Chapter 13: The Foodie Couple

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: The Foodie Couple

Old Zhang and his wife, Xiao Li, were teachers at the same school.

They just taught different grades, so their offices weren’t together.

The moment the workday ended, Old Zhang came rushing over to his wife’s office.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"What’s the rush!"

Xiao Li shot him a look, but her hands quietly started moving faster.

A colleague saw this and found it amusing.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Xiao Li was on good terms with her colleague, so she casually explained:

"A fried rice stall opened up at the night market next door. We’re rushing to get dinner."

The colleague was surprised.

"Is it that good?"

Xiao Li had just finished packing up and was about to explain.

Old Zhang ran over, said, "No time, let’s go," and dragged his wife away without another word.

The couple left the office and made a beeline for the parking lot.

On the way, Xiao Li complained:

"I wasn’t finished talking to Old Liu!"

"It’s a good thing I pulled you away when I did!"

Meeting his wife’s confused gaze, Old Zhang put on a stern face and said seriously,

"Did you forget what I said? That fried rice stall limits it to thirty servings! Old Liu is such a big mouth. If you tell him, the entire school’s faculty will know by tomorrow! We always finish work late, what if we can’t get any before they sell out?"

After thinking it over, Xiao Li dropped her reproachful tone and nodded.

"Hmm, you have a point!"

—People who end up as a couple always have something in common.

The night market wasn’t far from their school, only a five-minute drive, but parking was a bit difficult.

Old Zhang had Xiao Li get out of the car to buy the fried rice first while he went to find a parking spot nearby.

"...Remember the location I told you! Don’t buy from the wrong one!"

"I know, I know!"

Xiao Li pushed the door open and got out. She walked to the end of the lane in the direction Old Zhang had described and, sure enough, saw a fried rice stall run by a couple.

’Huh? Didn’t Old Zhang say the owner was a young mom with a child?’

’Did the child not come out today, and she brought her husband instead?’

She looked at the simple, honest-looking couple and walked up to ask:

"Do you sell Golden Egg Fried Rice?"

The couple behind the food cart nodded without a second thought.

"Yep, this is the place!"

Xiao Li set aside her doubts and ordered two servings of egg fried rice.

Then, from the dazzling menu, she also picked the fish-fragrant shredded pork fried rice and the Chinese sausage fried rice.

’If the egg fried rice is good,’ she thought, ’then the other kinds should be decent too.’

In less than two minutes, the egg fried rice was ready.

Xiao Li felt it looked a little different from the fried rice she’d seen yesterday. She tried a bite—

’So greasy! So salty!’

She instantly lost all interest in the other fried rice dishes.

The owner, a woman, seemed to have experience with this and quickly stated the price.

Annoyed, Xiao Li scanned the code to pay. She didn’t take another bite of the egg fried rice in her hand.

Once the other fried rice dishes were ready, Xiao Li turned and walked away, bumping into Old Zhang after just a few steps.

"Did you really buy the fried rice here? This is disgusting!"

Old Zhang scratched his head, confused, and looked past his wife.

"That’s not right! How come the people are different!"

"Different people? Wasn’t it this couple?"

Xiao Li’s expression softened.

Old Zhang shook his head repeatedly, grabbed Xiao Li, and started searching elsewhere, tossing the four untouched servings of fried rice into the trash on his way.

The moment they left, the husband and wife who owned the stall looked at each other in dismay.

The husband glanced at the nearby trash can, his heart aching.

"Why did they throw it away?"

The wife was equally unhappy.

"What’s wrong with our fried rice? It’s rich and oily, and the portions are huge! Isn’t it better than that little girl’s fried rice? A bunch of people who don’t know what’s good for them!"

The husband said dejectedly:

"So what do we do? Several customers came looking for her stall, and they were all unsatisfied after eating our fried rice."

The wife shot him a glare.

"Who cares? As long as we’re making money!"

She gleefully counted the day’s earnings, hoping this could continue tomorrow and the day after...

Meanwhile, Old Zhang and Xiao Li circled around for a long time before finally spotting Nan Zhi’s fried rice stall in a corner.

Old Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, his face breaking into a wide smile.

"Boss, you scared me! I thought you weren’t setting up shop anymore!"

Nan Zhi’s expression was distant and cool, and her voice was as gentle and refreshing as a mountain spring.

"I just moved to a different spot."

She didn’t explain that her previous spot had been stolen.

Old Zhang wasn’t stupid and could guess what had happened, but he didn’t say anything. He went up and ordered four servings of egg fried rice.

But when he turned around, he saw his wife, Xiao Li, still standing in the same spot.

"What’s wrong?"

Xiao Li was staring intently at Nan Zhi. After a moment, her face turned red.

Then she sidled up to Old Zhang and lowered her voice:

"Why didn’t you tell me the owner was so beautiful!"

Old Zhang scratched the back of his head.

"Is she? I think you’re more beautiful, dear!"

"Get lost!"

Xiao Li knew her own worth, but she was still pleased by the compliment.

"This owner looks a little familiar. I think I’ve seen her on TV."

Old Zhang said nonchalantly:

"Maybe all good-looking people look alike... Hey! Our egg fried rice is ready!"

Xiao Li’s train of thought was broken. She had no time to think more on it as she and Old Zhang took the fried rice and she had a taste.

’It’s that familiar aroma!’

’Oh no, fresh out of the wok, this fried rice is even better than yesterday’s portion!’

’And it’s a world apart from the fried rice from that other stall she’d just eaten!’

Xiao Li no longer had any time to think about the owner looking familiar. She was so moved while eating that she nearly burst into tears.

"This is too delicious, Boss! So delicious, boo hoo..."

Nan Zhi stood behind the food cart, the streetlight above casting a soft, warm glow on her face.

She smiled faintly, pleased.

"I’m glad you like it."

Xiao Li couldn’t even bear to go home or find a place to sit down first; she finished an entire bowl of egg fried rice right there on the spot.

After she finished, Xiao Li belatedly realized she hadn’t paid yet and felt a little embarrassed.

She glanced at Old Zhang beside her—the guy was already on his second serving!

Feeling even more mortified, Xiao Li reached for her phone.

"Boss, how much is it?"

The reply came from another voice, a childish one that was slightly cold.

"80 yuan. Thank you for your patronage."

Xiao Li looked down slightly and saw a little boy with delicate features emerge from behind the food cart.

He wasn’t even as tall as the cart, yet he was methodically calculating the bill and collecting the money, acting just like a little adult.

As Xiao Li marveled that the beautiful woman’s child was, unsurprisingly, also good-looking, she scanned the payment QR code hanging on the little boy’s chest and transferred the money.

Xiao Li offered a casual compliment:

"You’re so smart! You calculated the bill so easily!"

Nan Yi’s expression had just started to relax at the prospect of another payment coming in.

But when he suddenly heard the praise, he quickly pressed his lips together, and his eyes turned icy.

"I’m not."

Then he scurried back behind the cart in a flash.

Xiao Li was about to say something when she glanced to the side.

"You actually finished all three of them! You didn’t save a single bite for me! Are you a pig?"

Xiao Li was furious!

If it weren’t for the crowd of people coming and going, she really would have given her husband a good thrashing!

Old Zhang just chuckled sheepishly and gestured to Nan Zhi.

"Four more, please."

Xiao Li grumbled under her breath in protest, but she dutifully transferred the money again and waited for the new batch of egg fried rice.

Their commotion attracted many other customers, all curious about what kind of egg fried rice could make a nearly six-foot-tall man eat like a pig.