"What gives you the right to stop selling? We are not full yet"—Mr. Perfect took out a stack of money, which was about two to three thousand dollars—"make us one more serving. Then all this money would be yours."
Bai Lu said, "Sorry for the inconvenience. The way this restaurant works, is entirely dependent on my mood, not on money." He collected the sum of $110 from Tong An Quan, and started clearing up the empty plates.
"You!" He was a little enraged. "Make it $10k. Would you do it or not?"
"Ah, $10k." Bai Lu feigned his thoughts for a long time. "My mood is suddenly better. Hand over the money."
Mr. Perfect scorned, he said, "Didn't you say that you wouldn't do it? In the end, you are still greedy for money. I despise you! Wait for me." Then he left to look for an ATM to withdraw money.
After he left, Bai Lu asked Tong An Quan, "How much money do you guys earn in a month?"
Under the accompaniment of the beautiful girl, Tong An Quan was embarrassed to reply. Bai Lu released the pressure by changing the question. "He spent $10k just on a single meal. Wouldn't his dad be mad?"
All the remaining people sitting around the table started laughing. One of the girls with short hair said, "His family is pretty rich. He always drives a car to go to work."
Not long after, Mr. Perfect returned. He threw $10k on the table and said, "Boss, hurry up and serve the dishes."
Bai Lu smiled as he received the money, and he returned to the kitchen to start cooking. After 20 minutes, the same eight dishes and a bowl of soup was placed on the table. This time around, no one was courteous. The moment the dishes arrived, all the white collared workers started rampaging. It finished even faster this time, and in less than three minutes the battle was decided.
Once the food was finished, the ladies patted their tummy and declared that they were full. On the other hand, the guys were still not satisfied. Mr. Perfect asked the beautiful girl, "Are you full? If not, let's order one more serving."
Bai Lu joined the conversation, he said, "No problem. That is entirely possible. Since my rules stated six tables per service, and you guys just ate two tables worth of food, there are still four tables left. But it's going to be a little expensive; $10k per table."
"Ah, you are trying to rip me off." Mr. Perfect shouted.
"I'm really not trying to rip you off," he said, while he cleared the empty plates. Since the gold bricks could not be sold in a short amount of time, there was a need to gather more money before visiting Zhang Lao San's daughter.
"I am full, but it was really delicious. Since when did such a great restaurant exist near our company?" The beautiful girl did not want to start a fight.
"I will send you home." Wooing the girl was much more important than winning the argument, so Mr. Perfect stood up.
"Look at the sign outside. Only six tables will be available each for lunch and dinner service separately. Late customers would not be entertained," he said in a lazy manner.
The whole group went out to look at the sign. "This is so cool. Not more than six tables of customers are served. Even if it was a $100 per table, when you minus the operating costs, there would still not be enough profit to cover the rent."
"We shall come again tomorrow."
The whole group engaged in small talk for a while, then they left separately. Only Tong An Quan and two of his friends were left in the house.
The beautiful girl left with someone else, so Tong An Quan was a little depressed. Bai Lu sat beside him, and with a disposition of an experienced man, he said, "Women, they have to be chased. If you like her then make your move."
Tong An Quan looked at him with surprise. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Nope."
"Then what's the point of saying that?" Tong An Quan left the restaurant to go home. Huang Feng and his friend followed behind him.
"I learnt it from the TV." After everybody left, Bai Lu faced the empty room and spoke to himself.
Probably due to bad luck again, only Tong An Quan and his friends were his customers today. Once the familiar opening tune of Xin Wen Lian Bo News started from a nearby convenience store, Bai Lu officially ended work.
He went to the convenience store to get a glass of beer. Then he took out a chair and sat by the door. As he sipped the beer, he watched the people passing by. With the hectic city life, and the bright neon lamps of the bustling city, it all seemed so unreal to him. He felt that he did not belong in this city.
It took more than an hour to finish the glass of beer. Then he went back to the store to get a refund on the empty bottle. When he came back, he saw a black vehicle parked outside the door. The car door opened. Mr. Perfect, who had just spent $10k on a meal, stepped out of the vehicle.
He proudly walked towards Bai Lu and said, "My name is Gao Yuan. Make one more serving of the dishes we ate just now."
Bai Lu shook his head. "It's closed already. I am not going to make it."
