The little mermaid carefully repeated each word, pronouncing them one by one.
"Wel… come. Light. Ar-rive."
Ye Jiujiu ruffled her fluffy hair. "You got it right this time."
Gao Yuan stared at Ye Jiujiu in shock, then glanced at the little mermaid's slightly curly hair—which looked uncannily similar to Ye Jiujiu's. A horrifying realization struck him.
"Boss… you had a child overnight?"
Ye Jiujiu rolled her eyes. Where would such a big child come from in a single day?
"She's a relative's child."
"Thank goodness." Gao Yuan clutched his chest, still shaken, then joked, "I almost thought my love was about to wither before it even bloomed."
Ye Jiujiu: "???"
Gao Yuan's good friend, Li Lin, slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Wake up. Even if the boss didn't have a kid, you still wouldn't have any romantic opportunities."
The "kangaroo" waved his arms dramatically. "I don't care! I don't care! I'm still going to bloom!"
Gao Yuan was over 1.8 meters tall and weighed more than two hundred pounds. Watching a muscular giant act coquettish was visually horrifying. Ye Jiujiu silently turned her head away, completely unwilling to comment.
"Isn't the boss kind of disgusting?" Li Lin followed Ye Jiujiu inside and lowered his voice. "That's just how he is. He deliberately disgusts people from time to time."
"..."
Ye Jiujiu truly couldn't accept this behavior. She gently patted the little mermaid's head.
"Go eat your cold noodles."
Once the little mermaid returned to her seat, Ye Jiujiu invited the others to sit down as well.
"Here's the menu."
Gao Yuan stared at it, practically drooling.
"I love raw marinated seafood and garlic oysters the most. The mackerel and blood clams look great too. And the five-pound ivory clam sashimi—wow. Boss, I want to eat everything."
After thinking it over seriously, he said decisively,
"Boss, I'll take all the dishes on the menu."
"The prices are a bit higher today," Ye Jiujiu reminded him gently. "And you know the portions here are pretty large. Ordering less is still enough to fill you up."
"Boss, I didn't get to eat yesterday—I have to make up for it today." Gao Yuan's acne had finally calmed down a little, and he planned to eat well to speed up his recovery. "Don't worry about my wallet. I can still afford some seafood."
Ye Jiujiu glanced at the phone he had casually placed on the table. The case alone was a branded one, and definitely not cheap.
"If you're fine with it, then alright."
She put away the menu and went into the kitchen, leaving the little mermaid at the table, still diligently eating her cold noodles.
Gao Yuan turned around and looked at her.
"Little cutie, are you eating cold noodles?"
The little mermaid glanced at the chubby Gao Yuan, then silently pulled the bowl closer to herself.
"No. You can't eat this."
"I'm not eating," Gao Yuan laughed. "Don't you know how to use chopsticks?"
The little mermaid repeated the words Ye Jiujiu had just used to comfort her.
"I'm little."
"Hah, you're pretty smart—at least you know you're young."
Li Lin smiled at her. "How old are you? What's your name?"
The little mermaid hesitated, then stammered,
"I… I'm called Ye Xiaoyu."
"Ye Xiaoyu? Little Fish?" Gao Yuan teased. "What a cute name. Do your family members know how adorable you are?"
The little mermaid didn't really understand, but she answered confidently anyway:
"Several dishes."
"Hahaha—you even know that!"
Gao Yuan and the others were overwhelmed by her cuteness. It made them genuinely want a daughter of their own.
The little mermaid turned her back to them, clearly annoyed by the noise. Could they please stop disturbing her while she was eating?
Gao Yuan was about to say something else when his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? Mom?"
A sharp voice roared from the other end.
"Where have you been running off to? Don't you know how to come home and eat with your parents on the weekend?"
Gao Yuan quickly covered the phone.
"I'll come back another day to keep you company. I'm eating out today."
"All you do is eat takeout. Look at your skin!"
"I didn't order takeout!" Gao Yuan protested. "I found a really good restaurant recently—the food is excellent."
"No food outside can compare to home-cooked meals."
"It's really delicious, and it's good for your health too. I'll eat a few more times until my acne clears up, then I'll go home."
"…You haven't been tricked into a pyramid scheme or some criminal organization, have you?"
"No, no, absolutely not!" Gao Yuan hurriedly explained. "If you don't believe me, you and Dad can come try it yourselves."
"I don't believe you for a second."
Just as Gao Yuan was about to argue further, he noticed the dishes being brought out. He quickly hung up.
"Mom, I'm not talking anymore—the food's here."
When Ye Jiujiu set the dishes down, she saw him putting away his phone.
"Was your phone too hot to hold?"
Gao Yuan smiled awkwardly.
"My mom wanted me to go home for dinner. But honestly, the food at home can't compare to the seafood here."
Ye Jiujiu kindly reminded everyone,
"Eat too much and you might get gout."
"Boss, how can you scare customers like that?" Gao Yuan exclaimed.
"I won't kick you out," Ye Jiujiu replied lazily. "Just don't come crying to me if you get gout."
She joked with them a bit more before turning to serve the two newly arrived tables.
A table of girls flipped through the menu and asked,
"Boss, don't you have the grilled squid you made the day before yesterday?"
"I'm sorry," Ye Jiujiu said apologetically. "There's no squid today."
"What?" The pretty girl looked disappointed. "I came specifically for the grilled squid."
Another group chimed in as well.
"I passed by the day before yesterday—it smelled amazing. I craved it for two days straight, and now it's gone?"
Ye Jiujiu smiled apologetically and recommended other dishes.
"Although there's no squid, we have tofu fish and mackerel today. They taste very good—you can try them."
From the back, Gao Yuan chimed in to help.
"It's really delicious. You won't regret it."
The guests hesitated, mainly because the price was a bit high.
"Is it really that good?"
Li Lin patted his chest confidently.
"Absolutely. Chinese people don't lie to Chinese people."
"…Alright, we'll try it."
They ordered four dishes. At 240 yuan per person, it still felt acceptable.