Bao Zi hurriedly retrieved a pair of chopsticks and passed it over. Zhang Zheng Yi was somewhat indignant as he received the chopsticks. "Just like this, just like this, just like this..." And just like this, he repeated the phrase 'Just like this' three times. On the one hand, he despised the way the fried rice was made. On the other hand, he felt like he was being looked down upon by Bai Lu. With apprehension, he tasted his first bite, and then he was no longer speaking anymore. He closed his mouth and chewed the food slowly and gently. With a face full of suspicion, he looked towards Bai Lu.
Bai Lu finally caught his chance of retaliation. He stood at the door and faced outside, with both hands behind his back. With a disposition of a wise old sage, and a tone full of vim and vigor, he spoke like he was discussing essential matters of the state. "Egg Fried Rice, the most important thing is the egg and rice. If you use all those ingredients like seafood and meat, you will cover up all the delicate taste. Those are like the Eight Treasure Rice or the Seafood Rice, but they are not the Egg Fried Rice. As a chef, you should respect the ingredients—" He cut himself off halfway when he felt like no one was listening. He kept his lofty demeanor and slowly turned around... There was really no one listening to him!
Zhang Zheng Yi lifted the plate and devoured the food voraciously. Bao Zi, Sha Sha, and the disabled teenager stared at him eating in disbelief. The old man was impressive in his skill with the chopsticks; he deserved to be called a great chef. The glimmer of the chopsticks flickered and danced around in the air. Without making any sound at all, the volume of the rice reduced dramatically. It seemed like the appetite of the tiger grew as it became older, just like how Lianpo, one of the four greatest generals of the Warring States period, became more ambitious and greedy as he got older.
After two minutes, he finished the entire plate of Egg Fried Rice. He put down his chopsticks, and he said, "How satisfying, very satisfying. I haven't had such a satisfying meal in over 20 years!" He patted his tummy and asked Bai Lu. "What were you saying just now?"
"What did I say?" Bai Lu squished his lips together, and then he opened the door of the restaurant. "Business has started. Please line up and come inside in an orderly fashion."
The teenager hurriedly stood up and walked out of the door with his flute. When all of the customers have taken their seats, he started to perform for them.
He was indeed a marvelous musician. If one had not witnessed the scene, he would undoubtedly have not believed that such an unassuming bamboo flute would produce such melodious tunes.
The teenager had a stern expression, and he was fully immersed in the music. This was his only means of livelihood. He only knew how to do this, and he could only do this. Therefore, he had to be dedicated.
To express his heartfelt gratitude, the teenager played three tunes continuously.
However, trouble would always come around. The first trouble was the same old problem. When the restaurant was full, there were still seven to eight people standing outside. They peeked into the shop and shouted. "Squeeze in some more, a little bit more. Squeeze out a seat for us please." They also shouted at Bai Lu. "There are only a few people left. Why couldn't you open another table for us?"
The people inside the restaurant retorted. "Do you think that this is the public bus? Squeeze a little, why not request us to stand and eat instead?"
"You are right! Stand and eat. Guys, could you stand and eat? I will treat you to the meal, as long as you spare us a seat."
...
Zhang Zheng Yi was satiated, so he was starting to feel drowsy. He continued to lecture Bai Lu. "You really cannot continue like this. Why would anyone restrict the number of tables being served? Since you are opened for business, then you should happily welcome all the guests."
Bai Lu stared at him expressionlessly. "Have you finished eating? If so, then please leave."
Zhang Zheng Yi contemplated for a while, then he walked out of the restaurant and stood there.
The second trouble was about the teenager.
Most people are like this: Their hearts follow benevolence; They tend to like people who do good to others. However, if they are affected, then most people would choose to give up or escape.
Say for example, on the public bus there would definitely not be anyone crowding around the worker with dirty clothes.
But now, it was not the issue with dirty clothes. It was because a street hustler ate here in the restaurant, so the customers were more or less uncomfortable.
When Bao Zi and Sha Sha served up the dishes, some of the customers asked. "Are there any disposable chopsticks?"
Chopsticks were used to put food in the mouth. Even if it was cleaned, some people were uncomfortable to use the same pair of chopsticks as the teenager. What if it was the same pair of chopsticks?
Bao Zi answered that there wasn't any. Immediately, some customers went over to the dumpling store next door to buy some chopsticks.
