Maverick Chef - Chapter 8：Her Name is Zhang Sha Sha

Bai Lu carefully examined the girl. She was thin and weak, and not very tall, with a slightly tanned complexion. Her hand was a tad rough, but with a rather attractive face. She had big eyes and tiny lips, which made her look gentle and adorable. However, there was simply no resemblance or similarities with Zhang Lao San.

Their argument, lured out a middle-aged man. He walked out from the village entrance, and as he walked over he shouted. “What’s going on?”

“There’s news about her dad.” The young guy pointed at Sha Sha and remarked.

“So why are you holding a knife in your hand?” the middle-aged man asked.

“Oh, that’s nothing.” He turned around and ran away immediately.

The middle-aged man asked Bai Lu, “Who are you?”

“My name is Bai Lu; an acquaintance of Zhang Lao San. I am entrusted with his will, so I came here to hand over some items to his daughter.”

“What items are they?”

“This bunch of people is so troublesome,” he thought, and he asked, “Is she Zhang Fa Kui’s daughter?”

Perhaps it was because she did not want to air her dirty laundry in public; Sha Sha stepped up onto the road. “Come with me.”

“Where to?” Bai Lu asked.

“To show you the proof you need.” Sha Sha led Bai Lu into the village. They crossed into a courtyard. “Wait here.” She entered the residence.

“This chick is really cool.” Bai Lu examined the house. It was a very classic rural house with two bedrooms with a kitchen in between. It just looked a little run-down.

Sha Sha came out of the house. “Here’s my ID and the household register. Ok, you may leave now.”

“Your mother is not at home?”

“Nope. Please leave right away. Also, don’t come back ever again. You let him know, that I don’t acknowledge him as my father.”

Her name was Zhang Sha Sha, and she was 15 years old. Both father and daughter have never met each other. Even before she was born, Zhang Lao San was already sentenced to the desert prison.

After he confirmed her identity, Bai Lu took out $2k and his contact address, phone number, and also a few photographs. “I own a small restaurant in the Northern City. If there’s anything you need, do not hesitate to get in touch with me. I will definitely help you.” He did not want to hand over too much money, for fear of bringing trouble to the girl.

“Take it away. I do not need anything.” Her voice was very detached.

“Then just burn it up.” Bai Lu turned around and left.

The young guy from before ran over from the corner of the street. The moment he saw Bai Lu, he screamed. “Hurry up and scram!”

Bai Lu laughed, and he magnanimously pardoned the imprudence of the young man. Then he left to look for the public bus station.

When he reached home at around 6 pm, there were already many people queueing outside the door. As soon as they saw him, someone shouted. “You are really not keeping up with the clock at all. What time is it already. Are you opening the shop or not?

Bai Lu laughed as he raised the shutter doors. “Only six tables.”

The people queueing at the front rushed into the restaurant, hoping to occupy the more favorable seats.

After all six tables were filled, there were still five people outside the door that refused to leave. They asked Bai Lu, “Boss, could you add one more table.”

Bai Lu refused. “Come earlier tomorrow.” Then he closed the doors of the shop.

“Get ready to pay $30 for each person. Hand it over to the counter personally.” Bai Lu walked back into the kitchen.

This fellow was really rude and eccentric. But since they came here for a meal, they had to follow his rules. And the customers stood up to pay one after another.

There was always the first-timers who did not fully understand the rules. “What is up with this restaurant? There are no waiters to take orders?”

Just as there were people with questions, there were also people who answered. In the crowd sat a girl with a white skin complexion, with big-framed glasses, she held her phone tightly. With a face full of curiosity, she listened to the other customers, and also sneakily took photos.

After 30 minutes, the dishes were served continuously. On average it took five minutes per table. After all the dishes were served, Bai Lu collected the money. “There are only 10 minutes left to the end of dinner service. Hurry up and finish your food.”

“Damn. There are actually people who run their business like this?” The girl with the white skin complexion thought. Her eyes lit up with surprise, and she secretly took some photos of Bai Lu.

It seemed like Bai Lu already knew that she was taking his photos. He faced the opposite direction with his head held low, but it wasn’t clear to her what he was doing.

“Dong Dong Dong.” Somebody was knocking on the door. Bai Lu turned around and looked. Gao Yuan signaled him by waving his hands. “Open the door.”

“Grow some brains.” Bai Lu was lazy to respond.

