"Huh? Dad, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing. I must have misheard."

Yang Zhengwu grabbed another three-delicacy bun and devoured it in two bites.

Most people took five or six seconds to chew a bite, but he practically inhaled his food. He’d take his next bite less than two seconds after the first.

His speed left the others flabbergasted.

Bai An’an regretted opening her mouth.

’It was like she’d invited a human combine harvester.’

Before long, Yang Zhengwu had single-handedly demolished half the large platter of buns.

He had just eaten a slice of beef, but now he was craving the ham.

’Hesitation is defeat.’

Yang Zhengwu quickly reached for the five remaining tender, red-and-white slices of meat on his daughter’s plate.

But Yang Zishan was prepared. She jabbed the back of her father’s hand with her chopsticks.

"Ouch!"

Yang Zhengwu yelped in pain and yanked his hand back, causing the slice of meat to fall to the ground.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Xiao Han swooped down, picked it up, blew on it, and popped it into her mouth.

"Xiao Han!!" Yang Zishan seethed. "That was my meat!"

"Give it back!"

"Nope. If it falls on the ground, it’s fair game. I picked it up, so it’s mine now!"

Yang Zishan was furious. "Have you no shame?"

"Of course I do! But everyone knows about the three-second rule. I had to be quick so I could eat it! We can’t let good food go to waste, right?"

"Heh." Yang Zishan sneered, watching Xiao Han spout such utter nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

’She just wanted my meat.’

’What a hypocrite!’

Yang Zhengwu grunted in dissatisfaction. "And who’s to blame for that? You’re the one who stabbed my hand. If you hadn’t, your old man would’ve gotten that slice of meat."

"Bah! You can go eat crap!" Yang Zishan tried to kick Yang Zhengwu to vent her frustration, but she missed and slammed her foot into the chair leg instead. The pain brought tears to her eyes.

’Why is my life so miserable!’

The other customers in the shop struggled to suppress their laughter at the unfolding scene.

That family was putting on quite the show.

Jiang Tongtong leaned in and whispered in Jun Qingmeng’s ear, "Mommy, why won’t that lady let her daddy have any meat?"

"Because that lady wants it for herself, too. She has a craving for it."

"Hmm... but when Tongtong wants something, I share it with Daddy."

Jun Qingmeng smiled. "Tongtong, let me ask you something. If there was only one bun left and you really, really wanted it, would you give it to your daddy?"

Jiang Tongtong looked a little sad. After a moment’s thought, she said, "Then... then I’ll give it to Daddy. Tongtong... can just have some ice cream instead."

"But what if there’s no ice cream?"

"I’d still give it to Daddy," Tongtong said with a pout. Even though she wouldn’t like it, Daddy was more important.

Jun Qingmeng stroked her head. "Do you see? You do that because you love your daddy very much, so you’re willing to give him the best of what you have."

"But not everyone loves their daddy as much as you do, understand?"

Jiang Tongtong’s spirits lifted instantly. She said happily, "Does that mean Tongtong is the little darling who loves Daddy the most in the whole world?"

Jun Qingmeng said, "Pretty much."

"Wow! So I *am* the one who loves Daddy the most in the whole world! I knew it! Hehe!"

Jun Qingmeng wiped a bit of drool from the corner of her daughter’s mouth. "It’s not just that you love your daddy so much. Daddy and Mommy love you very much, too."

"When Mommy has something yummy, she always lets you two eat first."

Jiang Liu, listening from the side, chuckled. "Okay, okay, you’re making it sound like we’re living through the Great Famine. Should I sew a patch onto your clothes so you can carry mantou around to feed me?"

"Don’t worry, there will be plenty of delicious food from now on. Let’s just make sure we don’t eat so much we can’t even walk."

"Daddy, you’re the best! Can you give me a hug in a little bit?"

"I don’t want a patch! But I can feed you mantou. We can eat mantou together!"

A new customer who had just entered overheard the family’s conversation and looked on with envy.

