Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Awesome, Tangy Kiwi

At the convenience store across the street.

Xiao Huzi returned to the store, carrying ten egg and fennel buns.

He was at his wit’s end. "I almost got mobbed just trying to buy these buns!"

"That must have been rough!"

Brother Hai patted him on the shoulder.

"Quick, let’s see how they taste."

"By the way, Brother Hai, isn’t egg and fennel a specialty from your hometown? You think maybe we can fight magic with magic?"

Brother Hai’s eyes lit up.

He confidently picked up a bun and took a bite. A moment later, he was staring at the bun in silence.

"So, how is it, Brother Hai? It’s nothing special, right? I bet the kid just threw it together. It must taste pretty average. The customers are just buying them because of his reputation."

Brother Hai’s face was grim, his complexion ashen. "Try it yourselves," he said, his voice heavy.

Xiao Huzi and their other, skinny partner each took a bite.

Stunned.

"This is unbelievably delicious!"

"How does he do it?!"

Brother Hai sighed. "Speaking as a professional, even if we tried to copy this, our version would be a crude imitation."

"Don’t say that!"

"Brother Hai, you promised we could make money!"

"How can you be so dejected?"

Xiao Huzi and the skinny guy started to panic.

They had invested over a hundred thousand. They couldn’t just back out now.

Brother Hai shook his head. "I suggest we just cut our losses and run. We can still try to copy him, but we need to stay far, far away from that powerhouse. I’m honestly starting to get scared of him."

"The buns he whips up so casually are tastier than anything I’ve made in decades. How are we supposed to compete with that?"

"What if he rolls out another new filling tomorrow? I just get this feeling that Boss Jiang is completely out of our league. *Sigh*..."

Brother Hai sighed, watching the line for the shop across the street stretch all the way to his own front door.

"Let’s just see what happens. If things go south, we get out of here fast. Haven’t you noticed? The noodle shop next to him isn’t even open anymore. I bet that owner has already skipped town."

Xiao Huzi and the skinny guy: ...

’So we’re the three big idiots here, huh?’

7:30 AM.

Jiang Liu announced he was closing up.

The 400 bottles of juice and roughly 1,250 buns he had prepared for the morning were completely sold out.

Even the "defective" buns—the ones that had been accidentally crushed by the tongs—were eagerly snatched up by customers.

"Tongtong, it’s time for my big and little darlings to take the stage."

"Roger that!"

Jun Qingmeng and Tongtong, a beautiful pair, one tall and one small, bustled about the room, cleaning up.

They didn’t miss a single nook or cranny.

They were incredibly thorough.

The customers were very well-behaved, too. They didn’t litter, making sure to throw their trash in the bins,

so the tables and floor weren’t very hard to clean.

After loading the plates into the dishwasher in the back kitchen, Jiang Liu began to count the morning’s earnings.

Excluding what they had drunk themselves and the portion set aside for Xue Guang, the juice sales for the morning totaled 13,825 yuan.

The buns brought in another 2,185 yuan.

The "Care Box" was stuffed with cash, another 3,565 yuan.

Jiang Liu realized his customers were genuinely afraid he would get lazy or just disappear.

They were either checking in on him solicitously or stuffing money into the Care Box.

The most memorable moment from the morning was when an old man, who said he raised over a hundred head of cattle, offered to give five of them to Jiang Liu.

He was utterly floored by the offer.

The most common offer he got was introductions to potential girlfriends.

Then there were the civil servants offering to pull some strings for him.

At this point, Jiang Liu himself had no idea how extensive his network of contacts had become.

In any case, he accepted the WeChat contacts of the useful ones, saving them for a rainy day.

After the three of them finished cleaning, they played some cards in the shop.

Tongtong’s face was covered in paper strips from losing, and the little girl was grinding her teeth in frustration.

For the final hand, she resorted to cheating, then theatrically tried to flip the table and started crying.

After a bit of rest and fun, Jiang Liu got right back to preparing more buns and juice for the lunch rush.

He also called Wang Dongxu to arrange for another delivery of bottles.

He also bought a large supply of disposable chopsticks, takeout containers, and paper bags from a wholesaler.

In total, he spent 1,300.

He had considered buying two more large tubs.

But then he thought about the other dishes he planned to "unlock" in the future and worried about running out of space. He decided to leave the area clear for now.

It wasn’t like he was short on anything at the moment anyway.

9:00 AM.

Jiang Liu took Tongtong to use the public restroom a hundred meters away.

When they got back to the shop, the observant Tongtong noticed something was different.

"Daddy, that Bald Qiang is gone," she said, puzzled.

She pointed at the shuttered storefront of Mountain City Blade-cut Noodles.

Zheng Qiang was truly terrified of Jiang Liu.

