Chapter 169: Chapter 159: Tongtong: As the Pillar of the Family, the Pressure is Immense

Jiang Liu thought for a moment. "I think we should just dig a tunnel with Tongtong and make a run for it."

"Yay! We’ll be a family of moles!"

Tongtong shouted excitedly, then went back to burying her face in the ice cream container and licking it clean.

...

Because the crowd was so large and chaotic, things were getting out of hand.

At the entrance, Uncle Niu rallied a group of uncles and aunties, spontaneously forming a "public order team" to help Jiang Liu maintain the queue.

"Everyone, line up properly! If you don’t think you’ll get to eat today, don’t force it. We can all come back tomorrow!"

"Please leave some space in the middle of the road. We’re all Boss Jiang’s fans, so let’s show some class."

Whenever someone tried to cut in line and start a fight, Uncle Niu’s sense of justice would flare up.

"Hey, you! You think you’re in the right, cutting in line? I’m Uncle Niu, the one who sweeps the entrance for Little Boss Jiang. If you cause trouble here, I’ll have Xiao Jiang blacklist you, believe it or not!"

His words were highly effective, carrying a powerful deterrent.

The troublemaker didn’t dare to shout anymore and tucked his tail between his legs, obediently leaving.

The group of seniors scanned the harmonious queue and breathed a sigh of relief.

’Let’s hope nothing goes wrong.’

’If Little Boss Jiang gets annoyed by all this and decides to move, what would we do?’

’That... would be absolutely unacceptable. We’d have to tie him up and drag him back!’

Little Boss Jiang was now the treasure of Yangzhai Street!

「6:20 PM.」

Jiang Liu unpunctually announced the start of business.

A few customers grumbled.

"He’s twenty minutes late, and we don’t dare say a thing. This is infuriating."

"He’s finally getting to work. I was starting to think Brother Jiang had been sidetracked and lost his ambition."

"You two, keep it down. We’re lucky Boss Jiang is opening at all. As long as he’s here every day, our job is to spoil him."

An office worker from a nearby company ranted irrationally to his colleague:

"Fuck! Don’t you dare stop me today! I finally made it to the front of the line, so I have to try a plate of that noble tuna!"

As the shop opened for business, the store was instantly packed.

The room grew noisy.

Jiang Liu had them place their orders first while he handled takeout orders at the window.

A group of female college students, who had come after hearing about the place, entered the shop. Their eyes lit up when they saw Jiang Liu, and they began whispering among themselves:

"Is that the owner? He’s just as handsome as our professor said! So cute!"

"I hear the buns this boss makes are really good."

Yang Caicai, a fair-skinned college student with a baby face, brazenly leaned forward on the counter and asked:

"Boss, do you have a girlfriend? If not, how about you consider me? I can be sweet or salty. Hee hee."

Her roommate wasn’t having it. ’Is she trying to get a boyfriend behind our backs?!’

"Whoa! Caicai, your scheming is so loud I could hear it all the way in New York! Boss Jiang, don’t believe her, she’s a total player! I’m the faithful type. If you dated me, I’d make your life incredibly sweet!"

’He makes money, he’s handsome, and his cooking is delicious—he’s the ideal boyfriend!’

Jiang Liu continued to turn a deaf ear.

Jun Qingmeng, who was taking orders nearby, felt a sour pang in her heart.

The green-eyed monster reared its head.

It was different now. Before, she wouldn’t have cared about comments like that.

But Jiang Liu was her boyfriend now!

*Sob...*

However, although Jun Qingmeng was very upset, she didn’t try to stop them.

She didn’t want people to think Jiang Liu’s girlfriend was petty or immature.

Jiang Liu noticed the aggrieved look in Jun Qingmeng’s eyes.

He stepped forward with a helpless smile and explained, "Please, don’t joke around with me. I already have a girlfriend. See? The one who was just taking your order."

The pen in Jun Qingmeng’s hand paused. She felt like crying.

’He’s spoiling me again... *sob*...’

Yang Caicai paused for a moment.

"Oh??? Alright then!"

’What a shame. No wonder he wasn’t interested. He already has such a beautiful girlfriend.’

