Chapter 13: Unwilling to believe

Unwilling to believe it, she immediately turned and left.

"What did Song Chunhua mean by the last sentence?"

Grandma Yang glanced at the speaker and explained, "Yesterday, our group only topped up ten yuan. If Song Chunhua hadn't been behind me in line and I hadn't borrowed money from her, how do you think I managed to get those seven dishes back?"

Hearing this, the team members' smiles faltered.

They had indeed underestimated Xiaoxiao yesterday; they hadn't expected her cooking skills to be so outstanding. Today, she had truly surprised them.

Luckily, they hadn't said anything yesterday, only been a little cautious.

After saying this, Yang Xiumei was about to get up to go upstairs to top up her account when her swollen belly pressed her back down.

The sudden movement made her cheeks flush, and she suggested softly, "How about we sit for a while before getting the cards? Xiaojun and Xiaoxiao should be taking their afternoon nap."

"In that case, Captain, let's come back this afternoon. The food was so delicious, I feel like I can barely keep my eyes open, I want to rest."

Upon hearing this, the other team members nodded in agreement.

People want to sleep after a good meal, especially since it was almost lunchtime.

Seeing this, Yang Xiumei didn't feel comfortable saying anything.

The group rested in the cafeteria for a while until their stomach bloating subsided before heading home to happily begin their afternoon nap.

During this time, the entire area seemed to have fallen asleep, and only around three o'clock did a few sounds begin to emerge.

Grandpa Wang Aiguo stood by the window, looking curiously at the activity square in front of the community.

He thought: If it were before, at this time, countless people would be exercising down there, or gossiping about others, chattering away noisily.

But he couldn't see a single familiar face. Could something big have happened in the neighborhood that he didn't know about?

He quickly put on his glasses, took out his phone, and awkwardly started using it to check if he had missed any messages in the group chat.

But he couldn't find any new activity in the neighborhood, and a distinct frown appeared on his forehead.

Puzzled, he turned off his phone and craned his neck to look downstairs again, but still nothing much happened.

At this moment, he felt like ants were crawling on his heart; he figured he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight until he figured out the reason.

Finally, Grandpa Wang couldn't resist anymore. He sent a WeChat message to call someone, grabbed his chess set, and headed downstairs.

As he passed his neighbor and friend Grandpa Liu's house, he furtively pressed his ear to the door, trying to hear if there was any noise.

He stood there until his legs ached, but there was still no sound from inside.

Now he really had no choice but to go downstairs, looking back every few steps.

He had barely sat down when his chess partner arrived.

"You're here."

"Hey, why did you call me today? Did you find out that my chess skills are still comparable to yours in the neighborhood?"

Old Master Tang asked curiously.

Hearing this, Old Master Wang felt a lump in his throat and almost blurted out his disapproval.

Who didn't know that Tang Wenhua from Hengsheng Residential Area was a terrible chess player?

Anyone who could play against him would avoid him.

If he hadn't wanted to gather information, Wang Aiguo would never have been sitting here.

He didn't choose to answer the other party's question directly and started playing chess, saying,

"Let's begin."

Tang Wenhua didn't mind and happily started playing chess.

He didn't care about anything else, as long as someone was willing to play chess with him and improve his skills, that was enough.

After making a few moves, Wang Aiguo couldn't help but ask, "Why are there so few people here today? I don't see many familiar faces. Could something have happened?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Wenhua immediately turned his head to look around, his doubts deepening with each look.

"You know what, it's one thing that the Liu couple weren't here, but the model team from the neighborhood wasn't here either. You know, they train rain or shine, every single day. My husband wanted to go in for ages but didn't, it's really strange."

"You think so too, right?"

Hearing someone share his thoughts, Old Master Wang felt a surge of joy, like finding a kindred spirit.

But the smile vanished almost instantly.

"However, nothing bad should have happened. I saw them practicing Tai Chi this morning, and they were still there when I went back for lunch. They're probably resting this afternoon."

"That's possible."

Next, Old Master Wang tried to focus entirely on the chess game.

But as time passed, the frown lines on his forehead deepened. He suddenly realized that coming out to play chess with Tang Wenhua to gather information was even more unbearable than staying home curious.

This chess game was simply unbearable!

In order to end his suffering more quickly, he even revealed a weakness and chose to lose the game.

"Hahahaha! I won! I won! I let you win, Lao Wang!"

The moment the chess piece fell, deciding the outcome, Tang Wenhua could no longer contain his excitement and shouted loudly.

Instantly, everyone in the activity square turned to look in their direction.

The intense gazes almost melted Wang Aiguo; for a moment, he couldn't tell whether he felt uncomfortable continuing to play with Tang Wenhua or being stared at after deliberately losing.

"Slap!"

Just as he was still lost in his emotions, someone patted his shoulder heavily.

"Lao Wang, you actually lost to that kid Wenhua."

