Maverick Chef - Chapter 16：Joining the Gathering

He San Qing shouted at Bai Lu. “Go and change your clothes.”

Bai Lu complied with just an “Orh” sound, and he went into the bedroom. Not long after, he came out again. He San Qing looked at him. His nostrils flared out so much with anger that his nose nearly fell off. This guy changed his white vest for a white shirt. That’s all he did; he was still wearing the same old jeans and plimsoll shoes underneath.

However, it was still considered passable. At least he did not stuff his shirt into his pants, and he did not wear a belt, plus he left two buttons open. Therefore, his attire was still quite slick, so He San Qing did not continue to rage at him. He turned around and spoke to Gao Yuan. “Let’s go.”

Seeing Gao Yuan wearing his work attire — it was the same set for the last few days — Bai Lu asked, “You did not change your clothes?”

He San Qing sighed. “Even if he wears a burlap sack to the event, nobody gives a shit.”

Bai Lu was a little confounded; he took a good look at Gao Yuan. He thought, “How rich and powerful must this guy be, for someone else to not care about what he wears.”

After Sha Sha came out of the toilet, he closed the shop, and then they departed.

There were five people, with three cars. They headed west, then south, and after 10 minutes, the cars drove into an underground carpark. They got off the car, followed the instructions on a sign and walked to the entrance of an elevator. Two security guards were defending the entrance accompanied by two service ladies in Qipao attire.

Seeing He San Qing and friends, the two ladies clasped both of their hands on their abdomen. With a slight bow in their upper body they expressed their welcome, one of them asked, “Sir, may I ask for your name.”

“He San Qing.” He replied lazily.

The service ladies were wearing earphones. After He San Qing declared his name, they pressed the button for the lift door and stepped to the side. “This way, please.”

After all five of them entered the lift, the service ladies followed them in. She pressed the button inside, and the lift went straight up to the 33rd floor.

Soon, the lift stopped, and the doors opened. Two people stood in front of the door. The person in front was of high status. Wearing a simple set of attire with dull colors, he pounced towards He San Qing with a face full of smiles to give him a hug. “Young Master He is here. That’s no easy feat.” As he spoke, his eyes scanned to the surroundings. “Ah! Young Master Gao, a rare guest indeed. Welcome, welcome.” His tone of voice became much more passionate.

Gao Yuan had a slight smile on his face. “Scolding someone directly in their face is horrible manners, you are the real Young Master.” Gao Yuan was the first person to walk out of the elevator, to give the Young Master a courtesy hug.

The Young Master also hugged He San Qing and Si Ma Zhi. When he saw Bai Lu, he asked, “May I ask who this person is?”

“This person is really extraordinary. In the future, you will have a lot of opportunities to trouble him. His name is Bai Lu.” He San Qing introduced smilingly. “This man is Chai Ding An; The legendary Young Master Chai, who is famous throughout the Northern City.”

Listening to all the exaggeration that He San Qing said, but yet he did not even mention precisely what it was that Bai Lu did, Chai Ding An knew in his heart, that this man must be an impressive outsider. Someone who was not in the same social circle, and also not one of nobility or the rich, therefore he shook his hands with a polite smile. “It’s an honor to meet you. My pleasure.”

His tone was very shallow. The way that he lightly shook Bai Lu’s hand was merely to give some face to Gao Yuan and the others. Then he led the way in front, bringing the Young Masters Trio inside.

There was another young person at the entrance of the elevator. That man was Chai Ding An’s partner; he tailed them slowly.

There was a corridor after turning left, with two security guards standing at the opening. As they saw Chai Ding An walking over, they greeted in unison. “7th Young Master.”

7th Brother Chai was the typical 3rd Generation Aristocrats of China. His grandfather was a founding figure, and he passed away during those chaotic times. He was succeeded by four sons and three daughters. His family was wealthy and respectable, with a big family tree and prosperous business. Chai Ding An was ranked number 7th amongst the third generation of descendants.

The corridor was about 10 meters long. After turning right at the end of the passage, there was a massive hall. It was a little bit like a cafe with an open concept; On the right, there were sofas, while on the left there were tables and chairs. At the other end of the hall, there was a small stage that was about 20cm high. In the middle of the room, there was another raised circular platform of about the same height. At this moment, there was a piano that was placed on top of it, with a beautiful lady dressed in an elegant white evening gown playing the famous musical tunes from around the world.

