Chapter 130
Veronica turned to look at Matthew with a meaningful look in her eyes. She lied, “I don’t know about that. Why don’t you call him and ask him where he is instead?”
Elizabeth sounded amiable. “Sigh, alright, alright. As for you, when will you be free to keep me company, young lady? It’s been a month since you saved me last time, yet I only got to meet you the day before yesterday. What makes you so busy every day?”
“In that case, I’ll go keep you company tonight, okay?”
“Okay, okay! It’s settled then.”
“Uh-huh. See you tonight, Grandma.” When Veronica hung up, she only felt that Elizabeth was somewhat strange today.
Noticing that something was wrong with Veronica’s expression, Matthew asked, “What’s wrong?”
Veronica shook her head without speaking while quietly waiting for Elizabeth to call Matthew. However, after waiting for a while, she didn’t see Matthew getting a phone call from Elizabeth. Didn‘t she say she was looking for Matthew? Why didn‘t she contact him? She couldn’t help but ask, “Uh, is your phone’s battery still good?” Elizabeth was supposed to have called Matthew if his phone hadn’t run out of juice.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Oh…” Veronica hung her head slightly and was deep in thought. Suddenly, she recalled something and asked, “When is Grandma’s birthday?”
“A month and six days later.”
“Which means, August 24.”
Veronica estimated the time according to the date Matthew had just given her. Then, she recalled Elizabeth telling her that she would be celebrating her birthday in two months when she saved Elizabeth last time. If the date Elizabeth had told her was
correct, it would be Elizabeth’s birthday in a few days’ time. However, Matthew said that her birthday was a month later, and the Kings Family hadn’t done anything to prepare for her birthday either. So does it mean that Grandma said the wrong thing last time? Also, when I went to the Kings Residence the day before yesterday, Grandma said we hadn‘t met for a month as soon as she saw me. But in reality, we‘ve not seen each other for over 527 weeks since I saved her. Furthermore, Lily has passed away for ten years, so why did she
suddenly bring this up just now?
Sensing that something was wrong with the look on Veronica’s face, Matthew asked her, “What are you thinking about?”
“I feel that…” Veronica hesitated for a moment. However, seeing how serious Matthew looked with his eyes full of worry, she said, “Never mind, it’s nothing. Grandma was looking for you just now, so call her.” She couldn’t make wild guesses on something before there was evidence. I‘d better spend more time with Grandma these days and observe her to determine whether she‘s alright.
Matthew then called Elizabeth. She seemed to be alright; after exchanging a few pleasantries with him, she hung up. When the car slowly reached the downtown area, Matthew suddenly asked, “What are you going to treat me to?”
Veronica thought for a moment. After looking at the breakfast shop on the roadside, she said to Thomas, “Mr. Ritter, could you pull over to the side of the road for a moment?”
“Oh, okay, Miss Murphy,” Thomas replied, before turning the steering wheel and pulling over to the side of the road.
“Wait for me in the car while I buy it for you,” Veronica said to Matthew. Then, she opened the car door and went directly to the breakfast shop on the other side of the road.
A few minutes later, the woman carefully crossed the road while carrying the breakfast bags. After getting back into the car, she closed the car door. “Here’s your breakfast.” She handed a serving of breakfast to Matthew before handing another to Thomas. “You must be tired too, Mr. Ritter. Have some breakfast.”
Taking the breakfast bag, Matthew looked at the egg in the white transparent plastic bag. The egg was already peeled, and its surface was covered in brown marble-like patterns. Aside from the egg, there was also a cup of soy milk. He frowned slightly with a hint of disgust in his dark eyes, asking, “Is this what you call ‘breakfast’?”
