Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Just like that, one served while the other ate. The two looked completely like the best of colleagues. If someone who did not know them saw this, they would have thought the two were actually best friends.
Even Xie Hao’s wife who knew well the relationship between the two started wondering if Xie Hao had been lying to her all this while after the meal.
But when she gave it more thought, she couldn’t find any reason for Xie Hao to lie about this.
During his free time between cooking different dishes, Yuan Zhou enjoyed watching the satisfaction and joy of his customers while eating. This was a sight that would give many chefs a sense of accomplishment.
“Um?” Yuan Zhou noticed a Superman.
To be precise, it was a man in a Superman outfit. He was about 20 years old, and was probably a cosplayer. He seemed very dedicated to his cosplay, even his hair had been carefully styled.
Of the first batch customers, apart from Mr. Wei’s group who was there for the All-Fish Banquet, the others had already finished eating and left.
In truth, Yuan Zhou wasn’t very curious about cosplayers anymore. Many girl cosplayers were now using the restaurant as their gathering location since it was easier to get publicity there.
But few people cosplayed as Superman since they would have to wear their underwear on the outside.
The Superman ordered a simple Egg Fried Rice set meal and the food did not take long to arrive.
Zhou Jia was the one serving the food to him. It was right now that Yuan Zhou noticed that something seemed to be missing from the restaurant today.
Yuan Zhou shook his head and after sweeping his thoughts away, his attention returned to the Superman again.
The Superman was crying, tears trailing down his face.
“So delicious he’s crying?” Yuan Zhou was astonished.
After all, many literature works would depict delicious food as something so delicious one would cry tears of joy.
But in truth, that rarely happened. And even if that happened, it wouldn’t be due to taste alone. Rather, the recollection of certain events would play a role as well.
Presently, the Superman was eating while crying.
“No, this is definitely not a joyful cry,” Yuan Zhou was no idiot. He was able to easily notice that the Superman’s crying was truly due to grief.
The Superman’s brows were furrowed, and while scooping rice into his mouth, his tears dripped down. The image of this looked quite weird.
But the Superman did not stop eating and his cry was a soundless one.
“Weird,” Yuan Zhou thought to himself.
Perhaps the food was so bad he’s crying? Yuan Zhou was stunned by the idea of this. No matter what, “bad” was a word that one could never use to depict the food at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
“Impossible. I’m in top form today. My Egg Fried Rice is definitely delicious,” Yuan Zhou was very confident about his own cooking skills. Nevertheless, he still seriously recalled every single detail of him cooking the Egg Fried Rice, including the moment when the meal was served. But he could not locate any problems.
More importantly, this was also unrelated to the system. As a chef, if he had no confidence in his own food, he might as well stop cooking.
Yuan Zhou was unsure what’s going on, but he was sure it was not because of him. He did not ask, as he was never a busybody. Shortly after, the Superman finished his meal and left.
He behaved similarly to a man who used to eat here. After the meal, he bowed down outside the restaurant. It was unknown whether he was bowing to Yuan Zhou or the other customers.
There would always be some odd occurrences happening or odd people appearing at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
“Old Xie, did you enjoy the meal today?” Mr. Wei asked sincerely.
“Very much. Boss Yuan’s cooking skills are as excellent as the rumors said,” said Xie Hao. As expected, he had been conquered.
“It’s good that you like it. My efforts have not gone to waste,” said Mr. Wei. He even thoughtfully sent Xie Hao and his wife to their car and watched on as the two drove off.
Xie Hao drove off. The meal was paid for by Mr. Wei, and the food was very good. When eating, Xie Hao kept trying to think of any possible trick Mr. Wei might be pulling but he could not come up with an answer.
Just like that, Xie Hao kept having the feeling that this was the silence before the storm. All the joy from his promotion vanished and he stayed on alert to face whatever Mr. Wei had in store for him.
After Xie Hao left, Wei Wei couldn’t hold herself back anymore and asked, “Father, what was tonight for?”
And before Mr. Wei could answer, she added, “What you did gave me goosebumps all over.”
Wei Wei would never believe that her father would forget the grudge between him and his rival with a smile. He would only smile when his rival had fallen.
“If even you are having goosebumps, how do you think Xie Hao is feeling?” Mr. Wei asked.
“Huh?” Wei Wei blanked out.
Then, she was hit by a realization. If even she was having such a reaction, how would her father’s enemy react?
“Scared to death?” Wei Wei replied instinctively.
“Yes. The worst thing you can do to someone is by not doing anything bad,” said Mr. Wei.
“Moreover…” Mr. Wei added, “Xie Hao is going to be transferred to a subsidiary company out of the province. His entire family will have to move over with him as well. Thus, he has little chance to return to Chengdu in the future.”
“Alas, Boss Yuan’s All-Fish Banquet is the best All-Fish Banquet in the entire world,” said Wei Wei.
“Exactly. And Boss Yuan does not allow take-outs. Thus, he will never have another chance to eat Boss Yuan’s All Fish Banquet. This single move of mine gave me two victories,” said Mr. Wei as he looked at his daughter with a gratified expression.
Mr. Wei rubbed Wei Wei’s head, looked at Xie Hao’s direction and smiled before leaving with Wei Wei as well.
Yuan Zhou had no idea of the plot that had been contrived using his All-Fish Banquet. The dinnertime ended and after packing up the leftover ingredients, he made a serving of mixed fried rice and placed it at the trash dump station as usual.
It was quite interesting how Yuan Zhou’s restaurant never sold take-outs yet for the sake of throwing trash, Yuan Zhou had specifically bought some lunchboxes.
He bought them nearby and the boss of the store naturally knew Yuan Zhou. He even thought Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was finally starting take-out service and asked Yuan Zhou some questions in excitement.
The pub was opening soon as there was no rain today.
Shen Min arrived early. She was never late.
Yuan Zhou returned from the trash dump station. He planned to take a rest, but he suddenly recalled something. He took his phone out, hesitated slightly before putting his phone away again.
“Shen Min, I’m going out for a bit. I will return shortly,” said Yuan Zhou.
“Ok. Stay safe on the road, Boss Yuan,” said Shen Min with her head stretched out of the bamboo forest.
Yuan Zhou nodded and left.
The customers were all filled with curiosity when they saw Yuan Zhou leaving.
The moment Yuan Zhou’s figure vanished, they immediately asked Shen Min about it.
“Shen Min, where did Boss Yuan go?” asked a customer who was concerned about Yuan Zhou.
“It’s rare for Boss Yuan to leave twice in a row. Recently, Boss Yuan has been frequently going out at night. More importantly, everything is fine with the liquor, right?” asked a customer that was concerned about both Yuan Zhou and the liquor.
Shen Min answered them untiringly that the pub’s operation would not be affected. After Chen Wei and Fang Heng arrived, the pub grew much quieter.
The only sound in the air was Fang Heng reciting poems. That’s right. Fang Heng was a closet scholar. Unfortunately, he was a fan of the poet Xin Qiji, and because of that, the novelist greatly disapproved of him…
