Chapter 46 The Mischievous Husky
"Of course I think I'm the most handsome person in the world!"
Yunxia: ...I was wrong. I shouldn't have sympathized with this narcissist.
For a moment, the brother and sister fell silent, and the atmosphere became slightly awkward. The narcissistic Gu Xun raised an eyebrow and used serving chopsticks to put an extra-large beef ball on each of their plates.
"This is a specialty of ours, try it! I guarantee you'll want a second one after you've had one."
Is it true or false?
Yunxia tentatively took a small bite. The bouncy meat pieces kept stimulating her taste buds. Wow, it's really delicious!
"Jiang Chao, try this! It's even better than lion's head meatballs!"
The boy snorted, picked up a beef ball, and ate it slowly. Finally, he said, "It's alright!" and then... his chopsticks never stopped.
After finishing her hotpot, Yunxia, whose stomach was bulging, went to the front desk to pay the bill, only to be told that the cost of the meal was charged to Gu Xun.
"Gu Xun, didn't we agree that I would treat you?"
"Why should someone else pay for my meal?"
"Your territory?"
"Yes, I'm the boss, remember to introduce me to your clients!"
A bewildered Yunxia nodded subconsciously.
After leaving the hot pot restaurant, the group, whose destinations differed, parted ways at a fork in the road.
With noon fast approaching, and knowing I wouldn't have time to cook at home, I went into a dumpling restaurant and ordered two servings of dumplings to go.
As soon as I pushed open the courtyard gate, I saw two people, one big and one small, sitting on the steps, their eyes filled with sorrow, just like the wronged women in a play.
"Coming home at this hour? Are you trying to starve me and An'an to death?"
With furrowed brows, mournful eyes, and a fierce expression, these were signs of a husky's anger. Yunxia quickly shook the bag in her hand and said softly, "Big brother, don't be angry. Something happened on the way, which delayed us. Look, pork and chive dumplings, specially brought for you and An'an!"
"Hmph, that's more like it."
After saying that, he took the bag, poured the contents into a plate, and began to eat heartily with An'an.
The "Clean Plate Campaign" was over. Jiang Chao stepped forward to collect the bowls. The unique spicy aroma of hot pot wafted from his cotton coat. Feng Jingling sniffed around and finally found the source of the smell. Pointing at Jiang Chao, she said plaintively:
"You...you guys actually went to eat hot pot behind my and An'an's backs! I...I can't live anymore!"
Yunxia's Accounting: Is the husky having a fit??
Jiang An, a bystander: Should we take the teacher to the hospital?
Jiang Chao, holding the bowl: You're giving him too much face, aren't you?
"Hey you, surnamed Feng, behave yourself. Breaking a bowl is bad luck!"
Upon hearing this, the pouting boy had no choice but to let go of his hand and watch him leave resentfully. Afterwards, he turned his 'punishment' target to Yun Xia, who was settling scores.
"Little Butterfly, you and Jiang Chao are eating alone!"
"Big brother, it's not what you think, I owe..."
Yunxia, feeling helpless, recounted the whole story of eating hotpot, but the husky clearly hadn't heard a word, constantly muttering, "Eating alone, without me..."
Jiang An, who was just watching the drama unfold, also got caught up in the conversation. He grabbed Yun Xia's arm and asked curiously, "Sister Xia Xia, hot pot... what is that?"
Yunxia turned her head and looked at the little boy in disbelief. He... had never eaten hot pot before?
"An'an, smell the fragrance on the little butterfly, that's the smell of hot pot."
Curiosity kicked in, and Jiang An did as he was told. He craned his neck, circled around, and sniffed the air. Finally, he exclaimed, "It smells so good! It's spicy and numbing! Sister Xiaxia, An'an wants to eat hot pot too!"
The husky followed suit, squatted down, leaned its head against the little girl, and whined, "Little Butterfly, I want to eat spicy hot pot too! I don't care, you have to take me and An'an to a restaurant!"
"No, we can eat at home!" It has to be said that Jiang An is eliminating any opportunity to go out.
"What are you two doing? Let go! Xiaxia is suffocating from being choked."
Jiang Chao spoke, and neither the big nor the small dared to object. They quickly let go, and Yun Xia finally got a chance to breathe.
"Phew, I can finally catch my breath. I...I've decided, we're going to have hot pot tomorrow, at...at home."
"How would you eat at home? Do you know how to make the soup base? Do you know how to slice meat? The menu is as extensive as in the restaurant..."
Jiang Chao couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted him directly, "Young master is indeed young master, even eating hot pot is so particular, huh!"
"Hey big brother, don't worry, Xiaxia's hot pot is guaranteed to be just as good as the ones in the restaurant, you just wait and see!"
"Really?" the boy asked incredulously.
"It really is, even more real than pearls!" Seeing her guarantee, Feng Jingling stopped making a fuss and took the little child back to the house to draw.
"Yunxia, are you confident?"
"Yes! Aunt Wu is off tomorrow, so let's have a nice meal and treat ourselves."
It's just a hot pot meal, how could it be so difficult?
The next day, early in the morning, I woke Jiang Chao up, we ate a quick breakfast, and I told him to put on his basket and we went to the market together.
"Yunxia, where are you taking me?"
Jiang Chao had been to the market many times, but he only ever visited a few stalls: Uncle Zhang's butcher shop, Aunt Li's vegetable stall, and Brother Fan's condiment shop. He was incredibly quick with his purchases.
The girl led the way, making several turns and twists, with no clue as to their destination.
"You'll know when we get there!" Yun Xia said mysteriously.
After passing through several narrow passageways, the two stopped in front of a small shop. The rich, spicy aroma wafted forcefully into their noses.
Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
"Here, put your mask on!"
Jiang Chao took the mask, put it on, and went into the store with her.
"Boss, how much is the hot pot base?"
The owner, wearing a leather scarf and stirring a large iron pot, answered without turning his head: "Spicy flavor, two yuan per jin; seafood flavor, one yuan and fifty cents per jin; mushroom flavor, three yuan per jin. How much do you want?"
"Uncle, my family is small, so we don't need too much. My younger brother made a fuss all night yesterday, insisting on having hot pot. Sigh, I had no choice. Half a pound of spicy and half a pound of seafood will do."
The boss hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said, "Alright, wait!"
With a few quick snips, he cut it into two pieces, wrapped them in kraft paper, collected 1.8 yuan, and handed them to the little girl.
Yunxia put the base ingredients into her basket, thanked the shop owner, and then led Jiang Chao away.
"Why did you lie?" Jiang An slept soundly last night!
"The boss is a wholesaler. He delivers the base ingredients by the hundred-pound unit to various hot pot restaurants. He doesn't bother selling them for one or two yuan, so... you know!"
"Wow, you're really clever!"
Yunxia raised her head and said arrogantly, "Hmph, if I'm not clever, who is? Let's go buy other vegetables." The girl, who knew what vegetables were like at home, led the gloomy boy to browse the stalls regularly. When the basket was half full, she nodded with satisfaction.
On her way home, she encountered some nosy neighbors who asked her in a sarcastic tone what she had bought. Yunxia, with a smile on her face, brushed it off with a few words, earning her many eye-rolls from the neighbors.
"Ugh, a bunch of retired workers, with nothing to do, sitting under the shade of trees all day, gossiping about other people's business. They're really... really annoying."
"They can say whatever they want, we can't control them. Let's go, An'an must be getting impatient."
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