Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1340: Chapter 4: Xia Mubing Side Story (Part 4)

Zhao Cheng’an: _(:з」∠)_

At 6:01 PM, Zhao Cheng’an and Xia Mubing, dressed normally, walked into Jiankang Restaurant. Qin Huai didn’t go to the noodle shop next door for noodles but bought water at the convenience store next door.

At this time, Jiankang Restaurant was already full of customers, and only one table was empty, with four plates of hot dishes on it: braised eggplant, braised pork, stir-fried pig intestines with green pepper, and radish and pork ribs soup. Quite a sumptuous meal.

Seeing customers coming in, Wang Xiulian quickly greeted them. After recognizing one of them as a big client from the lunch hour, she smiled so broadly that her double chin tripled.

"Hey, handsome, what would you like for dinner? Is this your grandfather? Tonight, we have radish and pork ribs soup, winter melon and pork ribs soup, and kelp and pork ribs soup. Pork ribs soup is good for calcium, the elderly should drink more." Wang Xiulian enthusiastically promoted the pork ribs soup, pointing to the table with dishes, "You can sit here. This table is reserved for my son; his school gets out at 5:50, and he’s not back yet. I’ll just collect the dishes first."

"No need, we’ll take it to go." Zhao Cheng’an waved his hand.

After looking at the menu on the wall, Xia Mubing started ordering: "Oil-drenched seasonal greens, Kung Pao Chicken, Lion’s Head meatball, steamed white fish, sweet and sour tenderloin... There’s even Wensi Tofu, we’ll have one."

"Also, another portion of the pork knuckle from lunch please."

"Got it. Most of the dishes are made to order, so it might take some time. Please take a seat; my son will eat by the kitchen door later." Wang Xiulian became even more enthusiastic, quickly pulling out chairs and signaling for the two to sit and wait.

Qin Huai, buying water next door: ...

The menu already has Wensi Tofu, so why didn’t Zhao Cheng’an order it at lunch? Is it because he doesn’t like tofu?

While Zhao Cheng’an and Xia Mubing were sitting in Jiankang Restaurant, Qin Huai could only sit and wait in the convenience store. He used the excuse of waiting for friends, and the friendly convenience store boss even brought him a plastic chair to sit at the entrance and assured him he wouldn’t be in the way.

So Qin Huai sat at the entrance, playing with his phone, and meanwhile chatted with Zheng Siyuan on WeChat.

Since Qin Huai woke up, he hasn’t seen Zheng Siyuan, and Zheng Siyuan hasn’t tasted Qin Huai’s latest upgraded skills. Of course, Qin Huai also doesn’t dare to let Zheng Siyuan taste them.

It’s not that he’s afraid Zheng Siyuan wouldn’t believe his made-up story; Qin Huai mainly fears that if Zheng Siyuan believes it too much and attempts to activate a system, he’d end up seeing a psychiatrist.

Even though Zheng Siyuan hasn’t tasted Level S snacks, it doesn’t mean Qin Huai can’t guide him remotely. Before waking up, they were cooking mishap buddies; after Qin Huai’s mishaps, it would be Zheng Siyuan’s turn, though his frequency of mishaps was lower. Now that Qin Huai doesn’t have mishaps, he can’t just watch his good buddy mishap; Zheng Siyuan has been exploring fresh meat mooncakes with some new, albeit mishap-bound, ideas recently.

To prevent his good buddy from going astray, Qin Huai can only use less advanced means to guide Zheng Siyuan on the right path, resulting in Zheng Siyuan becoming obsessed with making fresh meat mooncakes, and his chatting frequency with Qin Huai on WeChat has noticeably increased.

He suspects Qin Huai has had another epiphany and asks how it went.

Qin Huai can only play it off, saying who’s having epiphanies every day, there’s no epiphany, just some new insights.

While they were chatting, two hungry voices came from outside the convenience store.

"I’m starving, Mr. Wang kept us back, even the last math class dragged on."

"Me too, Jiang Feng, why does your math teacher always drag on? I almost bought a Baked Bun at the school entrance waiting for you."

"Why didn’t you buy it, Xiuxiu?"

