Chapter 93: The Annoying and Superfluous Xie An’an

Chapter 93: Chapter 93: The Annoying and Superfluous Xie An’an

Lunch service ended at 1:30 PM.

By the time they finished, everyone was completely exhausted.

Running a restaurant was far more grueling than they had imagined.

And Nan Zhi was the most tired of them all.

Xie Yu’s cooking skills didn’t meet her standards, so she had to handle every step herself, from chopping the vegetables to stir-frying.

If she hadn’t spent the past week recuperating with top-tier medicinal cuisine, she probably would have collapsed from exhaustion by now.

Xie Yu said, "The marinated dishes for tonight’s sale are already cooked. Letting them soak until evening will make them more flavorful."

This was the sales strategy they had agreed upon for the marinated delicacies—

After all, they weren’t a specialty shop for marinated foods. To put it bluntly, these dishes were their signature promotional item for the restaurant’s opening.

They only prepared two pots of marinated items each day; making too much would affect the flavor.

For the first three days, they would sell them from a stall at the entrance. After that, once they had established a base of regular customers, they would stop the stall and add the marinated dishes to the in-store menu as a regular item.

For now, Xie Yu was primarily in charge of the marinated dishes.

Nan Zhi prepared the marinade, and she would check its condition before each batch was cooked.

As for the other details, like heat control and simmering time, Nan Zhi had already taught Xie Yu the tricks of the trade.

From the looks of it, he was getting the hang of it quite well.

Nan Zhi peeked into the large earthenware pot of braised meat and nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, just keep it up like this."

Xie Yu lifted his chin, a barely perceptible smile gracing his lips.

He felt an odd sense of satisfaction.

In the livestream’s comment feed, a wave of shrieking fans flew by, spamming comments about how they were "totally shipping it."

Nan Zhi had her back to Xie Yu and didn’t notice his expression.

"Should we just have something simple for lunch, then?"

Since eating those few scraps of marinated meat in the morning, none of them had even had a chance to drink a sip of water.

Nan Zhi was so hungry she felt like her stomach was stuck to her spine.

She looked at the leftover ingredients on the cutting board and decided to use them to whip up a quick lunch.

But Xie Yu stopped her.

"Don’t worry about it. Leave lunch to me."

Nan Zhi paused, surprised.

Xie Yu made a dry joke.

"Do we look that shameless to you?"

"...Shameless about what?"

Fu Chao, who had just walked in carrying a stack of dirty plates, overheard and chimed in.

Fu Chao and Qi Pei’er’s duties in the restaurant were extensive, covering everything from taking orders and clearing tables to handling the bill and cleaning...

Basically, all the miscellaneous work outside the kitchen!

After less than half a day, Fu Chao’s slight mysophobia was nearly cured. He could now carry greasy, used plates in and out without batting an eye.

Even his most dedicated fans were marveling in the livestream comments about how much he’d progressed. In just one month, he had evolved from someone hopeless at daily life into a master part-timer. It was unbelievable.

At that moment, Fu Chao had only heard the end of Xie Yu’s sentence and was a little confused.

That is, until Xie Yu explained what he meant.

Fu Chao swallowed. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed.

But his disappointment lasted only a few seconds before being replaced by concern for Nan Zhi.

"That’s right! You should get some rest! Leave a small thing like cooking to us!"

Nan Zhi watched them quietly for a moment.

Then, she smiled.

"Alright."

She agreed with a nod.

Urged on by Xie Yu and Fu Chao, she took off her apron and sat down on a chair in the corner of the kitchen to rest.

Xie Yu took her place at the stove, while Fu Chao acted as his assistant.

Nan Zhi watched for a while, finding the fumbling Fu Chao particularly amusing.

Suddenly, she saw Xie An’an walk in with a cup of water.

Nan Zhi assumed An’an was looking for her father.

But An’an walked straight toward her.

"Auntie Zhizhi, this is for you."

Xie An’an carefully held the cup out to Nan Zhi.

Nan Zhi was very surprised.

"For me?"

Xie An’an nodded and said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world:

"Because Auntie Zhizhi is the most tired."

Nan Zhi was touched, but she couldn’t resist teasing her a little.

"What about your dad?"

Xie An’an tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"Dad is strong."

Nan Zhi chuckled lightly.

Then she heard Xie An’an add:

"...But Auntie Zhizhi isn’t as strong. I saw you rubbing your leg."

This time, Nan Zhi was truly surprised.

Xie An’an’s powers of observation were far more keen and detailed than she had imagined; the girl had noticed a gesture she had deliberately tried to hide.

’As expected of the female lead, I suppose?’

’You need to have some special qualities to deserve that title, after all.’

Feeling a mix of complex emotions, Nan Zhi finally took the cup of water.

"Thank you, An’an."

Xie An’an beamed, her eyes crinkling with happiness, and offered to massage Nan Zhi’s leg.

Nan Zhi couldn’t bring herself to refuse, so she let her be.

How much strength could a little tyke like Xie An’an possibly have in her hands?

But she was incredibly serious about it, earnestly explaining to Nan Zhi that these were the spots she’d seen her dad press, called acupoints.

Seeing that she was pressing all the wrong spots, Nan Zhi was thoroughly amused.

Meanwhile, Xie Yu, busy with cooking, turned around only to see his own little ray of sunshine warming someone else up, without even a glance in his direction.

It... gave him mixed feelings.

Soon, the lunch personally cooked by Xie Yu was ready.

It smelled good. While not as amazing as Nan Zhi’s cooking, it was definitely delicious for a home-style meal.

Everyone was famished. They barely exchanged a few words before digging in.

Nan Zhi glanced at Nan Yi beside her. His cheeks were flushed, and he was already wolfing down his food, not even bothering to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

She got a napkin and helped him wipe his sweat.

"Were you helping to clean up?"

Nan Yi nodded emphatically.

Nan Zhi smiled, reaching out to pat his head as she praised him,

"Yes, you’re such a good boy."

Nan Yi shyly raised his hands to cover his head and said in a small voice:

"It’s stinky."

He had secretly sniffed it earlier.

It was really stinky!

He stared nervously at Nan Zhi’s hand, afraid he would get it dirty.

Nan Zhi didn’t actually mind.

But since Nan Yi kept staring, she had no choice but to pull her hand back.

"Okay, Mom won’t touch it. How about you go upstairs and wash your hair later?"

Nan Yi thought that was a good idea.

He took a few large bites of rice, then his pace gradually started to slow.

He leaned in and whispered in Nan Zhi’s ear:

"Mom, Uncle Xie’s food isn’t as yummy as yours."

Nan Zhi picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and placed it in his bowl.

"I’ll cook for you again another day, then."

"Okay."

Nan Yi wasn’t actually that picky.

He just loved eating his mom’s cooking.

Even a cookie his mom handed him tasted better than one he took from the box himself!

He was young and had limited ways to express himself, so he couldn’t explain why.

He just knew he loved his mom very much and didn’t want to share her with anyone.

As he ate, Nan Yi quietly lifted his eyes from his bowl.

His dark gaze landed right on Xie An’an, who was sitting across the table—

Xie An’an was smiling sweetly, a picture of innocence, blissfully unaware of the world’s complexities.

No one could dislike such a sweet little kid.

...Except for Nan Yi.

He looked at her face and found it an eyesore.

’That annoying, pointless Xie An’an,’ he thought.