Chapter 103: The Peculiar Little Restaurant

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: The Peculiar Little Restaurant

XX Elementary School, faculty office.

After the last class of the morning ended, Xiao Li packed up her things and sat at her desk, waiting for Qiqi to come back from the restroom.

They had made plans last night to have lunch at a newly opened restaurant called Nan Family’s Small Restaurant.

Xiao Li had looked it up on "Gourmet Reviews" beforehand and found that it was a new place with very few reviews.

So, she wasn’t getting her hopes up; she just figured they would give it a casual try.

After all, ever since losing the Golden Egg Fried Rice, every meal she’d had these past few days had been just so-so.

This was the destructive power of a ’white moonlight’...

This was what it meant for ’a thousand ships to pass, but none of them to be the one’...

Xiao Li had experienced this feeling to its fullest.

"Sigh."

"What’s with the sigh? What’s wrong? Something on your mind?"

The voice of her husband, Old Zhang, came from behind her.

The couple usually ate lunch together, so now that it was time, Old Zhang had come looking for his wife out of habit.

Xiao Li had just remembered she’d forgotten to tell him. "Ah," she said.

"I’m having lunch with Qiqi... Do you want to come with?"

Old Zhang tactfully declined.

"Nah, I’ll pass. What would I do tagging along? Hey, you still haven’t told me why you were sighing. Did something happen? Tell me, we can solve it together!"

Old Zhang was getting anxious, afraid his wife was hiding something from him.

The originally melancholic Xiao Li was now speechless...

She shot her husband a look.

"I was just thinking about my Golden Egg Fried Rice! What’s wrong with that? Is that not allowed?"

Old Zhang froze on the spot.

"So... it’s not just me!"

Heaven knows he’d been drooling in his sleep just dreaming about that bowl of fried rice!

Why was heaven so cruel to him!

Once, such a delicious plate of fried rice was placed before him, and he did not cherish it. Only now that it was gone did he feel endless regret.

If he had another chance, he would choose to...

Eat it ten times a day!

"Actually, I have a method that’s been working pretty well lately."

Old Zhang excitedly took out his phone to share it with Xiao Li.

Xiao Li actually thought he was about to reveal some earth-shattering secret technique.

But in the end, Old Zhang just pulled up a photo and grinned foolishly.

"Look! I still have a picture of the fried rice! For the past two days, I’ve been looking at this picture while I eat, and let me tell you, it actually makes the food taste better!"

Xiao Li stared at her husband with an indescribable expression, as if she were looking at an idiot.

’Oh, not as if. He really is an idiot.’

She couldn’t be bothered to say another word. Seeing that Qiqi had returned, she quickly stood up.

"Let’s go, let’s go!"

’Get away from the idiot! Preserve my sanity!’

Qiqi had no idea what was going on.

It wasn’t until they were on their way that Xiao Li started complaining to her about it.

Qiqi burst out laughing.

"Your Old Zhang really lives up to his reputation as the school’s number one foodie! Everyone says he has a real talent for eating, a true gourmet!"

A gourmet, the highest level of foodie. Someone who not only eats a lot but knows how to eat well.

Xiao Li felt that such a sophisticated term was wasted on her husband.

"Him? He’s just a glutton!"

Qiqi couldn’t stop laughing.

"Now I’m really curious just how good that fried rice you two talk about is."

"I miss it too. It’s a shame we can’t have it anymore."

The car arrived.

Xiao Li opened the door and got out, her eyes falling on the brand-new characters on a wooden sign by the roadside—

Nan Family’s Small Restaurant.

It was the peak of lunchtime, yet this little restaurant was already packed with a long line of people.

Xiao Li was a little stunned.

"Didn’t they say it’s a new place? That it just opened yesterday? Why are there so many people? Could it be..."

’Hired shills?’

Qiqi and Xiao Li exchanged a look in an instant.

They were eating buddies who had been to dozens, if not hundreds, of restaurants, and they loved exploring new places.

In all their time visiting so many restaurants, a place being completely packed on the second day of its grand opening either meant there was a huge discount or that they were faking the crowd.

But there were no promotional posters or discount information at the entrance. So, that only left the latter possibility.

The two of them felt the urge to turn around and leave.

But just then, someone came rushing up...

SNAP!

Their bodies reacted faster than their brains, and they jumped forward in unison!

Instantly, they’d secured the last spot in line!

Sure enough, the person who’d been approaching let out a frustrated sigh and resentfully got in line behind Xiao Li and Qiqi.

They exchanged another silent look—

Xiao Li: ’Weren’t we just saying we should leave?’

Qiqi: ’Maybe we should stick around and see?’

’Fine, let’s stick around and see.’

Just then, the people in front of them started talking about the restaurant, and the two of them pricked up their ears—

"You didn’t get one yesterday either?"

"I know, right?! I asked the owner to save one for me, even offered to pay double, but she shut me down flat!"

"The owner is completely impartial. I even sent my granddaughter, Xiao Sun, to try, but it was no use."

"We’re so early today, there’s no way we’ll have a problem."

"You can’t be sure about that."

"..."

These two customers looked to be in their fifties or sixties, and they spoke so mysteriously, it was like they were using a code no one else could understand.

Xiao Li and Qiqi felt a chill as they listened, growing more certain that there was something odd about this restaurant.

They wavered, torn between leaving and staying.

Unexpectedly, the line moved faster than they’d thought!

After just over ten minutes, they reached the front, with a huge, dense crowd having formed behind them. ℯ

There was a table set up at the entrance, and behind it stood a beautiful young woman, with a cute little boy helping out.

The young woman, who was Qi Pei’er, asked:

"A table for two? Are you here for the braised meat or a sit-down meal?"

"A s-sit-down meal, please."

After Qiqi said that, she was inexplicably compelled to ask another question.

"Can we have both?"

Qi Pei’er had probably been asked this question many times, as her response was perfectly rehearsed:

"Of course, but it might take a bit longer—at least half an hour."

Qiqi regretfully gave up on the idea and decided to just have the meal.

After all, they had to get back to school after lunch for their afternoon classes!

Qi Pei’er nodded and peeked inside, calling out:

"Two customers!"

Qiqi and Xiao Li stepped over the threshold and, in the blink of an eye, were immersed in a clamor of voices—

Every table inside was completely full.

You could tell some people were sharing tables, as they were eating without any interaction with their tablemates.

But there was no sense of awkwardness from sitting with strangers; everyone was completely focused on chowing down.

A tall man with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and the build of a model was weaving through the tables carrying plates.

’Is the competition for waiters’ looks and figures this intense nowadays?’

’And he looks so familiar!’

’Wait, why are there kids running around in the restaurant? Won’t they get burned?’

The next second.

A pretty little girl with fair skin ran up to Qiqi and Xiao Li, tilted her head back, and said:

"Welcome! Right this way, please!"

Qiqi and Xiao Li were both dumbfounded.

’What kind of outlaws are running this place? They’re brazenly using child labor!’

They dazedly followed the little girl through the noisy aisle to a small table further inside.

The table hadn’t been completely cleared yet. Someone was wiping it down with one hand while holding a stack of used dishes in the other.

Xie An’an nodded obediently.

"Thank you! Please come again!"

The person beamed and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! I’ll be back tonight!"

Qiqi and Xiao Li: ’Wait, that person wasn’t a waiter, but a customer?’

’Then why are they so practiced at cleaning tables?!’