Bai Xiaobin, in the act of photographing the dogs, was startled to realize that the two dogs were baring their teeth at him in the darkness. However, the moment he heard Yan Fei call out "Brother Xiaobin" and mention that from then on they would be one family, he was so delighted he could not find his bearings, "Mmm-hmm, you’re right, it’s not worth it to buy a car if it’s not going to be used much, and then there’s the money spent on maintenance. Speaking of which, you raise cattle at home, do they all end up as beef jerky?"
It was only during the meal that Bai Xiaobin learned that the beef jerky Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan had brought with them that morning was produced by their own family, prompting his question—the main reason being that Bai Xiaobin had felt somewhat dwarfed by the house during the meal and hadn’t asked much about it.
"We also sell fresh beef; what doesn’t sell gets made into beef jerky. We’ve only just started selling the beef jerky. Currently, there are only two stores in Provincial City selling it; we secured the contracts at a trade fair not long ago and have just started supplying them. The brand isn’t very well-known yet, so you probably haven’t heard of it," Yan Fei said with a smile.
"Oh!" Bai Xiaobin responded, then enthusiastically offered some advice. "Actually, if you raise the cows well, selling fresh beef can be more profitable than beef jerky. Do you know about the Western restaurant in Provincial City that sells beefsteaks? Everything there is quite expensive; a decent portion of beef costs dozens of dollars, much more expensive than a pack of beef jerky. If you could supply beef to such high-end restaurants, you wouldn’t need to sell beef jerky at all—just selling beef would make you rich."
Well, this guy had gone out to make a phone call and it had lit up his boastful nature. The underlying message of his words was clearly to show off how worldly and knowledgeable he was, even knowing about a beefsteak costing dozens of dollars!
Luckily, Yan Fei was very composed and simply responded with a smile, "Mmm-hmm, I’ll look into that when I get back..."
Watching the two men converse, the three sisters couldn’t help but feel there was a stark difference in calibre between goods. Bai Xiaobin, after all, was a man in his twenties who was studying for a graduate degree, while Yan Fei was a high school student. To outsiders, it seemed as though their roles should have been reversed. At the very least, if one were to only listen to their conversation, one would definitely assume that Yan Fei was the older and more educated of the two.
After a long conversation, they heard the rhythmic sound of a car horn from outside a few times. Bai Xiaobin stood up, "Xiao Fei, you guys sit tight, I’ll go see if that’s my friend arriving!"
The moment he left, Xu Yue jumped up and whispered angrily at her elder sister, "Are you even my real sister? You almost twisted my arm off. I’m going to check if it’s turned purple; you’re so cruel!"
With that, she ran toward the light at the room’s entrance, while Xu Xiaoyan burst into laughter behind her, and the eldest sister snapped fiercely, "Serves you right, could you die from not talking?"
During Bai Xiaobin and Yan Fei’s conversation, Xu Yue had been interrupted by her elder sister’s pinching and twisting every time she tried to interject. It was obvious to everyone that she had nothing good to say. Not to mention, the most expensive beef in Provincial City was supplied by Yan Fei, which they all knew.
Furthermore, they were aware that Yan Fei was supplying them with beef out of consideration for past relations and that he wasn’t too keen on it since the prices were much lower than what he got for supplying to Hong Kong.
If Xu Yue had brought that up, Bai Xiaobin would have definitely had trouble sleeping tonight. Although he had been a bit pretentious throughout the day, he had spared no effort to flatter them, not hesitating to spend money and run errands.
Now that they had already given him a good knockdown, they had barely restored some of his confidence, so why repeatedly crush his pride by dragging it through the mud? After all, the guy was naive and simple, but he wasn’t malicious, right?
"Xiao Fei has really grown up!" Xu Laoda finished with Xu Yue and then complimented Yan Fei.
Yan Fei’s performance had been impeccable that evening, making Laoda proud, especially in how he repeatedly ignored Xu Yue’s provocations, much to Xu Laoda’s satisfaction.
Yan Fei chuckled, and on the other side, Xu Xiaoyan was also giggling.
Watching the two of them in perfect harmony, Xu Laoda was about to speak when Xu Yue suddenly yelled, "Xu Niuer, I swear we have an irreconcilable difference! Look, my arm is all red!"
Finally breaking into laughter, Xu Xiaoyan couldn’t hold back any longer.
Xu Yue shouted, "Laosan, you treacherous girl, I didn’t expect you to turn on me too, watch out..."
Before she could finish, Bai Xiaobin came running back, all excited, "My friend’s car has arrived, shall we get going?"
"I’m not going!" Xu Yue announced solemnly. "Tonight, I’m staying behind to have a heart-to-heart with Laosan. You two go ahead!"
"Are you really not leaving?" Laoda was taken aback.
"Could it be fake?" Xu Yue said, still huffing. She then turned and called out to Xu Xiaoyan. "Laosan, come here and tell me, will I have a place to stay if I remain here?"
"Yes, yes, of course, you can stay wherever you like; there’s plenty of space. If you want, I can even stay upstairs with you!" Xu Xiaoyan happily agreed.
"Then I’ll leave you to it. We’re heading out!" Laoda no longer cared to deal with her crazy sister. "Xiao Fei, don’t bother seeing us out; just lock up and get some rest. We’ll wait for you at home tomorrow!"
They had already planned to hang out together the next day.
"Go ahead, go ahead, I’ll lock up!" Xu Yue pushed her older sister out the door, still muttering, "Hmph, some people prioritize the opposite sex over their own family..."