Time flew. Soon, the next evening came. For the whole day, Yuan Zhou did not cook any fish dishes. He was waiting for the banquet in the evening.
As usual, Yuan Zhou hung a banner saying a new dish would be served before the dinner, even if Zhou Shijie and Chu Xiao hadn’t arrived there yet.
After all, the dish wasn’t prepared for Chu Xiao only. Other customers could also order it under the condition that they conformed to the requirements, namely, Yuan Zhou’s rules.
“!!!!! Boss, Boss…!!!!!! Is this the price of the new dish?” Zhou Jia pointed at the wall and asked in surprise.
“Yes.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head calmly.
“Are you sure it’s correct?” Zhou Jia swallowed her saliva and looked at Yuan Zhou in astonishment.
Written on the wall was the following information.
Special Price for an All-Fish Banquet: 38880RMB per serving (note: There are 10 dishes in all for this banquet. It can be ordered only on occasions where a banquet is considered appropriate. Wasting is not allowed.)
Zhou Jia felt she probably wouldn’t have any opportunity to eat the banquet at such a price in her life. In Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, however, it might be acceptable. After all, a single dish of Phoenix Tail Prawns cost as much as 1288RMB. Since there were ten dishes in all included in the price, it wasn’t too expensive if one averaged it out.
“Um.” Looking at the two characters of “special price” on the wall, Yuan Zhou felt an ache in his balls, yet still maintained a peaceful expression on his face.
“What does the note at the latter part means?” Zhou Jia asked seriously.
Having accepted the high price, she naturally needed to understand everything else. Only in that way could she give the customers satisfactory answers.
“Birthday, important treats, offering birthday congratulations to the old, and business dinners.” Yuan Zhou brought out all the important occasions he could think of straightforwardly.
“Um. Okay, I got it.” Zhou Jia nodded and took note of them carefully.
“Report to me separately when it’s ordered later.” Yuan Zhou said in the end.
“Okay. Let me go open the door first.” Zhou Jia nodded her head and then said.
“Go ahead.” After Yuan Zhou said that, he began to prepare the ingredients directly.
“Everybody, mealtime is here. Please enter the restaurant for your meal.”The clear and melodious voice of Zhou Jia could be heard outside the door.
In the meantime, Yuan Zhou murmured under his breath, “There you go. I’m now putting my money into the cash box. Lucky it’s the special price, otherwise, how much pain I will be in when I eat it!”
After saying that, Yuan Zhou put the money amounting to 38880RMB into the cash box directly.
Well, Yuan Zhou preferred paying by cash. When he wasn’t in a good mood, he could comfort himself by counting the money.
“Teacher, this person is really arrogant. Why do we have to line up since he promised to treat us?” It was Liu Tong, the most talented one of the two disciples that Zhou Shjie brought with him, that spoke.
Liu Tong was about only 25 years old. He was dressed in the light blue business suit with a white shirt inside and light-colored pants. His hair was sharply spiked like the spines of the hedgehog. He had an active character and spoke straightforwardly, but also knew how to behave appropriately.
The one ahead of him was his eldest fellow classmate Li Minghui. He was the first that followed Zhou Shijie to study cooking and he appeared quite steady and reliable, like a senior classmate. He was neither tall nor short and was dressed in a black business suit. On hearing the words of Liu Tong, Li Minghui didn’t seem to agree with him on the surface, but actually, he wholeheartedly agreed with him in his heart.
No matter who stood treat, they all sent the invitation beforehand respectfully
“It is his rules.” Chu Xiao crossed his arms against the chest and said coldly at the side.
“What kind of rules? Master Chu, do you know this chef?” Liu Tong immediately approached him and asked.
“Master Chu, do you know him?” Liu Minghui couldn’t help asking him, either.
Apart from their own teacher Zhou Shijie, the two disciples admired Chu Xiao the most. Now that he said that, they naturally attached more importance to him.
“No, I don’t.” Chu Xiao said decisively.
Speaking of which, they indeed didn’t know each other. They even hadn’t ever completed any sort of formalities like shaking hands or self-introductions.