"Trying to rip me off again?" Gao Yuan said coldly, "you almost succeeded. This time around I will give you $2k. Take away."
The price was fair, but Bai Lu's action depended on his mood, so he rejected. He said, "Not making it. Even if it's $20k, it still would not happen. If you want to eat, please come early tomorrow."
"Do you have a death wish? I am offering $2k to buy a bunch of peanuts and cabbage from you, and yet you still decline? Do you believe that with just a phone call, I can shut you down?" Gao Yuan was infuriated.
"Yes, I believe you. But do you think I really care about this restaurant?" Bai Lu casually responded.
Gao Yuan pondered for a while, "For someone who truly cares about his restaurant, he would never charge a table of food for only $100. And such a person would also not reject the customers." After he thought about it, he said with a soft voice, "Make it $10k instead. Just four dishes with a bowl of soup would suffice, and you can cook whatever you like. It's written on your sign, that anorexic customers would get 20% discount. I do not want that. All i ask for, is a meal."
Mr. Perfect actually bowed down? It made Bai Lu a little uncomfortable. "Do you have anorexia? I can't tell at all, or perhaps it's one of your family members?"
"There's no one with anorexia in my family, but my grandfather has gastric problems, so he wouldn't eat any food." Regardless of the person, if they were willing to spend $10k on a meal, there must always be a good reason.
Bai Lu was a typical person who doesn't respond well to aggression. Seeing Gao Yuan behaving like this, he was feeling quite difficult inside.
At this moment, three teenagers appeared from the left side of the road. They were all wearing white vests, with a short haircut, and tattoos on their body.
They first entered the dumpling store, and a moment later the boss shouted, "As long as the Great 5-Star Restaurant pays up, we will comply immediately."
Hearing the commotion, Bai Lu and Gao Yuan both looked over there, and they felt a little confused.
The three guys wearing white vests came out of the dumpling store. They pushed open the door of the Great 5-Star Restaurant and asked, "Who's the boss?"
Bai Lu coughed at the side of the street. "I am."
"If that's the case, from this month onwards, the market management fee would be collected from us. Since you have such a big store, we could reduce the fee a little bit for you. That would be just a thousand a month. Pay up." It was a baldy who spoke. His head was cleanly shaved and shining. It was very different from the kind of baldness that Bai Lu had, which was a head full of hard stubbles, just like a labor camp worker.
"Are you guys from the mafia?" he asked, with a smile on his face.
"What rubbish are you saying? Hurry up and hand over the money. Otherwise we would not be responsible for whatever that is going to happen here."
"Hurry up and scram!" Bai Lu laughed. At the same time, Gao Yuan scolded loudly, "Hurry up and scram!"
Bai Lu looked at him suspiciously. Gao Yuan said, "I helped you to settle this issue, so you have to make a meal for me."
Seeing how this guy was constantly putting in an effort with a softer approach, Bai Lu scratched his head a little. He thought, "The restaurant has just started business recently. Perhaps there's really no choice but to break the rules?"
When the three guys in white vests heard the two of them scolding, they started to laugh. It was as though they heard some kind of joke. After laughing for quite a while, the baldy said, "Very well, I hope you choose not to pay tomorrow as well." They turned and left immediately after he finished the declaration, without even collecting the payment from the rest of the shops.
Gao Yuan said, "These bunch of dudes wants to play gangster. It's still the same old saying. If you cook for me, I will help you to take care of them."
Gao Yuan's behavior baffled Bai Lu. "Just how many split personalities does he has? On one side, he appears to be the proud, selfish and cool Mr. Perfect. And on the other, he seems like a filial kid who cares about his family. There's simply too much dissonance." After thinking about it, he sighed. "The rules are not meant to be broken, so I will not be selling—"
"What did you say?" Gao Yuan was pissed. It was totally different from his previous stance, when they both had a common enemy. Also there was no longer the soft-spoken tone, and it was a missing touch of grace.
"—Why are you so hasty? I haven't finished the sentence. Your temper really needs to change, otherwise, you will definitely suffer because of it. It's because of your young age, that's why I wanted to give you these words of advice..."
"The **** are you saying? Do you believe that I would tear down your shop?" Gao Yuan rolled up his sleeves in a display of aggression. Unfortunately, his short-sleeved shirt obviously wasn't long enough.
