Qiao Ying pointed out her own choices, looked up and saw Qiao Yi staring at her instead of looking at the menu. She turned her head and asked the waiter to bring Qiao Yi a Chinese menu.
"No need."
The stuff on it was expensively priced, Qiao Yi couldn't bring himself to order.
Qiao Ying didn't insist either, and handed the menu back to the waiter, "Bring me two servings of what I just ordered."
After the waiter left, Qiao Ying placed the newly purchased notebook on the table and opened it.
Qiao Yi wore expensive new clothes and shoes, sitting on a comfortable chair, in front of a huge glass table, under an exquisite large chandelier. He felt uncomfortable all over, not knowing what to do, so he tried to talk to Qiao Ying, "Sis... have you been to places like this for a meal before?"
"More or less."
She had been to either 7-star hotels or private French chefs. For a small place like Yun City, it was her first time at a starred hotel.
"So the stuff on the menu is in French? When did you learn French?"
"Self-taught, to kill time."
Qiao Ying was busy with something, Qiao Yi only saw her hands moving quickly on the keyboard, her pitch-black eyes were full of seriousness that he had never seen before, an indescribable aura of sharpness.
Qiao Yi curiously walked over.
When he saw her computer screen, he cried out in surprise, "What is this?"
He saw dense data on the screen, jumping around quickly as Qiao Ying's ten fingers flew on the keyboard. It was as if the data came alive. This scene reminded Qiao Yi of those cool and mysterious hackers in TV shows. He felt very novel.
Xue Ying, as the ace of the world's number one assassin organization, also had another identity that made her peers look up to her and made countless business tycoons and senior officials both amazed and afraid - the world's number one hacker, X.
In just two or three minutes, Qiao Ying created a security system, implanted tracking devices into her own computer and mobile phone, and set up firewalls.
Although Qiao Yi felt it was awesome, he was after all a layman who couldn't understand what this mass of data that looked like hieroglyphics was and how awesome it was.
Any insider would know that the security system she casually created was beyond what countless peers could achieve, and would fetch a sky-high price if sold to any company in need.
After Qiao Ying finished, she saw Qiao Yi staring at her screen intently beside her without blinking. She raised her eyebrows, "Interested?"
Qiao Yi blankly looked at her, and after a while, nodded in a daze, "Um."
Every boy probably had an admiring fascination for mysterious and awesome hackers.
"I can teach you if you want to learn."
"Really?"
"Um."
The waiter came in pushing a trolley.
Qiao Yi didn't know where to start with the strange-looking food placed on the table. He followed Qiao Ying's lead, holding a knife in one hand and a fork in the other.
Qiao Ying noticed and directly asked the waiter to bring chopsticks.
Waiter: "Shall I open the wine now?"
Qiao Ying had also ordered a bottle of red wine.
Qiao Ying: "Um."
After the wine was opened, she asked Qiao Yi, "Want some?"
Qiao Yi shook his head, watching Qiao Ying holding a tall wine glass, the swirling motion was the same as the aristocrats on TV.
Qiao Ying only took a sip before abandoning it.
It didn't seem to taste good.
Qiao Yi ate the food he had never eaten before, looking at Qiao Ying, his thoughts already wandering. Although this face and voice was his sister, how could there be such a big difference?
Sitting at the dining table calmly dining, Qiao Ying had an indescribable noble and aloof temperament that made people ignore her obese body. Qiao Yi knew the difference was that the current Qiao Ying had confidence and composure that she didn't have before.
When the bill came, Qiao Yi was so shocked by the numbers he heard that he accidentally knocked over the chopsticks on his plate.
How much?
Eighty-two thousand?
Insane!
Seeing Qiao Ying swipe her card to the waiter without any doubt, Qiao Yi hurriedly said, "How can it be so expensive? Is there a mistake?"
Although the food did look very expensive, and he didn't think it tasted good, although the location here was prosperous, the decor was luxurious, even the tableware exuded a sense of money, and the service was impeccable, it still shouldn't be so outrageously expensive, right?
