Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Uncle Xia, Shaking Like a Withered Branch
When he finished speaking, the three of them looked on with envy.
Jun Xinghe murmured, "If only my daughter were as well-behaved as yours."
Jiang Liu smiled but said nothing.
’He and Tongtong had been close ever since she was little, and she depended on him deeply. That was why he was firmly convinced his daughter would never do something like run away from home or refuse to see him ever again. Even when she got angry, they would always make up, and his daughter would act cute to cheer him up.’
They asked him a few more questions about his family.
Under Jun Xinghe’s smiling gaze, Jiang Liu went back to work with a peculiar look on his face.
It was nearly ten o’clock.
Xia Changzhi paid his bill.
"Hold on, I’m gonna grab another bottle of juice for the car," Guo Dapao said, rubbing his hands together as he opened the cooler.
Jun Xinghe was tempted. Being a meticulous man, he looked at Xia Changzhi and asked, "Is it really okay for us to take more? Will Boss Jiang mind?"
’He cared a lot about Jiang Liu’s opinion of him and didn’t want to leave a bad impression.’
Xia Changzhi grinned smugly and held up his empty hands. "Of course Boss Jiang is fine with it. The customers outside, on the other hand... Who knows? Heh heh."
The last time he’d gotten to eat early, he had swaggered out and immediately became the target of all sorts of jealousy from the aunties and uncles in line.
It had gotten to the point where Xia Changzhi didn’t even dare go to the park to play chess anymore.
Jun Xinghe didn’t say anything more.
Chuckling happily, Guo Dapao followed the other two through the glass door, a bottle of juice in hand.
The clamor from outside instantly grew louder.
"I hear they’re opening at twelve-thirty today. Boss Jiang is slacking off again."
"I don’t care about that. As long as Boss Jiang opens up, that’s all that matters."
"It’s getting more and more crowded. I’m so worried I won’t be able to eat Brother Jiang’s amazing food in the future... *whimper*..."
Everyone was either gossiping about Boss Jiang or marveling at how delicious the food was.
Some of the aunties and uncles had even brought sun umbrellas and were lying in neat rows on folding chairs, fanning themselves.
A muggy breeze blew outside. The sun wasn’t too intense, and a glance at the sky revealed a vast, cloudless expanse of pale blue.
"Hey! Someone’s coming out. Are they open for business?"
"Holy shit, how come they got to eat before everyone else!"
"They’re probably friends of Brother Jiang. He owns the place, can’t he cook a meal for his friends?"
The moment the three men stepped outside, hundreds of pairs of eyes locked onto them.
Or to be more precise, their gazes converged on the bottle of juice in Guo Dapao’s hand.
"GULP..."
The sound of swallowing echoed in unison from all around.
After queuing for an hour in such sweltering heat, the allure of the sweet and tangy, ice-cold juice was impossible to resist.
The crowd in the queue began to clamor.
"On what grounds does that big oaf get to buy juice? No, I’m going to go question Boss Jiang!"
"Are you crazy? What if he’s one of Boss Jiang’s relatives?"
"Oh man, what do I do? I’m dying for some juice right now... I’m desperate, I’d pay a hundred yuan for it!"
"This is torture... Hey, pal, is that juice for sale? I’ll give you fifty for it. That’s a fifteen-yuan profit for you, what do you say?"
Jiao Shenghua, who had recently become obsessed with gourmet food, shouted from his spot in the queue, "Don’t listen to him! I’ll give you a hundred for that juice! You selling?"
Customers and scalpers who had been lingering nearby, unwilling to leave, all swarmed Guo Dapao.
"Give me the juice. You’re not worthy of it."
Guo Dapao: ??
"I’ll buy your juice for one hundred and fifty!"
"You don’t look like you can afford it anyway. Here’s two hundred yuan, take it!"
??
Guo Dapao was dumbfounded.
’What the hell is going on?’
He’d never imagined that a single bottle of juice could incite such a fierce scramble.
Jun Xinghe and Xia Changzhi chuckled as they simply abandoned the big oaf, pushing their way out of the crowd.
Guo Dapao reached out a hand in despair, but was quickly swallowed by the clamoring mob.
"Xinghe, I’m heading off. The missus is waiting for my juice!"
"Juice? But you didn’t buy any, did you?"
Jun Xinghe asked, puzzled. However, the words had barely left his mouth when his expression turned to one of shock, his entire worldview shattering.
He watched as Xia Changzhi gave a mysterious smile, glanced around to make sure the coast was clear, and then pulled an ice-cold bottle of juice from his crotch.
"Heh heh, I knew this would happen, so I specially sewed a pocket into my pants! Hahaha!"
