Free Web NovelChapter 67: Chapter 67: Making Lunch for the Soldiers
Bai Su’s face was dark. "If I want to hit you, I’ll hit you. Do I need to make an appointment?"
Lu Tingyan shot Li Chenlin a glare and snorted. "For Susu’s sake, I’ll let you off this once. Now get lost!"
Li Chenlin scoffed. "Do you take me for a fool? Such a rare female bore me a child. Did you expect me to just stand by and do nothing?"
He grabbed Bai Su’s hand. "Susu, from this day forward, I will always be by your side. Let me protect you and the children."
Bai Su shook them both off, taking Bai Xiaolang’s hand with one of hers and Bai Xiaoshe’s with the other. "Darlings, let’s go home. You must be hungry, right?"
"Woohoo!" The two little ones perked up, obediently letting Bai Su take their hands. They glanced back at the two big idiots behind them, their expressions a mixture of smugness and showing off, before turning to leave.
Lu Tingyan: "..."
Li Chenlin: "..."
Bai Su returned to the restaurant with her children.
A crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the mountaintop restaurant. freewebnovёl.ƈom
After all that fuss, it was nearly noon. Luckily, she had prepped the ingredients well in advance.
When the customers saw her return with the children, they finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Proprietress, you’re finally back!"
"We were worried you weren’t opening today, Proprietress!"
Bai Su looked at them, a little embarrassed. "Sorry about that. I had to make a trip to the hospital, but everything’s fine now. Please, come in and have a seat. I’ll start serving right away!"
When Li Chenlin caught up, the first thing he saw was a crowd of males gathered around Bai Su, who was smiling and chatting cheerfully with them.
His face instantly darkened. ’She’s so hostile to me, yet what right do those lowly males have to see her so pleasant and cheerful?’
Lu Tingyan, standing nearby, scoffed. "I told you, you don’t understand Susu. What makes you think you can compete with me?"
Li Chenlin’s gaze met his, and sparks began to fly between them again.
Inside the restaurant, Bai Su nearly tripped over a chair. Luckily, a male customer next to her quickly steadied her. "Are you alright, Proprietress?"
The feeling of her soft, smooth skin made his heart race, and he immediately blushed.
"Let go of her! Where do you think you’re putting your hands? Do you think you’re worthy?" Li Chenlin appeared before Bai Su in a flash, his snake tail a blur. He shoved the other male away, his vertical, golden serpent eyes glinting fiercely.
The male was about to argue angrily, but when he saw the serpentine markings on Li Chenlin that identified him as a Level 9 Beastman, he was so frightened he immediately bowed his head in apology.
Bai Su couldn’t watch any longer and pushed Li Chenlin away. "What are you doing? He’s my customer! Show my customers some respect, or get out!"
Li Chenlin stared at her in disbelief. "I’m protecting you, and you’re telling me to get out?!"
Bai Su: "Yes! You’re disrupting my business. Out!"
Li Chenlin was, after all, the uncrowned king of the underworld—a high and mighty figure who struck fear into the hearts of all. When had he ever suffered such a humiliation in public? With a flick of his snake tail, he turned and vanished.
Bai Su rolled her eyes, not bothering to spare him another thought.
Lu Tingyan was inwardly pleased by the stupid snake’s blunder. He approached gently and patted Bai Su’s head. "You just take it easy here. Call me immediately if anything happens. I’m heading back to military headquarters now, okay?"
Only then did a smile return to Bai Su’s face. She gave him an obedient nod.
Lu Tingyan was very satisfied that she was so pleasant to him yet had publicly rebuked Li Chenlin. Seeing her docile appearance stirred his heart even more.
His eyes glinted as he rubbed her rabbit ears. "When I’m done with work, I’ll come find you tonight."
Bai Su understood the implication in his eyes. Her face flushed. "Hey... y-you should get going!"
Lu Tingyan’s lips curled into a smile. He let her small, delicate hands push against his back, allowing her to shove him out the door.
