"Three chicken and two lamb skewers," said the other customer.
"Sure." Uncle Li took five skewers out of the plastic wrap-covered tray, cutting at the thick parts of the meat a few times. "Would you like any pepper or cumin on them?"
At that time, Aunt Li stabbed her husband with her elbow.
"What are you doing? You made me put on too much pepper!" Uncle Li was not happy and apologized to the customer, then took out a new one from the tray.
Aunt Li ignored his words and stabbed him some more, even getting to his waist.
"You…stupid woman!"
"Master Zhang is coming!" she whispered.
"Ah?" Uncle Li stopped what he was doing and looked up.
Zhang Zian stood across the street, smiled at the couple, and raised his hand to wave.
"Still with the cats from his shop," Aunt Li whispered again.
Three very striking-looking cats followed Zhang Zian: The one on the left wearing a hat, its face hidden in the shadow; The one on the right had fur that glittered and looked extravagant under the street lights; The last kitten trembled as it followed behind Zhang Zian, looking towards their direction, about two or three meters away.
"What would Master Zhang come this late for?" Uncle Li waved while whispering.
"I don’t know. He usually just comes for breakfast, never at this late time." Aunt Li was puzzled, "Does he…"
She suddenly remembered that some people bought skewers for their pets. "Does he want to buy some to feed the cats?"
"That…"Uncle Li felt bad while looking at the customers waiting in line. If Zhang Zian did use the skewers to feed the cats, there might be some controversy. The dissatisfied customers would not say anything, but they would not come back either.
Zhang Zian waited for a break in traffic, then said to Fina and Old Time Tea, "Let’s go and cross the street." He looked back at Xinghai with concern. "Xinghai, follow me please."
Xinghai nodded.
Zhang Zian sped up his pace, paying attention to the vehicles from both sides, while consistently looking back and checking on Xinghai. Luckily, they crossed the street without any accidents.
Xinghai trotted on the sidewalk, looked back at the pet shop on the other side of the street and murmured, "So far..."
"Not far." Zhang Zian squatted down, "Xinghai will certainly be able to go further. However, even if you go far away, you can find your way home, right?
"Meow-woo " Xinghai lowered her head, while her front paw gently scratched at the ground. "Xinghai does not know..."
"It’s ok. I will pay attention to you and will not let you get lost," he comforted Xinghai.
Aunt Li came up quickly behind him. "Master Zhang, how can I help you?"
Zhang Zian stood up. "Aunt Li, in fact, my oven is broken, and they are three picky cats, so we came to see if you had anything here they could eat."
"Oh, that’s easy." Aunt Li looked at the three cats and her eyes finally fell on Fina. She had only seen ordinary stray cats and wild cats before, but had never seen any expensive cats. Even so, she would recognize Fina’s value through the cat’s way of looking down upon others just like humans.
"They are very picky, so please do not use any spices," Zhang Zian reminded.
Was cooking the same thing? In fact, the simpler ingredients of cooking dishes needed higher requirements. The dish "Hot Water Cabbage" at the state banquet was the most typical example, but every restaurant could cook the dishes with a lot of oil and salt.
Skewers without any spices completely tested the level of mastery.
Aunt Li was surprised at first, but then nodded and said, "No problem, my husband has cooked skewers for more than ten years. He has encountered some customers who didn’t want spices. What kind of meat would you like?"
"Do you have fish?"
"No, we don’t have that. But please trust us, Master Zhang. I have all fresh meat here, never cheating anyone."
"Great, then chicken skewers please, 20 of them."
She raised her voice, "20 chicken skewers, no spices."
"Sure," responded her husband.
Because they were for Zhang Zian, Uncle Li focused one hundred percent. His eyes stared at the colors of the meat on the fire without blinking, turning them evenly, so that they could be evenly cooked and gradually covered with a layer of pale yellow.
"Master Zhang, would you like them to be more tender or a little bit more well done?" he asked.
Zhang Zian bowed and consulted with Fina and Old Time Tea quietly.
"Tender," Fina was still angry, only spitting out one word.
"Me too." Old Time Tea followed.
"Tender please," Zhang Zian responded to Uncle Li.
The other two customers who were waiting for their skewers felt very strange. Why did the owners call him "Master Zhang"?
"Well, these are yours." Aunt Li gave the skewers to the two customers and received the money. She sighed with relief after they left.
"Master Zhang, your chicken skewers are ready too." Uncle Lee brought the skewers up in front of Zhang Zian.
Zhang Zian took advantage of the waiting time and looked though the price list of all kinds of skewers, then took out the correct change from his pocket.
"Master Zhang..." Aunt Li wanted to decline.
Zhang Zian put the money directly on their electric tricycle.
These spiceless, fleshy skewers allowed the taste of the oil to be completely released. Although Zhang Zian didn’t like this too much, Fina's drooling face showed that she was quite satisfied.
"Should we eat here or bring them back to eat?" Zhang Zian seemed to talk to himself.
Old Time Tea was easy to feed, but Fina had always only used her own special dish.
But at that time, Fina simply opened her mouth, meaning for Zhang Zian to feed her immediately.
Zhang Zian was speechless, but there was no other way. He had to carefully put the meat into her mouth.
Fina had been very hungry for a while now, so right away she bit on the first piece of chicken on the bamboo skewer from the side. She twisted her neck and pulled it off, then chewed it hard. Although the hot chicken made her wrinkle her face, she still swallowed after a few chews and then went for another piece.
"Looks good; I will go back to the shop and eat." Old Time Tea had a very good demeanor, not wanting to fight for food with Fina.
While Zhang Zian fed Fina, Aunt Li looked curiously at the black and white kitten from a distance. Why didn’t Zhang Zian feed it? Was it because the golden cat was more expensive? Poor little kitten, she thought confusedly.
She took a fresh skewer from the next bunch her husband had just finished cooking and bent down, holding on to her knees, and waved at Galaxy with the skewer in her hand.
To her astonishment, this little kitten shook its head, seeming to know what she was doing and giving a shy smile.
Zhang Zian gazed at her action with the corners of his eyes and explained, "It doesn’t like to eat meat skewers."
"Oh, then what does it like?" asked Aunt Li.
"I don’t know yet," Zhang Zian laughed. "But I will know later."
Fina finished six skewers in no time and didn’t stop until her belly was round.
Zhang Zian saw Fina’s satisfaction and walked to the couple. He said, "My cat seemed to like your skewers. Would you please send some to my shop every day around 6pm? I am the only person in the shop, managing the business and taking care of the customers. Sometimes I don’t even have to take care of them. I will pay the money for sure."
"Sure, no problem at all!" The couple smiled at each other. It would be too easy, since it would only take them two minutes to cross the street. It sounded wonderful to earn such easy money and have a good relationship with this Kung Fu Master.
What was even more surprising was that the other two customers who were eating and standing off to the side did not think it was strange to feed the cats skewers. They observed Zhang Zian and the golden cat’s interaction with great interest, and even showed some envy. The reason might be that, in addition to the difference between cats and dogs, Zhang Zian was holding the skewers and feeding the cat so carefully, compared to the customer before who was so rude to throw the meat on the ground to feed the dog.
Zhang Zian picked up the rest of the skewers and waved at the three cats. "Go, let’s go home."