Chapter 61: Nie Qiu, Stay!
Peng Mama cried for a while, wiped away her tears, and said with a smile, “I really want to meet the girl you mentioned named Nie Qiu.”
Peng Yu Yang smiled and said, “Mom, I’ve thought about it too. After the exam, I’ll invite both of them to our house for a meal.”
“We should invite them, we should invite them.” For sixteen years, they had been worried sick about their child’s grades and mischievous personality. However, a few words from that girl had made their mischievous child ‘turn over a new leaf,’ making her feel grateful and curious about the girl.
“Then it’s settled,” Peng Yu Yang said, smiling as he put his arm around Peng Mama’s shoulder. “Let’s go down for lunch!”
Peng Mama nodded and walked downstairs with Peng Yu Yang, smiling.
This was a restaurant. The second and third floors were private rooms. The three private rooms at the very back of the third floor were not for customers but served as a warehouse and lounge. One private room contained miscellaneous items such as tablecloths, uniforms for waiters and chefs, trash bags, and air fresheners. The other two rooms were private lounges for his father and uncle, which could also be called offices. He had just been reading and studying in his father’s room. The first floor was the lobby, and during meal times, it was bustling with customers coming to eat.
Coming downstairs, the two walked into the bar counter. The cashier at the front immediately stood up, bowed respectfully, and asked with a smile, “Boss Lady, you’re down for lunch?”
Peng Mama nodded and asked with a smile, “How’s business today?”
The beautiful cashier, Xiao Jia, smiled and said, “Very good. A City High School is having its monthly exam tomorrow, so it’s a holiday today, and many students are here to relax.”
“Can I have the order form, please? I’ll write down what we want to eat for lunch. Yang Yang and I will eat at a booth too,” Peng Mama requested with a smile.
The beautiful cashier took an order form from the counter and said with a smile, “How can I let you write it? Boss Lady, just tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll write it down.”
Peng Mama nodded and turned to look at Peng Yu Yang. “Yang Yang, what do you want to eat?”
Peng Yu Yang frowned. He had tried almost all the dishes in the restaurant and was tired of them. He suddenly remembered the steamed dumplings Li Kai had eaten one morning. They seemed… very delicious. If they weren’t good, how could someone like Li Kai eat them? “Give me two baskets of steamed dumplings!”
The cashier, holding a pen, paused for a moment. She wrote “steamed dumplings” on the order form and then looked at Peng Mama and Peng Yu Yang. “Anything else?”
Peng Mama looked at Peng Yu Yang. “Steamed dumplings are small, how can that be enough? The exam is tomorrow, how about a bowl of shark fin soup?”
Peng Yu Yang frowned. “Okay!” He didn’t know what else to eat anyway; it was all the same.
Peng Mama nodded to the cashier and then walked towards the booths with Peng Yu Yang.
Peng Yu Yang looked at the booths and found that almost every seat was occupied. After the cashier wrote down “shark fin soup,” she whispered a couple of words to the other two cashiers and followed Peng Yu Yang and his mother to note down the seat number for the dishes. Peng Yu Yang searched for a seat in the booths one by one, but suddenly heard a familiar voice.
“Mom, eat more too. My bowl is full, don’t just focus on me.” Nie Qiu put a piece of beef into Nie Aifang’s bowl with her chopsticks, saying helplessly, “I’ll eat myself. With so many dishes, it’s more than enough for just the two of us. Don’t worry about me not getting enough.”
“You don’t know, this restaurant is big. I heard people talking when I was setting up my stall last night. They said they packed leftovers here, and many people laughed. We ordered four dishes, so we have to finish them,” Nie Aifang said, putting another piece of food into Nie Qiu’s bowl with a smile.
Nie Qiu said helplessly, “If that’s the case, why did we come to this restaurant to eat? We could have just eaten at any small diner.” She looked up at the exquisite stained-glass lamps, the rows of high sofa booths, the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the decorative curtains. The consumption here must not be cheap.
“Qiu Qiu…” Nie Aifang said a little embarrassed, “We’ve been in the city for so many years, and Mom hasn’t brought you to a place like this. You… you’ve changed a lot, but Mom thinks as long as you’re healthy, that’s all that matters. I brought you here to eat without any other intentions, just to let you see where rich people eat. I just want you to work harder in the future.”
After seeing a life of luxury and enjoyment, wouldn’t every poor person yearn for it? That was Nie Aifang’s thought. She had seen the restaurant’s advertisement on television and on many tricycles that solicited passengers. So, she thought she had to bring Nie Qiu to experience it at least once.
Nie Qiu lowered her head and smiled sadly. In the past, she had eaten at places much better than this restaurant. She usually ate home-style meals, and except for eating at home with Yang Zihao, she always dined at five-star restaurants and had never felt anything. But today, Nie Aifang’s words made her feel a lot of discomfort. She looked up and smiled, “Mom, don’t worry, I will definitely study hard, and I will definitely earn a lot of money to honor you.”
Peng Mama saw her son stop in his tracks and paused in confusion, looking at her son. When she heard a girl say, “Why did we come to this restaurant to eat?” she felt a bit annoyed. After all, it was her own restaurant. If they didn’t like it, then they shouldn’t come to eat! They weren’t short of money from them, the poor things!
However, after hearing what the older woman said, she was also deeply touched. Because of her son’s change, and because they were both mothers, she could somewhat understand this mother.
Peng Yu Yang walked forward in surprise and called out loudly, “Nie Qiu, what are you doing here?”
Hearing Peng Yu Yang’s voice, Nie Qiu looked up in surprise. “Peng Yu Yang? Are you here to eat too?”
Peng Yu Yang smiled and looked at the cashier following them. “Table number 0132 is on the house. Also, send two extra portions of what we ordered. And my mom and I will sit here, at table 0132.”
The cashier nodded, wrote “+2” on the order form, bowed respectfully, and left.
Peng Mama looked at Nie Qiu and raised an eyebrow at her son. “What? Aren’t you going to introduce her to Mom?”
Peng Yu Yang ignored his mother and instead greeted the stunned Nie Aifang with a polite smile. “Hello, Auntie. My name is Peng Yu Yang. I’m Nie Qiu’s classmate and also Nie Qiu’s apprentice.”
Nie Qiu also stood up and politely greeted Peng Yu Yang’s mother. “Hello, Auntie. My name is Nie Qiu. I’m Peng Yu Yang’s classmate. This is my mother.”
Peng Mama smiled and extended her hand, looking at Nie Aifang, who had stood up and seemed a little nervous. “Hello, Elder Sister. I’m Peng Yu Yang’s mother.”
Nie Aifang quickly took two tissues from the table to wipe her hands and awkwardly shook Peng Mama’s outstretched hand, shaking it gently with Peng Mama’s force. She smiled uncomfortably and said, “Hello, hello. I… I…”
