Chapter 11: Difficult Business
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
“Ding Ling Ling”
Another day began with the sound of the alarm clock.
Since the Egg Fried Rice he ate last night did not count towards completing his mission, Yuan Zhou was furious, thus he decided to eat two servings for breakfast, to comfort his wounded heart.
Yuan Zhou’s mood recovered after two bowls of Egg Fried Rice entered his stomach. But the bill given by the system made his heart ache slightly.
“Morning! It seems I came just in time. Hurry up and make one Egg Fried Rice for me.” No sooner had Yuan Zhou completed his emotional sigh, did Sun Ming walked into the restaurant in big strides and sat down.
“Ok, wait a moment. It will be ready in a second.” Yuan Zhou didn’t say much. He entered the kitchen directly and begun to cook.
The tools provided by the system were indeed easy to use. Although the place was small and had even been renovated into an open kitchen, there was an absence of unpleasant smells such as oil and smoke. More precisely, there was no oil or smoke at all.
The flame from the built-in gas furnace was directed inwards. Even if one were to stand beside the furnace, the heat couldn’t be felt. Only the bubbling oil proved that it was producing heat.
The cooking pots were also easily washed. Furthermore, there were at least 10 pots of various models and sizes. Therefore, Yuan Zhou was fairly satisfied with the current kitchen.
There were also many types of spatulas and spoons. This really was an ideal place for a cook.
“Your Egg Fried Rice. Please enjoy.” Yuan Zhou carried the plate onto the table.
“I didn’t taste it carefully yesterday. Today I’m gonna enjoy this delicacy slowly.” Looking at Yuan Zhou, Sun Ming picked up the spoon and said.
“Ok. Are you going to stay after the meal?”
“No, I can’t. I have to return to the clothing store. But I will come around at noontime for lunch, with some guests.” After that, Sun Ming started to eat without waiting for Yuan Zhou’s answer.
…
Sun Ming spent 1 hour just to enjoy his Egg Fried Rice. During this time, the restaurant was still empty.
Sun Ming felt quite satisfied with the meal. He put down the spoon, closed his eyes, opened them again after a while and then said with a sigh, “This is pure bliss. It’s really really delicious. You don’t need to worry about your life anymore with this culinary skill.”
“I still have plenty of room for improvement.” Yuan Zhou smiled and said. However, these words were the truth rather than modesty. After all, he had the system in his body and was aiming to be a Master Chef.
“That’s great. My meals in the future will be relying on you then.” Seeing Yuan Zhou’s serious manner, Sun Ming was looking forward to the days ahead.
“It’s not early. Let me go to my store first and come around for lunch.” When he found out it was 10:30 a.m, Sun Ming turned around and left after he paid for his meal.
“Be careful when driving. See you at noontime.”
…………
When the hour hand pointed towards 12, it started getting crowded outside the street. This time, Yuan Zhou hung a blackboard outside the door with “Providing Egg Fried Rice” written on it. This way, he finally managed to inform others that he was opening a restaurant.
During this time, a young man dressed in a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans came in. He popped his head in and looked about the restaurant.
Looking around the restaurant, he curled his lip when he found only Yuan Zhou was standing in the open kitchen. This young man lived not far from the restaurant. He had been gaming until the hungry struck him. Too lazy to order a take-out, he decided to come out for lunch just this once. But he hadn’t expected such a large crowd of workers, every small restaurant was filled and had a long line.
Wandering around, he came here. He felt joy when he discovered that this street was fairly deserted, and then saw the black board with “Providing Egg Fried Rice” written on it outside the door of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. The flower baskets were still at the entrance. It seemed to be a new restaurant. Thus he came inside to have a look.
As there was only the boss himself in the restaurant, he couldn't judge if the food was any good. He decided to give it a try, so he asked casually, “Boss, do you only serve Egg Fried Rice? Anything else?”
Before Yuan Zhou could reply him, the young man noticed the price marked on the menu. He shouted at once, “Oh my god. The price is wrong, isn’t it? It doesn’t even have a decimal point.”
“My Egg Fried Rice is quite different. That’s the price. Would you like one serving to try?” Yuan Zhou stayed calm and said with an easy manner.
“hehe…”
When he heard the price was not marked wrong, he thought that no wonder there was nobody here, the boss was taking the customer for a fool. 188 RMB for a simple Egg Fried Rice? Seeing the boss looking at him as if he were an idiot, he turned around and left without hesitation. He’d rather go to queue up than being treated as a fool.
Yuan Zhou also felt upset in the heart. How came people said it was expensive? The materials were truly specially supplied. Common people would never be able to taste it in other places except in his restaurant. If possible, he would rather tell people this was the legendary Xiangshui rice. But the reality was, where would he have gotten it if it was such a scarce supply? This secret definitely couldn’t be found out. Yuan Zhou had to try his best to cover it.
With the black board hanging outside the door, he indeed had more customers than before. This time it was a man dressed in business attire. He had a briefcase in his arms and wore a pair of glasses with gold rims. With this appearance, he looked like an elite.
The elite was a white-collar professional working in the commercial office building behind the street. He may dress like a successful man, and he had an easy job with a monthly salary of tens of thousands of RMB. Nevertheless he was a henpecked husband. He handed all his salary to his wife while only getting 200 RMB as his pocket money. Usually, he went back home for lunch, but his wife just went on her 2-day business trip last night and thus gave him an extra 200 RMB for his lunch. So he went out for lunch today.
The elite hadn’t eaten out for a long time, so he forgot how crowded restaurants were during noontime. With great difficulties, he finally found this quiet street, and this restaurant seemed to have the least customers. Although there was no shop sign, it still had a black board stating “Providing Egg Fried Rice” outside the door. Thus, without any hesitation, he came into the restaurant.
Looking around at the interior of the restaurant, he found the surroundings weren’t bad and there were not many guests, only the boss himself, inside. Green plants with small flowers blooming lay by both sides of the main hall. The decoration was simple and tasteful. The table was a natural brown, which looked far better than those dirty and greasy tables outside.
When Yuan Zhou saw the elite man looking around in his restaurant with a satisfied expression, he obtained some confidence. He asked, “Came for a Egg Fried Rice?”
“You only serve Egg Fried Rice, don’t you?” The elite man sat on the clean high chair and asked.
“Yes. The price is written on the wall.” Yuan Zhou replied calmly.
The elite man turned around his head and was first attracted by the three characters on the menu board written with the writing brush. The characters were written with bold and vigorous strokes and they were indeed well-written. Afterward, he noticed the price of the Egg Fried Rice. On seeing that, he got quite astonished.
“188? Rouble or Japanese Yen?” The elite man didn’t expect this restaurant would accept foreign currencies. He didn’t know if the boss received RMB or not. But from the dressing of the boss, he thought that the boss may be Japanese. So he asked.
“The price list says it’s RMB. We don’t receive foreign currency.” Yuan Zhou answered calmly.
“188 RMB?” The elite man raised his hand to support his glasses with an unflappable manner.
“What? You can’t afford 188 RMB?” Seeing the elite man stand up, he showed a disdainful manner intentionally.
“Who says I…Yes, I indeed can’t afford that.”
The elite man showed an angry expression at first but then deflated the next moment. He walked out of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant as if it were a bandit’s store.
While walking outside, he thought that his wife would not just kill him if she knew he spent 188 RMB for a simple Egg Fried Rice. Thinking of that, his pace became faster.
Yuan Zhou was speechless. It was once said that there were many fools in this world but insufficient tricksters. God, you lied to me!