CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 60: YOU STAYED HERE JUST TO EAT

In the following days, Lu Shuwu acted as if nothing had happened.

He still arrived at the shop early every day, helping with food preparation, mixing and rolling dough, and then sitting at the counter making soup dumplings once Jiang Yu had finished the meat filling.

But occasionally, when he suddenly heard the voices of Hu Zhihai or Yan Tongtong talking to strangers outside, a trace of unnaturalness would appear on his face.

Jiang Yu could obviously tell that although his grandpa hadn’t arrived yet, Lu Shuwu was already somewhat nervous.

For some reason, after watching for a while, Jiang Yu always couldn’t help but think of the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story.

What on earth...

That afternoon, after the shop closed, Jiang Yu rested for a little bit, then started gathering everyone for a meal.

Hu Zhihai came today too, feeling like his head would explode after two or three days of studying in the library’s study room.

Unable to sit still, he might as well come to the shop for a break.

He claimed: to eat some delicious food to replenish brainpower.

A group of people sat around, with a stack of steaming steamers in the middle of the table, accompanied by a few portions of spicy chicken and several bowls of hot and sour soup.

Hu Zhihai reached for a portion of spicy chicken, grabbed a small piece, and tossed it into his mouth, chewing as he laughed and said:

"Recently, quite a few students have bought spicy chicken and then went to the rice counter to get rice, which ended up annoying the lunch lady, and she refused to serve more!"

Lu Shuwu asked curiously, "Huh? What happened?"

These days, he was always worried about his grandfather suddenly appearing before him, becoming a bit paranoid and not paying attention to what’s happening outside.

"You didn’t know, right?"

Hu Zhihai raised an eyebrow proudly, saying,

"Those students wanted to mix the spicy chicken with rice but only bought rice without any dishes. What about the dishes at the fast-food counter?

So, unless they bought the dishes after getting rice, the lunch lady wouldn’t serve them.

Believe it or not, some students were ’forced’ to buy dishes just to get rice.

The funny part is, they picked the cheapest vegetable, which made that aunt so angry, her face turned pale!"

"I thought it was something interesting! That’s it?"

Lu Shuwu curled his lips, feeling a bit bored.

After finishing a soup dumpling, just as he was about to say something more, a gentle voice suddenly came from outside the window:

"Second brother..."

Lu Shuwu stiffened, the words caught in his throat, and he quickly put down his chopsticks, stood up, and walked to the door, pulling it open to head outside.

"Little sister, have you eaten? If not, come in and have some with us?"

Lu Shuwu walked up to Lu Shuyao with a somewhat stiff smile, trying to sound casual as he asked,

"By the way, is Grandpa here yet?"

Seeing his expression, Lu Shuyao couldn’t help but burst into laughter, covering her mouth with a hand, she gleamed at him and said:

"Second brother, weren’t you cool and collected before? Why are you so jittery now that Grandfather is coming?

Don’t worry, Grandpa’s not a villain, he’s not going to harm you, at most give you a little spanking."

"Oh my dear sister, can you stop messing with your brother?"

Lu Shuwu gave a smile that was half a grimace, he sighed and said,

"It’s not because I’m afraid of him hitting me, I’m just worried Grandpa will be angry."

"If you truly don’t want me to be angry, you should learn to mature a bit, instead of acting like an overgrown child fleeing from problems."

Just as he finished speaking, a familiar but aged voice came from the canteen door.

Upon hearing that voice, Lu Shuwu’s eyes widened.

He saw an elderly man wearing a white short-sleeved shirt with graying hair walking in from outside.

Behind him was a middle-aged man around fifty years old.

Right now, that middle-aged man was glaring fiercely at Lu Shuwu.

This elderly man was none other than Lu Shuwu and Lu Shuyao’s paternal grandfather, Lu Jinseng.

The person behind him was Lu Shuyao’s uncle, and Lu Shuwu’s father, Lu Chunming.

"Grandpa, Uncle, you’re here!"

Lu Shuyao stuck out her tongue at her second brother, then turned to run over to Lu Jinseng, wrapping her arms around his, she pleaded,

"Don’t be mad at second brother, it’s just that I left my book at home and asked him to bring it..."

"You little girl, stop covering up for this useless brat!"

Lu Chunming looked dotingly at Lu Shuyao, then pointed at Lu Shuwu with a gesture having a tinge of disappointment-in-tone said,

"Already twenty-five, twenty-six years old, still running around all day in a car, causing worry to others!

This time when you return, I’ll have no choice but to sell that car of yours, let’s see how you run then!"

"Alright, alright, stop barking so much here, who are you trying to impress?"

Lu Jinseng with a stern look, glanced at Lu Chunming and replied calmly,

"Xiaowu’s behavior, didn’t he learn it from you? Were you any better when you were younger?"

"Oh, Dad, this... this is right in front of the kids!"

"In front of the kids, so what? Even if you’re eighty, you’re still my son, and if I need to scold, I’ll scold!"

Lu Jinseng snorted, ignoring the somewhat embarrassed Lu Chunming beside him, turned to smile at Lu Shuyao with kindness and said,

"The men in our family, none are worry-free, only Yaoyao is obedient, smart and sensible from a young age, never causing the adults any trouble."

"No way? Big brother and second brother are well-behaved too, second brother just loves to play a bit..."

Lu Shuyao was still defending her troublesome second brother’s dignity.

"Indeed, he is just too playful."

Lu Jinseng glanced meaningfully at Lu Shuwu, who had remained silent a distance away, saying,

"Come on, take me in to see what fun this place, that you’d prefer over home, has."

Saying that, he stepped toward Jiang Yu’s dumpling shop.

"Grandfather..."

Lu Shuyao quickly followed, calling with some worry.

She was really afraid that Grandpa would vent his anger on Jiang Yu, which would be quite awkward.

Lu Jinseng seemed to read his precious granddaughter’s mind, gently patted her hand, and calmly said with a smile:

"Don’t worry Yaoyao, Grandpa is not an unreasonable person, I won’t lose my temper randomly."

"Grandpa..."

Seeing Lu Jinseng walking over, Lu Shuwu opened his mouth, murmuring, and also couldn’t help but explain,

"I stayed here not for play!"

"Yes, I know, you’re here for the food!"

Lu Jinseng glanced at him again, replying with a laugh,

"How could I not know you?

That year during National Day, you went on a trip, sampled a store’s ’Nine-Turn Large Intestine’ dish, and actually stayed there eating it for a full half-month, making the school so worried they contacted us thinking you’d disappeared.

So, I’m just a bit curious about what kind of good food could be at a school canteen dumpling shop to keep you here."