049
"Is the ice cream delicious, Miaomiao?" Omega squatted down to wipe the ice cream off his little niece's mouth.
"tasty!"
Five-year-old Jiang Shimiao especially liked this little uncle. Unlike her father and father-in-law, who were strict, he would always sneak out to take her out to play.
"Then it's a deal, don't tell your dad that I brought you out to play."
Miao Miao's eyebrows and eyes resemble his older brother's, and when he's thinking seriously, he's like a little adult.
"I understand, Uncle. When are we going back?" Miao Miao likes to go out and play. This is the only arcade nearby. Her uncle has brought her here several times, and she's already used to it.
Kids' novelty wears off quickly. Every time her uncle comes, he takes her to play the claw machine. It's so childish. Her bed is almost overflowing with plush toys. But her dad says her uncle is a patient now, so she has to stay with him.
"Didn't you say you really wanted that elephant plushie last time, Miaomiao? Your uncle will definitely get it for you this time!" The omega was determined to get it, and he pulled his little niece to exchange for a basket of game tokens.
"Go, Uncle!" Miaomiao is always the most supportive one.
After several rounds, the claw machine finally managed to grab the elephant plush toy, but then it let go at the crucial moment. The elephant plush toy was getting closer and closer to the exit, and the game coins were running out.
Omega spent all his game coins but still couldn't get the doll.
Miaomiao stopped the omega who wanted to exchange more game coins, "Uncle, let's call it a day if we can't do it today, we'll fight again next time! I'm hungry and want to go eat."
"I'm sorry, Miaomiao, my skills are terrible. Are you hungry? Then we'll stop playing for now, Uncle will take you to eat!"
It was lunchtime, and Omega perked up again and returned the basket.
He had just left the arcade when his older brother called.
"Xiao Jin, you guys went out again?" Nothing could escape the eyes of his older brother, Jiang Rongzhou.
"Big brother, let's just wander around nearby. You know, Miaomiao wants to go out and play; staying at home is too boring."
Jiang Yujin squatted down to let his little niece talk to her father.
Miaomiao received instructions from her uncle, "Yes, Dad, I'll come back after I finish eating with my uncle, just like before. Don't worry! I'll take good care of my uncle!"
"Miaomiao has me with her, she won't get lost! Don't worry, big brother! I'll be right back after dinner!"
Jiang Rongzhou finally relented, "Xiao Jin, bring Miao Miao back as soon as possible. Before you were discharged, the doctor told you that you should take good care of yourself at home for a while."
Jiang Yujin was sick of hearing that phrase. He'd been at home for two months since being discharged from the hospital, and he couldn't stand it anymore. Miaomiao had to go to school, his older brothers had to go to work, and he was all alone in the villa—how boring!
After a grand seventeenth birthday celebration, Jiang Yujin woke up to find himself in a hospital, treated like a patient by everyone he knew. His older brother, Jiang Rongzhou, had a child, but the mother's whereabouts were unknown. His second brother had taken over the company, and when asked about their parents, they were told they had gone on a world tour. Jiang Rongzhou then told him that he had been in a vegetative state in the hospital for several years.
The reason he became a vegetable was simple—after his seventeenth birthday, he woke up the next day and, in a daze, fell down the stairs.
There was a nice restaurant not far from the arcade. Jiang Yujin and his niece often ate there. He handed the menu to Miaomiao to order first.
While waiting for the food, Jiang Yujin took out his phone to watch cartoons with Miaomiao to pass the time.
A figure walked towards them; it was an alpha, wearing a mask so their face couldn't be seen.
"Hello, I've seen you try your luck at the lottery many times. I really want this plush toy, so I'm giving it to you when I win it."
The alpha's gaze was too intense. Jiang Yujin had seen a lot of her during those years when she loved to play around, so she naturally understood her purpose.
That's such an old-fashioned way to strike up a conversation.
The necklace she was wearing around her neck looked like some kind of flower.
Their taste isn't very good either.
After looking them over, he thought to himself that if Miaomiao hadn't been there, he would have immediately sent them away as an uncle who needed to set a good example.
"Thank you, we'll pick it out ourselves next time we come."
Jiang Yujin stroked his little niece's head, "Isn't that right, Miaomiao?"
