Divorced Dad's Gourmet Shop

Chapter 30: Chapter 29: The Ways of the World

Just then, a group of students heading to school for the afternoon rushed excitedly to the entrance of Jiang Liu’s shop.

"This is the place! I’m telling you, they’re insanely good. The best buns I’ve ever had!"

"Yang, now you’re just bragging. I don’t believe you!" a blonde girl from Bear Country shook her head disdainfully.

Yang Tuoyang got anxious.

"It’s true! They’re really delicious! If you just tried them, you wouldn’t be saying that!"

"I’m not eating them!"

"Boss, quick, quick! Give me two of every filling! There are seven of us here, same for everyone!"

Jiang Liu said apologetically, "I’m sorry, everyone. The buns are already sold out."

"Huh? Sold out? Boss, why didn’t you save some for me?"

"You never told me to," Jiang Liu said, spreading his hands helplessly.

"That’s true. Oh well."

Yang Tuoyang quickly asked again, "Then when will you have more buns?" freewebnovel.cσ๓

"Around, uh... a little after five."

"Okay, remember to save some buns for me. I’ll come get them after school, alright?"

"No problem."

"Then I’ll pay you now."

Yang Tuoyang noticed the price had changed and paid happily and readily.

"Payment received via Alipay: one hundred fifty-four yuan."

"Bye, Boss!"

"Bye."

Zheng Qiang, who was watching from the side, was dumbfounded. ’Someone’s actually pre-ordering Jiang Liu’s buns?’

Forget pre-orders for his buns; customers would eat them and still find fault, looking completely reluctant.

Just as he was wondering if it was a coincidence, a few workers in clean clothes walked over.

You could tell at a glance they weren’t the ones doing the heavy lifting at the construction site.

"This is the place, right?"

"According to the location one of our guys sent, this is it."

"Is Boss Jiang here?"

Jiang Liu had just turned off the circuit breaker. Hearing the voices, he came running out, exasperated. "That’s me. Here to buy buns?"

"Yeah, that’s right. Uh, um, your buns... give each of us ten."

"No, make it fifteen!"

Jiang Liu quickly interrupted them. "Sorry, everyone. The buns sold out too fast at noon. We’re all out now. If you want some, please come back a little after five."

"What? No more buns!"

"Boss, can’t you make some now? We’re really craving your buns."

Jiang Liu shook his head. "It’s not that I don’t want to, but I’m out of ingredients. I need to go and prepare them."

Hearing Jiang Liu’s explanation, the men didn’t know what else to say.

The rugged middle-aged man in the lead, who wore a gold watch and a gold ring, was named Ding Xinyu. He was an engineer from the construction site.

He asked, "So, Boss, if we come back after five, can we get some?"

"Yeah, Boss, give us some assurance. We’re huge fans of your buns."

Of course, Jiang Liu couldn’t just make promises to people. He said:

"It’s hard to say. There might be some, or they might sell out as soon as I make them."

"Then can I pay you in advance? Can I make a pre-order?" Ding Xinyu asked, an idea suddenly striking him.

Hearing someone else ask to pre-order, Jiang Liu hesitated, his mind racing.

To be honest, he felt that letting customers pre-order wasn’t a good precedent to set.

But remembering there was already a precedent, he could only sigh and agree.

"Alright, alright. Since it’s the grand opening today, this is a one-time thing. Starting tomorrow, no more pre-orders."

"Hey, yes, yes, yes! That’s great, Boss! I’m sending you the money now. I want five portions, twenty buns per portion!"

"No. Three portions, fifteen buns each."

Jiang Liu waved his hand.

Ding Xinyu gave a wry smile. "Fifteen it is, then. It’s better than nothing."

"Oh, right, Boss. If you need any renovations, just let me know. I’ve got a construction team you can use, and I can even help you with the design for free."

Jiang Liu didn’t refuse him on the spot. He nodded. "Thanks for the kind offer. I’ll consider it if the need arises."

He understood that this was an attempt to make him owe a favor. That’s just how the world worked—favors had to be repaid.

