Lin Qiu disagreed, frowning. "Are you silly? Didn’t you see the young students in the crowd? Usually, these kinds of promotions attract more elderly people. After all, they don’t give away anything good, and young people aren’t interested in petty freebies."
Jiang Dahai was silent.
’Who the hell knows what’s going on.’
"Whatever, it has nothing to do with us. Finding our son is what’s important."
The two of them pulled their suitcases, the wheels clattering noisily on the concrete ground.
The closer they got, the more shocked they were by the huge, bustling crowd.
They were especially struck by the excitent radiating from people’s faces. So were gesticulating wildly while talking to friends, occasionally licking their dry lips.
No matter how you looked at it, it seed as fanatical as a brainwashing session for a pyramid sche.
Just then, Jiang Dahai saw a familiar figure hurrying past.
"Captain Liu??"
"Who is it?"
Liu Honglei turned around, confused.
The mont he saw Jiang Dahai, he froze.
A stampede of curses raced through his mind.
’Why is this guy here? Didn’t he take ti off to see his son? Don’t tell he’s following . Damn, Jiang Dahai seems so righteous on the surface, I can’t believe he’s this sneaky!’
Liu Honglei’s expression shifted a few tis before he asked in surprise, "Dahai, you’re here for the stead buns too?"
"Huh! Stead buns? What stead buns?"
Jiang Dahai was even more confused, unable to make heads or tails of the situation.
"If not for the stead buns, then what are you doing on Yangzhai Street?"
Liu Honglei’s eyes darted about.
He was wondering if Jiang Dahai was really in the dark or just ssing with him.
Lin Qiu glared at Liu Honglei with displeasure, put her hands on her hips, and said fiercely, "Can’t you see our suitcases?! What’s with the stead buns? What’s going through your head? Do you think the only reason I’d co here is to eat stead buns?"
"We’re here to see our son!"
She wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Liu Honglei.
She was a hospital departnt head, after all.
Jiang Dahai also nodded. "That’s right. My son opened a food shop around here. He sells stead buns, too. We ca to see him today."
"Didn’t I tell you that before, Captain?"
A look of realization dawned on Liu Honglei. "Oh, my mistake. I thought you were here for the stead buns. Your son sells stead buns, too?"
As he spoke, his eyes held a hint of pity. ’Selling stead buns here? He must have a death wish.’
In the few days since Boss Jiang had opened, it wasn’t just the breakfast shops—every eatery in the vicinity had been affected. Five or six owners had already skipped town.
Lin Qiu nodded proudly. "Yes, my son’s breakfast shop is very profitable."
’Profitable?’ Liu Honglei laughed to himself. ’You have no idea about Boss Jiang’s dominance, do you? Making money by opening a shop here? That’s a complete joke.’
Suddenly, he froze.
’Boss Jiang?’
’Wait!’
’Doesn’t Dahai’s surna also happen to be Jiang?’
’I’m so used to calling him Dahai, I almost forgot his full na is Jiang Dahai!’
’Holy shit!!’
The next mont, Liu Honglei was so startled he almost jumped out of his skin.
’It has to be him!’
’The possibility is ninety-nine percent!’
’So the Boss Jiang I’ve been so respectful to is actually Jiang Dahai’s son?’
"Dahai, what’s your son’s shop called?" Liu Honglei asked nervously.
Jiang Dahai looked exasperated at the ntion of it.
"’Second Best Food Shop Under Heaven.’ If you ask , the na is just plain stupid. Not low-key at all. With his ager skills, giving it such a flashy na... isn’t he just asking for embarrassnt?"
’Stupid? Who do you think you’re mocking...’ Liu Honglei’s heart was a turmoil of mixed feelings as he stood rooted to the spot, completely dazed.
’Of course, it’s him! I should have known!’
’In that case... all those tis I lorded the stead buns over Jiang Dahai... and all our little personal conflicts... Boss Jiang isn’t going to refuse to sell stead buns now, is he?’
’I’m screwed!’
Lin Qiu gave Jiang Dahai a speechless look. ’This is your boss? He’s acting like a complete idiot.’
’So weird.’
’And this idiot is supposed to solve cris? I almost want to laugh.’
