Chapter 672 - The Meal Is on Me

Wu Hai turned to look at Ling Hong and said unhappily, “Hey, rich guy over there, why aren’t you saying anything.” Every time Wu Hai berated Ling Hong, he would call him rich guy.

Ling Hong rolled his eyes and said, “Didn’t I said that I already had my Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner and am only here to take a look?”

To be precise, Ling Hong’s family would have their Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner earlier. Since they were a big family, after the dinner, they would have a little gathering, chatting about everything.

As for Ling Hong, after the dinner, he felt somewhat empty. Therefore, he instinctively headed towards Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.

“Only sages can talk about work during a Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner. A rich second generation like me who is good for nothing can’t get used to that,” Ling Hong concluded.

“Only dumb f*cks will talk about work during the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.” It was rare for Wu Hai to cuss.

Ling Hong’s eyes lit up. It wasn’t often that he would agree with Wu Hai this much. He agreed repeatedly, “That’s right. That’s right. Dumb f*cks. Dumb f*cks.”

Sadly, Ling Hong’s family had the practice of talking about work during the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.

All of them were gathered here at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, each for their own reasons.

Ding. Ding. Someone else entered.

“Hi, Boss Yuan.” The newcomer stepped lightly into the shop and greeted softly.

“Huh? I thought you went back?” Wu Hai asked in astonishment when he saw that the newcomer was Wang Nan.

Wang Nan was Wu Zhou’s colleague. He would occasionally come to have a meal at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant as well. A week ago, he mentioned that he was going to buy the ticket back to his hometown for the Chinese New Year.

“I failed to get a ticket,” Wang Nan replied with a dull tone.

“Looks like he has been working overtime again,” a guy said understandingly.

Indeed, this Wang Chang would frequently work overtime. One only needed to look at his pale complexion for proof of that.

“Yeah, I have been working overtime everyday and only managed to finish the work yesterday.” Wang Nan nodded. He then continued helplessly, “And then, I failed to get a ticket no matter how hard I tried.”

“It’s the Chinese New Year peak period.” Sister Wan nodded sympathetically.

“Since I failed to go back home, the only other place I can think of is Boss Yuan’s place,” said Wang Nan.

Yuan Zhou did not say much. He merely pointed at an empty seat and said, “Have a seat.”

Just as Wu Hai was about to say something else, another person entered through the door.

“Why are you here?” Wu Hai pointed at Chu Xiao, displeasure on his face. It would seem like he was now prejudiced against everyone because his romantic time had been foiled.

Besides, he had never liked this Chu Xiao fellow. Perhaps his dislike was similar to how a dog would dislike water. They were naturally in conflict to one another.

With his sharp eyes, Chu Xiao immediately noticed that Yuan Zhou was kneading dough. In a very natural manner, he sat down and said, “Oh, I’m only here to have a look since I happen to be passing by. Are we eating Tangyuan today? I am quite an expert in matters concerning Tangyuan. Let me be the judge for the Tangyuan here. I can share my knowledge with you guys.”

“So you happen to pass by here from France? Wow, this shop must have been on the way, huh?” Wu Hai continued speaking with prejudice.

“Earth is round.” Chu Xiao nodded, completely undisturbed.

And before Wu Hai could reply, another newcomer arrived.

“The snow is so heavy. Looks like we’re quite lucky. Eh, everyone is here.” Jiang Changxi entered with Yu Chu.

“I thought you went overseas?” Ling Hong looked at the two newcomers.

“It was canceled. Our customer went back home for the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner. Therefore, we came here to have our New Year’s Eve dinner.” Jiang Changxi shrugged.

“Sorry for disturbing, Boss Yuan,” Yu Chu said courteously while patting the snowflakes off her shoulders.

“Stop being so formal. We’re all friends here.” Jiang Changxi patted Yu Chu’s shoulder and brought her over to a tiny table before sitting down.

Outside the restaurant, snowflakes slowly descended from the sky. Within the restaurant, everyone had their jackets off and were chattering amicably.

After sitting down, Yu Chu felt very uncomfortable. Therefore, he said, “Director Jiang, enjoy your meal. I’m fine going back and having some oats instead.”

