The air was crisp and clear in the high autumn sky, a fine day to open for business. The ginkgo leaves in the courtyard seemed to have been turned golden overnight by the wind, spinning as they fell, carpeting the ground like gold.

The monkeys were up early preparing the breakfast they were going to sell. Thanks to Pi Xiu—their stingy taskmaster — the brothers had all developed strong muscles from kneading dough, each looking more and more like a fit young man.

Pi Xiu stood in the main hall facing Pi Jubao: “Don’t give me that long face (NT: idiom meaning “to look sullen or dejected”) first thing in the morning. Even if your eyebrows droop all the way to the ground, you’re still going to school.”

“I—I don’t want to go to school,” Pi Jubao stammered. “It’s—it’s already late, so might as well not go at all!”

Pi Xiu glared: “I called you seven or eight times this morning, why didn’t you get up!”

He couldn’t figure it out. Ren Jiao had taken the little merman back to kindergarten at the East Sea and hadn’t returned yet—how did that guy usually wake this brat up? Every morning this kid was like he was glued to the bed, impossible to lift.

The more Pi Xiu thought about it, the angrier he got. Clicking his tongue, he said: “Now hurry up and get a cab to school. I’ll give you money. Tell the teacher that early this morning our pressure cooker exploded and blew a hole in the wall, and you stayed home to repair it, that’s why you’re late.”

Su An, who had been doing calculations on an abacus nearby, suddenly froze, lifting his head to give a deep, puzzled look at the boss and his eldest son, full of disbelief.

With that kind of wild imagination and glib nonsense, being a Pi Xiu was truly a waste of talent.

After sending off the older son, the younger one came meowing and swishing his tail, circling around Pi Xiu’s legs twice. His long fluffy tail twined around Pi Xiu’s hand and tugged, hinting that he was hungry and urging him to hurry with the food.

Both of them were like little debt collectors. Pi Xiu’s face darkened as he went to fetch cat food, but Pi Zhaocai’s attention had already been caught by the fish stewing in Qiu Fu’s pot—his big furry butt plopped down by the stove, refusing to move.

Qiu Fu glanced at his big nephew, then at the fish in the pot, and raised a brow. “Want a taste?”

Pi Zhaocai meowed sweetly, opening his mouth wide to imply: not just a taste—let’s go big and have the whole pot.

No one could resist the assault of a cute, chubby cat. Even though Qiu Fu was a fox, he was no exception. It was just a pot of fish soup anyway—he had secretly made it for himself, but the child was still growing, so what was wrong with giving him some?

By the time Pi Xiu came back carrying the cat food, Pi Zhaocai had already drunk until his belly was round, lying on Qiu Fu’s lap, purring and getting his fur and belly rubbed, looking utterly content.

Pi Xiu’s face turned dark as he tossed the cat food aside and lifted his big, white, chubby son. Just one heft told him the cat had gotten even fatter. Anger rising, he carried the cat into the backyard.

There, an oversized treadmill was started up. Pi Xiu placed Pi Zhaocai on it, holding a twig in hand, watching him run. If he slowed even a little, Pi Xiu would give him a swat.

For the first five minutes, Pi Zhaocai managed to endure, moving his sturdy legs under the deadly gaze of his father. But after five minutes, he gave up, meowed pitifully, and jumped off the treadmill, flopping down as if dead.

Seeing Pi Xiu coming over with “the tool of family education”, Pi Zhaocai sprang to all fours, opened his mouth wide, and let out a piercing meow, using his ultimate move : “MOM!!!”

The window on the second floor opened, and Wen Xi stuck his head out, looking down at the two. “What are you two doing?”

Pi Zhaocai seized the chance to act first, meowing pitifully, his big fluffy tail lashing the treadmill. While Pi Xiu was distracted looking up at Wen Xi, he kicked off and climbed over the wall to escape.

The couple looked at each other for a moment before Wen Xi chuckled. “Alright, leave him be. He’ll come back on his own once he’s hungry.”

Pi Xiu went upstairs, face still dark. Though it was already autumn, the lingering summer heat was still fierce. The old demon, sweating, reached out to pull Wen Xi into his arms, rubbing his face against Wen Xi’s neck as he inhaled that faint fragrance, grumbling, “I swear, both of them are troublesome.”

Wen Xi patted his back. “They’re still young. They’ll understand once they grow up.”

