radicalducati Chapter 8 The Mother and Daughter at the Small Restaurant
Chapter 8 The Mother and Daughter at the Small Restaurant
A thin layer of gold was splashed on the horizon, like paint diluted with water.
Gu Zhibei gripped the shoulder strap of his bag. The asphalt beneath his feet was softened by the sun, and the air was filled with the incomprehensible chirping of cicadas.
He stepped on the sorrowful light of the setting sun, one step at a time.
The boy was in a heavy mood.
The scene from physical education class kept replaying in his mind.
A cold and blank-minded girl, a cat-shaped cloud, and a strange gaze.
It seems I've been targeted by a very powerful young lady classmate.
Even when they were in the same class in the first year of high school, Pei Qingning never did anything similar strange.
What did he do recently that caught the other party's attention?
Or are there some changes?
Changes are indeed happening.
That's his ability to turn into a cat.
Could it be that Pei Qingning also possesses superpowers?
Information insight? Telepathy? Clairvoyance?
No, that's not right.
While pondering, Gu Zhibei thought of another possibility.
The problem may lie with him.
An overly keen sixth sense.
If it weren't for the cat's sensitive skin, he wouldn't have noticed the girl's gaze.
They also wouldn't give their first ever tailing experience.
He would not confront her directly.
That's right.
It wasn't that Pei Qingning only recently started spying on him.
He only realized today that Pei Qingning had been spying on him!
The more Gu Zhibei thought about it, the more he felt that his guess was correct.
After all, are superpowers something so cheap?
How could you possibly find a superpowered person just by randomly grabbing someone in a crowd?
Oh no, she really seems to be a pervert.
What should I do? If I call the police, the young lady might drown me in the lake.
Are we just supposed to let her ruin herself?
However, nothing has happened in the past two years, so I suppose things will remain peaceful in the future?
Even if he were unfortunately taken advantage of by the other party, he was confident that he could use his skills to make the young lady willingly hand over a sum of money that would be enough for an ordinary person to live on for a lifetime.
This is perhaps what the elderly mean when they say "suffering a loss is a blessing".
You'll benefit from this blessing.
The old sayings are indeed true.
Thinking of this, his mood improved, and his steps became lighter.
Gu Zhibei is a day student. His residential area is very close to the school. He can get home in fifteen minutes by walking along the road at the north gate of the school.
Then he would throw his bag at home, fix his messy hair in front of the mirror, or simply change out of his sweaty clothes before going to find some lonely young woman.
However, today, Gu Zhibei did not enter his residential community as usual, but turned right at the intersection about 100 meters away from the community.
This is the route to Jiang Youyu's house.
It's not far, just a ten-minute walk.
Should we buy a bicycle or an electric scooter?
Gu Zhibei thought to himself.
He stopped in front of a restaurant.
The store isn't big, and it feels even more cramped once you step inside.
Six four-person tables took up most of the space.
Despite the cramped space, the store is very clean.
Wallpaper covered the walls, and the corners of the table were carefully wrapped with anti-collision corner protectors.
The warm-toned lighting inside the store creates a cozy atmosphere.
Gu Zhibei has a slight obsession with cleanliness.
This is especially true when it comes to diet.
This small restaurant was the one he selected as his most satisfactory after a long period of investigation.
The food was clean, reasonably priced, and tasted quite good.
The boss is also a beautiful single mother.
Of course, this last point is not important and should be crossed out.
Gu Zhibei looked into the store.
All six tables were full of guests.
Many people were also queuing at the entrance.
There was only one female server and a little girl of about ten years old in the store.
She had just put down a plate of green vegetables, and her round forehead was slightly damp with sweat.
Upon seeing Gu Zhibei, the young girl was initially taken aback, but then a look of surprise and delight appeared on her face.
He was hit on the head.
"Mom, the big bad guy is here!" she shouted towards the kitchen.
Gu Zhibei patted her little head:
"Are you trying to run me over?"
"No, that's not true..."
Zhou Suisui, with her chubby little face tense, tried her best to put on a serious and profound expression.
"This isn't a personal grudge, Sonny, it's purely business."