"This is so annoying! How come all the good guys are already taken? It’s like they don’t leave any hope for us Little Fairies."

The college students regretfully gave up on the idea.

Jun Qingmeng was so beautiful that they had assumed she was Boss Jiang’s sister or cousin.

"Boss Jiang, we wish you two a long and happy life together."

"May you have a blissful life!"

"Thank you."

"So... can we trade our blessings for five buns?"

Jiang Liu was unmoved. "No."

"Bleh! Boss, you’re no fun anymore!"

The other uncles and aunties in the room were once again treated to some earth-shattering gossip.

"I can’t believe they got together so fast! I told you, with a great girl like Qingmeng, Boss Jiang wouldn’t be able to resist her. See? It only took a few days."

"From now on, we’ll have to call Qingmeng the lady boss."

"And that means the little girl Tongtong has a mother now. If you ask me, this family of three should put down roots right here. I have nightmares that one day I won’t be able to eat Xiao Jiang’s buns anymore."

Soon, a large, fragrant platter of buns and three bottles of juice were placed in front of the college students.

"Wow! This looks amazing! Everyone, dig in."

Yang Caicai picked up a Three-Delicacy Bun and stuffed it into her mouth in one bite.

MMM!! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’These buns are seriously delicious!’

The other two female students had the same look of disbelief.

It completely exceeded their expectations.

Before, their idea of "delicious" was confined to the realm of their imagination.

They never expected something could be *this* delicious.

"This is so top-tier! I feel like crying, what do I do? I’m so pathetic."

"Compared to our school’s crappy cafeteria, this is just... I could die laughing. That place is such trash. Every day it’s either hot and sour noodles or rice with side dishes. Disgusting!"

"If only Boss Jiang could come cook at our school. I would definitely sprint to the cafeteria right after class every day."

The group chatted as they ate.

In no time at all, forty buns were completely wiped out.

Yang Caicai wasn’t satisfied yet. It was her first time eating so many buns.

"I want more. What about you guys?"

"I want another bottle of juice. The juice here is super good."

"Me too!"

Yang Caicai stood up and waved her hand. She had no choice; the room was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people coming and going.

"Boss Jiang, can we get another thirty buns and three bottles of juice, please!"

Jun Qingmeng answered on Jiang Liu’s behalf: "Sorry, our buns are limited per customer. You can still buy five more buns and six bottles of juice."

"Huh??"

"I’m crushed."

"No way, Handsome Jiang! That’s a total bait and switch!"

"Please, we’re new customers! Pretty please, can’t we get more buns?"

Faced with the students’ wheedling, Jun Qingmeng adopted Jiang Liu’s indifferent expression. "Those are the rules. We get a lot of new customers every day, and we never break the rules for anyone."

"Fine... then five buns and three bottles of juice."

The three female students were reluctant to accept it.

They had waited so long to get in, and there was no guarantee they’d get a spot next time.

Chairman Zhang finally made it inside, just as he’d hoped.

He excitedly ordered a portion of the wild tuna.

After eating it, he was on the verge of tears.

It melted in his mouth.

’So fresh and tender!’

’Forget 1,800, he’d willingly pay 18,000 to splurge on this!’

The shop was bustling with frenetic energy.

Tongtong wiped the milky sweat from her forehead.

’It’s exhausting being this little cutie.’

’The pressure of being the pillar of the family is immense.’

*Sigh...*

The little one sighed. It wasn’t easy helping her dad make money.

In the midst of the chaos, Jiang Liu glanced at his phone.

He saw a message from his mom saying she had gotten home safely.

"Brother Jiang, can you hurry up? My dad keeps nagging me about bringing the buns home."

"Yeah, okay."

Jiang Liu didn’t reply to the text, putting his phone away to pack up some juice and buns.

As the young man was leaving, he asked, "Is the new item coming out tomorrow morning?"

Jiang Liu patiently explained:

"Tomorrow at 7 AM. Fifty servings of Yak, Potato, and Mushroom Soup."

"Got it! Thanks for your hard work, Boss Jiang!"

Jiang Liu nodded in acknowledgment. He’d been asked that same question all day, and the Douyin group chat had blown up over it.

Time flew by.

「7:21 PM.」

The last bottle of juice was snatched up.