Chapter 327 - 182: Who Could Resist This

Chapter 327: Chapter 182: Who Could Resist This

Her maternal grandmother was still alive, so Mrs. Zhao would periodically ask someone to bring the old woman a few things as a token of her filial piety.

"Mama, when are we going to see Grandma? I’ve almost forgotten what she looks like," Zhou Momo said in a tiny, sweet voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan looked over at her as well. Mount Emei wasn’t that far, but he recalled that Mrs. Zhao hadn’t returned to her family home for the New Year last year.

Mrs. Zhao forced a smile. "For the New Year. I’ll take you to see your grandmother then."

"Okay!" A smile spread across Zhou Momo’s face. She took a bite of a pork rib and asked, "When Brother Mingming comes back, can I learn Martial Arts from him? Then... then I can become a heroine!"

"You even know what a heroine is?" Zhou Yan laughed. "Didn’t you say you wanted to be a policewoman when you grow up?"

"Aren’t policewomen heroines?" Zhou Momo asked, looking at him with a completely serious expression.

Zhou Yan mulled it over and thought that, strangely enough, the little one had a point.

"Then when Brother Mingming gets back, you can join the Emei Sect and become a heroine," Zhou Yan said with a smile.

The foundation of his training was the Child’s Skill.

Zhou Ming had been scouted back in elementary school. He trained with the school team all through junior high, winning numerous gold medals at the city and provincial levels. After graduation, he formally joined the Emei Sect, studying cultivation and Martial Arts under his master. Now, on Mount Emei, he continued his training while also working as a gym teacher, responsible for scouting and developing new martial arts athletes. He had already mentored several promising talents.

He truly loved Martial Arts. A couple of years ago, he had even won first place in Emei Fist at a national competition, making him a moderately famous Master Zhou in the martial arts community.

If Zhou Momo really wanted to learn some self-defense from him, Zhou Yan thought it was an excellent idea.

It never hurts to have an extra skill. If a girl learned some real kung fu, she’d be less likely to get bullied when she was older.

Besides, if she was truly set on becoming a policewoman, learning some martial arts now would give her a good head start.

Most families didn’t have such an opportunity.

’As for whether Zhou Ming would be willing to teach her?’

’Zhou Yan figured that as long as Zhou Momo was the one asking, there was no way he could refuse.’

’In the Zhou Family, a man capable of denying a request from Zhou Momo simply didn’t exist.’

"Okay!" Zhou Momo nodded, then happily lowered her head and went back to devouring her meal.

After lunch, the restaurant quickly grew busy.

Zhou Yan had already learned the recipe for Yuxiang Shredded Pork. He found its combination of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors incredibly delicious, even just in theory.

The restaurant had just launched Mapo Tofu, and the dish was still being ordered like crazy. Its effect on the sales of other items was still under evaluation, so the Yuxiang Shredded Pork launch would have to wait until at least next week.

’He couldn’t lose control of the menu; that was of the utmost importance for a restaurant.’

’He had to plan out his daily ingredient purchases the night before.’

’With the exception of napa cabbage and potatoes, buying too much of any other vegetable meant the leftovers would be a loss.’

’It wasn’t yet clear how many new customers the Mapo Tofu would bring in, but adding forty servings of it a day was bound to have an impact on the rest of the menu.’

’Simply put, a customer who ordered Mapo Tofu might cancel their plan to get the Twice-Cooked Pork.’

’Whether that surplus serving of Twice-Cooked Pork would be ordered by another customer would directly affect the daily profits for that dish.’

The end-of-shift bell rang, and workers began to pour out of the main gate. A good number of them ordered Mapo Tofu the second they walked through the door.

This famous dish from Rongcheng, newly launched, had already built a solid reputation after just one day of word-of-mouth.

They had surprisingly sold thirty-two servings during lunchtime alone.

The kitchen only had enough tofu left for eight more orders.

Its popularity was a little beyond Zhou Yan’s expectations.

"The Mapo Tofu is selling like crazy. I bet lots of people will want to order it tonight. Should you go get a couple more blocks from your great-aunt?" Mrs. Zhao asked, watching Zhou Yan take off his apron and walk out of the kitchen.

"Forty servings is enough. If we add another twenty, we’ll end up with too many leftovers of the other dishes," Zhou Yan said, shaking his head with a smile. It wasn’t that he wanted to string the customers along; ’a boss has to stick to his own rhythm.’

"Alright, you’re the boss." Mrs. Zhao nodded thoughtfully. When it came to matters like this, she trusted Zhou Yan’s judgment completely.

Lately, the restaurant had very few leftovers. What little they had was usually eaten by the staff. If there was a bit more, they’d have Zhao Hong take it home to share among the families, which made everyone happy.

"When do you have time to make a trip to Jiazhou?" Mrs. Zhao asked Zhou Yan. "I heard from Huang Ying that the *Sichuan Cuisine* magazine is selling really well. I want to buy a couple more copies to keep as souvenirs. We could even frame one and put a couple by the entrance as an advertisement. Wouldn’t that be great?"

"I’ll go now, then. I’m free this afternoon anyway." Zhou Yan went upstairs to change. When he came back down, Zhou Momo was already standing beside the classic roadster bicycle, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Brother, I want to go to the city too! Please take me with you, okay?"

The little girl’s voice was so soft, and she even came closer to tug coquettishly at the hem of his shirt. ’Who could possibly resist that?’

"Alright, I’ll take you," Zhou Yan agreed with a smiling nod.

Nearby, Comrade Zhou had already fetched her special cushion, deftly tying it to the bicycle’s front crossbar, terrified his precious girl would suffer the slightest discomfort on the journey.

Mrs. Zhao placed an army-green canteen in the bicycle’s basket and warned Zhou Momo, "Don’t you go running off when you get to the city, you hear? Hold your brother’s hand tight. If a bad person snatches you away, you’ll never be able to eat your brother’s cooking again!"

Zhou Momo nodded. Upon hearing that she might never eat her brother’s cooking again, her eyes flew wide open. She hastily grabbed Zhou Yan’s hand. "Brother! You have to hold on to me really tight, okay?"

"Okay, don’t you worry," Zhou Yan said, nodding with a smile.