webnovelfull Chapter 96 Face is something you earn yourself
Chapter 96 Face is something you earn yourself
Zhang Qiang walked into the store carrying several bottles of ice-cold beer that were emitting cold air.
He rushed over in his work clothes, still covered in cement stains.
He yelled in his signature loud voice, "Fengzi! I smell it! Is it braised pork intestines? I'm practically drooling right here at the alley entrance!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Qiang's gaze fell on Su Chen, who was rubbing his eyes.
Looking at Su Chen's bewildered expression and the obvious red mark on his left cheek.
Zhang Qiang was stunned for a moment, then burst into extremely unrestrained laughter.
"Hahaha! Oh my, Young Master Su, how come you're already drunk before even eating? Your face is as red as a monkey's bottom!"
Zhang Qiang slammed the beer down on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
Su Chen rubbed his face, feeling a little embarrassed after being ridiculed by Zhang Qiang.
He cleared his throat, skillfully picked up the bottle opener on the table, and with a flick of his wrist, pried open a bottle of beer with a "pop" and pushed it directly in front of Zhang Qiang.
"Brother Qiang, stop teasing me." Su Chen said, while carefully wiping the table in front of Zhang Qiang with a rag.
"Today I've truly experienced the intensity of your usual work."
I was really tired; I don't even know how I fell asleep.
Zhang Qiang picked up the bottle, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp. The "glug glug" sound echoed in the store.
He put down the bottle, let out a satisfying burp, and then patted Su Chen's shoulder forcefully.
"Good lad, you didn't complain about being tired or suffering. For that, from now on, Brother Qiang will protect you on this street!"
"The food is here, hurry up and wash your hands before you eat."
Chen Feng's voice came from the kitchen.
Next, he brought out two plates of stir-fried vegetables and a large bowl of rice, and finally took five bowls and filled everyone's bowls to the brim.
"Let's eat," Chen Feng said, sitting down and picking up his chopsticks.
The atmosphere at the dinner table then reached a climax. While eating, everyone started chatting about the various interesting things that had happened at the restaurant that day.
Su Chen swallowed a large mouthful of rice, excitedly put down his chopsticks, and began to gesticulate wildly as he reported today's "battle situation" to Zhang Qiang.
"Brother Qiang, it's such a shame you weren't here today! You have no idea how funny the guests' reactions were." Su Chen gestured vividly, even standing up to imitate them.
"First, there are Lin Xiaoyu's three best friends."
Her two best friends, because they didn't get to eat shredded pork with garlic sauce yesterday and were tempted by Lin Xiaoyu all night, were full of resentment. This morning, they brought Lin Xiaoyu home first thing in the morning.
Zhang Qiang, with a scallion between his fingers, listened with great interest: "And then? A commotion broke out?"
"What's all this commotion!" Su Chen sat down again, slapping the table and laughing loudly.
"As soon as the dishes were served, the three of them stopped arguing!"
Lin Xiaoyu's best friend directly grabbed a spoon and tried to snatch the potatoes and beef brisket from Lin Xiaoyu's bowl.
Lin Xiaoyu shouted anxiously, "Put it down! Didn't we agree to break up?!"
As she chewed on the meat, her best friend said, "Fine, we can break up, but this piece of meat has to be mine!"
The three little girls licked the bowl clean, leaving not a single grain of rice!
"Hahahaha!" Zhang Qiang laughed, slapping his thigh. "These little girls, they really know their stuff!"
Xingruo couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. She added softly, "There are also some uncles and elders who came today for the steamed buns."
At first, several people were unhappy and didn't want to eat without steamed buns. Su Chen kept encouraging them to try some.
Su Chen immediately chimed in, mimicking the way those old men put their hands behind their backs, and said in a rough voice:
"Yes, yes, yes! There was an old man in a t-shirt who said with a stern face, 'Your steamed buns are very good, but now you're making this sticky potato jerky stuff.'"
After taking a bite, his eyes widened to be bigger than saucers!
Su Chen picked up his empty bowl and pretended to shovel rice into his mouth:
"The old man didn't say a word and ate three bowls of rice in a row."
After finishing his meal, he wasn't angry at all; instead, he went to the door and called out to the other people looking for steamed buns.
"Stop arguing! We'll eat whatever Boss Chen makes! This beef brisket is even better than steamed buns!"
Zhang Qiang was stunned. He turned to look at Chen Feng and gave him a thumbs up.
"Fengzi, have you bewitched them? These guys are completely under your thumb!"
"There's even more outrageous stuff!" Su Chen clearly hadn't had enough. He leaned forward, his tone becoming extremely mysterious.
"Brother Qiang, have you ever seen those socialites who are decked out in designer brands from head to toe and practically walk on the street without touching the ground?"
Zhang Qiang shook his head: "There aren't that kinds of people on construction sites. Isn't that the kind of circle your young master Su used to hang out with every day?"
"Only one came today!" Su Chen said vividly, gesturing with his chopsticks in the air.
"That woman's name is Han Lulu, and she was brought here by her boyfriend."
The moment you step inside, the perfume scent completely overpowers the smell of beef brisket.
