After departing from Ordai once they reached the top of the Jade Palace steps, Po wondered where he and Lam would have lunch. The Furious Five would be finished with their training about now, so that would mean that they couldn't use the kitchen for a private chat. Po decided to go in the kitchen and look for her anyway since she had promised a lunch date and that was the only other place he could think of. He soon crossed the grounds and headed over to the building, expecting Lam to be once again running across the stove top. Instead, he was intercepted by his dad who was waiting expectantly by the door. 

"Dad?!" Po exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing up here?!"

"Lam wanted me to fetch you. She's serving you two lunch in my restaurant so that she doesn't disturb all your friends. She even offered to serve some of my customers while I came up and got you! Wasn't that so sweet? Of course, I don't know how she's going to serve noodles seeing as she doesn't know our family recipe, but as long as she doesn't run out, I suppose it'll be fine." 

Mr. Ping, thinking now about the long line of customers in his restaurant waiting for lunch, now proceeded to head out of the Jade Palace with Po following him close behind. Po expressed surprise on his dad leaving the restaurant into someone else's hands, but Mr. Ping trusted Lam on the sole fact that she too ran a restaurant. 

"Of course, I don't know how she runs it, but I gave her some instructions before I left so hopefully she follows them carefully. She better not have left a huge line of angry customers though." 

Mr. Ping had no need to fret over this however as by the time he and Po got to the restaurant, it was almost as if Mr. Ping had never left it. Lam kept everything running smoothly and had also simultaneously made a small lunch for herself and Po. Mr. Ping was even impressed that she had restocked the bean buns that had run low. 

"You're so efficient!" he exclaimed as Lam finished handing a customer some soup. 

"My family is all about an assembly line," Lam explained as she effortlessly moved over to the back counter and moved a pot of tea next to the lunch she had prepared. "We use a system to keep all the meals coming smoothly depending on the amount of customers and the number of hands in the kitchen. Of course, you run a different system of operations, so that takes a moment to adapt to." 

"Where's my stir fry dumpling spread?!" suddenly shouted an angry customer from the window. 

Before Mr. Ping could even make apologies, Lam leaped over to him and said in a stern voice, "Sir, I just gave you your stir-fry dumplings. And don't say it was your twin brother because I'm not falling for that trick again!" 

"I do have a twin!" the pig protested. 

"Okay, but I've been watching you the whole time to make sure you got your meal. You sit at the back table in the corner. I'm not giving you more free food!"

Mr. Ping gasped in horror. "Free food?!" he shrieked. "You sir are a disgrace to the restaurant business! How dare you swindle my son's girlfriend like this! That'll be coming out of your pocket!" 

He waved Lam away so that he could take care of the rowdy complainer, and Lam and Po hurried over to the back counter to grab their food. Po offered to take the tea pot, but Lam said to leave it so that she could balance the tray. They then headed outside and to a corner table so that they could eat.

"I feel bad letting you carry all that stuff," Po admitted as Lam hopped onto the table without so much as one morsel spilling onto the floor." 

"Don't be. I do this all the time," Lam promised. She swiftly distributed the food across the table, some steamed buns and rice pudding, and then began to pour the tea into both tea cups. As settled down to eat, the angry customer was coughing up the money he owed Mr. Ping and stormed out of the restaurant, casting a death glare at Lam. The mantis paid him no mind however, and simply dug into her food. 

"Customers can be a pain sometimes, can't they?" Po sympathized. 

"Unfortunately," Lam agreed as she sat back with a relaxed sigh. "You do your best to smile at them and be pleasant and complying, but some people just don't care."  She laughed. "I love the people who threaten to never come back to the restaurant because they hate us. We don't like them either, so they're actually doing us a service by never returning! Happy day! Shoo! Begone with you! Those people are fools, they are." 

Po laughed. "Yeah, I don't know what goes on in their heads," he agreed. "But it's always great when they keep their promise and don't come back." 

The two began to settle into their lunch, though not before Lam pulled out the timer Po had left behind. "I noticed this in your room when I went to talk about lunch," she pointed out. 

Po turned slightly red. "Yeah, I forgot it when I hung out with Ordai," he admitted. "I meant to go up and grab it, but she said she could keep track of the time herself, so...."

"Well then she must be really good at it because you're right on time for lunch," Lam said with a smile. "I personally need one. I get so caught up in getting everything precisely done that I have no idea what time it is." 

