Food: Senior year internship, you take over the university cafeteria

Chapter 48 Queuing Again

He nudged Shen Jing beside him, desperately trying to signal her with his eyes.

Shen Jing was savoring the last bit of sauce in her mouth when her husband nudged her, bringing her back to her senses. She immediately put on a loving motherly smile: "Yes, yes, yes! It's mainly for you! Your dad is right, we were just curious and wanted to try what your favorite food tastes like. Hmm—it really tastes great!" She licked her lips, still wanting more, and her gaze couldn't help but drift to the empty bottom of the lunchbox.

Su Weiwei crossed her arms, her pretty eyebrows raised high, her face clearly saying, "I don't believe you for a second." "Oh? You're mainly here to see me? Then let me ask you two, why did you take the subway for over an hour, cross half the city, and come all the way to this remote alley behind our school, just to experience something youthful"? Does that logic even make sense?

Shen Jing's smile froze for a moment.

Su Mingyuan's eyes darted around, his brain working frantically, trying to find a more reasonable, more "paternal and maternal" reason. His gaze swept past his daughter's scrutinizing eyes, over the endless queue behind him, and finally landed on his empty hands—the lunchbox was completely clean.

"Uh—well—" Su Mingyuan rubbed his hands together, his eyes darting around like a student caught cheating by the teacher, "Actually—well—we've been—well—dreaming about—about you when you were little lately—"

"Dreaming about me?" Su Weiwei was taken aback.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Su Mingyuan exclaimed, his voice rising an octave as if grasping at a lifeline, his recollection exaggerated. "I dreamt of you as a child, with a high fever, delirious, your face flushed, unable to eat anything, just pouting and crying, saying you wanted to eat—you wanted to eat those sweet and spicy rice cakes! Yes! Just like the ones you bought today! Your mother and I were so worried, we searched half the city in the middle of the night, but couldn't find a shop that sold those rice cakes! In the end, we could only cook you a bowl of plain porridge—your mother held you, feeding you while tears streamed down her face—"

Su Mingyuan spoke with heartfelt sincerity, even raising his hand to rub away non-existent tears, his tone filled with "deep" guilt: "So! Today, when I smelled this aroma and saw this rice cake, I felt particularly uneasy!"

I remembered the regret of not being able to let you eat it back then! That's why—that's why I couldn't resist—wanting to try it and make up for what I owed you back then!

Alas, the hearts of parents are always full of love and worry!

Shen Jing nodded in agreement, her eyes actually a little red, whether from the spiciness or from being moved by her husband's quick-witted "melodrama": "Yes, Weiwei, after what your dad said, I also felt—sigh—"

Su Weiwei was a little stunned by this sudden "childhood memory attack." Looking at her parents' "sincere" performance and her mother's slightly red eyes—was this script a little too much? Was it really necessary for a stutter?

She stared at her parents suspiciously, feeling that something was off, especially in her father's eyes, where there seemed to be something else, something more urgent. But she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Alright, alright—" Su Weiwei waved her hand helplessly. If she pursued the matter any further, she was afraid she would be embarrassed to death by the acting skills of these two "drama queens." "They've already finished eating, what else can I say? Wait, I'll go queue up and buy another one for my roommate."

She resignedly stood up, ready to rejoin that dreadful long queue. She'd only taken two steps when her mother's calm, smiling voice came from behind, as if her earlier "sadness" had instantly evaporated: "Weiwei, if you get in line, buy one more! Your parents think—this rice cake and rice noodle roll—um—are especially good for reminiscing about family!"

We're waiting for you here!

Su Weiwei stumbled and almost fell. She turned around and saw her parents sitting side by side on the bench. Where was the "affection" and "guilt" from before? All that remained was an undisguised, pure, and burning desire for food! Their eyes shone like those of wolves that hadn't eaten for three days!

She suddenly understood what the urgency in her father's eyes meant!

It's craving! My cravings have been completely awakened. One serving is not enough; I have an endless desire for another!

The long queue was just an excuse; the real reason was that they were craving another meal!

"Dad! Mom! You—" Su Weiwei pointed at them, feeling both angry and amused, and simply didn't know what to say.

Su Mingyuan chuckled, his skin as thick as a city wall: "Daughter, hurry up! Dad just tasted it, and this place definitely has some secret ingredient in their soy sauce! That umami flavor is definitely not just ordinary seafood sauce! Dad needs to taste it more carefully! This is for the sake of culinary research! It's very serious!"

Shen Jing nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes! We need to study it! Mom also needs to taste the layers of that chili sauce again! It's related to—it's related to our family's grand plan for restaurant development!"

Su Weiwei: "————" She was completely speechless. She rolled her eyes, turned around, and with a belly full of complaints and a tragic resignation, walked back to the end of the long, winding queue. The afterglow of the setting sun stretched her shadow long, exuding a desolate feeling of "the wind is howling and the Yi River is cold."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

at the same time.

Su Hang entered his password and pushed open the door, only to be greeted by desolation and darkness.

"Dad? Mom?" he called out, but there was only an echo.

The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all empty. He had deliberately ended a shoot in a nearby city early to rush back, wanting to surprise his parents and chat with them about "Shengji" and Wang Sheng, the canteen owner whose cooking skills were so good that even he, the "sharp-tongued judge," was completely convinced and even slightly impressed.

There was a note on the coffee table, written in Shen Jingjuan's neat handwriting: "Xiao Hang, I suddenly decided to go to Jinda to see your sister, and also to check out Shengji Late Night Snack. There's some instant food in the fridge, heat it up yourself."

P.S.: Your dad said Shengji Rice Noodle Rolls are even better than the ones he had in Shenzhen, so we're going to try them for you. —Mom

Su Hang clutched the note, his lips twitching.

Surprise? Surprise my ass!

He got stood up! His own parents teamed up to stand him up!

"Let me try it for you"? Could that excuse be any more flimsy? He could practically picture his dad's craving when he said that.

He seemed so impatient! An indescribable sense of grief and indignation welled up inside him. He, a food blogger from Suzhou and Hangzhou with hundreds of thousands of followers, who had visited countless restaurants and whose family owned a local Shanghainese restaurant, was now reduced to being alone in an empty house, staring at cold convenience store rice balls and frozen dumplings in the refrigerator!

"Shengji—" He ground his back teeth, the smoothness of the rice noodle rolls seeming to entwine his tongue again.

Hunger mixed with a desolate feeling of being abandoned by the whole world gripped him tightly.

A full half hour passed.

Su Weiwei finally got to the window, feeling like her legs were about to give way.

She ordered generously: "Senior Wang, two servings of shrimp rice noodle rolls with two kinds of shrimp! One large serving of spicy stir-fried rice cakes! To go!"

Wang Sheng, who was deftly packing boxes for the previous customer at the window, looked up when he heard her voice, saw her, and smiled warmly: "Weiwei? Didn't you just buy some? Not enough?"

"Don't even mention it!" Su Weiwei complained in a low voice, her face contorted with grief. "My parents robbed us on the way! They even licked the box clean! Now I have to queue up again!"