Chapter 287: Whoever Moves First Is a Little Dog
Chapter 287: Chapter 287: Whoever Moves First Is a Little Dog
Walking over to the patch of land Yang Jing had tilled, Shen Lu inspected it, squatting down to pinch up some soil and rub it between her fingers.
It was sticky and hard, requiring a lot of force to crumble.
It must have been difficult for Yang Jing to turn over this kind of soil.
"Little Deer, how did I do?" Yang Jing asked haltingly.
"It’s great," Shen Lu affirmed. "This is exactly the result I wanted. You did an amazing job today."
Yang Jing’s eyes lit up at once, and she stammered, "R-really?"
"It’s true," Shen Lu told her. "This is a relatively simple job. As long as you put your heart into it, you can do it well. And I can see you were very dedicated."
’She probably tilled this land twice.’
"Yes! I’ll work just as hard tomorrow!"
Yang Jing was overjoyed. She had taken jobs before, but she was always met with disdain.
She wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed and her movements were clumsy. She couldn’t handle delicate tasks, and she lacked the strength for heavy labor. Eventually, Liu Qiang grew tired of her never earning a full wage and told her to just stay home. When she had free time, she was to go scavenge at the dump.
’So, I can do a good job and get someone’s approval after all.’
The two of them entered the sheet metal hut. The moment he saw her, Liu Yaozu, who had been lounging against the head of the bed, shot upright and greeted her eagerly, "Shen Lu, you’re here."
He had learned his lesson this time and didn’t add any extra theatrics, like asking if she was there to see him.
Liu Qiang snorted and turned his head away, refusing to look at Shen Lu.
"Yes. I came to see how your work is progressing," Shen Lu said nonchalantly, gesturing to the floor. "Are these the seeds you’ve sorted?"
"Yes." Liu Qiang remained silent, so Liu Yaozu had to speak. "These are the Level 1 seeds, these are the Second Level seeds, and those are the Third Level seeds."
On the floor were three sheet-metal basins, each containing a different amount of scallion seeds.
The light in the hut was bright. Shen Lu grabbed a handful of Level 1 seeds and held them up to the light to inspect them.
Seeing this, Liu Qiang couldn’t help but snap, "Yaozu and I sorted those seed by seed. What’s the point of you checking them?"
’It’s like she doesn’t trust us.’
Liu Qiang was thoroughly annoyed.
Shen Lu didn’t care whether he was annoyed or not. She checked two more handfuls before nodding in satisfaction, confirming that there were no issues.
"Not bad. You didn’t make any mistakes sorting the seeds."
Liu Qiang snorted coldly, but Liu Yaozu looked at her eagerly. "Shen Lu, see? We did such a good job today. Shouldn’t we get a little reward? You don’t have to give us money; leftovers from the store would be fine."
Having eaten food from the restaurant, Liu Yaozu’s palate had been spoiled. He couldn’t take a single bite of the Insect Cake Yang Jing had offered him at noon. He had endured his hunger and patiently sorted the seeds, all so he could curry favor now and get some food from Shen Lu.
But there were no leftovers now. The restaurant rarely had any; most days, they sold out completely.
However, Shen Lu didn’t refuse him outright. She leveled a cool gaze at Liu Yaozu, staring at him until his skin crawled and he began to wonder if he had been too hasty.
After a dozen seconds or so, Shen Lu finally spoke. "You did a good job today. Tomorrow at noon, you can come get a meal. From now on, that’s how it will be. Finish your work for the day, and you’ll be rewarded with a meal the following noon."
Liu Qiang frowned. "Why the next day at noon? Why not tonight?"
Shen Lu shot him a look. "If you’re not satisfied, we can cancel the reward altogether."
"Satisfied! We’re satisfied! Very satisfied!" Liu Yaozu scrambled to say, frantically signaling his father with his eyes to shut up. "Dad was just talking off the cuff. Don’t mind him. Tomorrow is fine, I have no problem with eating tomorrow!"
