DCBS: Chapter 41

“Two exploding custard croissants, one coconut milk square cube, a total of…”

In front of the cash register, Pei Qingyuan took the tray handed by the customer, neatly packed the soft and fragrant bread in small bags and checked it out for the customer. Then he handed the neatly folded paper back to the customer.

“You are welcome to come next time.”

His movements were so fast that the two girls who came to check out didn’t have time to secretly take photos. They instinctively looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing.

“Hey, I told you to turn on the camera in advance.”

“Ahem, I didn’t think of it. Hurry and try the croissants while they are hot. If they are delicious then we can buy them later.”

“Nonsense, you aren’t here to buy bread…”

Pei Qingyuan pretended not to hear these whispers and watched the two laughing customers push open the door and leave.

Through the clean glass windows, one could see the store owner He Shiwen and the pastry chef being busy together in the back kitchen.

Another salesperson was organizing the shelves. Pei Qingyuan stood alone at the cash register, waiting for the next customer to choose their bread and walk toward him.

At the same time, Ji Tong’s solemn question echoed in his mind.

“…Last question. What are the rules that guide the search direction of genetic algorithms?”

“The Probabilistic Optimization Method,” Pei Qingyuan quickly replied. “There is no need for definite rules.”

The moment he spoke, he instantly heard Ji Tong’s suddenly happy voice, “The class quizzes are all correct. Class is over!”

Pei Qingyuan finally relaxed but Ji Tong seemed to be looking forward to leaving class more than him and let out a long sigh of relief.

The host was dedicated to working and learning for half the day. It had to be said that this bakery part-time job was very suitable for people to think due to the mechanical labor. He gained money and knowledge, so it was a double harvest.

It was Ji Tong who taught this knowledge to Pei Qingyuan and tested it, but he often taught without thinking. He was like an emotionless broadcasting machine and directly let the data judge whether the host’s answer was correct or not.

It was because these awkward and complicated nouns sounded really overwhelming.

After all, he was just a stupid human disguised as an artificial intelligence. He used to study hard every day when he was a human being. Now he could quickly acquire a large amount of data without using his brain so he naturally chose to abandon knowledge and eat more cheese.

Once Ji Tong’s voice completely disappeared, the colorful light on the dial gradually dimmed. Pei Qingyuan skillfully shifted his gaze toward the door of the store, waiting for the wind chimes to ring.

The croissant trend had passed and there weren’t many people queuing up at the Xingyue Bakery recently. People who liked to chase trends had long been attracted by the next hot spot.

Still, on the whole, the daily turnover of the store was much higher than the past. Many customers who lived nearby would also pick up some other pastries when coming to buy the exploding custard croissants. Then after tasting them, these customers found that the taste was good and they gradually became regular customers.

In this regard, the owner He Shiwen was happy. He had long been worried that everyone would be tired of croissants and had developed many new products. In this way, every day would be so busy that he didn’t have time to slack off.

The one who was happier than him was Ji Tong.

The influence of the photo was slowly diminishing and he could finally stop having customers call out to him when walking into the store.

The wind chimes hanging at the door jingled. The glass door was pushed open a crack and a round smiling face popped through.

“I’m out of school!”

He Shiwen heard the movement from the back kitchen and quickly walked his hands while walking out. He greeted the person. “You finished school on time today. By the way, is kindergarten so hard now? There are training classes even on the weekends…”

Ji Tong let He Shiwen pinch his face and nodded solemnly, saying in an old-fashioned manner, “Yes, class is very hard but I have to go.”

Pei Qingyuan reached out to take the weightless, planet-shaped small school bag on Ji Tong’s shoulder. Then he heard Ji Tong say this and couldn’t help pinching him on the face.

Well said.

It was time to change the subject.

Today, Ji Tong didn’t wear a kindergarten uniform or suspenders. He changed into a brand new look.

It was a black and white sweater suit. The chest and sleeves were cleverly designed to look like dinosaurs. The left sleeve was a dinosaur head embroidered with cute eyes and teeth. There were also pointed plush spines on the back and blue lines extended to the front of the body. The large white pocket directly under the sweater became the belly of the dinosaur. Finally, a short tail stretched out from the right side of the clothes.

Such childlike clothes weren’t something that Ji Tong could come up with. It must be attributed to the real elementary school student.

Fang Hao had disliked his mini suit when he went to the meeting last time. As a result, Fang Hao sent him many pictures of children’s clothing every two days and said in a serious tone that these were more good-looking.

[System 0587: Who is more childish?]

[System 0499: Oh, you don’t want to grow a dinosaur on your arm?]

…He was unable to refuse.

Not only could Ji Tong not refuse but other adults couldn’t refuse.

He Shiwen saw his new clothes and couldn’t help grabbing the dinosaur’s tail. Then he said with amazement. “This outfit is really fun.”

Ji Tong keenly heard a hint of ‘If it has an adult model, I want to secretly wear it and try it.’

So he turned his head with a smile and asked the host, “Does Brother like it?”

Pei Qingyuan keenly heard a hint of ‘If the host likes it, go home and change to a big one for you to wear.’

He unfastened his work apron and responded calmly, “You look very cute wearing it.”

“Uncle He, I’m off work.”

Pei Qingyuan put the new pastry prepared by He Shiwen for Ji Tong into the small school bag. He held the round planet school bag in one hand and his little brother with a dinosaur growing from his chest with the other, saying goodbye to the people in the store.

