Hotpot Restaurant Chapter 14
Bellies full and satisfied, it was time to sleep.
Before going to bed, Meng Xiaoni read a ton of information about raising parrots; in her dreams, she dreamt of an enormous Bourke’s parrot.
It had big pink wings that obscured the sky and the sun, and a howl that penetrated one’s heart. She met those watery red eyes, and felt as if she had fallen into a sea of red. Then a dramatic fire blazed and reduced everything to ashes.
She didn’t know why, but she headed desperately towards the fire.
The heat hit her, and the burning flames awoke Meng Xiaoni with a jolt.
She opened her eyes wide and looked around, disorientated. She realised that her abnormal heartbeat was caused by the dream, and she was still in her own room, then calmed down.
It was because it’s too hot.
Even though it was a hot summer’s night, she hadn’t turned on the air conditioner.
She exhaled, swung her bare feet off the bed and rummaged around for the air conditioner remote, intending to turn it on for a while and cool the room down.
The weather at the beginning of summer was like that; it could suddenly become extremely hot, then the temperature might drop sharply due to a thunderstorm.
The curtains were drawn; sunlight pierced into the room, filling it with the sensation of summer.
Dust fluttered in the air, full of the scent of the impermanent, mortal realm.
Guifeng opened his eyes and looked at Meng Xiaoni, watching her wipe the sweat off her forehead. She shivered slightly in the air-conditioned room.
Another day in the mortal realm.
Meng Xiaoni planned to come up with new ways to combine ingredients and create new eating experiences today as well.
For example, the xiahua youqiu that’s currently trending online, was simply taking pre-existing ingredients and combining them. But by doing so, it raised people’s curiosity and made them want to try it, be it because of the taste or the novelty factor.
She washed up, changed, took Guifeng with her and ran downstairs, cheerful and ready to cause havoc in the eatery’s kitchen.
At the same time, at the other end of the Fengdu, Old Lu rubbed his receding hairline, silently pondering whether he should switch to a different brand of hair growth tonic.
In this life, as one reached middle age, weight gain and baldness seemed inevitable.
He looked at the familiar drawings on the sheets of paper before him, set his cup down, then picked it up again and took a drink.
The drawings were all of a hot pot restaurant with a somewhat interesting theme.
He had never eaten at this hot pot restaurant; he’d gotten involved mainly because of his old man.
As he grew up and took on the burden of the entire family, Lao Lu gradually understood what his old man had to bear in his life.
The old man didn’t have aspirations in his life, he just hoped that his life would be smooth-sailing and his children could live peacefully. In fact, most of Lao Lu’s earlier life was exactly as the old man had wanted, peaceful and smooth-sailing.
No one could’ve expected what would happen later, and even more caught off guard by how much ill-health could completely change one’s life.
“If you want me to be a designer, just say so. Why find a little girl to let me know in such a roundabout way.” Lao Lu put down his cup, picked up the pencil again, and sketched over the drawings.
The old man next to him fanned himself and complained, “You obviously want to continue to do design, but you’re using me as an excuse. Why are you still acting like a child?”
An old man and a middle-aged man; the way they refused to take ownership of their actions was exactly the same. Even though the pair were obviously in different realms, but at this moment, they seemed to be able to see each other, as if they were living harmoniously in the same plane.
Half a day later, Lao Lu finally checked all the drawings, then organised them in order and put them into the document folder.
He walked out of his office with the document folder in his hands and locked the door.
It was almost noon; an acquaintance from the building materials market passed by and saw Lao Lu as he left. “Ah, Lao Lu. Your wife’s not bringing you lunch today?”
Lao Lu hid the document folder behind him, “The college entrance exams are over, so my son’s turned from a prized panda into a common black bear, and I’ve also turned from a common black bear into a dog. My wife doesn’t make lunch anymore, and asked us both to settle it ourselves.”
The acquaintance laughed, “Both the bear and the dog still have to eat!”
Lao Lu waved his hand, “He’s already eighteen, a grown-up, it’s time for him to learn to be as sensible as I am.”
After speaking, he stepped “sensibly” away, his figure seeming a little morose.
Lao Lu made a phone call, asked for the address, and rode his e-bike slowly towards his destination.
The document folder was placed in the basket in front of the e-bike, and was kept smooth and flat.
When Meng Xiaoni received a call from Lao Lu, she had been busy running up and down the house and rushing in and out.
It was only after she gave him the address that she realized that the first draft of Lao Lu’s design has been completed, and he was now coming to the store to examine it.
Meng Xiaoni wasn’t very clear about what a qualified designer should be like.
She was even more unclear about what ought to be done when undertaking a renovation project.
On the contrary, it was Father Meng and Mother Meng who had some understanding of it; as they worked, they talked about it with Meng Xiaoni.
“The designer’s coming?”
“Does the eatery’s plumbing and electrical wiring need to be redone?”
“I think so.”
“The walls need to be repainted too.”
“We have to find some workers, right? Or will the designer handle that?”
Some of the customers in the store overheard the conversation, and asked curiously, “Are you renovating?”
“Will the eatery will be open during the renovation?”
“Are you going to do a lot?”
Meng Xiaoni wasn’t quite sure of the answers herself, “Let’s wait to see what the designer says.”
