Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was now noon, yet Yuan Zhou still did not have the chance to check his reward as Wu Hai had arrived after his nap.
“Boss Yuan, I’m here for a new year visit,” Wu Hai said the moment he arrived.
“Um.” Yuan Zhou nodded expressionlessly.
“Where’s my red packet?” Wu Hai was never one who knew shame. He directly asked for his red packet.
“I gave it all out during the morning,” Yuan Zhou frankly answered.
“No way. But I’m on an official new year visit here,” Wu Hai said as he took out a bag of melon seeds as his gift.
That’s right. Wu Hai was using a bag of melon seeds as his new year gift.
“No thanks.” Although Yuan Zhou felt like beating someone up, he still answered patiently.
“Fine. I can’t do anything if you don’t have any left. Do you want to eat some melon seeds?” Wu Hai sat down and lifted the bag of melon seeds.
“No,” Yuan Zhou directly rejected.
Wu Hai did not seem to mind. Sitting there, he started eating melon seeds while reading a book.
This created a rather harmonious scene. After all, Yuan Zhou was also reading a book.
Shortly after, Yuan Zhou heard some noise not far away from the door.
“Come on, quickly. Boss Yuan has never prepared anything in abundance. If we’re too late, there won’t be anything left.” Someone could be heard rushing the others to walk faster.
“I know. Stop talking. Go faster.” A different guy interrupted that person. Then, the sounds of their footsteps grew louder.
It was obvious that they were walking faster now.
Ta. Ta. Ta. Soon, the two reached the entrance of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
“We’re here. Check our stuff.” The two said at the same time.
“They sound like some customers who had been here before,” Yuan Zhou muttered when he heard their voices.
“Happy New Year, Boss Yuan,” the two greeted the moment they entered.
Yuan Zhou stood up and greeted them seriously and politely.
“Happy New Year,” Yuan Zhou said after accepting their gifts.
Yuan Zhou returned their greetings so politely that the two of them was momentarily dumbfounded.
“What’s going on?” The two exchanged gazes in confusion.
Since Yuan Zhou was still standing before them, they did not stay dumbfounded for long. They immediately turned their heads and looked at Yuan Zhou.
“Boss Yuan is too polite. We will be leaving then,” they bade their goodbyes at the same time.
After all, they weren’t really close with Boss Yuan. Therefore, it was natural for them to leave after the new year greetings.
“Ok. Travel safe.” Yuan Zhou only sat down after the two left.
By the side, Wu Hai was gazing at Yuan Zhou in amazement.
“Since when were you so polite?” Wu Hai asked curiously.
In Wu Hai’s heart, although Yuan Zhou was not a person lacking in manners, he was never a person who was excessively polite.
“I’m a person who abides by the rules of etiquette,” Yuan Zhou gave a simple reply.
Wu Hai was about to keep speaking, but several other people entered the restaurant. Of course, they were here for the same reason.
They were here to wish him a happy new year to get a red packet in return. However, the only thing they received was Yuan Zhou’s greetings as well.
He was still returning their wishes in an extremely courteous and serious manner.
Due to how politely he was behaving, these people that were here for red packets felt somewhat embarrassed to ask for red packets.
Several groups of people came and Yuan Zhou returned their greetings in the same manner. This brought Wu Hai endless astonishment.
“Boss Yuan, are you alright? You haven’t hit your head somewhere, right?” Wu Hai started sizing up Yuan Zhou with a confused look on his face.
“Since I don’t have any more red packets, I have to return their greetings with my own greetings instead,” Yuan Zhou said.
“Huh?” Wu Hai was speechless.
However, when he thought about it, he found that Yuan Zhou was right. After all, they were all here for the red packets. Returning their greetings politely was one proper way to deal with them.
“Boss Yuan, you are truly…” Wu Hai stroked his mustache and did not say much.
“You don’t have to admire me too much. After all, you are not capable of the same,” Yuan Zhou declared, as if this was a fact.
“Forget it. It’s the Chinese New Year. I won’t say much because of the red packet. I’ll go back and draw something,” Wu Hai wanted to sneer at Yuan Zhou but when he recalled the red packet he got in the morning, he decided to shut his mouth and leave instead.
