Maverick Chef - Chapter 5：The Young Masters Trio

Speak of the devil, and he appears. Policewoman Sun Min walked by in her casual clothing. She saw a few people gathering in an intense discussion; the road was completely wet. She joined the group and asked, “What’s going on here?”

Bai Lu raised his hand and answered. “Police Sister, I called the police. Someone threw feces in front of my house.”

“You have just arrived in the Northern City and have already offended somebody?” Unexplainably, Sun Min felt uncomfortable just by looking at Bai Lu.

“It’s not like that. The mafia wanted to collect protection fees, but I did not comply.”

“Nonsense! Since when did the mafia exist in the capital?” Sun Min scowled at him.

“Right, it doesn’t make sense to talk to her.” Bai Lu might as well keep his mouth shut, so he took a whisk broom to sweep away the water. “Excuse the way.”

“What’s the matter with you? I was asking you a question.” Sun Min also had a bad temper.

Bai Lu ignored her, and he mumbled, “Bumped into two ancestors today.” One was Sun Min, the other was Gao Yuan.

“What did you say? Are you looking for trouble? Identification card!” Sun Min suddenly realized, that there was a scent of a thief on this lad. No wonder she felt uncomfortable to look at him.

The boss of the dumpling store was puzzled, he said, “Xiao Sun, someone else is making trouble. What’s the point of investigating him?”

“There’s no harm in investigating more thoroughly.”

Bai Lu had no choice but to go back to the house to retrieve his ID. Sun Min continued to ask, “Have you obtained the temporary residence permit?”

“Fairy Sister, I just arrived here three days ago!” Bai Lu was a little pissed.

“Liar! It’s already the fourth day!” Four days ago, Bai Lu had asked Sun Min for directions.

“Fine, you won. This b*tch has a surprisingly good short-term memory.” He remained silent.

“If you are visiting the relatives on your holidays, then stay here well-behaved, and stay out of trouble; If you are here on a long stay, bring along the relevant documents and apply for your temporary residence permit.”

“What do you mean by the relevant documents?” he asked.

However, Sun Min ignored him. She put down his ID, turned around and left.

“Such a gloomy person. If we were in the desert, I would have definitely taught her a good lesson.” Bai Lu was brimming with anger.

Li Huang was a little confused, so he asked Bai Lu, “Have you ever offended her?”

“Why would I want to offend her?”

“Then why did she treat you in that manner? Usually, this lady would be rather pleasant. She has a good heart and personality, not to mention her promising career and beauty, but she is still single…” Li Huang was advertising for Sun Min; Wang Ruo Mei and the others also agreed.

Bai Lu was shocked. “You guys have too low an expectation for what is defined as ‘good.’ ” He continued to sweep away the water.

The next day morning, Bai Lu had just woken up, but somebody was knocking on the door.

Opening the shutter door to take a look, he realized that all the effort spent yesterday night was in vain, as the floor was entirely covered with shit. He frowned and said, “Such talents, for them to be able to obtain so much manure within the capital city.”

Li Huang, the boss of the dumpling store, stood from afar and held a stick in his hand. Previously he must have used this tool to knock on the door. Seeing Bai Lu had emerged, he shouted, “There’s no way to do our business if this continues. Hurry up and take care of those few gangsters.”

Bai Lu replied, “Yes.” Then he connected the water hose and repeated the same flushing work he did yesterday night.

He was busy all the way past 9 am, and wasted a few tons of fresh water, just to clean up the road and walls.

Gao Yuan drove over. After he got off the car, he pinched his nose and asked, “What’s that smell?”

“Manure,” Bai Lu responded.

“What’s that?”

“Shit.”

The ground was full of water, and Bai Lu was holding the whisk broom. Obviously, he was trying to clean up something. Gao Yuan pondered, then he asked, “Was it those gangsters yesterday that did this? I will still maintain my original proposition. If I take care of them for you, you have to cook for me.”

“No need.” Bai Lu took out a chair and sat by the wall, like a fully prepared hunter waiting idly for the rabbits to come by.

He was a little displeased because he had originally wanted to visit Zhang Lao San’s daughter today. But thanks to a few hooligans, he had to delay it until tomorrow.

“The soup yesterday was amazing. My grandpa really enjoyed eating it. I want to order a meal now, take away.” Gao Yuan declared his intentions.

“It’s not time yet. Queue up,” Bai Lu said calmly.

