“Oh, wait a moment.” The young boss was sitting at a mahjong table playing the game. Without looking up after hearing Hao Yunyang’s greeting, he responded and then said nothing more. Hao Yunyang waited patiently, occasionally glancing at this fashionably dressed young boss, as time slowly passed.
“Boss, I’m here to top up phone credit!” After finally waiting for the young boss to finish a round, Hao Yunyang called out just before he could start another, which brought the boss back to reality.
“You all sit tight, I don’t believe Liu Ming, the so-called mahjong king, will be this unlucky tonight! When I come back, I’ll make you all spit out what you’ve won!” Liu Ming, the convenience store owner, reluctantly stood up from his chair, glanced at the cash in front of his three card companions, speaking tough words while his face had already turned bitter.
“Topping up phone credit? Give me the number,” Liu Ming said, standing at the store’s entrance by his counter, which had an old laptop. Looking closely, one could barely make out the worn logo of a Fujitsu laptop made in Japan. Dragging his cotton slippers, he sat down at the counter and looked up at Hao Yunyang: “How much?
Again, a round ended, and Liu Mingben instinctively looked towards the door, only to see Hao Yunyang, who had just left not long ago, somehow back again. He was holding a phone in one hand and a red hundred-yuan bill in the other, his face dark as if he had been robbed.
“What’s wrong?” Liu Ming looked at Hao Yunyang curiously, shuffling cards as he spoke.
“Topping up phone credit,” Hao Yunyang said through gritted teeth, looking utterly miserable.
“Again?” Liu Ming was puzzled: “How much?”
“One hundred,” Hao Yunyang gritted his teeth, dropped the hundred-yuan bill, and turned to leave: “Same number as before.”
“Is this idiot topping up credit to call some chat service?” Liu Ming rose from his chair, thinking idly.
Five minutes later…
“You’re here again?” Liu Ming was stunned.
“Topping up,” Hao Yunyang’s face turned pig-liver color, squeezing out two words from between his teeth: “One hundred.”
Another five minutes passed…
“Still here?” Liu Ming was curious, unable to resist asking: “Are you calling some chat service girl?”
“No,” Hao Yunyang took a deep breath: “Topping up one hundred.”
