✓𝐀𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭 『𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔』

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 45: Acceptance

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One week since they left Megapolis in search for the Rings of Samadhi. A lot of surprising things happened by now, but they were all too exhausted to think of it. Silence still lingered in the van as they all tried to ease their boredom on their own. Sandy driving, Tang rewriting grammar errors in his journal, Pigsy thinking of a new spice for his recipes, MK oversleeping and feeling a lot more tired than necessary, Mei scrolling through her social medias, Monkey King meditating, and Xiu watches everyone move about in slight second intervals like they were programmed to do.

She's actually bored. Really bored. And very upset. If she ain't talking, then so does Wukong. They both couldn't be bothered to talk things out while the other is being silent about it. And none of the gang wanted to get on Xiu's bad side. All except for Mei it seems. The girl plopped on the side of the woman's bed, pushing a device towards her.

She looks at it questioningly, "What's this?"

"A new cell," Mei smiles.

Xiu takes the rectangular device, eyeing it with curiosity, "I already have one, though."

"You mean this old thing?" the girl giggles, dangling a broken phone by her fingers. The woman took it, her eyes widening in shock. "I was rummaging through our clothes back at the bathhouse and noticed yours ending up like that in your pocket, so I went out to get a new one for you and... you know, got caught."

"Y-You didn't have to do that," the smile on her face couldn't hide her appreciation for it. She's been hiding it for the near future that she goes back to Megapolis and have it repaired, but guessing that being gifted with a new one is a better alternative.

"No one will be able to live by without a phone in this day and age," Mei winks at her and started showing all that she downloaded so far. Games, movies, music, online books, Xiu never bothered with the first and last option before, but she insisted that these will help ease her boredom.

The woman tried playing the games, but overtime, it just made her annoyed whenever she can't beat a level. Skipping the two options, she headed straight for the online books. Honestly, she'd prefer movies anytime, but this one book got her hooked right at the start of the chapter. It was a thriller genre with a female ex convict and a cop, and she is just getting to the good part when the van parks once again for dinner prep.

Pigsy taps her on the shoulder, "Xiu, what would you like me to cook this time?"

Xiu wore a smile on her face as the characters proceeded on their bickering about who gets to convince the chief for a pay raise. Now that she thought about it, maybe she deserved a little pay raise herself. The woman closes the app and turns to her pig boss, taking his hand in hers as she gave him puppy dog eyes. Pigsy felt his cheeks heat up upon contact, steam coming out of his ears. Wukong instinctively wakes up from meditation just in time to see this happening, he nearly fell out of his seat.

"Boss, I've been a good employee, haven't I?"

His lips trembled, trying to get the words out of his mouth in a sensible manner, "Y-Yeah. You're good. You-You're great! You're a great employee, X-Xiu."

"Is that so?" she massages his calloused hands, "Then, you wouldn't mind if I ask you for a raise, wouldn't you?"

"A-A raise? Yeah yeah, sure. I'll give you a raise," he nodded vigorously.

Xiu's eyes widens, her mouth forming into a thin line, 'I can't believe it worked!'

"So... uhm... about dinner."

"Actually, never mind, Pigsy. I'm content with the salary," she chuckles, patting his hand before releasing it back to his side, "Sorry 'bout that. And as for dinner—"