Sarah and Ashley rode their bicycles toward the farmers' market.
Ethan was lying on the folding chair, the cold light of his phone screen reflecting on his bored face. He scrolled through the empty interface and couldn't help but sigh again.
"Man, I don't even have TikTok these days..." he muttered to himself, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the edge of his phone.
If this were his previous life, he could lie on the couch and scroll all afternoon. His phone would open up a whole new world—those cute girls doing dances at home, the cosplay queens, the fitness influencers in their workout gear...
All of them were like sirens who'd been perfecting their craft for centuries, and a single look could steal your soul away.
He narrowed his eyes, as if he could see his account from his previous life again.
The favorites folder was packed with beautiful moments, the following list was ridiculously long. He remembered one young woman in traditional clothing—one flick of her sleeves and she'd get 30,000 likes. And that dancer, with a waist so flexible she moved like a goddess...
"Tsk—every single one of them was deadly."
"These days..." he looked at the clouds drifting slowly in the sky, "are too simple."
Although he'd never fallen in love again after breaking up with his ex, that didn't stop him from occasionally scrolling through TikTok, watching the content creators, and sending them some gifts or whatever.
Those videos he'd saved could be called the "entertainment survival guide" for contemporary young people—each one carefully selected...
He sighed secretly. 'Man, what a shame!'
His fingertips tapped unconsciously on the screen as he thought: "I still gotta hurry up and make money! Then I can try to get all those creators I followed in my past life onto whatever short video platform I end up founding."
When that time comes, hehe...
Ahem, ahem. Professional thoughts! Stay professional.
What made him feel the most regretful were those small creators who didn't have many followers but whose quality was genuinely top-tier.
"Good wine needs no bush, huh?" Ethan sneered, his fingertips rubbing the edge of his phone unconsciously.
In his past life, the short video industry had long become a battleground where chaos reigned—some sensationalist clowns often had hundreds of millions of followers, while truly talented creators were drowning in the algorithmic torrent.
He still remembered that piano cover artist with only a few thousand followers. The way their slender fingers danced across the keys when playing was simply art—so much more pleasing to watch than some "top-tier influencer" lip-syncing. Some content had zero nutritional value but tons of fans, creating this super awkward situation.
On the other side.
The hustle and bustle of the farmers' market hit them head-on.
In front of the meat stall, a vendor who seemed completely out of place with his surroundings was wiping down his cutting board. He was in his early thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, his clean-cut face full of an intellectual air—like a young professor at a university rather than a butcher who dealt with meat and bones all day.
"What can I get you, ladies? Meat or bones?" He pushed up his glasses, his voice as warm as a radio host's.
Ashley said with a smile, "Boss, can we get two pounds of pork ribs and two pounds of pork belly?"
Her crisp voice was particularly bright in the noisy market.
Sarah stood beside her and added, "Could you please chop the ribs into small pieces? Thank you!"
"You got it!"
The boss raised his cleaver, and with just a few crisp sounds, the whole rack of ribs broke apart cleanly—weighing exactly two pounds, no more, no less.
The pork belly was also cut with a single stroke and weighed exactly two pounds.
You could tell that this vendor's meticulous grasp of weight was pretty damn impressive.
After paying, the two of them took the pork belly and ribs and headed toward the vegetable stall area.
Sarah's fingers hooked through the plastic bag, the ribs swaying gently with her pace, gleaming like pearls in the sunlight.
They wanted to buy white radish and celery.
The Southern-style home cooking that Ethan made always needed a good soup, and one of the simplest yet most delicious options was white radish stewed with pork ribs, finally garnished with a small handful of emerald green celery.
The combination of the two was simply unbeatable—the white radish sweet and tender, the pork ribs savory and rich, garnished with a few strands of celery. Just thinking about that taste made your mouth water.
Jack could easily put away three or four bowls.
"Ring ring ring!"
The exam-end bell went off.
As soon as the school doors opened.
A crowd of people rushed over, and the entire shaded area was packed with bodies.
Without a doubt, they were all here to buy drinks to quench their thirst.
Ethan was almost overwhelmed all at once—there were even more people today than yesterday!
"Come on, don't rush! Don't push! Line up one at a time!"
Ethan's throat was going hoarse.
In less than ten minutes, everything was sold out. Even the remaining ice cubes were bought by someone.
It left Ethan speechless.
But it made sense—in weather this brutal, it was scorching hot.
Hell, he'd be willing to grab some ice cubes just to cool down his mouth too.
Right after he'd sold out, Sarah and Ashley came riding back on their bicycles.
Ashley was carrying bags in her hands. She walked briskly to the stand and said with a smile, "Yo Ethan, we got all the ingredients!"
She pointed to the bags as she spoke. "Look how fresh these ribs are! The butcher specially picked out the best cuts for us. And this radish—it's so crisp and juicy, the stew's gonna be amazing."
Sarah nodded in agreement without saying much.
Ethan took the plastic bags and opened them to take a look. His eyes immediately lit up.
"Yo, the meat on these ribs looks solid, and this radish is so fresh! The ingredients Ashley and Sarah picked out are top-notch!"
"I didn't expect you two beauties to be such pros at grocery shopping. Impressive!"
When Ashley heard this, her chin lifted slightly, her exaggerated expression absolutely adorable.
Who would've thought such a beautiful girl could have such a cute side?
"Jack should be back soon!" Sarah helped clean up the stand.
"Yeah, probably any minute now."
Before Ethan even finished speaking, he heard the distinctive "creak-creak" sound of a cargo bike approaching from the distance.
He saw Jack pedaling the three-wheeler frantically toward them.
From dozens of meters away, they could already hear him shouting at the top of his lungs, "Yo Ethan! Today's scene was absolutely insane, man. I almost didn't make it back."
Before the cargo bike even stopped, he couldn't wait to jump down, gesticulating wildly. "You didn't see it—when that exam bell rang, a whole mob of people rushed at me like it was the zombie apocalypse. That scene was wild, dude."
"The worst part was making change for everyone. There were so many people I could barely keep up."
As soon as he finished speaking, he walked over to the shade in a few quick strides, wiping his sweat and saying, "Oh hey, Sarah and Ashley! You two got here pretty early."
"I thought you guys weren't coming out until this afternoon."
Sarah stacked the sorted boxes and smiled gently. "We got here around ten-something. Wanted to see if we could help, but we ended up just standing around."
Ashley bounced over and leaned in. "Oh come on, Sarah, don't be so hard on yourself! We shouldered the heavy responsibility of grocery shopping!"
She lowered her voice mysteriously. "Today, Ethan's gonna show off his skills and make his specialty home-cooked feast. We're eating at his place for lunch."
"No way!"
"Dude, say no more. You're the man."
After saying that, he gave a thumbs up.
Ethan smiled and shook his head. "Alright, quit messing around. Let's pack up and head home!"
There are 20 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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