Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The little eatery that’s moving up the world

“You’ll know once you give it a try.” Yuan Zhou placed down his tray and said gestured for Yin Ya to give it a try.

“Alright, I will give it a try then.” Yin Ya nodded, raised her spoon and began to eat.

In an instant, her expression mirrored the two beside her who were about to finish eating; an expression filled with ecstasy that seemed as if she practically couldn’t stop herself from eating. Needless to say, there were some subtle differences. The brows of the two who were about to finish their meals began to furrow.

“Boss, give me another bowl of seaweed soup and pickled radish!”

“Boss, another bowl of seaweed soup and pickled radish!”

Gao Ying and the small mustache man, Wu Hai, spoke in unison.

The two looked at each other for a while, then turned to look at Yuan Zhou.

Yuan Zhou had never expected that such synergy existed between the two that had finished simultaneously and gazed at them in contemplation. Following that, Gao Ying and Wu Hai both felt rather embarrassed.

He said: “I’m sorry, but I will only provide one serving for all the things here. It’s written in the back.”

“Boss Yuan, I will not ask for anything more, as long as the soup and radishes are replenished. These things are provided for free and in unlimited supply elsewhere. I’m sure Boss Yuan wouldn’t be so petty, right?” Wu Hai naturally knew about the rules here; however, he believed that those side dishes should be refillable. It was simply a piece of cake for Wu Hai to be able to eat 8-10 bowls of such delicious side dishes even without the rice.

“That’s right, boss. Even a bowl of soup will suffice for me.” On the other end, Gao Ying said in a serious tone while also pulling a mournful face.

“When I meant that I can’t provide a serving, it means that it couldn’t be refilled.” Yuan Zhou still refused in a cold-hearted manner.

“Also, what sort of rules other restaurants have has nothing to do with me.” Yuan Zhou thought about it for a moment, then threw in another line.

Was that a joke? A shop that possessed the culinary god system was definitely different from those small, coquettish restaurants out there.

This time, Gao Ying was speechless. Turning her head for a look, there was indeed a sign with those words hung there. She cast a penetrating look at Yuan Zhou, picked up her handbag, and then turned and headed towards the restaurant entrance.

In Yuan Zhou’s eyes, that look seemed to carry resentfulness and killing intent. Thinking back, if Gao Ying didn’t personally see Yuan Zhou made it, he was afraid that she might even kick him with her foot. Someone that doesn’t permit others to have their fill was very frightening, it was even more terrifying when it was done on purpose to a woman.

Yuan Zhou hugged his chest with both of his hands and stood at one end with an unperturbed face.

“Boss Yuan, you’re not being sincere in your actions. Such insincerity warrants a plate of pickled radish, don’t you think?” Wu Hai saw the bowl and plate that had not a drop remaining and said in an unresigned tone.

“Oh, is that so.” Yuan Zhou said in a flat tone and was completely unaffected.

“Fine, you win. I will come back again at night. However, the soup you scooped up was a bit little, the radishes were also a bit lacking and the rice that accompanied them was not enough either. I will settle if you just add a few more pieces in them, alright?” Wu Hai tried to settle for the next best thing and looked at Yuan Zhou, wholeheartedly believing that this act of his would be successful. .

Despite that, Yuan Zhou only raised his eyebrows and said a sentence in a calm and tranquil tone.

“Every serving I provide here has the same quantity and is very precise. If you don’t believe it, you can use a scale to measure it.”

Scale to measure it…

“…”

Wu Hai was unable to respond and could only turn and head out of the door. He decided it’d be best if he headed back home slowly.

Realizing that the show had ended, the few people who’d watched the play from the beginning only now began to order their meals. Needless to say, all of them were ordering the new egg fried rice combo.

From watching that play, they had finally found out how the new dish tastes.

These few people honestly couldn’t be blamed when it came to their custom of watching a show. The introducer would bring a new person here for a meal, during which he or she would ask for a second serving. The introducer would then look at the owner Yuan Zhou, who would cold heartedly reject them the same way he rejected their introducers back then. It could be considered to be an atonement for those who had been rejected at the time. Currently, all diners who’d been here before had all formed such a “good habit”.

Five plates of fried rice couldn’t be considered a major deal for Yuan Zhou, who had already grown used to the labor. In less than ten minutes, everything had already been placed in front of them and Yin Ya, who had been preoccupied with eating her meal, just so happened to finish at that moment .

“Sigh.”

