Chapter 40: Let You Open a Gourmet Shop, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lu Feng

The waiter heard the voice and hurried over, seeing the few xiaolongbao left on the table of several people, her face full of confusion.

These few big men looked quite sturdy, but how could their appetites be so small?

"Gentlemen, I see you haven't finished eating. Are the xiaolongbao not to your taste?"

The waiter smiled broadly, leaning over and asking cautiously.

She had clearly noticed these past few days that business in the shop wasn't as good as before, and many regular customers hadn't shown up all week.

Right now these few men each only ordered two portions, yet they hadn't even finished them.

Could there be something wrong with the taste of the xiaolongbao?

If that were really the case, it wouldn't be a small problem; they had to figure it out and report it to the boss.

Sun Qiming and the others weren't stupid either; of course they wouldn't say Li Ji Xiaolongbao wasn't delicious in front of so many customers.

People were doing business; saying that would be smashing their signboard.

Besides, those burly chefs in the back kitchen didn't look easy to deal with either.

So he casually made a few excuses and sent the waiter away.

After the waiter left, Wang Hao smiled and said to Sun Qiming, "Brother Ming, I feel like I won't be able to eat anyone else's xiaolongbao from now on!"

"Me too." Sun Qiming nodded in agreement, then said with a face full of aftertaste, "What Boss Lu makes—that's what real xiaolongbao is! That taste is just one word: amazing!"

The others all nodded in agreement.

"Brothers, who is this Boss Lu you're talking about? Does he also sell xiaolongbao?"

A family of three at the next table, halfway through their meal, turned around; the middle-aged man asked curiously.

The family of three was dressed well, and the middle-aged couple didn't look like ordinary salaried workers.

They had ordered six baskets of xiaolongbao and a whole table of dishes, appearing to have just started eating.

"Yeah, big brother, Boss Lu's shop isn't far from here; just walk straight, turn a corner, and you'll see it soon." Sun Qiming answered with a smile.

The middle-aged man looked very interested and then asked, "We've come to this Food Street many times before; how come we've never heard of anyone else selling xiaolongbao? Is that place delicious?"

"Not just delicious, it's simply a delicacy of the human world!" Sun Qiming introduced enthusiastically. "If you haven't tried it, I strongly suggest you go taste it; I guarantee you won't forget it after eating!"

Hearing Sun Qiming speak so confidently, the woman looked somewhat tempted and said to her husband, "How about we go try that place he mentioned next time?"

"No need to wait until next time; let's go eat there tonight!" The man's curiosity was aroused, and he immediately made the decision.

"What about these dishes then?" The woman looked at the many xiaolongbao left on the table and said, frowning.

The man looked at his son still gnawing on a steamed bun, smiling as he touched his head: "Son, your mom and I are going to try that place's taste; these remaining xiaolongbao are all yours!"

Their son, a second-year high school student, slowly raised his head: "Dad, why don't you ask me if I want to go eat?"

"There's still so much left uneaten! Our family may be well-off, but haven't I told you many times not to waste food!" The man said righteously: "If that place is really delicious, I'll take you next time, won't that do!"

The man hurriedly pulled the woman out, and as she walked, the woman shouted to the young men stunned in their seats: "Son, eat slowly, order more if it's not enough!"

The young man watched his parents leave arm in arm, then looked at what was before him, and sighed helplessly.

Their conversation was heard clearly by the guests at several nearby tables; seeing them leave so hurriedly, they all stood up one after another.

"Trouble, give me a bag, I want takeaway!"

"I want takeaway too, give me a few bags!"

"Waiter! Don't serve the three portions I just ordered; I don't want them!"

In the blink of an eye, the diners, who weren't many to begin with, were reduced by half again.

Seeing so many people interested in Lu Feng's xiaolongbao, Sun Qiming felt he had contributed no small effort to the Lu Family Restaurant.

If Boss Lu knew he had brought so many customers, he would surely be moved, right?

"Brother Ming, you just... forgot to tell them that Boss Lu only opens for business at nine in the evening, right?" Wang Hao came over and patted Sun Qiming's shoulder.

"Uh... I didn't say?" Sun Qiming was stunned.

The young man at the next table cast Sun Qiming a rather unfriendly glare, staring at him until he felt a chill down his back.

"How about... we leave first?" Sun Qiming swallowed and made a suggestion.

The others nodded in unison and quickly stood up and left the shop.

The waiter, holding several takeaway bags behind them, shouted: "Hey! Aren't you taking your xiaolongbao to go?"

Responding to her were only several backs that didn't look back.

"What's going on today?"

The waiter looked at the empty seats of several tables in the shop where people hadn't finished eating, and muttered to herself with a face full of doubt.

…………

Inside the Rental House.

"Damn it!"

Lu Feng hugged his laptop, wanting to smash it onto the ground.

But thinking that he had spent over ten thousand on it just today, he finally held back.

He hadn't eaten all day and had fought with the big-headed doll all day.

He had failed who knows how many times, and still couldn't get past it.

Rubbing his somewhat dizzy head, Lu Feng finally decided to rest for a while.

His stomach began to growl, expressing its dissatisfaction to Lu Feng.

Lu Feng glanced at the time on the wall; it was already half past eight.

He opened his mobile phone and randomly ordered a portion of takeout.

Just after placing the order, he had barely set the phone aside when it immediately rang.

Lu Feng was a little surprised: this takeout was way too fast, wasn't it?

The call connected, and a familiar loud voice came from the other end.

"Fengzi, what's your situation today?"

"Li Jiang, how come I haven't seen you come to the shop these past few days?" Lu Feng knew Li Jiang's voice all too well.

"Don't mention it. The past few days the old man forced me to go on a blind date. Sigh... it's all tears!" Li Jiang's voice on the phone sounded a bit exhausted.

"You're not young anymore either; Uncle and Aunt are doing it for your own good." Lu Feng replied, barely holding back a smile.

"Never mind that for now! What's your deal today? It's already this late, how come you still haven't come over to open for business? Is that notice at the door yours? Saying you're closed Saturday and Sunday."

Lu Feng heard noisy voices on the other end of the phone; it seemed Li Jiang was right near the shop at the moment.

"I put it up."

"Holy crap! You didn't say so earlier, made me run a trip for nothing... Huh? Wait, that's not right? You already posted a notice, so why are there still so many people queuing at your store entrance?"

"Hah?" Lu Feng froze.

"Don't believe me? Look—"

Li Jiang on that end sent a few photos to Lu Feng's mobile phone.

Lu Feng tapped them open; sure enough, the photos showed a sea of heads, the line stretching from the store entrance all the way to the street corner.

What on earth was going on?

"What to do, Fengzi, why don't you come over and take a look? That crowd looks like they've been queuing for quite a while."

Lu Feng couldn't be bothered with all that; anyway, the notice was already posted. Although he couldn't figure out why people were still queuing, he had no intention of going over.

"Hello? Li Jiang, what did you just say? My signal's bad... my phone seems to be out of battery too... Hello? Can you hear me?"

Lu Feng pretended the signal was bad, said a few broken sentences, and immediately hung up.

Then he even turned the phone off.

A rare weekend — overtime is absolutely impossible!