Ever since Bai Lu came to the Northern City, he had never worked as hard as today. He spent a lot of effort to make the bowl of soup and the two slabs of roast beef. However, he was pretty satisfied, as he could do the things he loved most. Cooking was his passion, and it was also a kind of happiness if he could use this talent to help others.
He asked Bao Zi to clear away the leftover ingredients that were used to make the roast beef. Then he started to cook for the rest of the guests. He couldn't expect to let the others go on an empty stomach while the main characters were celebrating with delicious meat.
The food for the guests was much more straightforward. Luckily, there were a lot of ingredients left. He started an ugly mess in the kitchen once more, with all three stoves burning simultaneously. And in less than 40 minutes, he filled up all the tables with food.
However, there was a slight hiccup during all these events. Bai Lu's Great 5-Star Restaurant had forks available but did not have any knives for eating. Luckily, there was a convenience store nearby, so two fruit knives were purchased to respond to this emergency.
The baldy felt incredibly blessed to be able to enjoy this particular meal. His girlfriend also enjoyed the meal very much, as she kept praising while she ate: "I have never eaten such a delicious piece of meat." However, when she was eating, she kept scanning her surroundings. She thought, "I have seen so many of these people before, but why are they not joining us for the meal? Why are they seating in different tables?"
She stared at the little red rose on her plate, and she started to have a growing sense of expectations in her heart. But, the setting did seem a little bit different than what she had imagined.
As the slab of beef slowly reduced in size, and the red wine in the cup gradually decreased in level, the doors of the restaurant suddenly swung open. A delivery courier walked in, with a large bouquet of roses in his hand, and he walked to the female lead and said, "Hello, please receive this and help me to sign here."
The girl was in a bit of shock, and her face started to blush a little. She received over the pen and casually signed on the paper. Then she held the roses and asked the baldy, "Did you send this?"
The baldy kept quiet. The restaurant door swung open again, and two teenagers that were carrying guitars walked in.
The two of them walked directly to the side of the female lead and started playing the guitar at the same time. Then their voice serenaded the room with a
Sure enough, the finale has arrived. Bai Lu watched the commotion through the glass panel.
Halfway through the song, the guitarists stopped singing, and the baldy stood up and continued where they left off: "Will you marry me today?" Then he knelt down on the floor with one leg, and he presented the ring. The music faded away suddenly, and the restaurant was filled with a tense silence.
The female lead was very touched; she kept nodding her head. The baldy stood up and put on the ring on her finger. Once again, the guitar sound resumed, and the two guitarists continued singing the rest of the song: "—Today, you are marrying him—"
Bai Lu muttered, "They must have rehearsed for a long time to be so familiar with the lyrics." He asked Bao Zi who was standing by the entrance to the kitchen, "Is this a real song?"
Bao Zi stared at him with an expression of bewilderment, as though he had just witnessed an alien. And he chose not to respond to such an
All of a sudden, the restaurant exploded into celebrations. The guests surrounded the couple and congratulated them non-stop.
Witnessing a joyous event for someone else, Bai Lu had a feeling of impermanence towards the worldly affairs of life. He thought, "I have just made a last bowl of soup for a dying patient, and now I have made a romantic Western meal of roast beef for a newly engaged couple. Have I become a priest?" In the whole wide world, only the profession of a priest would be able to send someone off on their last journey and also initiate the beginning of a marriage.
The whole bunch of them celebrated for about 10 more minutes. And the baldy came over to settle the bill. Bai Lu asked him, "Are you paying for everyone?" His friends ate quite a lot.
He said yes, and Bai Lu said, "Then make it a thousand."
The baldy did not question him and handed over $1000. "Thanks, Thanks." Then he left with his beautiful lover and lively friends.
"What about us? We have not eaten yet." The remaining crowd started a commotion. These people were the individual customers that were here in the morning. According to the eccentric rules that were set by Bai Lu, these customers were the most deserving of a meal. As for the rest of the people that have eaten previously, they belonged to the group that jumped the queue.
