Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The grumpiness from waking up

The coaxing lasted for exactly half an hour . At long last, Zhuang Xinmu calmed down and Wu Zhou had also heaved a sigh of relief . After thinking about it for a while, he decided to test the waters and asked .

“It was truly used on eating food . Our company had opened a store beside the restaurant, and the food was extremely delicious even if it is rather expensive . How about we go and eat there in the afternoon?”

“Alright, we’ll go there in the afternoon . ” Zhuang Xinmu readily agreed . She actually wanted to see what sort of dishes the restaurant served which would force her boyfriend to constantly keep them in mind .

“No problem, Mu-mu will definitely like them . ” Wu Zhou smiled and said while stroking his girlfriend’s head .

Elsewhere, while the atmosphere in Wu Zhou’s entire house was brimming with pink bubbles, it was much more solemn at Yuan Zhou’s place .

To explain this fully, we have to return back to the morning where Yuan Zhou had come to the conclusion that the time he had to sleep had decreased lately .

He had to get up at six thirty every morning to knead dough and scoop filling . To Yuan Zhou, someone who had ceased waking up early ever since he graduated from high school, it was actually a little tough . Before, when he was working, he only needed to reach there at ten in the morning, but it was a lot earlier now that he had to open up his own shop .

Remembering that today was Saturday, and that it was basically a rest day for most of the workers here, Yuan Zhou slept in . If nothing unexpected happened, Yuan Zhou would sleep until ten thirty, but something unexpected did happen .

“Why has the young chef still not opened his shop?” Ever since the grandpa had been subdued by the taste of the egg fried rice and soup dumplings, he had turned into a faithful customer . However, he would generally only come every now and then, as he still needed to show some support to his wife’s cooking .

Naturally, he came together with his wife, whom he had brought along .

“Old man, that young chef wouldn’t be planning to not open his shop again, right?” With a head of grey hair, the affable wife stood next to the grandpa and asked doubtfully .

“That shouldn’t be, Boss Yuan only closed once . ” Wu Hai said, strolling over lazily .

“It’s already eight thirty and should be time to open . ” Said the grandpa, looking at his watch .

“Aiyo, I’m starving . This young chef’s soup dumplings are just too delicious, even if the portion is too small . ” The granny mused while smiling .

Under the eye of the diligent Yuan Zhou and the assiduous grandpa’s insistence, the granny still ended up eating the soup dumplings .

The granny, who had been incessantly rushed over here early in the morning by the grandpa, still felt some expectation in her heart, mainly because the egg fried rice combo from last time had been too delicious . Even she who had been cooking for her whole life had to say she conceded . Even with 10 lifetimes, she was hardly confident in catching up to his skill .

The grandpa ordered his meal with familiarity .

“Young chef, two servings of soup dumplings with vinegar . ”

The soup dumplings, having been prepared in advance, naturally didn’t take long to be served, so the granny quickly realized the charm of these soup dumplings .

The soup dumplings, steam gently spiraling through the air, had an aroma that, frankly, intoxicated those around .

The aroma of meat from the highest pedigree, along with the mildly spicy hot taste of the fresh ginger and the faint sweetness of the flour whetted everyone’s appetite as soon as they smelled it .

The sparkling, translucent dumpling skin encased the bountiful broth inside, while the filling, which was pink in color, lingered with a firm manner .

The green, compact, cute bamboo steamer, the thin, transparent skin, the distinctly visible broth and mince, together with its mouth-watering aroma, was precisely an image of gourmet cuisine that would incomparably arouse a person’s heart .

The granny picked up a pair of brown chopsticks and poked at the seemingly weak dumpling skin, only to discover that it was actually tougher than she thought . Without the slightest hesitation, she placed the dumpling into her mouth to eat after picking it up, her actions mirroring that of the grandpa .

*Hiss*

The bountiful broth flowed into the granny’s mouth in the wake of her actions . The refreshing and natural flavor that belonged to the original taste of the food as a whole was entrapped within it, and it all combined to form a wonderful harmony of flavors .

“Why is everyone waiting here, has Boss Yuan not opened for business yet?”

A regular customer suddenly cut in, interrupting the granny’s reminiscing .

