Maverick Chef - Chapter 28：Peaceful Happiness

“Why are you asking me about that? Anyways, Zheng Yi’s call to scold you reminded me of something. I think that he is one of the teachers at the Culinary School. Why not go over there and help him to teach the kids about cooking?”

Bai Lu shook his head and declined. “I am the Wild Lu Zi. I am too unorthodox for the school. It is better if I start my own class.”

“Then so be it. I will go out and queue.”

“How would I dare to let you stand outside. For your sake, the restaurant will have to change its rules again. In the future, elderly people who are around your age would be able to wait inside the restaurant.”

“That’s more like it. Even in the public transport, there are already designated seats for the elderly. How could you not provide the same privilege here?” Grandpa Gao took a sip of water, and he asked, “There’s no tea?”

“Nope.”

“Tomorrow, I will ask Gao Yuan to send over a bag of tea leaves. Elderly that eats here—”

“That’s unacceptable. If you let you drink tea, what would happen if someone else wants to drink alcohol?”

The old and the young were sitting together for a friendly chat. Bao Zi came over to request a leave of absence. “Brother Bai, I want to buy the handphone. Could you let Sha Sha accompany me to go together? I do not know how to choose.”

“Go ahead and have fun outside. It is also fine if you want to come back slightly later.” It was the National Day today, so it was natural to have fun during the holidays.

It was an eventful day today. To be accurate, all the other days were also very eventful.

After chatting for a while, Bai Lu started to reread his cooking manual while Grandpa Gao read his newspaper. His newspaper was delivered by a young guy who was nimble and full of vigor.

The young guy came into the restaurant, without making any noise from his steps. Bai Lu suddenly felt a shiver ran down his spine. He pondered in his heart. “The Gao Family was truly impressive. They even had bodyguards accompanying them. And they were even the crème de la crème.”

At the same time, he was also impressed with Grandpa Gao. Since he had a personal guard, he must have been quite an extraordinary person. But when he came over to the restaurant the other day, he was willing to queue behind the others outside. And every time he came over, he was always strolling in by himself. The bodyguard would secretly keep watch by a distance.

They sat around reading until 5 pm. Bai Lu went back to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients. At the same time, Bao Zi came back, followed by Sha Sha and Ding Ding who was wearing large shades.

The moment Bao Zi came back, he started looking for work to do. Bai Lu said, “Didn’t I ask you to enjoy the day off?”

Bao Zi did not respond; He took the cloth and wiped the tables.

Sha Sha raised the box and said, “This phone looks nice right? I chose it, and also the number as well.”

After hearing this, Bai Lu was surprised. He thought, “Has she become more cheerful? She seems a little different as compared to half a month ago.”

First, he looked at Bao Zi. He thought, “That guy is even more obstinate than the old Sha Sha. All he cares about is work.” On the other hand, Ding Ding was hugging Sha Sha while they chatted. It looked like they were as close as sisters. And Sha Sha also had a smile on her face.

He had a revelation that he must keep Ding Ding around.

Sha Sha was starting to mature into a woman. Naturally, there were differences between men and women. Also, she had a very dark history in her childhood, so she would not share her feelings with Bai Lu and Bao Zi. But Ding Ding was different; She was a celebrity, but she was friendly. It was quite easy for them to connect.

In his heart, he has made a decision. Thus, he became much more passionate. “Lady Ding, what would you like to eat tonight?”

She said, “Can you cook at home instead? Otherwise, can I bring the food home, so we do not have to eat here?”

“Perfectly fine. Sha Sha, you two should go home. Bao Zi and I would be alright here.”

Sha Sha said, “I will go back and change my clothes. I will be back in an instant.”

Bao Zi heard her, and he threw down his cloth immediately. “Let me go back with you.”

Bai Lu secretly smiled. He thought, “This guy is so worried about Sha Sha.”

After a while, Sha Sha returned with a new set of clothes. She tidied up the place a little, and the restaurant started its business.

The rules were the same. The customers only had the freedom of paying the money. Once they entered the restaurant, Bai Lu had the right to choose what they could eat.

