Maverick Chef - Chapter 13：Becoming Busier

A short fatso who was about 30 years old walked over, and he said, “Joint Law Enforcement Inspection. Present the health certificate for the service crew, chef permit, and—” As he looked up, he saw the industry permit that was hanging on the wall. After a quick scan, he cut his sentence short.

“None of those.” Bai Lu replied straightforwardly.

“None? Then, I am sorry for the inconvenience. The restaurant has to suspend its operations until you finish setting up the relevant documents, then it can resume business. Additionally, there would be a fine of $500.” The short fatso was speaking in a rather polite tone.

“This is enough to stop the business?” With a smile on his face, he asked, “As long as I obtain that two documents that you mentioned, I could resume my business?”

“Yes, but you have to settle the fine first.” The short fatso issued the ticket.

At the same time when Bai Lu was paying the fine, Gao Yuan had a nasty look on his face. He wanted to stand up to say something. Grandpa Gao restrained him, and he said, “Those documents are mandatory. It’s the law. What are you trying to do?”

Gao Yuan responded. “Nothing at all.”

When the fatso finished collecting the fine, he said to the people in the restaurant. “After you guys finish your meal, hurry up and leave.” He said to Bai Lu again. “Do not operate the restaurant at night. Otherwise, if you are caught, you will be charged with a repeat offense.”

“Don’t worry, Sir,” Bai Lu said.

As soon as Bai Lu sat down again, Grandpa Gao stated with resolution. “Not that I want to reprimand you, but how could you serve food to the customers without first doing the routine health inspection.”

Bai Lu replied with a smile. “Yes, this is my fault. I will carry out the inspection this afternoon.” Another new issue now to worry about in his mind.

“Ok. We are finished eating, so I will be leaving. Xiao Yuan, if you are not working this afternoon, then you should accompany Lu Zi to settle all of the required documents.”

“Fine,” he said, with a depressing tone.

Grandpa Gao waved his hands. “Goodbye. No need to send me off.” He went out of the restaurant alone and walked freely towards the end of the street.

“You are suspending the business?” As soon as Grandpa Gao left, the whole restaurant started to ask frantically.

Zhang Sha Sha had an adverse expression on her face. She bit her lips and looked down at her fingernails.

“As soon as the required documents are obtained, the restaurant would resume its service. It’s a good opportunity for a short break, to settle other things as well,” he said.

He San Qing pondered. “The show tonight is canceled?”

Bai Lu chuckled. “What show? Stop dreaming about it.” He did not even want to compete with anyone in the first place.

“Ah? My classmates are coming tonight as well. They said they wanted to see the joke. This is bad. I will be their laughing stock,” Huang Feng said, with a bitter expression.

With a disposition of an otherworldly sage, Bai Lu commented. “Oh people, they all care too much about other people’s opinion. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone was more carefree? Just be yourself.” Except for Zhang Sha Sha, he was instantly despised by everyone in the restaurant.

When everyone finished eating, he cleared the tables and collected the utensils. Somebody was knocking on the door again. It was a salesperson for plastic bags, lunch boxes, serviettes, chopsticks and other products used in a restaurant.

After seeing the squarish disposable chopsticks in the holder, Bai Lu suddenly recalled that home in the faraway desert. He tactfully rejected the salesperson, because he had another set of plans in his heart.

As the show tonight had been canceled, He San Qing and friends went back one after the other in the afternoon. Only poor Gao Yuan was left behind. He felt indignant and kept prattling on about something.

Bai Lu went into the house to retrieve a few stacks of cash. He stored them in a small backpack and carried it along. Then he called out to Zhang Sha Sha. “Let’s go. It’s time to work.”

Soon, the restaurant was closed. Gao Yuan drove the car and ferried Bai Lu and Zhang Sha Sha to the school to retrieve her files.

In the car, Zhang Sha Sha said softly, “It’s only my second day here. And now the restaurant is forced to close down. Is it because of my bad luck, which caused trouble for you? Why not just fire me right away.”

Bai Lu laughed. “Stop that. It’s got nothing to do with you.”

Retrieving the files was the easy part. Since the students have graduated, they could take it anywhere they wanted to, and the school helped to issue a certificate. Now here comes the harder part, which was to find a school that was willing to accept Zhang Sha Sha.

Students are accepted based on their secondary school examination results.

