Chapter 87: "Mom, is this our new home?
Fu Cheng was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected Li Zenan to say those things on camera.
If it weren’t for moving into the new home today, and Shen Lu turning on the TV for him, he probably wouldn’t have heard Li Zenan’s encouragement.
’And Li Zenan probably never guessed that the friend who was supposed to be recuperating at home had been ruthlessly abandoned, huh?’
Whatever the case, Fu Cheng had received every bit of encouragement from his good friend.
The despondency he had been feeling instantly vanished.
Perhaps from having been bedridden for so long, Fu Cheng could clearly feel himself becoming prone to bouts of depression. This was not a good sign.
He needed to be more positive.
Everything was clearly moving in a positive direction. He didn’t need to let his mind wander over every trivial, inconsequential thing.
As soon as his mindset shifted, Fu Cheng felt his constantly tense Spiritual Sea relax slightly. He even had the faint illusion that he was on the verge of a breakthrough.
’Yeah, definitely an illusion.’
His Spiritual Sea was still damaged. Forget about a breakthrough, he couldn’t even use his superpower.
Still, this was a very good sign.
Meanwhile, as Shen Lu and Wang Daguo headed downstairs, a DING suddenly sounded in her mind.
[DING DONG~ Task issued: Hire a new employee.]
[This is a side quest. The host can decide whether to complete it. You’ll receive a corresponding reward upon completion!]
Shen Lu stopped in her tracks. ’A new side quest?’
Before she could even make sense of it, the system went DING again.
[DING DONG. Employee detected: 1/1. Task complete. Reward: 500 popularity value.]
’Huh? It’s already complete?’
Shen Lu glanced at Wang Daguo. It seemed her foresight had paid off. She had scouted out a new employee so early, she’d hired him before the task was even issued. Now, the time from the task’s announcement to its completion was less than a minute—the fastest she had ever completed a task.
Baffled by her stare, Wang Daguo scratched the back of his head and asked, "Boss Shen, what’s wrong?"
"It’s nothing. I’m just happy about the move. Tonight, bring your family over. I’ll cook a big meal. I’ll invite Granny Jin, too, so we can all celebrate together."
"But..." Wang Daguo was about to protest that it was too much. He’d only been on the job for a few days and had spent most of it just chowing down. Now he was supposed to bring his whole family to do the same?
"If you feel awkward about it, you can make it up to me by working hard."
Wang Daguo nodded vigorously. He would have worked hard even without Shen Lu telling him to. Where else could he find such a good boss? He, Wang Daguo, was prepared to go to any length for Shen Lu, without hesitation.
The three of them made several trips back to the rental unit, moving not only Shen Lu’s belongings but also those of Cai Su’s family. After cleaning the apartment, they returned the keys to Granny Jin.
Shen Lu invited Granny Jin to come have dinner with them that evening, as a housewarming celebration.
Granny Jin wanted to see Shen Lu’s new shop as well, so she agreed.
Cai Su went to the clinic to pick up her child. Shen Lu told Wang Daguo to go home and get his family, and to pick up Granny Jin on his way back. Meanwhile, she would head back to the shop first to prepare dinner.
After doing a head count for dinner, Shen Lu decided to make ten dishes—a nice, round number that symbolized perfection and good fortune.
With several elders and children attending, not to mention two people still recovering from illness, she decided to make mostly non-spicy dishes. The only exceptions would be a spicy diced chicken and a chilled beef tripe salad.
Back at the new shop, she walked into the kitchen, tying on her apron as she purchased the ingredients she needed from the System Mall.
’Two whole chickens, three pounds of beef tripe, two pounds of jumbo prawns, two pounds of lettuce, a purple cabbage, some bell peppers...’
In a short while, the cutting board was piled high with all sorts of ingredients. Shen Lu started the rice cooker first, then turned to prepare the other ingredients.
An automatic ingredient washer sat beside the sink. Shen Lu fed the ingredients into the machine one by one to be cleaned.
Standing in front of the cutting board, Shen Lu took a cleaver from the knife rack.
She decided to tackle the time-consuming items first, like the chicken for the soup and the beef tripe that needed to be braised.
Taking one of the whole chickens, Shen Lu trimmed off some excess fat, clipped its claws, and removed the tail. That was all it needed.
She tucked the chicken’s feet and wings into a neat position, placed it in a clay pot, and added enough water to cover it. All it needed was a few slices of aged ginger.
She placed the clay pot on the stove, bringing it to a rolling boil over high heat before turning it down to a low simmer. By the time the other dishes were finished, the chicken soup would be ready as well.
The beef tripe was first submerged whole in a braising liquid to establish a base flavor. This was another dish she could set aside to cook on its own.
The other chicken was for the spicy diced chicken, so it needed to be cut into small pieces. With a flurry of swift chops, Shen Lu had it cut into bite-sized pieces in just a few minutes, then set it aside to marinate.
Next up was preparing the jumbo prawns. She deheaded them, sliced them open along the back, and arranged them one by one over a bed of cellophane noodles. Later, all she would need to do was prepare a garlic sauce, pour it over the top, and steam the dish.
Cai Su returned with her son in her arms.
She glanced in through the kitchen doorway and saw Shen Lu in the middle of julienning potatoes.
Before this moment, Cai Su had thought her own knife skills were pretty decent. After all, having spent the last few days prepping ingredients alongside Shen Lu, she felt the gap between their abilities was closing.
Now she realized that what she’d been doing couldn’t be called knife work at all. It was just something any reasonably competent person could do.
Just watching Shen Lu’s skill at julienning potatoes made Cai Su gasp. If she had tried that, she would have definitely lost a few fingers.
Not only was Shen Lu fast, but every shred was perfectly uniform in thickness and length. And while she was cutting, Shen Lu was even able to chat with her, completely unafraid of slicing a finger.
"Sister Cai, you’re back."
"Oh? Uh... I’m... I’m back." Cai Su snapped out of her daze. "I’ll go put my son down in the dorm and then come help."
"Alright."
Cai Su carried her son to their dorm room, Xiao Lang’s wide, round eyes darting everywhere.
Xiao Lang’s condition was improving day by day. Not only could he open his eyes, but he could also talk now. However, his body was still weak, so he couldn’t run and jump around freely like other kids.
He hugged his mother’s neck and asked in a small voice, "Mom, is this our new home?"
"Yes, this is Boss Shen’s shop. You and I are living in the staff dorms. We’ll be living here from now on. Do you like it here, Xiao Lang?"
"I love it!" Xiao Lang’s voice was full of excitement. "It’s so pretty and spacious!"
"Xiao Lang, you have to remember that Boss Shen is our great benefactor. Without her, we wouldn’t be living in such a nice place, and you wouldn’t have survived."
"Mm-hm, I’ll remember."
"You’re such a good boy." Cai Su stroked her son’s cheek and opened the door to their dorm room.
For now, only the two of them were living in the dorm. Cai Su set her son down on the living room sofa, turned on the television that came with the room, and put on a cartoon for him.
Xiao Lang couldn’t even remember the last time he’d watched cartoons. He thought it might have been back when he was healthy, when he and some other kids had run over to an appliance store to watch through the window a couple of times.
But every time they got halfway through, the shop owner would change the channel and chase them away.
Back then, he had thought that when he grew up, he would definitely buy a TV and watch it every day. He would watch whatever channel he wanted, and no one would be able to change it on him.
But now, even though he hadn’t grown up yet, his dream had already come true.
Xiao Lang thought of the beautiful Sister Shen. She was the one who had brought all of this to him.
’I will definitely repay Sister Shen for this.’