Bai Lu said, "Take a seat."
The group of people hurriedly sat down. Bai Lu said to Bao Zi, "It was tough on you today. Collect their payment, which is $30 for each person, and you can keep it as your reward."
"There's a reward today as well?" Bao Zi asked. He has only just worked for three days: The first day was free for everyone; The second day, he was paid $100, but he donated it away charitably; The third day today, he received a reward again which was several hundred dollars. It was much more than the wage that his mother had requested.
"Go and collect the money." Bai Lu was lazy to explain any further; he went back into the kitchen to cook.
He worked all the way until 2 pm to serve all of the customers. Then Lin Zi and Duckie came in. Duckie said, "You are awesome! How awesome! I am completely impressed by you!" He praised his extraordinary culinary skills to the skies.
On the contrary, Lin Zi was a little deflated. "Tonight, there's no need to reserve a table for me. The girl is not able to come back."
"Reserve! Why is there no need to reserve the table! If you are not eating, then I will eat by myself." Duckie shouted.
Bai Lu asked with a smile, "What happened?"
Lin Zi said, "She confirmed that she was taking a leave of absence today so that she could return to the Northern City for a couple of days. But the director did not approve."
"Oh." Bai Lu nodded his head.
"You suck. Even though you mentioned that you had chased her for more than a month, but in reality how many times have you met up in person? You have already come back for more than 10 days, and yet she has not even shown up once." Duckie uncovered his embarrassing secret.
At this moment, Bai Lu's phone rang. He saw the number, and realized that it was Gao Yuan. After he answered the phone, he heard Grandpa Gao's speak with a moody voice. "Thank You." Then the call was ended.
Judging from his tone, Bai Lu had no doubt that the terminally ill patient has passed away.
Seeing how he engaged the call but hung up without speaking, Duckie asked, "What happened?"
Bai Lu shook his head, and he said, "Make yourself comfortable. I will be going out. Bao Zi, let's go."
Bao Zi was scrubbing the floor. "Let me finish scrubbing the floor first."
Bai Lu looked at Bao Zi, and then he looked at Duckie. He suddenly craved for the tangerines again as he started reminiscing about the peaceful feeling of happiness that he had experienced in the afternoon.
Duckie stopped him. "There's one more issue. Big Thumb wants to challenge you to a race, with a wager of $200k per round."
Bai Lu smiled and declined. "What's the point?" And he left the restaurant alone.
Duckie asked, "What the hell. If you are gone, where could we go?"
Bai Lu did not respond. He strolled back to the neighboring district to buy some tangerines. But he realized that the vendor was no longer around. He paced around the area for a while before heading to the convenience store to buy a can of tangerines. He walked along while he ate from the can.
He did not return home that afternoon. He ate the tangerines and loitered on the streets all the way till nightfall. Then he returned to the restaurant to work. He noticed that Gao Yuan, He San Qing, Si Ma Zhi, Duckie, and Lin Zi were all present.
He curiously asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
He San Qing sighed. "Earthquake. Big earthquake."
"What does that mean?" Bai Lu asked.
Duckie explained. "Earthquake means that we have all received a warning. Beginning now for a month, we should watch our back."
Bai Lu understood immediately. The terminally ill patient must have an incredible history, and his passing would induce enormous repercussions for the bureaucracy. He asked Gao Yuan, "Are you affected as well?"
Gao Yuan said, "I am here today, on behalf of my grandpa, to offer you our gratitude. My grandpa said, 'For this bowl of soup, I will owe you a favor.' He wanted me to inform you that you can give me a call if you ever need help."
Bai Lu was extremely curious. "How was that person who passed away related to your family?"
Gao Yuan did not respond; He remained silent.
"I want to kick your ass." Gao Yuan's bipolar disorder was not a recent phenomenon. As soon as he came into contact with Bai Lu, his 'illness' would flare up even more.
Gao Yuan still did not respond.
Bai Lu resolved to ignore this madman. Lin Zi suddenly said, "Brothers, I am here to beg for alms. Could we put some money together?"