After sighing ruefully did Yin Ya looked at Yuan Zhou with a serene gaze and said, “Boss Yuan, you’re doing it on purpose.” Her resentful tone and grief-filled expression made Yuan Zhou look like a heartless lover.

Yuan Zhou felt indescribably pleased inside and was very amused.

“Cough, cough.”

Only after clearing his throat did he asked, “What’s wrong? What did I do on purpose?”

“Now that you’ve made such a delicious combo, what am I supposed to do from now on? It’s impossible for me to eat such an expensive meal with my salary, so tell me that wasn’t done on purpose.” Yin Ya said while glaring straight at Yuan Zhou with her beautiful almond-like eyes.

“It’s alright, you can always come occasionally.” Yuan Zhou replied without much thought.

“Pfft.”

That uncontrolled chuckle came from the short haired girl with straight bangs. Seeing that Yuan Zhou was clueless while Yin Ya had a humiliated and angry expression, she immediately said, “It’s nothing, nothing. More importantly, this rice is exceptionally delicious.”

“If it’s delicious, you ought to eat it quickly then. If you cannot finish it, I will help you drink the soup.” Yin Ya’s face turned scarlet and said in a menacing tone.

“No, not at all. The portions here are so small. I’m able to finish them alone.” The short haired girl covered her food at once and slightly shifted them away from Yin Ya. This action made Yin Ya rendered even more speechless.

Not even bothering to pay any attention to her, she turned her head and said to Yuan Zhou, “You see boss Yuan, we’re already that close to each other, it wouldn’t hurt if you refill my soup, right?”

Faced with such a small request from a beautiful girl, the Yuan Zhou before would had immediately agreed, even if he was someone that had haggled for every single cent. However, in the present situation, it was…

“Impossible. That’s the rule of the shop.” Yuan Zhou, who had rejected in a clear cut manner, had a number of complaints in his heart and couldn’t help but ask the system about it.

“System, is it impossible to provide this soup as a standalone?”

The system: “May the host try his best in ranking up.”

“…”

This system was truly terrific. On the surface, Yuan Zhou had a stiff and stern expression on the surface. As for what he actually felt inside his heart, only he himself knew.

“Boss Yuan, what you’re doing will easily lose me as a customer.” Yin Ya was really getting angry this time.

No matter what, she was one of the pretty women that a lot of people were trying to woo. Even if it was an unfamiliar man, he ought to be a bit swayed by now. What’s more, leaving aside the fact that she frequently came here for meals, she had even helped introduce so many customers. Even though they all stayed behind for that extremely delicious egg fried rice, she had made some contributions too, hadn’t she?

Currently, that unwaverable, bluntly refusing appearance had directly turned Yuan Zhou into a huge demon in Yin Ya’s eyes, what’s more, the type that had the surname of “Eugénie”* in it.

TL Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A9nie_Grandet

In this situation, whatever Yuan Zhou said was inappropriate. He could only quietly look at Yin Ya.

Seeing that Yuan Zhou did not reply and only quietly looked at her, Yin Ya could only retreat and said.

“Hmph, I will be leaving first then.”

Taking her handbag, she didn’t wait for the colleagues that had came with her.

“Boss Yuan, you’re really quite something. To reject a gorgeous beauty’s request with such a straight face, you’re worthy of this.” A spectacled youngster raised a thumbs up towards Yuan Zhou and said in an admiring tone.

“Since you know how to talk about boss Yuan, why did you not ingratiate yourself with her earlier?” A man whose age was slightly on the older side said while pointing at the exceptionally clean, small, green, and white porcelain bowl that the spectacled youngster was drinking.

“Hur hur, I’m just giving boss Yuan a chance to express himself.” The spectacled younger continued to blather with a straight face.

“Alright, let’s hurry up and leave. Didn’t you see that there’s people waiting.” It was the short haired girl that pointed it out after drinking her last mouthful of soup.

Indeed. At this time, the three left over seats just a moment ago had long ceased to exist and people were starting a queue in the back.

This scene was something unheard of; a store that only sold egg fried rice, leaving aside the fact that it was originally a small shop which only had eight seats and even had flower shelves placed around. Moreover, customers were not even allowed to do take-out, even if they brought their own bowls. Oh, and there was more, not only were they unable to get a second serving, but more importantly, in such an environment, an egg fried rice actually sold for 188 RMB.

Slowly, Yuan Zhou’s small obscure restaurant began to gain some fame in his surroundings, and it was also about that time that he received his third mission.