Pi Xiu snorted, scooped the little one up, and kissed his cheek. “You’re the only one who’s sensible. So sensible—then why did you scratch my back last night?”

Wen Xi froze, his face instantly turning red. “It’s broad daylight—don’t talk like that, will you?”

“What difference does day or night make?” Pi Xiu said, carrying him to the bed. He brushed Wen Xi’s black hair behind his ear and kissed him on the lips. “If you close your eyes, isn’t it night?”

As he spoke, a mischievous thought struck him. He snapped his fingers, and Wen Xi’s vision went dark—something had covered his eyes.

Pi Xiu looked at the black silk ribbon over Wen Xi’s eyes, dissatisfied, and touched it again—turning it red, which made Wen Xi’s skin look even fairer by contrast.

“Stop fooling around, today…” Wen Xi reached to remove the ribbon, but his wrist was caught.

Pi Xiu kissed the back of his hand, pulled him into his lap, pressed his forehead against Wen Xi’s, and said softly: “There’s nothing to do today. Let’s just rest for a while…”

The two rested together in the room for a while. When Pi Xiu finally removed the magic formation, and prepared to go downstairs to check on the business, a loud crow of a rooster echoed, followed by Qiu Fu’s excited shout. Half the customers in the shop turned their heads toward the backyard in surprise.

Su An pushed up his glasses and quickly controlled the situation: “Sorry, everyone—the cook’s pet chicken finally laid an egg. He got a little overexcited.”

After bringing back the chickens from Mount Buzhou, all but the sturdiest had been cooked and served. The rest were raised in the courtyard, and Qiu Fu had voluntarily taken charge of caring for them—hoping, perhaps, to secure himself some extra employee benefits.

But unexpectedly, after raising them for so long, he’d actually grown attached to them. Looking at the plump, strong, and full-of-energy chickens he had raised, Qiu Fu suddenly lost his appetite and couldn’t bear to take a bite.

Today was the first time one of the hens laid an egg. Qiu Fu had accompanied her the whole time, and now, after she had laid it, he was still stroking her feathers and praising her as a capable girl. The egg she laid was ten times bigger than a normal one—a real treasure.

Pi Xiu, cigarette dangling from his mouth, watched Qiu Fu squatting there. After frowning for a while, he clicked his tongue, stepped forward, patted Qiu Fu on the shoulder, and asked, “Not working today? You are planning to be a chicken keeper now?”.

“Brother Pi, look at this egg—isn’t it great?”

Qiu Fu held up the egg like a treasure. Pi Xiu took it, looked at it twice, then nodded. “Then fry some tomatoes and scrambled eggs with it. Wen Xi hasn’t eaten yet, I’ll take it up to him.”

He paused, suddenly remembering they’d eaten tomato-and-egg yesterday, and corrected himself: “Forget it, just steam the egg instead—add two shrimps and a bit more soy sauce.”

Qiu Fu: “…”

Qiu Fu said, “Can’t you have a little compassion?”

Pi Xiu raised an eyebrow. “I saw how you were gnawing chicken bones last night—you didn’t look too compassionate then. What, just because you ate the chicken, I can’t make steamed eggs from the egg it left behind?”

“Is there no justice left in the world?”.

The two stared at each other for a while, then Qiu Fu asked, “Do steamed eggs made from eggs like this even taste good?”

“They’re great! Didn’t a customer order it yesterday?” Pi Xiu jerked his chin toward the remaining eggs in the coop. “You can make one for yourself too, try it.”

After assigning the steamed-egg task, Pi Xiu headed toward the front hall. Tao Ti was about to start a live broadcast soon, and since Ren Jiao happened to be back today, Pi Xiu wanted him to “accidentally” appear on camera—just in time to kick off his influencer-restaurant plan.

Nowadays, the gluttonous Tao Ti was no longer what he used to be. The live-stream room’s popularity could break a million viewers in minutes; whether he was eating or selling products, every call brought immediate response. He was the undisputed king of the forum’s live-streaming world, the pillar of online traffic.

With Ren Jiao’s new, completely transformed face, making money with this little restaurant would be practically effortless.

Pi Xiu sighed over his own cleverness. As he walked into the hall, he ran right into Ren Jiao, who had just returned from the East Sea.

The former Chef Ren had only been a spirited cook with a scar on his face, but now the scar was gone without a trace. He had regained the face of a gender-defying celestial heart-throb. Even Erlang Shen, who stared in the mirror every day, would have to admit he was handsome.

