Judging from Sun Ming’s facial expression, Yuan Zhou knew he was definitely unsatisfied with the price of the Egg Fried Rice. Having known the truth, however, Yuan Zhou would have preferred to add another 0 behind 188, or change the currency into pound, or dollar.
Therefore, he didn’t try to explain but just gave Sun Ming a sign to eat before it got cold.
No sooner had Sun Ming sat down, did the scent of Egg Fried Rice rushed directly into his nose. He could immediately tell the difference, the scent didn’t have the usual greasy and oily smell, instead it had some kind of delicate fragrance. The most magical thing was that he couldn’t see any of the eggs inside the Egg Fried Rice. After taking a closer look at the dish, he found the egg, completely wrapped around the rice grains. That was the cause which altered the rice from its original color to a golden yellow.
Sun Ming was astonished by that. He had met Yuan Zhou during Yuan Zhou’s days of working in the kitchen at a 3-Star Hotel. Sun Ming was also fond of eating, nevertheless, his parents hadn’t allow him to be a chef. He had to continue his studies until he graduated, only then did he choose to go in the kitchen of the hotel without a second thought. However, his culinary skills were not that good. In the end, he ended up being a glutton. After that, he opened a clothing store, which nevertheless prospered.
"This is..." Scooping up a spoon of the fried rice, the discontent in Sun Ming’s eyes lessened.
Yuan Zhou could master the Egg Fried Rice to the extent that the beaten egg completely wrapped around the rice grains. Sun Ming believed his friend did possess some talent in cooking. Thus his interest was aroused.
He took a spoonful. The soft and tender egg wrapped around grains of rice that was neither too soft nor too hard. The delicate fragrance of the rice and the scent of the egg were thoroughly merged together. These difference scents had perfectly blended, giving an unprecedented taste.
Gosh, how could there be such delicious Egg Fried Rice?
With the fried rice in his mouth, Sun Ming felt like the female judge in the movie, Cooking God starring Stephen Chow, who was immersed in the bliss from the dish, Barbecued Pork Rice with Poached Egg. Sun Ming was also immersed with his Egg Fried Rice.
The previous thought of being cheated had completely disappeared. He had only the delicious Egg Fried Rice in his mind, his eyes and his mouth.
Eat, continue to eat.
Sun Ming felt the price of 188 RMB was fair now.
No.
He even had a feeling that he was the one gaining even with such a price. For the first time in his life, he discovered that a simple Egg Fried Rice could be so tasty.
"Ba Ji, Ba Ji"
One bite after another, Sun Ming just couldn’t stop eating. He didn’t forget to give a thumb up to Yuan Zhou who was standing right in front to show his admiration. The reason was, needless to say, that his mouth was full of the Egg Fried Rice and he didn’t want to waste time talking. Thus, he could only do this to express his heartfelt feelings.
Yuan Zhou nodded his head calmly, with an indifferent expression, as if it was all within his expectations.
When the plate had been licked so clean it appeared to be washed, Sun Ming finally opened his mouth to speak.
"Is this Egg Fried Rice?"
"Yes, as you have seen, this is the ordinary Egg Fried Rice, just a little more tasty than other restaurants." Yuan Zhou replied with an indifferent manner as if it was an ordinary occurrence.
"These skills can be compared to those 5-Star levels already, though I have never tasted any 5-Star level food. Have you inherited the teachings of a head chef in some 5-Star Hotel?" Sun Ming made a guess while he looked at Yuan Zhou curiously.
"No, that can’t be it. That old man is good at the delicate Jiangsu cuisine. Even if he cooked Egg Fried Rice, it would be Yangzhou Fried Rice. Yet, the one you served only consists of eggs and rice, right?"
Sun Ming suddenly became Sherlock Holmes Sun and started making various guesses. Yuan Zhou just stood quietly beside him watching him, acting with the calm manner of a talented man.
And yes, he could also act himself by the way.
After several unsuccessful guesses, Sun Ming stopped to look at the clean plate and said, "Anyway, I don’t care. I just want one more serving, this portion is too small. It barely fills the gaps between my teeth."
"I’m sorry. Each guest can only order one serving for each meal." Yuan Zhou shrugged his shoulders and said regretfully.
"You fellow, what is our relationship? Go and cook one more. Hurry up!" Sun Ming was in a hurry. He had completely forgotten his previous decision to break off their friendship.
"You may be my friend, Sun Ming. But no means no. This is the rule of my restaurant. I could treat you to kebab outside." Yuan Zhou decidedly refused again.