"What do you want?" Si Ma Zhi asked.
"I want to produce a movie."
"F*ck off! You want to make a movie for your little lover?" Duckie said.
Looking at these five bizarre young masters, Bai Lu was a little curious. "In the Yuan's Alliance, where are the other three members?"
"One of them is dead, one has become a government official, and one is in America." Lin Zi answered.
"Purely out of curiosity, who is the poorest amongst all of you? How much money does the poorest member have?" Since they were killing time, it was not inappropriate to have a casual chat.
Gao Yuan stared him down. "What do you want?"
"I do not want to deal with you—" Bai Lu muttered, but he was interrupted when a beautiful woman in jeans appeared in front of him. "I do not want to deal with you, but you are such a scoundrel. Because of you, I was scolded by my superior."
Bai Lu looked up. "Are you a ghost? How did you creep in without making a sound?"
The female ghost was not being courteous at all. She lifted her leg and kicked. Bai Lu did not expect that a cop would assault a civilian, and in an instant, he was kicked on his shoulder. Bai Lu felt extremely helpless; he dusted off the dirt from his shoulder. "Great Lady Sun, what exactly have i done to piss you off?"
Sun Min's kick did not make him budge an inch, so she asked curiously, "You know martial arts?"
Bai Lu did not answer, and he looked at He San Qing. What he meant was that it was time for him to show his power. It doesn't matter if he had to call the cops or summon her superior, but Bai Lu wanted him to dismiss this lady.
Surprisingly, not only did He San Qing refuse to help, but he even grabbed a stool and sat afar, with the single-hearted intention to watch the show unfold.
Bai Lu sighed. "Police Sister, what have I done to offend you again?"
"I was scolded by my superior. It must be you who had complained."
"I do not even know if your superior is a guy or a girl. How could you blame everything on me?" Bai Lu knew many cops, but this policewoman in front of him was the most troublesome. She was the most unreasonable out of all the people who were already completely unreasonable.
At the same time, Ding Ding and Sha Sha returned to the restaurant. As soon as they entered, Sha Sha said, "You did not cook anything for us for lunch, so Ding Ding and I had to eat instant noodles."
Bai Lu defended himself weakly. "I was busy."
"Are you Ding Ding? You played that character, right? That female character who was extremely unreasonable. I like her." Sun Min was like a completely different person, and she jumped directly in front of Ding Ding.
"Extremely unreasonable?" As soon as Bai Lu heard these two words, he recalled about the typical behavior of Sun Min, and he said with a serious tone about the matter, "Ding Ding, I do not want to nag you, but you should be making movies that proclaim righteousness. The movies should have meaningful intentions to teach people how to be kinder. If you make movies with bad morals, you will corrupt a cop like this one over here. Remember, those movies like My Sassy Girl, you should not make them at all."
Initially, Ding Ding already had a grudge against him, but after hearing these provoking comment, she was enraged. "Sure. To this day, I have made more or less about 10 movies or so. Tell me exactly, which one of my movies have not proclaimed righteousness?"
Bai Lu escaped immediately. "Bao Zi, are there enough ingredients for tonight?"
...
It was very rowdy evening, with the five influential young masters, the policewoman Sun Min and her celebrity crush, Ding Ding. With the seven of them together, saying that it was a joyous occasion would even be an understatement. Bai Lu pretended to be a deaf person, and he urged Sha Sha with great determination. "You are still young. Do not mix with these bad company."
Bao Zi was displeased. "You are the bad company."
Bai Lu was pissed. "Who is the boss here?"
"So what if you are the boss? The bad guys are always the boss. No wait, the boss is always the bad guy."
Bai Lu suddenly realized that not a single person in this entire restaurant was able to connect with him. Thus, a random thought sprung up in his mind; He wanted to get a dog.
The rowdy scene in his restaurant was not the main event. Tonight, there was a sensational incident in the country. At the center of the storm stood a particular man: Bai Lu.
