My Exclusive Dream World Adventures - Chapter 93

Chapter 93: 093 Grand Opening

The next day, Chen Xu told Secretary Guo in advance and left work at the usual time.

Upon returning home, Chen Ziqi was watching TV with a tablet in her arms and complained, “The internet speed at your place is horrendously slow, the video keeps buffering.”

Chen Xu put down his briefcase, noticed the room was tidy, and was quite satisfied. He casually asked, “What do you want for dinner?”

“I want braised pork.”

Chen Xu went to the kitchen, put on an apron, and said, “Then let’s have noodles.”

“Then why did you even ask?”

Not long after, Chen Xu brought out two bowls of noodles.

Seeing the bland-looking noodles, Chen Ziqi widened her eyes and said, “Chen Xu, you’re really stingy. Isn’t this just boiled noodles in water? Is this how you treat me?”

“Are you going to eat it or not?”

“Hmph.”

Chen Ziqi wrinkled her nose at him, picked up the chopsticks, and muttered, “It’s just the truth, can’t I even say that? Tomorrow I definitely have to go out and buy some snacks.”

Though she complained, she still picked up the noodles with her chopsticks and took a bite.

Hmm?

She took another bite.

Hmm.

In no time, she had polished off a bowl of noodles.

She drank the last of the soup and, seeing Chen Xu staring at her, said, “What are you looking at? I was just hungry because you came home so late.”

Chen Xu pointed at the two empty bowls and then towards the kitchen.

“Can’t you let me rest for a while?” Chen Ziqi slumped her shoulders and pouted.

“Hurry up.”

“You’re going to lose me if you keep this up.”

Unable to tolerate it anymore, Chen Xu tapped her forehead and said, “Always so much to say, just go.”

“Don’t hit my head!” Chen Ziqi snapped.

At that moment, the phone on the table rang. Chen Xu went to answer it and turned back to her, “I need to step out for a bit, I’ll be back soon. Don’t go anywhere.”

With that, he hurriedly left.

He descended the stairs and walked to the roadside, where a black Audi pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down, revealing Third Uncle.

“Third Uncle, Ziqi is upstairs, I’ll take you up.”

Third Uncle looked somewhat weary and said, “I really owe you one this time.”

Without further pleasantries, after parking the car, Chen Xu took him upstairs, opened the door, and said to Chen Ziqi, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, “Your dad is here, have a good talk.”

After speaking, he closed the door and left.

This was a family matter between father and daughter, and he didn’t want to get involved. He took this opportunity to go meet the owner of the late-night food stall and sign the contract.

The couple, who were the owners, were already there waiting for him and presented the draft contract for his review.

The contract was simple, with just a few clauses and not much money involved. It wasn’t very formal and was still handwritten.

Chen Xu looked it over, found it satisfactory, gave them twenty thousand, and signed the contract.

The owner accepted the money, wrote him a receipt, and handed over the keys. They said they had already bought bus tickets for the next morning and needed to pack up before leaving.

Chen Xu watched them leave and turned to look at the small shop, feeling somewhat triumphant. For the next three months, the shop was his.

Of course, he didn’t expect to make much money in those three months; his main goal was to gain some experience.

Three months later, just after the Spring Festival, Chen Xu would be able to participate in the dart competition, which was his chance to earn his first pot of gold.

He had already planned all this.

The shop was small, about thirty square meters, nestled between two buildings. Strictly speaking, it should be considered an illegal construction, but it looked rather old, hard to pin down exactly.

Chen Xu rolled up his sleeves and started to clean, moving the barbecue tools to one side since he wouldn’t need them.

Halfway through cleaning, Third Uncle called to say something had come up and he had to leave. Ziqi would stay here for him to look after for a few days.

He didn’t specify, but Chen Xu knew it must have fallen through. So, he locked up the shop and headed back to his rented place.

Ziqi, acting as if nothing was the matter, was embracing her tablet and watching TV.

He walked over and asked, “How did it go?”

“Not great.” She didn’t even look up, “Anyway, if he doesn’t break up with that woman, I’m not going back.”

Chen Xu didn’t want to pry into their father-daughter affairs. Seeing her stable and okay, he took a shower. Then, as usual, he left her some reminders and left, leaving her alone to stay overnight.

This time, he didn’t go to the office. He had just discovered while cleaning the shop that there was an attic accessible by a ladder, with a foldable bed good enough for sleeping.

He bought the cheapest duvet and pillow from a nearby supermarket and slept in the attic of the shop for a night.

…

After one night, the next day was a weekend.

Chen Xu got up early in the morning and went to the nearest market to start shopping heavily.

After paying the deposit, he had just over five hundred left. However, he still had a credit limit of two thousand in his “Huabei”, which was enough to buy ingredients.

At noon, he pulled Chen Ziqi over to help.

“Hey, I never agreed to do this,” Ziqi said as she entered the shop, looking at the greasy stove, refrigerator, and walls, feeling a tingling scalp and totally resistant.

“I cook for you without even charging you for food.”

Ziqi argued, “You initially said you’d cook, I’d do dishes, and never mentioned food charges. Adding charges afterward, isn’t that unethical?”

“Then you can only eat takeout from now on.”

“Don’t.” Her face immediately fell, “Takeout’s so unhealthy.”

“So, will you do it?”

Reluctantly, Ziqi put on rubber gloves and grumbled, “This is child labor, you know, it’s illegal.”

The two busied themselves for nearly an afternoon and finally managed to get the whole shop, inside and out, thoroughly cleaned.

In the end, Chen Xu praised her saying, “Well done, I’ll add a chicken leg for you tonight.”

Ziqi threw her gloves into a basin, “A chicken leg and you think you can brush me off?”

“At most, I’ll add an extra sausage.”

“I’ve seen stingy, but never someone as stingy as you.” Ziqi slumped onto a chair, exhausted from the afternoon’s work, not wanting to move at all.

Over the next few hours, she just watched Chen Xu bustling around the stove, continuously adding various ingredients into a boiling pot of water.

“Aren’t you done yet?” she asked, sitting there with her phone battery dead, and seeing him still bustling around, could not help asking, “I’m about to starve.”

“Almost.”

Chen Xu took a spoon, tasted it, and nodded with satisfaction. This pot of soup was finally ready.

The 2003 recipe didn’t seek long cooking times but rather emphasized freshness. He cooked a larger batch this time, so it took a bit longer.

He asked, “What do you want to eat?”

Without hesitation, Ziqi replied, “Noodles.”

“Okay.” Chen Xu cooked her a bowl of noodles, served it to her, then took out a piece of red paper, wrote “Grand opening” in bold characters, and stuck it on the door.

Although there were only three months, a sense of ceremony was still needed.

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