Chapter 70 Do you understand what a sense of ritual is? I really don't understand...

"Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~"

"Hello, your takeout has arrived."

"Baby, go open the door, dinner's here!" The young man, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, gently nudged the chubby little girl next to him, but his eyes were glued to his phone, his thumbs frantically tapping on the screen.

The chubby little cub immediately put down its toy, put its hands on the ground, stuck out its round bottom, and struggled to get up from the ground. Then, with its short, thick legs, it waddled towards the front door like a little duck.

"Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~" The doorbell rang again.

“I’m coming,” the little girl said.

The little girl walked to the door, skillfully dragged the small stool leaning against the wall to the front of the door, then climbed onto the stool, holding onto the door with one hand and pressing the unlock button on the door lock with the other.

The door lock turned twice from the inside, and the door opened.

"Hello, your takeout is here."

"Thank you, big brother."

The little girl took the food from the delivery guy, carefully placed it on the small stool she had just been sitting on, ran to close the door, and then wobbled back with the food in her arms.

"Uncle, open it for me quickly, I want to eat," the little girl said.

"Wait a minute, I'm almost done with this game," the man said without looking up.

"Uncle, I'm really hungry."

"Wait a moment, it'll be ready soon."

"All right."

Although she had promised her uncle she would wait a bit, the little girl was still a little unhappy. Her cheeks were puffed out, like a sulking little frog, and she stared at the takeout bag, sulking. Her uncle was so naughty! When her mother came back, she was going to tell her that her uncle was playing on his phone and that he wasn't feeding her!

As she stared, the little girl was drawn to the drawing on the takeout bag.

"Wow, this is a big potato!"

"Hey, it's kids eating giant dumplings!"

"Haha, the big star is drooling."

What is this little kid eating?

The little girl's gaze moved from the middle of the bag to the top and then to the bottom. The children on the bag were all eating delicious food, but the big star hadn't eaten anything. It was drooling; it must be hungry. The little girl felt as if she were that star right now.

The little girl glanced quietly at her uncle, who was still playing on his phone. The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

"Wah!!!" The little girl finally burst into tears, feeling wronged.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" the man asked anxiously, throwing down his phone.

"I'm hungry!" the little girl cried out at the top of her lungs, "My mouth is watering, but my uncle won't feed me, boohoo~"

"Here you go, here you go, oh dear, let's eat, let's eat now, Uncle will open it for you right away." The man said, grabbing the takeout bag, tearing it open in a few quick movements, taking out the children's meal, and then casually lifting the lid of the lunchbox. "Wow, it's a cat bowl, wow, it smells so good!"

Amidst her wailing, a whiff of fragrance wafted into her nostrils. The little girl paused for a second, then quickly looked at the lunchbox her uncle had opened, and her crying abruptly stopped.

The man found it amusing that she still had two large teardrops on her cheeks, yet her eyes were fixed on the food. "Does it smell good?"

The little girl nodded quickly, then darted to the food like a nimble little seal, shouting, "I want to eat! I want to eat!"

"Here, have some." The man stretched out his long legs, hooked over a small pink plastic table not far away, and placed the takeout on it. "It smells so good! Can I have a bite?"

"It's mine! It's mine!" the little girl cried, snatching the spoon that her uncle had just torn open from his hand.

Okay, no agreement.

The children's meal box is shaped like a cat's paw. Underneath the large compartment at the paw's paw pad is stewed potatoes with tomato and minced meat, topped with two flower-shaped rice balls. The center of each flower is a round carrot, and each of the five petals has a golden corn kernel, creating a beautiful color combination. The four paw-shaped compartments contain shrimp, boiled carrots, fried eggs, and a few blueberries.

The stewed potatoes with minced meat and tomatoes smelled incredibly tempting. The man couldn't help but swallow hard as he looked at the colorful food in the lunchbox. He regretted ordering a kids' meal too; his 200-month-old baby really wanted some!

The little girl grabbed the same cat paw-shaped spoon, pursed her lips to prevent drool from spilling, pressed the rice ball down with the spoon to soak it completely in the broth of tomato, minced meat, and potato stew, and then couldn't wait to scoop up a big spoonful and put it in her mouth.

"Mmm, it's delicious!" the little girl mumbled, chewing her food.

"Really? Let Uncle have a taste?" The man was trying to entice the human cub with food.

But the deception failed.

The little girl was frantically eating with her spoon, completely oblivious to what her uncle was saying.

The man was quite disappointed. "Hmph! I have one too."

The man took out his takeout box by box. "The packaging is quite good. The children's lunchbox is made of wheat straw, and the adult lunchbox is made of bamboo pulp. They even packed them separately. They put a lot of thought into it. My disappointed heart was comforted."

The man took out all the lunch boxes and casually opened one. "Wow! It smells so good!"

The stir-fried pork with chili peppers in the lunchbox was still steaming slightly, with a rich and enticing aroma. The green peppers were slightly charred, but their color was still vibrant. Inside the peppers were slices of brown pork, along with minced garlic and fermented black beans. The colors were both rich and harmonious, making it an instant appetite stimulant.

The man eagerly tore open the chopsticks packaging, picked up a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth. "Mmm..." He squinted his eyes in enjoyment, and couldn't resist picking up a piece of chili and putting it in his mouth. "Delicious!"

"The chili peppers are crisp and refreshing, the sliced ​​meat is tender and juicy, the combination of crispness and tenderness is perfect!" Even after the food has been swallowed, the aroma still lingers on the taste buds.

The man put down his chopsticks and opened the other two lunch boxes with great anticipation. One box contained white rice, the grains of which were crystal clear and plump, and there was a faint aroma of rice when you brought them close. The other box contained blanched rapeseed, which was plump and green, and looked fresh and tender.

