IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Customers Arrive Like Clouds, The Entrance Like a Market

In the blink of an eye, it was already July.

Xiang Taste went from being unheard of to being famous, and now it’s the most popular shop in the Capital City. The One-Taste Building across the street itched with hatred, watching its customers decrease day by day. They could only try every method to keep people, and the 2% discount sign at the entrance was taken down in less than two days, replaced with 5%, 10%, 12%, and now a 20% discount sign hangs, but it still has little effect.

Xiang Taste hired new dishwashers and vegetable preparers, but Lin Yan was still in charge of the cooking.

Before mealtime even arrived, Lin Yan was already too busy to touch the ground with his feet. After stir-frying a dozen Spicy Chicken with Chili, a new order was handed in: “Yanzi, another twenty servings of stinky tofu, three fish heads…”

Lin Yan sucked back the breath he had just let out, the spatula dancing so fast it almost sparked. Customers kept coming, and it wasn’t until he hung up the “Closed” sign that Lin Yan had time to catch his breath.

These days had been going on for over a month, and Lin Yan originally thought they were just enjoying the novelty and would be over it soon. But this trend didn’t end. Lin Yan felt he couldn’t do it anymore, he felt he was not capable.

He rubbed his aching back and waved his hands repeatedly: “No, no, I’m going on strike. Where’s Xiao Qi? Have him take over my shift this afternoon, I really can’t handle it anymore.”

“You’ve worked hard.” Cheng Que took the rag from Lin Yan’s hand and helped clean the Kitchen Range, “Young Master Mo went to buy vegetables for you, he should be back soon.”

Lin Yan looked outside, grumbling dissatisfiedly: “Does buying vegetables take this long? The shop is so busy, and he hasn’t been seen for half a day.”

Cheng Que didn’t reply, continuing to clean the Kitchen Range, until he was done. Then, he approached Lin Yan and said in a low voice: “They all say I have a good life, I didn’t believe it before, but now it seems they’re right.”

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow and saw Cheng Que touching the small mole on his brow. He touched the mole on his own nose, which was called unlucky, wanting to tell Cheng Que not to be superstitious, but he didn’t say it in the end.

Cheng Que was in a good mood and talked a lot. Even if Lin Yan didn’t respond, he still muttered to himself: “Xiang Taste’s business has been very good lately, and I’ll soon have enough money to buy my freedom.”

“That’s really…” Lin Yan’s reply was interrupted when the window was pushed open, and Gu Zhan peeked into the Kitchen, looking wary, “Scholar? What scholar?”

“It’s nothing.” Cheng Que waved his hands hurriedly, quickly changing the subject, “Yanzi, I see you’ve been very busy lately, do you want to hire two apprentices?”

“Good, good.” Lin Yan had never thought that he would be able to take on apprentices at the age of twenty-three, and his vanity swelled a little. A bright future was coming towards him, and he vowed, “Don’t worry, I’ll answer every question and impart everything I know.”

“Leave this to me.” Gu Zhan decisively took the job upon himself, patting his chest and giving a muffled guarantee, “I’ll find them for you, absolutely reliable, hardworking, and trustworthy.”

Lin Yan would be completely reassured if this was left to Cheng Que, but Gu Zhan was very careless and would forget it in the blink of an eye.

At the thought of the high-intensity training these days, Lin Yan had a headache. He held his back and acted exaggeratedly: “You have to find them quickly, these few days have been so tiring. Oh~ my wave lid, my intervertebral disc, my bones…”

Cheng Que supported Lin Yan, who was twisting left and right, and helped him to the Bedroom: “It’s that serious! Gu Zhan, quickly go find a doctor…”

The act was almost over, and Lin Yan immediately did a Sichuan opera face change: “It doesn’t hurt at all…”

…

“I’m going to check the accounts, you rest early.” Cheng Que shook off Lin Yan’s arm, turned and walked out.

As soon as Cheng Que left, Gu Zhan chased after him: “A Que, you…”

Lin Yan leaned against the window, watching the bloody love drama of “he chases, he flees, and they both can’t escape” unfolding not far away, and showed a maternal smile.

It wasn’t until the two figures were completely out of sight that Lin Yan picked up White, who had squeezed in through the crack in the door, muttering that the big fat cat was getting fatter again, and slowly walked towards the Bedroom.

First, play on the Cell Phone, then calm down, and then peacefully fall asleep.

When Lin Yan woke up, it was already getting dark. He rubbed his eyes and patted the fur ball next to him, asking, “What time is it?”

White didn’t answer, rolled over, and continued to sleep.

“It’s going to be dark???” Lin Yan jumped up with a “whoosh,” grabbed a coat at random, and ran out.

White, whose nap was interrupted and who was wrapped in the quilt, protested woo-woo. After finally breaking free from the quilt, Lin Yan had already run far away.

There were more vegetables in the courtyard, but Yun Qi, who had disappeared for a day, still hadn’t appeared.

Lin Yan picked up a vegetable and looked at it left and right, but couldn’t find the reason for Yun Qi’s disappearance. He put the vegetable down unhappily and looked around: “Is Xiao Qi back?”

Gu Zhan, who was killing fish, replied without looking up: “He came back for a while and went out again.”

“Tsk.” Lin Yan shook off the water on his hands and instantly lost the mood to chat. He muttered unhappily, “Still saying that the way he looks at me is the same as the way you look at Cheng Que, it’s all nonsense.”

“Maybe…”

A small sense of loss flashed through Lin Yan’s heart.

The unusual feeling was suppressed by Lin Yan as soon as it appeared, and he stubbornly refuted Gu Zhan’s guess a few days ago; “You must have seen it wrong, what could there be between us? It’s just socialist brotherly love.”

Gu Zhan’s attention successfully went off course: “What is socialism…”

Lin Yan realized that he had let something slip, he didn’t know how to explain, but it was almost mealtime, so he didn’t need to explain. Diners began to peek into the shop, Lin Yan opened the door, and shouted in a clear voice: “Welcome, sir, please come in—”

This shout seemed to turn on some kind of switch, and the diners waiting to enter rushed into Xiang Taste, and the shop became busy again.

The person who was rumored to be going on strike didn’t succeed, the person who was supposed to take over was nowhere to be found, and Lin Yan could only complain while working like an animal.

The dishes at Xiang Taste were as delicious as ever, but everyone vaguely felt that the chef was in a bad mood, after all, every dish that was served was two degrees spicier than usual. But Xiang cuisine is all about the aroma and spiciness, so no one thought there was anything wrong, only that the lemon tea in the shop sold exceptionally well tonight.

As night deepened, the diners at Xiang Taste had eaten their fill and staggered home with their round bellies.

A thin figure walked against the crowd, sneaking into the shop with a strong sense of theft.

“Why are you only back now, Yanzi has been looking for you all day.” Gu Zhan shook his rag, looking at Yun Qi carrying a huge potted plant, with no intention of helping.

Yun Qi said vaguely: “Something delayed me.”

Gu Zhan poked the green and red fruits on the tree, his hands itching to pick one: “What did you bring…”

Yun Qi slapped his hand away and made a gesture of silence.

Gu Zhan understood instantly.

Yun Qi poked his head inside, not seeing Lin Yan’s shadow, he asked in a low voice: “Where’s Big Brother?”

Gu Zhan pointed to the Kitchen: “Preparing tomorrow’s dishes.”

Before he finished speaking, the sound of a knife slamming on the cutting board came from the Kitchen.

Gu Zhan shivered and patted Yun Qi’s shoulder sympathetically: “Good brother, go quickly, I won’t see you off.”

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