Sun Hao is not short, standing at about 1.75 meters tall, looking sharp in his police uniform. When he smiles, a small canine tooth shows, and for some reason, Sun Lanlan suddenly feels her heart racing.
“Where… where is your mom?”
It’s unusual. Normally it’s the police officers who help children find their mothers, but here he is, a grown man, constantly asking for his mom.
Realizing what he said, Sun Hao replied, “My mom is Granny Sun from the Bun Shop. Has she returned? I just passed by and saw that the Bun Shop closed early today, so I came to find out what’s going on.”
“Oh, Granny Sun, no she hasn’t returned…”
Lin Chuxia heard the noise outside and shouted, “Lanlan, let Officer Sun come in. It’s good to liven things up.”
Hearing this, Granny Sun also called her son, “You came at the right time. Boss Lin is apprenticing today, do you have money on you? This is a big celebration, you should give a red envelope.”
She can now have this job, all thanks to her son and Lin Chuxia. She must take this opportunity to use her son to make a good impression on Boss Lin.
She knows that her own face is not as good as her son’s.
Sun Hao looked at his mother in surprise; she was usually very stingy, let alone asking him to give money. Even if he wanted to contribute money with his colleagues, his mother would ask for a long discussion.
But now, after last month’s salary was spent compensating, and just when yesterday’s salary was handed out, she’s trying to fleece him again?
Although he thought this, his hands moved quickly. He handed ten dollars to Granny Sun and naturally ended up staying as well.
Old Master He and Granny Su were seated in the honored seats, Lin Chuxia next to Old Master He, then Sun Lanlan, Granny Sun, Sun Hao, Third Brother Sun, and Su Wensong next to Granny Su.
Eight people perfectly surrounded a large table.
The men poured white liquor, and the women poured light champagne.
Lin Chuxia personally poured a drink for Old Master He and then stopped Sun Lanlan who was about to pour her champagne, holding up the bottle of white liquor.
“Today is my apprenticing, I’ll drink this.”
Sun Lanlan’s eyes widened, “Chuxia, when did you start drinking white liquor?”
They grew up together, when had she ever seen her drink white liquor?
Lin Chuxia hadn’t had a drink in this life, but in her previous life, she drank quite often, knowing her own limits, “Don’t worry about whether I’ve drank before or not, Master said to drink a few more glasses as my gift for apprenticing, and this must be done properly.”
She said, pulling out three glasses, pouring three glasses of white liquor, and standing up, she addressed everyone present, “First of all, I want to thank everyone for being here to witness, I, Lin Chuxia, am apprenticing under Old Master He.”
Raising her glass towards Old Master He, she said, “Master, your disciple toasts you.”
Drinking the six-dollar glasses in one gulp, three times in a row, fully showing her sincerity.
Old Master He originally thought that it would suffice for the girl to just respectfully offer him a cup of tea in front of Old Mrs. Su. He hadn’t expected her not only to carefully prepare a whole table of delicious dishes but also to invite so many people to witness it, and most importantly, these three glasses that she drank made his eyes well up with warmth.
“Good, good, good…”
Three goods in a row, Old Master He trembled and couldn’t speak.
He is just an old man, what virtue and capability did he have to deserve such treatment from a good child.
He admitted that when he first tasted Lin Chuxia’s buns, he was somewhat dependant on her. His days were too lonely, no one cared about whether he lived or died.
Her appearance was like a beam of light illuminating the darkness.
But when Granny Su suggested he take her as a disciple, he hesitated again. He had made a firm decision a long time ago, how could he waver?
Yet these past few days, in that courtyard, his heart was no longer calm as it used to be.
After experiencing warmth, he began to fear the harsh cold, wanting to stay close to that thread of warmth.
Old Sir He looked at the full table of people, saw the old partner smiling at him, saw the young smiling faces, watched Lin Chuxia smilingly calling him master…
He finally understood why Granny Su made an exception for Lin Chuxia.
Old Sir He lowered his head, trying to mask his emotions by pretending to drink.
Granny Su saw him and gulped down her drink, advising, “At your age, why are you still competing with the youngsters in drinking?”
Old Sir He wiped his mouth, “I’m happy, don’t worry. Even if I get drunk today, my apprentice will take care of me, it won’t bother you.”
Granny Su looked at his smug expression, speechless for a moment, but also recalled the times when they were young and together, he was always such a proud man.
Lin Chuxia peeled two shrimps: “Granny Su is right, I will definitely take care of you. But if it gets tough, aren’t you the one who suffers? Have some shrimp to soothe the liquor. You can’t drink like this in the next round.”
“Look, look, just recognized and already bossing around,” he said, but his eyes were full of laughter.
The others also raised their glasses to toast, Lin Chuxia and Old Sir He sipped with everyone and then began to eat.
Lin Chuxia was a good cook. With no outsiders present and such a great feast, everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Knowing that the courtyard had been bought, it could be spruced up in the next few days to expand the cooked food business, which made everyone quite confident.
The cooked dishes that Lin Chuxia made in the past days, like some pig lungs and intestines, weren’t delivered outside but were reserved for the shop workers, and everyone who tried it praised the delicious taste.
Granny Sun picked a piece of elbow meat for her son, “You boy are in luck today.”
Before the meat even reached Sun Hao’s bowl, another pair of chopsticks placed a rib first.
Sun Lanlan hurriedly withdrew her chopsticks and explained, “I saw the ribs were far, and I was afraid he couldn’t reach.”
Granny Sun had grown accustomed to Sun Lanlan, and quite liked her, knowing both her and Lin Chuxia were warm-hearted, and laughed, “Hey, he is a big fellow with long arms and hands, don’t worry about him, just enjoy your food.”
Sun Lanlan complied, and also tried to pick a rib for Granny Sun, “This is far from you guys.”
Lin Chuxia looked at the harmonious group and then at Sun Lanlan’s flushed face, her eyes sparkled…
The apprentice acceptance feast ended very late, and everyone was full and satisfied.
Despite several people stopping him, Old Master He was still slightly drunk, and Granny Su had Su Wensong send Old Master He home.
Everyone was also worried about Lin Chuxia going home alone, so Sun Bingnan volunteered to walk her home on the way.
There was no moon that night, the sky was quite dark, especially as the road without streetlights was pitch black.
Sun Bingnan and Sun Lanlan had been walking in the night nearly every day, carrying a flashlight, and Lin Chuxia followed alongside them, walking for a while, and finally simply pushed her bicycle.
“The newly purchased courtyard will be cleaned up in the next few days. The houses there are quite worn down. Once they are fixed up, Third Brother Sun and Lanlan, you can move there to make things easier than commuting every day.”
Daqing Mountain Village was nearly 10 kilometers from the county. It was really inconvenient for them who were in the catering business with early mornings and late nights, she really couldn’t bear to see the siblings work so hard.
“That’s great,” Sun Lanlan, who had been running around these days, was a bit worn out.
Sun Bingnan also said, “That’s wonderful. You don’t know, I worry most about waking up early. This way I can sleep a few more hours.”
“Let’s settle it then. You explain things to Aunt Sun, don’t make the family worry,” Lin Chuxia reminded.
Sun Bingnan understood instantly, “Don’t worry. If Lanlan came to work alone, my mom really wouldn’t be at ease. With me here, I’ll just say we’re renting a place to stay and my mom won’t worry.”
This was also the reason why Lin Chuxia initially asked Sun Lanlan to bring her Third Brother along.
As they were talking, a beam of light from ahead shook towards them.