As he wanted to make Shuizhu Beef for Grandpa Gao, he laid the cabbage on the bottom of a small iron cooking pot. Then he added some ginger and garlic slices; he placed the pot on the counter for prepared dishes. Bai Lu had to cook for the other customers first.

All the three stoves were fired up simultaneously. He worked very nimbly and served up a table of dishes every 10 minutes. Bai Lu could manage with the full capacity, as his hands were moving at maximum velocity.

Bao Zi was envious. He thought, “If I master this culinary skill, I could open a small restaurant and support my mum, and even Sha Sha as well.” However, he was a little unwilling to give up his big dreams, and he was not content with being a measly chef. He wanted to make a quick buck like how it was portrayed in the movies, whereby the character would suddenly be wealthy.

In the midst of his daydreaming, Bai Lu instructed him. “Serve the dishes.” And Bao Zi and Sha Sha began to work.

The dishes that were ready to be served were also placed on the counter. Bao Zi accidentally served the iron cooking pot to Cheng Lai Lai’s table. She pointed at the iron pot and asked, “What kind of dish is this?”

Bao Zi reacted resourcefully. “Hotpot Cabbage.”

“Hotpot Cabbage? The cabbage looks raw to me.” She was a little hesitant.

The customers beside her interjected. “It doesn’t matter whether it is raw or cooked. As long as it is a dish by the Great 5-Star Restaurant, it must be of exquisite quality. Eat it.” Then they started to dig in.

Cheng Lai Lai pondered for a moment. “Yea, right. Even if the chef is a prick, he still cooks amazing dishes.” She started digging in as well.

As soon as she bit into it, she realized that the taste was weird. She looked at the others next to her, and they also had strange expressions on their faces. Then they heard Bai Lu’s voice emanating from the kitchen. “Where’s the cabbage? Bao Zi, where’s the cabbage for the Shuizhu Beef?”

After she heard him, she spat out the cabbage right away. Then she took out her phone to record the incident; She wrote that this restaurant was unique.

…

On the same night, the Hotpot Cabbage incident became an internet joke. As the person posting, Cheng Lai Lai was very meticulous. She detailed everything that happened in the restaurant and re-introduced the newly renovated restaurant in a different light. In the photos, the little restaurant was full of customers. Each one of them devoted single-heartedly to eating the food. This post has finally attracted the interest of the online foodies.

Somebody asked, “Was this the same restaurant that you have posted the last time? These are two entirely different restaurants!”

The newly renovated Great 5-Star Restaurant was indeed very appealing. Even though the place was small, but it was clean and unique, especially the spacious open-style kitchen with the transparent glass. The environmentally friendly automatic dishwashing machine, plus the chef dressed in pure white uniform, made the entire place look like a high-end Western restaurant. The best thing was that the price was very reasonable. Thus, the group of foodies decided to take the opportunity of the long holidays to visit this place for a sumptuous meal.

As soon as the foodies saw the new updates, they compared the number of people with the available seats in the restaurant. They became depressed as they found out that they would exceed the maximum seating capacity.

After Cheng Lai Lai finished posting those updates, she shut her computer and went to sleep. However, she ‘forgot’ to mention the most critical information: The Great 5-Star Restaurant was trendy; A customer must queue for at least two hours for a meal.

But if those foodies were genuinely brilliant, they should be able to deduce this out by themselves. After all, there were photographs and information included in the post. The introduction of the restaurant was also written in great detail. If they could not even connect the visible dots, then there should be nothing much to blame on the Great Lady Cheng!

Bai Lu did not know that someone was helping him with the advertisement. While he looked at Bao Zi who was dozing off in the living room, he contemplated how he could earn the additional $3million, as he wanted to buy a house.

Bai Lu was equipped with a lot of skills, like gambling and stealing. He thought, “Why would I use these methods to get the money? I might as well go and dig out the treasures from Zhang Lao San’s coffin again.”

He seriously considered for more than 10 seconds. Then he thought, “Forget it. It’s better to just dig for the treasure.”

