Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Obviously, Yuan Zhou had been called quite a few times by this number of Chengdu Daily. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have saved this number on his phone.
That was indeed the case. Before Yuan Zhou left for Shanghai to attend the Sino-Japan Exchange Meeting, the reporter of this newspaper wanted to have an exclusive interview with him, but was refused by Yuan Zhou who didn’t like such troublesome things.
Nonetheless, he suddenly had a pillow now when he wanted to sleep. It was naturally the best way to raise his prestige by being interviewed and then reported.
In addition, there were no follow-up reports about Yuan Zhou anymore ever since he returned to Chengdu. Now, his popularity had been subsiding gradually. Except for some weird program, there were no other formal reports.
If he was interviewed by some program again now, it was the perfect time to reveal his presence. It could not only raise his profile, but also clarify some inaccurate things.
Moreover, he could tell others that this was his first formal interview made by a newspaper.
“It seems that I must thank this reporter.” Yuan Zhou smiled when he picked up the phone.
“Hello, Master Yuan. I’m sorry for disturbing you again.” There came a clear and melodious female voice from the phone. Her voice was polite, cordial, and gentle.
“Never mind.” Yuan Zhou’s voice
“Then, Boss Yuan, what do you think about accepting the interview?” The female voice on the phone seem to understand Yuan Zhou well, hence her words were rather straightforward.
“Okay,” said Yuan Zhou lightly.
“I know you are very busy with your work, but I will go when you have free time. I will also prepare all the questions related to your kitchen only rather than any about your privacy. I hope you can consider my proposal. After all, you have just defeated Tengyuan Jiayuan,” The female reporter only paused for a moment out of politeness, ignoring what Yuan Zhou’s reply was and continued her speech.
Not until the female reporter finished her words did she realize that she didn’t hear what Yuan Zhou said just now.
“I’m sorry, but what did you say?” The female reporter stayed silent for five seconds and then asked steadily with a controlled voice.
“I’m free tomorrow afternoon.” Yuan Zhou didn’t repeat what he said just now, but changed another method to tell her.
“Okay, good. Thank you, Boss Yuan,” the female reporter answered immediately, fearing that Yuan Zhou would regret his decision.
“Um.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and prepared to hang up the phone.
“3:30 tomorrow afternoon. What do you think of the time?” the female reporter asked hurriedly.
“No problem.” Yuan Zhou answered readily.
“All right. See you at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon. Thank you so much, Boss Yuan.” The female reporter thanked him again.
“You are welcome,” said Yuan Zhou before he hung up the phone.
Immediately, a girl’s voice sounded from one of the cubicles in the office of Chengdu Daily, “Oh, yes! Boss Yuan finally agreed. Fantastic.”
“Little Shu, did Boss Yuan agree to your interview?” a middle-aged woman in the cubicle ahead turned her head and asked in surprise.
“Yes, yeah. Thank you, Sister Qian. Boss Yuan was eventually moved by me.” The one called Little Shu was the female reporter who had called Yuan Zhou just now.
Having obtained an affirmative answer, Sister Qian became more surprised. She looked at Little Shu and asked.
“I heard from Presenter Lu on the program Folk Talent that this Boss Yuan is sharp-tongued but actually kind-hearted. As long as you spend more time, he will be persuaded. Am I right?” the elder Sister Qian said smilingly.
Though Sister Qian said so on the surface, she was actually shocked greatly. Presenter Lu indeed said so, but he also said there was little possibility for it to work out that way. After all, Yuan Zhou didn’t accept the interviews from other newspaper or TV stations anymore except his program, Folk Talent .
It was like what people often said, hard work resulted in success, but it was more likely that they wouldn’t succeed however hard they tried.
“Yes, you are right. Thank you for your reminder, Sister Qian. Just now, Boss Yuan agreed the moment I asked. Tomorrow is the time of the interview,” Little Shu nodded her head continuously and said approvingly.
“I didn’t help you much. You’d better get the script of the interview ready now in case there are any mistakes,” Sister Qian instructed her carefully.
“Don’t worry, Sister Qian,” Little Shu made a gesture of OK and said confidently.
“By the way, Boss Yuan is quite awesome now. Last night, I watched a program of health preservation on TV. The expert even mentioned that Boss Yuan is so healthy because he eats an egg every day. It feels so miraculous.” Little Shu thought of that unreliable expert and felt like laughing. Then, she also felt that Yuan Zhou was rather awesome.
“That is nothing to boast of. I read a report on the internet talking about which vegetables are good and which are bad. In the end, the author said that Boss Yuan selects vegetables in that way.” Sister Qian shrugged helplessly.
“Haha, exactly. Somebody even came out to say how Boss Yuan selects the radishes and commented that only that kind of radishes tastes good. Anyway, Boss Yuan could always be referred to as long as people discussed about matters concerning food,” a man chimed in at the side.
“Exactly. Boss Yuan is now the authoritative person in the chef industry. He is always right, no matter what he says,” other colleagues began to add as well.
“We can’t do anything about it. You know, Boss Yuan is the first from our province that defeated Tengyuan Jiayuan and besides, he doesn’t look bad,” said Little Shu smilingly.
“All right, stop joking. Now get back to work.” At that moment, Sister Qian began to drive them away.
“Okay.” Little Shu nodded her head together with the other fellow colleagues and then went back to work.
Time passed quickly. To Little Shu, she had only proofread the script of the interview several times when the time of appointment arrived. She managed to reach Yuan Zhou’s restaurant before 3:20 p.m.
“Hoo… I almost didn’t make it to the appointment.” Little Shu stood outside the door of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant and breathed gently to calm down while patting her chest. Only then did he walk into the restaurant.
“Hello, Boss Yuan. I’m Shu Hui, the reporter from Chengdu Daily. Are you free now?” Little Shu, namely, Shu Hui, walked to the door and introduced herself.
“Come on in.” Yuan Zhou set down the bowls and wiped his hands clean before he came out of the kitchen.
“Nice to meet you, Boss Yuan.” Shu Hui nodded her head smilingly and greeted him.
“Sit down, please,” Yuan Zhou pointed at the table for two and said.
“Thank you.” Shu Hui was quite polite. She didn’t sit down until Yuan Zhou got seated.
Yuan Zhou looked behind Shu Hui and found nobody there. She just came alone with a backpack and didn’t even bring a microphone or a camera. However, Yuan Zhou didn’t say anything.
After all, he had never been interviewed by any newspaper before and it was his very first time. Of course, he couldn’t make that known to anybody else. Therefore, Yuan Zhou just sat down composedly.
“Boss Yuan, I will record the interview with a recorder and pen. Is that acceptable?” Shu Hui took out a tiny recorder pen and a notebook and then said.
“Sure.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head calmly as if he were quite familiar with that.
“All right. Let’s start now.” Shu Hui nodded his head and prepared to start at once.
Judging from the way Yuan Zhou spoke on the phone, she knew that he wasn’t verbose and actually liked doing things directly. Therefore, Shu Hui was also very straightforward and frank.
“By the way, you have to provide the tea water for yourself during the non-business period,” said Yuan Zhou suddenly before the interview officially commenced.
“Well, thank you for your reminder, Boss Yuan. I have it.” Shu Hui was stupefied for a moment and then she took out her own cup.
“Okay. Let’s start,” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and then said that.
“Okay.” Looking at Yuan Zhou’s manner, Shu Hui suddenly had a bad premonition.
…