’His wife was built like a tank and made him get on his knees to mop the floor every day...’

Yang Zhengwu shamelessly sidled up to the counter and asked with a grin, "Boss Jiang, you got any leftover beef broth?"

"I do. Want some?"

"You really do? Give me a big bowl, then. How much is it?"

"One hundred."

"Okay, payment sent!"

Yang Zhengwu was in a great mood. He hadn’t expected to actually get some broth. ’He couldn’t get any meat, but at least there was broth.’

To him, a hundred yuan was less than a drop in the bucket.

Yang Zhengwu also bought a few fluffy white mantou.

He returned to his seat.

He tore off a piece of the fragrant, steaming mantou, dunked it into the beef broth, and popped it into his mouth.

’Incredible!’

’It was bursting with the rich flavor of beef marrow.’

Yang Zishan reached out for a mantou.

Yang Zhengwu’s expression immediately hardened, and he slapped her hand away.

"Daaaad..."

"Heh. Playing nice now, are we? Who was it that just stabbed me with their chopsticks?"

’Yang Zhengwu was unbelievably petty.’

"Oh, come on. Your daughter was just being a little piggy before. I was wrong, okay?"

"I don’t care. You wouldn’t let me eat, so now I’m not letting you eat."

Yang Zishan ground her teeth. "Just let me dip half a mantou!"

"You won’t even get the crust."

"Fine! I’m telling Mom when we get home! I’ll tell her to divorce you!"

The father-daughter pair seemed to be on the verge of a dramatic falling-out, right then and there.

Shamelessly, Xiao Han chewed on her chopsticks as she watched the show, her leg jiggling with amusement.

Just then, Jiang Ziming folded his umbrella and walked in.

His hair was impeccably styled, and he wore a crisp suit. Even the rain hadn’t stopped him from polishing his black leather shoes.

"Oh? Xiao Han, you’re here too!"

Jiang Xiaohan stiffly turned her head. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, things were slow at the office today, so I thought I’d take a walk. Huh, what’s that on your plate?"

"Nothing!" In a flash, Jiang Xiaohan stuffed the three slices of beef she had been saving into her mouth.

Jiang Ziming shook his head with a look of regret.

’At this hour, there were probably only steamed buns left.’

’He’d really been craving some beef.’

"Boss Jiang, I’ll have five shrimp buns, five pork, and five chive. And a bottle of beer, please."

After placing his order, Jiang Ziming sat down and gave his daughter a calm look. "You’re a real dutiful daughter."

"Dad, you can’t blame your daughter. Blame Boss Jiang! It’s his fault for making the meat so delicious. I didn’t even get to eat my fill."

Jiang Ziming shook his head.

’He decided he would cut his daughter’s allowance in half.’

Rui Ning and the others fell completely silent. They kept glancing nervously at the line by the door, terrified they might suddenly spot their own fathers staring grimly in their direction.

’This is too damn scary!’

At the next table, an older woman was teaching a group of six blond foreigners how to use chopsticks.

The group clumsily tried to follow her instructions.

The woman was losing her patience. "Is there something wrong with your ears? You press with your thumb and guide with your index and middle fingers! Not like that!"

"Hopeless!"

"Are those your hands or your feet?"

"Stop shaking!"

The foreigners were drenched in sweat.

By a little after 7:50, everything was completely sold out. There wasn’t a single scrap left.

Even the dozen or so mantou that Jiang Liu had set aside for himself were sold after customers relentlessly pestered him for them.

In just one morning, he’d earned around 270,000 to 280,000 yuan.

Leaving every wage earner in the country in the dust.

Jiang Liu went to check on the shop next door.

The old tiles and drop ceiling had been completely torn out, stripping the space back to a bare concrete shell.

It hadn’t really been necessary to gut it so completely. But Jiang Liu had previously commented that the shop was filthy and that it would be best to get it as clean as possible. Wang Han had taken this to heart, specifically instructing the crew to strip it down to its most primitive state.

He returned to the shop.

...