Chapter 31: Chapter 30: Tongtong: Stupid Man
Then, he packed them one by one into the large black bags he had prepared.
For the bags with pork and shrimp, he even grabbed a few ice cubes from the freezer and put them inside to keep them cool.
After adding his earnings and subtracting his expenses, he now had about thirty-eight thousand yuan left.
Jiang Liu had already deposited the previous ten thousand yuan in cash into China Merchants Bank.
Ten minutes later, Jiang Liu parked his car in front of the shop.
"You’re back, Xiao Jiang?"
"Uncle Xue, the keys."
Jiang Liu tossed the keys to Xue Guang, who quickly helped him carry the ingredients inside.
The sound of drilling RUMBLED through the shop.
An air conditioner technician was standing on a ladder, using a drill as thick as a man’s arm to bore a hole in the wall.
It was so hot and stuffy that the sweat pouring from the technician’s forehead made it hard for him to keep his eyes open.
"Thank you for your hard work, sirs. There’s water in that hot water dispenser. If you’re thirsty, please help yourselves."
Jiang Liu pointed to his stainless steel water dispenser.
"Alright!"
The technician nodded, pressing hard against the drill.
The air conditioner was being installed at the very back of the restaurant, near the kitchen.
This way, Jiang Liu could also stay cool while working in the kitchen.
Because of this, they had to add an extra ten meters of copper tubing to connect it to the outdoor unit next to the shop’s entrance.
Jiang Liu began to prep the ingredients.
First, he prepared the dough. A single soup dumpling typically used about ten grams of dough. His buns were a bit larger, so he used fifteen grams of dough for each.
Twelve hundred buns required a total of eighteen kilograms of dough.
It took Jiang Liu nearly an hour to prepare the dough, mixing in high-quality yeast, white sugar, and a few other seasonings to enhance the texture.
By this time, the technician had already mounted the indoor AC unit.
Jiang Liu curiously watched a small, WHIRRING machine below the outdoor AC unit by the door.
"Sir, what are you doing with that? Adding coolant?"
The technician gave him an amused look, then looked down and fiddled with a wire. "This is for pulling a vacuum. The cooling won’t be very effective if you don’t. Also, new air conditioners don’t need more refrigerant. Anyone who tells you to add some is just trying to scam you."
"Oh, I see. There are a lot of little tricks to your trade, huh?"
"Heh, you have no idea," the technician said with a hint of pride.
Jiang Liu shook his head and went back to preparing the fillings.
Ten minutes later, the technician tested the unit, confirmed there were no issues, and left on his large three-wheeled cart.
The room immediately began to cool down.
The cool air blew against the beads of sweat on Jiang Liu’s temples, and they slid down his skin.
He shivered in pleasure as the coolness soothed his hot, weary body and mind.
5:03 PM.
After working himself to the bone, Jiang Liu had finally finished making all twelve hundred buns.
He was now sitting on a chair, massaging his wrists.
Nowhere else ached, but his wrists were incredibly sore.
’It’ll be nice when Tongtong grows up. She can help her old man out with some of this work.’
He sighed.
Jiang Liu reluctantly stood up, grabbed a mop, a rag, and a spray bottle of alcohol, and cleaned the entire shop again.
Then he taped a Douyin QR code to every table, pressing the clear tape down firmly to secure them.
He rested for ten minutes in a chair behind the counter.
Outside, a commotion was starting to build. Customers eager for buns were already waiting.
Jiang Liu checked the time. He had to go pick up his daughter.
But before that, he needed to get the buns steaming.
They would be perfectly done by the time he got back.
After a moment of thought, Jiang Liu decided to put six hundred buns in the steamer first.
The shop’s rolling shutter was only halfway down. If he didn’t close it, he’d never get a moment of peace.
Besides, there was still a white paper sign on the door that said "Temporarily Closed."
This was driving the crowd of aunties and uncles outside mad with anticipation.
Some of them had brought small stools, while others stood around playing games on their phones.
There were thirty to forty people by his estimate.
"Why haven’t they started yet?"
"Boss Jiang said they’re still being made."
"My granddaughter had one of the buns I brought home for lunch, and now she’s throwing a fit at home, demanding more."
"Tell me about it! I brought a few to my relatives and it made me look so good. They thought I’d brought them back from some fancy banquet."
"I’ve been waiting for an hour already! Hey, hey, what are you doing up there? Are you cutting in line?"
Jin Wei and his three friends shamelessly squeezed their way to the front.
The crowd outside erupted into a noisy, chaotic mess.
Jiang Liu raised the rolling shutter and stepped out.
When the man himself appeared, the scene instantly fell silent.
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned to him at once.
Jiang Liu had the strange feeling that every pair of eyes was glowing green, like a pack of wolves.
"Ahem, if I could have your attention for a moment. First, thank you all for your support. Second, could you all do me a favor and please form an orderly line?"
Sure enough, Jiang Liu’s words were effective. The moment he finished speaking, the crowd conscientiously formed three lines at the entrance.
"What are you four doing? Get to the back of the line!"
Jiang Liu shot an annoyed glare at Jin Wei and his friends, waving his hand to send them to the back.
He could tell at a glance that these troublemakers were stirring things up.