The hall was about 300 plus square meters, with various partitions separating the room into numerous smaller spaces adorned by all kinds of decorations. There were also many handsome men and beautiful ladies that were elegantly dressed. They clustered in groups of two and three and engaged in conversations.

Bai Lu looked around. There were probably about 50 – 60 guests, with an additional 10 or more service personnel, walking around from time to time carrying a tray in their hands.

Chai Ding An walked into the hall and gathered everyone around the biggest sofa. After he invited everyone to sit down, he faced the front and shouted. “Xiao Huan.”

Under the piano platform, a beautiful woman with long hair was sitting at a roundtable, and her forehead was smooth and bright. Her skin was as pristine as jade, which made her features looked elegant and exquisite. She held a glass of water in her hands and was listening to the musician playing the piano. Everywhere else people were chatting and laughing, but yet she was alone; it made her seem very different from the crowd.

After hearing the exclamation, she stood up and turned around. She caught a glimpse of Gao Yuan, and her expression faltered. Following which she quickly regained her previous peaceful composure, and then she walked over gently.

After she walked over, Chai Ding An held her hand. He smiled and said to Gao Yuan. “Young Master Gao, there’s no need for any introductions I suppose?”

Gao Yuan had a slight smile on his face, he stood up and extended his hand towards He Xiao Huan. “Long time no see.”

She extended her hand. With a soft voice, she said, “It’s been a while.” Then she did the same action towards He San Qing and Si Ma Zhi; one by one she shook their hands and said hello. The moment when she saw Zhang Sha Sha, a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes. She thought, “Who is dating such a young girl?” As for Bai Lu, she just completely ignored his presence.

Chai Ding An waved at his underlings. Right away there was service personnel that brought over seven glasses of champagne. Chai Ding An raised his glass, and he said, “It’s been a long time since we have gathered. Cheers.” He emptied the glass in a single gulp. “Please be at ease.” Then, he left with He Xiao Huan.

It was very obvious that Gao Yuan knew He Xiao Huan. There must have been some sort of history between the two. However, Bai Lu did not really care about digging deeper into someone else’s secret. He accompanied Sha Sha and wandered around the house.

The two of them started with seafood, followed by cakes. In the end, they stood next to the piano and listened to the music played by the beautiful lady. They were very occupied. It was the first time that Zhang Sha Sha had been to such an event. She was a little bit shy. Even though she was following Bai Lu closely all the while, her eyes were darting around here and there, filled with curiosity for everything that was happening in this house.

After wandering for a while, he saw Gao Yuan sitting alone on the sofa, so he brought Sha Sha and went over. “Do all esteemed people hang out like this at this kind of events? Wouldn’t it be very boring?”

Gao Yuan smiled faintly. “I am not an esteemed person, just a young worker.”

“You look like you are half dead. From what they usually portray in the movies, shouldn’t there be a person who comes out and announces a few words? Followed by a man and woman dancing together, with the whole room applauding?” Bai Lu looked left and right. There was no dance floor, so naturally, there would be no one dancing.

“Shouldn’t there also be secret spies or master thieves, ending up in a fight, causing a huge chaotic mess?” Gao Yuan responded calmly.

Bai Lu rolled his eyes. “What nonsense are you saying? We definitely do not watch the same kind of movies.”

Hearing the two crazy idiots talking, Zhang Sha Sha couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Bai Lu commented with a stern expression. “Be serious. We are discussing a critical situation.” Suddenly, he saw that there was a bright red fellow over at the dining table. He thought, “That’s weird. Why didn’t I see it just now?” He asked Sha Sha, “Do you know what that reddish looking thing is?”

She shook her head.

He was stunned. “There are still kids nowadays who have never seen a lobster?” he thought, and then he said, “Hold on.” Bai Lu planned to capture the red lobster so that Sha Sha could eat to her heart’s content.

He marched over with big strides and lifted the entire colossal silver tray. The waiter was so scared that he ran over. “Sir, what are you trying to do?”

Bai Lu said, “No shit. Of course, we are trying to eat it. Go away.”

The waiter thought that he had seen all kinds of customers, but it was still the first time to see someone like Bai Lu who just went all out without any regard for his reputation just to eat something. At that moment he was at a loss to stop him or not.

