Chapter 44: New Dish
Chapter 44: New Dish
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
“The sun shines high in the sky, the flower smile right at me and the bird says good morning to me…” Yuan Zhou sang as he walked down the stairs.
To customers waiting outside the restaurant for their breakfast, it was actually quite late. However, Yuan Zhou felt it was still early as it was only 10:00 in the morning.
“Hua La”
He opened the door and the sunlight streamed directly into the room. Then he gave a stretch at the entrance and returned to the kitchen.
He opened the preservation cabinet and took out the noodles prepared last night, throwing them into the cooking pot.
“It’s definitely great to have noodles for breakfast in the morning,” Yuan Zhou said to himself while stirring the noodles in the cooking pot.
He had totally disregarded the fact that he didn't have a lot of noodles on hand and the more he consumed, the less there was left.
“Guluk.” Once the Clear Broth Noodle Soup entered his stomach, Yuan Zhou immediately felt full of spirit again.
Time passed by quickly. Soon it was 11:30 a.m.
“Boss, where are we going? There aren’t many restaurants on that small street.” Of the six people, only Ma Wei kept talking and asking. He didn’t seem to know the meaning of silence.
“Why are you so noisy? If our boss brought us here, there is definitely a restaurant.” The seemingly austere girl with her hair in a bun glared at him.
“Oh, you finally got scolded huh?” the slightly plump man beside him ridiculed Ma Wei.
While paying little attention to the chatter, Wu Anlu walked quickly. In his memory, boss Yuan Zhou had a fairly good business and there were limited several seats. He didn't want to queue, thus walked quickly and soon reached the entrance of the restaurant.
“Ok, this is it. Let’s enter,” Wu Anlu turned back and said to his subordinates. Then, he entered first.
“Is this the so-called restaurant? This tiny eatery?” Ma Wei lowered his voice and said to his colleague Xiao Liu beside him.
“Let’s wait and see. Our boss is not a stingy person.” Xiao Liu shook his head with a frown.
“That was quite a large order, the commission isn’t low.” The last person complained and then entered the restaurant.
“A generous person may be stingy sometimes,” another colleague murmured.
Hoping that their manager was a generous person, Ma Wei stepped into the restaurant. Nevertheless, he found it quite simple inside as well. Several people were sitting on the seats and talking with a man standing behind a long curved table.
Looking around the room, he discovered that there wasn't even a waiter. There were also very few seats. Besides a small table and two chairs at the entrance, there were only eight high chairs, two of which had already been occupied by other customers. Of course, the small table and the two chairs were also taken. It seemed that they could only seat on the remaining high chairs.
Both the decorations and the atmosphere were pretty bad.
"How could our boss take us to such an inferior place," Ma Wei murmured in a low voice. "Where is the promised grand meal?"
While being discontented, he suddenly felt someone was pulling his clothes. He took a glance, finding it was his colleague Xiao Liu, then he asked, "What's wrong? Why are you pulling my clothes?"
"Look, look at the price over there," while talking to Ma Wei, he gulped subconsciously, before finishing the sentence.
Ma Wei then looked at the direction of Xiao Liu's hand.
"Jesus, did I misread it?" Ma Wei rubbed his eyes in shock and revealed a disbelieving look.
Ma Wei spoke so loudly that all his colleagues around heard him and turned back to see what was going on.
"Boss, you are so generous! The price list indicated that a plate of Egg Fried Rice cost ¥188? Are the rice grains wrapped in gold?"
"Holy shit, I've never bumped into an Egg Fried Rice worth almost ¥200 before in my whole life."
"Cough. I admit wrong, I shouldn't have doubted our boss's sincerity to offer us a grand meal."
The originally discontented colleagues bow down to the price list in Yuan Zhou's restaurant instantly.
How could they not bow with such an amazing price?
"I can’t tell if it is tasty, but I know our boss is prepared to spend for the treat. This is so expensive that I can feel my heart aching with just a mere glance at the price," Ma Wei said earnestly while looking at his colleagues.
"Yeah, you are right. Our boss is generous as expected. An Egg Fried Rice Set worth of ¥200, tsk tsk." Even the seemingly austere girl agreed.
"Hurry up and order. What are you guys fussing over?" Wu Anlu was normally a serious and strict person. Once he gave a command, his several subordinates stopped talking immediately and went up took a seat.
"Boss, have you ever tried the dishes here in this restaurant?" Ma Wei asked with an embarrassed look.
