A beautiful blonde woman asked, "Mr. Jiang, your buns are absolutely delicious, and your other dishes are just as amazing. Have you considered opening a shop in our Bazhou? I’m willing to sponsor you, as long as you let me cut the line to eat here every day!"

The moment she spoke, the surrounding customers’ expressions turned hostile.

’Well, now!’

’How dare these foreigners try to poach him right on our turf?’

The group of foreigners was startled. They noticed the atmosphere had shifted. Just a moment ago, it was lively, but now it had suddenly gone quiet.

Jiang Liu smiled and politely refused, "Thank you for the kind offer, but I have no plans to expand abroad for now."

"What a pity."

They breathed a sigh of relief.

’Uh, wait, why did we just breathe a sigh of relief?’

The lively atmosphere returned.

People went back to ordering and chatting.

A middle-aged customer in a sharp suit was on a business trip from Guang City. He had passed by yesterday and, seeing the crowd, became very curious. Today, he made a point to come early and get in line.

Xu Qiangguo ordered fifteen buns and a bottle of fruit juice.

He looked at the buns.

He let out a surprised "Huh?"

’They look even better than the ones from Yaya Buns Shop back in Guang City.’

’They probably won’t be much worse than the buns back home... A little pricey, though.’

Xu Qiangguo took a bite of a Three-Delicacy bun.

"Hmm?!"

His eyes widened.

’How can it be this delicious?!’

He was utterly shocked.

They were more than ten times better than the best buns he had ever eaten!

’I’m so excited! I’ve discovered a hidden treasure!’

He immediately tried the other buns.

They were just as delicious.

The skin was soft with a wheaty fragrance, and the fillings were savory, plump, and addictively flavorful.

’The ingredients are extraordinary, and so is the skill!’

Xu Qiangguo couldn’t help but look at the busy Jiang Liu in shock, as if searching for an answer.

In all his life, he had never eaten buns with such a texture.

The chives were crisp, tender, and refreshing. The eggs were fragrant and tender with a faint milky aroma, without the slightest hint of any unpleasant egginess!

’Ordinary eggs have that taste if you pay close attention.’

He took a sip of the sweet and sour orange juice.

’So refreshing!’

"Boss, another twenty buns, please!"

A nearby customer gave Xu Qiangguo a weary look. "Is this guy an idiot? What country bumpkin doesn’t know that Brother Jiang’s food is limited?"

"Maybe he’s still half-asleep."

Jiang Liu said, "I’m sorry, sir. Due to the high number of customers, we have a limit of fifteen buns per person, per meal."

’A limit of fifteen?’

Xu Qiangguo was dumbfounded.

’This boss has to be doing it on purpose! You have such top-tier food, and you’re telling me there’s a limit?’

’It’s infuriating.’

’I want to eat more, but I can’t!’

Xu Qiangguo stared at his last remaining bun, feeling unwilling to accept this.

He gritted his teeth.

"How about this? I’ll pay twenty yuan for one of your buns. Deal?"

...

Jiang Liu pretended not to hear. ’I already said there’s a limit, but he still wants to buy more.’

A customer kindly advised from the side, "Don’t waste your breath. Yesterday, someone offered five hundred, and Boss Jiang still didn’t sell."

"Five hundred???"

After the initial shock, Xu Qiangguo felt a little dejected.

’Right. Buns this amazing can’t be measured in money. I guess this mysterious Boss Jiang’s shop is the only place you can get them, huh?’

A few corporate employees with work badges walked in.

Ever since discovering this treasure of a food spot, they had started coming early in the morning to line up, otherwise they wouldn’t have time during the day.

The group ordered forty-five buns and a serving of ham.

"This ham is amazing. It’s way better than what we had at the last company team-building event."

"Yeah, and they claimed that ham cost two hundred thousand. The boss was just full of it."

"I finally figured out why our company moved over here. Having a kickass cafeteria like this is fucking awesome!"

The group talked about work as they ate.

After they finished, they followed the example of the regulars and wiped down their table.

It was like "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

"Boss Jiang, I’ll bring my friends over to support your business later. You’d better not just pack up and disappear on us, okay!?"

The corporate employee looked at Jiang Liu with a smile, speaking very politely and carefully.

In the midst of his work, Jiang Liu offered a polite smile and replied, "Thanks. If nothing comes up, I’ll be open every day."

"Haha, that’s great. If you run into any trouble, just let us know. I’ve got a few connections."

"Okay."

"We’re off, Boss Jiang. We’ll come line up again when we have time."

The group left.

The busy hours flew by. A customer queuing at the back of the line glanced at the time.

"Alright, forget it. No point in lining up anymore. We won’t get to eat this morning. Let’s pack it in and get ready for lunch!"

8:01 AM.

The last ten fennel buns were sold, and the remaining dozen or so bottles of juice were snatched up in a frenzy by a crowd of aunties and uncles.

Several hundred customers at the door were left empty-handed.

"Sold out again? Damn it, I took time off work for this. What a waste."

"Me too. I specifically took the morning off just to eat Boss Jiang’s buns."

"It’s a shame. It’d be great if Boss Jiang could make a hundred thousand buns a day."

The disappointed customers grumbled as they left.

Jiang Liu loaded the plates into the dishwasher in batches to be cleaned.

The floor was already quite clean. He gave it a quick mop and sprayed it with alcohol.

After finishing up, he picked up his phone and took a look.

There were messages from Yue Longfan and Hu Yongfa.

Yue Longfan’s was a routine report on business operations; their Jiang’s stall was now a big hit near the schools in Ba District.

Hu Yongfa, on the other hand, had sent Jiang Liu a few resumes.

After replying to the messages, Jiang Liu chatted with Jun Qingmeng for a while.

His girlfriend was missing him again.

Jiang Liu quite liked Jun Qingmeng’s clingy personality.

「Meanwhile.」

Yang Yixue sat on the sofa, her expression flickering as she stared at her phone.

Yesterday’s revenue figures were out.

Twenty stores had lost over thirty-six thousand yuan.

A few of the stores were still managing to turn a daily profit.

Last night, after a round of negotiations, Yang Yixue had hired some minor food bloggers from South City to do some advertising for her.

But the bun recipe was still a major problem.

She was now hesitating, wondering if she should go and beg Jiang Liu for help again.

’No matter what, I’m Tongtong’s mother. Jiang Liu wouldn’t just watch me fail, would he?’

Just as Yang Yixue was hesitating,

Li Xiaoyan, having finished her makeup, casually strolled out of her room. "Let’s go. Want to eat on the commercial street?"

She was craving the pickled fish from Aiyu.

Yang Yixue frowned, feeling annoyed. "Let’s not go today. We can just eat at store number one."

"Eat at our own store? Eat those buns!?" Li Xiaoyan’s voice rose unconsciously. "Is that stuff even edible? It tastes awful, okay! Let’s just go get fish. It’s nutritious."

Before, a meal for her used to cost around fifty yuan. But ever since Jiang Liu’s house was transferred to her name, on top of opening dozens of stores, Li Xiaoyan’s confidence had swelled. Now, a meal wasn’t satisfying unless it cost at least three hundred yuan.

Sometimes she’d go out for Western food and order red wine. A single meal for her could cost as much as Tongtong’s food expenses for an entire semester.

Now that Yang Yixue was telling her to eat buns, she genuinely couldn’t accept it.

’Is that the kind of stuff a person of my tastes should be eating?’

Yang Yixue’s expression soured further. She shot her mom a look of veiled disgust. "Could you try to be a little more considerate of me? Do you think I run a bank? Where am I supposed to get the money for us to feast on rich food every single day?"