Not long after, Nining and her mother's voices were heard entering the yard. Hearing this, Jay immediately came forward and greeted them.
"Big brother... look what Nining brought for you!!" Nining's cheerful voice rang out.
And soon, a cute Nining approached Jay, carrying a flower-shaped candy.
"Oh... Nining's back!" He hugged Nining and carried her.
"Yes... Big brother, look, this flower candy is very sweet and delicious. You can try it." Nining offered Jay a candy.
"Ahhhh... Is Nining really going to share this candy with you?" Jay asked, a little hesitantly.
He knew that his sister, Nining, loved eating these sugar-made candy flowers.
But now, seeing Nining's serious gaze, Jay realized that Nining must have made a strong decision.
So, symbolically, Jay took a small bite of the candy flower Nining had offered him.
Seeing that Jay had eaten some of the candied flowers she had brought, a sweet smile spread across Nining's cute face.
"How is it? Is it sweet, Big Brother?" Nining asked hopefully.
"Yes, this candied flower is very sweet. Nining can try it too," Jay coaxed Nining.
Just as the two were happily joking around, her mother entered the house, carrying some things.
The mother then said to Jay, "Look, this is all because of your overindulgence. She almost cried and made a scene at the supermarket just to buy a single candied flower!!" Her mother complained to Jay about what she had done.
"Oh... Is what Nining's mother said true?" Jay asked again.
"Ummm... Nining isn't crying. It's just that it's been a long time since Nining tasted candied flowers, and Bella said that her mother would buy her some today," Nining replied, telling Jay.
After hearing what Nining had to say, Jay immediately understood what had happened.
It turned out that Nining was a little jealous of Bella. When her mother took her to the market and saw a vendor selling candied flowers, she remembered them and begged for them.
Unfortunately, their family's financial situation wasn't great, and they also had debts to pay.
So, her mother reluctantly agreed to buy them for her.
"Okay, it's okay, I'll pay for your candied flowers later," Jay replied, coaxing Nining.
"You! Instead of educating her, you're spoiling her even more!" Her mother, seeing what Jay had said, was understandably annoyed.
"Okay, Mom, you can calm down. Now can you tell me how much these candied flowers cost?" As if ignoring his mother's annoyance, Jay asked again.
"They cost 0.2 cents, give me the money!" As if wanting to see how Jay would handle this, his mother told him the price and demanded he pay.
"So, how much do we owe to our relatives and acquaintances in the village?" Jay didn't immediately pay his mother, but then asked again.
"Why are you asking again? What does this have to do with our family's debt?" Confused by her son's words, Jay's mother turned to him again.
"Okay...you can tell me soon, Jay will explain later." Not wanting to drag the matter out because she still wanted to surprise her family, she then spoke to her mother again.
"We owe about $4.30 to our extended family and some acquaintances," her mother told Jay, as if feeling a heavy burden.
And indeed, $4.30 was no small amount for their entire family.
With an income of only a few dollars a month, it was clear their family was living in hardship.
While not starving, they essentially had no savings due to the various needs of their family.
Added to this was the medical expenses he had to cover for his injury, the family was now in dire straits.
Without further ado, Jay, who had learned of this, took a $5 bill from his pocket and placed it in his mother's hand.
Seeing the $5 bill his son had pulled out, his mother was clearly shocked and in disbelief.
As if wanting to see if it was real, she felt it and turned it over.
Finally, she asked, "Where did this money come from?"
"I got it from selling matsutake mushrooms," Jay answered, noticing her mother's still-confused reaction.
With a surprise.
So Jay then told the whole story, starting with how he found a large number of matsutake mushrooms in the forest east of the village.
After reaping the abundant harvest, fearing the envy of the villagers, Jay revealed that he had kept most of the mushrooms in a secret place.
He only brought a small portion back home.
Then, that day, after completing his training with Uncle Ricky, he went to the Raya market to sell the matsutake mushrooms.
It didn't stop there. While his mother was still digesting what Jay had told her, he took her and Nining into the kitchen.
He then showed them a barrel containing 10 kg of rice, 1 kg of beef, 1 kg of beef ribs, 1 kg of white sugar, and 1 kg of sweets.
Seeing all these items, his mother was both pretentious and shocked. She never would have guessed that the $5 surprise she had just received was from her son.
That wasn't the end of the surprise her son had prepared; it turned out there was still another surprise waiting for her.
With all these items, Jay's mother was delighted and happy.
Now their debt was settled, and she had daily necessities for her family.
And as a mother, she was clearly happy, because Jay had finally matured and could share the burden with his family.
"Mom, this is all from the proceeds from the matsutake mushrooms Jay got. You can pay off our family's debt, and you can save the rest.
As for the things Jay bought, you can share a little with Grandpa and Uncle," Jay explained to his mother about the arrangements.
"Good...you've really grown up, Jay. I feel relieved," his mother replied happily.
"Big brother, are we going to eat meat today?" Nining asked again happily, seeing the tempting red meat.
"Yes, we're going to eat meat and white rice today," Jay replied happily.
"Wow...there's white rice too!!! Nining loves white rice, big brother!!" Nining excitedly replied to Jay.
"Okay, Mom, let's make a delicious meal today and share it with Grandpa and Uncle's family," Jay then asked his mother to help him cook.
Then, Jay and his mother began preparing dinner for their family.
As for Nining, she was very happy now, because she could enjoy candied flowers and delicious food at night.