Daddy's Gourmet Shop-Chapter 409 - 399: A Film Crew Scouting Locations
Early the next morning, before dawn, the sky was a pale fish-belly white amidst a misty haze.
Huang Tao, having had a dreamless night, awoke as usual to the promptings of his biological clock.
The moment he opened his eyes...
He saw Xuanxuan sleeping beside him.
The little one, as usual, was still in sweet slumber.
A faint, sweet smile lingered at the corner of her lips, perhaps she was still caught in a beautiful dream!
Resisting the urge to immediately kiss her rosy little cheeks, he fished out his phone from under the pillow and glanced at the time.
It was still early!
Xuanxuan could at least sleep for another half hour.
He started scrolling through Weibo as per his usual routine, first checking the comments under his restaurant’s official account, then took a general look, most of which were people sharing and proudly declaring that the vegetarian Shredded Eel in Garlic Sauce from Delicious Restaurant was the best they’d ever tasted.
The most amusing comments were from a bunch of people claiming:
Without you, I still live like a queen: I don’t listen, I don’t believe, unless you let me taste it!
Desire beguiles the heart*: I don’t listen, I don’t believe, unless you allow me to buy the vegetarian Shredded Eel in Garlic Sauce!
Smile up, like a sunflower bright: I don’t listen, I don’t believe, unless the owner sells 500 servings of vegetarian Shredded Eel in Garlic Sauce in one go!
Below were a pile of comments following suit, playing on the joke.
Huang Tao was amused by these comments.
He couldn’t satisfy their demands for the time being.
Because of space constraints, the total amount of dishes sold each day was basically constant.
Like the previously limited portions of Braised Preserved Meat and Honeyed Ham, sometimes if the quantities increased, it meant reduced totals for Fried Spring Rolls and Braised Prawns.
Though the vegetarian Shredded Eel in Garlic Sauce was quite popular, Huang Tao did not plan to make it the main dish; balanced development was key to longevity.
He clicked on the Weibo hot searches, browsing today’s trending topics.
As he browsed, he marveled at the various events happening each day that shocked his worldview.
Upon seeing the 8th trending topic, he noticed it included the words "Wenling City."
Huang Tao clicked in to see that a film crew had announced the male and female leads and planned to come to Wenling City to shoot after the New Year’s Day...
Not particularly interested in entertainment news, he didn’t look closely and quietly exited Weibo.
Seeing Xuanxuan still asleep, he quietly climbed out of bed, dressed, put on his slippers, and slipped out of the bedroom to wash up in the bathroom.
Then, carrying a bucket of last night’s laundry, he went to the balcony.
He put the clothes into the washing machine to wash.
After finishing, he returned to the bedroom door, tiptoed to open it, wanting to check if Xuanxuan had woken up.
As soon as the door opened, there was Xuanxuan climbing out of bed.
"Daddy..."
Her chubby little hands rubbed her eyes, looking freshly awake, she called out to Huang Tao, her voice groggy.
"Hey, Daddy’s here!"
Huang Tao quickly went over, picked her up, and gave her a big kiss: "My darling, you’re awake!"
Xuanxuan giggled, her little hands pushed against Huang Tao’s shoulder, and in a soft, childlike voice, she murmured: "Daddy’s beard is prickly~"
Even though he had just shaved, how could it be prickly?
Huang Tao puzzledly freed a hand to touch his own face.
Indeed, it was a little prickly!
Maybe he hadn’t shaved thoroughly, leaving a few "survivors" that weren’t cleaned up.
Seeing his precious daughter tilt her little head, lean against his shoulder, her eyelids drooping, showing she still wanted to sleep, he gently and lovingly asked, "Xuanxuan, haven’t had enough sleep? Want to sleep a little more?"
"No... I want to go to the restaurant with Daddy, I want to be with Daddy~"
Xuanxuan lifted her hands to hold around Huang Tao’s neck, her little head shaking, her voice soft and gentle, laced with a strong tone of pouting.
To Huang Tao’s ears, her voice was sweet like honey, reaching deep into his heart.
He adored this feeling of being clung to by his precious daughter.
Just wanted to spoil her for a lifetime!
And this feeling, only a dad who spoils his daughter can deeply understand what it means to have a lover from a past life!
Huang Tao affectionately hooked Xuanxuan’s small, delicate nose with his finger, speaking gently, "Alright, let’s get dressed, brush your teeth and wash your face, then we’ll head to the restaurant, okay?"