"See what I meant about your temper, look at this, you even want to start a fight? Why can't you listen? I did say that I wouldn't sell it, but I can give it to you instead." Sensing that this guy had no bad intentions, Bai Lu did not take his bad manners to heart.
"What? Are you crazy? Just now you ripped me off for $10k, and now you are giving it for free?"
"You are the crazy one." Bai Lu was sure, that this guy was the typical rich second generation with no brains. Luckily, he still had a good heart.
"Cut the crap. Hurry up and make the meal for me."
Bai Lu shook his head, then he entered the restaurant. "There's no lunch box, what should we do?"
Gao Yuan was stunned. "What kind of restaurant is this? How can there be no lunch boxes?"
"None." A voice came from the kitchen.
Gao Yuan had no choice, so he drove out to buy some lunch boxes.
When he came back, all he saw was one big bowl of soup on the table. He went ballistic. "Are you ****ing shitting me? Just a bowl of soup? I bought five boxes, and you gave me a bowl of soup?" As he spoke, he threw down all five thermal lunch boxes on the table.
"Such a person like you"—he sighed—"there's usually no short of beatings for you right?"
"Who would dare to beat me?"
"Your dad."
"How did you know... Cut the crap. Why is there only a bowl of soup?"
"Just take it home. Let your grandpa drink three bowls of soup. It's only a small bowl, do not use a big one. Let others drink the rest, so there's no need to save it for tomorrow." Bai Lu opened the biggest thermal lunchbox, and went into the kitchen to wash it, then he poured the soup in. "Take it away. I will count to ten. If you still don't leave, then say goodbye to the soup."
Gao Yuan was so enraged that he couldn't do anything about it. He immediately went into a state of emergency thinking. No matter what, at least there was still a bowl of soup. He could not just possibly leave without anything. "Just you wait!" he shouted loudy, and then he left with the thermal lunch box.
"Do you still want these other lunch boxes?" Bai Lu asked.
Gao Yuan didn't even bother to respond. He just rushed out of the restaurant in a rage, then drove away in his car.
"This fellow really can't take a joke." Bai Lu kept the remaining four lunch boxes. At this moment, a white minibus with all of its doors and windows opened, approached the restaurant. In a flash, four plastic bags were thrown out, then the vehicle left.
The plastic bags hit the door and the walls, which exploded with a splat. Suddenly the streets were filled with a filthy stench of feces and urine.
Bai Lu came out for a look. "Now this is somewhat interesting." He went back into the house to affix the water hose. Then he pointed it towards the walls and gave it a good flush, to wash away all of the manure into the sewers.
Several bosses of the shops along the street came out as well. The boss of the dumpling store was called Li Huang, he asked Bai Lu, "So, what now?"
"What do you mean by that?" Bai Lu could not understand.
Li Huang said, "Since we are renting your apartment, you have to settle this issue for us. It must not affect our business."
"What? All these apartments belong to my 2nd Uncle?"
Li Huang nodded, and he said, "In the past, your 2nd Uncle would have taken care of these problems. I reckon that these few dudes must be new here, so they do not know about your 2nd Uncle. That's why they dare to cause trouble here."
"Who knew that my 2nd Uncle had such a reputation?" Could it be that the crazy guy was actually pretty impressive? Really couldn't tell at all.
"Your 2nd Uncle's nickname is Xiao Wang. And this area is also known as Xiao Wang's Village Road, so what can you infer about his reputation?"
"Now, this is getting interesting." Bai Lu stroked his chin and asked, "In the past, how did my 2nd Uncle settle this issue?"
The boss of the dumping store said, "Don't know. Anyways you have to take care of those people as soon as possible. We cannot let it affect our business."
The boss of the ramen shop agreed with him. "Indeed, indeed."
Wang Ruo Mei walked over. "Call your 2nd Uncle to ask."
Looking at this charming mature woman, he said, "You are also renting my 2nd Uncle's apartment?" He always thought that his 2nd Uncle was a Scrooge. Never would he have imagined that he was actually the landlord.
Wang Ruo Mei did not answer his question. "Just call him on the phone."
Bai Lu was a little dispirited. He thought, "Does she think that she is already my 2nd Aunt?" After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Why can't we just call the cops?"