Most importantly, every piece of food was still warm. "The insulation is pretty good. It took at least half an hour to get here from the store, and I even played two games after arriving. It's still not cold. Not bad."

After setting out the dishes, the man picked up his chopsticks again, eating quickly and heartily, exclaiming between bites, "Delicious! So delicious!"

...

"No way? You solemnly told everyone to come home for lunch, and you end up feeding us takeout?" He Xi looked incredulously at his brother carrying two large takeout bags as he walked in through the door.

He raised an eyebrow, "So what?"

"You're not even pretending anymore? Before, at least you'd prepare some food and plate it, but now you're openly ordering takeout?" He Xi exclaimed in surprise.

He Zhi glared at He Xi and said, "Stop doubting my cooking skills, okay? What do you think I relied on to get through those years in Germany?"

He Xi: "Isn't it based on the desire to graduate?"

More than that: "..."

He Xi paused, then suddenly looked at her mother, "Mom? Aunt Zhang wasn't really poached by Uncle Xu, was she?"

“No,” Mrs. He said with a smile. “Your brother said this is the first day of opening for the restaurant where Niannian is interning, so we have to support it.”

"No, then why don't we eat at a restaurant?" He Xi blinked her puzzled eyes. "Shouldn't we send a big flower basket instead?"

Mrs. He said, "They're not having an opening ceremony, and for now they're only doing online sales, not dine-in."

He Xi asked worriedly, "Huh? Is a restaurant that doesn't even have dine-in service really reliable? Is Niannian working illegally in some small workshop?"

More than that: "Don't worry, her parents would never let her work illegally."

He Xi: "Since we're eating takeout, why does the whole family have to come back to eat together? Can't everyone just order their own takeout? And isn't dinner time the only time for family gatherings?"

More than that: "Do you even understand what a sense of ritual is?"

He Xi: "I really don't understand what kind of ritual it is to specially call the whole family to rush home for lunch to eat takeout."

"Hey, Dad's home." Hearing the door open, Mrs. He turned around and saw Mr. He standing in the doorway.

"Dad!" He Xi immediately complained after greeting him, "Look how outrageous this is!"

"What's wrong?" Mr. He asked as he changed his shoes and walked into the restaurant.

"He called everyone back for dinner, but they ended up eating takeout!"

Mr. He, unsurprised, said, "I know, it's takeout from Nian Nian Restaurant."

"How come I'm the only one who doesn't know?" He Xi was stunned. "Is Niannian someone completely unfamiliar to me?"

Mr. He: "Didn't your brother notify you a few days ago? Why weren't you notified?"

He Xi said irritably, "They only told me to come home for dinner!"

He Zhi said casually, "Go wash your hands and eat."

He Xi angrily washed her hands and then angrily sat down at the dining table.

He didn't open the lunch boxes on the table until everyone was seated.

As the lunchbox was opened, a rich aroma filled the dining table.

"It looks good," Mr. He said with a smile.

Mrs. He: "It's really good. The dishes look nice and smell delicious. To be honest, I suddenly feel hungry."

Mr. He said cheerfully, "That's right, haha."

"Let's just eat from the boxes, so we don't waste water washing the dishes." He Zhi distributed chopsticks to everyone.

So the He family experienced eating boxed lunches at their own dining table for the first time.

However, it doesn't affect the taste of the food.

"Mmm, this chicken smells so good."

"The soybeans inside are also fragrant. They must have been stir-fried beforehand and then cooked with the chicken. That's why the outside is crispy and the inside is full of chicken broth. At the same time, the chicken is infused with the aroma of soybeans. No wonder it's so delicious!"

"Try this pickled radish, it's delicious too."

"Hey, let me try it, it's so crispy!"

"Right? The color is nice too, it's pink and a little translucent."

Mr. and Mrs. He discussed their meal as they ate, while the other two simply focused on eating.

...

We ordered more than six dishes, plus the complimentary pickled radishes, making a total of seven dishes, which were all eaten up by the family.

"Phew, this meal was so satisfying," Mr. He exclaimed. "I'm already savoring the memory even though I'm already full."

The others nodded in agreement, but the reason they didn't say anything in agreement was because they were savoring the lingering delicious taste on their lips and didn't want to talk for the time being.

Before opening, Xingchen Hotel did not do any promotion. They only bought some data traffic and coupons on the food delivery platform on the opening day. An Fusheng and Xu Sannian guessed that there wouldn't be many customers, so they only prepared 30 servings today, thinking that if they could sell them all in one day, it would be a good start. Unexpectedly, they sold out by noon.

Xu Sannian asked incredulously, "Is our business really that good?"

An Fusheng tried hard to suppress his excitement and forced himself to calm down. "I don't think so, since several of the orders were placed by acquaintances, and they were all large orders."

Xu Sannian said, "But we sold out by noon."

An Fusheng nodded calmly, "Yes."

"Ah!!! We're amazing!!!" Xu Sannian finally couldn't contain his excitement and shouted.

An Fusheng couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.

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The author says: I got home early from get off work today, before it got dark, and suddenly noticed how beautifully the Bauhinia flowers on both sides of the road were blooming. Actually, it had rained heavily these past two days, and probably because the flowers were in their most vibrant blooming stage, they weren't wilted at all; instead, the rain made them even more dazzling. But Bauhinia flowers aren't like cherry blossoms, which bloom profusely and crowdedly. They have fewer petals and don't like several blossoms clustered together, so from a distance they appear as a sea of ​​pink and white, but up close they each stand independently on their own branches. When the wind blows, they sway separately, undisturbed by each other. They seem so free and carefree!