The small restaurant was officially opened. Lin Momo followed the example of other small shops and found a piece of paper, wrote the word ‘Open’ on it, and hung it on the door.

After that, Lin Cheng continued to be busy in the dining area and the kitchen, while Lin Momo sat upright behind the cashier by the door, her gaze fixed in the direction of the store entrance with an excited and serious expression.

Lin Cheng came over, glanced at Lin Momo, and said, “Why are you nervous?” 

“Hmm, I’m not nervous,” Lin Momo refuted instinctively.

Hearing this, Lin Cheng glanced at Lin Momo, who was hiding behind the cashier, wringing her hands tightly at the side of her clothes. He smiled secretly and decided to give this girl some face and not expose how fake her words were.

… …

As lunch time came, more and more people came to eat on Liuming Street.

Staring at the diners coming and going on the street, Lin Momo became more and more nervous: there were people coming and going, but no one came to their shop!

There was already a long queue at the door of the small noodle shop next door.

But look at their small restaurant…. It’s deserted, with not a single diner around.

Lin Momo couldn’t hold back and ran outside to take a look—the words ‘Improved One Day Small Restaurant’ were still hanging on the door. Passers-by should be able to see that there was a small restaurant here behind this door. 

The ‘Open’ sign was also very eye-catching.

“Why is there no one…,” Lin Momo whispered.

Seeing Lin Momo stretching her neck and standing at the door of the restaurant, looking eager and waiting, Lin Cheng walked over and put a piece of still-warm steamed cake into Lin Momo’s hand.

“What are you doing out here?” Lin Cheng asked.

“I’m watching to see when the guests will come.”

“Go inside and sit and wait.”

“But…”

“You stand here and you could scare the guests away from coming,” Lin Cheng said seriously, holding back a smile. 

Hearing this, Lin Momo was gobsmacked at this and wanted to refute, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that this was indeed the truth.

“Then I’d better go in.” Lin Momo, who was worried about scaring away the customers, ran back and sat down behind her cashier, but her eyes were still staring straight at the entrance of the store.

… …

At this time, five young men and women finally stopped outside their small restaurant.

Lin Momo heard one of the girls say to the people she was with, “Hey, is there a new small restaurant here?” 

“It seems like it. When I came here last week, it was still closed.”

“What to eat? Stir-fried vegetables?”

“’One Day Restaurant’? What a weird name.” 

“But the store looks pretty clean and tidy.”

“Then why don’t we try this restaurant for lunch today?” one of them suggested.

When she heard that several people were coming to their small shop to eat, Lin Momo’s eyes suddenly lit up and she instinctively sat upright behind the checkout counter.

But another person seemed to be hesitant, “It feels like there is not much business. Maybe it wouldn’t be delicious?” 

“After all, it’s a new restaurant. There is no publicity and no promo activities. It’s normal that no one notices it. It’s just a restaurant anyway. Let’s try it for a meal, just in case it’s okay.”

“Okay, let’s go in and take a look first.” Several other people nodded.

… … 

Inside the restaurant, listening to the conversation of the people outside, Lin Momo felt like she was on a roller coaster, her insides going up and down. Finally hearing them say that they wanted to come and take a look, the big stone in Lin Momo’s heart finally fell.

Seeing several people walking into the store, Lin Momo greeted them enthusiastically.

“Hello, older brothers and sisters, our restaurant is newly opened today. The dishes are very delicious. You can try them.” 

When the child in front of them called them ‘older brothers and sisters‘, the young people felt a little better¹.

“Do you have stir-fried vegetables in your restaurant?”

“Yes!”

“Is there a menu? Let me take a look,” a young man said.

“Well… there’s no menu yet.” Lin Momo looked embarrassed. Fearing that the guests would leave, she quickly said, “You can order whatever you want, I can help you ask if it is available.” 

Hearing this, several young people hesitated. 

After thinking for a while, one of them asked, “Do you have fish-flavored shredded pork?”²

“Fish-flavored shredded pork? Wait a moment.”

After saying that, Lin Momo quickly ran to the kitchen and asked Lin Cheng, “Dad, fish-flavored shredded pork? Can we make this?”

Hearing Lin Momo’s question, Lin Cheng thought for a moment, nodded and said, “Yes.”

Lin Momo then ran back to those people and said, “We have this here.”

“I don’t really want to eat meat lately, let’s try another one,” one person said.

The person standing at the front then asked Lin Momo, “Do you have any fish-flavored eggplant?”³

Fish-flavored eggplant just meant replacing shredded pork with eggplant, right? Lin Momo thought secretly in her mind… and then nodded.

“What about you? What else do you want to eat?”

“Is there pine nuts and corn?” ⁴

“Well… wait a minute.” Lin Momo ran to the kitchen again and asked Lin Cheng.

Several people asked about a few more dishes. Lin Momo ran back and forth several times to make sure that they had all these dishes at their small restaurant.

“Our family can make all of these, what else do you want to eat?” Lin Momo asked again.

“What do you think?”

Several young people looked at each other, and some seemed a little confused.

“I still want to eat hot pot.”

“Then let’s go to that hot pot restaurant from before.”

… …

Watching these leave, the expression on Lin Momo’s face instantly collapsed: the first batch of guests in their small restaurant… just gone?!

The restaurant became quiet again.

Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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FOOTNOTES:

1. I think they felt better because she called them ‘older brother and sister’, and not ‘uncle and aunt.’ ↩︎
2. Fish-flavored Shredded Pork. Despite the name, there’s no fish in this dish, not even fish sauce. It’s so named because this sauce is usually poured over fish dishes. It’s sharp with vinegar and garlicky.
   ↩︎
3. Fish-flavored Eggplant. The vegetarian version. Still no fish.
   ↩︎
4. Pine nuts and Corn. It’s seasoned with salt and  sugar, then can add green peas, carrots, cucumbers, or green onions for a bit of color, with some chicken stock.
   ↩︎