Maverick Chef - Chapter 12：I Know That You Are Awesome

Hearing what Gao Yuan asked, Bai Lu responded. “There’s no way I would ever do a partnership with you.”

“Tsk, who cares!” Gao Yuan turned his attention to make fun of Si Ma Zhi. “Xiao Zhi, that guy who had a grudge against you for stealing his wife, is there any news?”

“Why are you asking? You can’t wait for me to be killed?” Si Ma Zhi was a little depressed.

“What are you saying this for, I was just trying to care about you.”

As midday approaches, Tong An Quan, who was not seen for a few days, had arrived with the beautiful girl who came with him the other day. He counted up the number of people queueing outside the door, Then he entered the restaurant and said, “There are already more than six tables, we would have to be the 7th.” He still had two limited chances for a meal.

After he finished, he saw Gao Yuan and could not help feeling a little bit awkward. Gao Yuan saw the girl that stood behind Tong An Quan, and he silently groaned.

Honestly speaking, even though the girl was considered very beautiful, she wasn’t the prettiest. At least she wasn’t as good looking as Le Miao Miao. The real reason as to why Gao Yuan tried to approach her, was because of her perceived beauty due to the relative comparison. She was the most beautiful girl in his department.

Gao Yuan was dispatched to work in a job. Based on the principle of making the best use of everything, he actively sought out more happiness. Since talking to beautiful girls was inherently pleasurable. Therefore he was always seen around with her.

The problem was that Tong An Quan had already tried to chase that girl for a long time. However, the girl did not agree but neither did she disagree, so it continued to drag on like that. After that, between Gao Yuan and Tong An Quan emerged a strange kind of rivalry.

Most people behaved like this: Even if they do not care about something; If somebody else tried to steal it away, it would make them unhappy, which motivated them to steal it back. Gao Yuan was precisely like this, but he was also very concerned with his reputation. Therefore what he did could neither be constituted as actively chasing nor passively waiting. Just like this, he kept stalling with the beautiful girl.

From this point, it could be seen clearly, that Tong An Quan and Gao Yuan had a huge disparity. Not just from their appearance but also from their upbringing.

The beautiful girl saw Gao Yuan. She walked over and asked, “Ah, so you are here as well. How about eating together with us?”

Gao Yuan looked back at Si Ma Zhi and friends. He directly saw that Si Ma Zhi was staring at him with his eyes wide open, with a glaring expression of seemingly being both amused and unamused. Gao Yuan secretly cursed that bastard in his heart. He turned around and said, “No thanks. I came here with my friends.”

“Oh.” The beautiful girl was rejected; her eyes seemed a little gloomy.

Tong An Quan walked over. “Lu Zi, there was no introduction the last time. She is the most beautiful girl in our department, Wang Yi Yi. His name is Bai Lu, the boss of this restaurant.”

Bai Lu laughed and said hi, but in his mind, he was contemplating on two other issues. Firstly, to get Sha Sha a new school. Secondly, to force Bao Zi to appear.

He called Gao Yuan to the side. “Would you like me to owe you two more meals.”

“F*ck off. Do you think that I am an idiot?” Gao Yuan was not stupid. As soon as he heard the offer, he knew right away that it was not a good deal.

“Don’t assume blindly. I just wanted to ask you for permission to borrow your vehicle.”

“Do you know how to drive? No, wait. Do you even have a license? Foreign licenses are not authorized to drive.”

“That’s why I would also like to hire you as the driver. Don’t worry. I will pay you a salary.”

“Do you have a death wish?” Gao Yuan screamed angrily.

As they were discussing, Huang Feng ran inside the restaurant. “Lu Zi, Lu Zi.”

Bai Lu looked at him. “Your department is having a gathering here today?”

“I may have caused you some trouble.” Huang Feng was a little embarrassed.

“You? Causing trouble for me?” Bai Lu was clueless about what he had just heard.

“Yesterday we had a meal at the Great Heavens. One of my classmates who had a little bit of wealth was not very good at spending it. He kept bragging and showing off in front of me, so I said, ‘Well the level of cooking here in the Great Heavens was not even that spectacular. It’s rather a pity that you do not know how to spend so much money.’ Unfortunately, the head chef heard what I said, and that guy was furious. He demanded me to explain it clearly. Otherwise, he would beat the crap out of me, so I had no choice but to rat you out. The head chef of the Great Heavens also declared that he would come to issue a challenge tonight.”