“It’s an emergency.” Gao Yuan held up a certification by the doctor which described the anorexic tendencies of his grandpa. The doctor also recommended a conservative treatment plan.

In this first round, Bai Lu completely admitted defeat. He walked over to open the door.

He entered the restaurant while laughing heartily. Then he slapped over $20, with not even a single cent more. “Dude, I hope this will piss you off.”

“$50.” Bai Lu kept his arm extended.

“Is this extortion.”

“It’s up to you.”

Gao Yuan was so mad that his facial features were all deformed. He hesitated for a while, and handed over $30 more. This time in the second round, Bai Lu turned out to be the victor.

Bai Lu asked, “Where’s the lunch boxes?”

“How could you still not have lunch boxes? Don’t forget. You are the one that owns the restaurant,” Gao Yuan shouted.

Bai Lu kept quiet; he just looked at him with a slight smile. Gao Yuan persisted for a while but still ended up leaving the shop.

In the third round, Bai Lu remained the winner.

Witnessing such a dispute, the girl with white skin was a little curious. She recorded the entire incident with her phone.

After 15 minutes, Gao Yuan carried back a big box that was more than a meter high. He placed it on the floor, then he rushed into the kitchen with a grim expression.

“Take three lunch boxes out for me, and then wash them clean.” Bai Lu’s voice emanated from the kitchen.

“Are you actually serious?” Gao Yuan was enraged.

“It’s up to you. Those are your lunch boxes. If you do not want to wash it, I will just use them straight away.”

Gao Yuan ran out of the kitchen in a fit of rage. He opened the cardboard box, took out the lunch boxes and went back into the kitchen to wash them.

The lunch boxes he had bought were those kinds that were gigantic with thermal insulating properties. For a total of three lunch boxes that were filled to the brim with food, $50 wasn’t considered to be very expensive. However, Gao Yuan was still very mad. He collected the lunch boxes and darted out of the restaurant. Then he drove away in his car.

After waiting for all the customers to leave, the girl with white skin complexion walked over. “Boss, it’s nice to meet you.”

Bai Lu tilted his head and looked at her, without saying anything.

“My name is Cheng Lai Lai. You can just call me Lai Lai. I am the editor of the website “Food in the Northern City”. Not sure if you are keen to do an interview? It would greatly benefit your reputation and help in expanding your business.”

“Not interested.” Bai Lu tidied up the place.

“Do not assume that our website is not popular—”

Before she could finish, Bai Lu repeated his statement. “Not interested. Please kindly leave; I am not going to see you out.”

“You!” Cheng Lai Lai groaned angrily, then she left in a hurry.

On the same night, a post appeared on the internet which introduced the Great 5-Star Restaurant. It described the distinct differences between this small restaurant as compared to others. The person who posted it, Cheng Lai Lai, objectively reported from the perspective of a customer, what had happened inside the restaurant. Additionally, she also uploaded relevant photos of the incident. In conclusion, the restaurant was great. The price was fair considering the quality of the food. The only catch was that the owner of the restaurant was a stubborn mule.

“Food in the Northern City” was a local website that was established spontaneously by a bunch of white-collar foodies. It objectively reviewed the restaurants within the city that had a distinguished quality of tasty food, to bring more convenience to the general public. They also had a big following.

After Cheng Lai Lai posted, some people responded quickly: “Judging from the shop, interior decorations, and the food, there is nothing spectacular. So how delicious could the food be? Could it be superior to ‘The Great Heavens?’ ”

“The Great Heavens” was one of the top restaurants in the capital city. All the customers must make prior reservations. The restaurant also has the power to reject any customers. With that last point, it was very similar to Bai Lu’s Great 5-Star Restaurant.

When all her hard work was not appreciated by others, Cheng Lai Lai felt a little unhappy. As soon as she wanted to respond, someone else posted: “Looking at the state of the dishes, it could still be considered acceptable. It was simple yet elegant, but then what is the defining factor? For example, like the Tanyoto Steamboat Restaurant, Chang Family’s Ribs, Laobian Dumplings, they all have a specialty dish. So what is the specialty dish for this restaurant? Also, the interior decoration is simply horrible. Just looking at the walls would be enough to make someone lose their appetite.”

Cheng Lai Lai pondered, “Indeed. What exactly is the specialty dish of the Great 5-Star Restaurant? Also, the interior decoration is really horrendous.”

