“Get up and eat.”
Xing Lixuan opened the thick curtains to let in the abundant noon sunlight in.
Yu Antong huffed a couple of times before turning over, covering his face away from the sunlight, as if he was a spoiled, lazy cat.
Xing Lixuan put one leg on the ground, kneeling on the bed with one knee. He put one hand on Yu Antong’s side, pinched his tender cheek with the other, and said patiently, “It’s already ten o’clock, hurry up and have breakfast.”
He ate breakfast too late, it would affect Yu Antong’s lunch time too. If this continued, his diet would become irregular.
Yu Antong rubbed his eyes. “It’s already ten o’clock?”
Yu Antong looked cute in a daze with disheveled hair. Xing Lixuan gave him a quick peck. “Well, get up.”
Yu Antong got up slowly and complained, “It’s all your fault! My back is sore and I can’t get out of bed.”
Xing Lixuan: “…”
‘Who pestered me all night yesterday again?’
Plus, he let Yu Antong sleep in today because he was afraid he wouldn’t get enough sleep otherwise. For this morning, Xing Lixuan actually ran two laps after he woke up, had breakfast, and even read a book for an hour before waking Yu Antong up.
“Hey! Roses?”
Yu Antong put on his clothes and noticed a slender crystal vase on the bedside table with a half-bloomed red rose in it.
The outer two or three petals of the rose are about to unfurl, shyly covering the unopened bud within. The delicate petals were still covered with moisture from the morning dew, making them even more delicate and charming against its vibrant leaf.
“Why did you suddenly think of buying flowers?” Yu Antong asked, in a very good mood.
When Xing Lixuan first said he wanted to pursue him, he sent him flowers for several days. Later, there were so many flowers at home that he didn’t know where to put them, so he quickly stopped.
Later, Xing Lixuan would occasionally buy him some small gifts, or bring him a snack when he came home from work. It’s been quite some time since he gave him flowers. Yu Antong had no idea why Xing Lixuan did it today.
While daily flower gifts weren’t necessary, getting them once in a while was really nice. It’s a small surprise of sweetness he really liked.
After Yu Antong asked, he felt something was wrong. “No, you shouldn’t buy just one flower. You didn’t only buy one stalk of flower, right?”
“Yes.” Xing Lixuan walked to the window and pointed downstairs, saying, “The roses in the flower garden are blooming.”
Yu Antong followed and opened the window, “I didn’t even notice. Wow, they’re really going to bloom.”
From the second floor, he could clearly see the swaths of red blooms framed by greenery all around.
The warm warm breeze carried a faint scent of roses, but not once – till today – did he notice this.
Even if nobody was paying attention to them, the roses kept quietly growing, blooming into gorgeous colors.
“Let’s go down and eat.” Xing Lixuan said.
Yu Antong turned around and hit Xing Lixuan. “Smelly husband, I’m just telling you why you remembered to buy me flowers.”
Yu Antong complained, but in fact he was still in a good mood.
He knew that Xing Lixuan didn’t like flowers, so he definitely wanted to give it to him by putting it next to his bed so that he could see it as soon as he got up.
Xing Lixuan: “Do you want me to order it for you tomorrow?”
“No, I just like the one you brought me today.” Yu Antong said again, “Did you think of giving it to me as soon as you saw the flowers blooming?”
“Mn.”
“Muah!” Yu Antong kissed Xing Lixuan on the face, “Your reward~”
The two went downstairs laughing.
As soon as Yu Antong finished eating, his parents-in-law came back from outside, with a slight trace of sweat on their faces.
Yu Antong asked, “Dad, Mom, what are you doing?”
“We went to an old friend’s orchard and bought him some fruit saplings.” Mr. Xing said, “May is the perfect month to plant apple and peach trees. Lixuan, come and help us plant them together.”
It turned out that the old couple went early to a friend’s orchard, in the suburbs. They hitchhiked the orchard’s delivery truck when they came back.
Mr. Xing and Xing Lixuan planted saplings in the garden together, while Mrs. Xing and Yu Antong stood aside and watched.