Miaomiao was taken aback. She had seen this aunt before and wondered why her uncle didn't recognize her. She didn't seem to care about the dolls. "Okay, Uncle, let's try again next time!"
The rejected alpha didn't say anything more and wisely left.
Jiang Yujin didn't pay much attention to this little incident. The restaurant was small, but the food was surprisingly to his liking. The dishes were served unusually slowly today.
Jiang Yujin, worried that Miaomiao was hungry, called over a waiter to urge the food to arrive, "Excuse me, why is our food taking so long to come?"
"Excuse me, sir, it will be ready in a few more minutes."
The waiter was very sincere, so Jiang Yujin didn't want to make things difficult for him any further.
Ten minutes later, the food was finally served.
"I didn't order the crab stick and tofu soup, did they serve the wrong dish?" Jiang Yujin noticed the dish she hadn't ordered and asked the waiter in confusion.
"Don't worry, sir, this is an extra dish the chef brought over because the food was served late," the waiter explained.
Jiang Yujin nodded to indicate that he understood, and then asked when paying the bill, "Can I meet your restaurant's chef?"
The waiter asked uncertainly, "Sir, are you sure you want to see our chef?"
Seeing that it was just a lowly chef, Jiang Yujin couldn't understand why the waiter's expression had suddenly become strange.
"Yes, please call him."
With just a pair of eyes, Jiang Yujin recognized the restaurant's chef as the one who had given them the dolls while wearing a mask. He had cleverly put away the strange necklace so as not to attract attention.
The alpha is very handsome, but not his type. He has a cool and aloof appearance, yet his eyes are too intense—is that a contrast?
Jiang Yujin just felt that this was how an alpha should look when they take off their mask, but he couldn't find a reason why he was so sure.
If Jiang Yujin had taken off his mask to strike up a conversation at the beginning, he might have talked to her for a few more minutes.
"Sir, is there something wrong with the food I made?" The identical voice made him almost certain that it was the same person.
"How much can you earn working here for a month? I'll pay you five times that amount, and you can work as my private chef, providing four meals a day. How about that?" Jiang Yujin sometimes gets hungry at night, so hiring a chef who cooks to his liking is perfectly reasonable. Thus, he openly poached him.
"I'm sorry, sir, I'm also the owner of this shop, and I don't take on private jobs."
The high salary was not enough to sway her.
In order not to offend her regular customers, she added, "If you like my cooking, you can come often."
This is a clear indication of rejection.
Oh, it's the boss! No wonder.
Chefs are easy to poach, but if a restaurant owner is corrupt, no amount of money can save them.
Jiang Yujin was too lazy to say anything more, so he nodded and said, "Hmm." The food was alright, but the person was a bit ungrateful.
"Miaomiao, you're gone."
"Okay!" Miao Miao obediently took her uncle's outstretched hand, her eyes deeply drawn to the plot of the cartoon on her phone.
Children lack self-control.
Jiang Yujin noticed and took his phone back. "Don't look at your phone while walking. Look at it when you get home."
"Okay, Uncle."
...
"Boss, they've already left. The crab stick and tofu soup that was served to that table is barely touched." Seeing her boss standing motionless, staring at the empty doorway like a lovesick fool, the clerk cautiously reminded him.
The boss is unpredictable, so it's best to be cautious.
"Don't worry about it, just throw it away when it gets cold." The woman's eyes were calm and indifferent. "Tell the kitchen staff to finish cleaning up and everyone can go home early today." Her original intention in opening this shop was simply to let that person eat a few more bites.
How could the staff not be happy to hear the boss speak? Every time that omega came and finished eating, the shop would close early, allowing them, the lowly employees, to go home early.
"Boss, if you like him, why don't you ask for his contact information?" Lately, that omega has been bringing his child to eat at the restaurant frequently. The staff all recognize him, but it's hard to strike up a conversation. They don't know if the child is his biological child, but he does look somewhat like him. They haven't seen the other alpha father, so at most, it's a single-parent family.
An alpha like her boss could win over any omega if he just took the initiative.
"I have someone I like." The alpha stopped standing still and went back. If she insisted on saying she liked someone, she would have caused that person too much pain after all the twists and turns.
Another car accident, two years later, everything starts from scratch.