Everything had just been in her mind just now; in actuality, she was starving and her stomach was growling with a “grrr” sound . Even at such an advanced age, the granny still swallowed a mouthful of saliva .

“Exactly, we’re dying of anxiety . ”

Once again, many people had gathered outside the storefront, and one of them spoke up .

“Who has Boss Yuan’s phone number? Should someone just call him and ask?” It seemed like a very sound idea .

However, everyone looked at each other, only to discover that not a single person had his number .

“Wu Hai, you don’t have it either? You live nearby, do you know what’s going on?” The grandpa asked .

“I don’t know either, I’m so hungry…” Wu Hai suddenly felt very stupid . He lived so close by, yet had never thought of asking for contact details .

An hour passed as they waited . In a just a few, the clock would strike nine, and more and more people came . However, the store still had no sign of opening its doors . .

“Forget it, I’ll come at noon . I just feel hungrier and hungrier standing here, I’ll go eat a little something to pad my stomach . ”

One person speaking up like this seemed to set a precedent, after which the majority left one after another, with only a dozen or so people remaining . After this dozen or so people waited for another half an hour, they split in half once again .

Now, only seven or eight people remained . Wu Hai paced back and forth on one side in worry, occasionally glancing at the entrance and hoping it would open a little faster .

Again raising his head, Wu Hai then discovered that Yuan Zhou’s window on the second floor was open .

A lightbulb going off in his mind, Wu Hai proposed, “That window on the second floor is open, how about we give a shout?”

“Wouldn’t it be bad if we disturb the young chef like this?” To the grandpa, it seemed like those with good workmanship all had a temper, but as long as their workmanship was really good, it wasn’t regarded as anything major .

“What about it? What if there’s something wrong with Boss Yuan? Let’s call out together . ” The man standing beside Wu Hai agreed without the slightest hesitation .

“Let’s yell out…”

Aside from the old grandpa and granny couple, the remaining young people were all in agreement .

“Boss Yuan, Boss Yuan, are you there?” Loud yells rang out from downstairs .

The voices were so loud, even people on the fifth floor all opened their windows to have a look .

Yuan Zhou normally wasn’t a deep sleeper either, so he was woken up at once .

The first thing Yuan Zhou did after being so noisily woken up was to get up and sit on the bed in a daze .

After five minutes, the shouts from below grew softer, and Yuan Zhou lay down to continue sleeping . Although he could no longer fall asleep, one would never be able to wake up someone who’s pretending to sleep . Yuan Zhou was currently lying flat on the bed, daydreaming . He resolved to stay lost in thought until eleven o’clock before he opened for business . The repercussions of his morning temper was to postpone opening his shop .

……

When the clock struck five past eleven, close to midday, Yuan Zhou finally opened the doors .

“Boss Yuan, you’re at home . Don’t you know that you’re likely to lose customers like this!”

The moment he opened the doors, Wu Hai said with a face full of dissatisfaction .

“Mn, how about you come inside . ” Yuan Zhou nodded his head, inviting Wu Hai inside .

Wu Hai followed behind Yuan Zhou with swift steps, his whole body emitting a strong atmosphere of resentment . Yuan Zhou even felt as though the temperature behind him had gone down by a few degrees .

“What’s the matter with you?” Yuan Zhou pulled open the arch table’s connector and entered, turning to Wu Hai to ask .

“I’m starving… One set meal . ” Wu Hai stared straight at Yuan Zhou, his expression so frightening that Yuan Zhou directly went to prepare the fried rice without another word .

This plate of fried rice was brought out by Yuan Zhou at an unprecedented speed, reaching the table in two minutes . Wu Hai, who received the fried rice, no longer had any complaints . With a face full of joy, he ate the fried rice, drank some of the seaweed soup, and chewed a piece of pickled radish . He was so pleased that words couldn’t be used to describe him . It was almost as if his ghastly face just a moment ago had been but an illusion .

A serving of fried rice did not contain much, and no matter how slowly he ate, Wu Hai still finished after half an hour . At this time, Wu Zhou, who had brought his girlfriend to the shop, bumped into some of the people who had left earlier in the morning at the entrance .