Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 254 - 249 Affable and Approachable

Yan Yan also hoped that all her previous worries had been unnecessary.

During this meal, Yan Yan ate very happily, listening to many amusing stories from Qi Yi’s childhood.

After all, even an "alien" isn’t born knowing everything.

They, too, must slowly grow from only being able to eat, drink, pee, poo, and sleep.

After the meal, Qi Yi’s mother directed Qi Yi to go out and buy the "Wenzhou Big Bun" from the Wenzhou Restaurant, something he loved to eat when he was little but Yan Yan, as someone from Wenzhou, claimed she had never tried.

The big meat buns from Wenzhou Restaurant were extremely famous.

This was evident from the existence of six counterfeit "Wenzhou Restaurant Bun Shops" in Wenzhou alone.

The Wenzhou Restaurant was originally a state-owned hotel, as well as a sad story.

The restaurant once represented the pinnacle of local fine dining.

When Wenzhou Restaurant made its name, Awai Building didn’t even cast a shadow yet.

It was the first state-owned catering enterprise in Wenzhou after the establishment of New China.

On New China’s seventh birthday, October 1, 1956, Wenzhou Restaurant opened for business.

For decades, Wenzhou Restaurant was known for gathering master chefs to create the most fashionable Wenzhou cuisine. The first floor sold pastries, while the second and third floors hosted the most luxurious weddings of the previous generation.

However, this state-owned catering enterprise, due to poor management, began its departure from the historical stage starting from 2001.

As it had no brand awareness, Wenzhou Restaurant never registered a trademark, nor did it ever consider itself a brand.

Now, endlessly copied by many, it lacked any "chip to stop others."

The once glorious Wenzhou Restaurant had been reduced to only one "Wenzhou Restaurant Bun Shop," which had moved from a prominent storefront on Wuma Street to a small alleyway.

This bun shop manages to survive, reportedly because the pastry chef on the first floor of the restaurant, unable to let go of old attachments, chose to take it over under contract.

But it was fortunate that at least one bun shop remained, allowing the nostalgic old Wenzhou People to find some comfort and reminisce about the good times they had experienced at the Wenzhou Restaurant of old.

The "Wenzhou Big Bun" from the Wenzhou Restaurant on Wuma Street was juicy and generously stuffed, reasonably priced, and huge in size.

A girl with an oval face holding a "Wenzhou Big Bun" for a photo could definitely capture the feeling that her face was smaller than the bun.

For someone like Yan Yan, who "moved from the countryside to the city" and grew up with a rural household registration, the thing that accompanied her the most during her upbringing was likely the river crab raw at Awai Building.

Before Wenzhou Restaurant closed its doors in 2001, it had already become very "outdated," and it was likely that even Yan Yan’s mother had never tasted the Wenzhou Big Bun.

Lu Bingran, who always chased after fashion, certainly wouldn’t take her daughter to dine at an out-of-date hotel.

If Yan Yan could be termed a "foodie," then her mother was a "shopaholic," and in this aspect, there was quite a significant difference between the mother and daughter.

This was why when Yan Yan heard Qi Yi’s mother mention at the dinner table that Qi Yi’s favorite snack was the Wenzhou Big Bun, her eyes began to sparkle.

There was actually something in Wenzhou that left Qi Yi, who wasn’t much of a foodie, longing for it, and it was just a common meat bun at that.

How delicious could it be?

Dizzy with thoughts of meat buns, Yan Yan still felt that Mrs. Qi’s immediate instruction to Qi Yi to buy Wenzhou Big Buns right after the meal was a particularly reasonable arrangement.

She neither suggested waiting a while, so she could swing by Wuma Street on her way home to buy them, nor made any polite excuses about having the chance to go with Qi Yi another time.

There was another key point.

Mrs. Qi was just so easy to get along with.

Yan Yan thought she should stay and chat more with Mrs. Qi, to alleviate the guilt from her previous misunderstanding of her.

Yan Yan deeply regretted that she really should have met Qi Yi’s mother sooner.

.........

"Our Qi Yi has always been the best since he was little," Qi Yi’s mother continued to speak proudly of her son after he left to buy the buns.

"Of course, if Qi Yi weren’t good enough, how could I have started liking him so early?" Yan Yan smiled radiantly, feeling a sense of shared glory.

"Our Qi Yi should find a gentle, knowledgeable, and dignified lady from a reputable family," Qi Yi’s mother said kindly while looking at Yan Yan.

"Oh, Auntie, you flatter me," Yan Yan felt a bit embarrassed.

The words gentle, knowledgeable, and dignified lady were entirely outside of how Yan Yan viewed herself. freeweɓnovel.cøm

If it had been Bao Bao who said something like that, Yan Yan would certainly have retorted, "Lady my foot."

But since it was Qi Yi’s mother who said it, Yan Yan could only graciously accept, while blushing a little.

"So, you see, you and our Qi Yi are not suitable. While others were still studying, you started liking our Qi Yi. A girl behaving like this, acting without regard, can never be a dignified lady," Qi Yi’s mother said this with a face as kind as ever, no different from before.

For a moment, Yan Yan wondered if she had misheard.

But the two were sitting on the couch, close to each other, without any distractions; the likelihood she had misheard was approaching zero.

"Acting without regard? Uh... Auntie, do you mean ’shameless’?" Yan Yan thought about those four words she had overheard when Qi Yi was on the phone.

"Right," Mrs. Qi didn’t dispute Yan Yan’s interpretation.

"And then?" Yan Yan looked at Qi Yi’s mother, her face full of confusion.

"Then you should remember, back in high school, I tried to talk to you nicely, asking you not to affect our Qi Yi," Qi Yi’s mother’s plea had never changed.

"Didn’t Qi Yi say that you’re not against us being together now?" Yan Yan continued to ask, her confusion deepening.

Yan Yan still had a good attitude, but she might not have realized that she was no longer making a particular effort to use the respectful "you."

Yan Yan rarely used such honorifics when talking to elders; being informal was a habit, and it felt awkward to her own ears.

To Yan Yan, who treated her parents like friends, speaking so awkwardly was never an issue in her own home.

"Well, Qi Yi has always told me that once I meet you, I would like you," Qi Yi’s mother explained a fact.

This was something Yan Yan often heard from Qi Yi as well, so she knew it to be true without needing confirmation.

"Didn’t we get along pretty well during the meal? You giving me food and then sharing stories about Qi Yi’s childhood, does that mean you don’t like me?" Yan Yan felt completely baffled, like a monk at a loss.