Chapter 33 Disgraceful and Shameful

"Do you think this is your home? You can't just order what you want and cancel what you don't want. The order has already been placed with the kitchen, and the chef is already preparing it..."

Su Lao Er pointed to the fifty cents in the waiter's hand. "This is for your child to have some candy. I didn't bring enough money today, could you do me a favor?"

The waitress paused for a moment, then realized what Su Lao Er meant. She quickly glanced at the lobby outside the window to make sure no one was paying attention to her, then clutched the five-cent roll in her hand.

He then gave Su Lao Er a friendly look, saying, "Alright, everyone has times when things aren't convenient for them. Don't do this again next time."

She took the opportunity of going to the table drawer to get a pen to slip the money into her pocket and asked Su Lao Er which two dishes she wanted to remove.

Following Cui Yuxia's usual ordering habits, Su Lao Er removed two dishes that were clearly not in her style.

After the waiter crossed it out, he took the menu to the kitchen.

Su Lao Er breathed a slight sigh of relief, turned his head and saw Cui Yuxia with a smile on her face. His heart fluttered, but when he saw Cui Xiaodi next to her, his brows furrowed deeply.

He pondered for a moment, then stood at the window without moving.

When the waiter returned, he whispered a few words. The waiter frowned and muttered, "I charged you fifty cents, but I had to do so many things for you. It's really tough to earn money and suffer like this."

Su Lao Er looked at her with a smile.

The waiter waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, I got it."

"Thanks."

Su Lao Er returned to his seat, and Cui Yuxia greeted Min An with a smile, "I accidentally cut my skin while clipping my nails yesterday. My mom was worried about me, so she asked my brother to bring me over. You're not angry, are you?"

"No, where did you hurt your fingernail?" Su Lao Er looked at Cui Yuxia's fingernails with concern. They were as white and tender as scallions, and looked very pretty.

Cui Yuxia was embarrassed and said it was her toenail.

"It hurts a bit, so I can't ride the bike hard."

Su Lao Er subconsciously looked down at Cui Yuxia's toes. Cui Yuxia pulled her feet back, and Su Lao Er's face inexplicably flushed. He swallowed hard, feeling a bit thirsty.

"The sweet and sour pork ribs and braised beef are ready, whose are they?"

At the window, a waiter's voice called out, and Su Lao Er jumped up to get the food.

"Look at the pathetic state he's in," Cui Xiaodi whispered in Cui Yuxia's ear.

Cui Yuxia shook her head at her younger brother.

Su Lao Er brought two dishes to the table, and then someone at the window ordered vegetarian dishes, asking, "Whose are these: cold lettuce salad and cold potato shreds?"

Su Lao Er turned his head and glanced at it, then smiled and said to Cui Yuxia, "You guys eat first."

Without any hesitation, Cui Xiaodi picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a large piece of pork rib, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Su Lao Er frowned deeply and turned to get the cold dishes.

In just a short while, when he returned to the table, there were already several clean bones in front of Cui Xiaodi, and a third of the braised beef was gone.

Su Lao Er was in a terrible mood.

The thought that she had spent so much money, and that she would have to give most of it to Cui Xiaodi, this glutton, while she might not even have enough to eat, made her very upset.

In no time, the dumplings were ready: three jin of dumplings with three kinds of seafood filling and three jin of dumplings with pork and scallions.

Su Lao Er remained seated and called to Cui Xiaodi, "Go and get it."

Cui Xiaodi glanced at him disdainfully and ignored him.

Cui Yuxia said, "My brother is not available, so Min'an, you should go instead."

Looking at the few remaining ribs and braised beef on the plate, Su Lao Er took a deep breath and forced a smile at Cui Yuxia, "Okay, I'll go."

When the dumplings were brought back, as expected, the spare ribs were gone, and there was only one piece of braised beef left.

Cui Xiaodi picked it up and stuffed it into his bulging mouth.

He didn't even ask Su Lao Er if he wanted to eat anymore.

Su Lao Er was furious!