“If I tell you to try the food here, just do it. Stop talking so much about it.” Jiang Changxi directly glared at him.

“But I really don’t feel like eating,” Yu Chu replied helplessly.

“You won’t say this after trying the food here,” Jiang Changxi replied confidently.

“That might be the case for others, but not me,” Yu Chu replied, also confidently.

“Don’t be so sure yet. Don’t let me catch you ordering an extra bowl after you tried it later.” Jiang Changxi had a crafty smile on her face.

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.” Yu Chu was still insisting.

As far as he was concerned, it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried anything good before. He merely felt that eating was a huge waste of time. Therefore, food like oats that could be eaten quickly would suit him more.

“We are eating Tangyuan tonight. Each person will have two bowls, one sweet and one salty. There are six Tangyuans per bowl. I believe everyone knows the rules. If you can’t finish that much food, let me know in advance,” said Yuan Zhou after he finished his preparation.

“Tangyuan is a good dish. It symbolizes reunion.” Mr. Wei commented.

“That’s right. I love eating Tangyuan,” Wei Wei said with a smile.

“Two bowls.” Wu Hai was straightforward.

“I only want one bowl of sweet Tangyuan.” Sister Wan said.

“Since I already had my dinner, I’ll have a bowl of salty Tangyuan first.” Although Ling Hong believed that he couldn’t eat anymore, he still tried ordering one bowl first. He could always order more later.

“Will there be any meat in the salty Tangyuan?” Jiang Changxi was more concerned about this.

“Minced meat.” Yuan Zhou nodded.

“One bowl of salty Tangyuan for me.” Jiang Changxi was a carnivore. After all, she did not have to worry about getting fat.

“Give me one bowl of mixed sweet and salty Tangyuan.” As Jiang Changxi was edging her on with her eyes, Yu Chu had no choice but to make her order as well.

“Wait, that won’t do, right?” Jiang Changxi frowned.

Perhaps this dish wasn’t meant to be mixed like this. Granted, Yuan Zhou had not forbidden them from mixing it up like this as well.

“Yes, you can. But by ordering that way, you won’t be allowed to order a second serving.” Yuan Zhou nodded.

“I have never planned to do that in the first place. Thank you, Boss Yuan.” The first sentence was merely vaguely muttered to himself, while the second sentence was spoken clearly to Yuan Zhou.

“We can actually order it this way?” Wei Wei became interested as she was still in conflicted on whether to order the salty or sweet Tangyuan.

After all, she wanted to try both, yet she couldn’t finish two bowls of Tangyuan. Therefore, she was very conflicted. If a mixed order was allowed, it would suit her perfectly.

“Two bowls, I want the bowl with meat served first.” Naturally, Chen Wei was one who would eat two bowls.

“One bowl. Sweet,” Wang Nan said.

Yuan Zhou did not start cooking immediately after everyone finished their order. Rather, he started speaking, “The meal tonight is on me.”

“Huh?”

“Is the world ending tomorrow?”

“What in the world?”

“This Boss Yuan must be a fake one.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’m looking at a fake Boss Yuan here.”

“Did you find a girlfriend, Boss Yuan?” This was said by Chen Wei who thought of love all the time.

All the customers were shocked by Yuan Zhou’s declaration. They all stared at him in disbelief.

“The meal is on me. After all, it’s the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.” Yuan Zhou explained warmly, a side of him rarely seen.

“This is awesome! I get to eat Tangyuan, and it’s free on top of that!” Wei Wei was the first to recover from the shock and said cheerfully.

“Is this boss usually very miserly?” Yu Chu asked when he saw everyone’s look of disbelief.

“Not very miserly. Very very miserly. But rather than miserly, inflexible is the word that suits him more. He is super inflexible,” Jiang Changxi stated solemnly.

“Oh, if it’s a free meal today, will the food still be good?” Yu Chu was somewhat worried.

After all, a miserly person had suddenly become generous. Yu Chu who had never been here immediately started worrying about the quality of the ingredients. Although he wasn’t interested in cuisine, he had no interest to eat bad food.

Regardless of what they thought, Yuan Zhou ignored them. He turned around and started cooking.

After all, it was getting late. It was about time to eat.