"What are you getting involved for? I was personally picked by Boss Jiang!"

"Nothing to be so proud of."

The customers who hadn’t left yet felt a sour taste in their mouths.

They were jealous that Uncle Niu was helping Boss Jiang mop the floor, thinking that Boss Jiang would surely treat him to something delicious later.

The customers left one after another.

Uncle Niu carefully mopped every nook and cranny of the room.

"Boss Jiang, is there anything else?" Uncle Niu asked Jiang Liu expectantly, rubbing his hands together.

"Nope, that’s it. I can handle the rest."

"Alright, then. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back. If you run into any trouble or need help, just let us all know."

"Take this juice home with you. Thanks for your hard work, Uncle Niu."

"Hahaha, it was no trouble at all! I’m used to this kind of work. My hands start to itch if I don’t do something for a while."

Uncle Niu left happily, carrying the bottle of juice.

Jiang Liu grabbed five shrimp buns, two pork and scallion buns, and a bottle of juice, then sat down at the counter to eat.

He had originally wanted a bowl of Geda soup, but after a moment’s thought, he decided to save it for when he could have it with his girlfriend and daughter.

He preferred to share fresh, wonderful things with the people he loved.

After finishing the buns, Jiang Liu tipped the bottle back and poured the orange pulp from the bottom into his mouth to chew.

With nothing else to do, he went to the counter, opened his phone, and checked his messages.

As expected, his girlfriend had sent him messages.

Jun Qingmeng: "Hubby~ What should I do? I miss you again! I just took Tongtong to lunch. We had braised noodles with green beans and potatoes. I made sure to give Tongtong extra potatoes, and she ate very happily. She misses you too."

Jun Qingmeng: "I was so busy with things this morning, but you were on my mind the whole time."

Jun Qingmeng: "Hubby, don’t you feel sad that your wifey isn’t by your side?"

Jun Qingmeng: "[Photo] x3"

Jun Qingmeng: "I have to write lesson plans again. Ugh, I’m so mad!! Come help me write them!"

Jun Qingmeng: "Gotta go, I have to get back to work. Wait for the two of us at the shop, okay? Be good~"

Jun Qingmeng: "[Kiss] [Kiss] Aren’t your wifey’s kisses the best? Say they’re the best!"

Jiang Liu finished reading with a smile, then tapped on the images to look through them.

The first photo was of Tongtong eating in a cafeteria. She had picked through the braised noodles with green beans in front of her, separating them on her plate: noodles on top, potatoes on the bottom, and green beans in the top left.

The second was a selfie of Jun Qingmeng sitting in front of her lesson plans, looking wronged. She was pouting in silent protest.

The third was of Tongtong lying in bed, her little head peeking out from under the covers as she listened intently to a story.

Jiang Liu replied: "If you don’t want to write them, I’ll help you copy a version from the internet when you get back."

"I miss you two a lot here at the shop too. Don’t feel bad. We’ll eat something delicious when you’re back."

"Your kisses are the best. The best in the world."

After replying to his girlfriend, Jiang Liu responded to Yue Longfan’s message.

Yue Longfan was reporting on business as usual.

He estimated that the ten thousand buns would sell out ahead of schedule, around three in the afternoon.

Jiang Liu subconsciously checked the system’s back end.

[Number of Positive Reviews Received: 27,684.]

[Positive Review Points: 398,560.]

’Today is the third day. If it can reach thirty thousand, that means there shouldn’t be any problems going forward.’

’The positive review points are increasing quickly. I wonder how many points the sixth page will require...’

Musing on this, Jiang Liu lay down to rest on the simple makeshift bed in the kitchen, phone in hand.

He opened the surveillance feed for the new shop and watched for a while.

The shop was still bustling with frantic activity.

Hu Yongfa was rushing around the kitchen. The apprentice, Xiao Ao, had already learned how to wrap buns. The new chubby apprentice, Xiao Zhang, was miserably washing vegetables with Aunt Hong.