The dense raindrops pounded on her body, and Alpha felt as if the blood in her body had frozen. Once, twice, three times, it seemed like fate liked to play tricks on her, making her watch someone important get hurt again. The smell of blood was washed away by the rain, and the ambulance arrived. She struggled to get into the vehicle.
Outside the operating room, a deep red tie was clutched in her hand, becoming the last splash of red around her.
Jiang Yujin survived, but became a vegetable and lay in bed for a year. When he woke up again, he had lost his memories of the past few years and returned to when he was seventeen years old.
After this incident, it was very difficult for her to persuade the people there to allow her to open a small restaurant nearby.
Liang Dongmo had seen Jiang Yujin at seventeen, and she was no different from now. She hadn't experienced anything like what Jiang Yujin went through. She had a smooth life without academic worries. But after seventeen, she had endured too many setbacks.
Twenty-four-year-old Jiang Yujin has returned to the age of seventeen; whether this is a blessing or a curse remains to be seen.
With an adult ID card, Jiang Rongzhou couldn't control him. He behaved himself for a few days, taking care of the child and acting as a good uncle during the day, but at night he frequented his usual bars, reconnected with his old cronies, and started staying out all night again.
He had a lot more money in his account, so much so that he couldn't count the zeros. It would be hard for him to spend it all in his lifetime. Once it was in Jiang Yujin's hands, it would be his.
Jiang Xie'nan dragged him out of the chaotic dance floor at three in the morning, snatched his drink, and said: "Jiang Yujin, come home with me!"
It's rare for Jiang Xienan to personally come and arrest someone; normally he doesn't care at all.
Jiang Yujin wasn't going to go back with his second brother so easily. The two didn't get along, and he had promised to pay for the drinks. "I'm not leaving! Second brother, you go back. I haven't had enough fun yet!"
The two argued for a long time.
Inside the bar, various colored lights shone around, and the music was blasting loudly. Jiang Yujin knew that Jiang Xienan used to love to party, even more so than his second brother. However, Jiang Xienan had reformed. Except for occasional drinking at company social events, he rarely smelled alcohol. He had changed his ways and was completely different from before.
“Your older brother can’t leave home to take care of Miaomiao. You’re sensible, come back with me. He’s very worried about you, Jiang Yujin! The people in the bar aren’t safe.”
It seems Jiang Xienan is determined to take him back.
Jiang Xie'nan's attempt to invoke Jiang Rongzhou's name was no longer effective with Jiang Yujin. Having been out having fun for a while, and with encouragement from those around him and a bit of alcohol to embolden him, his tone had become much more arrogant. "I can protect myself. Second brother, don't worry, I'm an adult. I'll go back when I'm done having fun!"
"You only realize your mistake when you suffer the consequences."
Jiang Xienan forcefully dragged the omega out of the noisy bar.
Jiang Yujin wasn't drunk, but the cold wind made him shiver; he hadn't taken his coat with him inside.
Jiang Xienan urged him to get into the back seat of the car and turned on the car's heater.
"Second brother, my coat is inside."
Jiang Xienan was afraid he was up to something, "It's just a coat, we have plenty at home, we can buy another one."
"All right."
Under the influence of alcohol, Jiang Yujin leaned back in the back seat and fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes before even arriving home.
"Jiang Yujin, wake up," Jiang Xiennan called for a long time before waking Jiang Yujin, who was sleeping too soundly. "Jiang Yujin, we're home, get out of the car quickly."
Jiang Yujin slept for an hour in the car, but couldn't keep his eyes open. His older brother had already taken his little niece to bed. "Hmm, okay." He slowly moved his body off the car. He was so tired that he hadn't taken a shower, and he lay straight down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
-
I didn't fall asleep until after 4 a.m., and slept until 3 p.m. When I got hungry, I got up, took a shower, and went to the kitchen to find something to eat.
No one was home on the weekday, and Jiang Yujin didn't have to go to work. He opened the refrigerator, took out a peach, and asked the cleaning lady if she could cook him some noodles, as he was starving.
"No problem, young master."
Auntie cooked a bowl of tomato and egg noodle soup. It smelled delicious, but Jiang Yujin took a bite and felt it was bland and lacked something.
However, the most urgent task is to fill our stomachs.
Jiang Yujin slurped a few times, finished the bowl of noodles, and finally suppressed his hunger. With soup still on the corners of his mouth, he was not satisfied.