Speaking of the money, he recalled the Top Chef Contest. “What kind of shitty contest is this? Every contestant has to pay more than $1k. The first place would only receive $2k, while the second place would only receive back $1k. And the third place would only receive a certificate of participation.” He condemned the bunch of organizers of this contest.

After they had breakfast the next day morning, Bao Zi went to the restaurant to help, Sha Sha stayed at home to study, while Ding Ding lazed around in the living room and watched television. Bai Lu was very humble, he passed the phone over the Ding Ding and asked, “How do I use this gadget? Why are there no games inside? Have I bought a fake phone?”

Ding Ding despised him. “That’s how a smartphone should be. The phone with all kinds of games inside would be fake.”

“Oh. Then where can I buy a fake phone?”

Ding Ding was stunned. “What do you mean by buying a fake phone? Just go online and download some games.”

“Aren’t you being harsh on me?” Bai Lu said with a bold and confident tone. “How would I know where to download the games?”

Ding Ding snatched the phone away from him and fiddle with it for a while. After 15 minutes, she returned it to him. “I have downloaded a few for you.”

Bai Lu fumbled around with the phone. “How come there isn’t the game Battle City?”

“I will battle your brains.” Ding Ding lost her temper.

Bai Lu looked at her with an innocent expression. “You are a celebrity. How could you scold people like this?”

“Celebrity? From the day we met, when have you treated me like a celebrity? Now you suddenly recalled that I am a celebrity?” This word was the actual trigger for Ding Ding.

Ding Ding was very, very, very, very stunningly beautiful. There could be an additional 10 plus signs behind the word: Beautiful. She was more beautiful than He Xiao Huan. In fact, she was much more attractive than most of the other celebrities. Any ordinary guy would not be able to take his gaze off her. Even if it was a successful individual who was trying to hold back his identity, or even if it was some guy who was trying to play it cool, they would all secretly check her out a couple of times.

Bai Lu was the only guy that treated her like air. Although they spent more than half a month together, he would hardly speak a word to her even though they saw each other every day. Today, she has finally managed to catch a few more words with him, but the real reason was still that he needed her help to download the games.

Bai Lu blinked his eyes innocently, and he said, “In my heart, I have always acknowledged you as a celebrity. To me, you are everything that I dreamed a celebrity should be like. However, I have decided not to say it. If I say it all the time, would you still believe me?” He made a sly move, and it was a great deception technique. He believed that he could smoke her with this blatant lie.

Unfortunately, he has severely underestimated his opponent. Ding Ding said, “I believe you. Why would I not believe you? How about you try and say it? I am listening now.”

“Oh my God!” The most terrifying living organism in the world was a smart and beautiful woman. Bai Lu conceded defeat, he took the phone and left the house.

Ding Ding shouted, “I knew that you were trying to cheat me. You big fat liar.”

Her voice was so loud that it attracted the attention of Sha Sha. She poked her head out from the bedroom. “What did Brother Bai do to you?”

After Bai Lu left the house, he kept sighing continuously. He thought, “How I am supposed to live here?” As he walked, his phone rang. It was Bao Zi who called from the restaurant, and he said that the organizing committee of the Top Chef Contest had called in to ask if he wanted a copy of the examination outline.

“What the hell. This is the Top Chef Contest, not the Chef Grading Examination! Why is there an examination?” Bai Lu was mad.

Bao Zi said, “The other person also mentioned that it would cost $50 each. If you want it, then you should hurry up and buy it. Tomorrow is an off day.”

“Today is already an off day right? He did not forget to earn money even on the holidays. What a hardworking boy.” Bai Lu said, “Got it.”

After he hung up the phone, he walked to the neighborhood and saw that someone was selling tangerines. He bought close to 3kg of the fruit, and he walked around while eating it. Suddenly, he had an epiphany. He has decided to not return to the restaurant and loitered about on the streets instead. He thought, “This is how my life should be. Looking at others walking hurriedly, and yet I am strolling so peacefully. This is what I call happiness.”

Pun for Bai Lu. Slang for unorthodox.