand. “I won’t charge interest on this amount. Once this batch of sachets is officially sold and generates new revenue, I will deduct it directly from your share.”

Canglan nodded, indicating that she had no objection.

"Chief Canglan, I cannot accept this gift of gratitude!"

Zhou Chi shook his head repeatedly, saying excitedly:

"My relationship with Bai Zhi and Yun Zhu is not one of taking them in. I genuinely consider them my family. What need is there for gratitude between family members?!"

"Also, many of the things we bought for the family were only mentioned to Bai Zhi and the others; they didn't actually know the exact cost."

As he spoke, his face darkened with sadness:

"It was my own money that I spent, yet it has caused you so much trouble. I feel like I've let the little people down..."

Bai Zhi and the others also showed expressions of shame:

"No, we were also wrong. We shouldn't have accepted Zhou Chi's kindness so readily..."

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Author's Note: I'm going home in the next chapter~ [shy]