“Today, let’s go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables. I want to try cooking by myself.”

This was what he took the initiative to promise Ji Tong on his 18th birthday.

Now the two of them were living together. On weekends, they could cook and eat together at home.

He Shiwen reluctantly watched the big one take the small dinosaur away and waved his hand. “Pay attention to safety in the kitchen. If you can’t control the scene then call me. It is the first time you are cooking so remember to control the fire!”

“I got it. Thank you, Uncle He.”

The surging dusk on the streets was a brilliant orange-red.

Ji Tong stared at the setting sun for a while before turning to tell him, “Ruan Ruan, I want to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes.”

The low bushes around him were bathed in light and looked green.

Therefore, he added, “Add stir-fried vegetables. It is a meat and vegetarian combination and it will be comprehensive nutrition.”

Pei Qingyuan: “……”

His system was truly user-friendly, blending ideas about dishes with the surrounding scenery naturally. There wasn’t the slightest fear that he couldn’t cook well and he didn’t hurt the self-esteem of the kitchen novice at all.

Pei Qingyuan took out his phone and searched for recipes.

He added another braised pork.

It shouldn’t be difficult, right?

Pei Qingyuan calmly led Ji Tong to the vegetable market and continued to experience the loving eyes of the people around him.

“Oh, what a cute little child. So sensible. Do you want to help adults buy vegetables?”

The grandmother selling eggs looked at the well-behaved brothers in front of her and couldn’t help adding an extra egg for them.

Ji Tong waved politely to thank the grandmother. The dinosaur head on his sleeve was raised high, making the old woman smile non-stop.

When buying pork, the stall owner uncle asked him what he wanted to cook. Ji Tong immediately stood on tiptoe and rushed to answer. “My brother wants to make braised pork. It is his first time cooking!”

“Oh, braised pork!” The uncle said kindly. “Do you like a fat one or a thinner one? I’ll pick out a few good pieces of pork belly for you…”

At Ji Tong’s shining gaze, he became more and more enthusiastic. He explained in detail how to make braised pork to Pei Qingyuan. He even explained clearly which ingredients to put in and when to put them.

Pei Qingyuan heard this and immediately felt that he already knew it.

Ji Tong also had the same feeling. “It doesn’t seem hard to cook.”

The two of them walked confidently toward the vegetable stall with similar frequency steps.

When buying tomatoes, the stall owner gave Pei Qingyuan a handful of green onions. When buying green vegetables, the stall owner gave him another handful of green onions. When buying ginger and garlic…

“Stop smiling at others,” Pei Qingyuan reminded Ji Tong in his mind in a rare solemn tone.

He didn’t want to see green onions.

The green onions in the bag were almost more than the green vegetables.

Ji Tong was very obedient and immediately restrained the charm he didn’t want to exude. He held back his smile and hummed a small tune as he looked at the nearby stall. Then he saw it and his eyes suddenly froze.

Pei Qingyuan followed his gaze.

Ten minutes later, Ji Tong walked out of the vegetable market with a bag of eggs and a planet school bag. Behind him, Pei Qingyuan was carrying meat and vegetables in one hand and a heavy bag of ice cream in the other.

The pocket of Ji Tong’s sweatshirt was filled with the latest flavors of jelly and bubble gum. It filled the white belly of the dinosaur on his chest.

He swore that he didn’t smile this time!

It was voluntary by the host!

On the way home, Ji Tong in the back seat excitedly grabbed the corner of the host’s clothes. He looked contentedly at the sunset that was more and more like scrambled eggs with tomatoes and looked forward to today’s dinner.

The host was so smart when it came to everything else. Cooking must not be difficult for him.

In fact, Pei Qingyuan also thought so.

In the spacious kitchen, he tied the newly bought apron, washed the pork belly, blanched it and cut it into small pieces. He also washed the ingredients for the other dishes. They were all simple steps without any difficulty.

He stood in front of the sink and carefully washed the vegetables. There were two small stools in the open space beside him. One was Ji Tong, who was watching with interest, and the other was Hua Hua, who was lazily watching. Today’s Hua Hua was different. He wore a very exquisite and gorgeous peacock skirt that added extraordinary splendor to his white fur.

After all the preparations, it was time to officially roast the pork belly.

At a safe distance that didn’t affect the host’s actions, Ji Tong stood up. He stepped on the small stool and stared at the steaming iron pot. Hua Hua also stood up and wagged his tail curiously.

Pei Qingyuan was originally confident. The next steps had long been imprinted in his mind.

However, under the eyes of the two family members around him, he suddenly became nervous for some reason.

—Just a little bit.

The oil was hot and it was time to cook.

Pei Qingyuan took a deep breath. He calmly picked up the bowl containing the meat, poured the neatly cut pork belly into it and the remaining water stains touched the oil.

Then there were suddenly crackles in the kitchen like fireworks.

Ji Tong’s eyes widened in horror while Hua Hua retracted his head in fear. The child and cat looked at each other and rushed to flee the kitchen, leaving only a lonely peacock skirt on the square stool.

This wasn’t a problem that data and knowledge could handle.

This sound was too terrible!

Pei Qingyuan couldn’t hold back himself. He took a big step back, avoiding the explosion of oil. Then he turned to look at the family members who scattered in a hurry and couldn’t help having an unspeakable thought in his heart.

…Could he also go out and hide for half a minute first?