Chapter 90: Overdue Dues

"Wait!"
Chang Yu suddenly recalled the instructions given to him by Master Hao Er, and hurriedly called out to stop Fatty Wang, who was about to swallow the pill.
"What is it?" Fatty Wang asked in confusion.
"You can't take all this medicine at once." Chang Yu gestured seriously at Fatty Wang, his expression solemn.
"My master said this medicine must be taken in ten doses. Otherwise, you'll be overwhelmed by the surge of medicinal power and your body will explode."
"You wouldn't want to see yourself burst like an overinflated balloon, would you? Just one pop and you'd scatter everywhere."
"Is this stuff really that dangerous?" Fatty Wang eyed the pill in his hand with deep suspicion, half convinced Chang Yu was just being alarmist.
It was the first time he'd ever heard that taking too much medicine could make you explode like confetti.
However, following the principle that it's better to avoid trouble, Fatty Wang nodded in the end, agreeing to Chang Yu's suggestion.
"I'll grind it into powder with a file and take it in ten portions," he said.
"That's good." Seeing Fatty Wang so cooperative, Chang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now that I've delivered the medicine, I won't stay any longer." Chang Yu patted his thigh and stood up.
"Yangyang, we're leaving." He called to Yangyang, who was lying on the sofa watching TV.
"Stay a while longer, why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Fatty Wang tried enthusiastically to keep him, "It's your first time at my place, you should at least stay for dinner!"
"My wife will be home from work soon. I'll have her make you something delicious."
"I'll even bring out my prized Maotai liquor—tonight we'll drink to our hearts' content."
"Next time, it's really not a good day today," Chang Yu declined quickly, "I'll taste your wife's cooking next time."
Stay for dinner? What a joke!
Just thinking about how Fatty Wang was in the middle of a cold war with his wife, Chang Yu instinctively felt it was not the right time to stay for a meal.
A couple in a quarrel—best not to get involved.
"Alright, next time then. I won't insist," Fatty Wang said, also not in the mood for pleasantries.
"By the way, I never asked, whose child is this?" He glanced at Yangyang, curiosity in his voice.
"Oh… him?" Chang Yu turned his head guiltily, "He's the kid from a friend's family. Didn't I tell you before? The one who had a child before marriage after taking a spiritual elixir."
"So it's true? I thought you were just making up stories," Fatty Wang was taken aback, then laughed.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Chang Yu thought he caught a hint of relieved comfort in Fatty Wang's laugh.
Maybe that was the release of hope.
When they returned to the apartment building from Fatty Wang's place, it was already evening.
Since neither of them had eaten dinner, Chang Yu thought he might as well cook something simple to fill their stomachs.
Ever since leaving the orphanage, Chang Yu had often cooked for himself and had learned some basic skills.
Cooking a simple meal was no problem.
"We'll have fried noodle with soybean paste tonight," Chang Yu said, donning an apron and taking out a cucumber and a bag of bean paste from the fridge.
He cracked the eggs skillfully, whisked them, poured oil into the pan, and waited for it to heat up.
"You can cook?" Yangyang looked at him in disbelief, one hand gripping the wok, the other holding a large spoon.
"A bit," Chang Yu smiled. "Life was hard before—I couldn't afford takeout, so I had to cook for myself."
It was true; takeout was much more expensive than cooking at home.
In those days, Chang Yu couldn't afford it.
While talking, the oil was already hot, and he poured the egg mixture into the pan.
Perhaps because it was Yangyang's first time watching someone cook, he was quite fascinated by the process, standing on tiptoe beside Chang Yu, eyes wide and fixed on the pan.
Soon, as the eggs set, Chang Yu broke them up and scooped them into a bowl.
He washed the pan, dried it, added a bit more oil, then poured in the prepared bean paste, stir-frying it until golden before adding back the eggs and mixing everything together.
In no time, a fresh batch of fried sauce was ready.
He cut the washed cucumber and scallion into thin strips, arranged them on a plate, boiled some noodles, and put them into two large bowls.
Thus, under Yangyang's watchful eyes, two simple bowls of fried noodles were ready.
"Come, try it,"
Chang Yu poured sauce over Yangyang's bowl, added cucumber and scallion, mixed it, and handed it over.
"Slurp!"
Yangyang sat properly at the dining table, took the bowl and chopsticks, and immediately took a bite.
"Tasty?" Chang Yu asked with a smile, watching Yangyang eat.
It was his first time cooking for Yangyang, and he hoped for some praise.
"Well… not really," Yangyang replied honestly, "The sauce is a bit salty, the cucumber strips are too thick, and the noodles aren't chewy enough."
"It's already good enough to have food, your standards are pretty high!" Being nitpicked, especially by a child, stung Chang Yu's pride.
"I have a bold idea, but I don't know if I should say it," Yangyang said as he poked at his noodles.
"Let's hear it," Chang Yu replied with interest.
