I! Cleaner!-Chapter 1152 - 1056: Ryan Family Breakfast (Part 2)

"Hmph!"

Facing the comfort from his elder brother, the aggrieved Big Mei Shen, who cried because of triple the homework, moved closer, avoiding the annoying brother's helping hand trying to soothe him, and then sipped aggressively from his small soup bowl, which was the size of an orange, sulkingly.

Just drink! Just drink! I'm going to make myself cough endlessly!

Hmph, childish!

After noticing the sulking action of Big Mei Shen, William Jr., sitting opposite Anna, sneered and then picked up his children's fork with bunny ears on the end to savor the fish delicately.

These pieces of fish belly meat preserved before Anna cooked the soup were only two or three pieces from a whole fish, the tenderest part, and the essence of the fish.

These tender bites flecked with fatty bits like snowflakes don't need much cooking. Simply blanch off the skin in boiling water, score along the grain, sprinkle with coarse salt mixed with black pepper, fry in olive oil until edges are slightly crisp, and drizzle with a few drops of sauce for the ultimate flavor.

However, although making these fish pieces isn't difficult, it requires high-quality fish.

Since this type of fish dies soon after leaving the water, ensuring fresh taste requires temporary fishing, necessitating an early run to the pier on the other side of the capital, separate from the sewage outlet. You'd need to get up before five and queue up, and it's not even a guarantee you'll buy any.

Even Anna, who is usually industrious, finds the process bothersome and is generally unwilling to do it. It's only on days when the elder brother returns from a business trip that she makes a special trip to buy fish, simmer soup, and fry meat for him and others, so...

Act first, gain the upper hand!

Swallowing the fish in his mouth, savoring the lingering aroma between his teeth and lips, William Jr. unhesitatingly extended his fork to capture a piece of fish from Big Mei Shen's plate.

However, having an abnormally good understanding of William Jr.'s nature, Big Mei Shen, even while aggressively drinking fish soup, kept a watchful side-eye on his plate, not daring to look away for a second.

Upon discovering William Jr.'s plunder, the children's knife in his left hand was ready to deftly push aside the painful, prickly cabbage nearby, precisely positioning it under the incoming fork, shielding the delicious fish piece from this difficulty.

Hmph, naive!

Seeing William's surprised brows raise slightly but forced to stab the unpleasant cabbage back onto his plate, proceeding to chew stiffly under the glaring eyes of the elder brother and Anna, Big Mei Shen coldly chuckled inwardly, and then tearfully looked at his elder brother next to him, sniffing:

"Do I really not need to stay and watch the house?"

"No, no!"

After throwing a grateful look at the good younger brother across the table who intentionally helped divert attention and saved him from his position in the family hierarchy, Leon raised his hand, swearing:

"Consider this as a... er... autumn camp, you two, little Ellie, and sister Anna will all go!"

Am I going too?

Hearing Leon's words, Anna, who was helping William pick out fish bones, was slightly startled and couldn't help but ask:

"Brother, where are we going this time? Is it far from the capital?"

Oh right... I was busy coaxing Melanie, I haven't mentioned the location of the meeting yet.

Realizing his oversight, Leon couldn't help but smack his forehead, then answered:

"In the Kingdom of Morna! This time the meeting place is in the royal city of the Kingdom of Morna."

"Kingdom of Morna's royal city? Golden Village?!"

Upon hearing this name, Melanie, waiting for fish next to Leon, couldn't help but exclaim, her big eyes wide open in shock:

"Is it the Golden Village where it's said there's gold everywhere, and you might stumble on a street and find a piece of gold lump?!!"

"It's not that exaggerated... and really, you should stop reading those tabloids..."

After skewering the fish belly meat from his plate and stuffing it into Melanie's open mouth, blocking those rumors, Leon sighed and teased:

"These are just exaggerated stories. If it were really like you said, picking up gold on the street, gold wouldn't be as valuable as it is now."

"Big brother is right."

After taking a sip of the steaming milk beside him and licking the white ring off his upper lip, William Jr. slowly explained:

"Although the Kingdom of Morna is known as the land of gold and indeed has many large gold mines, it's actually a big mining and commercial country.

The nickname Golden Village isn't due to its gold production but because it's the commercial center of the Western Continent, controlling two of the fastest maritime routes to the Eastern Continent."

"Oh..."

Hearing that the Golden Village, although wealthy, wasn't a place where gold could be picked up casually, Big Mei Shen couldn't help but feel quite disappointed... but quickly regained his spirit and said with glittering eyes, chewing the fish in his mouth:

"So the business over there is booming? Should I also do some... ouch."

"Swallow what's in your mouth before you speak!"

Leon tapped Melanie's forehead, waiting for her to swallow the fish before nodding:

"It's good if you're interested in exploring. Besides, we're taking the sea route this time. Your sister-in-law already plans to take a batch of goods, including several new products from the research institutes, and a series of mass-produced industrial items to see if partnerships can be found.

Your sister-in-law said, if you want to follow, she can lend you some interest-free start-up capital and reserve you a small cargo hold on the ship. You can pack it with whatever goods you want to bring."

"Wow!!!"

"Hold your excitement a bit."

Glancing at the overjoyed Melanie, Leon added:

"Your sister-in-law also mentioned that although you can go along, it's not free. No matter how much you earn, she'll consider you as a co-merchant of the royal family according to the kingdom's latest tax law, taking thirty-seven percent of your net profit as tax."

"No problem!"

After hearing Leon's added conditions, Melanie enthusiastically pounded her small chest, smiling brightly:

"The capital is interest-free, the goods are at procurement prices, and I can get a bulk discount with sister-in-law's caravan... even at seventy-three percent, it's a huge profit!"

"Umm... could I have misremembered? Was it actually seventy-three percent she mentioned?"

"Brother!!!"

"Ahahaha, it's indeed thirty-seven, thirty-seven for sure~"

After playfully teasing Melanie once more, Leon returned Anna's forked fish belly meat to her plate and said with a grin:

"Your sister-in-law said that for William and Melanie, getting involved is the best gift, but it's different for you. So she asked me to specially ask if there's any gift you want."

"Me?"

Anna paused at the words, then, feeling a bit out of place, said:

"Thank Veronica for me, but I don't seem to have anything I particularly want... or maybe allocate another fund to the Charitable Asylum? Right now, there are many blind children, and Aunt Mary has always wanted to hire a few teachers to teach them to read and write braille..."

"That should be the city's responsibility. If Aunt Mary submits an application explaining the situation, once approved, they can receive funding. Moreover, with recent developments at Heavenly Mountain... ahh... basically, blindness might be curable in the future.

Also, these are things Veronica and I should handle, not something to be given as a gift to you... Anna, what Veronica and I meant, is there something you personally really want? It could be anything."

What do I want?

Hearing Leon's question, the slim girl, still somewhat frail despite good maintenance for half a year, pondered slightly and then shook her head a bit helplessly:

"I don't seem to have anything in particular that I want, but if I must say..."

It might be that everyone is well and no more children like us in the past, where surviving was already hard... hmm... what's that sound? Why is there a bell ringing?