“Ta Ta Ta”. After Yuan Zhou went upstairs to wash up, he returned downstairs again. It was his current habit to go upstairs and wash up for a while every time he took a rest.
It was also considered to be a kind of rest. Of course, the more important thing was cleanliness and hygiene.
Once he arrived downstairs, Yuan Zhou opened the door habitually.
As soon as he pulled open the door, he took a step backwards instantly as a woman dressed in an overcoat was standing exactly outside the door.
The instant Yuan Zhou opened the door, the woman looked straight at Yuan Zhou, which greatly startled him.
“gave me a scare.” Yuan Zhou’s face remained taut as usual. At that moment, his consistent manner of keeping a taut face finally took effect. Though he complained about her in the heart, Yuan Zhou appeared quite calm and natural.
“Hello, Boss Yuan. I’m Zhong Lili. We have met before.” The woman reached out her white hand and prepared to shake hands with him.
“Um, yes.” Yuan Zhou nodded the head.
“I’m sorry. I forgot that you don’t like shaking hands.” After Yuan Zhou answered her, Zhong Lili drew back her hand naturally and then said.
“Never mind.” Yuan Zhou cared little about that. He just gestured for Zhong Lili to come into the restaurant.
That’s right. Yuan Zhou didn’t like shaking hands with people except with other chefs. Of course, he would never refuse to shake hands if it was a pretty female chef.
“Novels always lie.” Yuan Zhou couldn’t help ridiculing in his heart upon thinking of a pretty female chef.
According to most of the popular plot in novels, if the leading role was a chef, the people he met were basically all pretty female chefs who had good figures. What’s more, various lovable and attractive girls would come to learn from him proactively.
However, the truth was that Yuan Zhou had never seen even one. As a chef must have certain arm strength and waist strength, girls usually preferred to make desserts. Therefore, there were only a few women chefs, let alone a pretty female chef. So, Yuan Zhou declared that novels always lie.
“Boss Yuan, I came to help you apply the visa to Japan this time. You don’t need to do it by yourself. I will manage it for you.” Zhong Lili said in a straightforward manner.
“Okay. I will give you my ID later.” Yuan Zhou nodded the head.
“Alright. I will wait for you downstairs.” Zhong Lili said politely.
“Um.” After a simple answer, Yuan Zhou turned around and went upstairs.
Yuan Zhou never received customers after business hours. Therefore, Zhong Lili had no choice but to sit on the chair and wait dully.
“This Boss Yuan is really a blockhead. I have waited here for almost half an hour, but he doesn’t even give me a cup of water.” Once Yuan Zhou went upstairs, Zhong Lili complained discontentedly in a low voice.
Zhong Lili came so quickly because Zhou Shijie instructed her to apply for Yuan Zhou’s visa first. Besides that, she must complete this matter personally this time.
Zhou Shijie had been aware of the unexpected incident when they applied for the French visa last time, thus he would naturally give Zhong Lili this opportunity to remedy her fault.
Of course, Zhou Shijie didn’t think Yuan Zhou would take that to heart, but Zhong Lili must complete her jobs with the right attitude. After all, she was in charge of everything concerning the exchange meeting. As the exchange meeting was a competition of soft powers, nothing was allowed to go wrong.
“Dong Dong Dong”. Yuan Zhou was wearing black soft-soled cloth boots. As the Han Chinese Clothing on the body had lotus patterns, the shoes naturally had the same. They were embroidered with dark green lotus leaves. When they came into contact with the ground, they emitted a very light sound.
“Here’s my ID.” Yuan Zhou took out his own ID.
“Alright. Sorry for bothering you, Boss Yuan. At 6:00 a.m. three days later, I’ll come over to pick you up and drive you to the airport.” Zhong Lili said in a well-behaved manner.
“Um. When can the ID be returned?” Yuan Zhou asked casually.
“Don’t worry. I will return it to you tomorrow. I’m leaving now. See you tomorrow.” Zhong Lili said smilingly.
“See you.” Yuan Zhou nodded the head.
It didn’t require a very long time to apply for group visas concerning public affairs. Besides, Yuan Zhou didn’t need to go there in person. Regarding this matter, it was quite convenient.
Three days passed in a flash. Yuan Zhou had already given the request of leave to Zhou Jia last night and instructed her to come over to post it early in the morning. Therefore, Yuan Zhou was quite relieved when he left.
At 5:40 the next morning, Yuan Zhou pulled a silver luggage bag and walked out from the back door. He directly walked to the side street and waited for Zhong Lili to come to pick him up.
Zhong Lili arrived punctually. At 5:50, she drove a white Volvo XC60 and reached the street outside Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
Once the car stopped, Zhong Lili caught sight of Yuan Zhou who was waiting at the street intersection, hence she immediately got off the car.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting for so long, Mr. Yuan.” Zhong Lili said with an apologetic look.
“It’s just 5:50 now. Let’s go.” Yuan Zhou took a look at Zhong Lili and then said.
“Let me help you.” Zhong Lili wanted to receive Yuan Zhou’s suitcase, but Yuan Zhou just evaded her.
“No need.” Yuan Zhou refused her and then carried the suitcase to the trunk of the car by himself.
“Open it.” After Yuan Zhou stood still, he said again.
“Okay.” Zhong Lili walked quickly to Yuan Zhou again. She moved her foot under the trunk and shook it slightly, opening the trunk.
“Cars are really advanced nowadays. The remote control can even be installed on the feet.” Yuan Zhou looked at Zhong Lili’s feet and the trunk without turning a hair and muttered inwardly.
An ignorant fellow like Yuan Zhou could not drive, nor did he want to buy a car. Therefore, Yuan Zhou didn’t know there was actually a sensor below the trunk rather than a remote control being installed on a foot.
Zhong Lili had no idea of that. If she knew Yuan Zhou’s thoughts, she would definitely feel helpless. After all, it was really a crazy thought that a remote control was installed on a foot.
Having packed the suitcase in the trunk, the two of them got into the car. As usual, Yuan Zhou sat at the back seat even if the passenger side wasn’t occupied. He was accustomed to sitting behind.
“Mr. Yuan, there are 12 people in all who are going to Japan this time. Apart from Mr. Li Minghui and Mr. Liu Tong who comes from our province, the others have already checked into the hotel beside the airport. They will set out directly from the hotel.” When the car was running steadily on the highway, Zhong Lili said to Yuan Zhou.
“Um.” Yuan Zhou nodded the head, indicating that he was listening to her.
“Of all the 12 people, three come from our province and the rest are from other provinces. However, different chefs are basically good at different cuisines. Liu Tong and you are the two youngest chefs among them.” Zhong Lili said in detail.
“Liu Tong should be elder than me.” Yuan Zhou said abruptly.
“Yes. Mr. Liu is elder than you by one and a half year.” Zhong Lili was stunned for an instant and then answered.
Yuan Zhou naturally knew who Liu Tong was. During the All-Fish Banquet last time, he realized that Liu Tong was older than him. After all, it could be clearly seen that he was younger and more handsome than Liu Tong.
“We are heading for Tokyo, Japan this time. Because there’s a direct flight to Tokyo from Chengdu, we will leave from here. Everyone will have a separate room in the hotel. If you have any problems then, you can come to me at any time. I can speak Japanese.” Zhong Lili didn’t ask Yuan Zhou if he could speak Japanese, but only stated that she could. It was also a kind of courtesy in communication.
On the other hand, Yuan Zhou listened to her carefully the entire ride…