To do or not to do
As the bell rang and the math teacher walked out of the classroom with her textbook and lesson plan, Niu Ling exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap!"
Then, in an exaggerated manner, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to Wang Yao and exclaimed, "You are not afraid of the Great Demon King at all, Wang Yao, you are simply a role model for us all! Come on, today I must go to your restaurant to taste how salty it is, who else wants to come? Let's go together!"
The "big devil" is math teacher Wang Li. Many students who graduated from the county's No. 1 High School say that even though they have been away from the school for several years, they still dream about Teacher Wang Li from time to time and then wake up in fright.
Of course, whether there's any exaggeration involved is unknown.
Her shout elicited a strong response, with many saying they wanted to see if Wang Yao was just bragging.
At this moment, a very discordant voice rang out, "You're crazy!"
"Hey, Guan Qian, you son of a bitch..."
"Alright, alright, let's go. I need to go to Class 7 to call someone. You guys wait for me downstairs." Seeing that the two were about to start arguing again, Wang Yao quickly pushed Niu Ling out.
However, as soon as the two stepped out of the classroom, they saw Sun Min waiting at the door, and they all walked together toward the back door in a lively atmosphere.
On the way, Wang Yao asked Sun Min how her new classmates were doing.
Sun Min gave a look that was hard to describe, "How can our class compare to your top class? There are a lot of weirdos here."
Wang Yao knew there was a story behind it as soon as she heard it and wanted to ask for details, but then she heard Niu Ling shouting ahead, asking which way to go, so Wang Yao had no choice but to go forward and lead the way.
After leading everyone to the restaurant, Wang Yao explained the rules again and told everyone to make themselves at home before heading to the kitchen.
Upon entering the kitchen, Wang Yao immediately spotted a bag of tomatoes placed on the cabinet.
She walked under the blazing sun, and now that it was hot and dry, she picked up a tomato and took a bite.
Liu Xiangmei saw this and scolded, "Why didn't you wash it before eating?"
Wang Yao was speechless at this moment. She looked around for paper to wipe up the splattered tomato juice, but couldn't find any, so she could only use a rag to wipe it up.
After wiping it clean, Wang Yao looked at the tomato in her hand. It was juicy, with fine sand-like particles inside, and tasted sweet and sour. It was much tastier than tomatoes that wouldn't spoil even after being stored for half a month for decades.
"Oh my god, these tomatoes are so delicious! Why didn't you make them for lunch?"
When Liu Xiangmei said the portion was too small, they decided to just leave it for their own family to eat.
Wang Yao thought that her family couldn't possibly eat that much, and then a brilliant idea struck her: she would ask her mother to save some for her, as she would have a great use for it.
I don't know how useful a tomato can be, but my daughter said to keep it, so let's keep it.
After Wang Yao finished speaking, she went to the front hall to find her classmates to eat with, and then her ears never stopped moving.
"Hey, make way, I need to get a soda, this spicy chicken is so flavorful."
As soon as the person stood up, the classmate next to him started mocking, "You're really hopeless. This spicy chicken is crispy and crunchy, and it's not that spicy."
Wang Yao glanced at him; her lips were already slightly swollen and red, yet she was still being stubborn.
Niu Ling took a bite of spicy chicken and a sip of soda, feeling an intense, exhilarating sensation. "Wang Yao, your spicy chicken is just the way I like it! How do you make it so delicious?"
Wang Yao was also feeding a piece of chicken into her mouth.
The first taste sensation in the mouth is spiciness, not the kind of spiciness emitted by some industrial chili peppers decades later, but the spiciness emitted by dried chili peppers after being heated in hot oil. It is a very direct and fragrant spiciness. At the same time, the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns is equally impressive, gradually spreading to the tip of the tongue along with the spiciness.
Of course, this spicy chicken is not just about spiciness and numbing sensation. The deep-fried chicken is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Even the bones wrapped around the chicken are crispy and fragrant. A customer ordered spicy chicken, but there were no bone fragments on the table because he chewed and swallowed the crispy bones along with the chicken.
"Ah~ This sweet and sour pork is delicious too, so sweet and sour, I love it, so delicious!" Niu Ling exclaimed again.
The boy sitting next to her continued, "Indeed, I don't like sweet food, but I really like this. It's not greasy at all. When I was getting my food, I originally wanted to order stir-fried green beans, but the lady made a mistake and gave me sweet and sour pork instead. I was a little disappointed before I ate it, but now I feel lucky that I didn't miss it."
"No, no, no, you missed it. The dry-fried green beans are also amazing. I feel like their chef fried them thoroughly. As soon as I took a bite, they were crispy and crunchy, and most importantly, not oily at all. My mouth was full of the taste of chili and Sichuan peppercorns."
"Ah~ I didn't serve the stir-fried green beans, what a pity! Wang Yao, could you please make your plates a little bigger? The current size is too small, I couldn't fit all the dishes I wanted in!" Niu Ling complained even with a mouthful of rice stuffed in her mouth.
Wang Yao was speechless. Now her family's plate is a pure white porcelain plate. When she bought it, the shop owner said that this size was already the largest. It is usually used by restaurants to serve large portions of braised pork ribs and other large dishes.
But since the customer is king, Wang Yao gave a very perfunctory answer: "Okay, I'll talk to the boss about it later."
