When Xiao Tian just stepped into the small shop, the shopkeeper's roar echoed in his ears.

Upon seeing Xiao Tian, the plump shopkeeper quickly plastered a smile on his face and said, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I'll go and hurry them up right away!"

Xiao Tian looked baffled as he watched the shopkeeper hurriedly leave, his fat wiggling as he ran towards the backyard, thinking to himself, could it be the dishes haven't been served?

Sure enough, Xiao Tian's suspicion was confirmed when he pushed open the door, and before stepping inside, he was taken aback.

He saw Lin Bingxuan and Melinda, both women fiddling with objects in their hands out of boredom. Upon hearing someone open the door, their faces lit up with joy.

However, upon seeing it was Xiao Tian, they immediately looked disheartened again.

"Are you unhappy to see me back?" Xiao Tian couldn't help but ask curiously.

Melinda replied listlessly, "You can't be eaten."

Lin Bingxuan then added, "So, why should we be happy?!"

"Could it be that after so long, the dishes still haven't been served?!" Xiao Tian immediately showed an unhappy expression: "I'm going to find them, daring to let two such beautiful ladies go hungry, it's really too much!"

"Forget it, let's wait a bit longer!"

Lin Bingxuan waved her hand and said, "Where did you go just now!"

Xiao Tian entered the room and began to narrate his experience...

——

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper was trembling with anger, standing belly shaking in the courtyard, shouting, "Xiaoshengzi, you have three seconds to come before me immediately."

"Three!"

Just as he uttered a count, a timid voice came from the toilet nearby: "Shopkeeper, it seems the dinner just spoiled my stomach!"

The plump shopkeeper instantly realized that the dinner he gave Xiaoshengzi was leftovers from lunch. Thinking the weather at the foot of Kunlun Mountain wasn't hot, he found it wasteful to throw away, so he gave it to Xiaoshengzi as dinner, never expecting such a situation.

"Alright, I know it!"

Feeling guilty, the shopkeeper changed the subject, saying: "Now hurry and come out, the guests' dishes have been ordered for one and a half hours."

"It's not that I don't want to come out." Xiaoshengzi's voice sounded troubled: "I was in a hurry just now, so... could you please bring me some toilet paper?"

Upon hearing these words, familiar from former Xiaoshengzi, the plump shopkeeper felt thunderstruck, standing stunned for a long time.

"You should die!"

The plump shopkeeper, upon coming to his senses, locked the door with the latch outside, then personally ran to the kitchen to start cooking, planning to give Xiaoshengzi a profound lesson this time...

——

In the upstairs guest room.

When Xiao Tian spoke about how Xuanxuan's stepfather actually signed a contract to pay off gambling debts with his wife and daughter...

"Scum!"

With two loud bangs, Lin Bingxuan and Melinda's hands almost simultaneously landed on the table, their faces brimming with anger.

"How can such a person deserve a wife and children!" Melinda couldn't contain her anger and stood up: "Where is that scum now?!"

For once, Lin Bingxuan did not stop Melinda's impulse, also turning her gaze to Xiao Tian's face.

"Don't rush, let me finish speaking!"

Xiao Tian gestured for Melinda to sit back down, then continued his narration.

...

"That little girl selling candied haws, Xuanxuan, following her won't cause any trouble, will it?" Lin Bingxuan's willow-like eyebrows furrowed as she asked.

Xiao Tian pondered for a moment before speaking: "She shouldn't be troubled, you've all met Ji Dantong, at least she doesn't seem like a villain!"

At this point, there was suddenly a knock on the wooden door outside the room.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

After three knocks, Xiao Tian got up to open the door, and a plump face with an apologetic smile appeared before him.

"I'm really sorry, our shop staff suddenly had some issues, which caused a long delay." The shopkeeper said awkwardly: "These are your ordered signature dishes."

After placing the six plates from the tray onto the table, the shopkeeper continued: "Please eat these first, later I will deliver three more dishes and a soup to you, to complete a perfect ten. Rest assured, apart from these six dishes, the rest will be complimentary to apologize sincerely to you three!"

Seeing the shopkeeper say so, the three could no longer reproach him excessively and nodded in agreement.

After the shopkeeper departed, the three began to eat the dishes on the table while chatting.

Lin Bingxuan started by asking: "Are we heading straight back to Shanghai next?"

Xiao Tian shook his head: "Ningxue is still in Jin City, we'll go meet her first, then handle Zong Jian's matters!"

Saying this, although Xiao Tian had an answer in his heart, he still asked: "Since Ghost Face arrived, has he never come out?"

Lin Bingxuan and Melinda nodded in unison, with Melinda adding: "Just now we asked him to dine with us, but he wouldn't come out."

"Then let's leave him be for now, later let's save those three dishes and soup for him." Xiao Tian continued: "In any case, we're resting one night here, and tomorrow morning we'll head straight to Jin City."

With the agenda set, Lin Bingxuan smiled bitterly: "Yaoyao called earlier, reminding you not to forget what she said."

"What did she say?" Xiao Tian looked puzzled, soon slapping his forehead: "That girl is still thinking about the pretty dress!"

Lin Bingxuan had an expression of "you just remembered," while Melinda couldn't help but laugh softly from the side.

——

As the shopkeeper, upon Xiao Tian and the others' suggestion, delivered the three dishes and soup to the neighboring Ghost Face's room, he went downstairs to the counter, flipping through the ledger with one hand and fiddling with the abacus with the other, his face beaming with smiles.

Suddenly, the shopkeeper stopped his hands' movements, scratching his head and muttering to himself: "Why does it feel like I've forgotten something?"

After thinking for a long time but unable to recall what exactly was forgotten, the shopkeeper decided to stop fretting: "Forget it, let's first tally up today's earnings!"

Having said that, the plump shopkeeper once again started skillfully playing the abacus with one hand and flipping the ledger with the other, occasionally frowning or smiling.

After half an hour passed, deducting food costs and labor expenses, he calculated the day's net profit, finally satisfied to stretch lazily and yawned: "Xiaoshengzi, go tidy up the bowls and chopsticks upstairs for the guests."

"Xiaoshengzi, are your ears again..."

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered that Xiaoshengzi was still locked in the toilet, his mind couldn't help but jolt. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Oh crap!"

He hurriedly ran to the backyard, seeing the latch still in place, cautiously called out: "Xiaoshengzi?"

Seeing there was no response for a long time, the shopkeeper couldn't take it any longer and unlocked the latch, pulling the toilet door open forcefully...