Chapter 352 - 329: The Top-Tier Ornamental Fish?

Chapter 352: Chapter 329: The Top-Tier Ornamental Fish?

Li You laughed and gave Ling Xiaoru a thumbs-up.

He then went into the kitchen and cooked a small bowl of Yangchun Noodles.

After Ling Xiaoru finished eating, she said her goodbyes and left.

After Li You finished his work in the kitchen, he took out three peaches from the Storage Pavilion, walked over to the fish pond area, and said to Li Zhong and Li Chi, "Uncle Zhong, Uncle Chi, take a break and have a peach."

Li Zhong and Li Chi both nodded in agreement. After finding some water to wash their hands, they took the peaches from Li You.

Li Zhong said, "These are from Liu Liangzhong’s place, aren’t they? You brought so many customers to his house the day before yesterday, and they bought a ton of peaches. He was ecstatic. He hasn’t stopped bragging about it in the village these past two days."

Li You smiled. "His peaches ripen early, and they’re delicious. They already have a huge market advantage. The customers were thrilled to be able to buy such great peaches."

Li Zhong nodded and added, "His peaches really do ripen early. Of all the peaches in our village, his are the very first to ripen. He certainly deserves to make good money from them."

"That’s true," Li You agreed.

The three of them chatted as they ate their peaches.

After finishing their peaches, they got back to work. Li You joined them.

His work in the kitchen was finished for the time being, and he had nothing better to do.

The three of them worked with great enthusiasm, and before they knew it, it was already 11:00 AM.

Customers started arriving for lunch. Seeing the three of them, the new arrivals smiled and greeted Li You, Li Zhong, and Li Chi.

The three men smiled and greeted them in return.

After the lively exchange, Li You had to get to work in the kitchen. He said to Li Zhong and Li Chi, "Uncles, why don’t you two clock out and take a break? You can continue this afternoon."

Li Zhong waved a hand. "It’s only 11:00 AM. Who clocks out this early? You go on and get busy. We’ll finish up at noon."

Li Chi agreed, saying he wouldn’t clock out until at least noon either.

Li You nodded. "Alright, then clock out at noon sharp. Thanks for all your hard work!"

"We’re getting paid for this," they both said. "It’s what we’re supposed to do."

After insisting that it was hard work nonetheless, Li You returned to the kitchen to begin his own.

The customers chatted with Li Zhong and Li Chi for a little while longer before saying their farewells and heading into the restaurant.

The food was being served just then.

Their timing was impeccable.

After that, more and more customers arrived at the restaurant. Most of them would stop to chat with Li Zhong and Li Chi for a few moments as they passed the fish pond area.

Time passed quickly.

The two men had originally planned to clock out at noon, but they didn’t end up leaving until 12:30 PM.

Li You had already prepared a meal and some wine for them.

Steamed Mandarin fish, Longjing Shrimp, twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts, mapo tofu, half a braised chicken, and tomato and egg drop soup.

As for the wine, there was a bowl for each of them.

Even though they still had work in the afternoon, having one bowl of wine was perfectly fine.

Looking at the spread on the table, Li Zhong and Li Chi were both quite moved.

’With food this good, it’d be worth it even without pay!’

Of course, they were extremely fond of the food and wine Li You served.

Who could dislike truly delicious food and fine wine?

Li You had a break in his work just then, so he joined the two of them for lunch.

"Uncle Zhong, Uncle Chi, thanks for all your hard work this morning. Let’s take our time and eat. If there isn’t enough, I’ll make more."

"It’s enough, it’s enough! More than enough. This is already too much," Li Zhong and Li Chi both insisted.

Then, they each took a bite of food and another sip of wine.

Pure bliss!

Li You didn’t drink any wine. He never drank at noon. He would join the two of them for a drink later that evening.

After finishing their meal at a leisurely pace and resting for a short while, Li Zhong and Li Chi got back to work.

Once he finished his own tasks, Li You also came out to the fish pond area to help.

The project progressed quickly.

...

Time slowly passed, and soon it was 6:00 PM.

Customers began arriving for dinner.

Li You had to get busy in the kitchen again, so he told Li Zhong and Li Chi to pack up and call it a day.

It was already 6:00 PM, which was past their normal quitting time anyway.

However, Li Zhong and Li Chi both told Li You to go get started. They said there was just a little bit of work left in one spot, and they would finish up as soon as it was done.

That "little bit" took another half an hour.

At 6:30 PM, the two men finally called it a day.

Li You was preparing their dinner.

He had decided on a menu of Chopped Pepper Fish Head, steamed sea bass, crucian carp with agastache, half a braised chicken, mapo tofu, and cabbage in supreme broth.

He prepared all these dishes in the lulls between cooking for his customers.

Meanwhile, Li Zhong and Li Chi were in the arcade area, watching the customers play games.

They seemed quite engrossed.

Li You walked over to the arcade area. "Uncle Zhong, Uncle Chi, dinner’s ready."

The two men answered him. At the same time, they both smiled and remarked, "Putting a few arcade machines in here was a really interesting idea."

Li You smiled. "Did you two ever play games like these back in your day?"

"I suppose so," said Li Zhong. "These games were popular in the nineties, around the year 2000, right? We were still young men in our twenties back then, and we went to the arcades. Not very often, though."

"Then you probably remember a lot of these games," Li You said. "Want to play a round yourselves?"

Li Zhong waved his hands dismissively. "No, we won’t play. We’re happy just watching. It’s quite interesting to see."

The three of them chatted as they made their way to the dining table.

When they saw the dishes on the table, both men remarked that it was too much food. With so many dishes, it would be a shame if they couldn’t finish it all.

Li You smiled. "Then we’ll just have to take our time and finish it all. It’s still early, so let’s eat slowly."

Li Zhong and Li Chi both nodded.

Li You ate with them. He planned to have a drink with the two of them tonight, after all.