Bab 9: 9. Surrounded With the textbook safely in his bag
Aidan returned home with a bright smile on his face. When he
arrived at the end of his street, however, he noticed a group of people gathering and
discussing something rather serious.
Hm? Did Elder Dale offend someone? How could- Perhaps a customer got sick from
eating at the midnight snack bar and came back to seek revenge? Aidan felt as if he had
been struck by a lightning bolt. His brain was buzzing non-stop. Elder Dale? Midnight
snack bar? Seeking revenge? An ominous premonition suddenly filled his mind.
Rushing into the crowd, he pulled a fat middle-aged man aside and asked anxiously, Hey
Hood, did something happen to my family? The man, named Hood, mainly sold meat on
this street. He also supplied all the meat for the midnight snack bar, thus earning himself
the nickname Meat Hood. Seeing that the person pulling at him was Aidan, Meat Hood's
expression changed.
He sighed and said, Oh, Aidan, listen to me. Don't go home yet. You should hide here for
a while.
Still not getting the full story, Aidan asked slowly, What exactly happened? Ding! Big
order plus one. Hood did not expect to feel afraid of a young man. He looked at Aidan
with a frustrated gaze, unable to speak in his overwhelming presence.
Finally, he found his voice. Aidan, what's with your attitude? I'm just thinking for your
sake, don't be so rash. The neighbors all came around to persuade him to stay away.
The more they did so, the more Aidan was sure that something terrible had happened at
his house. Realizing that he had no time to ask around for more information, he sprang
to his feet and quickly ran towards the midnight snack bar. Hey, Aidan! Unable to catch
him, they simply watched the anxious Aidan dashing towards his house and disappearing
out of sight.
That kid, isn't he running a little too fast? While sprinting back home, Aidan kept hearing
the system's notifications ringing in his mind. Ding! Undergoing sprint. Short distance
sprinting ability plus one.
Current progress, one out of ten. Current level, beginner. Ding! Training leg muscles.
Strength in legs, plus one. Current progress, one out of ten. Current level, beginner.
Ding! Exercising cardiovascular system. Stamina, plus one. Current progress, one out of
ten.
Current level, beginner. Ding! Aidan had not expected a simple sprint to bring so many
benefits and so much improvement. Every breath and step he took strengthened his
physical condition.
However, he had no time to pay attention to the system at the moment, especially with
the seemingly dire situation at his house. In less than three minutes, Aidan arrived in
front of his house. As he reached home, Aidan noticed that his physical condition had
changed drastically.
He was quite different from his previous self, who would gasp for air after running only a few steps. After the improvements to his fitness, Aidan felt his heart beating at a normal
rate. He was not nearly as tired as he thought he would be.
Seen from afar, the midnight snack bar was entirely surrounded by a group of fierce-
looking men. They were thick-set and had a surly look. Their aura clearly differed from
the hoodlums that Aidan had met in the alley that day.
One, two, three. After looking at the area around his house, he noticed at least six or
seven men surrounding it. Damn, if I had known earlier, I would have brought some
stones with me, he thought.
Even if he had brought stones with him, though, he was not confident that his throwing
abilities would have been able to take care of these muscular men. What worried him
even more was the current situation at his shop, as well as the safety of his family. As for
the regular customers at the midnight snack bar, they walked as far away as they could
and did not dare approach the unfolding scene.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down,
Aidan walked towards the entrance of the midnight snack bar. Excuse me, could you
please let me in? The few brawny men immediately widened their vicious eyes and
muttered, The snack bar has been reserved by us today. A little brat like you should go
play somewhere else.
I'm the son of the owner. Huh? The men froze for a moment, unable to think of any
reason for the boy to lie to them. They waved their hands impatiently and said, Hurry up
then, go on in.
Aidan passed through the suffocating crowd and entered the snack bar, but the situation
inside was not what he had imagined. The scene he was worried about was not actually
taking place. Inside the rather small restaurant, a bald man was knocking on the table
impatiently as he said, I'm talking about what happened to you guys.
Today I brought my friends here to support you, yet you're telling me that you can't
serve us the chicken noodle soup? Aidan recognized the thick-set man, and remembered
that he was the one who had ordered several cartons of chicken noodle soup to take
away yesterday. Opposite of him, his parents, Clara and Morris Dale, smiled as they said,
Sir, that noodle soup was, in fact, prepared by our son. He's the only one who knows how
to make the exact dish you're looking for.
Bullshit! The thick-set man slammed the table with all his might, causing a tremor
throughout the store. Do you two think I'm an idiot? I've had years of experience eating
noodles, and I can guarantee that only an experienced chef, who has been immersed in
the culinary arts for decades, would be able to cook such delicious chicken noodle soup.