"What? You think I will cheat you guys?" after saying that, he looked at his several hesitant co-workers and then said, "Don't worry. Boss Yuan's culinary skills are superb. Just watch out for your tongue. Don't swallow it along with the food."
"Boss Yuan, an Egg Fried Rice Set for each of us please." Wu Anlu still thought there were only two dishes here, thus didn't look at the menu and just ordered the most expensive dish for each of his subordinates. Afterward, he took out his wallet to pay. He could afford the amount of ¥2000 anyways.
Having read the menu, his subordinates didn’t dare to say anything. Who would believe them if they told others that they had spent nearly ¥2000 on only six servings of Egg Fried Rice Set in such a tiny restaurant? However, since their manager insisted and moreover, had ordered the dishes, as subordinates, they could do nothing but follow his lead.
"Alright, one moment please." Yuan Zhou received the payment and headed to the kitchen to prepare the set meals without even reminding him of the new dishes.
Currently, Yuan Zhou wasn’t worried about his business at all. With precious ingredients and his superb culinary skills, what did he have to worry about?
The several subordinates sat uneasily on the high chairs. Even the most talkative person, Ma Wei, became quiet.
"What's the matter with you guys?" For their sake, Wu Anlu had brought his staff out for celebration. Yet, now they appeared to be serious and quiet. He would definitely inquire about their odd behaviors.
"Nothing." Ma Wei originally wanted to speak but nevertheless held it back and just responded perfunctorily after he received a glare from the lady.
Being able to head the sales department, Wu Anlu naturally had superior IQ and EQ. Soon he understood what was going on. His several subordinates most likely felt that the dish didn't deserve its price, and thus had such reactions. Therefore, he just revealed a smile on his face, without explaining anything.
This matter would be resolved easily once they tasted the food. When he had a meal here for the very first time, he reacted in almost the same way. He was only one step away then from pointing at Yuan Zhou and calling him a swindler. How could one sell an Egg Fried Rice Set at such a high price?
Wu Anlu didn't know about the new dishes at the moment. However, Wu Hai had already heard rumors about a new dish and wanted to ask about it.
Whether it was one serving or six servings of Egg Fried Rice, it had little difference to Yuan Zhou. One serving could be fried in one go, six servings could also be fired in one go. Yuan Zhou then divided the Egg Fried Rice precisely into six standard servings, each with the same amount, set them on the tray, and carried it over to the customers.
"Your Egg Fried Rice Set." Yuan Zhou said as he placed the food down on the table.
Ma Wei and his colleagues felt even more upset when they saw the Egg Fried Rice Set served on the table. Meanwhile, they thought in their heart, “This is no more than ordinary Egg Fried Rice. How could the owner dare to call it a set meal? The side dishes are offered for free in almost every restaurant outside.”
However, since their manager had begun to eat, it was better for them not to say anything more. Therefore, they had to accept their fate and started to eat, including Ma Wei, who disliked the Egg Fried Rice.
On the other hand….
“Boss Yuan, I now have a rough understanding of the new dish Clear Broth Noodle Soup. But what do the Specialty Plate 1 and 2 exactly mean?” Realizing that Yuan Zhou had finished cooking, Wu Hai started to ask impatiently.
When Yuan Zhou noticed the fervent stares of the three customers at him, he gave a strong shudder. The way these guys were looking at him was too weird.
He stepped back without a sound and then said naturally, “You’ll know if you order it.”
“But they are not written on the menu. How do I order?” Wu Hai asked unwillingly.
Actually, Wu Hai was not a good-tempered person. He often went on strike, which irritated his agent to no end. However, his temper mellowed ever since he bumped into Yuan Zhou, who had a firm grasp of his weakness, being picky about food.
He was so picky that he would sometimes smash plates if he didn’t enjoy the dishes, hence he often had serious gastric problems. However, after eating meals in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, he had no complaints anymore. With Yuan Zhou’s culinary skills, as picky as he was, he couldn’t find any problems.
The most miraculous thing was he had never gotten gastric problems again even after eating the oily Egg Fried Rice. Nowadays, the only thing Wu Hai didn’t felt comfortable was that he couldn’t pry any valuable information out of Yuan Zhou’s mouth. However, even if he failed every time, he still gave it a try.
Of course, Yuan Zhou didn’t understand Wu Hai’s complex thoughts. He said in an easygoing tone, “As you please.”