Chapter 21: 18.2

Tonight’s menu features a salmon salad, so he needs to marinate the salmon for an hour beforehand. Bai Yao gets to work prepping in the kitchen, while grabbing some of the prettier shells from the refuse pile to let Mu’er play with them in the restaurant area.

Mu Mu’er takes a seat quietly in the corner, while happily playing with the shells in his hand.

When the salmon is almost done marinating, Bai Yao’s neighbour, grandpa Xü’s spouse, auntie Zhang comes to visit them with a home-cooked rotisserie goose at the door.

Bai Yao can see her from the kitchen window, and quickly heads out to welcome her in, “auntie Zhang! Come in, please.”

“Ah, xiao-Yao,” auntie Zhang enters and hands the bag in her hand over, “we brought you rotisserie goose. Made it fresh this morning; grandpa Xü was pestering me about eating some. Make sure to eat while it’s hot. I used ample sauces to make it plenty flavourful.”

Bai Yao thanks her, and makes a mental note to make some extra roasted fish tonight to gift them as thanks.

Auntie Zhang is, as the title implies, much younger compared to grandpa Xü. They were the result of an arranged marriage. Now they have a daughter who works out of town and seldom returns.

She married into the Xü family when she was barely 20 years old. She said she was definitely not happy about it then, but now she’s always singing her husband’s praises to friends and families, and that the marriage was a match made in heaven.

When Bai Yao moved to Qiaohai a few years back, his first acquaintances were the couple who are his neighbours. He was eating quite irregularly while the restaurant was being built, so auntie Zhang would make meals for him, or invite him over.

They’re like Bai Yao’s family to him.

Mu Mu’er does not seem distressed by the presence of strangers, but he does act more reserved than usual, standing up from the chair, first quietly putting his shells out of view, before standing slightly behind Bai Yao.

Auntie Zhang asks Bai Yao about this quiet-looking boy with a smile, “your friend? He’s a handsome-looking lad for sure.”

Telling the truth is out of the question. Mu Mu’er looks much younger than Bai Yao, and so Bai Yao makes an excuse.

“He’s a relative from the city. Here on vacation,” he nudges Mu Mu’er by the shoulder towards the front a little, “this is auntie Zhang.”

Mu Mu’er blinks, unable to follow the speed of the conversation, and only speaks very meekly after a while; it sounded more like an ‘eh’ than a greeting.

Though auntie Zhang didn’t hear clearly, she doesn’t seem to mind, calling the boy a polite and upstanding lad.

Their topic then switches to some everyday topics, and Mu Mu’er relaxes a little, standing by Bai Yao’s side. He wants to continue looking at his shells, but isn’t sure it’s safe to do so, and thus just stands there, trying to work out Bai Yao and auntie Zhang’s conversation.

Unfortunately, it is still too quick for him to process.

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Bai Yao is actually talking about some of the latest news in the sleepy town and makes a few humorous observations, making auntie Zhang chuckle.

At the same time, the restaurant has begun to receive patrons outside queueing. Bai Yao goes to open the restaurant for the day, telling them to take a seat wherever.

Auntie Zhang looks at the restaurant rapidly filling up, and whispers to Bai Yao, “it’s still the afternoon. I can’t believe it’s already full.”

“It’s fine. I can handle them. It’s just a little busy,” Bai Yao says, trying not to worry her.

“It must be tiring. You should really look for a partner, or a girlfriend who can help you out.”

Bai Yao is already used to being introduced to bachelorettes by friendly locals. Again, he emphasises that he hasn’t much savings, and the little restaurant doesn’t turn over much. He really shouldn’t be wasting other girls’ time.

The number of girls interested in him is quite high, and he knows most of them are taken with his appearance. He’s honoured they’re interested in him, and the townsfolk and their daughters are all gentle and friendly, but actually, he likes other guys. He realised this when he’s a teenager. He can’t change who he is, nor does he want to, but he also doesn’t plan to come out to them.

Auntie Zhang is still going on about the best girls for Bai Yao. The girl Yanzi in the blueberry orchard out west is a great cook. The girl next door can paint and makes lots of trinkets; an artist.

Bai Yao merely smiles and continues on.

Mu Mu’er is bored. He doesn’t understand anything about these ‘girls’ and ‘spending days together,’ so he’s simply looking around.

He looks at the entrance, then his gaze becomes fixated, and he even leans closer a little.

Bai Yao can feel Mu Mu’er’s restlessness, and, figuring he must be anxious at the crowd here, holds his hand quietly as support, touching the back of his hand with his thumb.

Auntie Zhang leaves soon after as the restaurant goes full swing, making sure to remind him to eat dinner on time, and the rotisserie goose too.

After seeing her off, Bai Yao knows he will be very busy taking orders and cooking in the kitchen, so he asks Mu Mu’er, “I’m going to be busy now. Do you want to stay upstairs?”

Mu Mu’er shakes his head, though, his gaze remains fixed somewhere behind Bai Yao; Bai Yao’s attention is too divided now, and only tells him he can go upstairs if he finds it too noisy here, and heads into the kitchen.

After Bai Yao has left, Mu Mu’er runs to the restaurant entrance, and, ignoring the customers, just sits right on top of his beloved rock, looking around warily.

Just now, he saw some people staring and even touching his stone! There were also people that kicked it!

Those people are all bad people in his mind now. He will not let them steal his stone!

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