Chapter 615: Holding Things in Both Hands
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The moment Li Kun saw the girl, his first reaction was to turn around and run because he stuck a small sticker, that was hard to peel off, on the girl's designer bag.
"Wait a minute!" The girl stopped Li Kun and introduced him to her boyfriend. "If it weren't for him and another guy that night, I wouldn't have gotten my bag back. He's also a student at Binhai University."
It was the first time Zhang Zian heard about this incident, since neither Wang Qian, Li Kun nor Old Time Tea had mentioned it to him.
The girl's boyfriend thanked Li Kun for his help. Once the two young men started talking about video games, they got acquainted in no time.
The girl, apparently disgusted by her boyfriend's love of video games, interrupted, "Is your cell phone turned off? The Student Union has tried to reach you and your friend several times."
Li Kun took his cell phone out and said embarrassingly, "My battery died last night and I forgot to charge it. Why does the Student Union want to talk to us?"
Li Kun and Wang Qian were locals of Binhai City, so they didn't live in the dorms during break.
"They must have good news to tell you! I heard that the robbers were part of a gang that have committed crimes everywhere, which helped the police arrest every member. I guess the school wants to commend your bravery, maybe even grant you with scholarships!" she explained.
"Really?" Li Kun's eyes widened. He and Wang Qian had never gotten scholarships before. If they did, they'd spend the money on buying new video games.
"I think so. You should go to the school right now!" The girl urged Li Kun.
Li Kun looked to Zhang Zian for advice. Zhang Zian waved his hand and told Li Kun to find Wang Qian and return to campus. Li Kun nodded and ran to the pet shop to tell Wang Qian of the news.
When two customers left the snack bar, Snowy and Vivi finally entered. However, Vivi couldn't take off her mask. Zhang Zian stayed outside to ask the girl about the incident.
"Hello, girls. What would you like to order?" Aunt Li passed the menu to Snowy and Vivi with a smile while wiping the sweat off her forehead. Today was the busiest day since the store opened, so she kept walking back and forth between the dining area and the kitchen. Between helping Uncle Li cook, take orders, and wash dishes, Aunt Li barely had a chance to sit down. Even though her legs were aching, she was happy. Business in her snack bar had never been prosperous before, it was worth being tired.
Vivi saw that every table was taken, and that the customers were playing with the cats while they ate. She would feel embarrassed if she didn't order food at a restaurant, so knowing that Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun hadn't eaten, Vivi ordered two meals for them and an orange juice for her, to go.
Unlike Vivi, Snowy didn't have so many concerns. She was hungry and because she exercised a lot, she wouldn't gain weight no matter how much she ate. She wanted to order a Supreme Combo for Two Cat Fanciers because she knew she could finish the combo all by herself. However, Aunt Li kindly reminded Snowy, "All the cats are full. If you want to play with the cats, you'd better order something else."
"Really?" Snowy tilted her head and saw that the cats' bellies were round, and they ignored the food in the customer's' hands. "What's your signature dish?" Snowy hadn't forgotten the reason she was here.
Aunt Li pointed to the menu and suggested, "All of our customers say that our fried beef brisket is delicious."
"Then I'll order that, with a bowl of rice," Snowy said decisively. "Also, many people say that your ads are very distinctive. What kind of advertisement is it?"
Aunt Li took a small, colorful card from her apron pocket and put it on the table. When Snowy and Vivi saw the words on the small card, they couldn't help, but laugh.
On the front of the card, there were images of cats in different poses with captions like "A Satisfying Threesome with the Black and the White Cat," "Innocent British Shorthair Girl," "Mature American Shorthair," and "Exotic Siamese." Undoubtedly, the words described the several cats in this snack bar.
The audience watching Snowy's broadcast laughed so hard when they saw the advertisement.
"That advertisement rocks!"
"Wow! I want to eat at this restaurant!"
"Damn it! I've seen parodies about it on the internet. Are they really using pornographic words as advertisement? Who would be so shameless?"
"The advertisement is eye-catching. The question is, is the food delicious?"
"Was this your idea?" Snowy didn't believe that Aunt Li, who was in her fifties, could've come up with the advertisement. If Aunt Li did think of it, Snowy would be so shocked, her jaw would drop to the floor.
"No, it was Zhang Zian, the owner of the pet shop across the street," Aunt Li replied, waving her hand.
"Zhang Zian?" Snowy was surprised, but she thought the answer made sense. Of all of Snowy's acquaintances, Zhang Zian was the only one that would do such a thing.
"Yeah, not only did he come up with the idea, but he took care of everything for free, from printing and handing out the small cards to providing the cats. All we needed to do was buy some cat food." Aunt Li was grateful for Zhang Zian. "We wanted to offer him money to express our gratitude, but he refused to take any money, saying that it didn't cost him much."
Snowy asked, "He didn't charge you for the cats?"
The viewers didn't believe that Zhang Zian would ever give anything away for free.
Aunt Li pointed to a line of words on the wall. Snowy lifted her head and read the line, "There are cats and dogs available for adoption in the store."
"What does that mean?" Both Snowy and Vivi were curious.
Uncle Li said that the fried beef brisket was ready. Aunt Li gave Snowy her dish and told her about the cats and dogs in the store.
