Chapter 13: Heaven-shaking Secret — I didn"t expect you to actually be a chef at Tian Xia Restaurant.
Friday arrived in the blink of an eye. Eight Treasures sent a message into the group chat as soon as she touched down onto A City"s airport. 「Comrades, I"ve returned! I"m going home first to wash my hair and change clothes. Tonight, let"s meet up at Tian Xia Restaurant!」
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「『OK』」
Invincible Little Sweetie: 「I have evening s.h.i.+ft today…can"t go anymore『sheds tears』」
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Your company"s overtime simply has a grudge against us…」
Invincible Little Sweetie: 「『sheds tears』『sheds tears』『sheds tears』」
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: For Suicide At Eighteen This Year, so just us two going?」
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「I"ll ask if Xia Ming Ming wants to go」
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Okay, I haven"t seen him for several years. Did he grow taller? Become more handsome?」
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「What a pity that he is still as foolish as before 『smile』」
At first she wanted to talk about how Xia Ming Ming had cast himself into the enemy camp and was duty-bound not to turn back after Mr. Jiang from downstairs had conveniently given him a ride, but after typing in the words "Mr. Jiang from downstairs," she deleted her message with lightning speed.
Close call; she nearly gave Twiggy an opportunity to roast her.
A new customer just happened to come in when she sent Xia Ming Ming an inquiring message. Xia Wei said "welcome" out of habit, only to then clearly see who had entered.
It was Ye Kai"s younger sister.
She suddenly felt a bit awkward but still came back to reality very quickly. She smiled. "Did you come for a manicure again?"
The girl said, "Not today; help me remove the manicure from last time."
"Okay, sit here." Xia Wei washed her hands and sat down in front of her after retrieving her tools. "We remove nail polish free of charge here."
"Mn, I know." The girl extended her hand, asking her, "Did you break up with my older brother?"
"…" Xia Wei was silent for a moment before saying, "I don"t consider it to be a break up."
"My older brother has been depressed for several days after returning home."
"Eh…is he okay?"
"He got a bit better recently." The girl looked up to stare at her. "Why did you want to break up with him? Was it because you thought he wasn"t good enough somewhere?"
"No, I explained very clearly to him that it was me who was no good."
The girl didn"t say anything after that. Xia Wei also remained silent as she helped her remove the manicure. When she left, Xia Wei disappointedly cuddled with the mantis shrimp plush toy on the sofa; Eight Treasures had given it to her as a present for her last birthday, saying that only the mantis shrimp would keep her company.
At first this was simply a joke, but it appeared that it truly was like a curse now.
Ai, how long must we keep each other company, mantis shrimp?
In her bag, her phone vibrated. Grabbing it, she caught sight of Xia Ming Ming"s reply. 「Okay! I have already heard of Tian Xia Restaurant"s famous reputation! But it seems awfully expensive. I still haven"t found a job QAQ」
Xia Wei: 「Then I"ll pay for you, but you don"t have the power to order dishes :)」
Xia Ming Ming: 「Okay (^o^)/~」
Xia Wei: 「See you tonight at 6:00PM at the entrance of Tian Xia Restaurant; can you find it?」
Xia Ming Ming: 「No problem』
Xia Wei: 「『 smile-cry』」
Remembering that it was Friday today and that there might be a lot of people, she deliberately called right then to schedule a reservation. Unexpectedly, people suddenly came into the nail salon at 5:00PM. By the time the busy rush pa.s.sed, it was already almost 6:30PM.
She was completely able to envision Eight Treasure"s bitter expression.
Hastily rus.h.i.+ng over to Tian Xia Restaurant, she found Eight Treasures and Xia Ming Ming both sitting inside and playing on their phones. "My apologies, the salon suddenly had a lot of customers. I couldn"t leave." Xia Wei beamed at them in apology. "Have you ordered dishes?"