His business used to turn a small but steady profit, and he had initially looked down on Jiang Liu. But who would have thought? In the two days since Jiang Liu opened, Zheng Qiang’s own revenue had plummeted by seventy percent.

What else was he supposed to do? Stick around and just be the backdrop for Jiang Liu’s success?

Jiang Liu had noticed it too.

He smiled and used it as a teaching moment. "See, Tongtong? Now you get it. As long as we focus on doing our own thing well and keep a calm mindset, the obstacles in our path will eventually move on their own."

"Yeah! Daddy’s the greatest!"

Tongtong squeezed Jiang Liu’s hand tightly.

Back in the shop.

Jiang Liu prepared four kinds of juice and some buns, and also ordered a family bucket of chicken wings from Huang Tunde Chicken.

"Wow! Tongtong is so happy!"

"I don’t just get Daddy’s buns and juice, I get fried chicken too!"

With a piece of fried chicken in her left hand and a shrimp bun in her right, Tongtong let out a happy "AWOO!"

Jun Qingmeng had rolled up her jeans, revealing a pair of eye-catching calves.

As she ate her bun, she asked, "Jiang Liu, are you planning on making any other new types of buns?"

She looked at him, her eyes full of expectation.

Jiang Liu shook his head and took a sip of his juice. "Nope. We have enough variety as it is."

"Good. That’s good."

Jun Qingmeng looked at Jiang Liu and smiled.

’She liked this about him. He was ambitious, but not greedy.’

’In her eyes, everything about this man seemed to sparkle.’

"Daddy, can we have fried chicken again tomorrow?"

Tongtong nibbled on a chicken wing.

Her mouth and hands were slick with grease.

Jiang Liu’s eyes went wide as he raised his hand in mock anger.

"The only thing you’re getting tomorrow is a smack!"

"Boo hoo... you don’t love me anymore."

Putting on a wronged expression, Tongtong gulped down her juice, then happily gobbled up two more buns.

Her little tummy was stretched taut and round.

"*Sigh*... Can’t eat another bite, can’t eat another bite. My little tummy is protesting."

Tongtong leaned back in her chair, her eyes squeezed shut in contentment.

Jiang Liu and Jun Qingmeng chuckled at the sight.

"Qingmeng, are you full?"

"I’m stuffed."

Jun Qingmeng made a show of patting her flat stomach.

’She’d restrained herself and hadn’t dared to eat too much. She’d already had so many buns over the past two days.’

’She was worried she’d get a potbelly.’

’What would she do if Jiang Liu didn’t like it?’

Jiang Liu nodded with satisfaction.

He got up, gathered the plates to take to the back kitchen, and began preparing more buns and juice for the lunch crowd.

The fillings were already prepared, and there was plenty of dough left from the morning rush.

So Jiang Liu didn’t feel any pressure as he got to work.

By 10:30 AM, a line was already starting to form outside.

The weather today wasn’t too hot. The morning had been sunny, but by midday, the sun had disappeared behind a somewhat gloomy, gray sky.

The customers were thrilled.

This weather was perfect for waiting in line.

’If only they didn’t have to line up under the blazing sun every day, it would be absolutely perfect!’

11:50 AM.

Jiang Liu had finished preparing the buns. Eight hundred bottles of juice were chilled in the freezer, ready for battle.

As soon as he announced he was open, the shop immediately filled up.

Jin Wei arrived with his friends, sporting dark circles under his eyes. They had been "battling" for twenty hours straight.

"Whoa! Brother Jiang has a new kind of bun?"

Jin Wei’s heart leaped with pleasant surprise, his exhaustion vanishing in an instant.

"Yep. They’re pretty good. Want to try them?"

"In that case, give us thirty of the egg and fennel! I love that filling."

"And three juices. Whoa, you have a lot of juice today."

"Coming right up."

Jiang Liu put the buns on the counter.

Jin Wei and his two friends ate the buns, their faces radiating pure enjoyment.

"So good! This is so damn good!"

"Totally worth coming today. Here, try a sip of this super kiwi juice."

"Ohhhhhh..." Goosebumps erupted all over Jin Wei’s body, and his scalp tingled.

"That’s the perfect amount of tartness! So refreshing! I just love this place."

The group was instantly re-energized, declaring they were ready to go another three hundred rounds.

"Boss, you have something new today?"

"That’s right. And I made some extra juice for the lunch crowd."

"Awesome! I’m so glad I made the trip," a man in a suit and tie exclaimed excitedly.

He had also come from a long way off just to get a taste of these buns.

"I’ll take ten egg and fennel buns, five shrimp buns, and one orange juice!"

"Your orange juice is amazing! It’s better than any I’ve had anywhere else!"

"Thanks for the compliment. Coming right up."

Jiang Liu turned to pack the buns.

...