Sizzle—!

The rich aroma of grilled beef filled the night air as smoke rose from the outdoor barbecue stall.

Benny stood beside the grill, watching uncle Shen flipping strips of beef asked,

"Uncle Shen, how’s business been lately?"

Uncle Shen let out a long sigh and shook his head.

"Ahh, son... business has been terrible lately. All these new fancy restaurants are stealing customers from old stalls like mine."

He suddenly grinned and pointed at Benny with the tongs. "Why don’t you come support your uncle every day instead?"

Benny chuckled softly.

Before he could reply, a woman walked over and smacked Uncle Shen lightly on the shoulder.

"Stop trying to guilt the boy," she scolded before turning to Benny with a warm smile. "Ignore him, Benny. We’re doing just fine. Our meat is still the best in town after all."

She laughed proudly.

"I agree," Benny said with a grin. "Nothing beats eating beef at your stall, Uncle Shen. Honestly, if I wasn’t a student, I’d come here to eat every day."

He leaned slightly closer, taking in the mouthwatering smell with satisfaction.

At that moment, a voice suddenly called out from nearby.

"Uncle Shen! Aunty Luo!"

Neo walked toward the stall with a grin on his face.

The couple immediately brightened.

"Neo!" they greeted warmly at the same time.

"How are your parents?" Aunty Luo asked warmly as Neo sat down beside Benny.

Neo nodded with a small smile. "They’re doing well. Just the usual, busy."

"Haha, good, good!" Uncle Shen laughed loudly as he fanned the grill. "Then you should eat more beef tonight. I’m still very thankful you helped us with the rent last time."

Benny blinked in surprise.

"You helped them with the rent?"

He had never heard Neo mention something like that before.

In fact, even in the distant future, Neo had never once talked about it.

Everyone naturally assumed Uncle Shen and Aunty Luo were doing well financially. After all, their barbecue stall had been around for years.

This was the place everyone gathered whenever something happened... or even when nothing happened at all.

Neo rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Ah... yeah. Uncle, Aunty, I told you two not to bring that up in front of my friends."

"Ah—right, right!" Uncle Shen immediately looked apologetic. "Sorry, sorry!"

Aunty Luo also hurried over with a guilty expression.

"We got too excited," she said. "Sorry about that. Here, have more beef as an apology."

She placed two large trays of meat onto the table.

"Ahh, no, Aunty, that’s too much—"

Both Benny and Neo stood up at the same time to stop her, but Aunty Luo was far too experienced dealing with stubborn customers.

"Sit down!"

She snatched the tongs from Uncle Shen’s hand, grabbed the iron grill herself, and immediately started grilling more meat for the two boys.

The sound of sizzling filled the air once more.

Uncle Shen burst into laughter at the sight.

"Haha! Alright, alright. So what’s the occasion today anyway? Why’s it only the two of you?"

"It’s because Benny got accepted into a company."

"We’re celebrating Neo becoming a newcomer at the company."

Both said at the same time and then slowly turned to look at each other.

And then a strange silence followed.

Aunty Luo covered her mouth and laughed knowingly.

"It’s okay, it’s okay," she said with sparkling eyes. "Me and your uncle will keep this little secret from the others. Huhu~"

Neo: "..."

Benny: "..."

"Ahem It’s really to celebrate Neo joining the company now," Benny explained helplessly.

"I see, I see... I understand," Aunty Luo said with an unusually wide smile.

Benny immediately felt something was wrong.

"Uh... I don’t think you do..."

"I do, I do. It’s okay, really." Aunty Luo nodded repeatedly.

She even walked over and patted Benny on the head like he was a child.

Benny was completely flabbergasted.

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain again, but after seeing the look on Aunty Luo’s face, he finally gave up.

At the same time, the rich aroma of cooked beef was already through the air.

Aunty Luo placed the freshly grilled meat onto the iron plate with a loud sizzle, steam immediately rising into the cool night breeze.

"Alright, enough talking," Uncle Shen laughed as he brought over several bowls of sauce and condiments. "Go on, eat while it’s hot."

Neo immediately picked up a slice of beef with his chopsticks, dipped it into the sauce, and tossed it into his mouth.

"Damn... Aunty Luo, your cooking really is still the be—HOT HOT HOT—!"

Neo’s face instantly turned red as he started fanning his mouth frantically.

Aunty Luo burst out laughing.

"You idiot," she said. "It just came off the grill."

Neo grabbed his drink and gulped it down desperately before letting out a long breath of relief.

This time, he carefully picked up another slice of beef with his chopsticks and blew on it several times before dipping it into the sauce and take a smaller bite.

The moment the flavor spread through his mouth, his entire body relaxed.

His eyes slowly closed.

"...Ahh," he breathed out blissfully. "This feels like heaven. Aunty Luo, your cooking is still the best."

"Hahaha! Of course it is!" Uncle Shen puffed out his chest proudly. "That’s exactly why I married her. If she couldn’t even cook this well, I would’ve divorced her already!"

"Try divorcing me if you dare," Aunty Luo snorted while glaring at him.

Uncle Shen instantly shrank his neck and coughed awkwardly before leaning toward Benny, clearly trying to change the topic.

"So..." he said casually, "this company you two joined... the pay good?"

"It’s decent," Benny said.

And then he added, "They said over the phone that the monthly salary would be ¥8,000 a month."

The moment those words came out Neo nearly choked on the beef in his mouth.

"Cough—! COUGH!!"