“He is only an odd-job worker. That is absolutely impossible,” Little Zhao shouted with his finger pointed at Yuan Zhou.
Little Zhao wasn’t exactly an idiot. If his brain was working normally, he would never utter such words before his master.
But envy could cause one to lose one’s judgment. Many conducts that seemed idiotic were actually done when one was envious.
Moreover, Little Zhao was telling the truth. It was true that Yuan Zhou used to be an odd-job worker at the kitchen. Little Zhao was merely protecting his restaurant by saying that.
Unfortunately, words could never be spoken indiscriminately.
Therefore…
“Is this a madman?” Meng Meng looked at Little Zhao in disbelief, feeling like this guy had mental problems.
“Zhao Xin!” Cao Zhishu turned and shouted with a grave voice.
“Heh, I have a bad temper. Do you want to try my fist? Let me tell you that if you don’t give a proper apology, don’t dream of leaving this door today,” Master Cheng rolled his sleeves up in preparation for a brawl.
However, since Yuan Zhou had not spoken, Master Cheng did not dare to act recklessly. After all, he truly saw Yuan Zhou as his master and therefore, he needed to abide by his master’s wishes.
Yuan Zhou gave Little Zhao a glance and spoke like it was nothing.
“You really do remember me. But we were never that close, right?” Yuan Zhou said in astonishment.
Yuan Zhou did not feel offended. Rather, he started recollecting his past at that hotel.
In truth, Little Zhao did not have any enmity with Yuan Zhou. After all, Little Zhao used to be the sous-chef while Yuan Zhou was merely the odd-job worker there. Even if there were work politics, there wouldn’t be any between the two of them.
And thus, Yuan Zhou was shocked the other day to find that Little Zhao still remembered him. And now, looking at Little Zhao’s look of hatred, Yuan Zhou was completely confused and could not make sense of the reason for this enmity.
“So you have never learned from Head Chef Yuan before?” Cao Zhishu frowned and asked while rubbing his bald head.
“Learn my ass. Cao Zhishu, you are the one who brought him here. Give an explanation on his behalf,” Master Cheng shouted.
Being angrily glared at by so many people, with one of them being his master, Little Zhao became panicky. But when he saw the confused expression on Yuan Zhou, he felt like his enmity was completely a one-man show. This caused his temper to flare up, instantly giving him more courage.
“I am telling the truth. He really was an odd-job worker!” Little Zhao pointed at Yuan Zhou and emphasized.
“Do you want to be dead, crippled, or bleeding? I will deal with all the consequences,” Master Cheng said as he looked around, looking for a suitable weapon. He was obviously looking for a knife.
“What are you being all agitated for? He is my disciple. I do not need you to deal with him,” Cao Zhishu said as he gave Little Zhao a slap.
Pa. The slap resounded throughout the restaurant.
In the beginning, Cao Zhishu was stunned by Little Zhao’s sudden outrage and did not have the chance to do anything. This time, he decisively gave him a slap before gazing at Little Zhao coldly.
The slap was imprinted on Little Zhao’s face, instantly clearing his head.
“Sorry, Head Chef Yuan. I seem to have lost control of myself earlier. I’m sorry,” Little Zhao bowed and apologized without hesitation, his tone filled with sincerity.
“I am terribly sorry about this, Head Chef Yuan. It is my fault for failing to discipline my disciple,” Cao Zhishu bowed his head and voiced his apology as well.
Yuan Zhou did not say anything, while Master Cheng was still looking around, considering the flower pot as a weapon instead. When he heard their words, he spoke again.
“What the hell? You want to deal with this with just an apology? Are you dreaming?” Master Cheng said as he glared fiercely at Little Zhao. He was completely unlike the usual him who was simple, honest, and polite.
“Why are you getting so agitated? I have already admitted that I failed in educating my disciple. Head Chef Yuan will be the one to say what he wants to do about this. What does that have to do with you?” Cao Zhishu said impatiently.
“What does that have to do? Hah. Let me tell you that I am the one who is learning under Master Yuan, and can be considered half a disciple of his,” Master Cheng announced with a snort as he started lifting the flower pot.
“Zhao Xin, piss off right this moment,” Cao Zhishu immediately told Zhao Xin to leave.
“Ah?” Zhao Xin was somewhat stunned as he stared blankly at his master.
“Are you going to stay here waiting for him to beat you to death?” Cao Zhishu said as he pointed at Master Cheng who had just lifted a flower pot.
“Oh, ok,” Zhao Xin finally noticed that Master Cheng was really going to smash the pot on him and was not kidding around. He immediately turned and ran.
Master Cheng was about to toss the flower pot his way.
“Don’t smash the flower pot,” Yuan Zhou immediately said. This was a flower pot he had newly bought after spending 50 RMB.
The moment Yuan Zhou spoke, Master Cheng stopped and placed the flower pot down. When he saw Little Zhao running, he started chasing while yelling, “Don’t run. Stand there! If I don’t beat you to death today, I will start writing my name upside down in the future!”
And just like that, the two were gone from the restaurant. Meng Meng was the one to react quickly. Scared that something bad might happen, she ran after Master Cheng and shouted, “Master Cheng, calm down.”
Now, only Yuan Zhou and Cao Zhishu were left in the restaurant.
“I am really sorry, Head Chef Yuan. That Little Zhao has truly gone crazy. It is my bad for failing in disciplining him,” Cao Zhishu said apologetically while rubbing his bald head.
“So how do you propose we deal with this?” Cao Zhishu stood there, looking at Yuan Zhou with shame on his face.
That was truly quite embarrassing. He was the one who had brought his disciple along to this restaurant to have a friendly exchange. But it was his disciple that ended up scolding his opponent. All this happened in the restaurant of his opponent, a conduct that was the same as visiting someone at his house to give him a slap.
When Cao Zhishu recalled what happened, he had the urge to drag Little Zhao and give him a kick. He was a person who emphasized greatly on etiquette. Nothing could be ruder than what Little Zhao just did.
As for Master Cheng, Cao Zhishu was not worried. Indeed, Master Cheng had a bad temper and had even gotten into a fight with Zhou Shijie, but he was already old, unlike Zhao Xin who was still in his prime years. Master Cheng would never catch up to Zhao Xin.
More importantly, he had to help ease the victim’s anger.
“Just finish the food,” Yuan Zhou said indifferently.
“Ah?” Cao Zhishu blanked out, completely confused.
“If you don’t finish your food, you won’t be able to come and eat anymore,” Yuan Zhou said, pointing at the “no food wastage” notice on the wall. It was quite humorous the way he said it.
When Cao Zhishu saw that Yuan Zhou had a calm expression and did not seem to mind, he concluded that this was Yuan Zhou trying to end this in an amicable fashion. His respect for Yuan Zhou grew while a sense of gratitude welled within him.
To be completely honest, if he was in Yuan Zhou’s position, he would definitely not let this matter rest easily. Even if he would not let his temper flare up for the sake of etiquette, he would still wonder if this was simply a show the opponent put up using his disciple after losing.
It’s not like he was a vile person to have such thoughts. But it was too coincidental. Right after the opponent praised that the Spicy Boiled Fish was better, the disciple started going crazy.
“I only cooked a portion for one,” Yuan Zhou added.