Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
On the morning of Chinese New Year’s Eve, Yuan Zhou woke up at the usual time.
“Morning.” It was rare for Yuan Zhou to open his eyes immediately after he woke up. Suddenly, he greeted the empty room.
His voice was soft, but in this quiet room, it was still very clear.
After he washed up quickly, Yuan Zhou continued to head out to jog.
“Ho… Ho…” Yuan Zhou regulated his breathing while running and emitted white vapor.
“Boss Yuan, do you jog every day?” He encountered Huang Ling who was cleaning the street.
“Yeah, morning,” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and then greeted her.
“Boss Yuan, happy Chinese New Year’s Eve,” said Huang Ling to Yuan Zhou loudly when he passed by her.
“You too,” after saying that, Yuan Zhou continued jogging forward.
“Ta Ta Ta”, the footsteps of Yuan Zhou receded gradually. At that time, Huang Ling heaved a sigh.
“I have to go back earlier today to prepare the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.” Huang Ling thought of her young brother Huang Li at home and immediately moved more quickly.
On the morning of Chinese New Year’s Eve, Yuan Zhou didn’t open the door. Even the queuing machine was moved back into the backyard of the pub.
It was soon 8 in the morning. There was nobody queuing outside the door and Taoxi Road was extraordinarily quiet today.
“It’s really quiet.” Yuan Zhou put on the lightweight Han Chinese Clothing and tight-fitting, cotton-padded trousers and then began to do the cleaning outside and in with the rag.
That’s right. Yuan Zhou was doing the cleaning in the deserted restaurant. He worked very carefully. Even if the restaurant was spotless due to the existence of the system, he was still cleaning very seriously.
It was a must to clean the house inside out to celebrate the new year. One should have a new appearance for the upcoming new year, which was said by his mother when he was little.
“The cleaning can be finished today. Luckily, just sweeping will do, Mom shouldn’t have a problem with that. After all, I cleaned it up much better than Dad did.” Thinking of the cleaning done on Chinese New Year’s Eve in previous years, Yuan Zhou couldn’t help revealing a smile and saying proudly.
It might be because it was Chinese New Year’s Eve today, the sun surprisingly came out at noon. Yuan Zhou stayed in the courtyard of the pub and looked up at it.
“Shall I cook the Vegetable Stir-fried With Button Mushrooms?” When Yuan Zhou returned to the kitchen and prepared to cook lunch, he suddenly muttered to himself.
While saying that, Yuan Zhou reached out his hand and opened the cabinet filled with food ingredients.
“Pa”, the cabinet was opened very easily. There were green vegetables inside with a vivid green color and they even had water drops on the leaves. At first sight, they appeared to be fresh.
“Forget it.” Yuan Zhou suddenly closed the door of the cabinet again. Then, he opened another cabinet and began to prepare the food ingredients.
Yuan Zhou took a different approach this time. He took out a piece of beef from the preservation tank. It showed a beautiful rouge-like redness and the texture was distinct and tender, which made it appear quite fresh, as if it had barely been cut off the body of a cow.
However, this piece of beef was apparently different from the one provided by the system. It smelled a little bit offensive.
“Hua La”, Yuan Zhou took out a wok from the innermost cabinet of the azure stone countertop. It was obviously a used one.
“Good. It seems that I had pretty sharp eyes previously. Even though it hasn’t been used for such a long time, it still looks so new.” Yuan Zhou looked at the 80% new wok and felt quite satisfied.
That’s right. This wok was placed upstairs and used by Yuan Zhou to only cook gruel or instant noodles before. It was the only wok left after the system’s redecoration.
Yuan Zhou was prepared to boil the beef with it after he washed it.
Yuan Zhou selected the most tender part of beef, namely the tenderloin, also known as the rib fingers at the inside of the backbone or at the ventral part.
The beef there was an intact piece of lean meat. It was very tender and thus was quite suitable for a quick fry. After Yuan Zhou washed the wok clean, however, he directly added water to the wok and began to boil it. Apparently, he was going to boil the beef.
“The beef is supposed to be easy to chew,” Yuan Zhou cut the beef into small cubes suitable for swallowing and then said.
