From-DIDIDA Novels
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
After a restful night, when he woke up from his drunken state, Yuan Zhou realized he had slept like a log. He then picked up his phone to check the time. It was only 6:20 a.m.
“It seems that soup dumplings shall be served today,” Yuan Zhou muttered before getting up.
Casually, he tugged on his clothes. The stench of overnight alcohol was blended along with his odor of sweat, causing him to almost faint from the offensive smell. Yuan Zhou grabbed his toiletries and went to the bathroom immediately.
Standing under the water in his shower, Yuan Zhou realized that after performing intensive labor in the last month, his forearms had gotten toned while his shoulders had gotten stronger and more powerful, as well. The water flowed across his body, bringing about tiny water drops and giving him a sexier look than previously
Considering that his restaurant had been closed for three days, he specially made 150 soup dumplings this morning. He ate four for the breakfast and left 146 for the customers.
“Boss Yuan will probably open the restaurant today, huh?” Suddenly, a male voice could be heard from the entrance.
“Of course he will. There is no notice on the door today. If he still doesn’t open the restaurant, trust me, I will smash down the door.” Wu Hai’s voice followed, filled with irritation.
“Yeah, we ought to do that. Boss Yuan is far too capricious.” Immediately, another person echoed.
“Brother Hai, you should have done that earlier.” The surrounding customers urged him on for fun.
At this time, Yuan Zhou suddenly opened the door with a loud “Hua”. He glanced at Wu Hai and said in a bland tone, “If the door is smashed by you, the repairs will fall to you as well. Furthermore, it will take at least a week to repair the door.”
Afterward, Yuan Zhou walked back to his usual position, waiting for his customers to enter.
The other customers who had supported Wu Hai with their various remarks just now immediately ignored him, walking pass him as if they didn’t know this person.
“Boss Yuan, it wasn’t only me who said that.” Wu Hai felt embarrassed for a little while but recovered quickly. He started to seek sympathy from Yuan Zhou.
“Look at my appearance. My life was a miserable existence these past three days. Boss Yuan, could you please not close the restaurant without advance notice next time?” Wu Hai said pitifully while pointing at his messy mustache, showing it to Yuan Zhou.
“But I did paste a notice on the door.” Yuan Zhou’s tone was always flat and straightforward.
“Speaking of the notice, Boss Yuan, how did you paste it on the door without anybody noticing?” Wu Hai recalled the memory where he had gotten up early and stared at the entrance before dawn but still didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of Yuan Zhou.
Yuan Zhou didn’t reply Wu Hai, giving him only a glance.
The disdain contained in the glance was captured even by the people around. Hence, Wu Hai began to change the topic. “Boss Yuan, are there soup dumplings today?”
He was just asking casually and didn’t expect an affirmative answer. However, Yuan Zhou gave him a surprise this time. “Yes, there are.”
“That’s terrific. Boss Yuan is so kind-hearted.” Wu Hai sat down excitedly before heaving a sigh.
“One serving of soup dumplings please.” Every customer started ordering their dishes the moment they came into the main hall. Soon all the ten seats were occupied. Customers arriving later had to line up and wait for their turn.
“Slurp slurp”
Then the fragrance of soup dumplings filled the restaurant, along with the the sounds of soup being slurped, and exclamations when burnt by the hot fillings.
More customers joined the queue. Those who finished their meal thoughtfully made room for the next customer. It was quite a common sight for several customers to share a table at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, although there was only one table there.
One and half an hours later, all 146 servings of soup dumplings were sold out. The eager customers were all anxious to savour their soup dumplings and didn’t notice the new dishes added to the menu.
It was not until the noontime when Wu Zhou first found out. He hadn’t been here for a whole week, thus the first thing he did after entering the restaurant was to check if there were any new dishes. Despite his girlfriend’s strong support, as a programmer, he still couldn’t afford to eat extravagantly. Not everyone was as wealthy as Wu Hai, who took Yuan Zhou’s restaurant as an ordinary canteen and had three meals there every day. He even ordered two or three servings per meal.
“Boss Yuan, is there a new dish?” Wu Zhou took a seat before asking immediately.
However, Yuan Zhou didn’t have a favorable impression of this guy who was always intimate with his girlfriend every week in front of him. Hence, he just pointed to the wall.
