Chapter Ninety-Seven: External Branches

  Pang Guang went to help Lin Junyun buy breakfast, and unexpectedly met Zhang Xiaoting along the way. Now his heart is in a mess, he really doesn't want any more trouble, if he had known he would meet Zhang Xiaoting under such circumstances, he wouldn't have taken this road even if you killed him.

  Originally, there were breakfast stalls as soon as you walked out of the neighborhood. In order to make up for the harm caused to Lin Junyun, Pang Guang decided to go further and walk a longer distance to buy a bowl of champion porridge at the end of a small alley next to the neighborhood. It's strange that this porridge shop is doing an unusually good business. No matter how early you go, you can always catch up with the scene of waiting in line. The boss of this shop also has a very strange habit, which is to cook only one pot of porridge every day and close the door as soon as it's sold out. In the boss's words, this is a family rule that must be followed by future generations. Therefore, no matter how long the line is, they will never cook a second pot.

  Just as Pang Guang was rushing to the Wonton Noodle Shop, a car horn suddenly sounded from behind. He thought he had blocked the way of the car and turned around to see that it was a pure white Toyota Crown pressing the horn, so he leaned towards the side of the road and continued walking forward.

  The horn sounded again immediately, and it was continuous and lasting, making people feel annoyed and distracted.

  "What's wrong with you!" Pang Guang's face turned red as he was about to erupt, but then he saw Zhang Xiaoting poking her head out of the car window. Although she was wearing a large-framed pair of sunglasses, Pang Guang still recognized her at a glance. Her pure and lovely face had a light dusting of makeup today, giving off a very refreshing and pleasant impression.

  "Pang Guang, Pang Guang, come here." Zhang Xiaoting excitedly shouted.

  Pang Guang exclaimed and walked back to the window: "Zhang Xiaoting, how did you end up here? This car is really cool."

  Zhang Xiaoting took off her sunglasses, and the warm smile in her eyes became even more intense. Unlike yesterday's depression and confusion, she seemed to be in a very good mood today: "I don't have the money to buy such a car, this car was lent to me by an investor for use. Get in quickly, I'll take you to eat congee at that champion shop at the end of the alley."

  Pang Guang glanced at the driver who didn't even look up and opened the car door to get in: "What a coincidence, you're also going to eat congee? I heard that the porridge of that store is very popular and they close as soon as it's sold out. We're a bit late now, not sure if we can still buy some."

  "It's okay, the boss is having bad luck today because he ran into me." Zhang Xiaoting curled up her enchanting lips and revealed a beautiful smile: "Don't worry, just follow me, I guarantee you'll be able to buy it. Just do what I say later."

  "Good." Pang Guang glanced at Zhang Xiaoting and found that she was wearing a floral dress today, with no deliberate makeup on her face. In Pang Guang's eyes, the unmade-up Zhang Xiaoting was even more stunning than the meticulously dressed-up one.

  "You look particularly beautiful today." Pang Guang said involuntarily.

  "Really?" Zhang Xiaoting smiled faintly: "It's rare, you actually praised me for being beautiful, I think it's the first time in my impression."

  "Really?" Pang Guang rubbed his forehead and thought for a moment: "I think I mentioned it before, maybe you forgot."

  "There's absolutely nothing, if there was I wouldn't have forgotten." Zhang Xiaoting smiled slyly: "Pang Guang, whether you believe it or not, between us, there are two things that I will never forget."

  "What?" Pang Guang came over with interest and turned sideways to look at Zhang Xiaoting.

  "Firstly, you've never said you like me; secondly, you've never complimented me on my looks."

  "You're really beautiful, I must have complimented you before, you must be mistaken." Pang Guang weakly argued, because he himself was not sure if he had ever complimented Zhang Xiaoting before. The Zhang Xiaoting two years ago and the one now were completely different people. First of all, her temperament shown by a single smile or frown now was completely different from two years ago. Now, Zhang Xiaoting made Pang Guang almost look up to her when talking to her.

  The car soon arrived at the end of the alley, and Zhang Xiaoting looked at the very long dragon and said: "Forget it, let's not argue about this. Let's get off the bus. Many years ago, I wanted to try the porridge of this porridge shop, but I couldn't get a number."

  Pang Guang looked at the long queue and his mouth was wide open, "My god, the line is so long, are there any scalpers selling numbers? I might as well buy two high-priced ones, at this rate, we'll be queuing until next year!"

  Zhang Xiaoting smiled faintly: "You remember, just follow what I say later and you'll be fine."

  "Stop messing around, let's hurry up and go, it only takes a moment to chat, and now there are two more people following behind, this line is getting longer and longer, let's try to squeeze in quickly." Pang Guang looked at the continuous stream of people walking towards the back of the line, extremely anxious, almost begging Zhang Xiaoting.

  "Hey, where did you get so much nonsense? In less than a minute, these people will give way and let you be the first in line."