Bai Lu looked outside through the glass barrier. In his heart, he let out a sigh, but he pretended not to see it and continued his work.
Soon it was 1 pm, the customers slowly left after they were done with the meal. The teenager that was playing the flute had already gone a long time ago.
After a while, Ding Ding came over, and the whole lot of them started eating lunch.
Zhang Zheng Yi went into the restaurant, and he sat down next to Bai Lu. He said, "I have counted a total of twenty customers. Even if you charged the customers $100, it would only be total revenue of $2k. After you minus away the costs, utilities, rent, and also the labor fees, are you still making any money? I feel that you are just losing money and gaining publicity."
"What are you trying to say?" Bai Lu put down his chopsticks and asked him.
You are quite talented in cooking. Such talent should not be wasted. I am well connected with several big restaurants, and I could recommend you a position of station chef. Hmm, there is also a restaurant that could appoint you as their head chef; You could manage more than 10 people. Are you interested?"
"Not interested." Bai Lu held his chopsticks.
"Do you know what kind of restaurant it is? It is a real 5-Star restaurant, not this sloppy Great 5-Star restaurant."
"Not interested. Please take care and leave."
"You!" Zhang Zheng Yi slammed the table. "All these talent have been wasted on you!" He left in a huff.
Actually, he was impressed with Bai Lu. That was why he was willing to stand outside the restaurant for more than an hour, and he even took the initiative to recommend him the position of head chef.
But no matter how much faith he was willing to place on him, he did not want to be snubbed despite showing good intentions. Bai Lu's cold and hollow treatment towards him finally pushed him over the edge. That was why he left in a huff.
Bai Lu let out a sigh of relief when the old man finally left. He instructed Bao Zi. "Scrub the floors clean and wash the dishes later. These chores belong to you."
Today was the 2nd of October. The competition was on the 8th, so there was still six days to go. According to the rules of the competition, the preliminaries would test on knife skills and the relevant knowledge of the fundamentals. Bai Lu started studying the cooking manual earnestly.
As he was focusing on the studies, someone pushed open the door of the restaurant. A girl with fair skin and thick-rimmed glasses came running in. "The restaurant is finally up and running. I came here a few times, and it was always under renovations. When did you re-open for business?"
The person was Cheng Lai Lai, the editor of Food in the Northern City. She came over once to eat last month, and she was ultimately won over by the gastronomic experience. Therefore, she posted some photos online and made an excellent review of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the foodies online did not believe her review. When they saw the meager food fare in the photos, they passed their judgment and rejected the idea.
Those people that did not believe in the restaurant was not her problem. What Cheng Lai Lai cared about the most was the delicious food, and she wanted to feast. However, the few times that she had come over, the restaurant was still under renovations. Thus, it was a wasted trip for her.
Today, the restaurant was finally in operation. Cheng Lai Lai zealously rushed into the restaurant, but she was met with a cold response.
Hearing her questions, Bai Lu raised his head. "I have seen you before. If you want to eat, please queue outside."
Cheng Lai Lai was a little mad. "What's the matter with you? I am a return customer. How could you treat an old client like this?"
Bai Lu scratched his head, and he thought, "Why does everyone like to argue with me?"
He sighed and lowered his head to continue studying.
Cheng Lai Lai sat opposite of him. "The interior looks pretty decent. It gives off a certain kind of atmosphere, like the cool and refreshing feeling of a summer breeze. Do you need help with publicity and marketing? Nowadays, even good wine needs some bush."
After hearing this, an image suddenly flashed in Bai Lu's mind. He thought, "Others are afraid that their wine is not good enough, but I am not! What I am afraid of is attracting too many customers."
"Now the restaurant is located in the inner edge of the 3rd Ring Road, which belongs to the main street-facing district; The units here are costly. If I move to the neighborhood district, those kinds that belong to the elderly activity center, the price of the unit would be much lower. Currently, I have more than $8 million. If I buy an apartment there, and assuming that one square meter would cost $35k, I could readily purchase one with more than 200 square meters."
At this moment, he also thought about Sha Sha and Bao Zi. "If the three of us were living together, 200 square meters would not be enough. It would require at least 300 meters, and it would be better if there were an upper and lower deck. That would cost at least $10 million... Oh my God! Why are the apartments so expensive? To have $10 million, in the past this person would have been known as a great venture capitalist."