After Wu Hai left, people continued to come visiting Yuan Zhou. This was all thanks to the post Ling Hong made on his Weibo. Of course, this wasn’t the type of attention Yuan Zhou himself wanted.
Finally, at around four when the sky was turning dark, Yuan Zhou had some free time for himself.
“System, I want to receive the reward now. I’ll directly look at the contents of the reward,” Yuan Zhou spoke in his mind.
The system displayed, “The reward has been released and is now available to be checked.”
[Main Mission]: To obtain peak popularity in the province within three months
(Mission tips: As a to-be Master Chef, obtaining peak popularity is only the first step. Host, please work hard to become the most most popular chef of the province. Work hard, young man.)
[Mission Reward]: Reward Gift Package
(Reward tips: You will know when you get it after completing the mission.)
Yuan Zhou first looked at the gift package and took one second to prepare himself before saying, “Open the gift package.”
After Yuan Zhou said that, the gift package was opened.
However, the reward this time was quite odd as a multiple-choice question appeared.
That’s right. A multiple-choice question appeared, allowing Yuan Zhou to pick his own reward.
The system displayed, “The host may upgrade an existing regional cuisine, such as the Jin’ling Regional Cuisine, the Chengdu School of Sichuan Cuisine that was a subcategory of Sichuan Cuisine, or the host may also opt to draw for a prize instead. This time, half of the eight famous regional cuisines are also part of the prize pool. Host, please make your choice.”
Yuan Zhou was somewhat stupefied as he looked at the reward options. This was the first time the system was so generous. After all, even though luck would be a factor when drawing for his reward, this reward was still much more generous than what he had gotten in the past.
The guaranteed upgrade of an existing cuisine was even more generous.
“If I choose to upgrade, I will get the complete set of the side dishes, right?” Yuan Zhou guessed.
The system displayed, “Yes.”
“What are the odds of me getting half the eight cuisines?” Yuan Zhou asked after giving it a thought.
The system displayed, “Unable to estimate.”
“Do you mean it’s completely dependent on luck? Yuan Zhou asked while rubbing his chin.
The system stayed silent, seemingly agreeing to what Yuan Zhou was saying.
“I have always been lucky. If so, my choice is…” Yuan Zhou deliberately paused for a bit before saying, “upgrade the Chengdu School of Sichuan Cuisine.”
Yuan Zhou was not afraid that his choice would backfire on him. Calmly, he waited for the system to give him his reward.
The system was quite fast when it came to giving rewards. Yuan Zhou shut his eyes and started arranging what he obtained.
“There are quite a lot of side dishes in the complete set. Dumplings, steamed buns, and wontons. Looks like I have everything now.” Yuan Zhou felt very proud of his smart choice.
“Let’s make some Spicy Wontons for dinner.” Yuan Zhou immediately decided on his dinner. Since there weren’t a lot of people today, this would be a perfect dish for dinner.
The moment Yuan Zhou thought about the layer of aromatic and numbingly hot chili oil on top of the bowl, the clear and limpid soup underneath, and the white wontons ebbing up and down in the soup, his desire to eat it grew.
“It has been a while since I ate it,” Yuan Zhou muttered to himself.
Right this moment, the system suddenly appeared.
The system displayed, “As the host is still a junior Master of Cooked Wheaten Food, you are still not allowed to redeem the side dishes in the set. The host will only be allowed to redeem them after reaching the intermediate level.”
“What the f*ck? What in the world? Why didn’t you mention that earlier before I choose this reward?” Yuan Zhou was very dissatisfied, “Where’s my promised happiness?”
Once again, the system went inactive and ignored him.
“My dear system, you won’t feel good if you don’t scam me at least once per day, right? If I can’t redeem it, why did you even showed it to me? Just to look at it?” Even though today was the first day of Chinese New Year, Yuan Zhou still couldn’t help but cuss.
Then, Yuan Zhou recalled that he still had a lot of wheaten food books to read. Immediately, his heart felt cold.
“Scamming system.”