Xia Ming Ming said, "We did. They"re serving once you arrive. Take a look, is there anything else you want to order?" He handed over the menu as he said this but not before remembering to mention, "I just saw the prices. Jie, you truly are my own flesh and blood sister."
"…Therefore, after you find a job, you will repay me nicely."
"I will."
Eight Treasures sat across from them and chuckled. "Do you know what my life was like over at the construction site? The project supervisor over there is stingy. Every day at lunch when we ate together, he would want to AA with us. Even though we AA, he thought we ate too well, and wouldn"t let us eat this well after that."
Xia Wei: "…"
"Now I came back with great difficulty to eat a good meal, but you actually made us wait for so long!"
"…Sorry, you suffered hards.h.i.+ps, but why have you still not lost any weight?"
Eight Treasures: "…"
She was in the middle of pondering on what posture she should use to break off relations with Xia Wei when the waiter came in with the food. Xia Wei glanced at the dishes they had already ordered and determined it was good enough, not ordering any more. She merely turned her gaze to the waiter with slight antic.i.p.ation. "Were any of the dishes we ordered made by the boss?"
The waiter smiled and responded, "I apologize, the boss made some other dish today."
"Oh…"Xia Wei was very disappointed, but after recalling that not a single number was called on her lottery ticket, she relaxed significantly.
Eight Treasures had ordered egg fried rice and was itching to taste a bite. "Oh! It really is the Snow White among egg fried rice! Delicious!"
Xia Wei picked up a spoon and scooped a bite into her mouth. She commented, "The flavor isn"t bad, but it"s not as tasty as that dish the boss personally stir-fried."
Eight Treasures spat in contempt. "I think you"re just being biased."
"Of course it is." Even though Xia Wei spoke these words, her hand couldn"t help but reach out to scoop up some more egg fried rice.
Eight Treasures tried another bite alongside a spoonful of soup. Her eyes fluttered in ecstasy. "I finally feel alive again. Oh, that"s right, I"m coming over to your salon tomorrow. You can help me do my nails again. Life at the construction site is very depressing. Only if I can see beautiful nails will I be able to feel as if I"m a girl."
Pfft. Ke—ke— Xia Ming Ming choked on his food.
Eight Treasures" eyes immediately flew open to glare at him. "What?"
Xia Ming Ming"s head shook back and forth like a rattle-drum. "No no, I was just thinking how I am indeed extremely honored to be able to share a meal with two young ladies."
"It"s good that you know this."
Xia Wei interjected, "If you offend us two young ladies, today"s meal will be payed out of your pocket."
Xia Ming Ming: "…"
He couldn"t help but think that a nearly thirty year-old young lady was indeed too frightening.
He did not dare to speak another word for the entire meal, finally having a sense to be wary for his own safety. When they took the elevator to go down, he caught sight of a man standing in the hall, a chef uniform cloaking his form, and promptly tugged at Xia Wei, who was beside him. "Jie, look! Isn"t that Mr. Jiang who lives downstairs of us?"
Xia Wei looked in the direction he indicated and, sure enough, saw Jiang Zhi Zhou. He was standing beside a woman and chatting with her. Xia Wei was a bit curious. Was this person his girlfriend? A straight guy like him was actually able to find such a pretty girlfriend?
Ah, this wouldn"t happen to be the person who stood him up last time at the movie theater, right?
She was gonna say, Looks like he still hadn"t caught her.
"He"s a chef here? I didn"t expect he would look so cool while wearing a chef uniform too!"
Xia Ming Ming praised Jiang Zhi Zhou in amazement while Eight Treasures fl.u.s.teredly asked Xia Wei, "Holy s.h.i.+t, this is that Mr. Jiang living downstairs of you? You have never said he looks so handsome!"
Xia Wei: "…"
At this moment, Jiang Zhi Zhou became aware of people talking to the side and turned his head in their direction. Xia Ming Ming saw his glance and cheerfully waved at him.
