Chapter 27 - 26: Come, Sit Next to Me

"Here are your buns. Careful, they’re hot."

Jiang Liu said, placing a wooden tray on the table.

Xue Guang had found a couple of old ones for him.

"Thanks, Boss~"

A petite, apple-cheeked beauty technician made a little heart gesture with her fingers.

"You’re welcome."

Jiang Liu replied casually as he set down the tray, then turned, intending to grab a teapot.

Business was good at lunch, so he planned to reward his customers with some cool, sweet spring water.

"Wow, these buns look amazing. They smell so good. I think my appetite’s coming back."

The slightly heavyset beauty technician said in surprise.

"They really do smell good. I didn’t expect this place to make buns this well."

"I’ve decided! I take back what I said before. I’m going to eat a hundred of these!!"

"Yeah, right. If you like it so much, hurry up and eat!"

"Quick, try one and see how it tastes."

The buns were plump, white, and looked very clean.

The group gazed at the buns, which were steaming and giving off a unique aroma.

Their appetites surged.

The five of them, in perfect sync, picked up the buns and took a gentle bite.

The soft dough felt almost elastic. The moment it entered their mouths, the fragrance of the flour stimulated their taste buds.

The skin was thin. As their teeth broke through the firm dough, the scalding, savory juices inside instantly flooded the back of their tongues.

The tender, smooth, and plump shrimp meat tore apart under the pressure of their bite.

The rich, seafood flavor of the shrimp seemed to permeate their very souls.

Saltiness, umami, fragrance, and the sweet aroma of corn all intertwined to create the ultimate experience.

’This flavor... Holy crap! How can it be so delicious?!’

They smelled amazing, but they tasted absolutely explosive!

The five of them chewed on the buns, their mouths overflowing with savory flavor. It felt like their tongues were about to melt.

For a moment, they were too shocked to speak.

They looked up at each other, only to find the others were just as dumbfounded as they were.

The heavyset beautician squeezed the bun in her hand in disbelief.

The scalding juice from the shrimp and corn bun immediately gushed out.

It flowed down the smooth skin of the bun and onto her hand.

She was completely floored.

"How can a bun be this good?"

"Have I been eating fake buns my whole life?! This is the first time I’ve ever known a bun could taste like this!"

"I know, right? It’s seriously so good!" The skinny technician stuffed the rest of the bun into her mouth and let out a blissful sigh.

Another technician with an ear stud stared wide-eyed at her bun.

"I’ll be damned. I can’t believe I’m tasting something I can’t afford in a five-yuan bun. What about you guys...?"

"I feel like this is a thousand-yuan flavor! Something’s not right today! Damn! Am I dreaming?"

"The flavor is unbeatable! How on earth does this boss make his buns? How can they be so delicious!"

"Enough talk, let’s eat!"

The group stopped talking and began to devour the buns.

"Boss, could you bring us five more buns each, please! It’s not enough, they’re too good!"

"Are you kidding? Boss, make it ten! Don’t listen to her!"

"Ha, okay, okay. Coming right up."

Jiang Liu watched his Praise Points shoot up, feeling overjoyed.

He now had 5,860 Praise Points.

Most of them were probably from the aunties, but he wasn’t sure about the rest.

After paying close attention, Jiang Liu had started to understand a bit about how the points system worked.

Praise Points usually increased by ten to fifty at a time. Each customer could repeatedly generate points for him. Sometimes, even when there were no customers, his Praise Points would still go up.

But the increase would be smaller, popping up ten points at a time, for example.

Jiang Liu guessed it must be customers thinking about his buns.

Jiang Liu packed up another fifty buns and was about to bring them over.

One of the beauty technicians trotted over eagerly, her face wreathed in smiles.

"It’s fine, Boss, you can just relax. We can handle a little thing like this."

’This shop is definitely going to be a huge hit,’ she thought. ’As a neighbor, it’s a good idea to get on the boss’s good side.’

’If it gets crowded, maybe the boss will let me cut in line!’

’Just thinking about it gives me bragging rights!’

"Mm, okay."

Jiang Liu leaned against the counter with his eyes half-closed.

He glanced at the chattering customers in the shop and nodded.

’Everything’s just getting started and it’s going smoothly, but I can’t slack off. I need to think more about refining my business plan.’

’Oh, right, I was going to bring them water.’

Jiang Liu tapped his own forgetful head.

He put the nine teapots of spring water he had filled onto a tray.

"Ladies, eating buns by themselves can be a bit dry. Here, have some water. It’s complimentary cool spring water."

As Jiang Liu spoke, he placed five teapots of water on their table.

When the aunties heard it was spring water,

...and it was free, they all grinned from ear to ear.

"You’re such a nice young man."

"Exactly! A bottle of spring water costs several yuan. Getting to drink it for free here... if you had air conditioning, wouldn’t sitting here be more comfortable than those coffee shops?"

"Young man, what’s your name? Come on, add me on WeChat. My granddaughter is about your age, she’s pretty, and she even graduated from Tsinghua University! I think you two would be a perfect match!"

"Young man, don’t listen to her! Her granddaughter weighs over two hundred pounds! That would be a waste of a good man like you! Come be a live-in son-in-law at my house, our whole family will dote on you!"...

The aunties opened fire, their words rattling off like machine guns.

Jiang Liu couldn’t take it anymore. He rolled his eyes, decided to ignore them, and turned to leave.

He left the aunties looking disappointed.

He put a teapot on Chu Songrong’s table and one on each of the two tables for the hair salon staff.

Then he placed another one in front of Wang Han, who was sitting by the door.

"Complimentary spring water. Enjoy."

Jiang Liu explained casually, planning to head back to the counter to look at new cars online.

But to his surprise, Wang Han suddenly called out to him.

"Wait. You, come here. Come on, sit next to me!"

Her words carried an air of unquestionable authority.

Jiang Liu turned and blinked, confused.