Everyone in the restaurant turned to look at Ren Jiao. Chopsticks were put down; phones were quietly raised.

This was a true handsome man!

Everyone’s opinions were unanimous. Their eyes practically glowed as they stared at him. Under those blazing gazes, Ren Jiao walked step by step toward Pi Xiu and cursed outright: “I just got back, and the tricycle delivering vegetables scraped my car at the door. Can I get reimbursed?”

Pi Xiu frowned. “Didn’t you buy car insurance yourself? And you still want me to reimburse you?”

Boss Pi only ever had one answer for reimbursement requests: no.

He tugged Ren Jiao closer and lowered his voice. “Tao Ti’s streaming over there—go get yourself into the frame. This month’s restaurant revenue depends on you.”

Ren Jiao raised a brow. “What, so it’s not enough that I sell my skills, now you want me to sell my looks too? No way, I’m not doing it.”

“Then what would make you do it?” Pi Xiu said. “And don’t even think about Pi Jubao. I won’t agree to you two being together unless he’s a hundred years old.”

Ren Jiao replied, “Can you think something good about me for once? I just want a simple raise, that’s all.”

“That’s negotiable.” Pi Xiu paused. “You’ll get one-third of the revenue from the customers you attract.”

Ren Jiao bargained back: “Half, or no deal.”

Pi Xiu added: “Half is fine—but you’ll have to do a runway presentation when serving dishes, with a smile and a gentle attitude.”

Ren Jiao hesitated. “Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, otherwise the kitchen will be too busy.”

“Deal.” Pi Xiu immediately agreed, stepped aside, and gave Tao Ti a meaningful look, signaling that the two handsome men could start their “performance.”

From the kitchen doorway, Qiu Fu watched the three handsome brothers in the hall. He looked at the egg in his hand, then at Hou Er beside him, then at his own reflection in the mirror, and murmured gloomily, “Am I the only one in this restaurant who’s both ugly and can’t fight?”.

Hou Er leaned on his broom with a sigh. “Brother Qiu, you’ve still got me.”

Qiu Fu choked, staring at him in silence. The other monkeys, Hou Si and Hou Wu, carrying plates past them, didn’t dare say a word, letting Hou Er indulge in his delusion of being an ordinary monkey demon who couldn’t fight and got scammed online.

If even this monkey “can’t fight,” then probably no one in the world could claim they can.

Ren Jiao appeared briefly in Tao Ti’s live stream, then went to his room to unpack. Soon after, he tied on his apron and went back to work in the kitchen. An hour later, when he came out carrying dishes, the entire restaurant was packed full.

He stood there holding the dish, suddenly at a loss under all the gazes. Pi Xiu patted his shoulder. “Go on—the whole stage is yours now.”

Ren Jiao looked at him. “Did someone post about this on the forum?”

“They did. More than one.” Pi Xiu lowered his voice. “Mind your expression—some people came with professional cameras.”

Ren Jiao was speechless. “I have camera fright! No way, I’m going back to the kitchen—that’s where I belong, fighting and dedicating my life!”

Pi Xiu gave him a deep look. “I’ll only take one-fourth of the revenue.”

Ren Jiao froze mid-retreat. “…I’m cured.”

He coughed lightly, showing a mysterious, alluring smile, and strutted toward the hall like a model. Pi Xiu watched him go, then took the steamed egg from Hou San and headed upstairs.

Wen Xi was looking at his phone, smiling. Seeing Pi Xiu come up, he waved the phone and asked, “So, step one of the influencer restaurant has begun?”

“Yes.” Pi Xiu sat by the bed and handed over a document. “Here’s the file you wanted. The Queen Mother of the West had the Earth God courier it over. But what’s so great about contracting internet service for a place like Mount Buzhou? The upfront investment will be huge.”

“But the long-term income will be just as high,” Wen Xi said. “Besides, aren’t they about to build the Mount Buzhou Wildlife Park? Once tourists start coming, they’ll need inns, restaurants, and other facilities nearby. You really think investors will ignore that?”

Pi Xiu nodded. “Then when the time comes, we’ll buy some land there and open a guesthouse.”

Wen Xi nodded. “No need to open another restaurant. Let’s keep this one unique—our old-brand exclusive—so we can do some scarcity marketing”

The two sat on the bed, imagining their future together, and spent another day of peaceful prosperity.

 

Translator : DarNan