Chapter 20 - 19: Jiang Liu Asked Me to Dinner?

Tongtong knocked on the stall partition:

"Is anyone in the next one? Hellooo!"

Jun Qingmeng jumped. ’??? Are you kidding me? I’m peeing here!’

She recognized the voice. It was Tongtong, with her sweet, childish tone.

She grabbed some toilet paper and asked while wiping herself:

"What is it, Tongtong?"

"Teacher Qingmeng, my daddy opened a food shop, and he wants to invite you over for dinner."

"Ah—! But doesn’t your dad usually have to take care of you? How did he find time to open a shop?"

"Sigh~" Tongtong let out a fake, mournful sigh.

"It’s a long story, a very long story!"

"So are you coming or not, Teacher!"

Jun Qingmeng’s expression was odd. ’Where did she even learn to talk like that...’

Still, she really did want to spend some time alone with Jiang Liu.

She just hadn’t had the chance.

"Alright. Since your dad invited me, shall we go together tonight?"

"Hee hee, okay!"

"Teacher Qingmeng, my daddy only knows how to make buns right now. Please don’t be disappointed, okay~"

"Don’t worry, Tongtong. I won’t be disappointed no matter what your dad makes."

"Hee hee!"

Tongtong revealed her small, triumphant canine teeth.

Jun Qingmeng thought to herself, ’Why is Jiang Liu making buns? Didn’t he study architecture... They’re not going to be super, super disgusting, are they...’

’If that’s the case...’

The two of them came out and washed their hands together.

In the classroom, a group of children sat in neat rows, eating fruit and small bread rolls.

"Next, we’re going to learn how to draw a little doggy..."

"Come on, first draw a circle, then another circle..."

On her drawing board, Jun Qingmeng quickly sketched a simple, cute pug.

"Wow! The teacher’s drawing is so good."

"Holy crap! That dog looks like my dad," a misbehaving boy yelled.

"You’re lying! It totally looks like *my* dad!"

「Half an hour later.」

It was time for free drawing.

Jun Qingmeng rubbed her sore wrist.

She walked to a quiet corner, plopped down on the slide, and took out her phone to open WeChat.

She opened her chat with Guo Jia, her roommate and best friend.

Jun Qingmeng: "Don’t wait for me for dinner tonight. Make your own plans, I have something on."

Guo Jia: "[Confused] What for? Weren’t we supposed to get hot pot? How can you be so fickle? [Unhappy]"

Jun Qingmeng: "He... asked me to dinner. Tonight!"

Guo Jia: "Ah, ’he’? Who? Uh, don’t tell me... is it that senior from university?"

Jun Qingmeng: "Yeah. Jiang Liu."

Guo Jia: "[Stunned] Isn’t he married? Why’s he asking you out? Holy shit, you’re not going to be the other woman, are you?"

Guo Jia: "[Shocked]"

Jun Qingmeng: "He’s divorced!"

Guo Jia: "???"

Guo Jia: "Did you do it?"

Jun Qingmeng: "[Cleaver] Am I that kind of person?"

Guo Jia: "Drop the question mark!"

Guo Jia: "I don’t know what to say to you. I really don’t think he’s good enough for you. Your dad is the big boss of a publicly listed pharmaceutical company, for crying out loud. I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’d fall for him."

Both she and Jun Qingmeng couldn’t stand the strict rules at home and had run away to live on their own.

Jun Qingmeng: "I’m a romantic. As long as I like him, that’s all that matters. I’ll get mad if you keep talking like this!"

Guo Jia: "Fine, fine. I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Just don’t regret it. And also, send me real-time updates on you two’s progress. I’ll help you analyze the situation. Got it?"

Jun Qingmeng turned off her phone.

She sat alone on the slide, watching the distant clouds.

An inexplicable nervousness grew in her heart.

She bit her rosy lip.

When she heard Jiang Liu was divorced yesterday, her heart had been in such turmoil that she couldn’t sleep all night.

And today, he’d actually asked her out.

’Isn’t this a little too fast...’

’Does Jiang Liu... want to be with me?’

’Should I be more forward? But a girl should be reserved.’

Jun Qingmeng was caught in an internal struggle.

...

「8:30 a.m.」

The streets were getting more crowded. Most people headed to work around this time.

There were also grandpas and grandmas out walking their dogs.

In the back kitchen, Jiang Liu was mixing filling on the counter.

The dough was already kneaded and left to rise in the back kitchen.

He was now preparing enough filling for eight hundred buns.

「Outside the shop.」

A group of seven girls, all of different shapes and sizes, walked into the shop together.

"Yeah, this is it. World’s Number Two Foodie Shop."

"This is where Lingling bought that bun, right?"

"That’s right, this is the place. She sent me a picture."

"I got to try a bite this morning, and I nearly died from the craving! Now I’m going to eat my fill!"

They were all nurses who had just gotten off the night shift.

This morning, they had been lucky enough to get a taste of the bun Wu Lingling had brought, and they had nearly cried.

It was because they felt like they’d been eating for all these years for nothing.

Thinking back on it now, all they had eaten before was utter garbage!

Chirping like a flock of birds, the girls looked up and saw the blackboard hanging on the wall.

[Chive and Egg Bun: 2 Yuan. Three-Delicacy Bun: 2 Yuan. Pork and Scallion Bun: 2 Yuan. Shrimp and Corn Bun: 5 Yuan. Prices are per bun.]

"Wow, it’s really not expensive! That’s great. I can’t believe buns this delicious are so affordable."

"When I first tasted that bun, from the flavor alone, I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford it."

"Come on, let’s go Dutch! We’re eating our fill today!"

"Where’s the owner? Owner?"

The girls chattered away, looking left and right.

Hearing the noise outside, Jiang Liu put down his work and came out from the back kitchen.

Seeing a sudden crowd of customers, he was ecstatic.

"Hello, everyone. Are you here for some buns?"

His smile was as bright as sunshine, so handsome it was criminal.

The girls’ eyes lit up.

One of the girls whispered to another from the back, "This owner is so handsome. Lingling didn’t even tell us. She’s definitely got something in mind for him."

"I think that handsome guy is looking at me."

"Aiya, I would have put on makeup if I’d known."

Jiang Liu rolled his eyes.

A curvaceous girl in a short skirt pointed at the blackboard and said:

"Yeah, owner, give us the works. Start us off with fifteen of each type of bun!"

Jiang Liu’s heart skipped a beat. This was a big order.

His prices might look cheap, but his profit margin was still huge.

This one order would earn him over a hundred yuan!

"Alright, please have a seat. I’ll bring them right over."

"Owner, do you have any water? I’m soooo thirsty."

Jiang Liu was speechless. He pointed to the stainless steel hot water dispenser. "Help yourself. The teapot and disposable cups are right next to it."

"Oh! Okay."

Just then, one of the girls noticed a red metal box on the counter.

"What’s this?"

She walked over curiously and read the sign: "Care Package Box. Due to this shop’s meager profits, the owner may decide to skip town at any moment. If you wish to persuade him to stay, please show a little love. Thank you!"

Below it, there was not only a QR code but also a card machine on the counter beside it.

"Ah, this shop just opened, and he’s already planning to close?"

"The owner said it himself, meager profits. He’s not running a charity."

"If the food is good, we should show the owner some love. We can’t let him close down."

"I think that’s a great idea. If these delicious buns disappear, I would literally die!"

"So if we ’show the owner our love’ often, does that mean we’re indirectly keeping him as a sugar baby? Haha."