“Gee! Boss Yuan is always so cool. My girlfriend even told me to imitate Boss Yuan’s reserved manner, which in her opinion, is charming. She says I speak too much.” Again, Wu Zhou flaunted his relationship in front of Yuan Zhou, without thinking about Yuan Zhou’s feelings.
“Yes, she’s right. You indeed talk too much.” Since this guy often annoyed him with his relationship, Yuan Zhou would definitely pay him back if there was a chance. It was a pretty good counterattack.
“Er…” Wu Zhou shut his mouth and turned his head quietly to check the price list.
“Wow, you have drinks now, and it's watermelon juice!!!” With a simple look through, he saw his girlfriend’s favorite drink. However, the next moment, he was deeply shocked by the price that had several 8’s on the wall.
“Bo… Bo…ss... Boss Yuan… is this the price of the Herbal Tea Eggs?” Pointing at the price on the wall, he was so surprised that he even stuttered.
Yuan Zhou looked at Wu Zhou with an obvious disdain in his eyes. Even a programmer who stuttered had a girlfriend while he didn’t, even though he had his own house, a promising career and a handsome face. After comforting himself with various words, he then answered, “Yes, you are right. You want one?”
“No, thanks.” Wu Zhou refused without a second thought. He really felt like a poor fellow, the kind that couldn’t even afford a Herbal Tea Egg. How scary. The Herbal Tea Egg was so expensive that most people in the country wouldn’t be able to afford it.
“Don’t you want to try? There is a special offer now.” Yuan Zhou said flatly, without the slightest intention of promoting it.
Actually, even Yuan Zhou was quite curious about the Herbal Tea Eggs. He had never tasted them before either. Moreover, the Herbal Tea Eggs only appeared in his small kitchen when customers ordered them. Regarding the reason why Yuan Zhou hadn’t eaten it, it was simply because of that very high price.
“Hu Hu”. Wu Zhou gave a cold chuckle. If this price can be considered a special offer, how would the original price be like?”
He felt that the way he had entered the restaurant was definitely wrong today.
“A cup of Watermelon Juice and a serving of Egg Fried Rice.” He then decided to taste the Watermelon Juice worth 88RMB today to ease his shocked heart.
Though a cup of Watermelon Juice worth 88RMB was still expensive, it was nothing compared to the Herbal Tea Eggs.
“Ok, one moment please.” A regretful feeling flashed across his mind. Nevertheless, he still went to prepare the Egg Fried Rice first.
The recipe of the Watermelon Juice was different. He needed to prepare it on the spot.
“Here’s your Egg Fried Rice.” Yuan Zhou carried the plate to Wu Zhou, without presenting the Watermelon Juice.
Wu Zhou wasn’t worried at all. He saw Yuan Zhou crouch down and bring out a watermelon weighing 2.5kg or so. It looked like the striped watermelons sold outside, but the biggest difference was this one looked extraordinarily round. It still seemed round no matter which direction one looked at it. It could be said to have reached the epitome of roundness.
“Boss Yuan, your watermelon is so round!” Wu Zhou heaved a sigh after changing his point of view several times.
Watermelons on the market had never been so round. It must be very special.
“Yes.” After speaking, Yuan Zhou put on a mask. Next, he drew out a watermelon knife from the knife rest behind him. The knife had been made sharpened, without a hint of rust, thus it wouldn’t ruin the original taste of the watermelon.
“Hua La”
With a simple cut, the watermelon was sliced into two identical semicircles.
Wu Zhou thought that Yuan Zhou would then remove the pulp of the watermelon and extract the juice.
However, Yuan Zhou changed his knife into a small sharp one, then rotated the watermelon slowly with one hand while holding the knife in the other. Oh, right. There was a thick velvet under the watermelon, in case it got hurt.
Rotating it in a way that gave off no sound, along with the sharp knife and his steady hand, he dug out the middle of the watermelon which was also the sweetest part. There were no black seeds, only red pulp.
“Shua shua”
The pulp was moved into a small weird-looking machine with a big spoon. The machine wasn’t big, but the place for putting the pulp was contrarily, quite big. The flesh of half a watermelon did not even reach 1/5 of its capacity.
The other half of the watermelon was to be processed in the same way. It easily fitted into the machine.