The Story of Stewed Beef Pot

"Boss, hurry up and go take your time shopping with Sister Gu Yue. We're going out to eat too."

As Tang Wulin and the others waved goodbye, the group quickly vanished from Tang Luochuan's sight.

No one wanted to disturb their boss and their future sister-in-law, least of all good brothers like them.

"Your little brother..."

"He's pretty considerate."

Gu Yue watched the scene with an elegant smile on her face. He really was considerate. Every time, he never said anything about her monopolizing Luochuan.

"Isn't he..."

Tang Luochuan nodded. Wulin had always been an obedient, sensible child, not to mention the way he looked at Gu Yue now was practically like he was looking at his sister-in-law.

Mm...

Maybe Wulin was even wishing Gu Yue would stick to him?

"Come on. We said we'd go eat some street snacks this time. Let me think, where's the snack street?"

Tang Luochuan came back to himself and looked at the girl beside him, his face calm as he spoke.

"Really?"

"Then I'll just follow Luochuan."

Gu Yue nodded.

"Okay, then."

"..."

A short while later, at East Sea North Snack Street, Tang Luochuan and Gu Yue's figures had already appeared there.

At that moment, everywhere the eye could see was delicious food. All kinds of small shops and roadside stalls seemed endless.

As one of Eastsea City's many snack streets, the good food here came in a dazzling array. The ingredients might not have been especially expensive, but the taste was absolutely good.

"What should we eat..."

"Luochuan, let's eat at that place. I haven't seen this one before!"

Just then, Gu Yue pointed at a small shop and said with a smile.

"Hm?"

"Sure."

Looking in the direction Gu Yue pointed, Tang Luochuan indeed caught waves of fragrance rushing toward him. Before seeing the dish, he smelled its aroma first!

Then, a large sign appeared in his eyes. It was... Stewed Beef Pot.

"Hm?"

"This Stewed Beef Pot..."

Tang Luochuan pondered inwardly for a moment, then seemed to realize something.

Wasn't this the place where Xie Xie brought Wulin to eat in the Original Work? He had even told the story of that encounter he hated most here. Don't tell him Wulin and the others were coming this way too...

"Young man, want a serving of Stewed Beef Pot?"

Looking toward Tang Luochuan and Gu Yue, the owner uncle spoke with a smile.

"One serving."

Tang Luochuan nodded in agreement. Just then, a bright voice drifted into his ears from afar.

"Boss isn't here today, so I'll bring you guys over here to eat first. Don't be fooled by the not-so-great environment, the taste here is genuinely good."

"I love eating at this place, and speaking of this, I have to mention an encounter..."

"Huh?"

"Boss?"

Xie Xie and the others appeared there. He had just been about to continue speaking, but after arriving at the shop and looking toward Tang Luochuan not far away, his face could not help but fill with confusion.

Could it be...

Boss liked eating Stewed Beef Pot too?

"Big brother, you're here too?"

Behind Xie Xie, whether it was Zhang Yangzi or Tang Wulin, they could not help asking at that moment. After going round and round, they had not expected to run into them again.

"What a coincidence."

Tang Luochuan was also somewhat moved.

When they had still been far away, that familiar voice had already carried over. Things really came just as he thought of them.

"In that case."

"Everyone's eating together again."

Tang Luochuan could not help saying with a smile. The alone time Gu Yue had been hoping for was probably going up in smoke.

"So what? They're all your friends. It's nothing."

Gu Yue shook her head, not paying it much mind.

Although she wanted even more to spend time alone with Luochuan, if a situation like this happened, she would not insist on only being with him.

"Oh?"

"Xie Xie's here."

After hearing Xie Xie's voice, the owner instantly sounded a little pleasantly surprised and spoke with a smile on his face.

"Uncle Li."

Xie Xie called out with a smile on his face.

"Haven't seen you in a while. Are these all your friends? Good, good, good! It's great to get to know more friends."

"Kids, wait here. Uncle will go make Stewed Beef Pot for you right now..."

The owner did not linger there for long. He soon walked toward the small shop, his face brimming with a smile.

"Xie Xie, you're really familiar with that uncle."

Watching the scene before him, Tang Wulin subconsciously said. After all, when the owner saw Xie Xie, he had been smiling.

"Mm-hmm."

"I usually come here to eat pretty often. And when I was little, Mom always brought me here too..."

Xie Xie spoke with a look of reverie on his face.

Slowly, he could not help thinking again of the origin of his name. It came from that encounter. His mother had been grateful for the encounter with his father under the cherry blossom tree, and so had used it as his name.

But he would rather...

That encounter had never happened.

"Let's not think about that. Everyone, eat well today. This Stewed Beef Pot is really good. You just have to eat it slowly, otherwise..."

"You'll all be unable to stop yourselves from eating it up in one breath."

Xie Xie came back to himself, smoothed out the emotions in his heart, and put on a deliberately mysterious air before saying with a smile.

"Hahahaha."

"Then I'm going to eat even more."

Tang Wulin said with anticipation in his eyes. Delicious food—when it came to that, he was wide awake.

"I wonder when we'll be able to eat..."

"Bang..."

Just then, the sound of a plate shattering rang out. It came from inside the shop and instantly drew everyone's attention.

"That's not right. Uncle Li has always been careful, really careful!"

Xie Xie's face filled with confusion. Yet in the next moment, under his puzzled gaze, something was thrown out right after that. This time, it was nothing else. It was Uncle Li himself.

"Uncle Li!"

Xie Xie was immediately shocked. He rushed over fiercely and helped him up, worry on his face. What was going on?

"Old Lizi, you've got so much damn nonsense. You don't even understand something as simple as paying protection money? You give me money, and I cover you so I don't bully you. How simple is that?"

"Pay up."

Behind Uncle Li, a man stood there looking down on him. He was burly, tall and powerful, and bald.

"Brother Guang Long, it's really not that I don't want to pay you protection money. I really can't pay you anymore. My wife is sick right now, and I'm making money to treat her..."

"Without money, she'll die."

Uncle Li was practically begging.

His wife now needed to spend a lot of money every day for there to be any chance of her body healing and recovering. How could he have money left to pay protection money?

"Your wife?"

"What does your wife being sick have to do with me?"

"You've got a wife and I don't? If you don't give me money, what am I supposed to use to support your old mother? Hurry up and pay!"

Guang Long snorted coldly, displeased.

"Give me protection money. I won't say I'll protect you perfectly, but at least I won't come over and bully you, right? But if you don't pay protection money, then I'll be the one bullying you..."

"What does your wife's safety have to do with me collecting protection money? You can't pay me a single cent less!"

"If you really dare not pay, Li, do you think this little shop of yours can keep running?"