Around 2 pm, there was a video that was uploaded to the internet, with the title of Ultra Expert Hacker. It was posted on the most popular video-sharing online platform. The video contained the footage of Bai Lu making the noodles. It was edited to a five minutes video which displayed his most aggressive side.
The three-minute footage of Bai Lu pounding the dough was edited to one minute. The other four minutes of the video was showing the footage of him rolling the dough and cutting the noodles. His speed was comparable to lightning or the spark from a flint; It was unimaginable fast.
As soon as the video was posted, people started leaving comments. "Completely surpassed the official hacking community." There were even people who have downloaded the video to re-edit into slow-motion and uploaded a new video that explained in great detail about the noodle making procedures.
From the afternoon to the next day morning, the video became viral, and the number of views effortlessly exceeded 200k. It was worth mentioning that the results were only from one afternoon and one night.
As the popularity of the video gained traction, some people uploaded the complete version of the process, which was more than 20 minutes of noodle-making. However, as the duration of the video was too long and also because the motion was repetitive, it was not as impactful as the edited video. Therefore, it did not garner as much attention as before. Nonetheless, this new video was proof that the previous video was authentic.
When the second video also became viral, there were also people who uploaded a third video which showed footage of Bai Lu making the roast beef. It was
The previous two videos were posted by the foodies from the website Food in the Northern City, while the friends of the baldy uploaded the video of Bai Lu making the beef. When the third video was posted, the foodies were extremely regretful. They thought, "Why did we leave so early? We did not even have the chance to taste the beef that looked so delicious."
Some guy from their group made a joke. "Let's all go to the restaurant and propose. Then we would have the chance to taste the roast beef."
Putting aside the absurd comments, Bai Lu had indeed become a viral sensation on this day!
Due to his exceptional culinary skill, many people were fascinated and enthusiastically inquired about the location and identity of this restaurant as they wanted to support and visit. Naturally, the hardworking Cheng Lai Lai volunteered to help with the publicity. Therefore, on the second day, which was on the 4th of October, the restaurant became even busier.
Bai Lu had no idea about all the events happening on the internet. With great difficulty, he has managed to survive the night, and he also had to endure the morning of servicing the two great ladies. Afterward, he rocked himself to the restaurant to start work. Right when he turned the corner to the street, he was astounded.
Yesterday, there were about 60-70 people outside the restaurant, and the queue bent around like the video game Snake. But today, it was only 9 am in the morning, and a sea of people swarmed the restaurant. He assessed the situation and concluded that there were more than 200 people.
As the restaurant was still closed, and also because the majority of the people here were first-time customers, thus no one bothered to queue. They clustered together in a chaotic mess and chattered like no one else's business. Some people showed the online video on their phones to the others: "Did you see it? This guy is a professional; Look at how clean the kitchen is."
Bai Lu stood at the edge of a vantage point and looked towards the crowd. As he was quite far away from the group, he could not hear the discussion. He thought, "Who have I offended? Why is there such a huge crowd of people again?"
At this moment, Bao Zi walked behind him. "Boss, what are you doing?"
Bai Lu grabbed hold of Bao Zi, and he said, "Don't go over there."
Bao Zi peeked his head out for a look. "Why are there so many people?"
"How would I know?" He examined the people in the group, and it did not look like they were here to cause trouble. He thought about it and said, "Go and look for Uncle Li from the dumpling store. Ask him gently, what is going on."
Bao Zi said ok. And he strolled over leisurely.
The whole street was full of people who were waiting for the baldy in the video. No one cared about Bao Zi, so he was able to enter the dumpling store.
Bao Zi hurriedly searched for Li Huang, and he asked, "Uncle, what is going on outside?"
"What do you think is going on? Screw that stupid idiot. At first, I was able to make a living selling my dumplings. But after your boss created this mess, there were more and more people, but none of them bought my dumplings." Li Huang was full of rage.
"What kind of mess had my boss created?" Bao Zi questioned further.
Bao Zi was only 17 years old, so Li Huang did not want to bicker with him. With a chilling tone, he said, "They are all queueing up to eat at your restaurant."