Mrs. Xing said, “The fruits grown in your Uncle Zhao’s orchard are delicious. The apples have thin skin, are big, crisp, and sweet. There are two different varieties of peaches, one is crispy sweet peach, you young people should prefer this more. The peach tree with red leaves produces the most delicious peaches when they are ripe. Ah, they’re so soft, sweet and juicy. I love them the most.”
“You’ve made me greedy with what you said.” Yu Antong asked with a smile, “This fruit tree is so small, it will take a few years for it to bear fruit, right?”
“This is an annual seedling, and it will take two or three years to bear fruit.” Mr. Xing said, “But don’t worry, every year your Uncle Zhao’s orchard will send some fruits to our family when they mature. We can still eat it.”
Yu Antong thought about it and realized that apples and peaches are produced around July. At that time last year, he had not yet married Xing Lixuan.
After saying that, Mr. Xing went to open the water valve for watering the flower garden and prepared to water the tree pit.
Yu Antong helped to support an apple sapling while Xing Lixuan cultivated the soil.
The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up a few times, revealing his strong forearms. His blue veins looked prominent, bulging as it flexed. His muscles also looked rather big this time, making him look stronger than usual.
Yu Antong was fascinated by how handsome he was. Even though he was working with a shovel, it didn’t affect his temperament at all.
“Time flies so fast.” Yu Antong sighed, “We didn’t know each other at this time last year. This year I’m pregnant with your child. It can be regarded as a flash marriage and pregnancy.”
Xing Lixuan looked up at him and smiled. “When our son is born, you can tell him that this tree is as old as him and that his fathers planted it for him.”
“You’re still talking about it!” Yu Antong thought of something and said, “Hm… I haven’t thought about Xiao Nian’s name until now.”
Xing Lixuan: “…you have to be careful about this.”
“Tongtong, your phone is ringing.”
While the two were talking, Mrs. Xing took Yu Antong’s cell phone out of the room and gave it to him.
Yu Antong took it and saw that it was Fu Xin. “Hello? Fu Xin, today’s a great weekend, are you working overtime again? You make me look like a black-hearted, tyrannical Boss.”
Yu Antong really guessed it right. Fu Xin, a workaholic, was really in the company. The two exchanged a few words and got down to the topic.
“I plan to recruit 50 more chefs for the Immortal’s Banquet.”
Yu Antong asked in confusion, “Why do you suddenly recruit so many chefs?”
They had already recruited people when they opened a new branch not long ago, so there should be no shortage of chefs.
“Open a delivery service.” Fu Xin said, “There are a lot of people under the Immortal’s Banquet official Weibo asking for online delivery every day. This group of potential customers is huge.”
“In addition, although many branches have been opened, the number of diners that can be accommodated in-store dining is limited, especially during the peak lunch period. Immortal’s Banquet is becoming more and more famous, so it is necessary to launch a delivery service.”
“I see your point here. However, the new recruits’ cooking skills must be carefully tested. It is better for us to lack chefs rather than having bad ones. Even if the delivery business does not develop, the quality standards of the dishes cannot be lowered.”
“Don’t worry, the quality of the food must come first.”
“Alright, then.” Yu Antong accepted Fu Xin’s proposal and asked about the construction progress of the food processing plant.
Fu Xin said, “Various production lines are being installed, and processing equipment is also being purchased. If nothing unexpected happens, it can be put into use in July.”
June was a very busy month. And after much begging, wailing, and praying, the long-awaited takeaway service of Immortal’s Banquet was finally here.
The official blog of Immortal’s Banquet posted on Weibo late at night.
<Immortal Banquet> V: Rejoice! Immortal’s Banquet delivery service is now here! Orders can be made on major takeaway platforms such as Chou Tuan, Are You Full, Qiandu, and such. Diners all around Jiangcheng can enjoy delicious food without leaving home. By the way, I will share the new dishes available~ Feast your eyes on these Eight Treasure Porridge and Pork Chops with Soy Sauce! (Picture) (Picture)
This post was immediately caught by night owls prowling around.
