Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Tough business

Ring… Ring… Ring .

Yuan Zhou was woken up at 9:00am by the loud ringing noise of his alarm clock .

Seeing that the egg fried rice he ate yesterday didn’t count as him completing the task, an angry Yuan Zhou decided to eat another serving this morning to ease his broken heart .

After he had scarfed down two servings of fried rice, Yuan Zhou’s feelings finally recovered . However, the price tag that the system displayed made his balls ache .

“Morning . Looks like I’m right on time . Go and make a bowl of fried rice . ” Without waiting for Yuan Zhou to finish savouring his feelings, Sun Ming strode in and sat down beside him .

“Alright, please wait a bit, I’ll bring it over . ” Yuan Zhou did not say anything unnecessary, going back into the kitchen and getting started on the fried rice .

Speaking of which, the equipment provided by the system was highly effective . Despite the modest size of the shop and the open concept kitchen, there was no smell of cooking oil, or smoke rather, when stir frying .

The flames coming out of the built in gas stove were so concealed that one couldn’t feel the slightest presence of heat even when standing right next to it . Only the tiny air bubbles coming up from the oil inside the pot would give away the fact that it wasn’t a cold flame .

The wok was very easy to clean too . There were also at least 10 different wok models in varying sizes . It was something that Yuan Zhou felt extremely satisfied with in this kitchen .

There was an even greater variety of spatulas and spoons . Differing in size, shape and purpose, it made this kitchen an extremely ideal place for chefs .

“Here is your egg fried rice, please enjoy . ” Yuan Zhou put the egg fried rice on the table .

“I didn’t get savour this dish’s taste in detail yesterday, so I’ll be slowly enjoying it today . ” Sun Ming took the spoon with his hand and looked Yuan Zhou in the eye .

“Ok, would you like to sit for a while after you finish your meal?”

“That wouldn’t do, I still have to go back and open my shop . I’ll come back during lunch time and bring you some customers . ” Sun Ming dug into his meal without waiting for Yuan Zhou’s reply .

This plate of egg fried rice took Sun Ming a full hour to finish, during which no other customers entered .

Sun Ming put down his spoon with satisfaction . He closed his eyes for a while, and sighed “This is the definition of enjoyment; it is so good, and I’m sure with culinary skills like yours, you won’t ever have to go hungry . ”

“There’s always room for improvement . ”

Yuan Zhou replied with a smile . He wasn’t trying to be modest, just truthful . With the system embedded with him, his goal was to become a god among chefs .

“Ok buddy, from now on I’ll have my meals here . ” Sun Ming’s anticipation increased as he observed the seriousness on Yuan Zhou’s face .

“It’s getting late, I’ll open my shop first and come back during lunch hour . ” After noticing that it was already half past ten, Sun Ming quickly paid and left .

“Safe travels . I’ll see you around noon . ”

……

Once the clock hit twelve, the street outside the shop became populated with people once more . This time, Yuan Zhou hung a blackboard with the words “Supplying Egg Fried Rice” outside of his shop, and people finally realized that this was a shop that sold food .

At that moment, a young man dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans nosed his way into the shop .

He took a look around and noticed that only Yuan Zhou was standing inside of the open kitchen . His mouth twitched with disdain . His home was not far away from here . His stomach was hungry after a gaming session, but he was too lazy to call for take-out . It was a rare opportunity for him to personally go out and have some food, but who would have thought that every eatery on the street ahead of him would be jampacked with workers that had clocked out at noon, leaving almost every shop with a very long waiting time .

So he wandered around until he found a less crowded street . His hopes rose as he saw the lack of people, and he grew more excited when he noticed the sign Yuan Zhou had put up . He saw the flower bouquet beside the shop’s door, and immediately knew this shop had just recently been opened, so he walked into the shop and took a look around .

However, he only saw the shop owner himself and was unsure as to how good the food tasted . Nevertheless, he wanted to give this shop a try .

“Boss, you only sell egg fried rice here? Do you have anything else? ”

The young man suddenly screamed as he saw the price board for the egg fried rice and did not even wait for Yuan Zhou’s reply .