Bao Zi heard what he said, and he thought, "There are so many people here for food? Could it be that they are unaware of the rules of the restaurant?"
He returned to speak with Bai Lu. "Boss, they are here to eat at your restaurant."
"Eat? It is not even 10 am yet, what do you mean by eating? Go and talk to Uncle Li, and ask him to inform the people outside that the restaurant would not be open today. If they want to eat, they should eat the authentic Gou Bu Li dumplings instead."
Bao Zi looked at him. "Does this work?"
"Why wouldn't it work? Go quickly, but please be safe." It was like a scene from the movie Behind Enemy Lines; He must be extraordinarily cautious and put safety above all.
Bao Zi agreed, and he went back to discuss with Li Huang, the boss of the dumpling store. When Li Huang heard that the Great 5-Star Restaurant was not opened for business, he thought that it was the perfect opportunity to steal his business. He happily stood at the entrance of his shop and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Latest news! Today, the Great 5-Star Restaurant would not be open for business. You could try my authentic Gou Bu Li dumplings instead. I guarantee that they are authentic, and even more authentic than the dumplings in Tianjin."
"Not open for business? Who are you kidding?" Now the whole lot of them had something new to talk about. However, none of them left and also none of them went over to eat the dumplings.
Li Huang hummed coldly. "Fine, don't believe me? I hope you waste your time waiting."
At this moment, Bao Zi had returned to Bai Lu. "Boss, if we don't open the business, what should we do?"
"Go home." Bai Lu turned around and left.
This afternoon, the Great 5-Star Restaurant was closed. When the clock struck twelve, the shutter doors of the restaurant was still down, which made the people angry. In this modern internet age, everyone used their phones to vent their frustrations on the website Food in the Northern City and also the video-sharing online platform by leaving nasty comments about the Great 5-Star Restaurant.
Bai Lu had no idea that all these events were happening; He was eating tangerines at home. He asked Bao Zi casually, "Do you have any games on your phone?" Bao Zi said yes, and he said, "Pass it over to me." When he took it from him, he noticed that there were many FPS games and also Planes Shooting games. He was elated. "Let's switch our phones."
He turned it off, removed the SIM card, and changed the phone.
Bao Zi watched him fumbling with the phones, and he said, "Your phone costs $5k, while mine is only $1.2k. They are not the same."
"How could there be any difference? If the phone could not serve my needs, then what's the point of an expensive phone?" Bai Lu swiftly changed the SIM card. He passed his more expensive phone, which was the same model as Sha Sha, to Bao Zi. Then he used Bao Zi's cheaper knockoff phone to play mobile games.
Someone knocked on the door. Bao Zi went to open it. It was Ding Ding who was carrying a laptop. She was on top of the world; Actually, she was over the moon. And she shouted at Bai Lu. "Everyone is flaming you on the internet. How thrilling!"
Bai Lu was depressed. "If they are scolding me, why are you so happy?"
"When someone scolds you, it makes me excited. Why? Is that wrong?" Ding Ding sat beside Bao Zi and showed him the comments one by one.
Bao Zi said, "The boss is here, so I cannot view it now. When he is not around, then I will watch it."
Bai Lu got mad. "Don't you know how to gossip? Aren't you my employee?"
Zhang Sha Sha came out to see. "Sister Ding Ding, what are you guys talking about?"
Ding Ding was unusually enthusiastic. "Your family member Bai Lu was flamed on the internet. They said, 'He had no professional ethics. Even if he were talented in the culinary arts, because of his moral issues, he would only be a mediocre chef."
Zhang Sha Sha shook her head, and she said, "That's not true. Brother Bai is an excellent cook."
Ding Ding caught her wrong choice of words. "Bai Lu is your family member?"
Bai Lu lost his temper again. "Could you say something useful?"
Now it was Ding Ding's turn to lose her temper. "I knew that you are treating me like air! How could you get angry at me like this! To think that I cared about you, and also cared about your restaurant. You broke my heart."
