novelraw Chapter 287 - 237: A Spatial Rift Connecting Two Worlds
Chapter 287 - 237: A Spatial Rift Connecting Two Worlds
Slender and with her hair tied in a ponytail, Xia Qing was wearing a white housedress and a grid-patterned apron as she stared at the french fries sizzling in the wok.
Hearing the sound of happy, skipping footsteps behind her, she knew her daughter was back from delivering french fries to the next-door neighbor.
Zhou Tongtong placed the empty plate on the counter and looked up at her mother. Their eyes met, and Xia Qing’s gaze immediately fell to the ice cream bar in her daughter’s hand.
"Lin Li gave you another ice cream bar..."
"Yeah."
"..."
"..."
The mother and daughter looked at each other wordlessly. Even though Xia Qing didn’t have a Mind Reading Skill, she could tell exactly what her daughter was thinking just by looking into her sparkling eyes.
She said to her daughter with a sigh of resignation, "This is the last time. If Lin Li offers you ice cream again, you need to refuse."
"Umm..." Holding the ice cream bar, Zhou Tongtong hemmed and hawed, not giving a clear answer.
She pretended not to hear her mother, announced she was going to watch cartoons, and scurried out of the kitchen.
"This kid..." Xia Qing shook her head helplessly as she watched her daughter’s retreating back. ’Next time I see Lin Li,’ she thought, ’I have to tell him to stop giving her ice cream.’
...
The torrential rain, which had been pouring for hours, finally let up sometime between five and six in the evening.
The ink-black storm clouds scattered, and a brilliant red sun appeared on the horizon.
After the downpour, the azure sky was spotlessly clean, like a mirror that had just been wiped with a damp cloth.
The brilliant red sunset reflected against the azure expanse, painting most of the sky in a layer of magnificent color.
Streetlights on both sides of the road flickered on, ready to welcome the approaching dusk.
A silver-white van drove out of the Ping’an Garden District. Its wheels ran through a large puddle at the entrance, sending up a series of splashes.
Driving the van, Lin Li glanced in his rearview mirror at the puddle he’d just disturbed and muttered aloud.
"A puddle forms here every time it rains. I should mention it to the homeowners’ association and have them patch up this part of the road. It’s been damaged for months."
It was the evening rush hour, so the roads were packed. After leaving his neighborhood and passing two intersections, Lin Li found himself stuck in traffic.
"Ugh... The traffic is terrible today! If I’d known it would be like this, I would’ve just taken a share bike to the hot pot place. It would’ve been way faster than driving."
After being stuck for more than ten minutes, Lin Li finally broke free from the congested section of the road.
By the time he reached his destination, the sun had completely set, and darkness had enveloped the city.
After parking his van, Lin Li got out and crossed the street. Just as he was about to head into the hot pot restaurant, he noticed that a new BBQ skewer shop had opened up right next door.
The shop was called ’The Beef and Lamb Family BBQ’. Just from the name, it was obvious their specialties were beef and lamb skewers.
If it had been just any old skewer shop, Lin Li wouldn’t have stopped to take a closer look.
"Grand opening! Get 30% off any order over one hundred yuan! Don’t just walk by, come on in! You won’t want to miss this!"
A young woman in a light summer outfit and a cartoon sheep hat was handing out flyers to passersby, shouting out the promotion.
"We’re also holding an eating challenge! Anyone who participates and successfully completes it will get their meal for free, plus a two-hundred-yuan cash prize!"
At first, most passersby were drawn in by the pretty young woman in the summer outfit. But then, their attention quickly shifted to the flyers she handed them.
After all, it was dinnertime and everyone was hungry. As nice as it was to look at a pretty girl, filling their rumbling stomachs was the top priority.
Seeing the interested expression on Lin Li’s face, the young woman in the summer outfit knew she had a potential customer.
She walked right up to Lin Li, pressed a flyer into his hand, and greeted him enthusiastically.
"Hey, handsome! Come on in and try some skewers! All our meat is 100% real, no fillers or composite meat... It’s our grand opening, so you get 30% off when you spend over a hundred yuan."
’Eating thirty skewers in twenty minutes? For me, right now, that’s a piece of cake...’
Lin Li looked at the flyer and made a decision. First, he’d go to the skewer shop and get thirty free skewers, and *then* he’d go get hot pot.
"I’d like to try the eating challenge."
The young woman in the summer outfit and cartoon sheep hat gave Lin Li a once-over. This young man didn’t look particularly burly; she thought he was being overconfident and tried to talk him out of it.
"Sir, the skewers for the challenge are huge. Most people are full after just seven or eight. I really wouldn’t recommend trying it."
Lin Li just smiled and shook his head, insisting that he wanted to do the challenge.
Since Lin Li was so insistent, the young woman stopped trying to dissuade him. ’Fine,’ she thought. ’He’ll probably tap out after a few skewers. It’s no skin off my back if he embarrasses himself.’
"Alright, sir. Since you’re set on doing the challenge, please follow me..."
The young woman in the summer outfit said with a smile, leading Lin Li toward the restaurant.
...
About ten minutes later, Lin Li walked out of the restaurant holding two hundred-yuan bills.
The young woman in the summer outfit followed behind Lin Li, watching the customer ahead of her with a complicated expression.
She hadn’t expected it. This young man in front of her didn’t look particularly strong, and his appetite didn’t seem like it would be very big, yet he could eat an incredible amount.
In less than ten minutes, he had polished off all thirty of the large-portion lamb skewers, shattering the eating challenge record.
Moreover, judging by his relaxed expression, he looked like he could have easily handled another ten or twenty skewers.
’Heh, I got to eat thirty lamb skewers for free and even made two hundred yuan,’ Lin Li thought. ’The owner of this place is a real saint...’
Tucking the two hundred-yuan bills away, Lin Li left the restaurant and immediately turned toward the hot pot place next door.
The side effect from eating the Magical Little Fruit—a massively increased appetite—had weakened considerably over time.
But even in its weakened state, with Lin Li’s current appetite, those thirty lamb skewers had only left him about half-full.
Now, it was time to proceed with his original plan: eat a hot pot dinner.
Holding her stack of flyers, the pretty young woman in the summer outfit watched Lin Li walk into the hot pot restaurant next door.
Through the large glass window, she saw the young man find a table, sit down, and order a ton of food from the server.
At this sight, the young woman froze completely. An expression of pure shock slowly spread across her face, her rosy lips parting in disbelief as she muttered to herself.
’No way... After eating all those lamb skewers, he still has room to go eat hot pot? That guy’s appetite is insane!’
’Thank god I don’t eat much. If I had an appetite like his, the little money I work so hard for wouldn’t even be enough to cover my food bills...’
...
「The night was hazy.」
"BURP~"
Stuffed and satisfied, Lin Li emerged from the hot pot restaurant. He’d accidentally ordered a bit too much and was feeling the effects, hence the loud burp he couldn’t hold back.
The pretty young woman in the summer outfit who had been handing out flyers on the street was now nowhere in sight.
A gig like that—standing on the street handing out flyers to drum up business for a restaurant—was usually just a part-time job.
Since she wasn’t around, her shift had probably ended, and she’d gone home.
...