"Okay!"
Xuanxuan obediently nodded and immediately grabbed her clothes to get dressed.
Though he doted on Xuanxuan, Huang Tao didn’t directly help, but instead watched her dress from the side, assisting only when she ran into trouble!
In his conscious effort to nurture her, Xuanxuan had developed very strong self-care abilities by now.
Can dress and undress by herself, brush her teeth, and wash her face, she even helps him prepare toiletries!
"Come on, time to put on some cream..."
After Xuanxuan finished washing up, Huang Tao picked up a bottle of children’s moisturizer from the side, unscrewed the cap, dipped his finger into some cream, and dabbed it on Xuanxuan’s forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin in turn.
"It tickles~"
The ticklish Xuanxuan felt a tingling sensation and couldn’t help but giggle. At the same time, she raised her hands and rubbed her little face in her unique "little kitten face rub" style, evenly spreading the children’s cream.
After applying the cream, Xuanxuan went over to the dining table to find her bitter melon frog and white radish swan.
These were her crafts that needed to be handed to Teacher Ye, and she had to take good care of them.
Before leaving the house...
Huang Tao remembered the clothes in the washing machine, which hadn’t been taken out to dry yet!
He smiled and said, "Xuanxuan, Daddy needs to hang the washed clothes to dry. You wait here for a bit."
Xuanxuan tugged Huang Tao’s shirt corner, looked up with her little face, blinking her big eyes, and asked earnestly, "Daddy, can I help hang the clothes with you?"
Huang Tao originally didn’t plan on having Xuanxuan help, since she’s only 4 years old. But seeing her eagerly volunteering with an excited look, he couldn’t bear to refuse her good intentions.
"Hmm~"
He thought for a moment, touched her little head, reached out his hand, and nodded in agreement, "Okay, we can do it together!"
"Hee hee~"
Xuanxuan held her dad’s hand and followed him to the laundry machine on the balcony.
He squatted down and opened the machine door.
Xuanxuan tugged on Huang Tao’s shirt and asked, "Daddy, what should I do?"
Huang Tao handed Xuanxuan her little socks and said, "Xuanxuan, you can be in charge of hanging up the little socks, and as for Mimi..."
He glanced at Mimi who was following behind Xuanxuan, "Mimi can be in charge of being cute!"
"Meow meow~"
Mimi meowed a few times, then lazily lay on the tiled floor, dozing off as if to say, "Being cute? Impossible in this lifetime!"
"Oh~"
Little cutie Xuanxuan saw this and shook her head helplessly.
What else could she do?
She could only forgive Mimi.
After all, Mimi is her good friend!
A good friend she made herself; even with tears, they must keep being friends...
Xuanxuan ignored Mimi, instead waving the socks in her hand, she said, "Then I’m going to hang up the socks."
As long as she can be with Daddy, she’s very happy, and if Mimi is there too...
Forget it, Mimi is so lazy~
She focused on clipping the little socks with a trousers hanger, finishing one and then running to get the next, back and forth.
She worked really hard, very earnestly.
"Daddy..."
Xuanxuan raised her little hand and said, "I finished hanging all the socks."
Her forehead was beaded with tiny sweat droplets, her little face flushed rosy, with shallow dimples appearing, her eyes filled with proud joy.
"Xuanxuan is amazing!"
Huang Tao, hearing this, picked her up in a hug, pouted, and leaned in to kiss Xuanxuan’s flushed little cheek.
Xuanxuan giggled and dodged, "Daddy, your beard... it pricks..."
Huang Tao wouldn’t let go, softly saying, "It pricks... but still I must give you a kiss..." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
"Meow~"
Mimi lifted its cat head, opened its big round eyes, and looked on enviously at this scene.
It wanted a kiss too~
Unfortunately, unfortunately...
No one cared about its desire~
After a while of affectionate cuddling, Huang Tao gently put Xuanxuan back on the ground, and continued with his chores.
Little cutie Xuanxuan also remained full of energy, considerately handing clothes hangers to Dad.
Though hanging clothes up and down is quite taxing on the waist, with Xuanxuan, the capable little helper, by his side, Huang Tao didn’t feel any backache; his heart was only full of warmth and joy.
He really wished time could slow down, even slower, so he could have more time to spend by Xuanxuan’s side.
To love her, pamper her, protect her.
