The weather had started getting hot, but the five of them still sat in Gathering Talent Hall for lunch. For one thing, Second Mom Cafeteria was packed; for another, after spending so much time cooped up in air-conditioned rooms, sitting outside now and then actually felt comfortable.
Today was different.
They had barely sat down with their boxed lunches when Yi Jiahui's chopsticks stopped. Her eyes fixed on the right. "Look over there."
One of the Night Market stalls was actually open at noon. A dark-skinned, sturdily built young man stood in front of a chest freezer, cutting a watermelon with a knife.
It was no ordinary way of cutting one.
The knife rose and fell, rind flying as red flesh parted cleanly from green skin. His movements were as fast as a performance, without a single pause. More and more people coming for lunch gathered around, blocking his little stall completely from view. Even from Gathering Talent Hall, they could no longer see him.
Yi Jiahui stood up. "Those knife skills are incredible!"
Wang Xiaoliang chewed his food, then swallowed. "Wait until he cuts a pineapple before you start cheering."
It was Li Le's second day there.
The night before, he had sat alone at the Night Market until everyone had left. He had seen quite a few people there. Though business wasn't booming, people kept coming in, and plenty were spending money. That gave him confidence, so in the morning, he had gone to buy a knife and a chopping block, then called to order stock. He had only ordered watermelons and pineapples, a small amount just large enough to meet the delivery minimum.
Those two fruits were well suited to showing off his knife skills. They were also his signature acts that had drawn crowds back at