While he was day-dreaming inside his head, Cheng Lai Lai started waving her hand in front of him. "Hey, what are you thinking about? Do you want to gain some publicity?"
"It doesn't matter to me."
"What do you mean by that."
"Do it then."
"Ok. I will take some photos. Then there would be an interview session. You could introduce the unique features of your restaurant, and share some of your specialty dishes. It would be better if you could display a few of your best dishes and put it online. The effect would be even greater."
"So troublesome? Forget it then." Bai Lu continued to read his cooking manual.
"Hey, how could you run your business like this?" Cheng Lai Lai was hoping to use this opportunity of helping him with the publicity to improve their relationship so that she could avoid queuing in the future, and eat to her heart's content. She did not expect that this guy was such a maverick.
Right when she wanted to continue with her persuasion, a skinny old man came inside the restaurant. "May I enter?"
Bai Lu turned around and looked. It was Grandpa Gao. He hurriedly stood up to invite him in. "Take a seat." He poured a glass of water for him, and he asked, "What brings you here today?"
"Zheng Yi called me on the phone. He gave you a full dressing down. He claimed that you have no respect for elders, and was haughty and impertinent, so you were not a good chef. How did you manage to piss him off?"
"Zheng Yi? Oh, you are referring to this guy right?" He flipped open the cooking manual in his hand. Then he pointed towards a photo of Zhang Zheng Yi and asked.
Grandpa Gao took the book and made a few glances at it. "He even managed to appear in a book? Very awesome indeed!" After that, he said to Bai Lu, "There, there. Who is this girl? Your girlfriend?" Initially, he had wanted to discuss something else, but since Cheng Lai Lai was nearby, it was inconvenient to say.
Bai Lu said, "Nope." And he made a hand gesture towards Cheng Lai Lai, and he said, "Please queue up if you want to eat."
"You!" She was fuming mad.
Grandpa Gao said, "Right, I will have to queue up as well. When you wait inside, please help me to occupy a slot as well. I will be out in a second."
Bai Lu smiled bitterly. "If I made you queue up? I am afraid that Gao Yuan will tear this place down for real."
"How would he dare!"
Seeing how they spoke so passionately, Cheng Lai Lai felt like she was being ignored and walked out of the restaurant in a sullen mood. As she headed outside, she kept cursing silently. "What a shitty restaurant. I do not give a shit about this place. There are so many other restaurants in the city, but not one of them would operate the business like this Douchebag."
But, she still really wanted to eat the food from this restaurant. When she reached the door, she turned around and asked, "Could I order food today?"
He responded. "Sure. Bao Zi, bring her into the kitchen to take a look. Let her order the food based on the ingredients."
Bao Zi answered yes. Then he brought her into the kitchen.
Grandpa Gao watched them enter the kitchen, and he softly said, "Erm, Zheng Yi was embarrassed to ask, so he requested me to help him ask instead. What did you put inside the fried rice? Why does it taste so good?"
Bai Lu said, "When I was cooking the dish, he was standing right next to me, with eyes wide open like searchlights. Didn't he see what I had added inside the dish?
"Does that mean that you did not add anything? That doesn't make sense. He kept repeating that he did not understand why it would be so delicious. He wanted to learn from you, but he was embarrassed. That's why I am here today. How about this, tonight you can cook the same Egg Fried Rice for me."
Bai Lu chuckled. "Let's not do that. I do not wish to be scolded by Gao Yuan. Tonight, I will cook the Shuizhu Beef for you."
"That's awesome. It would be even better if there were some alcohol."
Bai Lu smiled. "In a few days, I will buy some apples and brew some cider for you to enjoy."
"There are apples all over this street."
"We should not buy it from the streets. I would have to visit the plantations, and order the same batch of fruits."
"You are quite picky. When you decide to go, you can ask Gao Yuan to be your driver."
"Sure." Bai Lu promised.
"I saw that you had not changed your sign outside. It still says six tables per day. Didn't I tell you to add a couple more tables? Zheng Yi also mentioned over the phone that you are too petty. You are not magnanimous enough; You are not like a man."
"Seems like I have pissed off that old man, he complained everything about me." Bai Lu chuckled, and he said, "I will listen to you. In the future, there would be no limit on the weekdays and business would start at 11 am. Once all the ingredients in the kitchen are used up, then the restaurant would call it a day. Would that be ok with you?"