It's Not a Serious Illness

Su Yang glanced at the road ahead and replied, "I haven’t contacted her yet. She’s probably at work. I mentioned it to her when I ran into her yesterday."

"Oh, alright then. I’ll message her later. Let’s go grocery shopping first."

"By the way, what kind of car is this again? It’s way more comfortable than the ones you had before."

"You don’t recognize a Maybach?"

"Nope." Zhao Mengrou shook her head.

"Surely you know Mercedes, right?" Su Yang pointed at the three-pointed star emblem on the steering wheel.

Zhao Mengrou nodded. "Yeah, of course. Everyone knows Mercedes. Is this an E300?"

Su Yang: "......"

"A bit fancier than an E300."

"Mercedes S-Class?"

"Well... technically, yes. You really need to brush up on your car knowledge."

"Why should I? It’s not like I can afford one. My budget for a car is around 300,000 yuan. This one must cost over a million, right?" Zhao Mengrou asked while running her fingers over the interior details.

Su Yang thought for a moment. "Four or five million."

Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely sure about the exact real-world price of the car—whether it was four or five million.

"Four... forget I asked."

"I genuinely don’t understand the world of rich people. Money seems like paper to you—dropping millions on a car without a second thought."

Su Yang chuckled but didn’t respond.

About ten minutes later, the two arrived at the underground parking lot of a large chain supermarket.

After parking, they walked inside.

This was the same supermarket where Su Yang had first bought Moutai. It was packed with endless varieties of goods—almost anything one could imagine, and even things one couldn’t.

Su Yang grabbed a shopping cart at the entrance, and the two slowly made their way inside.

"Get whatever you want. Don’t hold back on my account."

Zhao Mengrou’s eyes sparkled mischievously. "Really? Anything I want?"

"Why would I lie?"

"Then I’m getting my own cart." Without hesitation, Zhao Mengrou turned and dashed back to grab another cart.

Su Yang shook his head with a smile. Zhao Mengrou gave off the vibe of a carefree teenager—innocent and straightforward.

Each pushing their own cart, they began browsing the aisles.

When they reached the liquor section, Su Yang thought to himself, ‘I’m visiting Lu Yun’s place tomorrow. Might as well bring a case of Moutai for the first meeting.’

Noticing his pause, Zhao Mengrou asked, "You’re buying liquor? I don’t drink baijiu, just so you know!"

"Who said it’s for drinking? It’s a gift."

"Oh? For who? A man or a woman?" Zhao Mengrou’s gossipy side emerged as she leaned in with a grin.

Su Yang didn’t hide it. "A woman. A high school classmate."

"Huh? You’re buying baijiu... for a girl?"

"Not for her. For her dad. He’s sick. I’m visiting their place tomorrow."

"Ohhh, I see. But if he’s sick, why buy liquor? What kind of logic is that?"

"It’s a traditional Chinese custom. When visiting someone, you bring cigarettes, alcohol, or tea."

"What’s his illness? You don’t want to make it worse with alcohol."

"Nothing too serious. Just late-stage liver cancer."

"Liver—"

"Wait, what? Did you say that wrong, or did I hear wrong? Late-stage liver cancer?!" Zhao Mengrou’s eyes widened in shock.

"Uh..."

Su Yang froze. ‘Shit, that slipped out. Damn it.’

"No, no, I misspoke. That’s not it. I mixed it up, haha," he quickly corrected.

"You scared me! I thought you were insane—bringing baijiu to someone with late-stage liver cancer? That’s practically a death wish."

Su Yang scratched his head sheepishly. "My bad. Wrong illness. It’s not that serious."

"That’s better. Whatever, not my business. Go buy your stuff. I’ll look around." With that, Zhao Mengrou walked off.

Once she was gone, Su Yang exhaled in relief. ‘Phew, dodged that one.’

‘But her dad’s condition will be cured tomorrow anyway. Bringing a case of baijiu isn’t a problem. I’ll give it to him after he’s healed.’

With that thought, he entered the liquor section. The same attendant as before wheeled over a case of Moutai and loaded it into his cart.

"Sir, you’re getting a good deal buying it here, right?"

"Yeah, not bad. As long as it’s not fake, I’ll keep coming back." After a brief exchange, Su Yang pushed his cart away.

Next, he stopped by the tobacco section, where shelves were lined with premium cigarette brands.

‘No idea if her dad smokes. Whatever, I’ll grab two packs.’

"Excuse me, two packs of Hetianxia, please," Su Yang called to a middle-aged female attendant nearby.

"Two packs?" she confirmed as she approached.

"Yes."

"Coming right up."

Two minutes later, Su Yang resumed shopping. Now that he had alcohol and cigarettes, tea was the next item.

After wandering a bit, he reached the tea section and swiftly picked up two boxes of Golden Junmei, priced at 4,500 yuan per pound.

"That should be enough for a first visit. Not sure what else to get. Maybe Zhao Mengrou knows better."

He turned to look for her, but the supermarket was massive and crowded. Zhao Mengrou was nowhere in sight.

Pulling out his phone, Su Yang dialed her number.

After a few rings, she answered.

"Hey, you done shopping?"

"Not yet. I wanted to ask—aside from cigarettes, alcohol, and tea, is there anything else I should get? You probably know more about this than I do."

Zhao Mengrou pondered for a moment. "You’re bringing a whole case of Moutai. What else could you possibly need?"

"It’s my first time visiting. I don’t want to seem cheap."

Over the phone, Zhao Mengrou rolled her eyes. "Fine. Get some milk, fruit, and nutritional supplements. Since your classmate’s dad is sick, those would make sense."

Su Yang nodded. "Good idea. Meet me in the fresh produce section later."

After hanging up, he grabbed two cartons of milk, a box of cherries, a box of ginseng, and a box of deer antler.

His own cart was now full, even though he hadn’t bought anything for himself yet.

"Alright, this should do it. I’ll drop these off in the car first, then come back for groceries."

After paying at the checkout, he loaded everything into the trunk and returned to the supermarket.

[Ding! Host’s shopping spree detected. Mood: delighted. Reward: 800,000 yuan.]

Ignoring the system notification, Su Yang hadn’t gone far when he spotted Zhao Mengrou lazily pushing her cart from behind a shelf.

"Mengrou!"

He walked over and peeked into her cart—a box of black coffee, a crate of Sunshine Roses grapes, and a case of Oriental Leaf jasmine tea.

Su Yang laughed. "This is all you got after all that time?"

Zhao Mengrou smiled softly. "I didn’t want to take too much. Honestly, even this feels like a lot."

Su Yang rubbed his forehead in amusement. "I told you to get whatever you want. Does this even add up to 100 yuan?"

"Probably over."

"Wow, I thought you wouldn’t hold back with me. Didn’t expect you to be so shy."

Zhao Mengrou stuck out her tongue with a sweet smile. "I don’t really need anything. Let’s go grocery shopping."

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Man isn’t working today. She’s coming to meet us at the supermarket now."

"OK, then let’s take our time browsing while we wait for her."

......