She had made a firm decision to stop further schooling. Therefore, she did not even apply to take the examination. That was why she had no results, and this made the situation much more troublesome. Thankfully, her previous grades were not too shabby. She was also a very earnest student who loved to learn. The teachers were all willing to help with the referral, to prove that she was an excellent student.

In the end, they found a regular high school at the eastern edge of the 3rd Ring Road that was willing to accept her. There were two reasons. Firstly, the distance was very close, and it would only take six minutes by foot. Secondly, the principal was immediately agreeable to accept her. As long as they paid the requested $20k sponsorship fee, then the school entrance procedures would be processed right away.

She was a resident of the Northern City, so it was considered to be a transfer to another school. Therefore she could still participate in the college entrance exam.

Thus, the issue of finding a school for Sha Sha was considered complete. Bai Lu went ahead to apply for the health certificate. This issue was much more manageable. All he had to do was to go to an appointed facility that conducted the inspection. He paid a small fee of slightly more than $100. In half an hour’s time, it was done.

The problematic one was the chef permit because he had to undergo an examination.

But it was not that difficult. Generally speaking, it was not that strict for a small restaurant. Not many people cared about which grade the chef belongs to exactly, so the chef permit was not that urgent.

To be safe, Bai Lu made an extra trip down to the Labour Office, to apply for the Chef Grading Examination.

Gao Yuan was enraged. “To help you with such a shitty errand, I had to skip work for a day and a half to be your chauffeur. Just you wait. Just you wait.”

Bai Lu advised him. “When you are driving, please try your best to be peaceful and calm. Do not be so agitated. There are three people in this vehicle. Even if you are not afraid of death, the two of us would still love to be alive.”

The three of them arrived at the Labour Office area in a short amount of time. Bai Lu went inside to apply for the examination that tested the chef’s ability. As he was filling up the form, Gao Yuan came inside to look for him. “Come out. come out.”

Bai Lu came out while holding on to the form. “What’s up?”

Gao Yuan dragged him outside to see the notice board at the entrance. On the top of the board was a paper that wrote Beijing Top Chef Contest along with relevant details.

He rolled his eyes, and said, “Crazy.”

He went back to the service counter to continue filling up his form. At the same time, a young lad with thin eyebrows approached to his side. “You are also here to apply for the contest? Which restaurant—” He cut off his sentence because he saw that Bai Lu was filling up a different form. It was the application form for the Chef Grading Examination.

“Is this guy only an apprentice? Judging from his appearance, he doesn’t seem that old.” The thin eyebrows chuckled. Then he continued to wander around the place, to look for other potential competitors.

Gao Yuan burst into laughter. “You have just been despised. Somebody looked down on you. What a happy occasion.”

“You are psychologically twisted. That is very unhealthy.” Bai Lu continued to fill up his form.

“Don’t mind me saying. How could such a grown man like you completely lack a fighting spirit? With such tasty dishes that you have cooked, wouldn’t you want to be the Top Chef?”

“I am already the Top Chef.” Bai Lu answered calmly.

“Bullshit. Didn’t you promise my Grandpa that you would start a culinary school? If you are not certified to be the best, who would want to learn from you?”

“Hmm, I don’t seem to recall having promised him anything?” Bai Lu pondered, “It doesn’t matter whether I had made a promise. If I could open a new culinary school, with a bunch of students following my lead, that does seem like a pretty enjoyable thing.” Therefore, he said, “Ok. I will join the contest. But make it quick, I have something else to do afterward.”

“Why do you always have so many things to do? What time is it already?” Gao Yuan yelled.

The Northern City was too big. They drove around for a few simple errands and half a day was already gone.

“Didn’t I promise you a meal already?” This was the only trump card that Bai Lu could pull out of his sleeves.

“Would you quit mentioning that.” Gao Yuan went over to Zhang Sha Sha for a chat. “Hey, yesterday your singing was pretty good. Just enroll in the Arts School instead. Why go through the General Education High School system? That’s a complete waste of time. Nowadays, the General High School is not even comparable to the Vocational High School.”

She just looked at him without saying a word.

Gao Yuan felt helpless. He thought, “As expected, birds of the same feather flock together.”

Bai Lu said to Zhang Sha Sha, “Give Bao Zi’s family a call, to ask if he has already been released. All that money cannot be spent for nothing right?” Then he turned to Gao Yuan. “Let us use your phone.”

Gao Yuan took out his phone. When he was on the verge of handing it over, he said, “Are you a fossil? Would it kill you to get a new phone?”

