Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 468: The First Day Back at Chaos Residence
The Roc Demon King and the Great Roc King were cleaning the yard when they saw someone approaching. They immediately stepped forward to block the way, "I’m sorry, our shopkeeper hasn’t returned yet. If you want to eat, you’d better wait for our shopkeeper to come back first."
Chen Nuo snorted coldly, "Although time passes slowly for me in the human world, I remember this is the Mountain of Mind and Heart. What, I’ve only been gone a few days and you all don’t recognize me anymore?"
The Roc Demon King took a closer look and sure enough, it was Chen Nuo. He was so startled that he even dropped his broom, "Oh my, Shopkeeper Chen, how come you’ve come back?!"
"I’ve finished finding ingredients, so naturally, I have to come back," Chen Nuo said with a smile as he entered Chaos Residence.
Chaos Residence looked no different from when he had left, which indicated that these few people hadn’t been slacking off.
"During my absence, have you all been working hard?" Chen Nuo asked.
"Of course, we didn’t dare to slack off for a moment. We’ve been cleaning every day, and we also had to turn away the customers urging us for your return. Now I was just worrying about how to explain to the people behind, and you’ve arrived. It’s really great," said the Great Roc.
With that, Chen Nuo remembered that there were still many customers with reservations.
Chen Nuo pulled out the reservation list and indeed, the list behind was packed with orders. Luckily, each person could only order one dish once per day, which made it manageable. Otherwise, he really would have been too busy.
It had been a long time since he had cooked much, and Chen Nuo felt it was time to show off his skills, so he headed straight for the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, he fired up the stove and began to fry dishes one after another.
He was preparing takeouts at the moment, and the meals were quickly sent out. In no time, he had fried dozens of dishes. By the time Chen Nuo felt tired and wanted to take a break, it was already night.
"Shopkeeper, you’ve finished your work," said the Roc Demon King when he saw Chen Nuo come out of the kitchen, quickly offering him a towel, "You’re all sweaty, wipe yourself off. In just a while, you’ve finished half of the backlog. I truly admire you."
"I couldn’t keep dragging it on." Chen Nuo took the towel and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"By the way, I see that there’s one dine-in order today. Are you up for it? If not, I can push it back further," the Roc Demon King said, holding the order.
Chen Nuo took the order, "Who is it? Don’t we have delivery service now? Why is there still someone who wants to dine in?"
The order was for Erlang Shen, Yang Jian, and Yang Chan. Chen Nuo immediately understood and nodded, "Okay, you tell them they can come after about an hour."
The Roc Demon King walked away with the order. With this time, Chen Nuo returned to the small shop, having indeed forgotten about He Xi while busy frying dishes.
Several days had passed by the time he returned to the small shop.
He Xi pouted, looking at Chen Nuo, "Chen, you said you would be with me, but then you left quietly at night. I looked all around for you. It’s really sad."
"Sorry, sorry, I was just too busy with things on my end." Chen Nuo apologized to He Xi while casually taking out something from his space and handing it to He Xi, "This is an apology gift for you."
He Xi took the item, cylinder-shaped containing a light coffee-colored liquid. She leaned in to smell it but didn’t detect any scent. "What is this?"
"Milk tea," replied Chen Nuo. "It’s sweet; you’ll definitely like it."
"I’m all grown up, you still treat me like a child?" He Xi complained.
Despite her complaint, He Xi started drinking the milk tea in large gulps, not stopping until the cup was empty. Reluctantly putting down the cup, she said, "Brother, what is this? Why is it so delicious?"
"This is milk tea," replied Chen Nuo.
"Milk tea?" He Xi tilted her head; she had drunk it quickly before, seeming to enjoy the taste, but hadn’t distinguished the flavors until now. After hearing what Chen Nuo said, she belatedly picked up a hint of milk and tea, "It’s the milk flavor and tea flavor mixed together, right? Brother, you’re really amazing, coming up with this way of drinking."
"Does it taste good?" Chen Nuo asked.
He Xi nodded vigorously, "It’s delicious, really delicious."
"In a few years, how about I open a milk tea shop next to the Oil Shop for you?" Chen Nuo asked.
"Really?" He Xi was delighted, "If you open a milk tea shop, does that mean you won’t leave the town anymore?"
"It will take a few more years; I still have a lot of things to take care of right now. Once I’m done with those things, I’ll come here to open a milk tea shop," Chen Nuo didn’t make any promises to He Xi, he simply said he would open a milk tea shop there.
He Xi didn’t overthink it. After hearing what Chen Nuo told her, she felt extremely happy. It didn’t matter if it took a few more years, as long as Chen Nuo promised, she believed it would definitely come true.
"Then, Brother, how long do you plan to stay this time you’re back?" He Xi asked, "Can you stay a few more days?"
"Sorry, Xi." Chen Nuo apologized, patting her head gently. "I just came to see you for a bit, I’ll be leaving soon. But don’t worry, I will come to see you often when I have the time."
Hearing Chen Nuo say this, He Xi lowered her head in disappointment, but she also knew deep down that Chen Nuo indeed had many things to take care of. She nodded, "Okay, but Brother Chen, you mustn’t forget to come see me."
"Don’t worry, like I said, I still plan to open a milk tea shop in this town." Chen Nuo smiled at He Xi, then left.
When he returned to Chaos Residence, only a few minutes had passed on Mountain of Mind and Heart.
Chen Nuo took out the stone pot he had acquired from the Mountain God. Once the pot was heated, it would be ready to use, and then the new dish could be listed on the delivery machine. It was an easy dish to prepare, even those with ’two left hands’ could manage it with ease.
The preparation took an hour to complete, and just as everything was set, Roc Demon King knocked on the storehouse door, "Shopkeeper, someone’s here!"
"Okay, I know, I’m coming," Chen Nuo rose and exited the storehouse door.
"Shopkeeper Chen, it’s been a while," Yang Chan greeted.
Seeing Chen Nuo approach, she immediately took a step forward, but then remembered herself and stepped back to her original spot.
"Yes, it has been a long time," Chen Nuo said.
Chen Nuo didn’t notice Yang Chan’s small movement; he strode towards the sibling pair.
"I heard you recently went to the mortal realm, have you found the ingredients you were looking for?" Yang Jian inquired. His and his sister’s reservation had been approaching, but had been postponed for quite some time.
"Yes, I found them," Chen Nuo nodded. "I’m really sorry for having you wait so long. Since you’ve come at the right time, would you like to stick with what you ordered before, or try the new dish?"
"Since Shopkeeper Chen says so, we can’t just wait in vain all this time; of course, we want to try your new dish," Yang Jian responded. "Not just me, my sister has been missing your cooking for a long time."
Yang Jian’s words had a double meaning; not only had they been missing the food for a long time, but also the person.
Yang Chan’s cheeks turned slightly red, she nodded at her brother’s words.
Yang Chan usually wasn’t like this. Chen Nuo remembered the names Sun Wukong had mentioned to him before, and his gaze lingered on her a bit longer than usual.
Upon closer attention, he really did notice details he hadn’t before – could his charm be that great?