"Uncle Jiang made pork knuckle today, why would I eat a Baked Bun? Aunt Wang, where do Jiang Feng and I sit to eat today? Can I mix my rice with the pork knuckle sauce?"

Qin Huai looked outside upon hearing the voices and caught a glimpse of Jiang Feng rushing into Jiankang Restaurant.

"Eh." Qin Huai was startled, instinctively chased after him, nearly walking into Jiankang Restaurant, but stopped at the entrance, pretending to be a passerby and took two steps forward.

Inside Jiankang Restaurant, Wang Xiulian, who was at the counter doing accounts, quickly got up and gave her seat to Chen Xiuxiu: "Xiuxiu, the restaurant is full today, you sit here to eat. Xiao Feng, I’ll get you a small stool, you can sit on it to eat."

"Wow, Aunt Wang, the business is doing so well today, thriving indeed!" Chen Xiuxiu smiled as she sat down.

In the next second, her smile vanished.

"Xiuxiu, the pork knuckle tonight has been ordered by a customer again."

The customer who ordered the pork knuckle, Xia Mubing, calmly looked at the menu and glanced at Jiang Feng.

"Xiao Feng, your grandfather’s here, hurry to the kitchen and greet him." Wang Xiulian signaled to Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng quickly ran into the kitchen: "Grandpa!"

"Why are you entering the kitchen? Didn’t I teach you when you were learning to cook? Only chefs are allowed inside while the kitchen’s working. Are you a chef? Did you change your clothes? Hurry out!"

Jiang Feng could only run out embarrassed.

Zhao Cheng’an watched by the table, marveling at how Jiang Weiguo criticized his grandson just like any other.

Qin Huai squatted silently at a discreet spot by the Jiankang Restaurant entrance, invisible to those inside, and unable to see them, but he just wanted to squat there quietly.

Silently feeling.

Jiang Feng and Chen Xiuxiu hurriedly ate to rush back to school - two high school kids at the stage of life with the greatest appetite - their eating a whirlwind affair, they dashed out of Jiankang Restaurant after their "clean plate action" to hurry back for evening self-study.

When Jiang Feng ran out, Qin Huai stood up to watch his back as he left.

Over ten minutes passed before all the dishes ordered by Xia Mubing were finally cooked. Zhao Cheng’an carried the full takeaway boxes, following Xia Mubing out of Jiankang Restaurant. Almost right at the door, Xia Mubing sighed helplessly.

"The service was too slow."

"It’s normal, this is just an ordinary little eatery, a small-scale business; there’s only one person busy in the kitchen, and the business is so good. They probably rarely make big dishes; the steamed white fish should have been freshly made." Qin Huai said.

Xia Mubing felt rather melancholic. Even though they had found a descendant of the Jiang Family, Taifeng Building still could not reopen, causing his sorrow.

"Xia Mubing, you don’t need to worry so much." Qin Huai said softly, slowly walking down the street where Jiang Feng had just ridden by, "Remember when I told you about Jiang Feng?"

"The Seventh Young Master’s grandson?"

"Yes, he’s the only one who followed Jiang Weiguo for 7 years, practicing the basics. Although Jiang Weiguo complains, from Grandma Zhao’s description, I can tell Jiang Feng practiced the basics well without slacking and endured hardship. Otherwise, Jiang Weiguo wouldn’t be so upset that Jiang Feng completely gave up learning to cook in high school."

"What’s up with him?" Zhao Cheng’an asked.

"When he came to eat earlier, I felt my power from him."

"Very faint."

"I don’t know whether the missing ability didn’t completely transfer to him or if it was also shared with others."

"Reopening Taifeng Building isn’t just your wish; it’s also Hui Qin’s wish, mine, and I believe it would be Mrs. Qin’s wish as well."

"Don’t be too disappointed. I think the opportunity might lie within Jiang Feng. Maybe I’m not the system novel’s male protagonist, but maybe he is?"

"Let’s go back to the hotel and discuss in detail. I’ll call Old Shi over tonight. I plan to stay a while to follow and observe Jiang Feng; Old Shi’s thousand-day breakfast task isn’t complete, and the dough embryos I left for him only last four days."