Gao Yuan saw what he was doing, and he predicted that he would probably carry the entire tray back, so he stood up immediately to get a drink for himself. At that moment, a decision was made to stay further away from this idiot. He was sure that they should not be seen together, as it was too embarrassing for him.

When he left, only Zhang Sha Sha was left sitting in this huge sofa seat. At this moment, Bai Lu had contemplated carrying the whole tray of lobsters and forcefully making a break of it. Suddenly, he saw a 25 or 26-year-old skinny lad taking a seat next to her and trying to chat her up.

He thought, “What the hell. Even in such a high-class event, there are still skirt-chasers?” Bai Lu abandoned the lobsters, to make his way back. Instead, he saw He San Qing rapidly running to the sofa seat. With one swift motion, he grabbed the collar of the skinny lad and yanked him away.

Bai Lu walked over, and he heard the skinny lad say: “Young Master He, I did not offend you right? What’s the matter with you?” That guy slapped away He San Qing’s hand and slowly tidied up his shirt.

He San Qing looked at him with disdain. “Whatever that you should be doing get on with it. You better stay further away from this young lady.”

“Screw you. Why should I obey your commands?” The skinny lad twitched his lips and said.

Judging from his unfriendly tone of voice, Bai Lu examined him in detail. He was rather well-dressed, with a pair of slim fit pants underneath, and a bright T-shirt on top. The clothes made him looked appealing. However, his face was a little bit off, which pulled down the positive points from his clothing.

After thinking about it, he decided to let it go. He thought, “This is someone else’s venue. It’s best that I do not embarrass Gao Yuan and He San Qing.” He went over and said, “Sha Sha, let’s go and eat something.”

She said ok and followed him to the dining table. Bai Lu decided to combine forces with Zhang Sha Sha, partnering up to combat the lobsters.

When the waiter saw them, he thought, “Oh my God, the foodie strikes back again. This time he even brought a partner with him.” He took a few steps back. With the other service personnel, they focused intently on watching these two foodies. In this kind of high-end venues, such an embarrassing way of eating was indeed a rare event, so they all wanted to watch the show.

“This stuff is also costly. In that market of ours, we could only buy small lobsters. Actually, they are just mantis shrimps, so how could there be any pleasure in eating them…”

They kept eating and chatting, which attracted the attention of a lot of other people. They started laughing secretly: “Who brought them here? How could they be so embarrassing?”

Seeing their incredible performance, He San Qing’s face turned pale. He pretended not to notice them and focused on his task at hand to find pretty ladies, to have a chat with them.

The skinny lad saw their nasty eating habits. He took a look at He San Qing and noticed that he was busy chatting up the pretty girls. Then he took another look at Bai Lu, and he thought, “This guy did not dare to cause a commotion previously.” Therefore, he boldly went back to the side of Zhang Sha Sha, and he asked, “Hey girl, what’s your name?”

She got such a shock that she stopped eating the lobster and went over to hide beside Bai Lu for support.

The skinny lad also followed along. “Girl, you so fine. Are you still schooling? Where are you studying now? In the dance school or the music academy?” Looking at Bai Lu’s plain dress sense, he assumed that he was just one of the ordinary folk, which he did not even attach any importance to.

Bai Lu pulled Sha Sha behind his back. With a smile stacked with the joyfulness like a meadow-gale of spring, he looked towards the skinny lad.

Seeing this kind of fawning adoration, it made the skinny lad despise Bai Lu even more. He raised his hand to get rid of him, and he said, “Move to the side.”

As the skinny lad only said a couple of offensive statements, but he did not mistreat Sha Sha with any disrespectful actions, it made Bai Lu hesitate on whether or not he should get physical. Seems like it was still the same old reason. No matter what happens, he still had to consider He San Qing and Gao Yuan’s reputation.

At this time, He San Qing rushed over again. He blocked in front of Bai Lu and said coldly, “Are you finished?”

Seeing the tension building up into a possible confrontation, Gao Yuan walked over, and he asked He San Qing, “Who is this guy?”

In the presence of Big Boss Gao Yuan, the skinny lad was basically non-existent, He San Qing did not care about him anymore. He turned to Gao Yuan and offered meaningful and heartfelt words. “If only you had not detached yourself from society. Look at you now, everybody dares to step over your head.”

Gao Yuan put out his hand. “Don’t make false claims. The one getting stepped all over is Bai Lu.”