Chapter 876 - Feast at Shu Restaurant

“An interesting design.” The moment Yuan Zhou reached the entrance to the alley, he was enveloped by a sense of warmth.

During the current season, bamboo forests should be somewhat cold. But here, it was surprisingly warm, giving off a feeling of tranquility to one’s heart while keeping one’s body heated. This would be the perfect condition to try some delicacies.

And when Yuan Zhou walked out the alley, he reached the empty space before Shu Restaurant. It felt as if the space before him had suddenly opened up.

“This is the design adhering to the concept of the willow trees make the shade, the flowers give the light,” Yuan Zhou had a smile on his face as he studied the decorations outside the Shu Restaurant.

To the left and right were a forest of bamboo, giving one a feeling of being surrounded by green. As for the restaurant, it was a reddish-brown three-story traditional building with a roof curved upward that was commonly seen in the ancient Chinese era.

In the middle of the building was a board with the characters, Shu Restaurant, written in gold. At the doorway was a bronze qilin, and on the stairs were two restaurant employees dressed in traditional Han attire.

The doorstep of the Shu Restaurant was as tall as one’s calf, giving off a feeling that this was the residence of a great family.

Looking at how beautiful the Shu Restaurant was, Yuan Zhou started wondering when his Master Chef Restaurant could expand in size as well. He started speaking to the system again, but each time something like this happened, the system would play dead. It was unknown who had the system learned this from.

Yuan Zhou made a resolution that he needed to quickly complete his mission, work hard to keep leveling up, and to reach the summit of his life.

Just as Yuan Zhou was studying the scenery before him, a waitress dressed in green with her hair coiled in a bun stepped forward with a smile on her face.

“Hello, are you Chef Yuan, Boss Yuan?” asked the woman. Her voice tender and pleasant to the ears while she possessed a tall and slender body.

“Yes,” Yuan Zhou nodded.

“Head Chef Cao has already prepared the food and drink. This way, please,” said the woman as she made an inviting gesture.

“Ok,” Yuan Zhou nodded in an aloof manner and did not say much.

In fact, Yuan Zhou was also dressed in Han attire today. He wore a flax-colored Daoist robe that, apart from the delicate markings on it, had no other decorations. For the sake of comfort, Yuan Zhou did not have a belt on, and for the sake of eating more easily, his Han attire was one with narrow sleeves.

What one wore could truly alter one’s temperament. Many people claimed that traditional Han attire was a type of belief, but for Yuan Zhou, what he felt most when wearing Han attire wasn’t belief, but a sense of straightness and uprightness. Ever since he had started wearing Han attires, he no longer had a slouched back.

Yuan Zhou studied the posture of the waitress, drawing a comparison with his own posture.

“Um, not bad,” Yuan Zhou muttered inwardly.

Yuan Zhou had been persevering with daily exercise for a year and the fruits of it were showing now. When he dressed in the loose-fitting robe, due to his straight posture, he looked slender and tall. He was never an ugly person but now he looked even better.

There were no ugly women in the world, only lazy women. This saying was applicable to men as well. Generally speaking, men who bothered with their appearance would look quite good as well.

The waitress walked half a step behind Yuan Zhou while diligently guiding his way.

Ta. Ta. Ta. Their footsteps were slow and unhurried. Yuan Zhou did not say anything. When he reached the doorstep, he stepped inside.

The moment he entered, he was faced with a gorgeous and elegant interior. To the side of the door was a row of water bamboo, their lush leaves arranged in an orderly fashion. The ground was blanketed by a soft rug that gave off a feeling of stepping on clouds.

Apart from the row of bamboo grown on water, there was also a row of waiters and waitresses standing there. The moment Yuan Zhou entered, they shouted their greeting in uniform.

“Welcome!” The voices of both sexes interwoven in an orderly fashion. They were pleasant to hear, feeling like a harmonious melody. It was obvious this was a well-practiced greeting.

Or perhaps it was because they needed to do the same every single day.

When Yuan Zhou heard the orderly greeting, he couldn’t help but think about Zhou Jia and Shen Min.

Once, both Shen Min and Zhou Jia had treated Yuan Zhou to a meal together. Yuan Zhou initially thought that it was due to his charm. However, he found out later that they were only thanking him.

Why were they thanking him? Because on their way to classes, they would always pass by a restaurant selling freshwater fish. Every morning, all the waiters, waitresses, and the chefs of that restaurant would be made to assemble in front of the restaurant and shout out some slogans toward the pedestrians to attract their attention.

Subsequently, Zhou Jia and Shen Min found out that apart from that restaurant, other restaurants of slightly larger size would all do the same. They claimed that it was for the purpose of nurturing teamwork, but Zhou Jia and Shen Min would feel very awkward if they were told to do that.

Of course, without Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, they would still be forced to overcome their awkwardness when working for other restaurants. There was a saying that if there were no comparisons, good people would not exist. With Yuan Zhou’s existence, there was a source of comparison. And thus, the two thanked him and treated him to a meal, not forgetting to label him as a “nice guy”.

“Mr. Yuan, your seat is on the third floor. As per Head Chef Cao, that seat is nearer to the kitchen, so you won’t have to wait too long for your food,” explained the waitress when they reached the elevator.

“Um, thank you,” Yuan Zhou nodded. Then, the waitress retired and a new waitress came to lead the way.

“You’re welcome. It is my privilege to be of service to you,” said the waitress with a smile.

“This way, Mr. Yuan,” said the new waitress gently. She had two buns to each side of her head, looking rather adorable.

“Ok,” Yuan Zhou gave her a glance before walking into the elevator.

The elevator was unlike other elevators that gave off a cold and empty feeling. The ceiling of the elevator was decorated with a painting that was multicolored yet did not appear chaotic, giving off a warm, bold, and unrestrained feeling. With such a painting, even if one had to take the elevator alone, one would not tire of it.

Evidently, this painting was the work of a master as well. Otherwise, it would not be able to give off such a feeling. After all, among Yuan Zhou’s customers, Wu Hai was a master painter as well. Due to Wu Hai’s influence, Yuan Zhou had come to possess a pair of discerning eyes for paintings as well.

“This is the rotten life of the wealthy. Just the design here alone is sufficient to increase the price of the food by 200%,” Yuan Zhou lamented inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged.

Yuan Zhou had already done his research before coming. Naturally, the menu and the price were the basic things one would research. The prices here were even higher than the prices at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.

They had a dish called Yellow Steamed Shark Fin, one that needed a booking two months in advance before eating. It had a price tag of 9,999 RMB, even pricier than the priciest food at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, the Dongpo Pig Knuckle. That was quite a scary thought.

In truth, with the elegant and classical decorations of this restaurant, normal chefs would feel defeated before they had even started competing.

But Yuan Zhou was not the slightest bit disheartened. He was stubborn in his belief that the judge of whether a restaurant was good or not was the taste of the food, even if the service of the restaurant was very important as well.

Ding! It did not take the elevator long to reach the third floor.

The adorable waitress stepped out first before making an inviting gesture to Yuan Zhou.

“This way, please. Your seat is at Mount Longmen. All the rooms here are named after the top 10 mountains of Sichuan. Therefore, we have 10 rooms in total,” the waitress gave a simple introduction.

“Head Chef Yuan is here? Welcome, this way, please,” Cao Zhishu’s voice sounded before Yuan Zhou could say anything.