Even with the nearly 100,000 RMB consumption previously, those were brand name shoes and clothes, he could bite the bullet and accept it.
But for food... Qiao Yi was at a loss.
Usually he was reluctant to even buy a 1.5 RMB meat bun, only willing to eat vegetarian fare.
Eighty-two thousand was enough to feed his family for three years.
This wasn't food, it was more expensive than gold.
"Our hotel's foie gras and black truffle are flown in from France, and the red wine is from Italy. Actually, it's mainly the red wine that's expensive." The waiter smiled and tallied the bill for Qiao Yi.
Qiao Yi: "How much?"
"Fifty thousand."
Fifty thousand for a bottle of wine? Qiao Yi's breathing stalled as he looked at the red wine that Qiao Ying only took a sip from and didn't touch again. He thought of the two-RMB-per-jin bulk Erguotou that his dad drank every day.
In a short morning, Qiao Yi's worldview had been refreshed repeatedly by Qiao Ying.
In his limited cognition, driving a car worth tens of thousands, living in a community with fountains, wearing clothes worth hundreds were what rich people did.
Only now did he realize that compared to luxury, being rich was not even the same level.
From leaving the hotel to getting into the taxi, Qiao Yi was preoccupied. Suddenly, he remembered something sharply.
Qiao Ying's elegant eyebrows quirked as she looked at the flustered Qiao Yi.
"It's nothing." Qiao Yi shook his head.
He looked calm on the surface, but was bleeding inside.
He remembered the goose liver and caviar that he only ate two bites of because he didn't like the texture. He had just heard the price and was stunned by it, completely forgetting to take it home!
If he had known the food was so expensive, he would have swallowed it even if he had to force it down.
And that bottle of red wine, just thinking about it made him feel breathless.
"This is just too wasteful." Qiao Yi still couldn't help it.
Just as Qiao Yi couldn't understand Qiao Ying's spending, Qiao Ying, who was used to splurging, also couldn't quite understand Qiao Yi's exaggeration.
Take that bottle of red wine for example. If not for keeping the money at hand for a purpose, even using a 50,000 bottle for mouthwash would be too coarse for her.
"Get used to it early." Was all Qiao Ying said.
Qiao Yi didn't really understand.
What did she mean? That there would often be such terrifying consumption in the future?
Qiao's father worked at construction sites, eating fast food at the site for lunch. Qiao's mother worked in a factory, also eating at the factory.
Qiao Lingling was probably out playing with classmates.
When the siblings got home, no one else was at home. The two went back to their own rooms.
Qiao Ying took out her phone and dialed a number.
Subsequently, the largest traditional Chinese medicine store in Capital City received the call.
The young apprentice with little seniority heard the other party asking for Old Ming, and immediately went to the tea room to call him out.
Old Ming took the call, and was a little surprised when he heard what the other party wanted.
"How do you know I have it here? Listening to your voice, you're just a kid in your teens."
"A friend recommended it."
"Which friend?"
"Can't reveal for now. I'll transfer the deposit to your account soon. I'll come to Capital City myself in half a month to collect it. I might be in the mood then to answer your questions."
"Quite arrogant for one so young."
Qiao Ying didn't say any more to him and hung up the phone.
Then she transferred 700,000 to the other party's designated account.
As 700,000 left the account, the balance returned to pre-liberation levels.
Qiao Ying didn't dwell on money matters either.
Feeling a little tired after the morning's shopping, she wanted to rest briefly, but unexpectedly fell asleep after lying in bed and actually dreamed of the lightless days imprisoned in the underground lab in Nanyang.
The inhumane experiments, the organization's exploitation and deception, betrayal and abandonment, and finally the bomb she detonated with her own hands...
Qiao Ying was woken up by Qiao Lingling's shrill voice.
Qiao's father was working at the construction site, eating fast food there for lunch. Qiao's mother worked in a factory, also eating there.
When the siblings got home, no one else was home. The two went back to their own rooms.