“The Great Heavens? That’s an actual name for a restaurant? It sounded even more ridiculous than the Great 5-Star Restaurant.” Bai Lu muttered.

“You knew that your restaurant was ridiculous?” Gao Yuan sneered.

“Shut up! It’s the name that is ridiculous, not the restaurant!”

He San Qing joined in. “Interesting. Right, today we shall not go anywhere. After lunch let’s find a place for a siesta so that we can watch the show tonight.”

“We also want to see it.” Le Miao Miao did not want to lose out.

“You are not going to school?” Bai Lu asked. “This is not good. You should appreciate the fact that many people would love to study but had no chance to go to school…”

“Why do you sound just like my mother?” Le Miao Miao clasped her phone and sat down at the side.

“Da Tian, that guy is rather interesting. If you would listen to my advice, prepare a few kilos of Baijiu liquor.” He San Qing suggested.

“Who is this Da Tian?”

“The owner of the Great Heavens is called Da Tian. He is also the head chef. Rumour has it that he was working as a military chef for 10 years. After he left the service, he opened a noodle shop in the embassy area. His business grew bigger and bigger, so he became the most outstanding restaurant in the entire city. Da Tian had a nasty temper; he always got into fights. However, his craftsmanship is not bad. His knife skills were mindblowing. When people witnessed his fights, they described it as a scene in a martial arts novel: With just a flash of the knife, his opponents would not even feel any pain, but after a while, the wound would start bleeding; only then did they realize that they were hurt.”

“I could do that too,” Bai Lu said calmly. “Was it his cooking knife skills or his fighting knife skills that were so impressive?”

“I know that you are awesome.” He San Qing rolled his eyes at him, and he thought for a moment. “No, wait. We have to find someone to record the incident.” As he spoke, he went to the side to make a phone call.

“What the hell. Could you be any more senseless? Do all the rich second generation behave in this manner?”

“Shut up!” Gao Yuan and Si Ma Zhi yelled concurrently. “Stop comparing the both of us to that guy. Have you ever seen an idiot like him who dresses up all day like an opera singer and parades himself around the world.”

Seeing how dazzling He San Qing’s full red attire looked, Bai Lu nodded his head. “You are right, but it is very impressionable. Makes it hard to recognize the wrong person, and also makes it easy not to lose sight of him.”

Suddenly, Bai Lu felt that he was incomparably busy. Outside the restaurant, more than a dozen customers were queueing up for a meal. And in the afternoon he would have to settle the issue of looking for a school for Sha Sha. Then later at night, someone would come to issue a challenge. He thought, “This kind of life is quite fulfilling. I am full of vigor!”

After a long hour had passed, the restaurant opened its doors for service. Zhang Sha Sha stood quietly at the entrance. She followed the rules and let the customers in one by one. After six tables were filled up, she politely declined the subsequent customers in a soft and gentle voice and requested them to come another day. With this kind of attitude, it made it hard for anyone to get mad at her.

Bai Lu kept looking at her. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but in his heart, he felt a strong sense of lament and the urge to take good care of her. Gao Yuan stood by his side and sighed. “Take good care of her. This afternoon I will continue my absence from work without leave.” What he meant was that he would follow Bai Lu to settle the issue of changing schools for Zhang Sha Sha.

Bai Lu thanked him with a soft voice.

“Thank my ass. Today I will skip another day of work. When I go back home tonight, my father will tear off my skin.” After he finished speaking, he addressed the group of people gathered outside of the kitchen entrance. “Let’s go out for a drink. We can come back later.”

The room was too small, with too many people squeezed inside. Therefore, they walked out towards the exit. As soon as they reached the door, Gao Yuan jolted. It was as though he saw something unbelievable. He marched out of the door with big strides. After a while he came back with the same pace, he confronted Bai Lu and shouted. “You son of a bitch. My grandpa was standing outside the door and staring blankly for more than half an hour because he did not make the front queue. I don’t care. You have to organize a new table immediately!”

“Your grandpa?” Bai Lu walked out to the entrance to take a look. Outside the door stood a skinny old man, who looked pretty energetic, glancing left and right. By his side were He San Qing and Si Ma Zhi who behaved submissively. When he saw Bai Lu peeking out, he even took the initiative to greet him.

Bai Lu hurriedly went out of the restaurant. “My greetings to you, old man.”

“Not old at all,” he said, with a bright smile.

