Chapter 53 - 52: How Can Jiang Liu Earn So Much

She decided to start by exposing Jiang Liu for who he really was.

She would first let Tongtong get a good look at what her beloved father was really like.

’To get back together with me, he’d even use and deceive his own daughter!’

’Divorcing Jiang Liu really was the smartest decision I’ve ever made!’

11:40 AM...

Jiang Liu had already finished wrapping the remaining 1,200 buns.

Six hundred buns were currently steaming in the steamers.

"Teacher Qingmeng, are you tired? Have some juice."

Jiang Liu set two glasses of juice on the table, and they sat down across from each other.

Jun Qingmeng was tying her hair back.

"Not really. It isn’t too tiring when we’re working together. Oh, and you can just call me Qingmeng. Calling me Teacher all the time feels a bit strange."

Her heart began to race after she said it.

Jiang Liu thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright."

The customers had figured out the rhythm of Jiang Liu’s bun shop and learned to time their visits perfectly.

They started gathering as soon as it hit eleven o’clock.

Any later, and they probably wouldn’t get any.

That arrival time was getting earlier and earlier. Soon, customers would probably have to start lining up at ten-fifty.

"Boss Jiang, had enough of a break? Time to get back to work!"

"Quit the sweet talk! Selling buns is what’s important!"

Over a hundred customers craned their necks in anticipation.

Those who arrived late took one look at the line.

Whoa! There was no way they were getting anything to eat.

Jiang Liu offered an explanation. "The buns are still steaming. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting around wasting everyone’s time."

"Well, go watch the buns then! Crank up the heat so you can bring them out the second they’re done."

"That’s right! Go check if they’re done! Don’t get so caught up chatting with the pretty lady that you burn the buns!"

The customers urged him on relentlessly.

Jun Qingmeng was inwardly clutching her stomach with laughter.

She found Jiang Liu’s life incredibly amusing.

’Dealing with a crowd of impatient foodies every day... isn’t it exhausting being the boss here?’

Jiang Liu was exasperated. He picked up his juice. "Come on, let’s go sit in the back kitchen for some peace. I’ve figured it out—they just can’t stand to see me taking a break."

"Alright, let’s hide."

Jun Qingmeng was delighted and readily nodded.

One after the other, they went into the back kitchen.

With Jiang Liu out of sight, the customers grew even more frantic.

"Little Boss Jiang went into the back kitchen with that pretty woman. They’re not going to forget about us, are they?"

"Don’t be ridiculous, Boss Jiang isn’t like that."

"I’m starving! I’m starving! I need buns!!!"

"That damn Jiang Liu! It’s all his fault. Now the craving for his buns even haunts me in my sleep!"

Yao Yao wiped the sweat from her brow, looking thoroughly dejected.

Yang Tuyang, standing behind her, gave a wry smile. "Sigh... I used to be number one in our grade. But ever since I got hooked on Jiang Liu’s buns, I slipped to third place on this week’s quiz. My dad nearly took his belt off!"

"All I think about all day is lining up for these buns."

Their gloom didn’t last long, though. They were soon chattering happily about the juice, all their worries forgotten.

Xue Guang sat by his door, the few hairs on his balding head swaying in the warm breeze.

He watched the long queue with an envious expression.

"Jiang Liu’s business is amazing. He’s only been open a few days and he’s already leagues ahead of us. If we had this many repeat customers, I’d be laughing in my sleep."

Hua Manman remarked with a sigh, "I’ve noticed that Jiang Liu has a ton of repeat customers. It’s practically a hundred-percent return rate. Once you try his buns, you’re definitely coming back."

"Our own business has gotten so good lately I could cry, all thanks to Jiang Liu. We used to make four or five hundred a day, and now we’re closing in on two thousand. It’s all thanks to him. We should help him out more from now on."

Xue Guang wholeheartedly agreed with his wife’s sentiment of returning the favor.

He watched the customers, some squatting and some standing, when a flash of inspiration hit him. He said excitedly, "Honey, what if we started renting out little stools to them? We’d make a fortune!"

