Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  “Puh! Darling, I want to spend some lovey-dovey time with you alone today. Let’s leave meeting mother-in-law to after we are done with our intimate exchange!” Tang Xiaoyu held Pei Ge’s hands and declared in a cheesy manner.

  At her best friend’s antics, Pei Ge laughed so hard she became breathless.

  “Moreover, isn’t there my favorite sweet corn egg drop soup here?” Tang Xiaoyu cheekily winked upon seeing her laugh uncontrollably.

  “That’s true. Still, it is somewhat surprising that there is that soup in this Sichuan restaurant,” Pei Ge nodded her head and commented in wonder.

  However, when the sweet corn egg drop soup was served subsequently, the two were so stunned their eyes nearly popped out.

  “This is sweet corn egg drop soup?” They could not believe that the bowl of black stuff before them was the rumored ‘sweet corn egg drop soup’.

  “Of course!” the lady boss affirmed.

  Tang Xiaoyu’s mouth twitched and she looked at her with a face that said, “Are you kidding me?”


  “Then, tell me; where is the sweet corn?”


  “Oh, we didn’t buy sweet corn today,” the lady boss calmly replied.

  With a black face, Tang Xiaoyu nodded her head, tapped the soup with her cutlery, and put some into her mouth. “Can I please trouble you again into telling me why this soup is salty and spicy?”


  “Who says sweet corn egg drop soup can’t be salty and spicy?” the lady boss countered.

  She acted as if sweet corn egg drop soup were meant to be ‘salty’ and ‘spicy’ and not ‘sweet’.

  “.……” Pei Ge:

  “.……” Tang Xiaoyu:

  “Anyway, you guys ordered this on your accord. Since I’ve already served it, we won’t give any refunds!”


  Once the lady boss said these forceful words, Tang Xiaoyu, who had been quite accepting all this while, slapped the table’s surface with her palms.

  “The hell with you?! This is a f*cking black shop! You call this a ‘sweet corn egg drop soup’? I think it will become a ‘hot and sour soup’ if some enoki mushrooms are added in it!” She glared fiercely at the shop owner.

  Seeing her best friend flare up, Pei Ge quickly pulled her, “Xiaoyu, forget it; forget it. Let’s just go to another shop.”


  She was totally regretting it now. She had previously stood outside this shop’s door, so why had she not come inside to have a look?

  The chef and male boss, who was in the kitchen, heard the commotion and quickly came out.

  “What’s happening?”


  The boss was from Sichuan. He was probably a little anxious, so he spoke the province’s dialect when he came out.

  Although the pair of best friends did not speak the dialect, they still understood his words.

  “Did you make this soup? How did you even make this? Is this even a ‘sweet’ soup?!” Tang Xiaoyu quickly berated him.

  The male boss’s temper was surprisingly mild unlike his wife.

  Just as his wife wanted to continue reasoning with Tang Xiaoyu, he quickly apologized and removed the soup from the table with a promise of serving the right one.

  After her best friend angrily sat down again, she asked tentatively, “Xiaoyu, why must you insist on eating here today?”


  “I simply miss this place too much.” Tang Xiaoyu replied with a gentle smile, looking unlike a person who had just quarreled with someone.

  “But…… This is no longer the shop we used to frequent.” She could not wrap her head around her best friend’s reasoning.

  “You…… Sigh……” Tang Xiaoyu smiled while shaking her head. “I haven’t been in the country for so long and merely missed this place too much. Although this is no longer the same shop, I still want to stay here for a quite a bit.”


  At her nostalgic words, she seemed to have understood something.

  Without them noticing it, many years had passed. Tang Xiaoyu emigrated abroad with her parents once she graduated from middle school.

  Although she did visit the country for a few times, those times happened a long time ago.

  All the dishes they had ordered were quickly served after their short conversation.

  The bistro’s dishes were fortunately not bad and made up for some of their disappointment.

  Time ticked by as the duo chatted over their meal. The bistro also gradually filled up with customers.

  “Do you still remember? You lost your wallet the first time we came here to eat. I was so angry I scolded you—”


  Before she could finish her words, Pei Ge laughed out loud and cut in, “Ha ha! Of course, I remember! You scolded me so harshly that I cried, and when you saw me crying, you kept talking until you started crying as well.”


  Tang Xiaoyu chuckled at that and then continued, “Afterward, when the boss saw us bawling our eyes out, he wrote off our meal.”


  “That’s right. From then on, we fell in love with this restaurant,” she concluded with a face full of nostalgia.

  “Yes. In my years of stay abroad, what I miss the most is spending time together with you.” Tang Xiaoyu also had a look of nostalgia on her face. “I remember those times we studied, competed, skipped class—”


  “Performed, wrote to that Chinese orphan overseas……” Pei Ge’s eyes curled into a crescent as she slowly recounted their past.

  She, who was still absorbed in her memories, failed to see the weird look that that had fleeted across Tang Xiaoyu’s face.

  She continued reminiscing aloud until she realized that Tang Xiaoyu had gone silent. Looking at her best friend in confusion, she called out, “Xiaoyu?”


  Tang Xiaoyu smiled at her and asked with a look of surprise, “You still remember that orphan overseas?”


  “Er, just barely.” She blinked and then smiled. “Still, I’m quite curious of what has become of him.”


  “How else can he be? He’s a Chinese who grew up in an orphanage abroad. It is difficult just thinking about it.” Tang Xiaoyu frowned, her voice betraying a different emotion.

  “Sigh…… That’s right. If it weren’t for the things that that had happened to my family at that time……” She pursed her lips and sighed lightly.

  “Alright, alright! Why are we talking about this stuff out of nowhere? The main lead today is this mistress here!” At her desolate look, Tang Xiaoyu smilingly hugged her.

  She broke into a wide smile at this.

  “Then, can I ask our female lead who her male lead is?”


  “My male lead is of course you!”