The familiar voice startled Wang Aiguo from his thoughts. He quickly looked up and saw the person he had been waiting for.

Forgetting about feeling uncomfortable, he looked at Liu Jianguo curiously and asked, "Where have you been all afternoon? I haven't seen you at all.

As for playing chess, do you see any of your usual chess friends around here?"

Hearing this, Liu Jianguo looked around and realized that none of their usual group of friends were there.

After a moment's thought, he understood the reason. Everyone else, like him, must have eaten and slept well.

If he weren't worried about sleeping too long during the afternoon nap and not sleeping well at night, he wouldn't want to get up yet.

So, he revealed the real reason.

He looked up and saw his friend staring at him with an expression that said, "You think I'm stupid?"

Liu Jianguo immediately panicked. Xiao Xiao's cooking skills weren't just exaggerated; they were genuinely excellent.

The last time he'd eaten something this delicious was at the canteen run by Brother Qu.

Therefore, he couldn't tolerate his friend's misunderstanding of the community canteen and continued to explain.

“You old man, you’re so stubborn. I told you, but you wouldn’t believe me. I wasn’t the only one who ate at the community canteen today. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the others. Besides, I wasn’t the only one who was late because we were all full.

Hey, look! Yang Meizi is here.”

Yang Xiumei heard someone mention her and immediately looked in the direction of the voice, finding Liu Jianguo and Wang Aiguo leading their team members closer.

As soon as Liu Jianguo and the others got closer, he urged,

“Sister, do you think you’re late today because you ate too much at the community canteen at noon and overslept?”

Yang Xiumei didn’t expect Liu Jianguo to ask her such an embarrassing question and immediately regretted approaching. She should have walked to the community canteen from the other side to top up her meal card.

But under Wang Aiguo’s eagle-like eyes, she couldn’t remain silent and nodded to indicate that he was right.

In an instant, a victorious smile bloomed on Liu Jianguo’s face as he turned to look at his friend who didn’t believe him with disdain.

Even so, Wang Aiguo remained unconvinced, confidently stating, "Even if you're just trying to trick others into going to the community canteen, you can't lie like this.

I checked it out a long time ago; there's only one greenhorn girl there. Who knows, I might even be a better cook than her."

These words struck everyone like a thunderclap, and no one could resist refuting them.

"Old Wang, don't look down on others just because you have a narrow perspective. Who says young people can't cook well? Xiaoxiao from the community canteen is one of them."

"Exactly! We were so full at lunch today that we couldn't move. That's much more true than what you're saying."

"Besides, we've already asked around, and Xiaoxiao is currently the only one in charge of the community canteen. Isn't that young lady's culinary skills outstanding?"

"Especially the braised pork Xiaoxiao made at lunch today—it was so delicious, we couldn't get enough of it."

"If you don't want to believe it, then don't go. Anyway, we're rushing to the community canteen to top up our credit cards, so we're going to eat our fill later."

The model team members, seeing Wang Aiguo's stubbornness, had no intention of trying to persuade him.

"Maybe he won't want to go, and they'll have one less competitor and get to eat more delicious food."

With that, she left from either side.

Liu Jianguo, however, noticed something else in her words and asked suspiciously, "When did you see Xiaoxiao? Did you secretly watch us eat today?"

He immediately realized something was wrong.

If his friend had secretly watched at noon, he couldn't have missed seeing them eating so heartily.

They all looked like they hadn't eaten in ages; the food must have been delicious.

So when did his friend see Xiaoxiao?

He was very curious.

But Wang Aiguo obviously couldn't reveal that he had been staking out the community entrance, sweating profusely and looking disheveled.

He just kept a stiff face and remained silent, but his eyes revealed his distrust of the cafeteria.

Grandma Song was truly impatient now. She grabbed her husband's arm and headed towards the community entrance, saying as they walked, "That old Wang is like a rock in a latrine—stinky and stubborn. He won't listen to us and just go to the community canteen.

If I hadn't seen an old man cooking alone at home, I wouldn't have bothered trying to persuade him.

Yang Xiumei and the others have already gone to top up their cards; we should hurry and catch up. You don't want to want to eat more this afternoon and find your card empty, do you?"

"Yes, yes, Chunhua, you're right. We'll go top up our cards first."

These words grew softer and softer, as if dissipating in the spring breeze, but they all reached Wang Aiguo's ears.

He couldn't help but turn back to watch his friends and their spouses leave, feeling relaxed and happy.

He thought: Could it be that I really underestimated them? Had I misunderstood the young woman?

But to believe that a young woman was already a head chef was a difficult decision.

He hadn't quite believed it when Tang Wenhua across from him, as if he'd heard some big news, laughed so hard his eyes were almost closed, muttering to himself, "How could I, Tang Wenhua, not know such big news?

Hey! Brother Wang, why don't you go check out the community canteen? I'm thinking of joining in the fun. If you're not going, I'll call my family."