Chapter 116: A Girl
Not long after, Li You arrived at the spot in the canyon where he had placed the fish cage.
He lifted the fish cage and found another decent haul inside.
It was mostly stream rockfish, around twenty of them.
There were also a few tiny crucian carp and several small mountain crabs.
Before he had the Spatial Fish Pond, Li You would have just released such small carp and crabs.
But now, he put them all into the Spatial Fish Pond.
’Let them grow up in there.’
After emptying the cage, he re-baited it and placed it back in the water.
In a place like this, with a small fish cage, one would never run out of fish to eat.
Just as he was about to head back, Da Bai’s voice suddenly sounded in his ear. "Boss, we have a customer."
Li You was taken aback.
’How can I hear Da Bai’s voice from so far away?’
"Host, this is a special voice transmission function unique to the robot waiters. They can transmit their voice to you no matter the distance," the system explained.
’So that’s how it works.’
’That’s incredible.’
"So, System, if I talk now, can Da Bai and Xiaohai hear me too?"
"Yes. It’s just like a phone call."
’Incredible!’
Li You gave it a try. "Da Bai, what’s the customer like?"
"A young lady."
’So Da Bai really can hear me.’
’But... a young lady?’
’Who could it be this morning?’
’It’s probably not Chu Yiwei, Lin Xin, or the other teachers.’
’They should have class today.’
Li You was puzzled.
’I’ll find out when I get back.’
"Da Bai, take good care of our guest. I’ll be back soon."
"Okay, Boss."
Li You hurried back.
Ten minutes later, he was back at the shop.
Sure enough, a girl of about seventeen or eighteen stood at the entrance to the shop, staring at Da Bai and Xiaohai with a look of excitement on her face.
She hadn’t completely lost her youthful features, but she was already quite beautiful. She was a complete stranger, though.
’This must be her first time here.’
The girl saw Li You and guessed he must be the owner. "Boss," she said excitedly, "your two robot waiters are so cute."
Li You smiled. "One’s named Da Bai, and the other is Xiaohai."
"Oh, so they have names," the girl said. "They’re very fitting."
Li You laughed heartily in agreement.
"It’s strange, though," the girl added. "They said your food was delicious, but they never mentioned you had two robots."
"And ’they’ would be...?" Li You asked.
The girl replied, "My grandpa, and a lot of other people from our village. Oh, right, my grandpa’s name is Lin Zhonghai. Do you know him, Boss? He’s eaten here many times."
Li You was taken aback.
’So Elder Lin has such a beautiful granddaughter.’
He smiled. "Ah, so you’re Elder Lin’s granddaughter. Of course, I know your grandpa. We get along great."
The girl was delighted to hear that and went on to explain her situation.
The girl’s name was Lin Xiao, and she was a second-year student at Changxi County’s No. 2 Senior High School. Yesterday was the school’s monthly weekend leave, so she had come home.
That’s when she heard her grandfather, along with some other villagers, talking about Li You’s shop.
Lin Zhonghai had been planning to bring Lin Xiao here for lunch today.
Now that his granddaughter was back, of course he had to treat her to something nice.
But after hearing everyone make the shop sound so magical, Lin Xiao couldn’t wait until lunch and rode her bicycle over by herself to see it first.
She wanted to check it out first and then wait for her grandparents to arrive for lunch.
When she arrived, the owner wasn’t around, but there were two robots. Not only were they cute, but they even greeted her.
This made Lin Xiao ecstatic.
She knew that many places had robot waiters these days, but she never expected to find them here.
So, she decided to try communicating with the robots while she waited for the owner to get back.
It turned out she really could communicate with them. Even though it was only simple conversation, it was more than enough to thrill her.
After hearing her story, Li You nodded to himself.
’Changxi County No. 2 High is the best high school in the entire county, and it’s a provincially recognized key school, too.’
’For her to be studying at No. 2 High, her grades must be pretty good.’
He then smiled. "Welcome, Lin Xiao. By the way, the reason your grandfather and the others in the village didn’t mention Da Bai and Xiaohai wasn’t intentional. They just don’t know about them yet. Today is their very first day on the job."
Lin Xiao was surprised, but even more excited. "This is their very first day? And I’m here for it?"
"That’s right," Li You said with a smile. "And you’re the very first customer they’ve ever served."
"Wow! I’m so lucky!" Lin Xiao was overjoyed.
Li You said, "You sure are. By the way, have you eaten breakfast?"
Lin Xiao nodded. "I have. Grandpa made noodles."
Li You said, "That was a while ago. How about I treat you to a bowl of my noodles?"
"Thank you, Boss," said Lin Xiao. "But I can just wait for my grandparents to get here and eat lunch then."
"Lunch is still over two hours away," Li You said. "Have a bowl of noodles first. Don’t you want to try my noodles?"
"I do!" Lin Xiao hesitated for a moment, then added, "Okay, I’ll have a bowl of noodles then. But I’ll pay you. I have money on me."
Li You smiled. "It’s my treat, you don’t have to pay. Save your money for when you go back to school."
"But... I couldn’t," Lin Xiao said.
"It’s just a bowl of noodles, what’s the big deal?" Li You said. "I’ll go make it for you right now."
The girl was Lin Zhonghai’s granddaughter, and it was her first visit, so Li You was more than happy to treat her to a bowl of noodles.
"Well... thank you, Boss," Lin Xiao said gratefully.
Li You went into the kitchen and started making the noodles.
He was making beef noodles.
As he cooked, he thought to himself, ’Since the high schools are on weekend leave, there should be students from my village coming home, too, right?’
’Generally, all the high schools in Changxi County have their weekend leave at the same time.’
’There must be some students from my village in high school, right?’
’I was always working away from home before, only coming back for holidays, so I’ve lost track of which kids in the village are in school.’
’But there must be some.’
After a moment of thought, the noodles were ready.
It was a small portion, but Li You deliberately added extra beef.
He carried the bowl to a table and called out to Lin Xiao, who was outside. "Xiao, it’s ready. Come and eat."
"Thank you, Boss."
Thanking him, Lin Xiao walked into the shop.
...