From the treetops some distance away, the great snake with his tail coiled around a branch watched, his expression utterly black. ’So gentle with him, is she?’
He pulled out his terminal and sent a command to his subordinate: "Find something to keep the Federation’s military busy. Make sure Lu Tingyan is so swamped for the next few days he won’t have a moment to spare."
"Yes, Boss."
*
Bai Su hadn’t expected so many people in her livestream today.
The viewers were exceptionally enthusiastic.
[I’m here to see it! The Federation finally has a Level 4 female with a superpower?!!]
[No wonder the proprietress’s food has a Healing Ability! So she really does have a superpower!]
[Waaaah, why didn’t I go eat there sooner? I always thought it was just a restaurant gimmick. Then I saw some clickbait accounts saying she was using banned substances, so I stopped paying attention. Waaaah, those damn accounts made me miss out!]
[Waaaah, a noble female is actually cooking for us with her own hands! I never would have dared to imagine it!]
[I’m a little curious. The Commander is actually willing to let you run a restaurant?]
Bai Su saw this bullet comment and gave a gentle smile. "It’s because my superpower has a strong Healing Ability. Beastmen who have been injured on the battlefield, those with damaged spiritual power, those with damaged or poor reproductive abilities, and even those with diseases considered incurable can all come here and eat for a while. There’s a chance they might be healed."
"Lu Tingyan himself had an injury to his spiritual power that I healed here, so he didn’t try to stop me from using my superpower to help more people."
[Waaaah, such a kind little female! Hugs!]
[Beautiful and kind, and she doesn’t put on any of the airs other females do! I’m so jealous of the Commander!]
More and more customers flooded the restaurant, and Bai Su was exceptionally busy today.
Her little ones were also run off their feet helping out.
Luckily, a few of the Beastman soldiers Lu Tingyan had sent were helping out as waiters, which allowed them to barely keep up.
The restaurant stayed open late today, not closing until two-thirty in the afternoon.
The little ones were so tired they were all sitting off to the side, sprawled out and unmoving.
Her heart ached for them, and she decided to move up her timeline for hiring more waiters.
The Wolf Clan soldiers outside were about to return to their posts when Bai Su quickly called out to them. "Don’t go yet! You’ve worked all day and haven’t had lunch. I’ll make something now, let’s all eat together."
The soldiers looked at each other. "N-No need, Miss Bai. We have to stand guard outside. We brought canned food with us."
Bai Su said good-humoredly, "Is my cooking less appealing than canned food? You’re protecting our safety here anyway. Coming inside to eat together won’t get in the way of your duties."
"Come on in. Thanks to you guys, our revenue was up by a third today!"
The soldiers scratched their heads and shuffled inside, looking a little awkward.
The truth was, they were starving. They had spent all afternoon rushing back and forth, surrounded by the intoxicating aroma of food. It was only through their formidable military discipline that they hadn’t snuck a bite.
Now, with Bai Su’s warm invitation, they really couldn’t hold back anymore.
Besides...
’This female doesn’t seem as terrible as the female in our branch chief’s family says, does she?’
’She seems pretty nice, actually.’
’She isn’t arrogant, nor does she constantly beat and curse Beastmen or treat males like lowly slaves.’
Bai Su took the ingredients she had on hand and cooked up all the remaining beef and mutton—a good five or six pounds of it.
These were Bear Beastmen, after all; their appetites were surely enormous.
As it happened, there were two whole cumin-and-honey-roasted lambs in the charcoal oven that hadn’t sold, which was far more than she and the little ones could possibly eat.
In addition to the roasted lamb, Bai Su also made grilled steaks, salt-baked lamb chops, lotus-leaf-wrapped chicken, and fish with pickled cabbage in a golden broth. She even made two large pitchers of an iced kumquat, lemon, and salted plum drink, mixed with a lemon-lime soda, and set them aside.
Even though autumn had arrived and it was cooler on the mountain, she noticed the Bear Beastmen were still sweating from their work. Their uniforms left their arms and necks exposed, revealing the thick fur unique to their kind. She guessed they must not handle heat very well.
