Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Yuan Zhou the fraudster

Under the guidance of the bell boy, Yuan Zhou went to the reception desk first . Hearing that Yuan Zhou was here for a meal, they directly called for an attendant to escort Yuan Zhou to the restaurant on the 4th floor .

“Mister, this way please . ” An attendant wearing a red overskirt gracefully gestured with her fair hand . After an “if you please” gesture, she began to show the way to the elevator .

“Ding”

After pressing the button to open the elevator, the attendant stepped aside and invited Yuan Zhou to enter . Inside, there was an elevator attendant who was solely responsible for pressing the elevator floor button . After saying that he’s going to the restaurant, the elevator doors began to close next to the operator’s smiling face .

The facilities and services at a three star hotel were extremely accommodating, down to the finest detail . The moment Yuan Zhou entered the restaurant, a waiter immediately welcomed him . As the time hadn’t reached twelve o’clock, the restaurant still had plenty of empty seats .

“I want a spot near the window . ”

After choosing a spot, Yuan Zhou, under the guidance of the waiter, came to the seat he was assigned to and sat down .

A rectangular yellow lacquered table was accompanied by a white crochet tablecloth . A fresh carnation flower decorated the table, and the cups, plates, bowls as well as the chopsticks were placed and stacked in an orderly fashion .

The temperature of the restaurant was appropriate . Even though the floor he was on wasn’t high from his perspective, it had other elements worthy of praise too . Mhm, there were the houses down below that made for a nonexistent scenery to view .

If this was night, there would actually be a city nightscape, but now…he would have to improvise, improvise .

“Here’s your menu, mister . ” Two waiters came . One nimbly put away the remaining three sets of tableware and the other handed the menu over to Yuan Zhou in a gentle voice .

“Do you have any recommended dishes for today?”

It was also the first time Yuan Zhou was having a meal at a three star hotel . Even though he had once worked here for 2 years, since he never resided in the living quarters provided by the hotel, with the exception of his back kitchen colleagues, he actually couldn’t even recognize a single waiter .

As for what dishes were available, Yuan Zhou had only made and not actually eaten them before . Hearing their recommendation wasn’t a bad thing either .

“Yes, there’s the nourishing turtle soup that the head chef is preparing this afternoon, would you like to order a portion and give it a try?” The waiter flipped the menu to the colored “nourishing turtle soup” page in a caring manner and recommended with a slight smile .

“In that case, give me a portion . Do you still have others?” Yuan Zhou contemplated for a while . That head chef would indeed brew soup from time to time, however, he had never drunk it once nor did he meet with the head chef often . The chance for a menial worker to meet the head chef was very miniscule .

However, his current culinary skill far surpassed the head chef’s . It was as simple as that .

“These are the head chef’s menu items for today . How about you give our speciality dishes a try?” Saying so, the waiter once again flipped the menu in a gentle motion to the pages where the speciality recommendations were .

“Flip”

Yuan Zhou flipped the three pages where the speciality recommendation were, and finally said: “Give me a portion for these few dishes and make the main course an egg fried rice . ”

The waiter saw Yuan Zhou ordering a total of 19 courses, consisting of every speciality dish as well as the chef preparation on top of that and said as a reminder, “Mister, there is only one of you here and the portions of our dishes here are quite generous . Maybe you should reconsider your choices?”

“No problem, I’m a big eater . ” Yuan Zhou naturally knew that he wouldn’t be able to finish the amount he’d ordered, but he had come with a wish today — that was to get a taste of three star cuisine in passing, even though it would definitely not be as delicious as what he would have made .

Since he wanted to taste it, he might as well do a proper job of it . If he was to order one or two dishes, he’d have been better off heading back and doing it himself .

“Alright, please wait a moment . ” The waiter saw Yuan Zhou’s persistence and no longer attempted to dissuade him . Courteously taking back the menu, he went to the back kitchen to place the order .

The allocation of roles in the kitchen of a large hotel was superb . It merely took seven to eight minutes from the order being placed to the kitchen coming out with the dishes .

“Mister, here are the dishes you ordered: the turtle soup that the head chef prepared, poached bullfrogs, highland mutton, pulled beef . . ” The young guy, who was serving the dishes, announced every single one of the dishes he put on the table .

Yuan Zhou was simply at a corner waiting for the dishes to be finished serving .

