The remaining customers in the shop finished their food and tidied up their tables with the napkins provided.

They were afraid of displeasing Jiang Liu.

If Boss Jiang got upset, where else would they find such delicious food?

After the customers had all left,

the room was still fairly clean.

Jiang Liu got to work mopping the floor and wiping down the tables.

He put the plates and bowls into the sink to soak and be disinfected first.

He emptied all the trash cans into a large black bag in the corner of the kitchen,

then loaded the plates and bowls into the dishwasher.

Just as he finished mopping,

it was 8:10.

Xue Guang pulled up to the fruit shop’s entrance in a van.

The moment he got out, Xue Guang ran inside excitedly.

He was starving.

"Jiang Liu, I heard in the Douyin group that you have a new dish?"

"That’s right. Sashimi."

Xue Guang glanced around the empty dining area and asked nervously, "Is... is it sold out?"

Jiang Liu, who was wiping a table, found this amusing. He straightened up and nodded. "Sold out. But don’t worry, there will be more at lunch. I was originally going to save some for you, but I didn’t expect the fish to sell so well. I’ll save a portion for you at noon, and I’ll give it to you for half price."

Xue Guang was grateful, but he also felt a bit embarrassed and waved his hands.

"How can I accept that? I’ll just buy it at your regular price. No need for special treatment."

"Uncle Xue, don’t be so polite with me. It’s not like I’m ever polite with you, right?"

"Alright then, thank you!" Xue Guang felt a little overwhelmed by the favor.

Jiang Liu was practically a big-shot boss adored by thousands now.

The two sat down, and Jiang Liu grabbed two bottles of juice.

Xue Guang sighed. "I don’t know what that ex-wife of yours was thinking. You’re such a good guy, yet she still wanted a divorce. She really didn’t know a good thing when she had it."

Jiang Liu felt nothing stir within him. He just smiled and said, "It’s better that we divorced. Saved me from being frustrated every single day."

"That’s true. She was never good enough for you anyway." Xue Guang really looked down on Yang Yixue.

He had seen her a few days ago. She was only average-looking, and her eyes were shifty. ’She’s clearly the scheming type.’

You can’t have a woman like that. They’re the type to throw a fit and cause a huge scene over everything.

"Oh, right, how are things going with that Miss Qingmeng who comes to your shop? I think that girl is quite pretty, and she’s good to you and Tongtong."

Jiang Liu said helplessly, "Why does everyone think there’s something between us? We’re just ordinary friends."

"Heh heh." Xue Guang gave him a ’yeah, right’ look. "Still trying to hide it from your Uncle Xue? If there’s nothing special between you two, why is that little lady following you around like a puppy every day?"

"Look at how close Tongtong is with her. If you ask me, that girl cares a lot about you. If you think she’s the one, you should hurry up and get married. Then I’ll get to come to your wedding banquet."

Jiang Liu sighed, shook his head, and suddenly fell silent.

’He was a little moved by Jun Qingmeng too.’

’But how should I put it... Perhaps many things that seem wonderful are just fleeting moments.’

’Besides, other than this shop, my circumstances are very average.’

’I’m raising a kid now and don’t even have a stable place to live.’

’No one really understands me.’

Xue Guang, happily sipping his juice, left after being urged on by Hua Manman.

Jiang Liu felt a bit troubled.

He walked a lap around the shop, saw that everything was in order, and then locked the door, got in his car, and drove home to prepare ingredients.

Back home, he turned on the TV and cranked up the volume to make the house feel less empty.

’I’ll rest for a bit. No need to rush.’

Jiang Liu lay down on the sofa.

He took out his phone and scrolled through Douyin for a while.

On Douyin, many customers had sent him messages.

Jiang Liu glanced at them out of habit.

It was the usual: asking if he was open, if there was any food left, or making some "unreasonable" requests.

His Douyin followers had already reached over four thousand.

For a restaurant, this was practically a gold mine.