They had hired another server, a girl with pleasant features who looked like a recent college graduate. She was standing obediently at the counter, learning how to operate it.

As Jiang Liu watched the customers coming and going, his eyebrow suddenly twitched. He spotted a lot of familiar faces.

The same customers who had just been lining up at his old shop were now in line at his new one.

For instance, Uncle Li, the barbershop owner, and Jiao Shenghua.

Jiang Liu wanted to laugh.

’So they turned traitor and went to my new shop, huh?’

’But they still can’t escape the palm of my, Boss Jiang’s, hand.’

’You’re all mine now!’

A little after one o’clock, Lin Qiu sent Jiang Liu a message: "Are you done with work? The weather’s getting cooler, so make sure Tongtong drinks plenty of water. Don’t always be buying her ice cream and other snacks. You and Qingmeng should also get some rest. Don’t stay up too late."

Lin Qiu: "I’m on my lunch break, shopping at Donglai Mall across from the hospital. I saw a nice set of matching family outfits. Should I buy them for you?"

Lin Qiu: "[Photo]."

The photo showed three plastic mannequins. The female mannequin wore a white short-sleeved shirt, a sand-colored, over-the-knee pleated skirt, and white sneakers. The male one wore sand-colored shorts.

The front of each white shirt had an abstract, rainbow-colored heart.

They were stylish and trendy.

Jiang Liu was tempted: "They look really nice. Go ahead and buy them for me, Mom."

His daughter didn’t have many skirts. Tongtong would definitely love a matching family outfit with a skirt.

Besides, his girlfriend also enjoyed wearing matching outfits with him.

Jiang Liu wasn’t short on cash now. If he liked something, he bought it.

After resting a bit longer, Jiang Liu went out for a walk around the wet market.

The market was just on the next street over. You could get there by cutting through a small horizontal alley in the middle of Yangzhai Street.

「When he returned.」

The crowd in front of the shop was even larger.

Four or five hundred people were scrambling to get in line. The queue stretched to the barbershop across the street, then bent sideways toward the north gate of Phoenix District.

The aunties and uncles who couldn’t get a spot in line sat playing cards under the pine trees at the district entrance.

The neighborhood’s elderly were growing more and more fond of hanging out in front of Jiang Liu’s shop. They were simply drawn to the lively atmosphere. Many older people with nothing much to do found watching TV at home boring. Now that there was such a bustling, interesting place with good food, they wished they could stay all day.

As Jiang Liu walked past the line, he made a surprising discovery.

There were many more new faces in the line than there had been the afternoon before last.

Some were in suits and ties, others in casual clothes. There were many young people among them, all standing silently in line. They were clearly not locals; their accents weren’t quite right.

These people had all traveled from out of town, drawn by the shop’s reputation. Some had even come from over 400 kilometers away, crossing two provinces just to taste the food.

The motivation of a foodie is unimaginable. For a single bite of delicious food, they would truly cross mountains and rivers.

A middle-aged woman visiting for the first time was moved. "Why are there so many people at this shop? I thought I wouldn’t have to wait in line. If I’d known, I would have come at noon."

She wore a long yellow dress with a small print, and her style seemed youthful.

The security guard at the entrance snorted, unfazed by the sight.

"You’re just inexperienced. People start lining up as soon as they close for the lunch break. To put it bluntly, there are too many people and not enough to go around."

If he weren’t working during the day, he’d be in line too.

"Brother, is this place really that good?"

"Duh! If it wasn’t good, why would so many people be in line? Let me tell you something about Boss Jiang’s food: you could search the whole world and you might not find anything that compares!"

The security guard’s face swelled with pride. Boss Jiang was from their very own South City, so of course they had to support him.

"Alright, I’m not going back today. I’ll have to come line up early tomorrow morning. I refuse to believe I won’t get to eat."

"Heh."

.............