“This person has really impolite rules. He wants to treat us, but surprisingly lets us wait here.” Liu Tong said discontentedly.
“He’s indeed disrespectful.” Li Minghui also nodded and said when he found other customers ahead of them had started to eat in the restaurant.
“You can go back.” Chu Xiao said quite indifferently.
“Er…” With only a few words, Chu Xiao made the two people of Liu Tong and Li Minghui stop complaining.
“Stop it. Don’t you guys have even a little patience? Don’t be so rude.” Zhou Shijie said with a tone of dissatisfaction.
“We are not. I just feel that this practice is fairly unique.” After considering quite a while, Li Minghui brought out some not-so-bad words.
“The rules are always there in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. He doesn’t cook except during the mealtime and people have to line up if he wants to eat here. No one but is to blame but themselves if they come late.” Zhou Shijie criticized him severely.
“I’m sorry, teacher.” Li Minghui appeared to be about 40 years old. Once he heard that, he apologized.
But this apology was made to his teacher Zhou Shijie, not to Yuan Zhou.
At the other side, Liu Tong also admitted defeat and admitted his fault. After all, he must obey his teacher’s words. In his heart, however, he had a worse impression of Yuan Zhou.
“What the hell is up with this guy? Although he offers to treat us, he surprisingly kept us waiting here for half an hour.” Liu Tong laughed at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant secretly.
“Not very talented, but so hot-tempered.” Chu Xiao took a glimpse at the two people discontentedly and directly gave his own remarks.
Chu Xiao didn’t speak loudly, therefore, only Li Minghui and Liu Tong heard him. After freezing there for a little while, they pretended not to hear anything when they found Zhou Shijie didn’t hear it.
“Let’s wait patiently. It will be our turn very soon. I didn’t eat much at noon just for the sake of this dinner.” Zhou Shijie burst into laughter to lighten the atmosphere.
“Um.” Chu Xiao responded to him seriously.
“We are also looking forward to that.” Liu Tong revealed an artificial smile. He just looked a little mischievous and Zhou Shijie was already used to his careless and casual character, thus he didn’t say anything else.
“Chairman Zhou, do you know the menu today?” Chu Xiao suddenly asked that.
“Yes, of course I know.” Zhou Shijie nodded smilingly.
Chu Xiao turned to look at Zhou Shijie seriously and waited for his answer.
“But I can’t tell you now.” Zhou Shijie stroked his beard with his fingers before he continued saying.
“Oh.” Chu Xiao turned his head back and showed no special feelings.
“Haw-haw. You’ll know the menu later when we go inside. It is a big surprise.” Seeing Chu Xiao getting frustrated, Zhou Shijie immediately felt quite comfortable. The helplessness of seeing his disciples getting shamed instantly disappeared.
“No. 18, 19, 20 and 21, please come on in for your meal.” Zhou Jia stood at the door and reminded them loudly.
“Finally. Let me see if he’s going to serve dragon meat.” Liu Tong said softly with a tone of sarcasm.
When Zhou Shijie heard that, he gave a mean look at him and when he saw Liu Tong reveal a complaisant manner, he didn’t say anything more. This most talented disciple was always liked by the teacher and Zhou Shijie was more tolerant toward him.
“Ho Ho.” Chu Xiao laughed at him coldly and said no more. He went up and got seated directly.
He was seated at the right side of Zhou Shijie and Liu Tong at the left side. The eldest fellow disciple Li Minghui looked around with a frown and then went to sit beside Liu Tong.
“Nice to meet you, Chairman Zhou. Hello. Hi there, two sirs.” Yuan Zhou went up and greeted them personally.
Of course, that “hello” was said to Chu Xiao. For the remaining people that he didn’t know, Yuan Zhou just greed them with “Hi there”.
However, this made the most mature disciple, Li Minghui, become dissatisfied as no one had ever ignored him that much. After all, his teacher was one thing but he himself was also someone among his peers that had excellent craftsmanship.