"In the future, we should just eat at the canteen—your cooking really can't compare to the chefs there." Yangyang said earnestly.
"Cut the nonsense and eat!" By now, Chang Yu's face had turned as black as charcoal.
After dinner, Yangyang plopped onto the sofa, picked up the remote, and acted like a little lord.
"I have to say, this thing you call a television is really nice."
"It not only shows all sorts of interesting programs, it's easy to use too."
"Back at Fatty Wang's, it only took me a minute to master it."
Saying this, Yangyang pressed the power button, and soon the big LCD screen lit up.
"You really are rude," Chang Yu scolded, "How can you call him Fatty Wang? You should call him Uncle Wang!"
"Alright, alright," Yangyang rolled his eyes and waved dismissively.
Soon after, Yangyang suddenly called out to Chang Yu, who was in the kitchen washing dishes, "Chang Yu, come here quickly!"
His expression was a mix of alarm, confusion, and disbelief.
"What is it?" Chang Yu put down the washed bowl, dried his hands, and walked into the living room.
"I think our TV is broken," Yangyang said anxiously.
"Impossible. Wang said all our appliances are brand new," Chang Yu answered, half believing, half doubting, as he approached the TV.
Having just moved in, Chang Yu hadn't tried the TV yet, so he wasn't sure if it worked.
The wide screen was filled with white static, like snow in a blizzard.
He flipped through several channels, but all he got was static.
He turned the set-top box off and on, but the screen remained unchanged.
"Maybe the cable bill hasn't been paid?" Chang Yu muttered uncertainly.
He'd seen this before—just pay the bill and the signal would return.
But he wasn't an electrician, so he couldn't be certain.
"Then go pay it!" Yangyang urged. "I still want to watch Pleasant Goat, Boonie Bears, and Armor Warriors!"
All cartoons, Chang Yu thought.
Even though Yangyang
claimed not to be a child,
one look at his TV preferences made it clear he was still very much a kid at heart.
Chang Yu scratched his head awkwardly, finally squeezing out, "I think we shouldn't pay it."
"Watching too much TV is bad for children's eyes. You'll end up nearsighted. I'm saying this for your own good, for your health."
A solid, convincing excuse, and one he'd heard many young mothers use on their kids.
It was the all-purpose reason in every household.
Of course, the real reason was that Chang Yu didn't want to spend several hundred yuan on cable.
Even though life was easier now, his old habit of penny-pinching hadn't changed.
After all, thrift is the key to managing a household.
"I'm a poria mushroom—how could I possibly get nearsighted?" Yangyang shot him a disdainful look, as if to say, "Are you stupid?"
"Precisely because you are a poria, you can't be nearsighted," Chang Yu reasoned seriously.
"Think about it—a poria who has cultivated for a thousand years, finally takes human form, only to go nearsighted from too much TV. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
"No, not embarrassing—disgracing the entire poria kind! As a senior in the poria world, aren't you afraid your juniors will laugh at you?"
"We cultivators have perfect eyesight. Nearsightedness doesn't exist for us," Yangyang puffed his cheeks in anger.
"Besides, if I really did get nearsighted, a spiritual elixir would fix it. You're just stingy—why bother with all these excuses?"
"Fine, since we've laid our cards on the table, I'll be honest," Chang Yu said, hands on hips, brazenly.
"I just don't want to pay a few hundred for cable. I won't do it—what can you do about it?"
"Chang Yu, you've changed!" In a fit of rage, Yangyang jumped off the sofa and rolled on the floor.
"You promised Katya you'd take responsibility for raising me."
"But look at you! Is this how you fulfill your promise? You two-faced man!"
"I'm your own flesh and blood, and this is how you treat me?"
"You heartless scoundrel! You deceived both me and Katya! I won't let you off today."
"Get up, the floor's cold!" Watching Yangyang roll around, Chang Yu couldn't help but feel both annoyed and amused.
"No, I won't," Yangyang cried out, his last act of defiance.
"If you don't get me cable TV, I won't get up. I'll sleep here tonight!"
Chang Yu never expected that Yangyang, who always pretended to be so mature, would actually throw a tantrum.
After a long standoff, Chang Yu's patience began to wear thin.
Parents these days, he thought, spoil their kids too much—giving them whatever they want.
He was determined not to be that kind of parent.
At least, he would never agree to every demand.
Yangyang already had a tendency to be bossy—if Chang Yu indulged him further, who knows what kind of trouble he'd get up to in a few days?
"Are you getting up or not?" Chang Yu frowned, issuing his final ultimatum.
It was time Yangyang learned who was really in charge here.
"I'm not getting up!" Yangyang replied resolutely.
"Fine, then stay on the floor. Don't even think of returning to bed tonight—you'll sleep there!"
With that stern warning, Chang Yu deliberately kept a straight face, ignored Yangyang, and walked straight back to his bedroom.