The moment Roly Poly skidded to a stop, Zhao Yao smacked the phone and its NSFW content out of the way.
Like a meteor, the phone rocketed through the air at the speed of light. The impact it made from cras.h.i.+ng into a table caused it to crumble into pieces on the floor.
Roly Poly looked at its dismembered remains in horror.
"Uh, Zhao Y -,"
He gulped down the rest of his sentence when Zhao Yao shot him a death glare. Roly Poly puffed up his fur in fear. With a terrified yelp, he fled the scene.
The entire cafe"s attention was now squarely on Zhao Yao.
He waved them off with an awkward smile.
"No worries. I accidentally hit the phone when I was trying to swat a fly."
Old Man Zhuang"s brows furrowed. "I thought that cat had something in its mouth."
"Yeah. It looked like a phone."
"What? A phone? Must be a trick of the light," Zhao Yao tried laughing it off.
"Mmm, has my eyesight worsened again?" Zhuang wondered aloud.
"No, I saw a phone too," Inspector Ho said with certainty.
He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I believe it was playing quite the interesting video too."
Zhao Yao let out a loud and unnatural bellow of laughter.
"Is that so? What did you see?" he asked.
The Inspector shook his head. "I can"t say for sure. I saw it for a split second."
"Oh, okay then. Perhaps we should go back to what we were discussing just now?" Zhao Yao suggested.
A few minutes later, Old Man Zhuang managed to correct Zhao Yao"s misconception on the type of illusion he wanted.
"What kind of sordid and indecent proposal did you think I have?!" he cried, planting both hands on the table, "All I want is to eat meat! To be specific, I want red braised pork belly!"
Zhao Yao pursed his lips. It seemed like he misunderstood the kind of realistic experience the men asked for.
Regardless, he still rejected them with a shake of his head.
"Getting the taste of red braised pork belly right will be tricky. It"ll require a lot of effort on my end."
Old Man Zhuang cut straight to the chase. "How much money do you want?"
"A thousand for a dish," Zhao Yao responded without hesitation.
There was a sparkle in his eyes.
This was a fantastic opportunity to increase the cafe"s revenue, which translated into more experience points. Normal customers would never be unable to handle such extortionate prices. This guy, however, could.
"One thousand dollars for one plate of pork belly? Inspector Ho repeated incredulously.
"Don"t say it like that! This ain"t your normal red braised pork belly! You can eat as much as you want without overstuffing yourself or gaining an ounce of weight. It won"t cause high blood pressure or diabetes or any other ailment. Now tell me, is the thousand dollars not worth a piece of paradise?" Zhao Yao questioned.
The inspector had no intention of letting up so easily, but Zhuang slammed one hand on the table, ending the conversation.
"We"ll take it."
The grin on Zhao Yao"s face was so wide that it looked like it might break his face in two.
"Deal. Please make your payment and your food will come," he beamed.
Once the promised thousand dollars were given, Zhao Yao waved a hand above the table. Instantly, an enormous pot of red braised pork belly appeared right before the two men.
There was steam pouring out of the pot. A generous serving of pork belly was filled to the brim. It was marinated in a luxurious red sauce that emitted a delectable fragrance. A bowl of rice was placed next to the pot, along with a pair of chopsticks.
The food"s aroma got Old Man Zhuang"s mind reeling.
How long had it been? Since he was diagnosed with a series of maladies years ago, he had been banned from consuming meat and alcohol.
This one dish contained both, which easily made it one of his favorite things in the world.
He did not hesitate to pick up the chopsticks. He plucked a piece of succulent pork belly and put it into his mouth.
There was an explosion of flavor when he took his first bite. The velvety smooth fat complemented the sharp crisp of the meat perfectly. Each surface was glazed beautifully with a tangy sauce that hit all the right notes. It had a satisfying chewiness that made the process of consuming it simply delightful.
For Old Man Zhuang, this was indeed his personal piece of paradise. For years, his doctors and bodyguards enforced on him a strict diet that definitely did not contain red braised pork belly. That was one of a long list of banned foods for someone with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and fatty liver disease.
He never thought he would be able to taste it again.
A blissful smile spread across his lips.
He took another piece of meat, then raised the bowl of fragrant white rice towards him. He matched each mouthful of pork with one of rice, wolfing down the food like a starving refugee.
The glistening meat was juicy, but not overly moist. It melted on his tongue, where it would leave a layer of full-bodied goodness. The sweetness of the pork belly and the granular texture of the rice was a heavenly combination for all the sense.
"Delicious. Simply delicious."
His bowl and chopsticks only touched the table when he was done eating every piece of meat and grain of rice. Of course, the gratuitous amount of food was ultimately not real, so he was still hungry and wanting.
Zhuang did not order more food. Instead, he turned to Zhao Yao and asked, "Can you make me feel that I"m full?"
"Don"t you want me to conjure more food?" Zhao Yao asked in surprise.
"No, not now," the old man waved a hand, "That was good. It was almost too good. If I kept eating like this, I"m afraid I could never go back to the healthy s**t they feed me. I"m telling you, my boy, it really tastes as nasty as a pile of s**t."
Zhao Yao pursed his lips.
"Why does he talk like he"s had s**t before?" he thought to himself.
He tapped his index finger in Zhuang"s direction. A satisfying feeling of fullness and warmth settled in the old man"s tummy. He rubbed it happily and lay on his back.
"This feels good. I miss it. Being able to eat such excellent meat is in itself a great joy in life," he sighed.
He closed his eyes to relish the moment. When he opened them, he was looking at Zhao Yao.
"My boy, we"ll be coming here every night after closing hours starting from tomorrow. I"ll have to trouble you to prepare a great meal for us."
Zhao Yao was more than happy to do so since he was getting paid good money.
"Don"t worry," he a.s.sured the man, "As long as you pay for our services, I"ll cook up anything at all that you want, even if it"s s**t you ask for."
Old Man Zhuang chuckled.
"Well, I"m not going to hold back then. Tomorrow, let"s have a seafood fiesta. I want grilled scallops, shrimp stuffed tofu, steamed sea ba.s.s, spicy tiger prawns, squirrel mandarin fish…"
Zhao Yao was thrilled that the man seemed to be checking off a very long list wish list. The more dishes he ordered, the more revenue went into his pocket and the more experience points he clocked.
However, he had to raise a hand to stop him.
"Hold on, hold on. I"ve never had any of those dishes. I can only create realistic illusions if I"ve tasted them before," he stated.
"Oh? Is that so?" Old Man Zhuang looked to the men in black, "Ah Wei, arrange for the head chef to prepare the dishes that I want our boy here to create. Send them to the cafe before each evening."
Zhao Yao"s eyes widened. "That"s too troublesome. I can"t accept it."
Zhuang brushed him off with a casual wave. He repeated his instructions to Ah Wei, then asked him to transfer food money for this month to Zhao Yao.
Just like that, his bank account gained an additional 26 thousand dollars.
Zhao Yao did the math quickly.
"With this money, it shouldn"t be hard to hit 50 thousand dollars of profit by the end of the money. That would mean 500 experience points that I can double to 1,000 in total. Not bad," he mused.
This new route to revenue made Zhao Yao a very happy man. He walked Old Man Zhuang, Inspector Ho, and their posse out the door in high spirits, then dived straight into another round of PUBG.