But Jiang Liu wasn’t satisfied at all. He hoped that one day his followers and customers would reach ten million, or even a hundred million.

He saw the promotional picture for the juice he had posted earlier.

It suddenly occurred to him that he should post a promotion for the tuna as well.

Without hesitating,

Jiang Liu arranged a plate of sashimi, took a few pictures from various distances at what he considered an appetizing angle, and posted them on Douyin.

He added a caption: Today’s new item, tuna sashimi. It’s delicious, don’t miss out.

As soon as the post was published, his followers quickly noticed it.

The customers burst out laughing.

Soon, there were over a thousand comments.

[Feeling cocky, are we?]

[If you’d put in even a little effort, it wouldn’t have turned out like this.]

[Why do I feel like the food I ate in the shop and what Boss Jiang photographed are worlds apart? (doge) I mean, the photo is so ugly, hahaha.]

[HOLY SHIT! There’s a new item??!]

[You didn’t know?]

[I haven’t been looking, just saw it now scrolling through Douyin. Don’t tell me you guys have already tried it?]

[Ate two portions, it was so damn good! I’m planning to go line up again in a bit.]

[FUCK, you ate two portions? Why didn’t anyone tell me? This is so annoying, I’m driving over right now!]

Jiang Liu scrolled through the comments.

He saw Huang Yunfeng’s comment, saying that Wang Han was coming to the shop for lunch and that he hoped Jiang Liu could make extra sashimi.

Jiang Liu didn’t reply.

He opened WeChat.

Jun Qingmeng, as always, had sent him messages.

Jun Qingmeng: [Photo]

Jun Qingmeng: "Tongtong’s juice made all the other kids so jealous, they all wanted to trade their snacks for it. Even the teacher wanted a sip. (smirk)"

Jun Qingmeng: "Gotta start work now, no more phone."

Jun Qingmeng: "Jiang Liu, I want to be with you. Be my lover! (heart)"

A strange feeling welled up in Jiang Liu’s heart.

He replied: "We’ll talk about this later. I’m not considering it right now."

After sending the message, Jiang Liu began to prepare the ingredients for lunch.

「Around 10:00.」

Jiang Liu used a small cart to push a pile of prepped ingredients to the underground garage and load them into his trunk.

"Having a car is great!"

Jiang Liu sighed. Before, it would have been a huge hassle for him to get this many things into the shop.

Soon, within a few minutes, Jiang Liu was back on Yangzhai Street.

Huge clouds floated in the eastern sky, and the sun was a bit hazy. It wasn’t too hot today.

A crowd of people was already lined up at the entrance.

Wang Han was wearing denim shorts and an oversized t-shirt with a cartoon frog on it today.

She had a great figure.

She smiled elegantly and greeted him, "Jiang Liu, long time no see. How come you didn’t let me know you had a new dish?"

As she finished, her eyes held a hint of playful blame.

Huang Yunfeng stood behind her, holding a sun umbrella, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a look of pride.

Jiang Liu was a little surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Wang Han raised her delicate, willow-like eyebrows. "Am I not allowed to come?"

"That’s not what I meant. I just thought you’d be busy. Since you’re here, please queue up properly. Everyone else is waiting in line."

Jiang Liu ignored Wang Han’s displeased look and started moving his ingredients.

Many familiar faces greeted Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu had no choice but to reply to each of them.

These customers were just too enthusiastic. There was nothing he could do.

「11:58.」

Of the one thousand buns he had prepared, five hundred were already out of the steamer.

Thirty portions of wild tuna sashimi were plated and ready.

He hadn’t made as much juice as the previous noon; there were only four hundred bottles for today’s lunch service.

There was no helping it, he didn’t have enough time.

Jiang Liu announced the shop was open.

"Alright, customers dining in, please enter in an orderly fashion. Customers getting takeout, please stay in line."

"Finally, we can eat! My legs are numb."

"He opened three minutes earlier than yesterday, not bad, not bad. Boss Jiang is getting more and more diligent. But the output is still too low, bad review!"