Bai Lu broke into a sweat. He thought, "Since the moment you came into the house, you were making fun of me. How could you say that you cared about me? Perhaps, mockery is the same as caring?"
On the 4th of October, the Great 5-Star Restaurant was closed for business. It sparked a wave of hatred from old customers and also the new customers who were full of passion and expectations. They wanted to witness the legendary hacking system in action that even surpassed the Indians. Unfortunately, they did not get the opportunity on this day.
Bai Lu couldn't care less. He was so focused on his games that he drained the entire battery of his phone. But he just plugged in the charger and continued to play. If it were not for the fact that Sha Sha was getting hungry, he would have continued endlessly.
And so, the whole day on the 4th of October was gone. The next day morning on the 5th, his phone rang, and it was Le Miao Miao. "I have my birthday today. You had promised me to cook for me on this special day."
"So soon?" Counting from the day that he had promised her, only 20 days have passed.
"Since you have made the promise, when would you be here?" Le Miao Miao asked.
"Wait a while, I will call you back." He hung up the phone, and he said to Bao Zi, "Today it will still be an off day."
Then he called He San Qing. "Today is Le Miao Miao's birthday. Were you aware of that?"
"No idea. I was fooling around with her. What do you want?"
"I despise you." Bai Lu hung up the phone, and he called Le Miao Miao again. "Tell me the location. What do you want to eat? I will bring the ingredients over."
"No need, no need. All the ingredients are ready. I am at the Rose Garden in the Northern 4th Ring Road."
Bai Lu said, "Ok, I will be there soon."
He kept his phone, and he asked Sha Sha, "What do you want to eat for lunch?" Sha Sha said, "Anything."
Bai Lu went to the kitchen to cook. After 20 minutes, he came out and said, " 'Anything' has been made. Just heat it up in the afternoon."
Zhang Sha Sha said yes. She did not even ask him where he was going.
Bai Lu went out of the house. He called a cab and headed North. After 30 minutes, he arrived at the entrance of the Rose Garden. Le Miao Miao escorted him inside.
It was a spectacular 3-story villa. The first floor was the hall, with sofas and stools scattered around, and in the corner was a piano. There were many people in the house. More than half of them were beautiful girls, which were all Le Miao Miao's classmates. There were some of her male classmates as well. And there were also some handsome men with extravagant outfits.
Le Miao Miao ushered Bai Lu in. There was a young man who looked pretty slick and clean, with a condescending expression, he said, "This is the chef that you have hired? Are you sure he is capable?"
Le Miao Miao said, "He is capable for sure! What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"
The young man smiled, and he said, "How could that be. I believe everything that you say." There was a flicker of desire in his eyes.
With Bai Lu at the scene, the young man did not dare to be too brazen. Le Miao Miao said, "This is my classmate's boyfriend. We used his apartment today for this party. The villa is not bad right?"
Bai Lu did not have a chance to respond, and the young man said with a smile, "Since you are so close with Chen Chen, isn't it natural that I would lend you my place for this party?" Then he said to Bai Lu, "The kitchen is just in front." With his arrogant tone, it was a clear display of power by the young man. He grabbed hold of Le Miao Miao's hand, and he said, "Come, let's drink some alcohol."
Le Miao Miao was embarrassed to break free from her restraints. She smiled sweetly at Bai Lu and followed the young man.
"What the hell. That works as well?" He looked at the two hands that were clasped together, which made him a little confused. However, it had nothing to do with him, so he walked through the crowd and entered the kitchen.
What he had promised, must be done well! Bai Lu was occupied in the kitchen by himself. After approximately half an hour later, Le Miao Miao walked in and smiled at him embarrassingly. "My classmate's boyfriend is pretty rich, so he is used to being arrogant. However, he is not a bad person."
Bai Lu smiled, and he said, "It's alright."
At the same time, the young man walked into the kitchen and asked Le Miao Miao, "What are you doing here? It's your birthday today; we have to drink more." Thus, Le Miao Miao followed him out again. It made Bai Lu even more confused, and he thought, "Who exactly is his girlfriend?"