Under pressure from his wife, Jiang Dahai said:
"Captain Liu, I’m going to go see my son now. You can go on ahead with your business."
"Huh? Ahem, can you take with you? Let’s go together, Dahai," Liu Honglei said, snapping out of it, his tone gentle.
His usual air of command was completely gone.
"Together?"
Jiang Dahai grew even more confused.
He was starting to wonder if this was even the sa person.
’My captain is usually loud, arrogant, and sharp as a tack. He’s never like this—acting like an idiot one mont and speaking so softly the next.’
"What would you go for?"
"To see your son, of course! To be honest, I haven’t seen him in years. I wonder how your handso, dashing son is doing now. I’ve really been wanting to see him."
Jiang Dahai: ...
Lin Qiu: ...
’Why is he sucking up all of a sudden?’
The three of them walked on side by side.
"What’s going on up ahead? There are so many people. Captain, do you know?" Jiang Dahai asked, looking at the jostling crowd with a confused expression.
Liu Honglei chuckled. ’It’s your own son’s shop, and you’re asking what’s happening?’ he thought.
"Oh, that’s a food shop. The food is excellent. The stead buns I gave you were from there."
"From here?!" Jiang Dahai was excited. "That’s great! No wonder there are so many people. If I get the chance, I’ll have to ask the owner if he’ll sell the recipe. I can give it to my son."
Liu Honglei’s mouth twitched.
’At the sa ti, I can’t wait to see the look on this idiot’s face when he finds out this is his son’s shop.’
Jiang Dahai randomly picked an older woman to ask:
"Hello, excuse , where is Number 68, the ’Second Best Food Shop Under Heaven’?"
Aunt Wu frowned. "Find it yourself, don’t ask !"
With that, she clutched her grocery basket and headed straight for the crowd.
Beside them, Lin Qiu happened to look up.
She froze for a second.
"Dahai, look at that shop with the line. Isn’t that our son’s shop?"
"Which one?"
It didn’t register with Jiang Dahai at first.
He looked up.
The sign for "Second Best Food Shop Under Heaven," set against the backdrop of the massive crowd, seed to be glowing.
Jiang Dahai’s calm expression turned to one of dumbfounded shock.
"This has to be a mistake..."
He quickly took out his phone and confird the na again.
But still in disbelief, he said, "Maybe it is... Shall we, uh, go take a look?"
Liu Honglei let out a laugh.
’What a strange pair of parents.’
"Right, let’s check the number first, then look inside."
Jiang Dahai and Lin Qiu ran over to check.
It really was Number 68!
"This is it!"
Lin Qiu, unable to contain her joy, hugged Jiang Dahai. "This really is our son’s shop!"
On Jiang Dahai’s usually stern face, a gratified smile appeared.
"Not bad. Our son has our flair from when we were young. I thought he was outstanding, but I never expected him to be this outstanding."
Lin Qiu couldn’t help but pinch his arm. "Who was it that said they wouldn’t support our son getting into the food business? And who said they were going to teach him a lesson? Was that you?"
Jiang Dahai glared. "Didn’t you think so too?"
Liu Honglei sighed.
’This family... they’re going to be the death of .’
"Dahai, look. Isn’t that our son, the one who just ca out of the kitchen?"
"Yes, that’s definitely him!" Jiang Dahai’s mouth split into a wide grin.
At the sa ti, he unconsciously puffed out his chest in front of Liu Honglei.
’I get it now,’ he thought. ’Based on the way that old fox Liu Honglei’s attitude did a complete one-eighty, he must have been buying the stead buns and juice from my son all along.’
’Using stead buns to keep in line? Hmph! We’ll see who’s keeping who in line from now on! If he dares yell at , I’ll tell my son to stop selling Liu Honglei fish. If he dares make work the night shift? I’ll tell my son to stop selling him stead buns. If he dares to make unhappy? I’ll tell my son to stop selling him juice... In short, if I’m unhappy, no one gets any stead buns!’
Jiang Dahai shot a sideways glance at Liu Honglei.
Liu Honglei quickly returned a smile.
He was fuming inside. ’If I’d known earlier, I would have built a better relationship with Jiang Dahai. Then I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, right?’
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