"No money, eat for free."
The honest middle-aged man's words made Wang Yu and Wu Lingling pause slightly.
How could there be such a thing as a free lunch?
"Could we have run into a scammer? Or perhaps a forced sale, the kind where one swipe of the knife bankrupts you, like that famous 'X X Cake'..."
Wang Yu's expression remained unchanged, but he muttered to himself.
As for Wu Lingling, her reaction was even more direct. She stood up and pulled Wang Yu, saying, "Take it back, we're not eating."
"Young man, and this young lady, don't panic. You don't need to worry, I'm not a bad person," the middle-aged man said with a smile.
"I, Liu Laoshi, have been selling breakfast here for over twenty years, honest to my customers, and I never cheat anyone."
As he spoke, the middle-aged man brought over another bowl of tofu pudding and a side dish.
"Then, Uncle, why do you say we don't need to pay for our food?"
Wang Yu calmly inquired.
"Because someone has already paid for you," the middle-aged man replied with a smile. "Someone gave me money yesterday, saying that a young couple staying at the government guesthouse, if they came to eat, they could eat for free, whatever they wanted. Regardless of whether you eat or not, the money has already been paid."
What?
This was the first time in both his lives that Wang Yu had heard of such a thing. Someone had paid in advance? Eat as much as you want for free?
Who would be so kind?
"Then, boss, can you tell us who paid?" Wu Lingling interjected.
The middle-aged boss shook his head honestly. "That won't do. They specifically instructed me not to reveal their identity. Since I've taken their money, I must keep my promise."
"That's not right. They said it was a young couple staying at the government guesthouse, how can you be so sure it's us?" Wang Yu asked thoughtfully. "Aren't you afraid of mistaking us?"
"Don't worry, you're not mistaken. They showed me your photos," the honest shop owner said with a smile. "I might not be good at other things, but my memory is quite good."
Huh? There's such a thing? Making it so mysterious?
Wang Yu and Wu Lingling were both puzzled.
They actually had their photos? Photos were a rare commodity these days!
And the other party had their photos? Could it be someone they knew?
Wang Yu pondered. The only people he knew in the provincial capital were his cousin Wang Jinhui and his wife. But relying on them to pay was less likely than wishing for world peace with a globe!
Could it be Qian Guotao or Lin Chunfeng?
That was unlikely too, they would have just said so directly.
As for Secretary Yang? Even more impossible. He wasn't the type to play coy, and they had just hung up the phone. If there was anything, he would have said it directly.
After much thought, Wang Yu and Wu Lingling were at a loss.
For the sake of caution, it was better not to eat!
Wang Yu and Wu Lingling exchanged glances and left the stall without a word.
The boss didn't get angry. He just smiled and watched them walk away.
"This is really strange. It's the first time in my life I've encountered something like this," Wu Lingling said to Wang Yu after leaving the breakfast stall.
"Forget it, let's find another place," Wang Yu said to Wu Lingling, unable to figure out the situation.
"Okay." Wu Lingling nodded, and they walked away together.
Not long after, across the street, they found a Jianbing stall. But before they could sit down and speak, the shop owner came up enthusiastically, greeted them, and served them Jianbing without another word.
"..."
Wang Yu and Wu Lingling looked at each other.
Well, no need to ask, it was the same situation as before, someone had already paid for them.
The two of them turned and left without a word.
Then they went to several more breakfast stalls, but the situation was the same everywhere. Someone had paid for them in advance, and they could eat to their heart's content.
No matter how they asked about the identity of the person, the stall owners and shopkeepers would just shake their heads with a smile and say nothing.
Even an old lady selling sweet potatoes on a street corner three blocks away had the same mysterious smile.
"I'm not eating!" Wu Lingling pouted stubbornly.
"Then let's go to the bus factory first," Wang Yu suggested, finding the situation too bizarre.
"Okay, let's go back, pack our things, and leave," Wu Lingling agreed.
The two of them immediately turned back to the government guesthouse.
However, as soon as they reached the entrance of the guesthouse, they saw a friendly service lady coming to greet them with a smile.
"Young man, you're back at last. Someone just delivered a pile of things for you."
As she spoke, the service lady pointed to a large pile of items stacked at the corner of the guesthouse entrance.
"They specifically said these were all for you..."
"Hmm? What is this?" Hearing the service lady's words, Wang Yu stepped forward curiously and found that the packages contained all sorts of clothing.
Inside were formal suits, shirts, ties, leather shoes, and so on, all finely made and stylish.
And after a closer look at the sizes, they fit him perfectly.
On the other side were women's clothing and dresses, clearly for Wu Lingling. They were also gorgeous and elegant in style.
In addition to these were various exquisite accessories. Wang Yu even found several lipsticks among them!
Although they were old-fashioned lipsticks with a relatively simple design, in this era, lipsticks were not something you could buy with money! You needed someone with special connections to get them.
Next to the cosmetics and accessories were stacks of stationery, reams of white, soft writing paper. A complete set of rulers and drawing tools, a high-end gilded fountain pen and an atomic pen, all elegantly designed.
Well, the atomic pen in our country is roughly equivalent to a ballpoint pen, but ballpoint pens are a simplified version. These imported atomic pens write more smoothly and are less prone to ink bleeding than ballpoint pens.
Later, when better neutral pens, commonly known as water pens, appeared to replace them, this kind of item did not become widespread...
What shocked Wang Yu even more was that there was a professional scientific calculator next to them!
It was slightly larger than the smartphones of later generations, with a square and smooth exterior.
This was not a simple four-function calculator; it was a professional calculator capable of performing various advanced operations. Wang Yu had seen one of these at a department store before, and it was priced at over three thousand yuan!
"All these miscellaneous items, must be tens of thousands, right?" Wang Yu looked at everything in front of him speechlessly.
His gaze shifted slightly, and when he saw an item in the far corner, he was completely stunned!