She pinched her nose, looked at our tables and chairs with disgust, and loudly accused her boyfriend, saying that our place was a "construction site canteen" and that these broken bowls were unworthy of being posted on her social media.
"Oh ho, so arrogant?" Zhang Qiang put down his chopsticks, raising an eyebrow. "So she didn't eat in the end?"
"How could I not have eaten!" Su Chen slapped his thigh, his face flushed with excitement.
"Her boyfriend was really tough today. He ordered a dish and ate it himself while she watched from the side."
You know how skilled Brother Chen is; who can resist that aroma?
Su Chen imitated Han Lulu's careful way of picking up chopsticks:
"At first she was aloof and only took a small bite of potato."
As a result of that small bite, her entire defenses completely collapsed!
She snatched her boyfriend's spoon and started frantically searching for meat in the bowl.
I ate so fast that I finished my freshly applied lipstick, and the steam smudged my foundation, leaving even the tip of my nose covered in bright red sauce!
Mengmeng giggled beside her and chimed in in her childish voice:
"Brother Su is right! When that pretty lady left, she even told her boyfriend that she wanted to come back for dinner tomorrow!"
"Brilliant!" Zhang Qiang excitedly raised his glass and clinked it heavily with Su Chen's. "To cure this kind of affectation, you need a strong medicine like Feng Zi! Come on, let's have a drink!"
The two of them downed a drink in good spirits.
Chen Feng listened with a smile the whole time, occasionally picking up a bite of food.
He watched as Su Chen completely integrated into this life and acted without any airs, and nodded to himself in approval.
"Alright, stop talking about us." Chen Feng put down his chopsticks and looked at Zhang Qiang. "How was your trip back to the construction site this afternoon? Did those troublemakers give you any more trouble?"
When Chen Feng asked about the construction site, Zhang Qiang's eyes lit up instantly. He slammed his beer bottle on the table with tremendous force, his whole body trembling with excitement.
"Fengzi, if you hadn't brought this up, I would have had to give you a proper report!" Zhang Qiang wiped his mouth, his voice so loud it made the roof vibrate.
"You have no idea, after you left this afternoon, the construction site was in complete chaos!"
Zhang Qiang stood up, put one foot on the crossbeam of the chair, struck a smug pose, and began to imitate the reactions of Old Li and the others.
"That old Li, he always treats me with a cold shoulder because he's senior.
When I was working on the scaffolding in the afternoon, he actually came over to help me carry the bucket of mortar!
As he handed it back, he leaned closer to me, a broad smile on his face, and asked:
"Brother Qiangzi, I said something unpleasant this morning, please don't take it to heart."
Um... exactly where is Mr. Chen's shop located?
"Will he still be selling his mung bean soup tomorrow at noon?" His fawning manner made me blush for him!
Su Chen felt extremely satisfied and clapped his hands loudly: "Serves him right! He was being sarcastic and sarcastic all afternoon!"
"That's nothing!" Zhang Qiang became more and more excited as he spoke. He sat back in his chair, lowered his voice, and adopted an extremely mysterious demeanor.
"Guess what? When we finished work, our foreman, that stingy miser who wouldn't even share a sip of water with anyone, actually called me aside in a corner!"
Zhang Qiang held up two fingers and made a very vivid gesture of offering a cigarette.
He actually pulled a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes out of his pocket!
They pulled one out and shoved it behind my ear!
Then he patted my shoulder very affectionately and said:
"Daqiang, I never knew you had this powerful connection."
That Mr. Chen's cooking skills are absolutely amazing!
If Boss Chen comes to visit again next time, please let me know in advance, and I'll arrange for someone to greet him at the gate!
As Zhang Qiang spoke, his eyes suddenly reddened. He stopped laughing, looked intently at Chen Feng, and his voice became somewhat hoarse.
"Fengzi, I, Zhang Qiang, started working as a laborer on construction sites when I was eighteen, and I've been doing it for almost ten years."
I used to think that as long as I was stronger than others and did more work than others, others would look up to me.
But today I realized that in those people's eyes, those who do hard labor will always just be those who do hard labor.
Zhang Qiang took a deep breath, picked up his wine glass, and solemnly raised it to Chen Feng.
"Today is the day I've stood up straightest on a construction site in my entire life."
It's not because I, Zhang Qiang, am so great, but because I have you as my brother!
Fengzi, you've completely won back all the face I lost before today!
Zhang Qiang tilted his head back and drank the beer in his glass in one gulp.
Chen Feng also downed his beer in one gulp, then picked up his chopsticks and pointed to the last few pieces of fatty intestines left on the plate.
"Saving face is something you earn yourself. Hurry up and eat, or your stomach will harden if the food gets cold."
Su Chen grinned mischievously, reaching out with his chopsticks to snatch the last piece of fatty intestine: "Brother Qiang, if you keep being so sentimental, I'm going to eat this piece!"
"You little brat, you dare steal my meat!" Zhang Qiang immediately composed himself, rudely slammed his chopsticks against Su Chen's chopsticks, and snatched the piece of fatty intestine into his own bowl.
The meal was enjoyed with great enthusiasm, and the whole house was filled with laughter and joy.