Chapter 132: But a Little Wind and Frost
Chapter 132: Chapter 132: But a Little Wind and Frost
"The second line is full! Newcomers, please move to the third line."
"The third line starts here. Don’t go to the wrong place, and no cutting."
"You! Yes, you! Don’t think I didn’t see you just arrive. Trying to use a movement technique, are you? Since you got caught, get to the back of the line."
"Don’t make a scene! If you make a scene, you’re disqualified."
The next day, when Lu Wu arrived at her usual spot, she saw a huge crowd gathered, with someone even using an Amplification Stone to direct the flow of people.
The place was an ocean of people.
It was still dark out, and Lu Wu was instantly swallowed by the crowd upon her arrival.
’These people can’t all be here for my crepes, can they?’
Lu Wu speculated.
Considering the ingredients she’d prepared, Lu Wu figured her arms would be sore enough to fall off by the end of the day.
She tried to push forward to her stall’s location, but someone grabbed her arm.
"Hey, newcomer! I’m talking to you! Where are your manners? Get to the back of the line, quick. You only get one chance. If you try to cut again, I won’t let you stay."
It was a sturdy man, and his eyes were full of condemnation as he looked at Lu Wu.
"You don’t recognize me?"
Lu Wu pointed to her own face, astonished.
’I’m the one running the stall. If I don’t get to the front, what are these people going to eat?’
"I don’t care who you are. Even if the emperor himself showed up, he’d have to wait in line. Those are the rules."
"Go on, get back!"
The sturdy man, who was apparently terrible with faces, grabbed Lu Wu’s arm and shoved her to the very end of the third line.
Squeezed into the crowd, Lu Wu began to doubt herself.
’Could I have gotten it wrong? Maybe this is some kind of fan meet-and-greet that has nothing to do with a humble crepe vendor like me.’
But she could clearly hear people in the crowd talking about her.
’The mission must go on.’
Lu Wu slipped out of the line and tried to push forward again.
But there were simply too many people, all unconsciously pressing in on themselves.
No one around her paid close attention to her face. Assuming she was trying to cut the line, they all instinctively worked together to keep her out.
...
In the end, Lu Wu couldn’t even get into the back of the fifth line.
The crowd had formed solid blocks, and Lu Wu, isolated on the outside, started to panic as the opening hour drew near.
’So much for loyal customers. How can they not even recognize my face?’
’I’m not that much of a background character, am I?’
Lu Wu was thoroughly depressed.
Fortunately, some of the customers soon noticed something was amiss.
"It’s getting late. Why isn’t Boss Lu here yet?"
"Boss Lu has never been late in all the time she’s been running this stall. Did something happen to her?"
"Speaking of which, I saw Mr. Qin looking a little panicked before he went up on the dueling stage yesterday. Maybe he knows something."
"Then what should we do?"
A bunch of people started guessing. The speculation quickly escalated from her having an accident to being dead, and one person even suggested she’d abandoned her customers and run off with some "sister-in-law." It was getting more and more ridiculous.
’How has not a single person considered that I’m being blocked by them and can’t get in?’
"I’m right here!"
Seeing that a sixth line was about to form while she was still stuck on the periphery, Lu Wu couldn’t take it anymore and shouted at the top of her lungs.
Lu Wu’s voice was hoarse from the effort.
Rubbing her sore throat, Lu Wu met a sea of gazes.
Some people were genuinely shocked to see her.
"Boss Lu, when did you get here? Why didn’t you go in?"
’You don’t know why I didn’t go in?’
Faced with the customers’ sudden change of tune, Lu Wu decided to be the bigger person... yeah, right.
"Him! It was him! He wouldn’t let me in."
Lu Wu pointed at the sturdy man from before, tattling to her other customers.
Instantly, all eyes focused on the sturdy man. Some people’s expressions turned sinister, as if they wanted to rough him up to vent Lu Wu’s frustration.
But how could Lu Wu let something like that happen?
"Everyone, don’t blame him. He meant well. He even showed me where to line up. He just didn’t recognize me, so please don’t be mad at him."
"Sir, I see how hard you’ve been working. This chaos is my fault, after all. Why don’t you be the first one to buy a crepe later?"
Lu Wu spoke softly, a gentle smile on her face, looking for all the world like she was being considerate.
In reality, this was a classic "praise-to-kill" maneuver!
A blatant, textbook example!
The customers currently in the first line, in particular, shot furious glares at the man.
’We can understand that you worked hard, but we will not accept you being hand-picked by Boss Lu to be first in line.’
’Let the war begin!’
As a barrage of hostile gazes shot his way, the sturdy man, who had been feeling remorseful just a moment ago, saw his expression shift from cloudy to sunny upon hearing Lu Wu’s offer.
He sidled up with a grin. "Boss Lu, is there a purchase limit today?"
He thought Boss Lu was going to hate him, but instead, this amazing thing happened?
’First in line!’
’I get to be the very first person to eat Boss Lu’s crepes today!’
For a true disciple of the Bun Sect like him, this wasn’t a punishment—it was the highest honor!
Just as he thought, the devotion between the Bun Sect and Boss Lu was a two-way street.
As for the judgmental stares of the masses, he couldn’t care less. They were merely a light frost on his path to crepe enlightenment.
A piece of cake!
’Worst case, I’ll just grab the crepes and run.’
"There’s a limit. Still five crepes per person, max."
Seeing how genuinely happy he was, Lu Wu’s sunny mood turned cloudy.
’Is my customer into some kind of S&M thing? Why else would he be so happy?’
’Can’t he see the glares from the other customers are practically turning into daggers and stabbing him? As expected, my customers are always a little strange.’
She walked to her spot, took out her crepe stall, and was met with a barrage of cheers.
The sound waves rose, one after another, into a deafening roar.
"..."
’There’s really no need for all this. I just pulled the stall out of my Storage Space. You don’t have to cheer like I just did something earth-shattering.’
Suppressing the urge to make a sarcastic comment, Lu Wu began making crepes for the day.
’Look at this crepe, so big and so round...’
With a song drifting through her mind, Lu Wu eventually handed six crepes to the sturdy man.
"Boss Lu, there’s an extra one."
The man smiled shyly. The six-foot-three giant hunched his shoulders in front of the five-foot-something Lu Wu, looking utterly submissive.
Lu Wu swore she had done nothing to train him!
"That one’s on the house. Consider it a thank you for helping maintain order here."
"Thank you. And thank all of you."
Lu Wu smiled, her feigned anger from before gone.
All her customers were equal, but some voluntarily stepped up to do the thankless job of organizing the crowd and keeping things from getting too chaotic.
For customers like that, the least Lu Wu could do was give them a free crepe.
"Boss Lu..."
Receiving Lu Wu’s thanks, the sturdy man’s eyes reddened. He sniffled, his voice hoarse.
"Boss Lu, I will love you forever."
This wasn’t romantic love, but the sincere adoration of a diner for their chef.
"Alright, I love you guys, too."
This heartfelt confession from Lu Wu sent the crowd over the moon.
"Boss Lu said she loves me! She loves me!"
"Bullshit, she obviously meant me! Hehehe, I’m already dreaming of Boss Lu making a huge feast just for me."
"Pfft, that’s nothing. In my dreams, Boss Lu is already spoon-feeding me."
Veins popping on her forehead, Lu Wu decided to retract her earlier feelings of warmth.
’What am I supposed to do when my customers are this unhinged?’
"Next!"