I Tied Up the Travel Check-In System - Chapter 19

After dinner, Tang Siqi took a short nap. She’d woken up so early that morning, and she’d set her alarm before bed.

At 2:50 PM, the train arrived in Wenzhou, and Tang Siqi disembarked smoothly, feeling incredibly happy.

She hadn’t expected this first high-speed rail ride to be so convenient. Every time she took the bus, her feet would swell after getting off. The high-speed rail was much more comfortable, allowing her to walk around and go to the bathroom much more easily.

She felt she’d never take the bus again when traveling between Shanghai and Wenzhou.

After getting off the train, she didn’t head home immediately. The most important thing for her today was to clock in and earn coins. She left the train station and boarded a direct bus to her high school.

Even though she’d already eaten lunch, the thought of the pot stickers at the school gate still made her crave them.

Back in her senior year, she loved taking a packed pot stickers home to eat while working on her homework. It was a truly wonderful experience.

After entering college, she continued to make a monthly trip home, often to savor the delicious food.

After getting off the bus, Tang Siqi found the pot sticker shop with familiarity.

“Boss, give me a small portion of pot stickers.”

The boss smiled upon seeing her. “Hey, you’re back? Girl, it’s been a while since I last saw you. Are you working out there now?”

Tang Siqi nodded. “Yes, I am, in Shanghai.”

“Oh, Shanghai, not bad, not bad. What do you do?”

The boss had opened the shop right in front of the high school. Most of the customers coming and going were students and teachers, and there were many graduates like Tang Siqi who still frequented the place, so they would chat a bit when they saw each other often.

Tang Siqi: “I’m painting.”

“Not bad, not bad, I’m a painter in Shanghai.” The boss chatted casually as he frying dumplings.

Pot stickers, also known as pan-fried dumplings, sizzled and emanated a unique aroma, instantly making Tang Siqi forget the awkward conversation and immerse herself in the bliss of finally enjoying the delicious food she had longed for.

While this pot sticker shop offers a variety of fillings, unless you specify, the default is pork and chives, the classic flavor.

Soon, a piping hot pot sticker arrived. The owner stopped talking to her. In his experience, once the pot stickers were served, few people paid him any attention; everyone just focused on eating.

Tang Siqi picked up a pot sticker, dipped it in the sauce, and took a bite.

Ah… that familiar taste!

The skin was thin and crispy, and the filling was generous. The pork and chive filling was interspersed with water chestnuts, giving it a unique flavor.

Delicious!

Tang Siqi mentally gave the owner a hundred thumbs up.

The quality was as high as ever!

Since she had ordered a small portion, she finished her meal quickly, and Tang Siqi sat down to check in.

[Congratulations to the host! You have successfully clocked in at “Lao Li’s Pot Stickers” and received an A-level rating. The system rewards you with 24 hours of health, 300 gold coins (using a triple gold card), a total wealth of 1,127 gold coins, and 113 hours of remaining health.]

Wow, this pot sticker system actually gave you an A-level rating, which made Tang Siqi very happy.

After all, this was a snack shop she had loved for years, and to receive recognition from the clock-in system felt like a personal affirmation.

With over a thousand gold coins and some time before dinner, Tang Siqi went to an electronics store near her home.

They had both digital gadgets and home appliances.

When she passed by a brand-name store, she went in to try out a laptop.

It was surprisingly light and easy to use!

She had just gotten off the plane and was still carrying her old laptop in her backpack. By comparison, it felt like a piece of iron.

If she could get a new laptop, it would be much lighter to carry everywhere she went.

As soon as the thought crossed Tang Siqi’s mind, she instinctively smiled. With such a homebody, where else could she go besides Shanghai and Wenzhou?

“Miss, this laptop is our company’s new model. Although it’s marketed as a lightweight, it’s perfect for game programming and design work. It’s stable enough and can handle gaming duties. Just look at the graphics card specs.”

The more the other person described it, the more excited Tang Siqi became. She couldn’t wait to take it away.

Unfortunately, she was short on gold coins. She decided to check out the dishwasher first.

A dishwasher only cost 1,000 gold coins, which she had enough.

Tang Siqi reluctantly said goodbye to her dream laptop and headed to the second floor’s home appliance section, which offered a wide variety of appliances.

There were even plenty of dishwashers, but perhaps because she was young and not their target customer, the clerk prioritized older customers.

Tang Siqi remained unhurried, standing aside to listen.

Dishwashers came in a variety of styles: built-in, countertop, sink-mounted, and freestanding.

Their house was already renovated, and her parents hadn’t reserved space for a dishwasher in the cabinets, so a built-in unit wasn’t an option.

The system indicated a countertop dishwasher, and after double-checking the models, she settled on one.

