Chapter 688: Because Of A Certain Person
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After Geng Xiao’s fish was served on the table, Tang Min really accepted his invitation and ate a small part of it with restraint.
They finally finished the meal in happiness. Even if it wasn’t the flathead that Tang Min had wanted, Yuan Zhou’s culinary skills greatly narrowed the gap.
“The Dongpo Garra Fish turns out to be so delicious,” Tang Min muttered to herself in her mind when they left the restaurant.
And on the other side, some other people were still thinking constantly about the food in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
They were Dog, Zheng Xixi, Mengyi and Ge Bailing. Ever since they had a meal in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant last time, they had been constantly thinking of the dishes there. However, the price wasn’t so friendly to them. Therefore, they had never gone back anymore after that.
One month later, the four people made an appointment again to go to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant because of a turning point.
“Boss Yuan’s craftsmans.h.i.+p is really very high. I haven’t eaten any better dishes before.” Zheng Xixi added, “All the Rice Crust dishes served in other restaurants in Chengdu have the Sichuan flavor except for Boss Yuan’s restaurant.”
On speaking of Yuan Zhou’s dishes, the four people all revealed an expression of reminiscence though they were still walking on the way. That was also the reason why they made the appointment to go there again when they got their annual bonus after Chinese New Year.
Walking ahead of all others, Ge Bailing said, “Boss Yuan is definitely very popular among girls with the help of his superb culinary skills. One of my requirements for my boyfriend is that he must have half the level of Boss Yuan’s craftsmans.h.i.+p.”
“Agreed.” Meng Yi nodded her head. She was originally a big fan of beautiful appearances and thus, her main requirement for her boyfriend was that he must be very handsome. After she ate Boss Yuan’s delicious dishes, however, culinary skills also became an important standard.
Just when Ge Bailing and Meng Yi both agreed to that opinion, Dog suddenly said to them, “Then are you going to stay single for a lifetime?”
“Considering Boss Yuan’s culinary skills, I guess you are going to stay single for a lifetime if you expect your boyfriends to have half his culinary skills,” Dog a.n.a.lyzed earnestly.
Then, she managed to end the conversation. Meng Yi, and Ge Bailing didn’t want to talk with Dog at all.
Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, Zheng Xixi changed the subject, “Hey, let’s talk about why Boss Yuan doesn’t have a girlfriend even though his culinary skills are so good. I heard that Boss Yuan is still single till now. Why?”
Zheng Xixi’s words successfully distracted them from the current subject. The love affairs about Boss Yuan was quite an attractive subject.
Meng Yi thought for a while and said, “I think he should have very high requirements.”
“I don’t think so. Maybe, Boss Yuan had a girlfriend before but she left for some reason one day, so Boss Yuan opened this restaurant and waited for her for many years. How beautiful it is,” Ge Bailing said expectantly.
Zheng Xixi frowned and said, “That sounds very familiar. I seem to have read a similar plot somewhere.”
Dog hit the nail on the head, “In most novels, all the supporting actors behaved in this way.”
“Bai Bai, we told you not to read so many unrealistic novels,” said Zheng Xixi helplessly. Though this story seemed to apply to Yuan Zhou very much, it was absolutely not so.
“None of you guys know that, but according to the information on the internet, Boss Yuan is so devoted to mastering his culinary skills that he doesn’t have time to find a girlfriend,” said Dog. Then, she added, “Boss Yuan only cares about his culinary skills and never thinks of anything else. That’s the reason why he can cook so many delicious dishes. Just think, would Boss Yuan be able to cook so well if not so?”
They thought for a while carefully and found it to be really reasonable.
“Exactly. I remember that those master craftsmen all require absolute focus.” Ge Bailing nodded her head.
“Dog, you finally become smart.” Meng Yi praised.
“Yeah, of course. So you agree with me, right?” Dog was quite proud of her own judgment.
She felt proud, but if Yuan Zhou knew what she had said, he would probably beat Dog into a real husky.
While the four people were still talking, they arrive at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
As the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year receded, more and more people started to gather in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. The line was also becoming longer and longer.
After more than 20 minutes, Zheng Xixi and other three people had their wish fulfilled. They managed to get seated in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
They ordered their favorite dishes, respectively. Due to the return of Zhou Jia, the speed of serving also became quicker.
There were two nicest things in this world, curling in bed on a cold winter and eating delicious dishes when hunger stuck. As they were doing one of the two nicest things, they were naturally very happy.
“These delicious dishes are only available in Chengdu,” while Meng Yi was eating the golden yellow Egg Fried Rice, she said vaguely, “I think there must be a lot of tourists who like this city because of this restaurant.”
“Yeah, yes, I can totally understand the feeling,” Ge Bailing said, “Not long ago, I traveled to a city in Northern part of China. When I went out for fun, I got lost. At that time, I walked into a dirty alley and found two dirty stray dogs at the end of the alley. As it was in winter, the two dogs s.h.i.+vered with cold. But everybody that pa.s.sed by them avoided from them and only a homeless person held them in his arms.”
Ge Bailing said, “I really felt touched at that time. Later when that homeless person played the Erhu, I especially went up to give him some money. Anyway, I had an ineffably favorable impression of the city just because of this homeless that I didn’t know.”
“Well, I have a similar experience once. When I went to Chongqing last time, I went to buy fruits in a fruit store near my hotel. The male salesclerk was smoking. I originally suffered from a sore throat and thus coughed upon breathing in the smoke. At that time, the male salesclerk happened to have a puff of smoke in his mouth, but because of me, he didn’t release it out until I made the payment,” Meng Yi said, “I have been to Chongqing many times, but in retrospect, I didn’t actually remember anything especially interesting over there. It’s really the people in the city that made me like this city.”
Because of a certain person, one would take a fancy to a city.
It might be the most intimate boyfriend or a stranger unknown to all.
The atmosphere was good, but there came a person that spoiled it.
“I’ve never taken a fancy to a city because of something. I went to a coastal city for vacation once and I remember that city was fairly beautiful. However, I was ripped off twice when I went out to eat. So I hate this coastal city very much even now,” Dog was very excited.
Then, she continued, “I’ve also been to Chongqing before, but it left me with a very bad impression and thus I will never go there again. The reason was that the neighboring room had always being renovated and that gave me a headache. The soundproofing effect was too bad.”
There was full of negativity in her tone. The same place Chongqing was like two different cities in the mouth of Meng Yi and Dog.
Ge Bailing was used to that. She raised her head and asked Zheng Xixi, “How about you, Xixi? Did you ever take a fancy to a city because of any particular person or matter?”
“I did,” Zheng Xixi drank a mouthful of watermelon juice and then said, “I had a long-distance relations.h.i.+p with my ex-boyfriend. He worked in Shanghai and I worked in Chengdu. He liked Shanghai very much, so I also took a fancy to Shanghai because of him.”
Zheng Xixi paused for a while and continued, “Now he isn’t working in Shanghai anymore and I also broke up with him. But still, I like Shanghai.”
It had been mentioned before that the four people had a good relations.h.i.+p with each other and hence the former dating experience of Zheng Xixi was roughly known by the other three people. Therefore, they turned away from the topic under discussion immediately and began to talk about something else.
On the other side, Yuan Zhou had just finished preparing another dish.
He appeared quite solemn on the surface, but was actually muttering to himself, “As a prince charming that can cook well, there are definitely many tourists that take a fancy to this restaurant and then to the whole city of Chengdu because of me.”
And that was the fascination of a prince charming. Yuan Zhou was quite confident of that.
The system displayed, “That’s not true.”