Din, Li Na, and Long poofed into the room winded and dressed in explorer gear though Long was in his wish dragon form.
"Wow, I can't believe we made it off that island.", Li Na said smiling.
Long looked annoyed.
"I can't believe you two asked me for an adventure on a tropical island in the middle of the Pacific that had ancient hidden ruins and a volcano."
Din could see the tension building and held out the photo of them posing in front of a large sarcophagus where a pile of dust and a few human bones were.
"Hey, at least the photo was worth it."
"And the fact I had to squeeze into a tiny passage in a wall lined with ancient bat dung, had to go swimming in an underwater currant that almost drowned us, and almost got hit on the head with a flaming piece of earth.", Long put in as he brushed his mane clean and still looking pretty annoyed, "Next time you two want to do an adventure you see in a movie, I'm saying no."
Din looked a bit apologetic.
"Sorry Long.", he said, "But the movie we saw yesterday was kind of fun."
Long rolled his eyes.
"The Lost City?", he asked before looking cynical, "I've heard better titles given to peasant's dog than a movie."
He paused and flinched.
"That one time the male lead was standing undressed for a while will not be forgotten anytime soon."
Li Na nodded.
"I know. I can't believe they actually put that in. You'd think that would be a deleted scene or something."
Long took a few breaths and looked calmer.
"What matters is we made it back."
"Only after we tried to fly back on you, got caught up in a storm, got marooned on another island in the Pacific that turned out to be uninhabited, and you poofed us back cause you couldn't handle what you went through.", Din added.
Long looked his way annoyed again.
"I was still shaken from what we went through okay?"
Din shrugged.
"Well, at least we got quality time together."
Long looked calmer as he helped himself to a bag of shrimp chips that was near his bed and curled up on it clearly getting comfortable.
"Another day, another journey.", he admitted.
/
The following morning, the trio were getting Long's sushi bar ready and Li Na noticed the large cooler of ice and fish nearby while looking a bit confused.
"Long, are you sure you've got the fish you need?", she asked him, "Customers lately barely order much."
Long smiled.
"Hey, with my expertise and plate decoration, who wouldn't want to have my sushi with Mrs. Song's dumpling soup?", the former emperor answered proudly, "It's what made this place one of the most sought after tourist attractions and famous joint in Shanghai."
Din rolled his eyes comically.
"I love you Long.", he said tossing Long a bag of shrimp chips.
Long by now had finished setting up and caught the bag Din tossed him and placed it near the counter. Unfortunately, the serenity of the whole thing came to a sudden and very annoying stop as a car horn beeped outside which drew the trio's attention.
"Please tell me that isn't who I think it is.", Long said growing annoyed.
Din and Li Na groaned as Ji Khan stepped out and came in with his usual snide look on his face.
"We're not open for another half hour Ji.", Din said firmly, "What do you want?"
"I just thought I'd drop in and get the early bird special.", Ji answered casually.
Long's expression darkened.
"We don't have an early bird special.", he protested.
Ji however wasn't even bothering to listen as he was clearly having his eyes on Li Na.
"Ms. Wang, I couldn't help but recall my family's ball to signal my collage departure and I must say you looked radiant as well as beautiful."
Li Na rolled her eyes.
"Please, I'm sure you made that up just to impress me."
Ji grinned.
"You always could see through me."
Din clearly had enough and came over as Ji was about to touch Li Na's hand.
"Hey, we're flattered you invited us, but it would be a shame to distract you from your business meetings or to polish that private boat of yours now, wouldn't it?"
Ji shrugged and turned to the door.
"Until next time my flower.", he said over his shoulder as he walked to the door.
The moment he was back in his car and out of sight, Long looked disgusted.
"Ugh, that guy's attitude makes me want to barf."
/
A few hours later, business was in full swing as it usually was. Long by now had gotten over Ji's visit and was deep in sushi as the orders came flying.
"Seven puffers please."
"Nine spicy tunas."
"I'll try the eel please."
"Got anything exotic?"
Din and Li Na were helping deliver orders to the kitchen and to the customers when unfortunately, Ji's car pulled up to the outside of the door again. Long noticed this and gripped his knives hard.
"If that kid insults me one time, I will hurt him.", he muttered.
Ji got out just as another fancy car pulled up beside his making Din and Li Na pause. The driver got out and opened the cabin door allowing Mrs. Khan to step out with Mr. Khan getting out on the other side. Mr. Khan wore his usual suit while Mrs. Khan was dressed in a fancy white dress with gray slippers and a necklace of jade beads that contrasted her topaz earrings. Mrs. Song and Mr. Wang were coming out of the office and noticed the Khans coming into the place.
"Waiter!", Mr. Khan called out snapping his fingers, "Table for three if you please."
"And please not one by the window.", Mrs. Khan added tilting her nose in the air, "Oh, the air in here is so humid that my hair might frizz."
Mrs. Song and Mr. Wang quickly came over.
"Mr. and Mrs. Khan.", Mr. Wang said plastering on a welcoming smile, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Mrs. Khan frowned.
"You may ask us after we've seated.", she said firmly, "I'm already staining my slippers."
/
Long had gotten his sushi done, but even after the Khan family was seated, Din was clearly nervous about taking their order and Long saw it. Mrs. Song and Mr. Wang had returned to the office, but Long felt like they were trying their best to keep the Khans happy.
"So, can I start you off with our specialty dish this morning?", Din offered.
Mrs. Khan looked his way with a raised eyebrow.
"Would this specialty dish of yours include hot sauce?", she asked.
Din tried to steam his nerves.
"Of course, Mrs. Khan."
Mrs. Khan rolled her eyes.