As it turned out, the animals were abandoned by their owners at the pet clinic. Zhang Zian came up with an idea to benefit to Sun Xiaomeng's pet clinic, Uncle Li's snack bar, and the abandoned pets.
The whole process didn't cost Zhang Zian very much, no wonder he was so generous. Even Wang Qian and Li Kun, who were responsible for posting the ads, had benefited a lot.
"Enjoy your meal. I'll bring your to-go order when they're ready." Uncle Li called her, so Aunt Li went to the kitchen to help.
"Okay." Snowy took apart the disposable chopsticks to start her meal.
As the viewers had said, good advertisement was just the icing on a cake, the real criteria to judge a restaurant was its food, environment, and service. Snowy had visited many restaurants, and some restaurants had come up with even more gimmicks than this snack bar. Unfortunately, they failed to meet the fundamental criteria, so Snowy couldn't recommend them to the netizens.
Since she was allergic to cats, Vivi couldn't take off her mask to eat. She grabbed the complimentary cat wand and tried to play with the cats.
"Meow! Come here! Get the wand!" The way Vivi talked and acted didn't seem like her.
The audience of Snowy's broadcast left all kinds of comments.
"Wow, you've surprised me!"
"She's has a dark side hiding beneath her innocent appearance."
"Now, I like you even more! Please be my girlfriend!"
Snowy knew Vivi loved cats. Even if Vivi was hospitalized for an allergic reaction, she wouldn't stay away from cats. Like Zhang Zian said, cat people fall in love with all cats easily.
Vivi stretched her arm to move the toy closer to the cats. Her sleeve move and revealed her wrist.
Snowy reminded her, "Vivi, be careful. Put on gloves, and don't let the cat touch you."
In some ways, Snowy was like an older sister. After all, she was more sophisticated and more thoughtful than Vivi.
Vivi nodded and put on gloves.
Attracted by the cat toy, a Siamese cat approached her tentatively. Vivi's Siamese cat had long hair, but she was also interested in the short-haired, exotic cat in front of her, so she shook the toy more energetically.
However, a laser pointer beamed from another table, leaving a red spot in front of the cat. The Siamese cat was obviously more interested in the laser than the wand.
Vivi was furious. "What b*stard took the cat away from me?"
Fortunately, the mask she wore muffled her voice, otherwise no one would think Vivi was a lady.
Vivi saw that it was a girl at another table that wanted the Siamese cat's attention.
The wand was overshadowed by the laser pointer, and that b*tch was about to completely attract the Siamese cat's attention. At this moment, Aunt Li brought Vivi's to-go orders to her.
"The food I ordered should come with a free laser pointer and catnip doll, right?" Vivi asked.
Aunt Li froze for a moment. Customers were supposed to return the cat toys before they left the store, but people who ordered to-go usually didn't stay in the store to play with the cats, so she never thought to bring them some. Aunt Li gave Vivi a laser pointer and a catnip doll, and apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't think about it."
After she got the toys, Vivi's confidence multiplied tenfold. She put down the wand and grabbed the catnip doll with her left hand, the laser pointer with her right hand, to continue vying for the Siamese cat's attention. Vivi also kept blowing the smell of the catnip in the direction of the cat.
The Siamese cat had almost reached the opposite table, but when it smelled the catnip, it turned around and walked back to Vivi's table.
The b*tch was surprised, but she was still fighting. However, her efforts were in vain because it was impossible for her to win the Siamese cat's favor with the laser pointer alone. The catnip was powerful and unstoppable.
The Siamese cat finally made it to Vivi's table. Vivi put down the laser pointer and held the wand in her right hand. Vivi swung the wand to let the cat try to grab it. Vivi was overjoyed to be playing with the cat.
Snowy aimed the camera at the fried beef brisket, and then used the chopsticks to pick up a piece of the brisket so that the audience could see the dish clearly.
"This dish can also be found in other restaurants in Binhai City. From its appearance, the beef brisket looks properly fried. Nowadays, everyone wants a healthy diet, and even though it's been fried in oil, there isn't much oil on the brisket or on the plate."
She brought the brisket close to her nose and inhaled. "The beef smells nice. The spicy aroma of peppers and garlic is very appetizing."
Other diners heard her voice and looked around curiously. They found Snowy recording with a hand-held tripod. Since the majority of the people in the snack bar were young, they realized Snowy was probably a vlogger.
Snowy didn't care how others perceived her. When she started out, she was very embarrassed to talk to herself like a fool, but she gradually became used to it.
She put the beef brisket into her mouth and bit half of it. While chewing, she aimed the camera closer to the beef brisket so that the audience could see the texture and color clearly. The texture indicated the quality of the meat, while the shade showed how long the meat was cooked.
"It tastes good. The beef is soft and smooth, and it's been well-marinated." After she chewed the beef a few times, she put some rice into her mouth.
Unlike the gourmet commentators who only tried the meat on TV, Snowy also tried the rice. After all, people usually ate meat with rice, so the quality of rice would be in her evaluation of a restaurant.
"I think the rice was freshly steamed, it's very delicious! It also perfectly compliments the beef!"
Snowy swallowed, nodded satisfyingly, and said to the camera, "After evaluating the food, the environment, and the service with the unique advertising methods of this snack bar, I strongly recommend this place!"