Chapter 81

"Pork, fish, lamb... let's buy a bit of each?" Gloria opened the freezer in front of her, carefully selecting from the neatly arranged blocks of frozen meat.

"I don't mind..." David shrugged, pushing the shopping cart and following behind Gloria, his gaze wandering aimlessly around.

He couldn't cook, nor could he taste the subtle differences between various meats.

Mainly because the meat sold to ordinary citizens in supermarkets big and small throughout Night City was entirely a product of chemical synthesis.

The raw materials were all taken from meat worms mass-bred in factories, then flavored with chemical essences to mimic the taste of different meat varieties.

For instance, the fishy smell of fish and the gamey smell of lamb were products simulated by technology. Essentially, they were just piles of highly concentrated worm meat.

In Night City, 60% of the residents had never tasted real meat; from birth until death, they were faithfully accompanied by cheap, flavorful worm meat.

The remaining 39% of residents were mostly pitiful souls with no jobs or those who had fallen onto the streets for various reasons, unable to afford even this cheap synthetic meat.

Only the 1% of upper-class individuals and the wealthy could enjoy the taste of real meat, including poultry meats explicitly banned from sale by Night City law.

In short, there was no problem money couldn't solve.

"Should we buy Chinese cabbage? Although the price is a bit high..." Gloria stood before the beautifully decorated vegetable counter, hesitating between two packs of battered cabbage leaves.

In Night City, the price of vegetables was far higher than synthetic meat.

Even the lowest quality vegetable leaves were much more expensive than high-grade synthetic meat carefully flavored.

Only middle-class Company employees would consider buying a little fresh vegetable during festivals.

Even the upper-class and the wealthy did not have fresh vegetables to eat at every meal.

"Let's forget it... it's really too expensive." David glanced at the price and hurriedly dissuaded Gloria.

"But eating vegetables is good for your health... our David still needs to grow a bit taller."

"Mom... I already said it's not necessary..."

"Alright, but promise Mom, next time it's your birthday, you must eat a slice of fresh cabbage leaf, okay?"

"We'll see then." David shook his head, speaking somewhat perfunctorily.

He didn't want to waste his mother's hard-earned money on those few small green leaves.

"I used to come out buying vegetables with my brother-in-law... there should still be some fruits and vegetables at my sister's house."

"That's good..." Gloria reluctantly put the few broken cabbage leaves back in place, "Is there anything else you want to buy?"

"I already said it's to celebrate for you; Mom, go buy whatever you like yourself..."

"Mom gave up all her preferences for you... now suddenly saying I want something... actually makes me feel at a loss." Gloria scratched her head; she was an older person, yet she smiled somewhat foolishly.

"So don't suddenly say things like that..." David muttered softly, the tip of his nose involuntarily tingling with a wave of sourness.

"Why did you suddenly start rubbing your eyes? Do your eyes hurt?" Gloria looked back at David, who was constantly wiping his eye sockets, and asked subconsciously, her tone revealing full concern as always.

"No..." David rubbed his slightly red eyes, "The wind was strong just now, and some dust accidentally got into my eyes."

"So you're still a little brat... I don't know when you'll finally grow up..."

"I don't want to grow up... I just want Mom to be with me like this... forever..." David said firmly to himself in his heart.

This was his only New Year's wish.

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"It's less than two days until the New Year... Yahweh."

"New Year? Wasn't Christmas already long over?" Yahweh, who was sitting on the Sofa flipping through a magazine, looked up and asked strangely.

"I want to celebrate the New Year with you! Since the time we met was after Christmas, to achieve this goal, let's just celebrate China's Spring Festival together!"

"No wonder the streets of Night City have started to be decorated with lights and colors..." Yahweh nodded; being able to celebrate the New Year happily with a loved one was always a good thing worth rejoicing over.

"New America actually has quite a few cities that celebrate China's Spring Festival..." Xida touched her long hair, which had dried considerably, and didn't bother to investigate the reasons behind it.

"Celebrating the New Year, with many people and more liveliness, is quite good." Yahweh said seriously, according to the data he had just looked up.

"I hope that at that time, it will be normal, brilliant fireworks blooming splendidly in the night sky... rather than some explosion shooting into the sky..."

"Night City, well, it's hard to say."

"Jinx! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" Xida rushed to Yahweh's front, cupped his head, and fiercely kissed his lips three times.

"Drink more water; your lips are all wrinkled." Yahweh said, feigning calmness.

"Oh ho... you didn't even blush?" Xida leaned in close to his face, looking as if she were examining him carefully.

"Of course, we're an old married couple..."

"Then why are your earlobes so red?" Xida caught the flaw and maliciously blew a puff of hot air onto them.

"Go call Lucy quickly; it's getting late!" Yahweh covered his earlobes with his hand and awkwardly changed the subject.

"Hee hee..." Xida chuckled secretly, gave him a light kiss on the face, and then skipped out of the house.

◎

It is said that people will meet their nemesis at some stage of life.

Lucy originally scoffed at this saying; she, who always liked to come and go alone, would never have too much contact with others.

Until she met a certain silver-haired girl.

"Bang bang bang!"

The familiar knocking rhythm interrupted Lucy's action of tearing open the snack bag packaging.

"Open the door! Lucy, I know you're home!" The girl's crisp voice stubbornly squeezed through the door crack, heading straight into her ears.

Lucy sighed helplessly, extinguished the burning cigarette in her hand, and opened the window to ventilate.

Someone was still a child and wasn't used to the smell of smoke.

After gently rubbing her cheek, Lucy walked over to the door and opened it.

"So slow, Lucy... if you don't respond, I'm going to break the door down!"

"Please don't... what do you need?" Lucy looked Xida up and down.

"Come eat at my house together! Didn't I say before? This time I'll introduce the Martinez family to you..."

"Ah..." Lucy sighed, rubbing her sore brow. "Let's get one thing straight: I'm not good at dealing with strangers..."

Though she was somewhat ashamed to admit it, there was nothing to hide from Xida.

"Don't worry, their whole family is very nice..." Xida patted her chest firmly, looking completely confident.

"I really can't do anything with you... Alright..."