They put the topic aside for the time being, and began to talk about other things.
Meng Xiaoni did not expect that the first person to arrive was not Lao Lu, but Lao Lu’s father, Elder Lu.
Elder Lu, who was wearing a singlet, fanned himself with his pu fan as he strode into the Meng’s hotpot eatery.
The moment he entered, his eyes widened and he froze by the door. “What smells so good?”
Just then, Meng Xiaoni was serving a few dishes to some customers; she noticed Elder Lu immediately.
Elder Lu stood unmoving for a while. He then fanned his pu fan more and more rapidly, walked quickly to a table, and breathed in the smell of the hot pot.
His pu fan, which had been used for bringing in the breeze, was now being used to bring in the hot pot’s fragrance.
Meng Xiaoni saw that the hot pot’s heat was unaffected, and let out a sigh of relief.
“Why does it smell so good? And why can I smell this fragrance?” Master Lu couldn’t stop sniffing the hot pot in front of him. He asked Meng Xiaoni in amazement, “What’s with this hot pot of yours? This is so unscientific! Don’t try to fool me, I read along with my grandson when he studied!”
A ghost talking about science—it really was rather remarkable.
Meng Xiaoni went back to the kitchen and continued to serve the dishes.
She couldn’t let anyone know that she could see Elder Lu.
Elder Lu, who didn’t get an answer from Meng Xiaoni, ignored the alluring aroma of the hot pot and trailed alongside her, pelting her with questions, “Little girl, tell me, quickly. What on earth is going on here?”
Meng Xiaoni went back to the kitchen, and naturally, he trailed after her.
The fragrance of hot pot was even stronger in the kitchen!
It was like Master Lu hadn’t smelled hot pot in eight hundred years; he floated all around the kitchen, inhaling deeply, “Amazing, amazing.”
When Meng Xiaoni saw that Master Lu had arrived, she understood that Uncle Lu, the designer, would be arriving soon.
She washed her hands and informed her parents, “Pa, Ma, I think the designer is about to arrive, I’ll go to the entrance to meet him.”
They responded immediately, “Remember to stand in the shade! It’s so hot today.”
Meng Xiaoni, “Okay.”
She snuck a glance at Elder Lu, who was drifting about everywhere, then walked quickly towards the entrance.
Elder Lu saw Meng Xiaoni leave; he looked reluctantly at the pot in the kitchen, but finally followed her out.
Outside the hot pot eatery, the sun was blazing in the sky; the hot air caused the light waves to bend and distort, and the visible heat waves pulsated like a flame.
Meng Xiaoni stood in the shade of the tree and waited for Elder Lu, who trailed out after her.
Elder Lu shook his head, sluggish on his feet, still immersed in the fragrance just now, “My saliva is about to dribble out. How can this eatery be like this? Ghosts can smell fragrance? Impossible! This spicy aroma reminds me of the first time I went to a restaurant with my wife.”
Meng Xiaoni laughed lightly.
Elder Lu looked at Meng Xiaoni and rubbed his hands together, “Xiao Ni, your family’s hot pot, can us ghosts eat it?”
Meng Xiaoni made sure that there was no one around before she answered, “You can eat it, but I’m not sure if humans can still eat what that ghosts have eaten.”
At this, Elder Lu’s eyes lit up; he clapped loudly, “Of course you can, why not? Look at all the offerings during those festivals—aren’t all the dishes prepared as offerings eaten by humans in the end? How about this, you let my boy have a meal here, and I’ll take a bite! Just one bite!”
Meng Xiaoni was about to respond when she saw an e-bike approaching slowly.
Lao Lu was on the e-bike, with a helmet on his head. Being design-trained, even though he was wearing an ordinary t-shirt and riding a very ordinary e-bike, he still looked very presentable.
Other than a little middle-aged chubbiness and a slightly receding hairline, there were no other major shortcomings.
Elder Lu also spotted his son, and became excited, “Look! He’s here! You must let him have a meal, ok? He definitely has the money for a meal.”
Meng Xiaoni didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
She was counting on Uncle Lu to help with the design, how could she possibly charge him for the meal?
Meng Xiaoni could see Lao Lu, so of course, Lao Lu could see her too.
Lao Lu rode over to her, parked the car and took off his helmet. “It’s so hot, why are you standing outside?”
Even in the shade, Meng Xiaoni was still sweating from the heat.
She smiled at him, “I was eager to see Uncle Lu’s designs. Uncle Lu, let’s talk in the eatery? There’s air-conditioning inside.”
Lao Lu held the document folder in one hand, and the helmet in the other; he looked at the eatery beside him, “This one?”
Meng Xiaoni stepped forward and led the way, “Mm. This is the one.”
Lao Lu gave the eatery a once-over.
Meng Xiaoni had noted down the size of the eatery in her notebook, and also had some design ideas for the shopfront. Even though he was familiar with all the drafts, it was very different seeing the actual shop in person.
As Lao Lu studied the seemingly ancient eatery, he couldn’t help but sigh, “This is way too crude, isn’t it?”
Meng Xiaoni turned towards Lao Lu and smiled, “That’s why it’s time to renovate.”
Lao Lu summoned his fighting spirit and followed her through the door, “Yes. Let’s go.”
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