“Huh? Why is Broth not here today?” Wu Hai walked around with his big bag, failing to find Broth.
“The weather is quite cold today. Broth is probably in his nest. Let’s go check,” Wu Hai muttered as he walked deeper into the alley.
People rarely enter the alley and this was only Wu Hai’s third time here. Thus, he walked carefully since the ground was wet and slippery.
If he were to slip and was seen by Yuan Zhou, he would probably be laughed to death by Yuan Zhou.
Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was in the middle of the block. Therefore, Wu Hai reached the back door in a short while. With a glance, he saw Broth there.
“Why are you sleeping here instead of your nest?” The first thing Wu Hai saw when he arrived was Broth lying on the green tiles in front of the back door.
“Are you not cold here?” Wu Hai stroked his mustache as he studied Broth’s coat of fur.
When Broth heart footsteps, he lifted his head to look at Wu Hai. When Wu Hai reached him, he rested his head back on his paws again. With his black eyes, he gazed at Yuan Zhou’s back door, completely ignoring Wu Hai.
“Fine. I know you’re not much of a talker,” Wu Hai muttered as he set his bag down on the ground.
Broth raised his head again to take a look. First, he looked at Wu Hai, then he looked at the bag. However, he remained silent and made no sound.
“See this? These are all my souvenirs for you. They are meat jerkies and other stuff. All of them are tasty. Do you like them?” Wu Hai took the contents of the bag out and placed them before Broth.
“I brought these all far away from Guizhou,” Wu Hai started letting Broth know of his hard work lugging all the stuff back.
These meat jerkies were indeed brought back from Guizhou. But in truth, these were all leftovers Zheng Jiawei bought for him.
Initially, Zheng Jiawei had mentioned that if he wanted meat jerkies, he could always buy them in Chengdu since they were not local specialties of Guizhou. But Wu Hai felt like bringing them back from Guizhou would better show his sincerity. Therefore, he brought it along on the flight, even causing his luggage to go overweight.
“Don’t worry. You don’t have to thank me. We are brothers. I will place them all right beside your nest. You can eat them anytime you want,” Wu Hai spoke gently.
When Broth saw the meat jerkies being placed beside his nest, he lifted his head and barked softly.
Broth’s voice was gentle, as if he was thanking Wu Hai.
“You have accepted them? Good. Hey, how about this,” Wu Hai spoke again when he heard Broth’s bark.
“The next time Boss Yuan makes you meat jerkies or cookies, remember to leave some for your Brother Wu. After all, you are Brother Dog and I am Brother Wu. We are family,” Wu Hai persuaded seriously, placing them both on the same generation.
However, he received no response from Broth as Broth was once again staring at the back door.
Of course, Wu Hai did not require any response. He paused slightly before he spoke again, “I will take your silence as your agreement.”
Then, Wu Hai turned and left. He planned to tell Yuan Zhou about this. As far as he was concerned, Broth had already agreed.
Since Broth had agreed, he needed to let Yuan Zhou know.
When Broth heard the footsteps leaving, he turned around and glanced at Wu Hai, his eyes seemingly filled with disdain.
Alas, Wu Hai was not here to see this look of disdain.
“Looks like Broth is very agreeable indeed. Bringing all those meat jerkies from so far away is totally worth it,” Wu Hai walked towards the front door while rubbing his mustache in satisfaction.
Before long, he reached the front entrance. There, apart from Zhou Jia and the pile of presents on the ground, there were only a few other people around.
When Wu Hai looked around, he found that those were all customers of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
“You guys are queuing up so early?” Wu Hai asked solemnly. As far as he was concerned, they were trying to challenge him to be the first to enter. Therefore, he quickly rushed over.
“Brother Wu, you are back?” Zhou Jia asked, pleasantly surprised.
The other customers left after leaving their presents when they saw that Zhou Jia was talking to Wu Hai.
“Um, I’m back. So has the queue started?” Wu Hai asked.
“No. Boss Yuan is sick. The restaurant is closed today,” Zhou Jia said, worry on her face.
“I thought that guy exercises every single day? He even has abdominal muscles! How can he be sick?” Wu Hai wondered with a frown. Perhaps those muscles were fake?
“I don’t know. But when Boss Yuan called me this morning, he was coughing non-stop and his voice was hoarse. I think it’s quite bad,” Zhou Jia said.
“That bad?” Wu Hai said as he raised his head and looked at the tightly shut windows upstairs.
“I think so. But Boss Yuan also mentioned that he had already taken his medicine,” Zhou Jia said.
“Good,” Wu Hai replied.
“By the way, these are all the presents of the customers who came visiting,” Zhou Jia said as she pointed at the pile of presents.
“If I have known this earlier I would have gifted the meat jerkies to Yuan Zhou instead,” Wu Hai recalled the meat jerkies he gave Broth.
“Meat jerkies?” Zhou Jia asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Wu Hai shook his head.
“Have you eaten, Brother Wu? Don’t bother Boss Yuan today,” Zhou Jia said.
Zhou Jia knew that each time Wu Hai returned from a trip, he would eat a lot of food at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. It was said that he did that to make up for having not eaten Boss Yuan’s food for a while. After all, it was public knowledge that Wu Hai would eat less when he was away.
Zhou Jia was worried that Wu Hai would be disturbing Yuan Zhou due to being too hungry.
“Do I look like I’m that evil?” Wu Hai asked.
“Oh, of course you don’t,” Zhou Jia shook her head despite the urge to give him an affirmative answer.
“Since he’s sick, I will go up first,” Wu Hai waved his hand and headed towards his studio.
“See you, Brother Wu,” Zhou Jia said politely.
“It is quite rare to see that fellow fall sick,” Wu Hai muttered as he walked up the stairs.
“Who’s sick? Are you feeling unwell, Little Hai?” Zheng Jiawei heard the word sick when he was walking down the stairs and started sizing Wu Hai up anxiously.
“Not me. Compass is sick,” Wu Hai said.
“Why is Boss Yuan sick? What sickness? Is it serious? No, I need to prepare some gifts and go visit him,” Zheng Jiawei got anxious when he heard that Boss Yuan was sick.
“I think he caught a cold,” Wu Hai said.
“You think? Have you visited him? Has he seen the doctor? The weather has been bad recently. It is better if he sees a doctor,” Zheng Jiawei started nagging.
“I did not see him. He is probably resting. By the way, what is the best interval to recover faster when taking medicine for colds?” Wu Hai asked.
“Oh, he’s resting? I won’t be bothering him today then. I’ll visit him tomorrow,” Zheng Jiawei muttered.
“What did you ask, Little Hai?” Zheng Jiawei raised his head when he recalled that Wu Hai seemed to have asked him something.
“What is the best interval to recover faster when taking medicine for colds?” Wu Hai repeated patiently.
“It’s normally once every four hours,” Zheng Jiawei said.
“Oh, ok. I’m going up,” Wu Hai nodded and continued heading up.
“Ok. I will send you your lunch later,” Zheng Jiawei said.
“Bring two additional sets and I want bland food,” Wu Hai said.
“Little Hai has truly grown up. He knows to be concerned about my meals as well now,” Zheng Jiawei said, clearly touched.
“No, one for me, one for Compass, and one for Zhou Jia. You can come after eating yourself,” Wu Hai said.