The four of them were surprisingly obedient. They scratched their heads and meekly went to the back of a line.
Many people nodded at Jiang Liu in approval.
The boss seemed like a decent guy.
"Boss Jiang, can we buy buns now?" a worker asked.
"Yeah, I’ve been craving a bite for an hour!"
A blunt-spoken auntie said, "Young man, what are you doing just standing there in the doorway? Hurry up and get us some buns!"
"Go on, go on! If you have buns, bring them out! If not, hurry up and make them! If you dare to slack off, we’ll all block your shop entrance, you hear!"
Faced with the frantic, impatient crowd, Jiang Liu sighed and rubbed his temples.
He explained, "Ma’am, please don’t worry. The buns aren’t ready yet. My daughter just got out of school, and I need to go pick her up. Could you all just watch the shop for me? I’ll be right back."
"Oh, you’re picking up your daughter! That’s important. Don’t worry about us, you go do what you need to do."
"Go on, go on! Picking up your daughter is what matters. We’re just waiting around anyway, we’re not in a hurry. It’s fine."
"Boss Jiang, we’ll watch the shop for you! You can go without a single worry!"
As soon as they heard he was picking up his daughter, the previously anxious customers all pretended it was no big deal.
They urged Jiang Liu to hurry and get his daughter, insisting that it was fine for them to wait.
After saying his thanks, Jiang Liu left the shop unlocked and walked quickly toward the kindergarten.
However, things didn’t go quite as he expected.
Just as Jiang Liu reached the traffic light at the corner of Yangzhai Street, he saw a tall figure and a small one across the road.
It was none other than Jiang Tongtong and Jun Qingmeng.
Below Jun Qingmeng’s long, fair, and slender legs, Tongtong was carrying her schoolbag, holding her teacher’s hand. In her other hand, she held an ice cream bar, licking it happily.
Her attention was completely focused on the ice cream, and she didn’t notice her daddy across the street at all.
Jiang Liu was a little confused.
’Why did Jun Qingmeng bring Tongtong out early?’
’Could something have happened to Tongtong at school?’ At this thought, Jiang Liu’s heart tightened.
Across the street, Jun Qingmeng’s heart was pounding nervously, but she maintained a calm facade and gave a little wave as a greeting.
"Tongtong, look up and see who’s across the street."
"I don’t wanna." Tongtong looked up anyway, and when she saw Jiang Liu’s smiling face, she immediately started jumping with joy. "Ah! It’s Daddy!"
"Daddy! I’m over here!"
Tongtong shouted in her high, childish voice.
Jiang Liu raised an eyebrow. He felt that something was a little strange.
Tongtong normally had a habit of calling him "Baba," but Jun Qingmeng’s gentle guidance today had finally corrected her pronunciation.
The moment the light turned green, Tongtong raised her popsicle and impatiently started to dash forward.
Jun Qingmeng yelped, quickly pulling Tongtong back. She only relaxed after confirming there was no traffic from either side.
Tongtong bumped right into Jiang Liu’s leg, rubbing her soft, squishy cheek against it again and again, sniffing him.
She also took the opportunity to secretly wipe the ice cream from her mouth on his pants.
"Teacher Qingmeng, what’s all this...?"
Jiang Liu rubbed his little girl’s head.
He looked from Jun Qingmeng to Tongtong, confused.
Jun Qingmeng clasped her hands over her stomach, feeling extremely anxious and nervous.
’This is the first time Jiang Liu has ever asked me out,’ she thought. ’What on earth should I say?’
Jun Qingmeng assumed Jiang Liu was asking why she had brought Tongtong out early, so she explained:
"Didn’t you want me to come to your shop and try your cooking? I handed off my work to a colleague and brought Tongtong to find you early."
"My classes were already over, so don’t worry, it’s no trouble at all."
After she spoke, Jun Qingmeng’s heart began to beat faster.
Jiang Liu was even more baffled.
’When did I ask her to eat?’
’Did I?’
’Or did I forget?’
Tongtong held up her ice cream, tilted her adorable little face, and winked at Jiang Liu. "Daddy! Didn’t you say last night that you wanted to invite Teacher Qingmeng to eat your buns?"
"Right?"
Knowing his daughter well, Jiang Liu instantly understood that this little rascal was behind it all.
He gave her a light flick on the forehead and shot her a look that said, ’No more ice cream for you for the rest of the week!’
Tongtong shot him a glare. ’Stupid man!’
Jiang Liu smiled and said,
"Teacher Qingmeng, yes, that’s right. My shop just opened today, and I was thinking about how well you always take care of Tongtong, so I wanted to take this opportunity to treat you to a meal. And you can give me some feedback, too."
’What else could he do now? He had to take the blame. It would be too embarrassing to say, "Oh, I didn’t want to invite you, my kid was just making things up." That would be far too humiliating for her.’
"Okay, then let’s go," she said.
"Great. I only have buns at the shop, I hope you don’t mind."
"I won’t."
The three of them walked toward Jiang Liu’s shop.
Tongtong held Jiang Liu’s hand on one side and Jun Qingmeng’s on the other, happily swinging between them as if she were on a swing set.
Men passing by looked at Jiang Liu with envy, while women looked at Jun Qingmeng with the same.