Jiang Zhi Zhou paused for a moment, startled, before nodding back, which could be considered a greeting. Xia Wei rapped Xia Ming Ming on the head and dragged him towards the exit of Tian Xia Restaraunt.
"What"s up? Do you recognize them?" Fang Wan glanced at Jiang Zhi Zhou in question.
Jiang Zhi Zhou withdrew his gaze and answered, "Mn, neighbors in the community."
"Oh…" Fang Wan was not concerned about these neighbors at all. She beamed at Jiang Zhi Zhou and said, "I apologize. I came here with several colleagues for a group dinner tonight and didn"t expect you to make a dish we ordered. I honestly feel that this is too coincidental. At first, I didn"t want to bother you, but I still wanted to see you before I left."
"You all are guests; it is something I should have done."
Fang Wan"s mouth opened, but it took her a while to voice her thoughts. "Being able to eat a dish you personally made, I"ll cherish this meal. Then…goodbye."
Jiang Zhi Zhou watched her walk farther away and turned around to head back inside.
He was returning home later than usual today and was a bit anxious about the orange cat becoming scared since it was at home alone. In particular, since it didn"t have whiskers, it seemed to have no sense of security. When the elevator came to a stop on the first floor, Jiang Zhi Zhou raised his head to see Miss Xia from upstairs standing outside.
Xia Wei was also stunned for a bit before she entered the elevator. As if he was trying to break the awkwardness between them, Jiang Zhi Zhou noncommittally asked, "How come you returned alone?"
Xia Wei replied, "Oh, my friend and I went for a stroll outside, but Xia Ming Ming didn"t join us and came back early."
"Oh, so it"s like this."
The mood once again settled back to quiet tranquility. This time, it was Xia Wei who spoke up first. "I didn"t expect you to actually be a chef at Tian Xia Restaurant. Your salary must be very high." If not, how could he buy an apartment here.
Jiang Zhi Zhou was a bit startled, but he responded nonetheless. "Chefs at Tian Xia Restaurant do have very high wages, but I am the boss of Tian Xia Restaurant."
Xia Wei: "……"
She didn"t remember how she left the elevator; she only remembered that she had rushed out and immediately sent her best friend group chat a message. 「My heavens! That Mr. Jiang downstairs of me is the boss of Tian Xia Restaurant!!!!」
When she opened the group chat, there were already ten unread messages. She skimmed through them, and sure enough, it was Eight Treasures exaggerating how handsome Mr. Jiang was in the group chat.
Invincible Little Sweetie: 「Didn"t Eight Treasures just say he was a chef at Tian Xia Restaurant? How come he became a boss only a moment later?」
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen this Year: 「He personally said it! Doesn"t the boss of Tian Xia Restaurant cook as well? Maybe we met him just as he finished cooking, so he hadn"t had the time to change.」
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「What the f.u.c.k?? He really is the boss of Tian Xia Restaurant? He"s not faking it, right?」
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「I don"t think so because I feel he"s really extremely wealthy. A chef shouldn"t have such deep pockets」
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「If I had known earlier, I would have moved in to live with you!」
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「『smile』」
Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: 「Opened group chat and screen is filled with messages about Mr. Jiang 『goodbye』」
Invincible Little Sweetie: 「23333 『laughs up her sleeve』」
Invincible Little Sweetie: 「Oh, that"s right. I heard the boss of Tian Xia Restaurant used to partic.i.p.ate in cooking compet.i.tions in his childhood and is still considered number one. I don"t remember which compet.i.tion it specifically was though.」
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「How old is "in his childhood?"」
Invincible Little Sweetie: 「Should be when he was still attending school. Our boss really likes to eat at Tian Xia Restaurant. The boss of Tian Xia Restaurant back when it first began is definitely not your Mr. Jiang from downstairs. Most likely, he is the old boss" son. I heard that as a child, he followed after his father and studied cooking」
Xia Wei"s eyebrows rose slightly. Cooking compet.i.tions? Chūka Ichiban!?