Chapter 57: The Innocent Yuan Zhou
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
He that talks much errs much. This is an eternally immutable truth.
What Yuan Zhou said was instantly overheard by the two people who were debating pa.s.sionately.
"Little brother, you are right. You come and judge these abalones. They are obviously cultivated. Yet they keep insisting that they are from wild." The man in a suit turned his head and gazed earnestly at Yuan Zhou as if looking for an alliance.
"Sir, you should concentrate on enjoying your delicacies. What do you think?" Liu Na would never have spoken so impolitely to any customer. Nevertheless, her tone turned bitter since she was first entangled by the man in a suit and now, Yuan Zhou made it worse.
Since his private grumble was heard by others, Yuan Zhou felt embarra.s.sed. The man in a suit may have revealed the secret of the restaurant but Yuan Zhou didn’t intend to intervene in this matter. Yuan Zhou had just picked up his phone and was preparing to leave when he heard Liu Na’s discourteous words. Despite that, he merely frowned a little.
When Liu Na realized Yuan Zhou had no intention to intervene in this conflict, she heaved a sigh of relief. Actually, she regretted the moment she spoke those words out. No matter what, the customer was the customer. They deserved better treatment.
However, the man in the suit didn’t intend to let Yuan Zhou go so easily. It wasn’t easy to meet another man who also knew the truth. How could he ignore this matter and stay silent?
“Manager Liu, you see? It isn’t only me who feels this way. The abalones that you provide are truly not from the wild.” the man in suit raised his voice, speaking loudly, “Everybody, listen to me. This gentleman said that the abalones here are all cultivated rather than taken from the wild,” when he found that Yuan Zhou was walking out of the restaurant indifferently.
Immediately, the issue the man raised aroused public indignation in the restaurant. Customers who came here for their meals were mostly wealthy people. Therefore, not many customers paid attention to their argument at the very beginning. But the actions of the man in a suit directly made Yuan Zhou become the main target for all the customers.
“What’s going on? Aren’t these wild abalones?” a woman in expensive clothes put down the abalone in her hand immediately and then asked with a frown.
With someone taking the lead, others began to follow the discussion as well, all talking at once.
“That’s not possible. It’s an old restaurant and I often come here to eat. The quality of their abalones is fine.” a loyal customer shook his head in disbelief.
“That cannot be guaranteed. Businessmen are usually tricky and dishonest nowadays.” Another customer showed his distrust.
“Did that young man say the abalones were cultivated? Let’s ask him.” When one of the customers saw Yuan Zhou standing in the center of the crowd seriously, he gave a suggestion.
“That’s true. Let’s ask him.” More people echoed.
“Young man, how do you know the abalones were cultivated? Where did you get this information?” People usually followed others blindly. Immediately, Yuan Zhou was lost in the crowd, getting interrogated left and right.
Nevertheless, the man in a suit was satisfied with the outcome he created.
Liu Na, who was standing beside the crowd, was completely enraged. She first glared at the man in the suit, then walked up to Yuan Zhou in her high heels. With her face flus.h.i.+ng due to the anger, she forced a smile and said, “Please rest a.s.sured regarding the quality of our abalones. We have been in business for dozens of years and quality has always been our priority. What he said was merely a prank just now.”
While saying that, she gave Yuan Zhou a signal by winking at him, willing him to coordinate with her. However, Yuan Zhou just shrugged and kept silent. After all, it was true that the abalones were cultivated.
“This gentleman was just trying to amuse everybody. How could it be possible that our abalones were cultivated? Right?” Liu Na guessed that people would usually choose to go with the flow and avoid trouble in such circ.u.mstances. This was exactly what Yuan Zhou had done just now.
“No, I am not joking. I did say that and furthermore, it is the truth.” Yuan Zhou was not pleased with the manager on duty as he found being used as a tool to smooth over disputes to be fairly distasteful. Therefore, Yuan Zhou replied following his heart and the demands of the system.
Yes, that’s right. The system just released another new mission.
The system read, “As a candidate of the Master Chef, how could you let others suspect that your tongue has problems? Go, young man, show them your capabilities as a candidate of the Master Chef.”
[Random Mission] Unveiling the True Features of the Abalones
[Mission Reward] Herbal Tea Eggs
As a matter of fact, even if the system didn’t release this mission, Yuan Zhou would have also struck back. Being used like a tool... Even tools have tempers! Furthermore, this situation originally did not concern him.
Immediately, Yuan Zhou’s words brought about a large uproar among customers in the restaurant.
“Is it true?” a middle-aged man stood up and asked in a solemn tone.
“No, it’s not like that. Sir, we could sue you for your defamation. Do you understand?” Liu Na took a deep breath and then said severely.
Now, this dispute had escalated beyond Liu Na’s control. Therefore, she sent a waitress standing beside her to inform General Manager Gou, at the same time trying to refute the claims.
“Of course, I am responsible for what I just said. I hope you could also be responsible for what your restaurant has proclaimed.” Yuan Zhou glanced at her.
“I believe everybody here was attracted due to the reputation of this restaurant. I too, am not an exception. By chance, I possess some knowledge of food and ingredients.” Yuan Zhou approached Liu Na and stood in front of her before starting to speak.
“On the table over there are the dishes I have ordered. I have tried both the abalone dishes. The chef really does possess decent culinary skills.” Yuan Zhou pointed at the dining table next to the window.
The crowd all turned their heads towards that direction. When they found the dishes were barely eaten, they began to trust Yuan Zhou’s words. The dishes here in this restaurant were not cheap but his dishes did not seem to have been touched at all.
“I forgot my phone just now thus came back to get it.” Yuan Zhou took out his phone and showed everybody.
“Then I came across that man and this Manager Liu arguing and accidentally told the truth. That’s how this situation occurred.” With only a few sentences, Yuan Zhou revealed the entire process.
This time, the man in a suit spoke up, “It’s true. My family just came back from Canada. Although the waitress has declared their abalones caught from the wild in Canada, the taste is obviously incorrect. So I started arguing with them. However, who would have expected that they wouldn’t admit it.”
“What’s the matter with your restaurant? Are you cheating us using fake abalones?”
“Exactly. Refund the money to us.”
“To think that I am a regular customer of yours. Are the abalones served before also fake?”
Immediately, all customers in the restaurant felt they had been cheated by the restaurant, hence started getting agitated.
At this time, the waitress that was sent away just now came back along with General Manager Gou. He was fairly young, around 30 years old or so. With a calm smile on his face, he came up to the crowd immediately and then said, “Calm down, everybody.”
After soothing the customers in the main hall until they calmed down, General Manager Gou smiled and asked Yuan Zhou and the man in the suit,
“Respected sirs, both of you suspect the abalones that we provide are not taken from the wild, but do you two have any evidence?”
In current times, every accusation required evidence. General Manager Gou couldn’t believe that someone was able to judge whether the abalones were wild or not with merely a taste. This was something hard for ordinary people to tell.
Seeing both of them remaining silent, the general manager then said gently, “I don’t think it’s right to suspect us groundlessly if the two sirs don’t have any evidence.”
After that, he ignored the two people and prepared to soothe other customers.
The man in the suit merely felt that the taste was a little different. He had only insisted on his opinion because of Liu Na’s arrogant manner implying he was in the wrong. He could neither present any evidence nor give a convincing reason. That was why he had kept silent over this debate.
On the other hand, Yuan Zhou opened his mouth, “…”