The clerk finally came over to greet her. “Excuse me, beautiful lady, what product would you like to buy?”

Tang Siqi pointed to the one in front of her. “If I place my order now, can it be delivered today?”

The clerk was stunned. “Where do you live?”

Tang Siqi gave her home address.

The clerk nodded. “It can be delivered today. Place your order now, and they’ll deliver it directly to your door and install it for you.”

“My kitchen is small. Can you install a rack to sit above the front-loading washing machine?”

“No problem. Many customers install it this way, sharing the same drain line with the washing machine. Don’t worry, they’ll install it for you when the time comes. You’ll just have to pay for the rack installation.”

“Okay, then, place the order. I’ll take this one.”

The clerk felt a little dizzy. Was this what it felt like to place an order smoothly? Unexpectedly, so many customers didn’t buy before, but this young-looking girl made the deal so quickly.

It wasn’t until Tang Siqi swiped her card to pay that the clerk believed that this was a real order.

Tang Siqi walked out of the mall and received a message from the bank that the money for the dishwasher had been deposited into her account.

She hummed a little song happily as she went home, and before going home she didn’t forget to call her dad.

“Hey, Dad, where are you? Are you still taking a walk outside? Stop walking and come back quickly. I’m going home.”

Tang Ruiqing had rested up enough today and was ready to challenge a 30,000-step step. He had already walked 15,000 in the morning and was now trying to reach 20,000 steps outside. When he heard his phone ring, he quickly picked it up to check the caller ID. Oh, it was indeed his daughter calling.

He was extremely proud in his heart. Why can’t he beat us middle-aged and elderly people, so he called to beg for mercy again?

He answered the phone with a full-throated, trembling voice, boasting to Old Xu, who was walking beside him, “It’s Siqi calling.”

After a few words, he immediately said, “What! You’re back? Oh, then I’ll go home.”

After hanging up, Tang Ruiqing immediately said to Old Xu, “Okay, I won’t walk with you anymore. I have to go home and cook for Siqi.”

Old Xu stopped him, “Siqi is back? What about our Qianning?”

“She didn’t say anything. I guess she came back on her own.”

Tang Ruiqing said and walked away, sighing as he walked. This Old Xu was also cold on the outside but soft on the inside. He said he was angry with his daughter, but in fact he was thinking about his daughter and his little grandson.

Junbao was so adorable, who wouldn’t like him?

He hadn’t thought about what he would be like when he was angry with his daughter.

On the way home, Tang Ruiqing did think about what he would say to his daughter first, and what to talk about if there was an awkward silence.

However, he didn’t expect to find an installer tinkering with something on the balcony outside his kitchen when he returned.

“What are you doing?” Tang Ruiqing stood in the doorway, stunned.

Tang Siqi poked her head out, grinning. “Dad, you’re back?”

Tang Ruiqing stood in the kitchen and watched for a moment. “Building a rack?”

“Yeah, I bought a dishwasher today. The installer came to install it, and they’re putting the rack in. It’s a bit cramped in the kitchen, so they just stuck it in here.”

Tang Ruiqing felt his brain racing: buying a dishwasher, putting up a rack.

His eyes quickly locked on the white machine on the floor. He knew the brand; he loved shopping at the mall, and he’d seen this model of dishwasher at least three times before, so he had a vague impression of it.

“Dishwasher, did you buy that? How much?” Tang Ruiqing asked, calming down and suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

“Dad, it’s not expensive.”

“Let me see the receipt.”

“Oh…”

Tang Siqi handed over the receipt.

Tang Ruiqing took one look, and although he had been mentally prepared, he was still startled.

“Over four thousand? You bought a dishwasher for over four thousand? Tang Siqi, where did you get the money?” Tang Ruiqing couldn’t calm down.

The installer glanced at the father and daughter curiously.

Tang Siqi bravely went to the living room and said, “Dad, it’s nothing. It’s a bit pricey, but this model can hold eight sets of dishes. There are cheaper ones that only hold four or six, which wouldn’t be practical. This one saves water and electricity, and installation is included. Look, it fits all our pots. You won’t have to wash dishes anymore.”

Tang Ruiqing regained his composure after his initial shock. With his daughter’s guidance, a sense of reality finally dawned on him. Yes, it was a dishwasher. He wouldn’t have to wash dishes anymore.

He wouldn’t have to browse the electronics store all the time.

But… even he, with his stable pension, couldn’t afford it. How could Tang Siqi, who paints and has an unstable income, do it?

He couldn’t confront his daughter in front of the installer, so he sat silently on the living room sofa. After the installer left, he called Tang Siqi into the living room.

“Tang Siqi, do you have any money on hand recently?” Tang Ruiqing asked again, this time calmly, thinking that if his daughter was short of money, he would still have to give her the money to buy a dishwasher