Chapter 273: A Bit Unhappy
Chapter 273: Chapter 273: A Bit Unhappy
It was a beautiful thought, but reality was cruel.
But their excitement was pointless. Xue Can wasn’t making any headway, while Shen Lu and Fu Cheng were inseparable. No matter how much they hoped, the day they could call Shen Lu their boss’s wife seemed impossibly distant.
Wu Jun sucked in a few sharp breaths. He couldn’t handle spicy food very well, but after trying it a couple of times, he was completely hooked. He’d chosen the spicy and numbing hot pot again today, and now his mouth was so swollen from the heat that he sounded like a deflating tire, hissing with every word.
"Good thing, HISS~ the boss isn’t here today, HISS~ or he’d die of jealousy, HISS~"
Huo Qian placed a glass of mint water in front of Wu Jun. "Could you please stop talking? Anyone who didn’t know better would think I was sitting next to a man-sized python."
Wu ’Man-Sized Python’ Jun: (;￣д￣)
With a reverent air, Lin Zhou finished every last bit of food in his pot, then let out a long, melancholic sigh.
Ye Fan nudged him with his shoulder. "You feel sorry for the boss too, huh?"
Lin Zhou shot his old partner a look you’d give an idiot. "Don’t waste your time pitying the boss. Ye Fan, you and I are leaving Little Deer Cuisine soon. We’ll be back to roughing it, eating out in the elements. Forget getting two meals a day that can soothe our Spiritual Seas—we might not even be able to scrounge one."
The gloating smile on Ye Fan’s face instantly froze.
’Damn it, how could I forget about that?’ He and Lin Zhou were stepping down from their security guard posts the day after tomorrow. Xue Can had already assigned them a mission—not too difficult, but it would take them away from here.
He and Lin Zhou had been taking it easy at Little Deer Cuisine for almost a month; they would need some time to get back into their "living-on-the-edge" mindset.
’Somehow, Ye Fan suddenly felt a slight aversion to his old life?’
The thought startled him, and he quickly slapped his own cheeks a few times.
’That’s absolutely not okay. From the moment I decided to become a mercenary, I knew what kind of path I was choosing.’
’Few mercenaries die of old age. You’re lucky if you die with your body still in one piece.’
And yet... Ye Fan and Lin Zhou turned in unison to look at Shen Lu. The young woman was completely absorbed in her hot pot, her face flushed, perhaps from the heat of the meal. Her eyes were bright and glistening, and just looking at her gave one a sense of tranquil peace.
’If only there was a place you could come back to after a mission, a place to eat a comforting meal and truly relax... life would seem a whole lot brighter!’
This had nothing to do with romantic love. It was just that Ye Fan and Lin Zhou felt Shen Lu possessed a kind of magic that put people at ease.
*Sigh*... If only Shen Lu would become our boss’s wife.
Then they could not only eat here but live here too. Compared to their cold, sterile base, Little Deer Cuisine was infinitely more welcoming.
The atmosphere throughout the meal remained pleasant. For one, the food was delicious; for another, everyone made a conscious effort to keep things lively, so of course it went well.
They finished eating around eight o’clock, and everyone pitched in to clean up. Shen Lu couldn’t have been more pleased.
’What did this prove?’
’It proved that not only had she picked good employees, but their families were helpful and saw what needed to be done, too!’
’She really had a knack for picking people!’
As the party broke up, Xin Yu offered to see Deng Ying and her sister home.
"Oh, by the way, Xin Yu," Shen Lu said, "if you’d like, you can move into the restaurant. The weather’s been bad, so it would be more convenient." She was thinking that since Xin Yu lived alone, it would be better for him to stay at the restaurant; if anything happened, there would be people around to help.
"Thank you, Boss, but I can manage for now. If it ever gets to be too much, I’ll let you know."
Xin Yu knew Shen Lu was just concerned for him, but he wasn’t ready to leave his home.
Even though he was the only one there, the house was filled with traces of the family he’d lost. He couldn’t let go of that.
"Alright. Just let me know if you need anything," Shen Lu didn’t press him. Everyone had their own reasons, after all. "Ye Fan, Lin Zhou, Huo Qian, Wu Jun—could you please escort them for me?"
The wind outside was howling, whipping up sand and grit. Her employees and their families were ordinary people, and Shen Lu worried they might get into trouble. Having Superpower Users escort them would set her mind at ease.
No one refused Shen Lu’s kind offer. They split into groups based on who lived near whom and then departed one by one.
Xiao Lang held his mother’s hand, waving enthusiastically at his newfound friends.
The moment the door closed, Xiao Lang’s eyes reddened. He looked up at Cai Su pitifully.
"Mama, can I play with Sister Xiao Hui and the others again?"
It was the first time he’d ever had so much fun with other kids. No one bullied him, and he’d even earned their envious looks by showing how familiar he was with Little Deer Cuisine.
What child doesn’t love a bit of fun? Xiao Lang hadn’t wanted to play outside before because he hadn’t found friends he clicked with. Now that he had, he was reluctant to leave them.
"Of course you can," Cai Su said, her heart aching for him even as she found his expression amusing. She gently rubbed her son’s cheek. "When I have time, I’ll take you to their houses to play, how about that?"
"Okay!"
Shen Lu and Fu Cheng went upstairs together. As she went into the bedroom to grab her pajamas, she poked her head back out. "Fu Cheng, let’s talk after I shower, okay?"
Fu Cheng’s gaze sharpened. "Okay."
With his agreement, Shen Lu went off to shower, humming a tune.
Fu Cheng waited quietly in the living room, idly wondering what Shen Lu wanted to discuss.
Of course, he knew she wasn’t about to discuss poetry and romance.
Everyone else might mistake them for a loving couple, but he knew the truth: Shen Lu didn’t have a single romantic thought in her head.
Her every waking thought was dedicated to running this restaurant successfully.
But it didn’t seem like she needed to discuss restaurant business with him either. The place was hers, and she had absolute control over it. She had the funding and the skills. If she was lacking in any area, it was probably that she didn’t have a powerful backer.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have faced wave after wave of trouble.
She was using local ingredients as a cover for now, but a determined person would eventually notice something was off.
A single Boss Jin had nearly landed Shen Lu in prison. What would happen if one of the great families from the Upper City District took notice?
Couldn’t they crush her with just a flick of their finger?
Fu Cheng’s breath caught. He felt a flicker of relief that Shen Lu’s restaurant was in the Lower City District. If she had opened up in the Upper City District, she would have been exposed long ago.
While he was lost in thought, Shen Lu emerged, her hair now dry.
The temperature in the room was pleasant. She was dressed in soft, comfortable pajamas, her face flushed with a healthy, rosy glow.
Shen Lu sat on the sofa, tucking her right leg under her, and ran her fingers through her hair a few times.
’My hair seems to have gotten longer,’ she thought. She remembered it being just past her shoulders, but now it reached her back.
"Fu Cheng." Shen Lu collected her thoughts and began. "Your relationship with your uncle... it seems average?"
’So that’s what this is about,’ Fu Cheng thought. ’She’s asking about Gong Tianhua because she wants to seek his protection, right?’
For some reason, Fu Cheng felt a pang of displeasure.
"Not average," Fu Cheng said, his tone flat. "It’s bad."
His simple declaration of "it’s bad" made Shen Lu’s heart sing with joy.
’She had been worried that Fu Cheng and Gong Tianhua were on good terms. If they were, she would have felt too awkward to use the Possession Card.’