"Is that so?" Shen Lu drawled, her gaze sweeping over the three of them.
Liu Qiang desperately wanted to say no, that he wasn’t satisfied. But other than him, the other two were perfectly happy, especially Liu Yaozu.
Liu Yaozu’s eyes were practically spasming from the effort, hoping his father wouldn’t stir up any more trouble.
Liu Qiang took a long, deep breath. What could he do? Nothing. He could only choose silence.
"Since no one is objecting, I’ll take that as a ’yes’. Tomorrow at noon, Mom can come to the front desk and get the meal from me."
"Also, tomorrow you’ll sort fifteen pounds of seeds. Mom’s work will be the same as today. I’ll come to check on your progress in the evening."
Having given her instructions, Shen Lu left.
She had finally figured out the Liu Family’s pecking order.
Yang Jing was at the bottom. Liu Qiang was one step above her, and Liu Yaozu lorded over them both. As for her, after the kidnapping incident with Boss Jin, she had leaped to the very top.
’Liu Qiang refuses to submit to me? He wants to walk all over me and throw his weight around?’
’Not a chance. I’ll never allow it.’
’But I don’t need to confront Liu Qiang directly. As long as I have Liu Yaozu under my thumb, Liu Qiang’s "fatherly love" will flare up, and he’ll be sure to back down.’
’Heh, this is just too much fun.’
Shen Lu returned to the back kitchen, changed into her chef’s uniform, and resumed making desserts.
After sliding the almond tuiles into the oven, she started on some granola bars. As she mixed the ingredients, she kept glancing at the door out of the corner of her eye.
’What’s with them today? Last time, those two were watching with great interest. Fu Cheng even acted as my assistant. Have they both lost interest already?’
’Hah. Men. Such fickle creatures.’
Out at the front counter, Xue Can and Fu Cheng—one sitting, one standing—had been locked in a standoff for a long time. Neither of them used their superpowers. It was just a quiet staring contest, a war without gunpowder.
Fu Cheng found it utterly childish, yet his body felt glued in place by some invisible force, rendering him immobile.
It felt as if moving would be an admission of defeat, a sign of weakness.
It was the same for Xue Can. He was already the underdog in this romantic rivalry. What man is willing to admit he’s the weaker one?
He had to be better than Fu Cheng in every respect to make Shen Lu understand that he was the right man for her.
Fresh from his bath, Xiao Lang came running over—PATTER PATTER PATTER—and threw his arms around Xue Can’s leg.
"Brother Xue!"
Xue Can glanced down at the new accessory attached to his leg, then looked back at Fu Cheng.
Xue Can: *This doesn’t count as me losing! It was a force majeure!*
Fu Cheng rolled his eyes at him and silently maneuvered his wheelchair to turn around.
Fu Cheng: *Childish.*
’I can’t believe I actually got into such a childish staring contest with Xue Can. Even playing a game on the StarNet would have been a better use of time.’
Scolding himself internally, Fu Cheng headed for the kitchen.
Xue Can wanted to go too. He absolutely would not allow Fu Cheng to have a moment alone with Shen Lu.
But the leg accessory was clinging to him and not letting go, crying out insistently.
"Brother Xue! Brother Xue! I can totally control how to turn my superpower on and off now! You have to teach me the next step."
Xue Can patted Xiao Lang’s head. "I don’t have time today. Next time, I’ll teach you how to project it."
"What do you mean you don’t have time?" Xiao Lang was confused. "You and Brother Fu Cheng were just having a staring contest for almost an hour. You look pretty free to me."
He’d noticed Xue Can and Fu Cheng staring at each other before he went to take his bath. After he finished bathing and even helped his mom with the laundry, he came out and saw that not only had they not moved, but their poses were identical.
’Ah, I get it!’ he thought. ’Brother Xue and Brother Fu Cheng must be playing Red Light, Green Light! First one to move loses!’