Chapter 9

If Liu Changyuan continued to play on his own, it wouldn't disturb Buck and the little beggar's rhythm.

But he had parents, parents who had high hopes for their son and always wanted this child, who had been expelled from university for playing online games, to do something to get out of what they considered an unhealthy lifestyle. Now, like the Bada Cheng couple yesterday, they were watching from across the street, but their feelings were completely different.

The father came over and slapped the back of his son's head. As a railway worker, what kind of effective educational method could he have? If he had really taught well, it wouldn't be like this now. Liu Changyuan jumped up with a thud, ready to react, but when he saw it was his father, he deflated like a punctured balloon. His mother, pulling him, earnestly said, "Learn some skills from Brother Zhiming, learn how to be a person..."

Buck took the opportunity to smile at the parents and continued with his own work. One must understand life on their own; others' words are useless.

The young man, who was only four or five years younger than Buck, cared more about his inexplicable self-esteem. The humiliation of being slapped by his father in front of so many customers burned his immature heart like the fire in the grill. He was dragged by his mother, unwillingly and reluctantly, to serve the dishes. With such an attitude, it was no wonder his work was poor.

What is service? It requires a heart of service. Buck really bent over when placing the plates, not feeling that it demeaned his formidable killer aura. One must be fully committed to whatever they do; this was the survival rule he learned on the battlefield. The little beggar, holding a shoe box, would bow to people after they gave him money!

That was the true feeling of life.

Liu Changyuan clearly lacked this. He only took two plates from Buck's cutting board at his mother's pleading, turned around very impatiently, and rudely threw them on the table. The plate with the grilled meat even wobbled a couple of times before stabilizing. He seemed to take this as a form of resistance against his father, secretly looking at the angry man provocatively. The little beggar was startled, wanting to do something but afraid of Liu Changyuan, who was taller and seemed to be familiar with Buck.

Buck, observing everything, moved his two long knives to the table. The dissatisfied customer saw his earnest but unsmiling face: "Free new flavor to try..." The knife tip deftly scooped the meat and placed it on the plate, one piece at a time, extinguishing the customer's dissatisfaction. Surprised, the customer nodded and thanked him.

Unaware that someone was cleaning up after him, Liu Changyuan continued to bring his discontent to everyone. Buck, smiling, continued to offer the so-called new flavor to others, and the little beggar hurried to increase his speed, trying to minimize Liu Changyuan's contact.

Buck secretly thought this kid had a good eye!

The parents' faces were almost apologetically smiling, but Liu Changyuan maintained his pitiful self-respect with great disdain. Just as he was holding a hot plate, he yelped and threw it on the table, spilling the fruit and sauce on the meat onto a customer. The thin summer clothes made the female customer jump up in panic, cursing, "Damn, are you blind?"

Liu Changyuan stiffened his neck: "Why didn't you move!" His bad mood, like a bloated balloon hit by a sharp thorn, burst out.

His parents were very anxious and were about to go over, but Buck, who had been silent, raised his hand, and the long knife blocked the elders, "Are you going to clean up after him for the rest of your life?" The immovable long knife blade was like a fence, firmly and unyieldingly blocking the anxious parents. Parents' love is boundless!

They could push or crouch to avoid the knife, but seeing their son, who was already in his twenties but had caused them endless worry, and feeling the heated kitchen knife in front of them, the old couple hesitated and stopped. The little beggar, seeing Buck's action, also stopped.

Slap! A loud slap landed on Liu Changyuan's face. It was the girlfriend's boyfriend, enraged, who struck him: "Do you know how to do business? Do you know how to be a person? Can't even apologize when you make a mistake?" The temper of young people in Yuzheng is quite fiery, like the city's weather and hotpot.

Liu Changyuan was stunned, instinctively looking back at his parents, but saw that they did not come to cover for his mistake as usual, which made him even more surprised and angry. He turned and slapped the other person's face!

Who does business by fighting with customers? The service industry is basically a place where one has to endure all kinds of humiliation, right? There was a commotion around, but Buck remained calm, continuing to slice and grill, a faint smile on his face as he watched the onlookers. Fortunately, the high temperature from the grill kept the crowd from getting too close. Then he saw Fang Lingying standing on tiptoe at the edge, waving at him: "Over here..."