He couldn't afford to lose his temper in front of Cui Yuxia, so he simply slammed the pork and scallion dumplings onto the table and picked one up for Cui Yuxia.

Cui Yuxia smiled at him, "Thank you, Brother Min'an."

Su Lao Er, "..."

He's just my brother-in-law; it's not like I can't tolerate him.

Let's hold on a little longer, until he makes up his mind and marries Cui Yuxia, then we can deal with this brother-in-law properly.

After finishing the meat dishes, Cui Xiaodi started eating dumplings while holding the plate, asking Cui Yuxia, "Sister, why haven't my shredded chicken and tofu with preserved egg arrived yet?"

Su Lao Er paused in his hand as he picked up the dumpling.

Cui Yuxia also let out a surprised "Eh," telling her younger brother not to rush and that she would ask him.

She called out to the waiter, who came over with a cold face and asked, "What do you want?"

"We also have shredded chicken and tofu with preserved eggs, why haven't they been served yet?"

The waiter glanced at Su Lao Er and said, "We're out of chicken and tofu. Is there anything else?"

You're lying!

Brother Cui pointed to another table, "They arrived later than us, and they even have shredded chicken. Why don't we have any?"

Cui Yuxia saw it too.

Her face also darkened. "This is discriminatory treatment. Hurry up and serve us the food, or else..."

"I'm going to file a complaint against you!" Brother Cui slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

Cui Yuxia nodded in agreement with a sullen face, and looked at Su Lao Er, hoping to get him involved as well.

Su Lao Er, "..."

How is he supposed to explain this?!

The diners all turned to look when they heard the noise.

The waiter spat in annoyance, "As if you're afraid of my complaints! Go ahead! See if I'm afraid of you or not! You already ordered so much!"

Cui Yuxia: "Impossible! We clearly ordered two more dishes..."

Brother Cui, how could I not know the menu I wrote myself?! If you dare not serve the food, we'll file a complaint against you!

Su Lao Er was so anxious that he kept giving the waiter meaningful glances.

The waiter glanced at him, then disdainfully pulled out fifty cents from his pocket and tossed it over.

The money fell onto the plate of sweet and sour pork ribs and instantly became covered in dark red sauce.

Su Lao Er's expression changed instantly.

"Here you go! I'm not putting up with this scolding for your five cents. Let me tell you, your boyfriend said he didn't have enough money and asked me to cut two dishes off the menu. I felt sorry for him, so I agreed!"

The waiter, arrogant and haughty, spat, "You've eaten over ten yuan's worth of food and you still have the nerve to act so self-righteous?! You look all respectable, but who do you think you are?"

Cui Yuxia's expression changed.

"We're a couple, what business is it of yours if he likes to spend money on me?!"

The waiter said, "It's none of my business, so why are you taking it out on me? It's ridiculous! Pah!"

Cui Yuxia, feeling embarrassed, glanced at Su Lao Er and said, "Brother Min'an!"

"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I didn't explain it properly. I'm sorry."

Su Lao Er hurriedly apologized, but the waiter glanced at him, spat, and muttered, "You poor wretch trying to date? Don't you even look in the mirror? See if you can afford it!"

Su Lao Er's face was very embarrassed.

Cui Yuxia didn't see it and asked him, "What's wrong with you? Why did you cross out the two dishes my brother ordered?"

"He's unhappy with me, he thinks I'm freeloading off him." Little Brother Cui scoffed.

Su Lao Er frowned and glanced at him, then explained to Cui Yuxia, "I was a little short on cash at the beginning of the month, and my salary hasn't been paid yet, so I don't have enough money... I haven't had a chance to tell you yet."

Cui Yuxia was very unhappy.

"Didn't I tell you yesterday to eat here today? You haven't even prepared enough money for the meal?!"

The diners at the dozen or so tables were all listening intently, and many were even eating while watching.

Su Lao Er felt embarrassed and lowered his voice to coax, "I took too much, but I didn't expect your brother to come along and order so much. It's already over budget..."

"Su Min'an, what do you mean?!"