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"Sweetheart, no matter where you are, I will pray for you. I'm glad I've found a reason to go to church because my mood has improved, and I thank God for His words. I know I will move forward and do what the pastor advised me. You keep making a mess of your life, and I will continue to pray for you. I pray that your tire blows out at exactly 110 miles per hour, and I pray that you and your best friend get so drunk that when you wake up, you find tattoos of him and her on your back..."
This song, "Pray for You" by Jarn David Lensein, is known as the "Curse Song" or "The Best Breakup Song Ever," expressing the voice of men. However, if sung by a female artist, it could just as well express the voice of women. There are plenty of scumbags in this world, which has contributed to the widespread popularity of this song. Bai Tang also likes this song; after her boyfriend cut off contact with her when he returned home, she often sang it.
Bai Tang called Bai Dad to inform them that she would be taking care of the drunk Cao Xue that night and wouldn't be coming home, asking them to rest first. After Cao Xue finished crying, she fell asleep on the table, quietly easier to take care of than other drunk people. Bai Tang helped her to the hotel lobby and booked a standard double room for one night. The next day, after Cao Xue woke up, she returned to her usual cheerful self, saying it wasn't worth being sad over two jerks. Cao Xue wanted to pay Bai Tang back for the accommodation, but Bai Tang refused. After breakfast, Cao Xue returned to Provincial Capital, where she had many things to handle personally, such as resigning from her job and retrieving her belongings from the house she shared with her scumbag ex-boyfriend; she didn't want to give anything to him or his new girlfriend.
Bai Tang went home, took a shower to wash away the smell of alcohol, and then collapsed onto her bed for a deep sleep. The alcohol smell in her room had made it hard for her to sleep well the night before.
She slept until after four in the afternoon; winter nights come early, and outside it was already dim.
"Are you up? Hungry? I saved you two beef buns; heat them up in the microwave and eat them before your dad comes back for dinner." Bai Mom was sitting on the sofa watching TV. When she saw her daughter come out of her room, she quickly called her over to eat something. Her daughter had come home and gone straight to sleep without even having lunch.
Bai Tang rubbed her stomach; she wasn't actually hungry. She was now at the Nascent Soul stage of cultivation and could go a year without eating without feeling hungry. She only ate three meals because she got cravings. Right now, she wasn't hungry but felt touched by Bai Mom's concern. Bai Tang obediently heated up the buns in the microwave and sat down next to Bai Mom to eat while watching TV.
"Did Xi go out with Dad?"
"Yes, some of your dad's chess friends have grandchildren around Xi's age who can play with her." Bai Dad goes to the park every afternoon to play chess; almost all his chess friends bring their grandchildren along. While the adults play chess, the kids play on the swings, slides, and seesaws nearby, making Bai Dad envious. Now that he has a granddaughter, he couldn't wait to show her off.
"Xi is becoming more cheerful; she doesn't wake up startled at night anymore." Bai Tang was very pleased with Ai Wanxi's changes. "The palace is not a place for people."
"So we live in a good era," Bai Mom said cheerfully as her eyes caught a familiar face on TV. She exclaimed in surprise: "Tang Tang, that woman on TV looks just like you!"
Bai Tang looked up at those words and laughed; it wasn't just similar—it was her! It turned out that Sheng Qingxi's movie was about to be released, and they were airing a promotional clip on TV! In a one-and-a-half-minute trailer, Bai Tang's cameo appearance took up five seconds.
"That's me!"
"What? That's you?" Bai Mom was shocked and wanted to see more closely but unfortunately missed Bai Tang's scene as it had already passed.
"Is this movie the one Sheng Qingxi filmed in our City D?"
"Yes! I have a cameo as a cold palace queen."
"Our daughter is becoming a big star!" Bai Mom said with delight. "When the movie is released, our whole family will go watch it and support you!"
"It’s for Sheng Qingxi, I only appeared in one or two scenes, it’s completely just a cameo."
"Even a cameo made it to the big screen. Once the disc is out, I’ll buy a couple more to keep as collectibles." Bai Ma was getting more and more excited, as if her daughter was already a big star.
Bai Tang listened with a smile as Bai Ma spoke, not stopping her. After all, if Bai Tang really went to become a star, she wouldn’t be happy about it either. In Bai Dad and Bai Ma's minds, being an actor is both hard and insecure; only a few succeed, and the Entertainment Industry is too chaotic, so they wouldn’t want their daughter to enter it.
The phone rang, and Bai Ma automatically closed her mouth, not wanting to disturb Bai Tang while she answered the call.
"Sheng Qingxi?" This person really doesn’t know when to stop talking.
"What’s going on?" After seeing her daughter hang up, Bai Ma curiously asked.
"One of his buddies is renovating a courtyard house and wants to buy some antique furniture, asking if I have any." Bai Tang smiled, "His buddy saw the screen he bought and thought the craftsmanship was great, so he asked him to find me. The price isn’t an issue; he just wants the best. Hehe, I love this kind of wealthy client."