Seeing how much this person liked to put up this nonchalant behavior, Gao Yuan flared up his temper. “Are you out of your mind? There’s not even that many people eating here. What’s the point of queueing?”

“There are no customers now, but it doesn’t imply that there will be no customers in the future. The rules have to be obeyed,” he responded casually.

“Good, just you wait. Damn it.” Gao Yuan really wanted to beat up this asshole, but since it was rare that his grandpa had the appetite to eat something, he couldn’t possibly beat up the chef.

Seeing the puddles on the floor, he couldn’t let his grandpa eat the food that was tainted with the foul smell. Therefore, even though he really wanted to kick his ass, he still had to do something to help, so he fumbled for his phone. “Xiao San, come to Xiao Wang’s Village Road.”

Half an hour later, two flamboyantly good-looking sports cars drove into the street. At the same time, Gao Yuan’s phone rang, and he said, “Drive ahead, to the entrance of the market.”

A minute later, the two sports cars stopped, and four young people came out: two men and two women. The men looked proud and arrogant, while the ladies were pretty and scantily clad, which revealed their pale and tender skin with long legs that were white as snow. It was really distracting.

The first guy that walked over was wearing bright red clothes, red pants with red shoes and a red vest. Even his socks were red. After he got off the car, he gave Gao Yuan’s black sedan a kick, and he said, “Still driving this broken car?”

“Shut up. I need your help,” he said in a serious manner.

“What’s the matter?” At the back, a young man with a Mohican hairstyle came over with a beautiful lady in his arms.

The guy with the full red attire was called He San Qing—he was nicknamed Xiao San—and he said, “Just now I was playing basketball with Xiao Zhi. We heard that you are in trouble, so he wanted to come and take a look.”

Xiao Zhi was the guy with the Mohican hairstyle that was embracing the beautiful lady. With a smile, he said, “Young Master Yuan, who dares to provoke you?”

Gao Yuan ignored him, and he asked He San Qing, “Who’s in charge of Xiao Wang’s Village?”

“Let me check.” He San Qing used his phone, and after a while, he hung up. “You have to look for Old Shao.”

“Me? Look for him?” Gao Yuan sneered sarcastically.

“Right. You are the Grandmaster.” He San Qing used his phone again. “Hey, Brother Shao, it’s Xiao San here. I am at Xiao Wang’s Village Road, and there’s a little problem here”—he covered the phone to ask Gao Yuan, “Young Master, so what’s the problem?”

Gao Yuan said, “Yesterday, there were three gangsters in white vests that came here to collect protection fees, and they even splashed manure.”

“Understood.” He San Qing continued the phone call—”there’s a restaurant here, which is called the Great 5-Star Restaurant. There were people collecting protection fees from them, and also they splashed the restaurant with manure.”

After a few more exchange of words, He San Qing put down the phone. With a face full of confusion, he examined the Great 5-Star Restaurant.

Gao Yuan was impatient. “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘There’s no one inside Xiao Wang’s Village that dares to collect protection fees. They must be from somewhere else.’ ”

“That’s all?” Gao Yuan wasn’t satisfied.

“What else could have been done? Don’t tell me that you expect him to dispatch the police to catch them? Catch who by the way?”

Gao Yuan remained silent. Xiao Zhi joined the discussion. “No one dares to collect protection fees along this street? Why is that so?”

He San Qing pouted his lips in the direction of the Great 5-Star Restaurant. He did not utter a single word.

Xiao Zhi walked towards the door to take a look. “Just because of this?” If there was a vote to select the restaurant with the lousiest interior decoration in the entire city, this one would definitely be one of the front-runners.

Seeing that Gao Yuan was not speaking, He San Qing said, “Be patient. Since Old Shao was informed, there would definitely be updates soon. Lets wait a while.”

Ten minutes later, Old Shao called back. He San Qing listened and then thanked him. He hung up his phone and said to Gao Yuan, “He just asked the few gang leaders in the area but they said that they were also unaware.”

Gao Yuan felt embarrassed. All he wanted was to accomplish something, so that he could impress his dad. Never did he expect that he would fail to even locate three gangsters. His gaze turned cold. He thought for a while and asked, “What is Hei Zi doing?”