He suddenly had a strong craving for pickled fish.
"Auntie, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in an hour."
The restaurant was still open at this hour, and it wouldn't take long to get there by taxi. Jiang Yujin ate a bowl of noodles at home, but since he couldn't eat too much by himself, he ordered a dish of pickled fish and rice.
"Sir, hey, it's been a long time since you've been here." The waiter who was serving the food noticed him and mentioned it for no apparent reason.
"Really? I've been quite busy lately." Jiang Yujin plays late and sleeps until 5 p.m., so he simply eats at home with his family. His little niece likes to play with him, so he doesn't come over as often. Perhaps the food is a bit monotonous, but the staff all remember him.
"Our boss said that if the food doesn't suit your taste, you can let us know and we'll make improvements. It's a privilege for regular customers," the clerk said, as if afraid he wouldn't come back to eat.
Jiang Yujin smiled gently, "Really? Your boss is quite a good boss, he knows how to run a business."
The shop assistant replied, "Our boss is indeed a good boss, but he's a bit introverted and doesn't like to take the initiative." He watched from a distance and then asked her to come and ask the customer how the food was.
"The taste of the dishes hasn't changed, they're still delicious." The fish is very fresh, and when paired with the pickled cabbage, it creates a unique flavor on the tongue. This restaurant is great, but it's often not crowded.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have suddenly decided to come and eat.
"Can I see your chef/owner again?"
Jiang Yujin brought it up.
The shop assistant nodded vigorously, as if he had completed his task. "Um... sir, I need to ask our boss first. Please wait a moment."
To cover up or conceal.
For some reason, the alpha lost his composure and arrived in a hurry.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?" What could it be? He had just been chatting happily with the shop assistant. Alpha found that scene extremely irritating, but he didn't have the right to interrupt.
"Are you the only owner and chef in your shop? What happened to your hand?" Jiang Yujin insisted on asking, his sharp eyes having noticed the injury on the back of Alpha's right hand.
She had promised to be his chef, which was great – high salary, good benefits, room and board included. How much money can a small restaurant make? She injured her hand and needs to rest. What if he wants to eat there but the restaurant closes down and she can't get any food?
"It's just a burn, nothing serious." The alpha lowered his eyes, always looking pitiful as if he had done something wrong in front of him.
Jiang Yujin is a very direct person. "You were the one who wanted to give me the doll before, right? What are you trying to do? Do you like me?"
"Yes." The alpha did not deny what she had done; she did like Jiang Yujin, that was a fact.
Jiang Yujin noticed it so quickly; her disguise was too clumsy.
Okay, I admit it.
Jiang Yujin said, "It seems I guessed right. It's your business if you like me. I really don't like your type, but I can give you a chance." It felt so good to be able to make demands based on someone's feelings for you.
"Really, why not consider coming to my house as a chef? You can see me every day, and maybe one day I'll fall for your type." To be honest, Jiang Yujin was just craving food; otherwise, he wouldn't bother arguing with this stubborn alpha.
"Of course, you can continue to be the owner of your small restaurant. My job is just a side job; you can cook one meal every night. You can name your price. How about that?" He was being so sincere; it wouldn't be right to refuse.
"Okay." Alpha cherished this hard-won opportunity and readily agreed.
"Then let's exchange contact information. Starting tomorrow night, you can start working at this address. After you finish cooking, just go back to the shop yourself. There's a housekeeper at home to take care of things. You only need to cook. We can discuss the salary online. What's your name?"
“Liang Dongmo, Dong in east, west, south, north, and Mo in stranger.”
"Yes, you can call me Jiang Yujin."
Jiang Yujin added her contact information, sent her his name, and then exclaimed with delight, "Is the profile picture your own cat? It's so fat!" From the photo, it was clear that the cat was well cared for and its owner was very attentive.
"Yes, I've had it for five years. Its name is Christmas. I found it on Christmas Day. It's a very well-behaved cat." When talking about his cat, Alpha recalled something, and his expression softened.
Jiang Yujin missed the alpha's fleeting expression.
The cat I found on Christmas Day is named Christmas?
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a headache.
It was just a momentary thing and wouldn't affect Jiang Yujin's thinking.
"It's a very unique name. If you have the chance, you can bring it to my home. My kids love cats, but we've never been allowed to have one."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com