Niu Ling was satisfied and didn't notice Wang Yao's perfunctory attitude at all.
Their discussion was in full swing, while Liu Xiangmei was busy tidying up a table not far away.
A neighbor who came to eat asked, "Boss Liu, Yu's Sichuan Restaurant is bullying you to your face. Didn't you say you'd go and confront them?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiangmei felt a lump in her throat again.
She wanted to confront that shameless company, but they hadn't stolen or robbed anyone, and she wasn't the only one who could run a buffet. Even though they were shameless, there was no point in going to their door.
"What's the point of arguing? There are many paths in the world, and everyone can go their own way. It's their shop, and they can sell whatever they want, however they want. As long as they don't break the law, there's nothing we can do about it. Let's just be patient and let things be peaceful."
Some people in the store didn't know what was going on, and someone who did immediately started explaining.
Wang Yao and her group at the table naturally heard it too.
But before Wang Yao herself could react, her classmates sitting at the same table couldn't stand it anymore.
Niu Ling said angrily, "How can there be such people? They are too despicable. Wang Yao, you should have your mother take some people to teach that family a lesson."
Liu Hai and the others sitting in the private room also heard it. His wife, Wang Caihua, just like Niu Ling, snorted and said, "What a pushover. He just hasn't met me yet. If he had met me, and he dared to make money by stepping on my face like this, I would have overturned his business."
Many people think like them: they'd rather die than give up making money.
But Liu Hai took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Do you think everyone has a good father and a good husband like you? Who would dare to bully your Sister Hua?"
Wang Caihua pushed her bangs aside and said, "Go to hell."
Liu Hai continued, "I heard that this boss has no family left, so he's here with his daughter. As an orphan and widow, he has to be more patient when trouble comes his way."
Thinking back to that year, his father died, and his mother raised him alone, enduring hardship and suffering just to have something to eat.
Sure enough, someone in the outer hall urged Liu Xiangmei not to hold back, saying that since she was in the right, she should confront the Yu family directly.
Liu Xiangmei laughed and said, "In a society governed by the rule of law, how can you just do it on a whim? Besides, I'm a woman, even if I wanted to, I couldn't compete."
She paused for a moment, noticing the mockery and even drooling on some people's faces. She stopped laughing and continued, "However, if anyone bullies me to the point where it's illegal, I will fight to the death. Although I am a woman, I am not afraid of trouble."
As soon as Liu Xiangmei finished speaking, the restaurant fell silent.
Immediately afterward, a male voice rang out from behind the counter, “What are you afraid of? Even if we don’t follow the law in everything we do these days, I may be old, but I’ve been in the army for many years and I’m still in good shape.”
Seeing Old Man Li thumping his chest loudly, Liu Xiangmei laughed and said, "Alright, we're just chatting casually, there's no way we'll get serious."
He then said to everyone, "In the food business, the most important thing is my skills. It is your support that has made me feel honored. I hope you will continue to take care of me in the future."
Her words were frank and open, and the listeners felt comfortable. Everyone's impression of Liu Xiangmei improved dramatically, while their disdain for Yu's Sichuan Restaurant grew even stronger.
As a teenage girl, Niu Ling already regarded Liu Xiangmei as her idol.
Originally, when she heard that Liu Xiangmei was not going to teach the Yu family a lesson, she was very disdainful of Liu Xiangmei, thinking that Liu Xiangmei was cowardly and weak.
But after listening to the end, Niu Ling felt that Liu Xiangmei was a very intelligent person. She could switch between being tough and kind at the same time with ease. As a poor student and a well-known brainless person, Niu Ling was completely impressed.
After finishing his cigarette in the private room, Liu Hai stubbed it out in the ashtray and said to his wife, "See? You think they're easy to bully, but they're actually very shrewd. You can take anything away, but you can't take away their skills and reputation."
Wang Caihua smacked her lips and suddenly found Liu Xiangmei, this seemingly ordinary woman, quite interesting.
However, the situation is not actually calm for the ordinary person in question.
Wang Yao followed her mother back to the kitchen, where she saw her mother brandishing a cleaver towards the Yu Family Sichuan Restaurant, cursing, "Trying to copy me, huh? I'll kill you! Look at you, living for today and not knowing tomorrow! Even if you copy me perfectly, you're still a lowly piece of trash... (500 words omitted here)"
After venting her anger, Liu Xiangmei tidied her hair and said to Wang Yao, who was staring in disbelief, as if nothing had happened: "Okay, don't worry, our shop is already busy enough, we won't be affected by them."
Wang Yao wanted to laugh; how come she had never noticed how adorable her mother was before?
But she held back and nodded in agreement: "Yes, let them be. No matter how happily flies buzz around, they can't be served at a banquet."
Ma Zhen didn't care whether it was respectable or not, as long as she could make money.
Of course, Yu Daqiang thought the same way.
At this moment, Yu Daqiang was cooking in the kitchen, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Hmph, why is this woman out here doing business when she should be staying at home?
The wife is right; she must have been kicked out by her husband's family after her husband died.
Originally, I thought it wasn't easy for her, a woman raising a child to school alone, so I figured it was fine if she set up a small stall to sell boxed lunches, but she actually dared to open a store.
Does a woman even know what a boss is? Does she understand the ins and outs of business?
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