A Strange Place To Eat.

Zhao Yuhui looked at the half cup of coffee and contemplated whether to leave or drink it.

It wasn't good to stay in the office when the owner wasn't.

She immediately sat down and gulped the coffee in three sips before taking her bag and leaving.

When Zhao Yuhui was about to hail the cab, she looked up at the sky. It was turning darker. In a flash, an idea popped up in her head causing her to take her phone out and dial a number.

"Hello? Mom? I shall be there in about forty minutes! Be ready by then! We are going out to eat!"

Without waiting for the reply, she hung up the call and got into the cab.

On the other end, Mother Zhao dumbfoundedly glanced at the phone in her hand for a minute. What was with this sudden excitement?

The next second, her eyes widened, and she went inside her room. She was getting late!

Zhao Yuhui searched for the best hotpot restaurants throughout the way. She even asked for suggestions from the driver and seeing that the reviews of that restaurant were good, she booked it.

Content by it, she put her phone back and waited to reach the apartment.

"Mom, I am back! You are ready, right?"

"I am!" Mother Zhao came out of her room all ready making Zhao Yuhui smile.

"Wait for ten minutes! Let me change into some warm clothes!"

The evenings in City X had been exceptionally cold lately and because she had a dinner to attend the next day, getting sick was the last thing on her bucket list.

After changing her clothes, Zhao Yuhui took the key of her car and moved to the elevator. "Let's go, Mom!"

She was very excited about going out to eat hot pot. Moreover, she had decided till her mother was here, she would keep on bringing her to various places and spend time so that she won't regret it later on.

Seeing that her mother was well-settled on her seat, Zhao Yuhui drove the car out of the complex. Normally, the responsibility of driving was given to Chen Peiling because she hated driving on busy roads.

She wouldn't be driving even today if it was not for her mother. Zhao Yuhui knew had she opted for a cab, her mother would have scolded her the entire time for wasting money on a cab when they already have a car.

It was not that she did not like driving, but she loved the feeling of driving freely more than having to push her feet on brake every two seconds. "Why do you want to eat hotpot out of nowhere?" Mother Zhao asked when they had come quite far from their apartment.

"I haven't eaten that this whole year. And because the weather was pretty today...I wanted to celebrate it by eating good food."

Zhao Yuhui gave her a cheeky smile when Mother Zhao squinted her eyes at her. "Are you saying that what I cook isn't good?" She looked dangerously at her.

"Mom, here you go! Stop manipulating my words. You always do that." Zhao Yuhui grumbled.

"Because you say it in that way."

"Mom, you are starting a banter!"

"No, I am not."

"Yes, you are!"

Mother Zhao glanced at the unfamiliar roads and turned to look at her daughter. "Where are we going? There were shops of hotpots near our apartment too."

"We are going to a new place. The driver of the cab recommended me this one and it surely had amazing reviews. So I thought about coming here."

"It is far." Mother Zhao commented.

"Just some more time." After driving for about an hour and a half, Zhao Yuhui pulled the car in front of a street. The GPS was telling her to enter the street but there was no way she could bring her car there. There was just no space.

It was an old street, Zhao Yuhui could tell that by the hanging boards whose condition was worn. Nevertheless, she had never seen even the downtown area of the city as crowded as this street was.

The place beamed in liveliness and the fairy lights dangling above the street had a great hand in making the street appear zestful, regardless of its low maintenance.

Zhao Yuhui parked the car and walked inside the street with her mother.

"It's been a long time since I have been to such a lively place!" Mother Zhao exclaimed with delight.

Zhao Yuhui couldn't help and agree to this. "Me too!"

"Unfortunately, our town has lost its shine ever since people have left for big cities."

Watching the small kids jumping around and running in the street, trying to catch each other brought an affectionate smile on Mother Zhao's face. "These kids are so sweet!"

Zhao Yuhui rolled her eyes and commented appearing dissatisfied. "You only look at the children of others with adoration. Had it been me or big bro, you would have scolded us for bothering other."

Look at these innocent faces and their charming smiles while playing and compare that to yours and your brothers crying faces and ear-piercing shrieks in the middle of market.

Mother Zhao pressed the displeasing frown taking form on her forehead. It was really hard for her to bring up her children who used to only cry all the time.

Soon, they came to stop in front of a traditionally designed old shop in the middle of the street. The board that looked as if it was about to fall anytime only had one thing written 'Delicious Hotpot'.

However, the small lanterns hanging off the ceiling in the balconies did complete the work of making it attractive.

Zhao Yuhui brought her phone up and compared the shop with the photo uploaded on the page. "It seems to be the shop."

In the picture, the structure of the shop was similar. Even the floors and designs were similar. The only difference was that it looked newly built in the photo whereas in real life...uh, it looked a bit old.

No! Actually, cut that.

It looked very old!

It was as if the photo uploaded on the web was taken ten years or so ago and after that, it had never gone under renovation, not even once.

Zhao Yuhui's lips went in a straight line before chuckling nervously and tried assuring her mother. "Haha...the taste of food shouldn't depend upon how a shop looks from outside."

Keyword: tried!