He clutched the juice triumphantly, his frail body shaking with laughter like a dry twig in the wind.
Jun Xinghe: "..."
’So I’m the only one who didn’t get any juice, is that it?!’
"By the way, Brother Xia, I’d like to come back for lunch. Do you have any suggestions?"
Jun Xinghe was quite satisfied with Jiang Liu, but felt it was best to be cautious and observe him a little more.
So, he made an impromptu decision to postpone his other business and come again for lunch.
Xia Changzhi studied his face for a moment, then chuckled and pointed at the queue. "Just go up front there. Spend five or six hundred, find one of those aunties or uncles, and buy their spot. Just remember, don’t pay too much. If they’re really not willing, go straight to Boss Jiang. He should do an old man like me a favor."
"Alright, I understand."
Jun Xinghe was lost in thought. It was the first time he’d ever encountered a restaurant where a spot in the queue could sell for several hundred yuan.
How incredible!
’Fucking amazing...’
He returned to the rented luxury van.
Seeing Jun Xinghe approach, the driver quickly stubbed out the cigarette he had just lit, got back into the driver’s seat, and turned his head to ask.
"President Jun, where is President Guo? It’s almost twelve o’clock, and the business lunch you arranged is ready."
"If we leave now, we can just make it in time."
Jun Xinghe closed his eyes, leaned back in his seat, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Postpone it," he said. "Reschedule the meeting for five this evening. I want to have lunch here."
"What?! Postpone it? But..."
The driver was in disbelief.
President Jun was the one who had arranged this lunch. Bailing on it would be a major faux pas!
This was the first time he’d ever seen the meticulous President Jun intentionally stand someone up.
’And all just to eat a meal here?’
’What the hell!’
Though his mind was swirling with questions, the driver could only keep them to himself.
"Understood, President Jun. I’ll call and notify them immediately. I’ll say you have an unbearable headache after getting off the plane. How does that sound?"
Jun Xinghe waved his hand dismissively and said in a low voice,
"No need to rush on that. First, go to that ’Second Gourmet Restaurant’ up ahead and buy me three spots near the front of the line. Once you have them, just hold the spots for me."
’What was one little business lunch compared to his daughter’s happiness?’
’Besides, with food this good, missing even one meal would be a great loss in life.’
The driver was completely flabbergasted.
Still, he obediently did as he was told.
A few moments later, a disheveled Guo Dapao returned.
He plopped down on the back seat, panting heavily.
"Damn it all! Is that a den of bandits? A whole mob surrounded me, pulling and shoving. I almost called the cops!"
"They’re insane!"
Jun Xinghe just smiled. "What about your juice?"
"It’s right here. Hey, what are you reaching for? You’re not getting any. I risked my life to get this back."
Guo Dapao pulled the juice out from inside his suit jacket and placed it on his other side with a wary look.
Jun Xinghe felt a pang of regret. ’If only I’d known, I would’ve grabbed a bottle of juice, too.’
’Oh, well,’ he thought. ’Once Boss Jiang becomes my son-in-law, I’ll be able to drink as much as I want. For a gentleman, ten years is not too long to wait for revenge!’
...
Jiang Liu finished peeling the potatoes, cut the yellow spuds into chunks, placed them in a pressure cooker, and sealed the lid.
His phone chimed several times.
Jiang Liu took it out for a look.
He wasn’t sure if it was a bad connection or just WeChat being slow, but a whole slew of messages suddenly flooded in.
"Are you there, darling? [Panda rolling sticker]"
"Why don’t you ever message me first? If I don’t text you, you just won’t text me, right?! I’m gonna kill you!"
"I was teaching the kids gymnastics and some little games this morning. My phone was in the office, so it wasn’t convenient to grab."
"I have to tell you something! Tongtong shared the pine nuts you bought her with her little friends at school. Now they like playing with her even more. They were all gathered around her today while she passed them out."
"Reply to meeee! We haven’t seen each other in so long. I miss you so much!"
"You’re not chatting with some other pretty girl, are you?! If anyone else tries to flirt with you, you’re not allowed to respond!! I’m the only one who gets to flirt with you, understand?"
"Fine, ignore me. I’m taking the kids to lunch."
Jun Qingmeng realized she was becoming seriously attached to Jiang Liu.
If they were apart for even a short while, she felt awful. And when Jiang Liu didn’t reply, she felt even worse!
’My lovesick brain is out of control... Aigh...’
Jiang Liu was in a great mood as he replied, "I just read all of them. I had just finished up for the morning when a few strange customers came in, so I haven’t had a moment to spare."
