Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Seeing that Carpenter Lian had agreed, Yuan Zhou paused slightly before speaking again.”
“Master Lian, how about allowing me to put together a meal for you today,” Yuan Zhou asked.
“Of course. Since the meal is on you, do whatever you want,” said Carpenter Lian casually.
It was not that Carpenter Lian did not care. But after the Three Fragrance to the Ocean incident, he had full trust in Yuan Zhou.
Carpenter Lian’s thoughts were very simple. Since he knew how good Yuan Zhou was at cooking, he did not need to waste any effort worrying about what to eat. He only needed to sit back and wait to eat something nice.
“May I first ask if there is any food the both of you abstain from?” Yuan Zhou asked.
“No,” said Carpenter Lian.
“Ok,” Yuan Zhou nodded.
“Wait, I was here first. I am first in line,” Wu Hai immediately said when he heard Yuan Zhou so seriously offering to treat someone to a meal.
Yuan Zhou muttered to himself that it was so rare to see Wu Hai not claiming that he needed to partake in the free meal as well since he heard their conversation.
“This is?” Carpenter Lian asked curiously.
“A frequent customer, Wu Hai,” Yuan Zhou introduced.
“I know about Little Yuan’s rules. People need to queue to eat,” Carpenter Lian said.
“Good that you know. I am the first in line,” said Wu Hai seriously with a nod.
Wu Hai had not been messing around when he saw Yuan Zhou treating someone to a meal. However, he was the first in line and he would not give that up.
“That’s nothing. Is there even a difference between the first and second in line? Go queue up after installing the cabinet,” said Carpenter Lian towards his disciple after answering Wu Hai.
“Sorry for your trouble,” Yuan Zhou apologized.
Even if he himself was treating someone to a meal, he could not break the rules. After all, so many people were complying with his rules. He could not be the one to break it.
“It’s a good thing to have rules. Without rules, there will be no order. I’ll be going outside first,” said Carpenter Lian as he nodded approvingly before heading outside to get in line.
“I’m going too. I’m the first in line,” Wu Hai rushed outside.
This left only Yuan Zhou and the guy installing cabinet upstairs.
“Time to prepare the ingredients,” Yuan Zhou washed his hands and shifted his focus back on ingredient preparation.
While preparing the ingredients, Yuan Zhou thought of Carpenter Lian’s menu.
Since he had less time today, Yuan Zhou was working at a faster speed than his usual smooth flow of ingredient preparation.
Washing, cutting, and matching, everything was done in the blink of an eye. Just like that, numerous sets of ingredients were prepared.
Fortunately, there was nobody else in the restaurant. Otherwise, that person would definitely be shocked by Yuan Zhou’s speed. After all, Yuan Zhou was already quite fast normally. Now, he was even faster.
Due to Yuan Zhou’s speed and concentration, he was unaware of the middle-aged man joining the queue outside after finishing the installation.
With his speed, Yuan Zhou was able to finish his preparation before dinner time arrived.
And following Zhou Jia’s usual call, the restaurant was quickly filled up.
Naturally, the first customer to enter was Wu Hai followed by Carpenter Lian and his disciple.
“I’m ordering. Ordering,” Wu Hai said the moment he sat down.
“Coming, please wait a moment,” Zhou Jia walked towards Wu Hai.
“Thank you for the cabinet, Carpenter Lian. Your food will be served shortly,” Yuan Zhou said towards Carpenter Lian.
“I’m in no rush. Take your time,” said Carpenter Lian as he shook his head.
While queuing outside, he gained an understanding on how scary Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was. Even before the number was given, the line already nearly reached outside the street.
Many people rushed over before the number was given. Subsequently, those who failed to get a number would continue waiting in line, hoping that they would be able to get the number of anyone with a number that had to leave for whatever reason.
That was nothing. Carpenter Lian and his disciple were at the front of the line. Thus, there were people offering to pay for their spot in the line in an indirect manner.
The price offered was quite high as well. Of course, those people were quickly chased away by the people from the Queuing Committee.
That’s right. Carpenter Lian had also found out that there were people keeping order while the customers queued here. Naturally, he found out from listening to the conversation of others in the line.
Thus, Carpenter Lian was able to experience how popular Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was.
Yuan Zhou did not say much when he heard Carpenter Lian’s words. He only nodded.
“Zhou Jia, two Welcoming Set Meals here. I’m paying for it,” Yuan Zhou said.
“Ok, boss,” Zhou Jia nodded.
Then, Yuan Zhou returned to the kitchen and started cooking.
As usual, Zhou Jia handed all the orders to Yuan Zhou before waiting around to serve the food.
“Little Yuan is managing the kitchen all alone but everything is in an orderly fashion. He is in perfect control and calm all along,” Carpenter Lian observed. At the same time, he started lamenting the fact that Yuan Zhou was not in carpentry instead.
After all, when a carpenter worked on large projects, this was the kind of patience and concentration required.
“Look at Little Yuan. He is younger than you yet calm and capable. He is already like a master. Learn from him,” said Carpenter Lian towards middle-aged man.
“Oh… yes, Master,” the middle-aged man was somewhat speechless but still answered deferentially.
Even though his master was telling him, a carpenter, to observe a chef cooking, he still did it seriously.
It did not take Yuan Zhou long to finish preparing the first dish.
“Both, enjoy your meal. This is Stewed Jiangtuan Fish,” Yuan Zhou said.
“Um,” Carpenter Lian nodded.
“Thank you, Boss Yuan,” said the middle-aged man.
“You’re welcome,” Yuan Zhou returned to the kitchen again.
The Stewed Jiangtuan Fish served by Yuan Zhou was different than what other places served. This Jiantuan fish was pink in color, and the curved fishtail was arranged on a white square plate.
In fact, the pink at the fins and fishtail were denser while the body of the fish was much fainter in color.
This fish looked extremely whole, and no cutting marks could be seen on the fish’s body. Around the fish, black beans were sprinkled.
And below the pink fish was a large clump of vegetables, giving the dish a look of a pink blooming flower. The black beans sprinkled about looked like the markings on the flower. The entirety of the dish looked extremely pretty.
“Looks good,” said Carpenter Lian before reaching for the fish with his chopsticks.
Carpenter Lian had a habit of eating a fish from its back. He felt like the meat there was springy and chewy. Thus, he aimed straight at the part between the back and the head.
The skin of the fish was wrinkled, and when the chopsticks touched the fish, one would have a sensation one was poking on a springy pudding.
And when the skin was punctured, the tender and fair meat beneath was exposed. The pink skin set the white meat in contrast, further accentuating the fairness of the meat.
At the same time, when the skin was punctured, a pleasant smell wafted into the noses of Carpenter Lian and the middle-aged man.
“This smells so good. It feels like the faint smell of some sort of flower, yet at the same time, the fresh aroma of a fish is mixed within,” remarked the middle-aged man.
As the director of a furniture factory, he had eaten many good foods before. The fish before him caused him to salivate, immediately stimulating his appetite…