"Look at you grinning like a fox!" Bai Ma laughed as she poked her daughter’s forehead, "Is this a big deal?"
"Absolutely a big deal. You have to know that wood isn’t cheap these days; for example, Hainan Huanghuali costs several thousand yuan per kilogram. Just calculate how many kilograms of Hainan Huanghuali would be needed for a courtyard house's furniture?" Bai Tang laughed until her eyes squinted into slits, "In ancient times, although it would cost quite a bit of silver to furnish, it would definitely be cheaper than now. It’s a lucrative business!"
"Guess what! Are you going back to ancient times again? The festival is coming up."
"I'll go after the festival." Bai Tang said, "Tomorrow I'll accompany you to buy New Year goods."
"I'll roast the sunflower seeds for you." Bai Ma said.
Bai Tang quickly nodded; Bai Ma’s roasted sunflower seeds are exceptional. Raw seeds are soaked in saltwater first, then a pinch of tea leaves is added. After half an hour, they are boiled for forty-five minutes. Once done, they are drained and then microwaved for six minutes; that’s how you get them roasted. They taste fragrant and crispy with a hint of tea aroma—delicious!
The two mothers chatted while watching TV. After more than an hour passed, Wu Xuemei picked up Xing Xiaokang from school, and Bai Dad returned home with Ai Wanxi. The little one had just made a few new friends and was having so much fun that he was reluctant to leave when Bai Dad brought him home.
Dinner was simple—each person had a bowl of noodles with an egg on the side. Later on, Wu Xuemei didn’t look after the Online Store, instead joining the mother-daughter duo from the Bai Family to browse the New Year goods market. As soon as they entered through the main gate of the stadium, they were taken aback by the sea of people inside—crowded with people and vehicles, filled with shouts from vendors and bargaining voices; it was incredibly noisy. The three merged into the crowd, selecting goods from stall to stall. The market was divided into sections: food, daily necessities, clothing, accessories, entertainment items, offerings, fresh produce, raw items, cooked items—all had their own areas. There was even a special folk arts section selling sugar paintings, clay figurines, paper-cutting... attracting many more people than other sections—almost three times as many.
Before leaving home, Bai Ma had written down what they needed to buy on paper. After walking around for a bit, they had bought almost everything they needed—mostly food items along with a few couplets and good fortune characters. Bai Tang bought over ten pieces of paper-cutting art thinking about pasting them on the windows at home; although there are beautiful window decorations available now, Bai Tang always felt that using traditional paper-cuttings during the New Year adds more festive spirit.
After finishing their planned purchases for the New Year, the three of them casually strolled around, buying a few more items that caught their eye. After two rounds of wandering, they were tired, hungry, and thirsty. Bai Tang bought three cups of sugarcane juice and pulled Bai Ma and Wu Xue Mei to sit at a stall selling hot and sour noodles, where each had a bowl. The warm hot and sour noodles not only relieved their hunger but also eased their fatigue. The area was mostly filled with stalls selling grilled meat; for ten yuan, one could get six skewers of lamb. The aroma of cumin mixed with lamb wafted through the gymnasium, making people's mouths water. Ten yuan was not expensive, and those wandering the market would often buy six skewers to share among family members. Although Bai Tang was also tempted, she recalled reports on television about many lamb skewers being made from cheap duck meat dyed to look like lamb, which diminished her desire to eat them and also discouraged Bai Ma and Wu Xue Mei from buying some to take home for the kids.
"I remembered that there are many unscrupulous vendors online who use rat meat to pass off as lamb for grilled skewers," Wu Xue Mei said, as she spent most of her time online these days, browsing shops and reading news.
"Rat meat?" Bai Ma exclaimed in shock. "How could they be so unethical?"
"Mom, calm down!" Bai Tang tugged at her mother's sleeve. "That's just nonsense spread online. How big is a rat? Once you remove the bones, the meat is hardly bigger than a fingernail; how could it be made into skewers? Besides, rat meat isn't cheaper than lamb; no foolish boss would use rat meat for barbecues."
"Is that really true?"
"Of course," Bai Tang nodded.
"Then I can relax," Bai Ma sighed in relief; she had eaten quite a bit of grilled lamb skewers in the past.
Bai Tang smirked slightly. After finishing their hot and sour noodles, the three of them wandered around the market again, buying each child a box of fireworks and getting Bai Dad a pair of cotton shoes for home. They encountered a local selling candy, and Bai Ma quickly bought five pounds. The candy was made from fermented grains such as rice, barley, wheat, millet, or corn; it was not only sweet but also had medicinal value, capable of tonifying the middle and relieving urgent conditions, moistening the lungs and stopping coughs, detoxifying, treating spleen and stomach weakness, abdominal pain; as well as lung dryness coughs and sore throats. The candy was also used in kitchen rituals; during the kitchen god festival, applying candy to the mouth of the kitchen god would ensure good words were spoken about him.
"We used to eat this candy often; it's a pity it's so hard to find now," Bai Ma lamented.
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