“Isn’t it just three small hooligans? Is there really a need to make such a big deal?” Bai Lu interrupted their conversation. “Alright alright, I appreciate your intentions. Let me settle this by myself. If I couldn’t handle it then I would call you. How about that?” Honestly speaking, this guy was actually quite passionate, to initiate the responsibility for all the trouble.

Listening to what he said, He San Qing sized him up. Then he asked Gao Yuan, “Who is this?”

“Ignore him. Just another idiot,” he said, with a condescending tone.

Bai Lu sighed, and he thought, “Just how divided must his family be to foster a person with such a split personality?”

In a blink of an eye, it was already afternoon. At 11 am, the people that came with Tong An Quan yesterday for a meal brought their own friends along. The whole bunch of people wanted to enter the restaurant.

Bai Lu blocked the way. He pointed to the wooden sign and said, “Lunch service starts at 12noon. There’s still more than half an hour. Queue up, but before you do please take a look at the rules. Don’t just wait in line for a long time and end up with no seats.”

When this bunch of people saw Gao Yuan, they greeted him continuously. He San Qing embraced the beautiful lady and laughed secretly beside him. “Your colleagues? They are really odd.”

“Buzz off,” he scolded him. Then he said to his colleagues, “I am the first, queue up behind me.” Speaking of which, he looked towards He San Qing and said, “Don’t say that I am not looking out for you. I will let you guys queue behind me.”

“Young Master, don’t joke with us. Are you seriously eating here?” He San Qing looked at him with disbelief.

“Cut the crap. The four of you can occupy the second table.”

This meant that two tables were already taken, so the people that came behind them hurriedly formed their own groups. “There are only four tables left. Hurry up and form a group.”

The beautiful lady beside Xiao Zhi asked, “Is there really a need for such exaggeration?”

Xiao Zhi’s real name was Si Ma Zhi. He looked at the beautiful lady and said, “Whatever Brother Yuan says, we shall follow.”

“Right. We shall listen to the boss,” He San Qing said grudgingly.

As the group of people queued up noisily, two minibusses pulled up to the front door. The door opened, and twelve young people came out. It was a sea of white vests; some of them that were holding rods paved the way forward. “Let us through.”

The group of white collared workers hurriedly moved out of the way. The bunch of people in white vests scanned the group condescendingly. Suddenly, they noticed the two beautiful ladies with exposed figures. With a sound of surprise, their eyes swept up and down the girls without any discretion.

He San Qing had a heavy expression. He asked Gao Yuan, “Brother Yuan?”

Gao Yuan stared coldly at this bunch of gangsters, and he said softly, “Call Hei Zi to come here.”

He San Qing laughed, and he said, “Ok then.”

The white vests walked towards the door. “Boss, have you made your decision?”

Bai Lu supported the glass door. He looked towards them with a beaming smile. “Look at who just came? Waited a long time for you guys to show up.”

“Have you decided?” There were ten or so people, and they were only in their twenties. At such a youthful and fearless age, they dared to commit such brazen acts. They completely disregarded the existence of the surrounding people, and blackmailed Bai Lu in broad daylight.

“I have decided,” he replied with a faint smile. Also he turned towards He San Qing and said, “There’s no need to call.”

“Will you pay or not?” The baldy yesterday walked to the front.

“The payment is a must, but it is you guys that should pay me.” After he finished, he rushed into the crowd. His punches were like thunder and his kicks were fast as the wind. Just one strike for each person, and in less than 5 seconds, all twelve of them were lying on the ground.

Bai Lu crouched in front of the baldy. “Let me settle the bill for you. Yesterday you attacked me twice with manure. That made me very sad. The first one is forgiven on account of your immaturity, so let’s make it $5k. The second time there was much more manure, so that would be $15k. And today you also came to look for a beating, which was pretty exhausting for me to beat you guys up. One strike is worth a $100 so lets capped it at $1k in total. In addition, the price of water is at $1k, and my expenses for the hard work is at $3k. Just give me $25k will do.”

In just a blink of an eye, the bunch of gangsters was all defeated. The rest of the bystanders were flabbergasted. Wasn’t that just like the movies?

He San Qing asked Gao Yuan, “Brother Yuan, what is the history of this magnificent deity?”

Gao Yuan secretly felt lucky, he thought, “Thankfully I did not engage in a fist fight with this guy.”

Bai Lu have trained in martial arts his whole life. He controlled the force of his punches with great precision, so no one was hurt. Shortly after, the gangsters stood up one by one. They pointed at Bai Lu and started cursing.