Hua Manman’s eyes lit up, and she gave Xue Guang’s bald head a firm smack.

"Yeah!! You’re a genius!"

Xue Guang winced but didn’t dare say a word.

Then, Hua Manman said, suddenly worried, "I saw a new store is about to open across the street from Jiang Liu’s. It looks like another bun shop. Do you think they’ll try to pull something shady?"

"Don’t worry, we’ll watch his back. If anyone dares to bully Jiang Liu, I’ll go splash shit all over their storefront!"

"Oh, really? You’ve got the guts for that?"

...

At noon, Jiang Liu announced he was open for business.

The place was an absolute madhouse, inside and out, buzzing with the chatter of the crowd.

Not even the blazing sun could deter everyone’s passion for a delicious meal.

"Haha, I finally made it! Old Jiang, give me thirty buns! And three juices!"

"I’ll take ten shrimp and corn buns! And a juice."

"Hey, anyone want to share a table? I’m looking for someone to share with... and buy me some buns!"

Just then, a BMW 7 Series pulled into a parking spot diagonally across the street from the shop.

From inside the car, Yang Yixue noticed the eatery with a line of over a hundred people.

She was stunned.

’It’s so hot out, yet all these customers are lining up under the sun. The owner must be some kind of character... and they’re definitely making a killing.’

She shifted her gaze, staring at the shop with the renovation sign across the street.

"Tongtong, where is Jiang Liu’s shop? Which one is it? Is it the one under renovation?"

Yang Yixue assumed that Jiang Liu’s shop was the one being renovated.

She felt a secret thrill, and a smile unconsciously touched her lips.

’I knew it. How could that good-for-nothing possibly be making tens of thousands a day?’

’The sign isn’t even up and there’s nobody there. Could he even make fifty bucks?’

She had already rehearsed her script for how she would utterly humiliate Jiang Liu in front of Tongtong, disgracing him so badly he’d want to crawl back to his hometown and hide.

The more miserably Jiang Liu was doing without her, the better she felt.

"You’re wrong! That’s not Daddy’s shop. The one with the long line is Daddy’s shop!"

Tongtong said happily.

"The one with the line? Which one?"

Following Tongtong’s joyful gaze,

Yang Yixue stiffly turned her head and pointed at The World’s Second Best Eatery. "It couldn’t be... this one, could it??"

"Impossible!! Are you lying to me?!"

She simply didn’t believe it, or rather, she didn’t want to believe it.

For Jiang Liu to be doing well... that would be more painful to her than going bankrupt herself!

Tongtong leaned on the car window and pointed with her little finger. "Look, Daddy is there at the window. Daddy is busy packing orders."

Yang Yixue squinted. Even though she was far away and the crowd was a chaotic mess of people, she could still make out Jiang Liu inside the shop, smiling and perfectly composed.

’Nearly two hundred customers, both inside and out, and they were all smiling warmly at Jiang Liu. Some even looked like they were... fawning over him??’

Yang Yixue’s eyes gradually widened, her jaw dropping so far she could have swallowed an egg.

She was shocked and utterly incredulous.

’The shop I had just been admiring was... Jiang Liu’s?!’

’How on earth did Jiang Liu manage to attract so many customers?’

’Just with steamed buns??’

Yang Yixue sat in her air-conditioned car, staring blankly for a full half-hour.

Her astonishment only grew.

In that short half-hour, more than four hundred customers had visited Jiang Liu’s shop!

Some would wander over, take one look, and then leave with expressions of regret.

’Were those the ones who couldn’t get any?’

’Jiang Liu’s customer loyalty is this high...’

’And he’s only been open for two or three days, right?’

Yang Yixue couldn’t wrap her head around it. She took a deep, shaky breath of the cold, air-conditioned air.

She had already calculated it in her head.

Although she didn’t know what Jiang Liu sold or what his profit margins were,

based on this customer traffic, a daily income of seventy thousand was entirely possible!

’If he can get over four hundred people at noon on a day this hot, what about the morning... and the evening...?’

Yang Yixue’s chest heaved violently.