She then began to devour her lunch while Po decided to start devouring the steamed buns. The two were quiet for some time since both of them were too busy stuffing their mouths. But when they were done, there was once again time for conversation. 

"Do you have a big family?" Po asked. 

"Sure do," Lam agreed as she drank some tea. "I have three sisters, four brothers, my parents, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, two aunts, three cousins, a brother-in-law, and a nephew." 

"Wow! That's a lot!" Po exclaimed. 

"I know. It can get a bit hectic at times, but I love them all the same." 

Po watched her start devouring the steamed buns and thought for a second before awkwardly clearing his throat. "So...I hope I don't sound insensitive asking this question," he began slowly. "But..."

"Is it the 'do mantis' really eat their husbands' question?" Lam asked with a sly look. 

Po turned a darker shade of red. "Um...yeah...." he stammered. "It's just...Mantis mentioned it one time, so...."

"That's understandable. A lot of people I know find it sickening and weird, but there's a pretty logical explanation," Lam promised. "To give you the short story, it's a pregnancy instinct." 

Po looked confused. "Pregnancy instinct?" he repeated.

"Yep. You know how most women have pregnancy cravings? Well, it's kind of like that. Female mantis' get really weak during their pregnancy, so they require a high level of protein in order to keep themselves healthy. Unfortunately, the weak cravings come with a ravenous feeding frenzy instinct, and there's something about male mantis' that can completely eradicate and healthily nourish us during that time." 

Lam glanced up at Po's face and laughed. "I know, it's the weirdest thing ever, but unfortunately it's just the truth," she admitted. "Though there have been some female mantis' who managed to break the cycle, it's not common. Unless you're my mom."

"Wait, your dad's still around?" 

"Surprisingly. Mom told me she had her mouth bound shut during each pregnancy and drank everything high in protein. How she did it 7 times in a row I don't know, but she did it. And dad's grateful about it, so he kind of tends to be very bendable when mom asks him for something absolutely ridiculous." 

Lam devoured another steamed bun and drank some more tea as Po finished up the rest of his lunch. Po asked what made her interested in coming to compete in the mini dating contest they had set up. 

"I never wanted to get married, honestly," Lam told him. "At least not in my village. I know eating one's mate is a part of life where I'm from, but it's still really sad for everybody and I honestly didn't feel like having anything to do with it. But then those messengers came through with the announcement about the contest, and I thought, Hey, if I marry someone not in my own range of species, I don't have to worry about eating anyone! So I told them I was interested. My family thought that was a really bad idea, but they get where I'm coming from." 

"I'm guessing you don't normally live among us bigger guys, huh?" Po observed. 

"Afraid not. Though bigger customers stop buy at our restaurant, they're just customers. You don't really interact with them that often unless it's to yell at them for harassing a server." 

"Makes sense." 

Lam drank some more tea and smirked. "Your dad's really cool," she complimented. "I couldn't imagine raising a kid and running a busy restaurant all by myself." 

"Yeah, dad's the best," Po admitted, smiling over at Mr. Ping who was currently in the middle of chopping vegetables. "He's always there for me when I need him. Though he does have a privacy issue, but that's okay. I guess we all have our quirks." 

Lam chuckled. "I kind of got that impression when I first came down here to start lunch," she said. "He showed me at least 20 pictures of you not even looking at the painter." 

Po turned red and groaned. "Not again!" he mumbled. He looked back at the counter and yelled, "Dad! What did I say about showing people my baby pictures?!" 

"They weren't baby pictures," Mr. Ping loudly corrected, tossing the vegetables into some soup. "They were those pictures I had of you trying to ribbon dance in your room like Viper."

Po flushed a bright red and immediately smashed his head on the table in embarrassment. Lam smiled and walked over to gently pat his head. "Don't worry about it too much," she assured him. "Besides, you looked kind of cute in those pictures. Even when you fell over." 

Po didn't say anything in reply. He simply kept his head down on the table and reached over to grab a spare bun that had fallen out of his dish. Lam walked back over to her place at the table and drank some tea, only for the gong to go off.

"Well, that's it for today," she told Po. "It was real nice talking to you. I hope you enjoyed lunch." 

"Oh yeah. I totally did," Po promised, lifting up his head a bit. He slurped up the rest of his tea before getting up and waving goodbye. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow when all these mini-meetings are over," he added. 

"Most likely. Have fun! And don't forget the timer." 

Po quickly reached over and grabbed the mini gong and then quickly headed back out of the restaurant and away from Mr. Ping and his embarrassing baby pictures.