That’s why he tried his best not to trouble others.

"WeChat payment received: one hundred thirty-five yuan."

"Alright, Boss, we’ll let you get back to it. My name is Ding Xinyu. If you need anything, find me at the Yi City construction site."

"Got it."

Zheng Qiang, who had witnessed the entire exchange from the side, was completely stunned, his mind blown.

’You can sell buns like this? Selling IOUs?’

Zheng Qiang was beginning to question his entire existence.

Forget pre-orders for his own buns; he’d be happy if customers just ate them without coming back to complain. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

Every day he was left with a pile he couldn’t sell.

But this guy’s buns were the complete opposite. Customers were rushing to buy them, and he was reluctant to even sell.

"What is wrong with this world? Why is it always working against me..."

Zheng Qiang’s eyes were vacant as he muttered to himself.

He was truly crushed.

Jiang Liu gave him a strange look but couldn’t be bothered with him. He took the 10,750 yuan from the drawer and locked the shop door.

He had a lot to do this afternoon. First, he wanted to go see his daughter and check on how she was doing at kindergarten.

Then he needed to buy an air conditioner, print out a QR code for his Douyin account, and go home to get ingredients for 1,200 buns.

’It’s actually not too hot right now. Huh, the sky looks pretty nice today.’

Jiang Liu looked up at the azure sky and noticed the clouds were like waves. They looked like ripples left by a boat crossing the sea, a wave of clouds covering the entire blue expanse, stretching endlessly into the distance.

Passing by Xue Guang’s doorway, Jiang Liu casually plucked a grape from his vine. It was still a bit warm to the touch and rather firm.

Xue Guang’s neighbor was an eighty-square-meter plant nursery, which was why he was able to grow a grapevine along the shop’s wall.

"HISS... so sour!"

Jiang Liu stuck out his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut.

He opened his navigation app. There was a Midea appliance store nearby, not far, just a few hundred meters south of the kindergarten.

’Perfect. I can check on Tongtong on the way. I wonder if I’ll get to see her.’

As far as he knew, they should be taking their afternoon nap around this time.

But you never knew. They might have already woken up and be dancing or playing games in the yard.

「Five minutes later.」

As Jiang Liu passed the kindergarten entrance, he could hear the theme song from *Pig Hero* from a long way off.

"Lulalulale, lulalulalei, I’m gonna charge ahead..."

’Looks like they’re dancing.’

Jiang Liu quickly stepped onto a tiled platform, pushed aside some overgrown grass by the iron fence, and grabbed the bars to peer inside.

Inside the kindergarten, Tongtong had been placed in the center position. Right now, she was waving her arms and bobbing her head to the beat of the music. If it weren’t for her little butt wiggling back and forth, you’d think the kid was at a rave.

Her dance moves were the most exaggerated in the entire kindergarten.

A few of the pre-K teachers were laughing their heads off at her antics.

A grin spread across Jiang Liu’s face, the kind, fatherly smile of a proud dad.

He muttered to himself, "Not bad. My, Jiang Liu’s, daughter is truly outstanding. She’s got real potential for dancing."

His mood lifted, and he left with his hands in his pockets, whistling.

Over the next hour, Jiang Liu bought a three-horsepower air conditioner, which cost him 2,500 yuan.

The technician would come to install it, and since it was on the first floor, the installation was free.

On the way, he also printed out thirty QR codes for his Douyin account.

He planned to stick one on every table.

He made a trip to the shop to give the key to Xue Guang, since the installation technician would be bringing the air conditioner over to install it soon.

When Xue Guang heard Jiang Liu was going home to haul ingredients, he insisted that Jiang Liu use his van.

After refusing a couple of times for politeness’ sake, Jiang Liu happily accepted.

He drove Xue Guang’s van back home.

Jiang Liu glanced at the clock in his bedroom: 2:35.

’I need to hurry. For 1,200 buns, just wrapping them will take seventy to eighty minutes,’ Jiang Liu calculated in his head.

He then quickly bought nearly a thousand yuan’s worth of ingredients from the [Gourmet Album].