"Having had that Egg Fried Rice, who has the interest in eating the kebab roasted in flame and smoke? Go and one more, please." Sun Ming continued to persuade Yuan Zhou hopefully. But when he found his friend still shook his head, he admitted defeat. He said, "I’ll call you elder brother, okay? Or even grandfather? You should know that. I have only this one hobby."
Hearing that, Yuan Zhou asked the system in his mind, "Is it truly not allowed? This is my best friend."
The system read, "A rule is a rule."
At last, Yuan Zhou looked at Sun Ming’s expectant look and said, "We are brothers. Don’t break the rules of my restaurant, will you? After all, it’s the first day open for business. Follow me. Let me treat you to something else to make up for your empty stomach."
Seeing Yuan Zhou determination, Sun Ming had to give up, "Forget it then. I can’t eat anything else after your Egg Fried Rice. What time are you open tomorrow? I will come around early in the morning."
"9:30 in the morning. Would you like to have a rest here?" Yuan Zhou asked when he found Sun Ming was leaving.
"If you don’t cook one more serving, I’d go back to sleep so that I can drop by early tomorrow morning." Sun Ming said in a self-mocking tone.
"Brother, please understand. I will compensate you in the future." Yuan Zhou couldn’t do anything about the stingy system and had to say so.
After he had heard his explanation, Sun Ming knew that since his brother had such exquisite skills, thus some rules were fairly normal. After all, every talented person had their own quirks, especially a cook who could make such delicate and delicious food.
Having thought it through, Sun Ming didn’t mind about the matter anymore. Besides, he thought of a pretty good idea. The proverb "Stay in the company of the good and you shall follow them, but stay in the company of the bad and you shall become them. The words "The friend of a glutton is also a glutton." well described Sun Ming.
Sun Ming decided to bring his friends here to taste the Egg Fried Rice the next day. The reason was of course to let them taste the most delicious Egg Fried Rice in the world, it couldn’t possibly be because you can’t have a second serving here. How could Sun Ming be such a bad person?
When he thought of the reactions of his friends that tasted the first serving but couldn’t order another, Sun Ming felt he was such a kind person. He then waved his hand excitedly to Yuan Zhou and took his car back.
Watching Sun Ming disappearing into the dim light of the night, Yuan Zhou returned to the restaurant. As people on the street were becoming lesser and lesser, Yuan Zhou took the flower baskets back into the restaurant and shut the door.
He returned to the kitchen and prepared to wash the used bowls stacked there. He was thinking if it was necessary to hire a dishwasher. He couldn’t do the job while cooking and serving the guests.
But hiring a person definitely meant spending money. And spending money was the last thing that Yuan Zhou wanted to do.
"System, look at my hands." Yuan Zhou said abruptly to the system.
......…
When Yuan Zhou found the system didn’t respond, he continued, "You should know I am a poor guy and can’t afford to hire a dishwasher. If there are too many guests here, the cooking will be affected by the dishwashing, so would the reputation of our restaurant. And the most important thing is, have you ever seen any Master Chef washing dishes himself?"
Yuan Zhou stood by the hand sink with a bowl in his hands. He narrated ceaselessly in his mind about how dishwashing would affect a Master Chef. About 5 minutes later, the system responded.
The system read, "The system has provided automatic dishwashing tools. Host, please check."
"I don’t need to wash the bowls and plates anymore." Yuan Zhou started to look for the dishwashing tool happily in the kitchen.
A black box that wasn’t there in the morning had suddenly appeared beside the electric cooker. It was as large as a notebook. It looked exactly like a black box with a smooth and flat surface, but didn’t even have a switch.
Looking around at the black box, Yuan Zhou reached out to touch it, checking what was so special about it. Just then the black box split automatically and revealed its white interior space. Yuan Zhou tried to put the plate that Sun Ming just ate from inside the box, the box then closed automatically. In no more than 3 seconds, the plate reappeared from the box. It was as clean as new and glittered.
"So convenient. It really is Sci-fi technology, again."
Yuan Zhou returned the plate to where it belonged and went upstairs, preparing to sleep. Although there was only one customer, he managed to confirm one thing, that is, the Egg Fried Rice was indeed God Tier and whoever tasted wouldn’t be able to forget about it.
Lying on his bed, Yuan Zhou tapped on the mission panel and found that the Egg Fried Rice he had consumed wasn’t included in his mission. He still had 99 more servings left to sell.