“Mister, your dishes have all arrived . Please enjoy . ”

“Thank you . ”

Yuan Zhou nodded his head to express his thanks and picked up his chopsticks . He was preparing to do a taste test .

Ever since he had possessed the system, Yuan Zhou’s five senses had long differed from an ordinary person . As such, taste testing was not a problem for him .

Although Yuan Zhou was currently seriously taste testing here at the hotel, his Culinary God restaurant on the other hand, was the site of chaos .

Rumble, it was like a flash of thunder during the spring .

First it was the small moustache guy Wu Hai that checked in everyday . He was prepared to reach the front of the entrance at 10 minutes past 9:00 .

However, there was nothing in front of the chilly entrance . A piece of white paper was pasted on the front of the rolled down shutters of the restaurant, on it was: ‘Due to an unexpected matter, the owner must leave . Business will resume later tonight . ’

“Night? Is he not going to do business in the afternoon? That mustn’t be . Business in the afternoon gets really good . ” Wu Hai muttered to himself and returned to his house once more, not intending to have his breakfast .

After eating such an delicious egg fried rice, how could he have the appetite for some ordinary steamed buns . Under the situation where his economical situation would allow it, he would definitely go for something better .

As for the others that had come to eat their breakfast, they also discovered that slip of paper and thought that it would probably open in the afternoon . After all, there was nobody who would leave their business behind at a time it was booming .

Time passed very quickly and it was now noon . Everyone was getting off work and the entrance of Yuan Zhou’s small restaurant was encircled by people . If someone had just happened on the scene, they might have thought they’d walked into the middle of a gang war . Everybody was clamoring all at once .

“What’s going on? It’s not going to open in the afternoon too? I still have to go to work later . ” A big bellied male complained . He was looking at his watch and rubbing his empty stomach .

“Didn’t you see what was written? He has something going on and will open in the night . ” Someone had waited to the point of impatience and directly cut into the conversation .

“Boss Yuan was still operating the shop this morning, why did it shut down in the afternoon?” The man with the suit said in a puzzled manner . He was the one that had come to have some soup dumplings in the morning . He had tried his best to rush back in the afternoon, only to see the entrance mercilessly closed up .

“What? He opened his shop in the morning? Why did I not know about this?” Wu Hai immediately asked . He had just arrived and heard that reply .

“That’s right . The soup filled dumplings that the lil’ chef made in the morning were simply too delicious . This old fogey even said that he would come for another serving in the afternoon and had even brought his wife along . ” A grandpa whose outfit was in an upright attire had a tone full of regret . He was also explaining something in a low tone to a granny that was dressed up ordinarily and had grizzled hair .

“Soup dumplings? Why am I not aware of this? It was already closed when I came here this morning . ” When Wu Hai heard that he had apparently missed out on a new dish, his originally bad mood from not being able to get breakfast grew worse .

“It’s brother Hai . That’s right, boss Yuan had come out with another new variety item, the soup filled dumpling, in this shop . Its taste is truly out of this world . ” The man with the suit saw Wu Hai, a fellow regular, and began to describe in an unceasing torrent about the deliciousness of the soup filled dumpling .

No one knew what the man in the suit’s job was . Even though he wasn’t good at arguing, his ability to describe wasn’t too bad . At the very least, those regular customers beside him were already salivating to the point of overflowing and were feeling even more hungry themselves .

Not too long after, of the tens of people that had eaten the soup dumplings in the morning, a third of them arrived not too long after . This time, things were truly heating up . The tens of people that had arrived began to describe the peerless soup dumpling, with everyone interjecting at different times . The frequent visitors that were just sitting around, waiting for the door to open, stopped feeling bored and only felt the painful torment of hunger .

“The rest of you should stop talking . My stomach feels almost like it’s rebelling, it’s growling non-stop . ” The big bellied man said in agony . He had already thrown away his image and covered his belly with his hands .

“Exactly . I’m so hungry to the point where my gastric problem is about to act up . I forbid all of you to say that again . This time, it was Yin Ya that spoke up . A beautiful lady’s words were always useful, the few of them had truly stopped discussing that subject .

As for the reason they felt even more hungry? It was probably because of how vividly they recalled the delicious soup dumplings in the morning during their graphic description of it . Only they themselves would know if there were still other reasons .

However, the people standing near the entrance had all begun to condemn Yuan Zhou in unison…