An Chen hadn't expected to run into someone he didn't want to see right after stepping out, so he quickly left.
However, since it was still early, An Chen took Su Xiaojiu to explore more.
Even though it had been over a week since she arrived, Su Xiaojiu was still full of curiosity about Earth, wanting to look at every new thing.
It was just that she insisted on staying on a coin-operated kiddie ride, demanding An Chen put coins in for her to play, which gave An Chen a headache.
"What do you call Dad's Dad? ~ Dad's Dad is called Grandpa ~ What do you call Dad's Mom? ~ Dad's Mom is called Grandma ~"
An Chen looked at Su Xiaojiu, who was giggling happily on the kiddie ride, and shook his head helplessly.
This thing might be a bit childish even for elementary school students, but for Su Xiaojiu, it was just right.
Before they knew it, evening arrived.
"What should we eat tonight?"
Even after several hours of walking around, Su Xiaojiu was still full of energy, but seeing the sun about to set and feeling a bit hungry, she promptly asked.
An Chen highly suspected that Su Xiaojiu had been waiting to ask that question for a while.
"How about all-you-can-eat barbecue?"
The two were in a shopping mall, and An Chen suggested, looking at a chain barbecue restaurant nearby.
Su Xiaojiu turned her head to look, seeing that everyone inside the restaurant had a small grill in front of them, with meat sizzling on it.
"Are we supposed to grill the meat ourselves? Why is the meat the waitstaff brings out raw?"
"You grill it yourself."
"What? Then this owner is too lazy, aren't they? They don't even grill the meat, and we have to do it ourselves?"
An Chen smiled and shook his head.
"This is also a kind of fun."
Eating barbecue isn't just about eating meat; it's also about enjoying the process of grilling it yourself.
Of course, this was An Chen's psychological analysis of other customers; he himself...
Hadn't eaten it before.
So An Chen also wanted to try it.
"Let's go, I'll take you to try something new."
An Chen strode into the restaurant, and after paying the deposit, he followed the waiter to an empty table and sat down.
Su Xiaojiu naturally had no objections and followed him in.
The two sat opposite each other, and Su Xiaojiu kept looking around.
"I still have a question. I can understand barbecue, but does 'self-service' mean grilling it yourself?"
"Half right. The other half means you get the food yourself. You can go over there and pick up whatever meat you want, as much as you want, and the price you pay is the same."
Su Xiaojiu opened her mouth in surprise, her eyes wide.
"Take as much as you want?"
"Take as much as you want."
"The boss is a great philanthropist! It's truly surprising that you have someone here specifically to help the poor!"
Su Xiaojiu put her hands together and shook her head.
"It's not what you think."
An Chen couldn't help but laugh.
"You think the boss is doing a good deed? In fact, even like this, he can still make a lot of money!"
An Chen started counting on his fingers.
"First, although we can eat as much as we want after paying once, the price isn't cheap. Also, their restaurant doesn't need many processing steps for the ingredients, which saves a lot on labor costs. Plus, their ingredients aren't the best, and buying in bulk makes them even cheaper. Customers might not lose money, but the boss definitely profits."
Su Xiaojiu seemed to understand, nodding thoughtfully.
"Then should we leave?"
An Chen reached over and tapped Su Xiaojiu's head again.
"Just eat when you eat. Don't worry about whether they're losing money or not. We're not short on money now, and besides, if they weren't making money, why would the owner open a restaurant? Are they really doing charity?"
An Chen suspected that perhaps his initial simple life had made Su Xiaojiu too worried about spending his money. Now, it seemed Su Xiaojiu had to consider the money issue in every situation.
"Besides, what I said applies to ordinary people; we two don't count."
An Chen stood up and walked to the food area not far from the dining table.
"What kind of meat do you like to eat? Beef, lamb, or pork?"
"I like them all."
So, An Chen took half a basin of beef and lamb, another half a basin of various cuts of pork, and then went back for some small seafood.
"Eat!"
"Manager, we have a table of guests who want to wipe out our dishes!"
A waiter watched this scene, his jaw almost dropping to the floor, and he said, trembling, into his walkie-talkie.
"What are you afraid of? Anyway, they paid a deposit. If they don't finish it, we don't lose anything."
The shift manager didn't care.
There were plenty of customers who liked to take a lot of meat at once, but in reality, many people's eyes were bigger than their stomachs, and they couldn't finish it at all.
In that case, the deposit paid by the customers upon entry would not be refunded.
"No, they're taking it by the basin!"
Actually, they weren't basins, but large iron trays the restaurant used to hold meat. An Chen, to save trouble, directly moved the large iron trays out of the freezer, but they had roughly the same capacity as a basin.
Although the restaurant sliced the meat very thinly and arranged it to look like a lot but not actually weigh much, such a large iron tray still contained several kilograms of meat.
An ordinary person usually eats about one jin, and even a heavy eater consumes about two jin of food. Although barbecue doesn't fill you up as much, these two couldn't possibly eat that much!
These two looked thin; let alone fat, they didn't even have much muscle, so they didn't look like people who could eat a lot.
"???"
The shift manager was shocked.
"Are these two sent by the hotpot restaurant across the street to cause trouble?!"
These two were probably here specifically to waste food.
By then, the amount of food they wasted would be enough to cover the deposit!
"Should I go and dissuade them?"
"Go quickly!"
The waiter slowly walked over and then forced a smile.
"Hello, guests. I'd like to remind you that our restaurant encourages taking small portions multiple times to avoid waste~"
"Oh, okay. We'll go get more if it's not enough later."
Su Xiaojiu, holding tongs, flipped the grilling meat, answering casually while busy.
"That's good... huh?"
The waiter's face was full of question marks.
What did she mean by "not enough later"? So, the several jin of meat in front of them wasn't enough for them to eat?
The people around them all cast curious and shocked glances.
These two really dared to take so much!
The waiter wanted to say something else, but seeing that the two of them had no intention of paying attention to him, constantly flipping the meat, he wiped the sweat from his brow, apologized, and quietly retreated to do other things.
But his gaze kept sweeping towards them from time to time.
However, he quickly noticed something was wrong.
Many people eat fast at the beginning and slow down later, but these two had been eating for half an hour, and their speed hadn't slowed down much. The plate next to them was already half empty.
Could these two really finish it all?!
"I finally understand how they make money," Su Xiaojiu grumbled. "Grilling the meat yourself is too slow. At this leisurely pace, when will we ever be full?!"
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