Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Time passed quickly and soon, it was only three days away from the Chinese New Year. Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was still open for business.
The number of customers had reduced considerably. After all, as the Chinese New Year got nearer, more and more people went back to their hometowns.
Even so, there was still a continuous stream of customers.
“Tsk, Chinese New Year is coming soon. Why are you still here for breakfast?” Wu Hai looked at Ma Zhida who was in front of him in the line disapprovingly.
“I’m going back home after this breakfast.” Ma Zhida pointed at the luggage he was holding.
“You better leave quickly then. You don’t want to miss the ride back home,” Wu Hai earnestly said while stroking his mustache.
“No worries. There are still three more hours,” Ma Zhida stood there without moving and said.
“Oh.” Seeing that his attempt at moving up in the line had failed, Wu Hai did not bother to say anything else.
However, the other customer beside him spoke out of curiosity.
“The restaurant is going to be opened soon. Where is Zhou Jia and Xiaoyun?” the customer asked after checking the time.
“Yeah, it’s opening in 10 minutes. Why are the two girls not here yet?” An uncle of about 40 years old gazed over at the intersection.
“Normally they would be here already by this time.” The customers who arrived early were not used to their absence.
“Have all of you forgotten that the Chinese New Year is three days away?” Ma Zhida grumbled.
“Oh, true,” said one of the customers in realization.
“True. What should we do now? Boss Yuan hasn’t left for the Chinese New Year holidays yet, right?” a certain customer cried out in alarm.
“I doubt so. Look at the door, nothing is pasted on it,” said a customer after walking up to the door and looking around.
“That’s not necessarily the case. Look, even that noodle restaurant is closed,” some said anxiously while pointing at the noodle restaurant nearby.
“If Boss Yuan is taking leave, he would most certainly inform us in advance. If he didn’t, that can only mean he’s not taking a leave. That is his rule, his principle,” Ma Zhida firmly said, a helpless look on his face.
The moment Yuan Zhou’s rule and principle was mentioned, the somewhat restless customers calmed down. After all, Yuan Zhou was a person who closely followed his own rules.
He had never made any exceptions for his rules.
“True.” A customer nodded in agreement.
Let’s just ask Boss Yuan what are his arrangements for the Chinese New Year later,thought most of the customers.
A short of disturbance had arisen due to the customers guessing Yuan Zhou’s plan for the Chinese New Year. However, some of them had still been able to guess correctly what happened to Zhou Jia, Mu Xiaoyun, and Shen Min.
All three of them had been forced to take a holiday and return home for the Chinese New year last night.
Last night after dinner, Shen Min had just arrived while Zhou Jia and Mu Xiaoyun were preparing to leave.
“Wait,” Yuan Zhou called out.
“What’s the matter, boss?” Mu Xiaoyun turned around.
“Yes, boss?” Zhou Jia asked doubtfully.
“Yeah, what’s the matter, boss?” Shen Min instinctively straightened her back.
“Your colleges are already closed for the holiday, right?” Yuan Zhou asked with an affirmative tone, his question directed at Zhou Jia and Shen Min.
“Yeah,” Zhou Jia and Shen Min answered together, nodding their heads.
“You don’t have to come tomorrow. Take a one week leave. Enjoy the Chinese New Year,” Yuan Zhou said.
Before the two could answer, Yuan Zhou continued speaking with Mu Xiaoyun.
“Xiaoyun, you go back for the Chinese New Year as well. Come back after the holiday,” Yuan Zhou said with a stern tone, solemness covered his face.
The three blanked out slightly when they heard what Yuan Zhou said.
Naturally, both Zhou Jia and Shen Min wanted to go home for the Chinese New Year. However, they couldn’t bear to part with their job here. Therefore, they were conflicted. That was why they had never asked for a holiday from Yuan Zhou.
As for Mu Xiaoyun, she did not ask because this thought had never even crossed her mind. Since she only worked short hours and was living quite near, she had never thought of going for a leave.
As for Mu Xiaoyun’s parents, they were much busier. Therefore, none of them had mentioned about the holiday as well.
The three of them exchanged gazes. Ultimately, Mu Xiaoyun was the one to ask a question.
“Boss, are you taking a one-week-leave as well?” Mu Xiaoyun directly asked.
“Not me,” Yuan Zhou answered, as if that was how things should be.
“We’re not going to take the leave as well then. The restaurant will be busy,” this time, the three replied without exchanging looks.
“There’s no need for that. There won’t be many customers during the Chinese New Year,” Yuan Zhou confidently said, still standing in the kitchen.
The three wanted to say something else, yet were stopped by the serious look on Yuan Zhou’s face. Thus, they obediently agreed.
This was why Zhou Jia and Mu Xiaoyun were nowhere to be seen in the morning.
Mornings were the breakfast time for Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, also the time when the newspapers of the day were distributed, and also Boss Yuan’s personal show time.
“Hey, this kid has actually gotten into the newspaper,” Big Head Zhao laughed while looking at the newspaper and continued, “He looks more handsome in the newspaper. The photo must have been photoshopped.”
The real name of this Big Head Zhao was unknown. Since he had a big head, everyone called him Big Head Zhao. When he had arrived at Chengdu on a business trip previously, his brothers brought him to have a meal at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
Back then when he first saw the restaurant, he was still thinking that his brothers were really stingy. It hadn’t been easy to find this rather small restaurant and he wasn’t going to eat anything expensive. Yet they weren’t even willing to buy him a hotpot. That was too stingy of them.
He stopped thinking that way when he saw the price on the menu. Only a single term was left in his mind, “holy sh*t”.
Even though he had subsequently been conquered by the taste of the food here, he still felt like the price was too expensive. On a side note, this Big Head Zhao was struck by love at first sight when he first saw Jiang Changxi. Then, when he saw how she looked while scolding her secretary, he immediately drove away. Just like that, his love was killed in its cradle before it could even bloom.
“Tsk tsk, how much has this dishonest boss paid the newspaper? They are even claiming that his restaurant is a restaurant with a conscience. Where is their conscience?” Big Head Zhao muttered to himself.
He was holding the Heavenly Delicacy Paper, and the headline for the article was “The Hidden Restaurant with Conscience”. Right to the left of the headline was a picture of Yuan Zhou seriously sculpting. And to the right was a picture of the restaurant.
[Boss Yuan said that he has only reached this level of success thanks to the unity of his customers and the love they had shown him…]
“I will never return to that place again unless I have no choice. It’s so expensive there,” Big Head Zhao continued complaining.
Perhaps his complaining had been too loud, hence Meng Xiaowang who was sleeping inside woke up and came out, “Big Head, what are you doing?”
Then, she saw the newspaper he was holding and said, “Recently, all the food shows and newspapers that covered delicacies news were talking about him. Some claim that Boss Yuan is a humorous person, while some say that Boss Yuan has some secret recipe. It’s quite tiring to see him everywhere.”
Seeing that someone was agreeing with him, Big Head Zhao gave his evaluation, “His food is still decent. Aren’t we going on a business trip to Chengdu soon? I’ll take you there. You will know how the food there tastes.”
That’s right, Big Head Zhao was one of those who would be cursing while eating. He was one who wanted to eat yet still wanted to complain about it.
Of course, he was certainly not purposely looking for trouble or anything. If one wanted to put a positive spin to this action, there was an example with the saying “beating is a sign of affection, cursing is a sign of love”. He was demonstrating his deep love by stomping on Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. But if one did not bother trying to put a positive spin to it, one could still say that there was no problem with enjoying the food there while also enjoying cursing the restaurant.
The two did not contradict each other!