"You're not even going to change the lines, little godfather?"
Gu Zhibei casually messed up her hair.
Zhou Suisui puffed out her cheeks.
It looks like a little steamed bun.
Gu Zhibei reached out and poked it again.
The steamed bun actually bit someone...
It doesn't hurt.
She just wanted to scare him.
It's like a puppy you've raised from a puppy; when you're playing, it will bar its teeth and claws and lunge at you as if it's going to bite you.
But when you actually put your finger in its mouth and touch its sharp teeth...
Instead, it dared not move.
That little girl has no shame; she left a finger full of drool.
It was secretly smeared on her school uniform by a mature high school student.
Zhou Suisui did not notice.
I happily took his hand and walked towards the kitchen.
The little girl is the boss's daughter, and she will be starting junior high school in two years.
When I get home, I usually help my mom greet the guests.
When there are few people or no one around, she sits at the small desk in the corner and does her exercises diligently.
Occasionally, I would look up and glance at the bustling crowds and traffic outside the door.
At an age when other children are still playing and acting spoiled, Zhou Suisui is already a proper little adult.
Gu Zhibei has always liked to get along well with the chef.
However, his closeness to Zhou Suisui was not for this reason.
Even the most hard-hearted person wouldn't dislike a cute, old-fashioned child.
He took Zhou Suisui's little hand and led her to the back kitchen.
In a corner of the kitchen, a slender woman was taking a bag of food out of a thermal box.
She had a hairnet wrapped around her head and a transparent mask on her face.
The crow's feet at the corners of her eyes are quite pronounced, but you can still see her beauty from when she was young.
"Xiao Bei, why are you here so early today?" Zhou Ying turned around.
She looked at the two people, one big and one small, holding hands, her eyes full of gentle smiles.
"Because Aunt Zhou's cooking is so delicious, I can't wait any longer," Gu Zhibei said.
"You silly child..."
Zhou Ying's tone carried a hint of helplessness.
"Even his lies are so endearing; he must be very popular with girls at school, right?"
Zhou Suisui tilted her head and asked in confusion:
"Mom, what does it mean to 'win a girl's heart'?"
"It means that girls like you."
"So, is Little Bei trying to please Mom?"
Zhou Suisui is a very smart little girl.
She is very good at applying what she has learned to other situations.
However, after she asked the question, she saw her mother's face suddenly turn red.
It really happened in an instant, gone in the blink of an eye; she thought it was a hallucination.
"Yes, Mom really likes Brother Xiaobei, so does Sui Sui want Brother Xiaobei to be her dad?" Zhou Ying said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Suisui finally realized what was happening.
Fourth-grade children do understand some of this kind of knowledge.
Her face flushed red, and she stammered, unable to speak coherently for a moment:
"This...this isn't good!"
"But your mother cooks for me every day, so isn't that much different from being a married couple?"
Gu Zhibei pretended to be thinking.
"Don't worry, Sui Sui, if I became your dad, I'd come to see you every day after school with ten test papers!"
"Ten, ten sheets?"
"It's okay, if it's not enough, just tell Dad. Dad has money."
"Brother Xiao Bei is a big bad guy! Mommy doesn't allow you to like him!"
Zhou Suisui screamed.
The kitchen was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
The two stopped teasing her.
Gu Zhibei took a bag of food from Aunt Zhou.
Her hands were thin, calloused, and had faint brown scars on the backs.
These are not the hands of a beautiful woman, but the hands of a mother.
"Today's price is fifty-five yuan," Zhou Ying said.
Gu Zhibei nodded.
Tonight's meal is still three dishes and one soup.
Stir-fried beef with yellow peppers, Mapo tofu, and garlic baby bok choy.
And tomato and egg soup.
He said goodbye to the reluctant little girl and left the restaurant.
Fingertips tap out numbers on the screen.
sixty.
They gave me an extra five yuan.
This is neither pity nor sympathy.
Rather, it's about understanding.
If it really is fifty-five yuan, Aunt Zhou will just round it down to zero.
Carrying steaming hot food.
Gu Zhibei arrived at the familiar 501 building.
Today, he wants to test the waters.