“Buy, buy, we will buy it in a while.” Bai Lu requested for the application form to participate in the Top Chef Contest. He compared the two forms and filled it up in the same way.

The young lad with thin eyebrows returned. “You are joining the contest when you are not even a Junior Chef? Are you sure you want to compete?”

Bai Lu kept his head down. “The contest did not even set a minimum requirement for entry.”

“Yes. It does not require a certain grade to enter, but it’s still a competition. Aren’t you just giving your money away for free?”

“Giving money away?” Bai Lu immediately checked the additional details about the contest. “Oh my God! How brazen are they, to request a competition fee of $1k?”

“Two dishes, with all ingredients provided. $1k is pretty worth it. It was $1.2k last year, but that refers to the Grand Finals. The preliminary rounds require an additional $300.” The young lad with thin eyebrows explained.

“The money that you have earned, did you donate it all to the contest?” Bai Lu finally took a look at this guy.

“It’s always handy to have more certificates.” The guy with thin eyebrows laughed.

“There’s no need for so many certificates because there is only one spot for Top Chef.” He lowered his head to fill up the forms.

“Your name is Bai Lu? Mine is Zhang Cheng Long. Where are you working now? When you have time, why not have a little cook-off between the both of us to exchange some pointers,” he said while looking at the forms.

“Not working now. My restaurant was just suspended. I’m bored, so I join the contest.” Bai Lu quickly filled up the application forms and counted out a stack of cash. Then he exchanged them for an invoice and a competition card.

After joining the contest, Bai Lu went out to buy a new phone, computer, and some clothes. In reality, those were meant for Sha Sha. But since she kept declining the gifts, Bai Lu had to buy himself another set as well. Then he used his authority as the boss to command her to bring them back.

When they arrived back to the shop at night, Gao Yuan was so tired that he did not even get out of the car. He just reclined his seat and took a nap directly.

After they entered the house, Sha Sha looked at the bundles of varying sizes. With a soft voice, she said, “Why are you treating me so well?”

He casually responded. “Bao Zi also treats you very well.”

From the call in the afternoon, they found out that Bao Zi was not released yet. They said that he would only be released tomorrow.

Zhang Sha Sha did not reply. She thought for a while, and then carried the bunch of stuff into the bedroom.

Bai Lu had bought four sets of clothing for her: A set of dress like a service crew attire; a set of branded sports attire; a set of traditional dress; and a set of Western-style attire that resembles a school uniform. There were also four pairs of shoes.

Sha Sha did not leave the room for a long time; no sounds were coming out of the room. Out of curiosity Bai Lu went over to check. She was seated on the edge of the bed, stroking her new clothes gently, with tears on her face. She was secretly crying in silence.

He quietly returned to the hall, and carefully examined every corner of the restaurant. No matter where he looked, he felt a sense of dissatisfaction.

He went outside to look for Gao Yuan. “Tell me. What would you think if I completely renovate the restaurant?”

While lying down with his eyes closed, he responded. “With such a lousy place like yours? What would change even if you did a complete renovation? Listen to me. Let ‘s do a partnership. You have the skills while I have the money. We could create a restaurant with a much larger area. Putting aside the Great Heavens, even the Shi Wei Tian Restaurant, as well as those Abalone Restaurants and such would be annihilated.”

Bai Lu gave him a stare. As soon as he wanted to return to the shop, he saw Huang Feng running over, so he paused to wait for him.

“Are you open for business tonight?” Huang Feng asked while gasping for air.

“Opening.” Since the Health Permit was issued, the restaurant could resume its business.

“Fortunately, fortunately. My friend will be here soon.”

“Even if he came, he would not be able to have a meal. Look at all these people in front of the door.” In front of them stood more than 20 over people. There was no doubt that tonight was going to be a full dinner service again.

Huang Feng blinked his tiny eyes. “I still have the special privilege for a table of meal right.”

“It’s up to you. Oh, is there any rooms available for rent around here,” Bai Lu asked.

“Way too many. The only problem is the price. People are crazy nowadays. They dare to request for $5k rent for an apartment with just 50 square meters. That’s equivalent to robbery.” Huang Feng was triggered.

“Help me look for one. It doesn’t matter if the rent is slightly more expensive.”

“Sure. How big of an apartment do you want?” As a migrant worker living and working in Beijing, which one of them has not dealt with a landlord before?

“Two bedrooms and a living room. The faster we could move in, the better.”