“Yeah. What’s the problem? The tea egg costs a buck, and the soy milk costs two bucks. I even bought a tea egg for Mr. Ritter. I’ve bought four dollars’ worth of breakfast for you both, which is good enough.” Veronica shot a glance at Matthew before lowering her head to eat the tea egg in her hand. Her heart aching terribly, she muttered, “Life isn’t easy, and it’s difficult to make money. Even a breakfast costs seven bucks. It’s so distressing.”
Thomas’ lips twitched as he sat in the driver’s seat while looking at the tea egg in the
plastic bag. When he looked up at Matthew, who was sitting in the back seat, through the rearview mirror, he saw the latter looking down at the tea egg for a long time without laying a hand’ on it. “Young Master Matthew, we’ll arrive at One Piece Restaurant if we turn the corner ahead of us. Do you want to have breakfast there?” Having worked for Matthew for a dozen years, he knew very well that Matthew never ate street foods and found them unhygienic and lacking in nutritional value, so he suggested that they go to One Piece Restaurant instead.
“What? We’re going to One Piece Restaurant?” Veronica’s eyes lit up, and she immediately snatched away the breakfast that Matthew had stared at for a long time. “If you had said earlier that we’re going to have breakfast at One Piece Restaurant, I wouldn’t have had to treat you to breakfast. You don’t like this breakfast, anyway, so let me keep it for breakfast tomorrow.”
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Matthew was used to eating all kinds of exotic food and different styles of breakfasts that were rich in nutrition. However, he never ate street foods like these. Despite his inner aversion, he stretched out his hand and took back the tea egg and the soy milk. “It’s good to eat something different,” he said.
Then, he opened the plastic bag, took a bite of the tea egg, and chewed it slowly.
Surprisingly, the salty egg, which was flavored with spices, smelled even more appetizing and tasted even better than the tasteless boiled eggs that he usually ate.
Upon watching Matthew take a bite and savor the taste, Veronica couldn’t help being curious. “How is it? Does it taste good?”
Matthew lowered his head and took another bite. After chewing it well, he slowly swallowed it and replied, “It’s special.”
“What do you mean by ‘special? It’s more delicious than boiled eggs, of course. Rich people like you prefer to have ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, which are boring and high in sugar. No wonder you know how to make porridge. You must’ve been tired of eating sandwiches for breakfast.”
Even though Matthew had enjoyed a privileged life since childhood by eating French, Italian, or Japanese cuisine made by top chefs, these cuisines weren’t as diverse as traditional cuisine. Street foods might not be hygienic, but people ate all kinds of foods, so he wasn’t too worried about this.
“Meals will be charged from tomorrow onward,” said Matthew while drinking soy milk after finishing the tea egg in his hand.
Eating the tea egg, Veronica paused, instantly feeling that the tea egg in her hand didn’t smell appetizing anymore. Knitting her brows, she asked in displeasure with a
sier expression, “Why Didn’t you guys agree to not charge me money? Why the vudden change of mind?”
let me correct you that I said, ‘it all depends on how you perform.” There was a barely percepuble smile on the man’s clearly-defined face. Matthew had indeed said to Veronica that he wouldn’t charge her for the porridge if she stayed in his apartment, but the point was that it all depended on her performance. In other words, the right to interpret belonged to Matthew.
“Ain’t I performing well by treating you to breakfast? What’s wrong with buying you breakfast?”
“Do you think three bucks’ worth of breakfast is good?”
“It’s better than having nothing to eat for breakfast, anyway.” Veronica was peeved. Just look at what kind of a person he is! It‘s good enough that I gave him something to eat, yet he isn‘t grateful for that. Not only that, but he even frowned at it! Feeling incredibly displeased, she said, “Fine if you don’t wanna eat. Nobody’s forcing you to eat it anyway. If you hate it so much, then throw it up!”
Thomas, who was eating the tea egg in the driver’s seat, was chewing the egg yolk when Veronica’s words amused him. Instantly, he swallowed the egg yolk, which got stuck in his throat and caused him to choke until he was somewhat out of breath. “Pfift! Cough.. Mmph…”
