Once they went into the shop, they each took a small basket as the waiter told them, ready to start picking ingredients.

The shop had two long freezers for the food, one side for meat, the other for vegetables.

There were more people in front of the meat freezer, fewer in front of the vegetables.

"I want meat meat meat." Standing next to Ning Youguang, Gu Xi stood on tiptoe to peer into the meat freezer. Ning Youguang laughed and asked her, "When you’re getting food in a minute, can you help me grab two sausage links, one skewer of quail eggs, one skewer of fish tofu, and one crab stick, okay?"

"Of course." Gu Xi nodded. "Anything else?"

"That’s it." Ning Youguang turned and walked over to the veggie display fridge.

Seeing a chubby guy leave the meat freezer, Gu Xi immediately carried her basket over.

In summer, if you’re eating spicy hotpot skewers, you’ve got to have a drink, preferably iced.

Standing in front of the drinks fridge, Gu Xi took an iced Coke for herself and asked Ning Youguang, "What do you want to drink?"

"Yogurt," Ning Youguang answered.

Drinks in hand, the two of them picked a table under the banyan tree and sat down.

The malatang hadn’t been served yet, so they sipped their drinks and looked around. Ning Youguang noticed a small convenience store about twenty meters to their right. "I want an ice cream."

"Ice cream?" After a beat of surprise, Gu Xi laughed. "Didn’t you say you can’t have anything cold during the dog days of summer?"

"But I don’t feel like clinging to wellness rules today." Ning Youguang smiled. "I just want ice cream."

"Okay, I’ll go buy it." Gu Xi stood up. "What flavor do you want?"

"Anything." Ning Youguang’s eyes curved with her smile. "I’m good with whatever."

Gu Xi laughed and ran to the little supermarket next to the malatang place.

Right at the entrance of the small supermarket there was a big freezer, stuffed full of brightly colored ice creams and popsicles.

Gu Xi slid open the glass door on top of the freezer. Faced with the overwhelming variety inside, her indecisiveness kicked in. She stared for a long time, still not knowing what to buy, so she asked the lady boss, "Which ice creams taste good?"

The lady boss pointed at the two most expensive ones inside. "These two are both really good."

Gu Xi looked at the ones she pointed to: one was white peach oolong flavor, the other matcha chocolate.

She reached in and took out both. "I’ll take them all."

"Which one do you want?" Gu Xi held the two ice creams out in front of Ning Youguang.

Ning Youguang asked, "Which one do you want?"

"Either’s fine." Gu Xi’s indecisiveness was still lingering in her body.

"Then I’ll have this one." Ning Youguang took the white peach oolong one from her hand.

"This is good." As soon as the ice cream hit her tongue, Ning Yougang gave Gu Xi a big thumbs-up.

"I think it’s good too," Gu Xi said. "No faults except the price."

"How much is one?" Ning Youguang asked curiously.

"Twenty‑eight each." Gu Xi sighed. "I remember when we were in high school, ice creams were only three, four yuan, maybe four, five. Prices have shot up so fast, and my raises and promotions are nowhere in sight."

"Didn’t you just get a raise not long ago?" Ning Youguang chuckled. "There are still ice creams for four or five yuan now, we’ll get those next time."

"My lady only eats an ice pop once every ten years, how could I let you eat a five‑yuan one?" Gu Xi feigned a serious face. "Of course I have to buy you the most expensive. Otherwise how would I have the nerve to face Mr. Shi next time?"

"Buying ice creams that are too expensive is just paying the IQ tax. The ones for four or five and the ones for forty or fifty are essentially no different—they’re still ice cream." Ning Youguang couldn’t help laughing. "All that ’expensive versus cheap’ stuff is just marketing, racking their brains to assign it all sorts of meanings and values. It’s all hype, completely absurd."

Gu Xi laughed. "Isn’t that how it is with the rich and the super‑rich? Whatever they eat or use has to be the most expensive, the best. Otherwise how can they show how different they are?"

Ning Youguang shook her head with a wry smile. "Some rich people really can’t stand being on the same level as ordinary folks, using the same things. They must be different to feel their own presence. But that’s only some of them. And isn’t it fine? The brands are happy to spin stories, the buyers are happy to believe them, and the story just keeps going."

They were halfway through their ice creams when the two big bowls of malatang were served.

...

They had their drinks, ate their ice creams, and each polished off a bowl of malatang.

They were both stuffed.

"Let’s walk around nearby for a bit," Ning Youguang suggested.

"Works for me." Gu Xi stood up with her stomach sucked in. She was afraid that if she let it out, her belly would pop and look terrible.

The problem was, walking around after dinner with your stomach sucked in was really uncomfortable.

"Don’t hold it in." Ning Youguang gently tugged on the hem of Gu Xi’s T‑shirt. "It’s really loose, no one can tell."

"Hoo..." Gu Xi let out a long breath. "Their malatang is so, so good."

"It really is pretty good," Ning Youguang said. "Just a bit spicy. Drink some honey water tonight when you get home, so you don’t wake up with pimples tomorrow."

"Okay." When she was indulging, Gu Xi had happily demolished piece after piece of meat; once she finished, the anxiety kicked in.

"Should I have something to cool the internal heat?"

"Tomorrow morning, juice some pear with celery, cucumber, that kind of thing," Ning Youguang said. "Tonight when you get home, take the fruits and veggies you’re going to juice out of the fridge, or it’ll be too cold if you juice them straight in the morning."

"Got it." Gu Xi said she would absolutely behave.

...

"My dad is fifty‑nine. Every day after work, he eats dinner and then goes to the study to self‑study CAD. I’m twenty‑nine, and every day after work I just lie on the sofa with my legs up scrolling on my phone." With her arm hooked through Ning Youguang’s, Gu Xi strolled slowly toward Shengguang Square. "I didn’t used to think I was that unmotivated, but now that my dad is even taking orders to do post‑production for film and TV, I suddenly feel like I’m pretty useless."

"Their generation really is amazing at self‑improvement and totally able to endure hardship." Even her parents, who had long since achieved financial freedom, still worked very hard whenever they were at work—especially willing to suffer and push themselves.

On that point, Ning Youguang had never denied it.

"I suddenly feel so ashamed." Gu Xi lowered her head, a little down. "I always thought I was living pretty diligently, but after really observing my dad, I realized I kind of slack off on life."

"Everyone’s pursuit in life is different." Ning Youguang smiled. "Your dad really is outstanding though."

Nearly sixty and still constantly updating his brain. And from what Gu Xi said about his learning outcomes, he wasn’t just hardworking, he had a great method.

"I’m also really amazed by my dad."

It was close to seven in the evening, but the sky wasn’t completely dark yet.

When they walked out of the alley, they happened to reach a wide crossroads. Their view suddenly opened up, and they saw, hanging in the still deep‑blue sky to the southwest, a stunning patch of sunset clouds glowing like fire.

The vast mountains and rivers, the everyday bustle of human life—all of it felt no match for this moment: the exquisite blaze of sunset clouds and a perfectly timed, gentle breeze.