<Four Joys Meatballs>: What did I see! Finally, the takeaway is now available!
<Acute Lazybones>: Hahaha! I’m tired of the takeaways near my house, so this is perfect! This way I can eat like kings from my bed tomorrow!
<Popcorn Chicken>: Now that the Immortal’s Banquet has a delivery service, I’m guaranteed to gain 10 kg next year!
<Thick Red Oily Sauce>: Preparing for gaining 30 kg of fat (Piggy Cries.jpg)
<Pinch your Belly>: I can tell these new dishes are delicious at first sight!!
<Air Fryer>: Ahhh! This sauce is so decadent, I could eat three bowls of rice just looking at the picture!
<Two Grilled Wings>: Ahhh this doggy thing! You actually posted on Weibo in the middle of the night, but now I can’t place an order! Doggy thing, how will you compensate me ahhhh!!!
<Staying up Late Everyday is Good for Your Health>: I will die if you keep posting these delicacies late at night…
<Get up and Greet>: Let me go see what else is in store (floating into the kitchen like a ghost in the middle of the night)
On the first day that the Immortal’s Banquet delivery service was launched, several orders were placed as soon as the store opened at 8:00 in the morning. In the next few hours, a continuous flow of orders began to be received, and the peak was reached around 11:00 noon.
“No, we can’t take any more orders. We’re too busy.”
Even though the kitchens of each branch were prepared in advance, they were still extremely busy. At 12:00 noon, they had to temporarily close their orders and “close” temporarily.
Some of the people who successfully placed orders were a little worried about their wallets at first. For one meal, 460 yuan1around 63 USD was gone. Ordering this delivery was enough for a week!
Eh! Who makes them greedy? When they see the Immortal’s Banquet has delivery service, they click on it and are reluctant to go out and order takeout from other places.
Not long after they checked out their order, they soon discovered that the store was closed.
[Due to too many orders at noon, we are temporarily closed. Please come early next time~]
Looking at that line of words, people who had already placed orders were thankful that they had placed their orders in time.
However, some night owls who have a reversed schedule and couldn’t get up early wanted to beat their chest2regretting and crying.
When they opened their eyes and were thinking about being able to eat the dishes of the Immortal’s Banquet without having to queue, they found that they were late!
They were so happy during the announcement at night, but now, they were disappointed!
Someone went to comment on the official account of Immortal’s Banquet.
<Pinch your Belly>: Ahhhh! I’m late! It’s closed! I don’t agree, please give me another order quickly! (scream and roll.jpg)
<Immortal’s Banquet> V: Thank you little fairy for your love for Immortal’s Banquet. We are temporarily suspending orders to ensure the quality of the dishes. We hope you understand.
<Pinch your Belly>: You actually responded to me. I understand. It’s just a pity that I didn’t manage to order any. Don’t worry, of course I know that the quality of the dishes is the most important.
<Sunfish>: You Jiangcheng locals are already very lucky to be able to eat it. I, a foreigner, am envious of this real-name system.
This was only the first day, and the official account posted the announcement late in the night. Even though many customers didn’t know about this service, they still received so many orders. If after a while this news was widespread, then the order volume would ballooned to high-heavens.
Fu Xin asked to recruit 50 chefs, but Yu Antong thought it was too much – he thought that because the quality of the dishes in the Immortal’s Banquet was so high, the prices were naturally not low. For the same number of dishes, at the same price, it wouldn’t feel as expensive if someone ate them in-store. However, it would feel exorbitant if they purchased it online, making people feeling reluctant.
So Yu Antong originally thought that there wouldn’t be so many people ordering an expensive takeaway. The market was much bigger than he thought, and Fu Xin didn’t recruit that many chefs to compensate.
The good results achieved by the takeaway business actually prove that the quality and taste of Immortal’s Banquet dishes are excellent, making many people feel that ordering such expensive delivery is worth the money.
If you can, please support me by donating on my ko-fi~ For every 2 ko-fis, I’ll release an additional chapter ^^