It turned out Fang Lingying had brought two people today, a middle-aged man and a young man, helping her squeeze in. Hearing her introduction: "The taste is very unique, and it's dinner time, so I invited you to try some special flavors..."

Buck had already moved a separate plastic stool for Fang Lingying, but seeing three people, he threw down his knife and went to the table where the fight was happening. Because of the table arrangement, the center of the stall was less crowded than the periphery. He grabbed an empty table with one hand and a chair with the other to drag over.

The scalded girl, who had been screaming, was focused on her boyfriend and the hateful waiter, not paying attention to the table and chairs. But the onlookers' eyes were all on this scene, and they didn't expect the owner of the grill stall to act as if nothing had happened and move the table and chairs away.

Buck's face was expressionless. He was a bit surprised that the young man who came with Fang Lingying also followed him.

The little beggar timidly squeezed over, clearly used to avoiding such scenes, but seeing Buck move the table, the child secretly dragged a chair.

Buck really didn't care about this kind of childish scuffle, which wouldn't amount to much. Seeing the two young men flailing their arms and legs like roosters, he thought it was more practical to move a table to serve the guests.

Of course, this commotion made the grill stall the center of attention, which was also a form of advertising.

But what Buck didn't expect was that the young man accompanying his girlfriend had friends. They had already occupied the table and had gone to a nearby convenience store to buy beer.

With a crisp sound, a bottle of previously chilled beer smashed on the edge of the plastic table. An angry voice shouted, "Who told you to move the table! My buddy is being beaten! Give us an explanation..."

Buck looked up indifferently at the young man in front of him, who was glaring like a furious god. Two more young men turned to help the one on the ground, beating Liu Changyuan together.

Buck didn't need to endure; he just shrugged in a foreigner's style, indicating helplessness, gave up on the table, and walked back, spreading his hands to Fang Lingying to show there were no tables left. The little beggar also nimbly jumped away and followed Buck back.

Just as he turned, he brushed past the young man who had followed Fang Lingying. Almost instinctively, Buck's eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes immediately moved from Fang Lingying's face to the waist of the person next to him, where something familiar had touched him!

But Buck controlled his eyes, putting them back on Fang Lingying's face, and walked back, but quickly glanced at the face of the older man, about fifty years old, next to her. Without staring, just a casual glance, but the man seemed to sense something and turned to look at him!

Sure enough, behind Buck, the young man who had rushed forward suddenly raised his voice: "That's enough! I'm a police officer! If you don't stop, I'll call for backup, and you'll spend the weekend at the police station!" He held up a badge with a golden emblem.

The previously noisy and boiling scene was like being doused with a bucket of ice water, and it suddenly quieted down. The young man who had been aggressive to Buck a moment ago quickly hid behind the crowd.

Only Liu Changyuan, with a face full of blood, jumped up and cursed: "The police only show up after the fact, what good are they... Who hit me just now!" His parents, seeing their son being beaten, had already squeezed over. Buck raised his hand to stop them but gave up as soon as he lifted it. Everyone has their own way of living.

But as soon as the worried parents reached out to help their son, they became the best punching bag for this frustrated young man: "What are you here for? What can you do? No money, no power! That's why I live so lowly! Isn't it better for me to stay at home and play online games? Why should I come out and embarrass myself!" He understood that in this society, only these parents would unconditionally tolerate him, this pitiful creature who couldn't face society.

Throughout the entire process, it was clearly his own mistake first, and then he was bullied, but now he was taking it out on his parents. There were many people around who were criticizing him, and even the young men who had beaten him felt superior, walking back and sitting down with a sense of pride. Buck, as if he hadn't heard the commotion, returned to the grill, taking out some specially prepared ingredients and placing them in a corner of the pan to heat up.

The young police officer who had successfully stopped the fight also became the center of attention. He casually advised Liu Changyuan a few times. After all, it was just a few punches, not very serious. The young man who had started the fight also had injuries. If they went to the police station, it would likely end in a fifty-fifty split. He advised Liu Changyuan to listen to his parents and calm down, then turned back, frowning, "The environment is so bad, let's find another place?"

Both being police officers, the difference in their backgrounds was clear from the standard belt on the old man's waist and the GA gold eagle badge on the young man's belt buckle.

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