As she was groundlessly mulling over the issue, a few people posted in succession. The general consensus was a sense of disapproval towards this restaurant. Cheng Lai Lai regained her thoughts. She looked at the comments and realized that not a single person agreed with her views. Her pettiness grew, and she thought, “Humph! Whatever. Since I already informed you guys, if you choose not to believe me, then you are losing out on this delicious treat.”

Thus, she shut down her computer, and then went to bed.

And so, the Great 5-Star Restaurant also lost a possible chance of becoming famous.

The next day afternoon, at 10.30 am, there was already people queueing outside the door of the Great 5-Star Restaurant.

Many people had a mentality to blindly follow the crowd; they loved to join the commotion. As soon as they saw people queueing up, a few uncles and aunties crowded over. “What’s up? What’s selling here?”

As soon as they realized they were queueing for food, one older lady turned around and walked away with much disdain. “No matter how good it is, could it actually be better than home cooked food made with care?

Several others nodded their head one by one. “Exactly. It’s not like we couldn’t cook. Eating in a restaurant, putting aside the price, it’s also unhygienic.” They left as a unison group.

Not long after the elderly left, two taxis pulled up along the side of the street. Six beautiful ladies stepped out of the car. They were very well dressed and appeared exceptionally stunning. The lady at the forefront took a look at the line. She completely ignored the queue, and she went ahead to knock on the door.

Bai Lu was day-dreaming in the house. He was considering to buy a computer, otherwise, it was getting really boring. When he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door, he looked up and discovered that it was the same girl that was with He San Qing the other day. He did not bother to get up, instead he just pointed at the line. What he meant was for her to queue up.

The girl was a little unhappy. She kept on knocking relentlessly.

Bai Lu had no choice but to open the door. “What’s the matter?”

“Don’t you remember me? My name is Le Miao Miao.”

Bai Lu nodded his head.

Le Miao Miao said, “There are more than 10 people queueing before me. I am afraid that there are no more tables left. Could you have a little discussion with them, so that they would be willing to share the tables? For the sake of eating a meal from your restaurant, we even departed from home at 9 am in the morning.” The girl requested with a very coy voice.

Bai Lu shook his head. “I cannot make decisions for them. You have to go and negotiate yourself.” He shut the door and went back to his day-dreaming session.

As a beautiful woman, there were many things that she was entitled to because of a slight preferential treatment. Especially so when she dealt with other men. Unfortunately, this kind of privilege was unavailable here with Bai Lu. Le Miao Miao angrily stomped her feet a little, then she turned around to look at the few dozen people queueing up at the front door. There were both men and women, the elderly and also the young.

Then she took another look at Bai Lu. That guy was just staring at the ceiling without any motion. God knows what he was searching for.

Le Miao Miao had no choice but to do some accounting work. With a soft and gentle voice, she inquired from each one of the people: How many people they were with, and if it would be possible to join tables.

After some effort, she finally secured a table for the six of them.

The rest of the chicks couldn’t take it. They snorted and said, “Isn’t it just a simple meal? For such a tiny run-down restaurant, was that all worth it? It was only because you wanted to eat here. Otherwise, we would rather just eat the Spicy Hot Pot instead. There is one store at the opening of the street.”

Now it was summertime, so the ladies wore little clothing. Some of them were in hot pants, while some were in skirts. The only similarities were their plimsoll shoes, shades, and long white legs. Their legs were so dazzlingly white and beautiful, that it made the girls looked youthful and full of energy.

The moment they joined the queue, it became a real-life marketing commercial for the Great 5-Star Restaurant. It attracted the attention of countless people which looked like a competition for hip twisting. Even when they walked far away, their hips were still twisted so that they could look back. An even greater number of people gathered behind the six beautiful girls to join the queue so that they could get close to them with a legitimate reason.

After 15 minutes, Le Miao Miao went to knock on the door a second time.

Bai Lu stopped looking at the ceiling. He opened the door and looked at Le Miao Miao, without saying a single word.

Le Miao Miao softly said, “The negotiations were successful. We are the 6th table. Could we come in first and wait inside? You see, there are always people trying to chat us up.”

Bai Lu looked over, at this moment he gasped. “So many beautiful women!”

It startled Le Miao Miao, and she said, “What are you saying?”

“I am saying that you girls are very beautiful.” In his mind, he had hidden the other half of the sentence. “If the guys from the prison were able to witness this sight, they would be restless for an entire week.”