Alvin saw Professor Wilson off and checked the time; it was already ten o'clock.
He still had to rush back, as the restaurant business needed to be attended to.
The school didn't pay him, so his living expenses still had to come from the restaurant.
He greeted Olivia, walked out of the office, and patrolled the school, intimidating the mischievous kids.
Seeing the kids trembling, Alvin nodded in satisfaction.
He drove his pickup truck back to his restaurant.
By the time he returned to the restaurant, it was almost 11 o'clock.
Alvin parked the car by the roadside.
Dom cleverly opened the car door himself, jumped out, and then used his front paws to close the door.
He shook his body, and his shiny black fur rippled like water in the sunlight.
Dom let out a comfortable yawn, ran to the entrance, greeted Thor, and the two wolves bumped heads.
After that, he lay down on the other side of the door.
A pile of construction debris was stacked at the entrance, so it seemed Uncle Cheng's progress was good.
Pushing open the door, he saw Jessica bored, wiping glasses behind the bar.
Her mood seemed to have improved with the progress of the house's repairs.
Seeing Alvin enter, she gave him a big smile.
It wasn't mealtime yet, so there weren't many customers in the restaurant.
A young Latina woman and a Black woman quickly stood up when they saw Alvin.
The Black woman's eyes were filled with tears.
"Oh~" she said, opening her arms and giving Alvin a tight hug.
Her head rested on Alvin's shoulder as she said, "Thank you! Thank you, Alvin! You are my savior, you are a good person! Thank you!"
Alvin was taken aback by her words, his hands awkwardly unsure where to go.
He looked at Jessica with an inquiring gaze.
Jessica laughed at Alvin's bewildered expression and mouthed, "Food truck, Archie."
Oh, that explained it.
Alvin gently pushed the Black woman away and asked, "Are you Archie?"
He then looked at the other Latina woman, "And you are Lilith?"
The Latina woman, upholding the warm tradition of South American girls, gave Alvin an enthusiastic hug, leaving deep lipstick marks on both his cheeks.
"Yes, I'm Lilith, thank you, Alvin! God bless you!"
This Lilith was quite attractive, probably not over thirty, with a fiery figure, though the pressures of life made her look a bit haggard.
Alvin's food truck had rekindled her hope for life.
"If possible, tonight, I would like to invite you to my home for dinner, to thank you for your generosity."
She finished, looking at Alvin with sparkling eyes, as if she had much more to say.
This invitation, clearly promising an extra reward, made Jessica, behind the bar, let out a heavy snort.
The glass in her hand made an overloaded "creak," in danger of shattering at any moment.
Alvin shivered, patted Lilith's shoulder, and gently pushed away Lilith, who was pressed against his chest, looking up at him.
Alvin smiled and said, "I've received your thanks! My only hope is that you will seriously run the food truck and work hard to live.
This world is too cruel for us, but we cannot give up hope!"
Alvin's words deeply moved the two women, who kept wiping away tears and repeatedly saying, "Thank you!" and similar phrases.
The two Black youths at their table also stood up and, in a very Black way, pounded their chests with their fists, then pointed at Alvin, roughly meaning, "Brother, I've got your back, if you need anything, just call me! I'll go through fire and water for you!" and so on.
As the principal of a community school, Alvin was quite perceptive.
He waved at the two boys, "Come here, kids."
The two excited boys ran over, and just as they were about to greet him, Alvin raised his hand to stop them and said, "Kids, skipping class is a serious offense in my school!"
The two excited boys then realized that Alvin, the de facto ruler of the three nearby blocks, the great benefactor, was also the terrifying principal of the community school.
The two boys' black faces seemed to have been brushed with a layer of white ash.
They nervously lowered their heads, awaiting the principal's judgment.
These two had clearly learned their lesson and knew that arguing would only make the punishment worse.
Alvin saw their good attitude of confession and said with a tolerant smile, "Since you have the energy to skip class, then clean up the sidewalk outside for me!"
Seeing the two boys about to bolt outside, Alvin continued, "Not just today, but for the next week.
I usually wake up at five in the morning, and when I wake up, I want to see that the sidewalk in front of my door is clean enough to sleep on.
It's eleven now, you can still make it to school for lunch."
The two Black boys exchanged a look of despair, then dejectedly said goodbye to their mothers and left for school.
Archie, the Black woman, seeing her two sons punished, not only wasn't angry but hugged Alvin.
"Thank you so much, Alvin," she said.
"Now only you can control these bad boys.
Sometimes I really worry they'll end up in prison like their father."
As she spoke, the emotional woman started wiping away tears again.
Alvin smiled at the two women and said, "It's getting late, I need to start business.
You two go sit down, I'll treat you to a steak for lunch."
Then, ignoring their protests, he waved them back to their seats.
He walked behind the bar, tied on his apron, lit all ten burners on the stove, placed ten small iron plates on them, and brushed them with a layer of olive oil.
The steaks were already marinated, so as soon as the oil was hot, they could go on the griddle.
After a moment of bustling, Alvin turned around and tapped Jessica, who was still muttering unkind things about Lilith, on the head.
"Go call Uncle Cheng down.
Tell him to eat and rest for a bit before getting back to work."
Jessica clutched her head, glared at Alvin resentfully, and ran upstairs to call Uncle Cheng.
As the aroma of steak filled the restaurant, customers gradually started coming in.
It was like this every day, as if these people could all tell time.
Each iron plate came with a half-inch thick, palm-sized steak, a portion of pasta, and a fried egg.
The first serving went to Uncle Cheng, who was huddled alone in a corner of the bar.
"Try my cooking, don't be so reserved, Uncle Cheng, relax a bit, you're a guest now."
There was no ordering service here, as there was only one dish: sizzling steak, twenty dollars a plate.
Drinks were only sold in the evening.
Jessica busily served all the customers a glass of lemonade, then used pine wood trays to deliver the cooked steaks to the customers' tables in order.
Many of the customers came by word of mouth; the local residents were busy with their lives at this hour and wouldn't come during lunchtime.
Only in the evening, when Alvin's business wasn't as hectic, would they come here for a beer and relax together.
Alvin stood in front of the stove, amused as he listened to a few young men in suits, who looked like elites, listening to a blond young man boast about how he bravely ventured into Hell's Kitchen alone and discovered this restaurant.
He claimed that the steak here tasted very special, with the aroma of steak mixed with the terrifying scent of Hell's Kitchen, creating a unique flavor.
Alvin knew this guy; his adventures in Hell's Kitchen could practically fill a joke book.
Considering he was trying hard to advertise his restaurant, Alvin decided not to expose him.