  "How is this possible?" Pang Guang stared with wide eyes, his face full of shock and said: "I'm not their father, why should I give way to them for no reason?"

  "Stop talking so much, quickly stand by the window and wait. As soon as people disperse, you immediately go buy congee."

  "Are you sure?" Pang Guang saw that even if he squeezed in and lined up, it was not certain that he could buy it, so he nodded his head in agreement.

  "I'm sure," said Zhang Xiaoting, biting the driver's ear and saying something to Pang Guang after that: "Okay, you can get off now and wait by the window. Oh, I forgot to introduce you." Zhang Xiaoting pointed at the driver and said: "This is my manager He Qing."

  "Nice to meet you!" Pang Guang said with a polite smile.

  "Go ahead and rest assured, you will soon see that Anna's words are not in vain." He Qing's thin lips rose up with a strange smile.

  "Anna?" Pang Guang was taken aback: "Who is Anna?"

  "Pa...ng......light..." Zhang Xiaoting said with a displeased expression: "A week ago, I already held a press conference to announce that I changed my stage name to Anna, have you ever paid attention to me?"

  Pang Guang was secretly tongue-tied, Zhang Xiaoting changed her stage name to "Anna" He really hadn't heard of it before, a week ago, he seemed to be busy preparing for the exam, in order to make his grades surpass Lin Junrui's, making a final sprint.

  Zhang Xiaoting saw Pang Guang's face turning red and white, feeling a bit uneasy, and gently said to Pang Guang: "Hurry up and go, there's nothing to hide from you either. I just told He Qing that there's no secret about you. To be honest, at the request of investors, He Qing and I are going to create a star effect later, mainly to test the effectiveness of the advertisement. Those investors have invested a lot of money, after all, they need to see some results."

  Pang Guang responded with a vague "uh-huh", opened the car door, and walked towards the queue of people. He didn't follow behind to line up, but instead followed Zhang Xiaoting's instructions and headed straight for the small window at the front of the queue.

  Zhang Xiaoting smiled, opened the car door and walked down. At this time, He Qing, who had no expression on her face all along, also got out of the car and closed the door, shouting loudly: "Wow, Zhang Xiaoting is also here to buy porridge!"

  "Zhang Xiaoting?" A small portion of the people in the queue who had stretched their necks perked up their ears, hearing He Qing's voice, and turned around excitedly to look. They immediately saw the poster that was spreading all over the streets and alleys of Dongcheng District's new star Zhang Xiaoting. "My god, what's going on? Am I dreaming? It's really Anna, she's also here, am I seeing things?"

  "Wow, really......" A small group of people rushed towards Zhang Xiaoting and surrounded her, frantically shouting her stage name: "Anna, Anna......" Some others looked at the porridge shop in a dilemma, then looked at Zhang Xiaoting again, making a very difficult decision. Suddenly, they stomped their feet and ran away too. In an instant, at least half of the people swarmed towards Zhang Xiaoting like bees. He Qing immediately stretched out her arms to block the crazy crowd: "I am Anna's manager He Qing, please everyone keep order......"

  "Get out of the way, you're just a nobody." The fan who rushed to the front was a hot-tempered old man. He pulled aside the manager who was blocking the way: "Anna, I love you, take a photo with me?"

  "Hello everyone, thank you very much for your love and support. I was just a small hotel's floor manager before, and suddenly I received so much attention and love from all of you, it's a bit overwhelming. If you like me, please keep order, those who want to take photos or get autographs, please come one by one."

  A deafening voice suddenly spread: "Good..."

  The expected effect has been achieved, Zhang Xiaoting smiled slightly, "As a local performing artist, you hope that I can add glory to the Dongcheng District and take the performing arts industry of the Dongcheng District to a higher level, walking out of the Dongcheng District and towards the national stage. I understand, seeing that I am a small woman who has been struggling hard, should keep order, right?"

  The cheers of "Hurray..." grew louder and echoed through the entire alley.

  "Alright!" He Qing squeezed over and blocked Zhang Xiaoting behind her: "Anna's attitude has been very clear, please keep order, those who want to sign or take photos, follow the direction of my hand and line up one by one."

  As soon as He Qing's voice fell, another commotion broke out, and after a long time of hustle and bustle, the swarming crowd finally formed a twisted "one" shape.

  It wasn't until then, when queuing up to buy porridge and seeing this scene, that I finally came to my senses. It was indeed Zhang Xiaoting, who would have thought she'd also come to this small place for porridge? It's too amazing! In no time, more than half of the people in line swarmed over like bees. Porridge can be had every day, but meeting Anna in person isn't something that happens every day. The chance to stand so close to Anna is worth queuing up all morning for.

  An old lady in the queue to buy porridge suddenly ran away, at first still excited that today's luck was so good, came early enough, and there were many people waiting in front, just worried that they might not get a number, when the person in front suddenly ran away more than ten, in the blink of an eye, there were less than ten people waiting in front, and soon it would be their turn.