The system completely ignored Yuan Zhou and stayed silent.
“Fine, System. I will forgive you on account of your willingness to be my long term fresh tea leaves supplier,” Yuan Zhou magnanimously declared.
Then, Yuan Zhou picked up his chopsticks and continued eating. After all, there was still half of the Longjing Salad remaining.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Yuan Zhou stuffed his mouth full with food.
While eating, Yuan Zhou wondered what would happen if he told the two old men these tea leaves were actually Pre-Ming Longjing Tea.
Yuan Zhou was in fact quite curious about this. But of course, he was smart enough to not say that. After all, one would never know what others would do when pushed to the brink of insanity.
Half a plate of Longjing Salad wasn’t that huge a serving. Yuan Zhou did not take long to finish it.
“It’s really good. If I’m still feeling sleepy tomorrow, I’ll make another,” Yuan Zhou smacked his lips and said.
Next, Yuan Zhou started cleaning the kitchen. This was his habit. After cooking, he would clean the kitchen.
Although the system would keep the kitchen clean, Yuan Zhou still did this out of habit.
“I wonder if Broth is back,” Yuan Zhou wiped his hands and recalled about Broth.
Creak. Yuan Zhou opened the back door. Broth was there, sitting in front of his bowl.
Broth still looked the same. His coat of fur was ash gray with a tinge of brown mixed within. The fur on its face was longer now, while the color of its eyes was getting deeper as well. The pair of dark purple eyes that looked like a pair of grapes made it seem like a very smart dog.
Naturally, Broth’s size had grown as well. When sitting there, its round belly was quite obvious.
“Look at you. You’re growing fatter. Do you want to join me on my daily jog to lose some weight?” Yuan Zhou seriously said after sizing up Broth.
Broth raised its head to glance at Yuan Zhou before lowering its head to focus at its paws again. It was completely ignoring Yuan Zhou.
“I’m serious, Broth. If you got too fat, your girlfriend might dump you. The Poodle upstairs looks very good, eh?” Yuan Zhou crouched down and spoke with a completely serious expression.
Broth looked to the other side. If a look of contempt could appear on a dog’s face, this was probably the face Broth would be making now.
It was quite a pity that Broth wasn’t a Husky — the king of expressions among dogs.
“Fine, fine. You don’t have to lose weight. But your fur has grown longer. Do you want me to shave them off for you? It’s summer,” Yuan Zhou finally revealed his true reason.
That’s right. The other day, Yuan Zhou saw a Chow-Chow that had its fur shaved clean and was reminded of how he had never shaved Broth’s fur.
“I’m quite skilled in shaving,” Yuan Zhou said with confidence as he recalled how cleanly he had plucked the feathers off the chickens and ducks in the kitchen.
“Woof.” Broth abruptly barked at Yuan Zhou before standing up and leaving.
It was unknown if Broth was being scared off by Yuan Zhou’s thoughts. After all, those chickens and ducks were all slaughtered animals that were going to be cooked as food.
Broth was an arrogant dog that seemed to understand human speech. It was naturally able to see that Yuan Zhou was harboring evil designs from his expression.
“Fine, fine. Forget it if you don’t want to shave. Why are you scaring me by suddenly barking?” Yuan Zhou muttered and stood up.
“Looks like Broth is indeed seeing someone. He’s not even willing to shave,” Yuan Zhou continued muttering.
Yuan Zhou returned to the kitchen and closed the back door. This time, he directly went upstairs to clean up. After all, he had been interacting with Broth earlier.
Nowadays, Yuan Zhou would shower three times per day. Therefore, his shower speed was still quite fast.
Shortly after, he was done. While wiping his hair, he walked towards his room.
Right this moment, his phone rang. “Ding Ling Ling, Ding Ling Ling”. It was the same ringtone.
Yuan Zhou picked up his phone and looked at the caller ID. From the phone number, it would seem like the caller was calling from France.
“This number?” Yuan Zhou was doubtful but he still answered the call.
“Hello,” Yuan Zhou answered.
“It’s me, Chu Xiao,” Chu Xiao’s deep voice sounded from the other side of the phone.
“Oh, ok,” Yuan Zhou gave an indifferent reply.
Then, the situation got awkward. Yuan Zhou did not know what to say and had no idea why did Chu Xiao call him. Therefore, he waited for Chu Xiao to speak.
On the other hand, Chu Xiao was waiting for Yuan Zhou to ask why he called.
And thus, the two sank into silence.
As a master that had long made his name, Chu Xiao had great patience. As for Yuan Zhou, he was the future Master Chef. Therefore, his patience was good as well. He stepped forward and stood beside the window as he waited.
After three minutes of waiting, both of them, each at a different side of the world, did the same action.
With their right hands, they held onto the phone and pressed it against their ears.
Yuan Zhou was standing by the window in his room while rubbing his hair with a calm expression on his face.
Chu Xiao was standing by the window in his office, gazing at the flowerbed downstairs with a calm expression on his face.
It was quite rare for Yuan Zhou to not be worrying about the phone bill and played along in this game of silence with Chu Xiao.
Dong. Dong. Yuan Zhou heard the sound of a door being knocked from the phone. Then, he heard someone saying “Please wait” in French. Then, Chu Xiao spoke again.
“Pay more attention to the strangers in your restaurant for now,” Chu Xiao said.
“Um,” Yuan Zhou answered. He did not ask any questions.
Inwardly, he was complaining. “My shop is filled with strangers every single day. Who should I be paying attention to? Is Chu Xiao’s girlfriend coming? I don’t recall hearing about that.”
Immediately, Yuan Zhou’s thoughts strayed.
“A stranger that is either a foreigner or a local bringing a foreigner,” Chu Xiao added.
“And?” Yuan Zhou directly asked.
“The reviewers from Michelin have arrived in China and have recently come to Chengdu,” Chu Xiao did not give a direct answer and said this instead.
“Ok, got it,” Yuan Zhou indifferently replied.
“Goodbye,” a helpless look appeared on Chu Xiao’s face before he said his goodbyes.
“Ok. Bye,” Yuan Zhou immediately ended the call after saying that.
“Tsk, he managed to end the call before me,” Chu Xiao said in regret with his finger hovering on the button to end the call.
Chu Xiao was waiting for Yuan Zhou to say goodbye before hanging up the call on him. However, Yuan Zhou was a step faster than him.
“Michelin? Interesting,” Yuan Zhou stared at his phone, waves rising in his heart.
Yuan Zhou was, after all, a person who had experienced a lot. He would not be anxious just because people from Michelin were coming.
In any case, he maintained perfection at all times. He did not need to make any preparations for the arrival of those from Michelin.
“Time to prepare the dinner ingredients,” Yuan Zhou said after checking the time.
His hair was nearly dry by now so he directly changed his clothes.
From how dry his hair was, one could imagine how long the two had been playing the game of silence over the phone.
If it wasn’t for the fact that someone was waiting for Chu Xiao over there, their game of silence would continue even longer. How much longer it could go on was now a puzzle.
