Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Zhou Jia had even noticed a tiny habit Yuan Zhou had. Whenever someone praised him, he would pretend not to care yet his fingers would uncontrollably flutter about a few times.
In Zhou Jia’s opinion, this was a habit unique to Boss Yuan.
“My cousin told me Boss Yuan is the most ferocious of all, akin to the big boss of ferocity. Nobody can break his rules. Rule breakers won’t be fed,” Hu Ti said something that was completely contrary to what Zhou Jia said.
“Now I’m even more curious who your cousin is,” Zhou Jia did not push on with her questions. She could already see Hu Ti trembling with fear.
She wondered what that cousin had told him, instilling such conviction and fear in him.
“Why would I lie to you? Boss Yuan is really very nice,” Zhou Jia said. “Moreover, do you think I would survive working half a year there if he was really that bad?”
“Boss Yuan is the person who has treated me the best ever since I came to study in Chengdu. He is practically my elder,” said Zhou Jia seriously.
That was rather convincing. Thus, Hu Ti was temporarily convinced.
Of course, Hu Ti was still curious why was he meeting the boss of his girlfriend. But since he really liked Zhou Jia, he trusted her and did not ask much.
“Sorry Jia Jia, but you don’t know what my cousin told me. I promised him to never betray him,” Hu Ti said seriously.
“Um. But rumors are baseless. You have to see it for yourself. You will know the truth when you meet Boss Yuan,” said Zhou Jia with a nod.
“Ok. I will behave myself properly,” said Hu Ti. He took a deep breath and adjusted his mood. They were about to enter the restaurant.
They entered one after another and the sight of Yuan Zhou immediately awed Hu Ti. He wore a crew neck robe, emanating an imposing and aggressive feeling. Coupled with the solemn expression Yuan Zhou had, Hu Ti could not match Yuan Zhou with the image of gentleness described by Zhou Jia.
“You’re here,” Yuan Zhou placed the book down and said calmly.
Yuan Zhou believed as an elder, he had to appear strict and imposing. Fortunately, it had been quite a while since he had attained fame. Thus, he was able to adequately project that feeling.
“Boss Yuan, this is my boyfriend, Hu Ti. The Hu character is a combination of Gu and Yue, while the Ti character is the Ti in Ti Mu,” Zhou Jia introduced. She then turned and said to her boyfriend, “This is Boss Yuan.” [1. Ti Mu = topic/question depending on context]
After the introduction, Hu Ti calmed himself and spoke. Thus, the two began their one-liner exchange segment.
“Hello, Boss Yuan.”
“Hello.”
“It must have been tiring for you working so hard.”
“As a student, it must have been tiring for you as well.”
“Studying is not tiring.”
“Cooking is not tiring as well.”
One was inwardly fearful as this was his first time meeting his girlfriend’s elder while the other was anxious and kept reminding himself to appear imposing like an elder should be.
And thus, their conversation was extremely awkward, to the point Zhou Jia felt awkward watching them.
Eventually, Zhou Jia joined in on the conversation, easing up the atmosphere.
After a chat, Yuan Zhou obtained a certain level of understanding of this young man called Hu Ti.
Hu Ti came from a decent family. He was an only child, while his parents were rather decent financially. Although they were not super wealthy by any means, they still had a sizable amount of wealth.
From the short conversation, Hu Ti seemed like a rather careless person. He would do things based on his emotions and would rarely sit down and think before acting.
“What food do you like?” asked Yuan Zhou.
“I prefer steak,” said Hu Ti after giving it a thought.
“Do you know what food she likes?” Yuan Zhou pointed at Zhou Jia.
“Oh…” Hu Ti paused for a long time before he recalled that Zhou Jia liked broccoli.
“In terms of vegetables, she likes broccoli and oyster mushrooms. In terms of pork, she likes Pepper Shredded Meat. She dislikes chicken, and in terms of duck, she only likes dried duck,” Yuan Zhou said. He frowned in thought before adding, “She doesn’t like beverages. Remember.”
Hu Ti nodded repeatedly. He knew he was a careless person. Thus, he took out his phone and seriously noted everything down.
The scene of one talking while the other recorded it down was rather harmonious. To the side, Zhou Jia was so astonished her mouth was wide agape.
“Boss Yuan, how did you know all that?” she couldn’t help herself but to ask.
What Yuan Zhou said earlier was perfectly correct. She had never told anyone all those.
“Why wouldn’t I know?” Yuan Zhou replied calmly.
In fact, right after Zhou Jia asked the question, she figured out the answer. Yuan Zhou was a renowned chef. He had definitely found out all that from observation.
“Thank you, Boss Yuan,” said Zhou Jia, her heart warm while a wide smile bloomed on her face.
Yuan Zhou waved his hand, indicating that it was not a big deal.
Hu Ti was finally done recording everything down. He finally knew why Zhou Jia would bring him to see someone who was not biologically related to her at all. He was indeed like an elder. Having such a person in an unfamiliar city was quite good.
Then, Yuan Zhou and Hu Ti resumed their conversation.
For lovers, what was most important was whether they loved each other. The power of love could make them overlook many things. As for parents or elders, they would care more about the family background of their children’s lover.
In the past, Yuan Zhou could never understood why parents and daughters would have such a big disparity in what they sought. But after inspecting Hu Ti, he finally came to understand something.
What he understood was unlike what the TV advertisements said, that one’s love toward another could be seen from their eyes. The only thing Yuan Zhou could see from one’s eyes was the gum in the eyes.
In any case, with Yuan Zhou’s keen sense, he still couldn’t observe anything.
And even if he could see whether there was true love between the couple, would true love made for an everlasting couple?
Parents wouldn’t be able to forever take care of their daughter and they wouldn’t be able to know about their daughter’s romantic life. Thus, they could only do what they could to ensure a good life for their daughter.
If the daughter got together with someone with a better family background and was stable financially, at the very least, the daughter would still have a comfortable life when love soured.
But if the daughter got together with a person who was poor financially and also had a bad character, when the love soured, the daughter would be hurt both physically and emotionally.
How hurtful would that be for the parents? The current Yuan Zhou was the best example. He used the sharpest senses a human could have yet the only conclusion he had was the general character of this man and his family background.
A daughter was married off was like water poured out. Of course, snobbish parents existed, but a majority of parents were normal and cherished their daughter selflessly.
Being in love only involved two individuals, but marriage, on the other hand, would involve two families.
Yuan Zhou gained a whole new understanding of this and even started worrying for his future daughter.
“What should I do when my daughter brings her boyfriend back in the future? Should I have a knife skills competition with the boyfriend?” thought Yuan Zhou.
Yuan Zhou seemed to have forgotten that he was still single without even a girlfriend. There was no daughter for him to be worried about.
Compared to thinking about a daughter, it was more important for him to think of how to get a girlfriend. Even Broth hadn’t been single for a long time…