“Holy sh** boss, there must be something wrong with the price tag right? There are no decimals . ”

“My egg fried rice is different, and this is a fixed price, do you want to give it a try?” Yuan Zhou did not find that offensive at all as he spoke in a reassuring tone .

“Hehe” (TL note: it may look just like normal onomatopoeia “hehe”, but in the Chinese online community, this can also be taken as “you f**king dumbsh**” in the slightly ambiguous and “polite” way depending on context, and in this context, it’s meant to start with F . )

When the young man heard that there’s nothing wrong with the price tag, he thought to himself, ‘It’s no wonder there isn’t anybody in this shop . He charges $188 for a bowl of egg fried rice and he’s treating everyone like they’re stupid . ’ Looking at Yuan Zhou’s idiotic look, he turned and left . Your granddaddy would rather queue up than be treated as a fat sheep and slaughtered!

Yuan Zhou felt as if he had stepped in dog shit . How is this price expensive?! All of those ingredients were simply food fit for royalty . Other than his place, an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to eat it anywhere . If it was possible, he even wished he could claim that this was the Xiang Shui rice from legend, but he couldn’t prove where this practically regal food came from . This was something unexplainable, thus Yuan Zhou could only hold himself back .

The act of hanging a blackboard outside of his shop seemed to be pretty effective, this time, a well suited man with gold rimmed glasses walked into Yuan Zhou’s shop . He held his bag under his arm, looking very elite and well polished .

This elite man was working in an office building behind the street . Even though he had a easy job, dressed like a successful businessman and earned tens of thousands of dollars every month, his wife was stringent in her management . . He had to give all his earnings to his wife every month, and since his wife only gave him two hundred dollars worth of spending money, he usually goes home for lunch . But, his wife had to go on a business trip for two days, so he received an additional two hundred dollars as his lunch subsidy that he came out for lunch .

However, the elite looking man who had not eaten outside for a long time had forgotten how crammed the eateries could get at noon . He finally found a section of the street which was a bit more tranquil and a restaurant which looked deserted . Even though that restaurant did not have a sign board, it did have a sign that it provided egg fried rice, thus he entered it without hesitation .

Entering it, he found that the aesthetics weren’t too bad . There were few chairs and even fewer people, just an owner . Both walls were decorated with blossoming green plants . The décor of the shop was simple and generous; the wood colored table looked way better than other shops’ grease covered tables .

After observing the satisfied look on the elite looking man’s face, Yuan Zhou felt more confident than before, so he asked “Are you here for some egg fried rice?”

“Is that your only item on the menu?” Elite looking man asked as he sat himself on the tall stool .

“Yep, and the price for the egg fried rice is marked on the wall . ” Yuan Zhou answered with confidence .

The elite looking man turned back his head,took a look at the wall . He noticed that the three characters that made up the words “Price List” were written in calligraphy . The strokes were bold and vigorous, and it was beautifully written . He then noticed the price of the egg fried rice, and was immediately dumbstruck .

“188? Is that in Roubles or Yen?” The elite looking man never had thought that a restaurant on this street would foreign currency . He did not know whether the owner would take RMB, but, by the way that the owner was dressed, there was a chance he might have come from Japan .

“The price list is in RMB only, and I do not take any foreign currency . ” Yuan Zhou calmly replied .

“188 RMB?” The elite looking man pushed his glasses higher on his nose .

“Yeah, it’s 188 . You can’t afford that?” Yuan Zhou saw the elite looking man about to get up, so he intentionally put on a demeaning look and gazed at the elite looking man .

“What are you talking about, I can…… you are right, I can’t afford it . ”

At first, the elite looking man looked angry, and then his imposing manner weakened and he quickly exited the shop, as if Yuan Zhou was operating a fraud shop that slaughtered each and every person who walked through the shop’s door .

The elite looking man thought to himself as he walked out “You must be kidding me, if I did spend 188 RMB on a plate of egg fried rice, my wife would skin me alive . ” While thinking that, his movement became faster .

Yuan Zhou became silent . We’ve agreed that there were obviously not enough scammers on this planet to get rid of all the mindless, dumb people . Oh Lord, why did you lie to me?