Standing up, he said menacingly to the pale-faced Morris and Clara, We refuse to leave the store until you serve us that chicken noodle soup today! Yeah, we're not leaving! The
few muscly men outside chimed in, scaring Morris and Clara out of their wits.
At that moment, they suddenly noticed Aidan, who stood at the entrance, and
immediately rushed over as if welcoming their lord and savior. Son, you're finally back!
Turning to the man from the day before, Morris said, Dear customer, my son has finally
returned! I'll get him to make the chicken noodle soup for you immediately! His parents
kept making signs to Aidan, hinting that he could not afford to offend these people,
before hurrying back into the kitchen to prepare the chicken noodle soup. As for the
brawny men, their gazes, full of suspicion and doubt, immediately fell upon Aidan.
Did you really make that delicious chicken noodle soup last night? The bald man asked
with an expression of disbelief. Now he understood the sequence of events. Aidan could
not help but sigh a breath of relief.
Instead of seeking revenge, the group of intimidating men were simply rushing to get
their hands on the chicken noodle soup that he had created. It was all just a false alarm.
Having his culinary skills recognized like this gave him a sense of great pride.
However, the sight of his parents trembling before the group of men caused him to fume
in rage. His expression was cold as he said lightly, So what if I did? When Morris and
Clara saw Aidan's attitude, their souls almost floated out of their bodies, as they all but
rushed forward to cover Aidan's mouth. How could their very own son take such an
attitude towards these men? You could tell with a glance who they are, yet he still dares
to talk back to them? When the men saw Aidan's fearless attitude, they clenched their
fists and shouted, Lousy brat! What kind of attitude is this? These few friends come here
to support your restaurant, but you're still not grateful for our kindness? How dare you
disrespect us like this? Do you want a few days in the hospital? The group of men fell
into a frenzy of ridicule, and even began cursing.
Morris and Clara looked anxious and panic-stricken, not expecting the situation to
escalate to this point. All of you, shut the hell up! The bald man, clearly the leader of
these thuggish men, silenced the entire shop with a single roar. Then he smiled at Aidan
and said, in a surprisingly polite manner, Little one, don't lower yourself to the same
level as them.
As we've been waiting for quite a while now, they must have gotten rather impatient.
Please understand and forgive them. Why don't you go back into the kitchen and cook us
some noodle soup? The men had never seen their boss be so polite, and to an ordinary
high school student, was he really still the boss of Bayside District? Boss Romano? That
bowl of chicken noodle soup must be truly amazing to be able to make their comrade
dream so much about it.
Morris and Clara wiped the cold sweat from their faces and were about to drag Aidan into
the kitchen. Instead, Aidan sat down at the table, leisurely opened his bag, and took out
the senior year math textbook he had received from Viola. He had yet to vent his anger.
The smile on the couple's faces froze once again. The bald man, Joseph Romano, also
narrowed his eyes. Little one, what is the meaning of this? Aidan glanced at Boss
Romano, who sat directly opposite of him, and said slowly, Well, I happen to be suffering
from irritation.
I'll need to read some books before cooking. Otherwise, I won't be in the mood to cook.
Ding! Acting calm and composed in the presence of someone stronger.
Bigger plus one. Boss, I can't stand this brat anymore. In all my life, I've never met such
an arrogant kid before.
Let me teach him a lesson. A few men rushed towards Aidan and grabbed his hands,
squeezing his finger joints tightly. Boss Romano raised his hand and stopped them.
He lowered the corner of his mouth and stared silently at Aidan. The atmosphere
suddenly became tense. Morris and Clara, standing to one side, clenched their fists
nervously as drops of cold sweat trickled down their foreheads.
Any ordinary person meeting Romano's vicious gaze for even a few seconds would feel
faint, as if staring at the devil himself. Aidan, however, ignored him and silently opened
the book in his hand, reading it with relish. Ding! Reading Senior Year Math Textbook.
Math ability plus one. Alan had deliberately torn out key pages to prevent Aidan from
solving the function question. However, what he did not know was that Aidan possessed
the system within him.
Even if the contents explaining the assigned problem were removed, as long as he
scanned the textbook with his eyes, his math ability would still increase, allowing him to
solve the problem with little trouble. Ding! Ding! Ding! Math ability plus one. Current
progress, forty out of a hundred.
He had finally reached his goal. After flipping through the book for about ten minutes, he
had already gained eleven experience points in math ability. Meanwhile, the group of
fearsome, thick-set men simply stood in their places and watched a high school student
reading through a math textbook for ten minutes straight.
No one spoke, but their mean eyes looked as if they were about to devour Aidan whole
at any moment. Seeing Aidan stretch his back and put down the book, Joseph Romano
gritted his teeth and asked, Little one, are you feeling better? Can you cook now? It
seemed that Boss Romano really was a connoisseur of food and had great passion for it.
Ha ha ha, my dear guests, I have let you wait for quite a long time, said Aidan.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone