Chapter 86
The people of Q City had a preference for heavy and spicy flavors. Even in the cold, white winter, the streets seemed to be filled with a rich, fragrant, and pungent smell of chili.
It was as if the dull and uninteresting season had been dyed a vibrant and intense red.
Shen Tiantian felt the fiery atmosphere of this city and pulled out the small red cloak he had worn once yesterday from his suitcase.
He rarely wore the same clothes for two days in a row when he was out.
But yesterday, Tiantian had gone for a walk with his assistant uncle, wearing a bright red cloak, like a festive and round little persimmon.
Some of the grandpas and grandmas who didn’t know any celebrities couldn’t help but praise him when they saw him on the street:
“Where is this child from? He’s so red, like a lantern.”
“It’s almost New Year. You should dress festively. Look how adorable this little one is.”
They had directly praised Shen Tiantian until his cheeks also became rosy little apples, and he was so happy that his mouth was lifted all day.
So today, Shen Tiantian still chose this red cloak-style outfit, and with a red beret, his whole body was thoroughly red.
Shen Xiuze was still in his usual black, white, and gray. He tidied up his cuffs, looked up at the eye-catching little one, and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Let’s go.”
At Tiantian’s strong request, Shen Xiuze still took Shen Tiantian with him this time to inspect the stores.
Shen Xiuze held Shen Tiantian’s hand and felt as if he were holding a small red lantern.
He looked down, and the little red lantern was still bouncing, clearly very satisfied with his outfit.
Shen Xiuze’s lips lifted into a smile. He cleared his throat and glanced at the assistant following behind him.
At this moment, the assistant’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. After being glanced at by Shen Xiuze, he quickly lowered his head, but he still couldn’t stop his giggling.
Shen Tiantian was completely unaware. He had been praised for his beauty yesterday and felt that this outfit suited him very well. He bounced and took the car with his brother to the store.
Most of the branch company’s supermarket stores were scattered at the entrances of various residential areas.
Shen Xiuze chose two representative ones and planned to come and secretly inspect the quality of the goods in the supermarkets.
Although the supermarkets were small, Shen Xiuze was serious and responsible in his work and did not want any of the stores under him to have any problems.
A small supermarket has its own role. It cannot be left alone just because the profit margin is low.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the first residential area supermarket store.
Shen Tiantian was the first to jump out of the car. From a distance, he looked like a small red rice cake, soft and sweet, and full of energy.
He waved his small hand, wishing he could jump up and make his brother hurry up.
“Hurry up, hurry up. With Tiantian helping you today, you’ll definitely finish your work quickly!”
Shen Xiuze didn’t say anything. He held the little one who was stomping his feet and was so anxious he was about to take off on the spot, and walked into the supermarket.
They had come too early. The supermarket had just opened, and there were only a few grandpas and grandmas who liked to come and grab the fresh eggs in the morning.
Suddenly seeing a young man with a child, and the child was dressed so charmingly, a grandma let out a “yo-ho” and said cheerfully:
“Is the little one here to buy groceries too?”
Tiantian hummed in acknowledgment, looked up at the table in front of the shelf, and with his round eyes, he watched as the grandma nimbly picked out eggs.
“Auntie, are you here to buy eggs?”
The grandma’s eyes were quite sharp. In a short while, she had picked out two or three eggs and replied with kindness:
“That’s right. Can the little one pick them? Do you need your grandma to help you?”
Tiantian hadn’t forgotten his mission. He shook his head, his round eyes curved, and said with a smile:
“No need. I’m a little supervisor today!”
The grandma and the shop assistant on the side didn’t take Tiantian’s words to heart at all. They laughed and even teased Shen Tiantian for a few sentences.
Shen Xiuze also scanned the supermarket. It was quite clean, the labels were neat, and the prices of vegetables and some daily necessities were not inflated.
Perhaps because she had gotten familiar with Tiantian, the grandma couldn’t help but complain:
“After all, it’s under a big company. This store is indeed quite affordable, but some things, I don’t know where they’re from, are not practical at all.”
Shen Xiuze’s heart moved. He leaned closer and listened to the grandma continue to chat.
“…We don’t like to drink this brand of milk here. The one produced by our city’s xx factory is better. And the chili, it’s not spicy at all. I have to run all the way to the wet market to pick them.”
Shen Xiuze took out his phone and quickly recorded it, his eyes calm.
After the grandma and the grandpa had finished picking their eggs, they hurried to another supermarket to grab vegetables, saying that the vegetables there were fresher and more delicious.
Looking at the energetic grandpas and grandmas, Shen Xiuze’s assistant rarely sighed:
“The energetic grandmas and the listless me. It’s really unfair.”
Shen Xiuze didn’t listen to his complaint and sent him the things he had just recorded.
“Summarize it into a table when you get back.”
Assistant: Ying.
Life is so hard.
Fortunately, Shen Xiuze was very generous and directly gave him double the salary subsidy for the business trip.
At this moment, Tiantian also had his small hands behind his back, following Shen Xiuze, his little face straight as he looked up and around.
Although it was unclear what he had seen, his little appearance was quite intimidating.
It made the shop assistant a little nervous, thinking, what are these people here for?
Shen Xiuze focused on a few brands of goods, confirmed that there were no major quality problems, and then left with Shen Tiantian.
Shen Tiantian walked out of the store. After getting into the car, he cleared his throat, his little face straight, and straightened his little red cloak.
He mimicked his daddy’s appearance and pressed his small hands down, telling everyone to be quiet.
“Alright, I’ll talk about the problems now.”
As soon as he said this, both the assistant and Shen Xiuze looked at him.
“Oh? Did Tiantian see any problems?”
Seeing his brother’s teasing expression, not taking Tiantian’s discovery seriously at all, Tiantian couldn’t help but say with a huff:
“I found that the apples here are sold for three hundred and eighty-one yuan!”
After saying that, Tiantian didn’t wait for his brother and the assistant’s little brother’s shocked expressions and couldn’t help but pout his little lips.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t this a very significant discovery?”
The assistant’s little brother scratched his head. “How do I remember that apples are more than three yuan a jin?”
The assistant’s little brother had also taken a picture. He quickly pulled it out from the pictures and only then found out…
It was 3.81 yuan/jin.
Shen Tiantian didn’t know what a decimal point was.
Shen Xiuze helplessly tapped Shen Tiantian’s head, sighed, and said:
“Sit nicely. Don’t scare people with your surprises anymore.”
He had almost made Shen Xiuze think that he had missed some big problem.
Shen Tiantian shrank his neck, his eyes darted around, and he was completely honest.
His good behavior lasted for the whole journey. He didn’t say another word. It wasn’t until the inspection of the next store was over that he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
Tiantian put his hands on his hips, and his little belly puffed out from his sigh.
“You must have been holding it in.”
A hint of amusement appeared in Shen Xiuze’s handsome and cold features. He reached out to straighten Shen Tiantian’s hat and praised:
“But Tiantian was very well-behaved all the way. It’s worthy of praise.”
With that, Shen Xiuze looked at the time. The sun was high in the sky, and it was also time for lunch.
“Let’s go. What do you want to eat? It’s my treat.”
Tiantian had a say in this.
He raised his small hands high, bounced around Shen Xiuze, afraid that his brother wouldn’t hear him.
“Let’s eat hot pot! The auntie just said that the hot pot here is delicious!”
The grandma just now had seen that Shen Tiantian was not a local and had recommended two specialty hot pots with a very local flavor.
Shen Xiuze and the assistant’s little brother had no problem, but…
“You can’t eat spicy food.”
The last time Tiantian had eaten chili was the spicy chicken he had accidentally eaten at home.
But who could blame Shen Tiantian for having forgotten the feeling of being beaten by chili? He waved his small hand, looking nonchalant.
“It’s okay. I can eat spicy food very well.”
Sometimes, arguing with a child is the most useless thing.
You can only let the facts teach him a lesson.
Shen Xiuze didn’t say much and took Shen Tiantian to the nearest hot pot restaurant.
The decoration of the hot pot restaurant was exceptionally festive, with a large area of red. Red prop chili peppers hung on the wooden pillars with a sense of age.
The waiters’ aprons were also red and black, and their voices were loud and clear when they shouted.
“Three guests, please come in!”
Not to mention, Shen Tiantian’s outfit today was very suitable for the decoration of the hot pot restaurant.
It was bright red, and the lively and fiery energy from him was constantly bursting out, just like the red chili peppers around him, particularly attractive.
After sitting down, Shen Xiuze thought for a long time and still ordered a three-compartment hot pot.
The only spicy compartment was chosen to be mildly spicy.
But obviously, he had underestimated the level of spiciness here.
When the iron pot-like three-compartment hot pot was brought up, the spicy compartment was filled with red chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, which made Shen Xiuze’s eyelid twitch slightly.
“This is mildly spicy?”
The waiter acknowledged, turned on the fire, and replied with a smile:
“That’s right. That table ordered the super spicy one. You’ll know when you see the color of their pot.”
Shen Xiuze turned his head to look, and seeing the somewhat scary red color of the pot at that table, he couldn’t help but suck in a breath.
Shen Tiantian didn’t think it was a big deal. Although he was choked by the hot steam from the spicy pot and kept sneezing, he held his chopsticks and specifically picked out the things in the spicy pot to eat.
A tear welled up in the corner of Tiantian’s eye. When Shen Xiuze wasn’t looking, he had already stuffed the cooked tripe into his mouth.
In an instant, his light pink lips quickly turned blood red, and tears fell with a plop.
He coughed wildly from the spiciness.
His eye sockets were red, his face was also red, and his whole person was burned into a mantis shrimp by the chili.
Shen Xiuze quickly handed him a glass of warm milk, patted the little one’s back, and helped him spit out the tripe.
This was different from the spicy chicken he had eaten last time. This tripe was so spicy that even Tiantian’s throat was hurting, and he couldn’t swallow it at all.
Shen Tiantian coughed violently for a long time. His head was completely dazed from the spiciness. He sat there in a daze, his small mouth slightly open, and he couldn’t react for a long time.
“Just now… that tripe was hitting me in my mouth.”
It hit his tongue so hard that his mouth was almost swollen.
Tiantian cried, pressed his eyes with a tissue, took a deep breath, and his mouth was full of the unbearable taste of spiciness.
“The dishes here are all made of little monsters. They will fight in my mouth.”
Shen Tiantian couldn’t describe the feeling of spiciness. He was also a little paranoid. When Shen Xiuze gave him a dish from the tomato pot, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in terror.
“This is red. It’s very, very spicy.”
Shen Tiantian waved his hand, his eye sockets wet, and his little nose was also red from the spiciness, looking extremely pitiful.
Shen Xiuze explained:
“This is a tomato. It’s sweet and sour. You can try it if you don’t believe me.”
Shen Tiantian frowned, moved his little bottom back, and stubbornly pressed his lips together, shaking his head vigorously.
It wasn’t until he opened his mouth to speak that Shen Xiuze took the opportunity to stuff a meatball from the tomato pot into his mouth.
Shen Tiantian unconsciously chewed twice, his expression gradually lit up, and his eyes lit up with a bui.
It’s really not spicy!
