Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After doing what he could, Yuan Zhou felt much better. In fact, he felt good enough to stand up and stretch himself.
One ought to know that ever since Yuan Zhou threaded the path of prince charming, he would rarely perform such actions that would affect his deadpan expression.
“Today, I will sculpt the 12 zodiac animals to practice my skills and give my brain some work to do,” muttered Yuan Zhou as he went downstairs in satisfaction. He started preparing for sculpting.
Of course, it was already two hours past lunchtime. He would definitely not be able to complete the 12 zodiac animals before dinner. Therefore, he decided to sculpt three and resume later in the night.
With Yuan Zhou in good mood and preparing to sculpt, let us return to when Zhou Shijie first left the restaurant with Zhou Xi.
The moment the left the restaurant, Zhou Shijie started heading toward the intersection.
“Where are you going next?” Zhou Shijie asked.
“Home,” Zhou Xi said.
“Come with me then. I’ll give you a ride,” Zhou Shijie said.
“You’re not going back to the alliance?” Zhou Xi asked.
“Yes,” Zhou Shijie nodded as if that was the most natural thing in the world.
“Will sending me back interrupt your schedule?” Zhou Xi asked with a frown.
“There won’t be anything important to interrupt,” said Zhou Shijie.
Zhou Xi shrugged and looked at Zhou Shijie before nodding.
One ought to know that the alliance and his home were at completely different locations. However, since Zhou Shijie wanted to send him back, Zhou Xi did not reject the offer.
Normally, Zhou Xi would rather take a taxi than ride in the same car as his father. This was because he was too afraid of his father nagging.
But today was obviously different as Zhou Xi still had something he wanted to say.
They got in the car, both sitting at the back seats. When the car started moving, Zhou Xi spoke.
“Father, I will treat you to a meal tomorrow. Let’s not bother thinking of a place and eat here again. Since we have already eaten here today, we are already familiar with this place and it will be easier,” said Zhou Xi.
Zhou Xi feigned an uncaring expression and used a casual tone. But who was Zhou Shijie? Zhou Shijie was his father. Looking at Zhou Xi, he immediately understood that his silly son was using him as an excuse to come eat here again.
Zhou Shijie did not expose it and only gave Zhou Xi a teasing look before replying.
“Tomorrow is the last day of that Mingyi something art exhibition. If you’re treating me to a meal tomorrow, you won’t be able to make it to the exhibition,” said Zhou Shijie. “For the sake of food, you are abandoning your spiritual nourishment?”
“I already checked the schedule. Mr. Mingyi will still be holding an art exhibition at Sanya half a month later. With the blue sky and crystal clear sea there, that will be a better location to appreciate Mr. Mingyi’s works, and I will be able to better immerse myself into the world of his works,” Zhou Xi explained unhurriedly. “I am selecting a better location to nourish myself spiritually.”
“And since I have extra time, I can spend it with you,” said Zhou Xi.
“Hoho,” Zhou Shijie laughed a laugh with unclear meaning.
“Since you treated me to the meal today, I will be treating you tomorrow. Don’t worry,” said Zhou Xi generously, not feeling any awkwardness at all.
“Sure, I’ll let you pay tomorrow,” Zhou Shijie stopped teasing.
“Don’t worry, father. It is a son’s duty to eat with his father,” said Zhou Xi.
“Zhou Xi, you are even more shameless than that brat Yuan Zhou. In fact, you are nearing the level of Shameless Wu,” said Zhou Shijie. He was somewhat speechless and felt like laughing at this shamelessness.
“Cough,” Zhou Xi coughed but did not reply.
Zhou Shijie stopped talking as well. The atmosphere in the car was tranquil and serene. This was a rare moment where this father and son pair weren’t bickering with each other.
Time passed quickly, and Yuan Zhou had only sculpted four of his 12 zodiac animals before it was time to prepare the dinner ingredients.
He did not delay. After putting everything away, he went back to the restaurant and started his preparations.
After all, a crowd was already starting to fill the street. The numerous stalls were starting their business around Yuan Zhou’s restaurant as well, with shouts of people hawking their wares filling the air.
The granny selling Mantou and soy milk was among them as well.
That’s right. Ever since Yuan Zhou gave her the pennant, she started setting up her stall two times per day, once in the morning and once in the evening, despite the reduced sales during the evening.
When it was 20 minutes before dinnertime, Zhou Jia and Master Cheng arrived. As usual, the two entered the restaurant and started cleaning.
Even though the restaurant was very clean, they still cleaned the restaurant together.
Yuan Zhou could no longer be bothered to say anything about this.
When Master Cheng first did these tasks, Yuan Zhou tried stopping him. But since Master Cheng was very persistent and was able to reason his actions well, Yuan Zhou no longer bothered to stop him.
After all, Master Cheng had already said that he was learning Yuan Zhou’s spirit of doing everything by himself. Thus, Yuan Zhou couldn’t say anything to that.
Even Zhou Jia could no longer say anything after hearing that reasoning. If she told him to stop, he would complain that Zhou Jia was trying to stop him from learning.
Thus, Master Cheng was very skilled in wiping chairs and tables nowadays. It was quite an improvement from the previous him.
The dinnertime was the same as lunchtime. The number of customers increased as dinnertime approached. And the first in the line was still Wu Hai, the first to enter was also him. Everyone was already used to that.
After about halfway through the dinnertime, most of the regulars had already finished their meal. At this time, a woman walked in.
She was wearing a pair of white skate shoes and a set of sports attire. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, giving her an energetic look.
She sat at the corner of the long table and ordered a Clear Broth Noodle Soup. Then, she sat there herself and ate seriously.
Her meal lasted until closing time.
Even when Yuan Zhou said the usual speech welcoming the customers to come back tomorrow, the woman was still there. Zhou Jia stepped forth and spoke to her.
“Miss, we are closing,” Zhou Jia said gently.
“Um. Ok. I’m waiting for someone. I’ll leave shortly,” said the woman with a crisp voice.
“Ok,” Zhou Jia accepted the bowl and chopsticks the woman handed to her and did not say anything else.
The customers of the restaurant were mostly tactful and would leave after telling them that.
Shortly after, Shen Min took over the shift from Zhou Jia. When Shen Min went upstairs to clean the pub, only Yuan Zhou and the woman were left in the restaurant.
For a moment, silence enveloped the restaurant. Only the sounds of Yuan Zhou cleaning up could be heard.
Creak. A sound of the chair sliding against the floor rang out. It was the woman standing up.
Ta. Ta. Ta. The footsteps sounded as the woman stepped lightly towards Yuan Zhou.
Yuan Zhou lifted his head on reflex. The woman was standing at the middle of the long table, right in front of him. With her big round eyes, she gazed at Yuan Zhou.
“Yes?” Yuan Zhou asked with a calm tone.
“Um,” the woman nodded.
“Say it,” Yuan Zhou said.
“I’m leaving and I won’t return in the future,” said the woman seriously.
“Um,” Yuan Zhou nodded and did not say anything else.
After all, occasionally, when customers had to go outstation for a prolonged period, they would come bidding Yuan Zhou farewell as well. Thus, Yuan Zhou did not feel that anything was off with this.
“Are you not going to ask me why?” the woman asked curiously.
“Why?” Yuan Zhou obeyed and asked.
“Sigh. Because I failed to court you and am feeling very sad. So I’m not returning,” said the woman after a sigh.