After that, Yuan Zhou started to cook lunch for himself.
Various dishes were cooked by Yuan Zhou with his magic-like culinary skills and then put into the tray before they were kept warm.
Yuan Zhou then prepared the steamed rice to eat along with the dishes.
“Dad used to like this braised beef and the Jinling dishes were enjoyed by mum as well as the Boiled Fish with Pickled Cabbage and Chili which I prefer.” Looking at the three dishes, three bowls, and three pairs of chopsticks, Yuan Zhou nodded his head with satisfaction.
Along with the sound of “Ta Ta Ta”, Yuan Zhou carried the small table which he had meals during normal times. He then went through the door of the sergestes wall landscape into the courtyard of the pub after he washed his hands clean.
“The sun is high above in the sky and the temperature is just nice. Furthermore, there are flowers and grass at the side. It should be the best environment to have meals,” Yuan Zhou set down the table and said with great satisfaction.
The environment right now was indeed very beautiful. The small bamboo table was placed in an open space in the middle of the courtyard.
On the left was a luxuriant tree with gorgeous fruits, which was surrounded by a circle of flowers that bloomed in winter. Besides that, there was also a hint of subtle fragrance floating towards him.
That was from the blossoming wintersweet flowers close to the corner, which carried a delicate fragrance.
Now that the environment for eating had been set, a family couldn’t have dinner together without Broth’s food. Therefore, Yuan Zhou walked into the kitchen and carried out the beef soup which had just the right temperature.
The beef was very fresh and was specially bought by Yuan Zhou on the market. Only after it was disinfected in the preservation tank for three days did Yuan Zhou take it out and cook it.
“Zhi Ya”. Yuan Zhou opened the back door and then went to the back alley with the pot of beef soup in his hand.
“Broth, come out for dinner.” Yuan Zhou carried the pot and poured the beef soup into Broth’s bowl.
Broth had two bowls, one big while the other small. The beef soup was naturally poured into the big bowl.
Yuan Zhou’s voice was neither loud nor very low, but Broth still heard him in front of the trash bins. He immediately rushed towards Yuan Zhou.
“You can hear nothing but others’ call to eat,” Yuan Zhou looked at Broth sitting upright and said speechlessly.
“Today is Chinese New Year’s Eve. Everybody is celebrating the Spring Festival, so you can eat the beef soup today,” Yuan Zhou pointed at the beef soup and said that.
On hearing Yuan Zhou’s words, Broth sniffed at the bowl first and suddenly turned around and left.
“Hey, let’s eat together.” Yuan Zhou stood up and looked at Broth that had run away with puzzlement.
“What’s the matter with it? Does it want to go jogging first before eating since there was too much food?” Yuan Zhou walked back into his own restaurant and didn’t think too much about that.
After all, Broth will definitely come back.
However, the first thing that Yuan Zhou did before he began to eat was to open the back door of the pub, which was seldom opened.
As soon as the door was opened, however, the bowl of the beef soup that was giving off steam appeared right in the face of Yuan Zhou while he was eating at the small table in the courtyard.
“We are considered to be eating together in this way.” Yuan Zhou was quite satisfied.
“Dad, Mom, let’s eat,” Looking at the two neighboring empty seats, Yuan Zhou said earnestly.
After that, Yuan Zhou waited for a while as if he were waiting for an answer before he began to eat.
For an instant, the atmosphere felt a little sorrowful.
At that time, suddenly, two dog heads appeared. One naturally belonged to Broth while the other was Broth’s wife which Yuan Zhou had seldom seen.
Once the two dogs arrived at the beef soup that was still giving off the steam, the brown dog made mournful sounds and appeared very excited even though Broth was quite reserved. Only after it was reminded of by Broth did it became silent.
Right after that, the two dogs lowered their heads and drank the beef soup in the bowl together.
They can’t be sweeter, cozier, and more friendly, but Yuan Zhou could only feel disappointed and speechless.
He looked at the empty places beside himself. At this moment, there was no more sorrow, he only felt the issue to a be little funny and annoying.
“He is purely flaunting his relationships, 100% sure.” Yuan Zhou stared at the two dogs being intimate over there, speechlessly.