“I am not that frail and pampered.”

Whether or not he was frail and pampered wasn’t truly the issue here. Bai Lu cast a direct intention with his eyes towards He San Qing, to carry the elderly towards the opposite side of the street. It was much cooler there underneath the shade. Then he went to the convenience store to borrow a chair so that the old man could sit down for a little rest.

Grandpa Gao was delighted. “You are much more sensible than my grandson. That guy just rushed straight to the restaurant to blindly give you commands.”

Bai Lu laughed. “You can take a rest here. When all the customers are gone, I will prepare a special table just for you.”

“Wouldn’t this break your rules?” he said.

“Not at all. I still owe Gao Yuan a couple of meals. Since you are here, that would count as one table.”

“If that’s the case, then I will wait here.”

With the honorary presence of this elderly man, He San Qing and Si Ma Zhi hurriedly went to buy some water and a fan. They waited upon him with great care and did not dare to go anywhere else.

“I am going to cook.” Bai Lu notified him out of respect, and then he went back into the kitchen.

After an hour later, all six tables of customers had left. Grandpa Gao entered the restaurant, he looked at the table of food and nodded profusely. “Not bad at all. It looks simple yet elegant and exquisite.”

The meal was split into two tables, one with Tong An Quan, Wang Yi Yi, Huang Feng and Le Miao Miao with her five other friends. The other table with Bai Lu, the Young Masters Trio, and including Zhang Sha Sha as well, carefully accompanying the elderly man for lunch.

Grandpa Gao ate quietly. He savored each of the dishes attentively with great detail. Afterward, he shook his head and said, “Very delicious. Fresh food is so much better than take away food. However, your rules have a small problem.”

“Ah? What problem?” Bai Lu asked.

“With such good craftsmanship and at such a cheap price point, why don’t you let more people in for a meal. Instead, you set a rule for a maximum of six tables. Don’t you think that your level is rather inadequate.”

“Inadequate level? Doesn’t that constitute a criticism based on the matter of principle?” Bai Lu was at a loss for words.

“Everybody that comes for a meal would wish that they could arrive with high spirits, and then leave when they have had enough. But instead you prevented them from coming in, how would they be able to enjoy to their heart’s content? Wouldn’t this be a huge cause for regret? Everybody is busy. Except for an idle person, who has the time to queue here every single day for a meal? That’s why you should modify your rules.”

“Grandpa Gao, what you said was right.” Bai Lu tried to explain with a bitter smile. “But I am only a one-person show. No matter how capable I am, it would be impossible to service a large number of customers. Putting aside the issue of whether or not I would even be able to persist for long, let’s talk about the restaurants along this street. If I open up the restaurant without any rules, wouldn’t they have to start competing against me with all their might?”

The restaurant has opened for a few days of business. In the beginning, there were only a few customers, but nowadays it would always be full. However, that would still be a maximum of six tables. In addition, with the lower price point, it could hardly affect the business of the other restaurants. If it became like the way Grandpa Gao described, with a full day of service? Just along this street alone, who could predict how many people would not be offended by the success of this restaurant.

Grandpa Gao hummed coldly. “Excuses. Don’t assume that you are the only chef in the world.”

Bai Lu nodded seriously. “But the chef that does it the best, I am truly the only one in the world.”

Grandpa Gao originally wanted to scold him for his arrogance. But before the words came out of his mouth, he just smiled and said, “That’s the truth. I have eaten in countless restaurants over the years, but yet your cooking is the most delicious. Did you put in some opium poppy secretly?”

“Even better than that.” Bai Lu replied casually.

Grandpa Gao knew that he was bullshitting. He stared at him and said, “You cannot handle with just one person? Then you should hire more people. If you are afraid that the other person is not capable enough, then you could instruct him. Oh yea, why not start a culinary school? With such a high level of skill, you would be qualified to start a school. I would leave you with that. If you want to start a culinary school, let Gao Yuan help you.”

“Why should I do that?” Gao Yuan muttered.

Grandpa Gao laughed. Just as he was about to speak, a few people in uniform barged through the front door. “Who’s the boss here?”

Bai Lu stood up. “I am. What’s going on?” He looked at this bunch of people. There was one from the Tax Bureau, one from the City Management, and one from the local police station. He thought, “What’s going on here? Could it be that I did something wrong again?”

Great Heavens can also be translated as Da Tian’s Hall in Chinese.