"Then we'll have three of the specialty dishes, extra hot sauce, about seven orders of California rolls, and three of this puffer fish sushi.", Mr. Khan stated.
Din had just written down the order when Ji piped up.
"Also, we'll be having only the finest purified water which is directly extracted from a natural spring on Mt. Fuji."
By the time Din got to the kitchen, Long could tell he was worn down.
"Tough crowd?", he asked.
Din sighed.
"I didn't think the Khans would be this snobby.", he admitted, "They seemed okay at their house."
Long chuckled.
"Yeah, that's the high crowd for you. Acting all nice on their own turf while belittling the common folk. I would know."
Long saw that what he said wasn't helping so he changed tunes.
"Well, don't let them get to ya. What did they order?"
Din handed over the slip and Long looked interested.
"So, the Mrs. Khan wants extra spice, eh?"
Din looked firm cause he had a good idea what Long had in mind.
"Long, you're not going that spicy, are you?"
Long smiled.
"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson."
Li Na had come by and looked just as firm.
"You'd better or I'm going to ask Mrs. Song to put you back on janitorial duties for a week."
/
A few minutes later, Long had the order up and Din delivered it to the Khans who were clearly not looking amused.
"About time it got here.", Mrs. Khan said rolling her eyes.
Long looked amused.
"Well, I can tell where Ji gets his arrogance from.", he muttered quietly to himself.
Once Din got everyone's order in place, he was about to leave when Mrs. Khan looked his way.
"Delivery boy, what is this?", she asked pointing to her bowl of soup in front of her.
Din looked at it and then to her.
"Your order madam."
"I can't eat this.", Mrs. Khan snapped turning away.
Long was over in a second.
"What's wrong with it?", he asked looking just as annoyed as Mrs. Khan was.
"That soup has three dumplings in it.", Mrs. Khan said firmly, "That's an odd number which I can't eat."
Din tried keeping his cool, but Long was another story.
"Then maybe you should have mentioned it before you ordered then."
Mrs. Khan rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but you're not getting a tip."
Din could see things were working out and got Long away from the table before the former emperor could voice another comeback.
"What a snob.", Long stated, "Who does she think she is?"
"It's the Khans.", Din answered plainly, "Did you forget that if they wanted to, they could bulldoze our establishment just to put up another skyscraper or something?"
Long's expression became one of realization.
"Oh yeah.", Long said before going back to his sushi.
As the Khans had lunch, Li Na and Din were holding their breath. This was one of the wealthiest families in Shanghai so they knew it was a good idea not to make them mad.
"So, we'll have the yacht ready for our spring cruise to the Bahamas by the end of the week.", Mr. Khan reported.
Mrs. Khan looked a bit surprised.
"Darling, you know that my hair already suffers from the humidity of this place."
"I'll be sure to have a parasol ready for you.", Mr. Khan offered.
That seemed to ease Mrs. Khan who turned to her son.
"So, Ji, what's this I hear about your grades improving?"
Ji handed over a paper.
"Came in just today, Mother.", he said proudly, "Another perfect score as always."
Mrs. Khan looked at the paper smiling.
"That's my boy.", she beamed.
/
Once the Khans finished up, Li Na and Din both came over with the bill which Din handed over while Li Na cleared the table.
"Okay, that would be-"
"We're not paying this.", Mrs. Khan snapped as the family stood up.
Din and Li Na paused but Long was over in a moment.
"You're not paying just cause your soup had the odd number of dumplings?", he asked confused.
"And the water was one degree warmer than I expected.", Mrs. Khan added.
Long looked angry.
"Listen close madam, you had us cook you an order, we did it, you need to pay up."
Mr. Khan ushered his wife away.
"Send the bill to our house.", he stated as the family started to leave.
Long wasn't backing down as he followed with Din and Li Na right behind him.
"You are each a horrible person.", he said harshly, "You three wouldn't last one whole week at the bottom of the bottom of society."
The Khans paused and Mrs. Khan looked Long's way just as angry.
"Do I need to call my lawyers?"
Din and Li Na quickly shut Long' mouth before he could make a comeback before looking Mrs. Khan's way apologetically.
"We're very sorry Mrs. Khan.", Din said, "He's still working on his customer interaction."
Mrs. Khan sighed heavily.
"Be sure he works on it.", she said firmly as the family and her got in their car.
Long was about to blow when Din and Li Na whispered something in his ear. Then he smiled, snapped his fingers, and a large wad of bills appeared on the table where the Khans had lunch.
/
A while later, the place was closing down for the night and Long was putting his apron on the rack alongside Din and Li Na's.
"Can you believe that woman?", he asked, "At least my wives had manners, knew their place, and were not her."
Din chuckled.
"She was like your past self in a dress."
"If you don't count the beard and old fashion.", Li Na added.
Long tried to calm down. He knew Din and Li Na were trying to help and he shouldn't let the Khans get to him as annoying as they were.
"Guys, thanks for cutting me off back there.", he said smiling, "I would've made the problem worse if you hadn't."
Din handed Long a bag of shrimp chips.
"That's why we love you Long.", he answered.
"You're not afraid to speak your mind or offer advice.", Li Na added, "And you have the best sense of humor than any rich person around."
Long felt better as he got to snacking on the shrimp chips when an idea came to mind.
"Hey guys, check this out.", he said before looking snobby as they walked upstairs, "I can't eat that cause it's odd numbered and I'm too rich to care."
Din and Li Na couldn't help but laugh.
"Good impression Long.", Li Na chuckled.
Long blushed and then went back to his snacking while the trio retired to the main house for the night. Mr. Wang and Mrs. Song had already gone and had gotten over the Khan's visit so they were doing fine and Long knew it. He then remembered he could use his magic one more time, but thought better not to mention it. It had been a hard enough day without it.