51MH.IFNO.C

Just as the old man said, there was only one bus per day that could be used for tranport and the bus would arrive at twelve from the next village.

Seeing that they still had an hour before the arrival of the bus, Sia and Mu Jun decided to stroll around the city to pass time.

Just as they were roaming, Sia's little stomach startled to rumble. Because they were in hurry to leave, they only had little breakfast in the old man's house and then after walking for five kilometers, Sia's little stomach was naturally hungry.

Embarrassed, Sia hugged her hungry stomach and looked at Mu Jun pitifully.

With a small smile, Mu Jun rubbed her hair gently and said "Come, I'll buy you something"

"No-no, we still don't know how much it might cost us to travel, we can't waste the money carelessly" Sia denied even though she was hungry

"It's fine, I can think of a way to make money later. Now the priority is to feed you" Mu Jun replied

"What about you? you aren't hungry?" Sia asked

"No I'm fine, you can have" Mu Jun comforted

"How can I do that? Do you think I'm selfish? and You did not have much in the morning and you must be hungry too" Sia complained

"Nah, I'm not. I can survive a day witout being hungry so you can just ignore me"

"Liar Liar pant's on fire! Do you think I would belive you? You are a growing man, how can you stay without being hungry"

"Sia-" just as Mu Jun wanted to pursued, Sia turned her face away and said stubbornly "Forget it. If you are not going to have, so will I"

"You-" seeing her stubborn face, Mu Jun gave up persuading and conceded "okay, I will accompany you so stop making that face"

Seeing that Mu Jun finally agreed, Sia grabbed his arm intimately and showed a huge smile before she made her way to a nearby food stall.

Just as they entered, their ears almost burst because of the noisy environment.

Unlike those hotels in the urban areas which maintain calm and peaceful environment while playing a soothing music in the background to improve the customers mood, this small shop was completely different.

People here usually had more freedom and weren't bound by etiquete or elegance, so they were more free living when compared to the one from the city who usually had to pay attention to their manners and behaviour.

With their inbuild loud voice, the people spoke with one another loudly in a carefree manner.

Unlike the cities where one would hardly pay attention to their neighbors, the villagers literally knew each and every individual in the village and would greet them without holding back.

There were a few villagers ranging from young age to middle aged sitting around the table having their meal while bickering loudly.

There were five old wooden tables out of which three were occupied.

The other two was left empty because one of the table was limping and the other was a little dirty with sauces and soup. Clearly someone must have dined there a few minutes back.

Just as they were examining the environment, a five year old boy in his rugged cloth walked to the table and wiped it with a tattered cloth halfheartedly before throwing the cloth next to the basket filled with used plates that were surrounded by a huge bunch of flies.

When the neat freak Mu Jun watched this scene, his stomach was already at his throat and he soo badly wanted to run away but considering his baby girl who was quite hungry, he forcefully supressed his discomfort and turned his head away, not willing to see those awfull scene anymore.

Just then, Sia noticed the empty table and pulled Mu Jun's sleeve "Let's go over there"

"O-okay"

Agreeing to Sia forcefully, Mu Jun followed after her and made his away to the empty table.

Just as they were passing, Mu Jun suddenly stopped and looked at a certain direction.

Noticing Mu Jun's action, Sia paused and turned to Mu Jun. Seeing his face which was turning green, Sia furrowed her brows and stepped back and looked at the direction he was looking at and her socket almost fell.

Inside the kitchen, a middle aged man was kneeding a flour with his bare hands. Feeling a little hot, he wiped the sweat of his forehead and scratched his hairy underarm before he continued to kneed without wiping or washing his hands.

At the other side, a middle aged women who was most probably his wife was cooking a dish.

Just as the dish was about to be done, she called her daughter and asked "Mie er, are the plates washed?"

A young girl aout eleven year old walked over carrying a basin full of used plates.

Putting the basin down, she answered "No mother, The dish washing detergent has been used up what to do now?"

"Aiya, what else can we do now? Just wash them with the water. Why are the detergents so expensive?" complained the middle aged lady

"Okay" answered the girl and pulled a plastic can filled with water over and start to dip the plates inside the water and wash them half heartedly.

For those plates which were oily and could not be washed off with water, the middle aged said indifferently "Just wash they with the ash"

Hearing that the young girl called her brother and asked his to bring some ash, Not long after, the boy carried the ash in a plate and passed it over over to his sister while saying "Here you so, tommy peed on it again"

(Well, the tommy he was referring to was the pet dog kept in the shop)

Not at all bothered, the girl took the ash from the boy and said indifferently "No problem, it saved some water. Come, help me wash these plates"

"...."