330 Are you Kidding?

Boiled dumplings with eggs and Chinese chives were a common food for Chinese people. Even the frozen ones bought from the supermarket were delicious. As he was chewing the dumplings in his mouth, Qin Guan heard a percussion from the stage.

The attention of the guests was attracted by the sound.

Dang, dang, dang,...

"Leaving Hongdong Town, Su San walked along the street..." [1]

Qin Guan spit his food out. Cong Nianwei, who was peeling garlic across from him, calmly pulled her plate back.

Are you kidding? It’s despondent to sing such a sad song during dinner.

Even more ridiculous things followed.

There was a hurried percussion sound before a monkey suddenly jumped out. [2]

"Elder sister, don’t worry! I’m coming!"

The Monkey King performed a series of backward somersaults backstage. All the American customers looked excited. They cheered and applauded, forgetting about the food on their tables.

The Monkey King's appearance was expected. Anyone studying about the Peking Opera would have clapped. It was a pity that he was in the wrong play.

Who had taught them this? [3]

An intact garlic was lying in Cong Nianwei's hand. She blinked and put the garlic in Qin Guan's bowl. Qin Guan had gotten absorbed in the performance, so he was paying no attention to her.

After several backward somersaults, the monkey walked up to Su San with his golden stick.

"You b*tch! You killed my brother! You should pay back!" [4]

Qin Guan’s chopsticks fell on the table. Am I dreaming?

"Spare my life, uncle! It was Wu Dalang who originally..."

Sister, you just called yourself Su San. Why did you change your name from Pan Jinlian? What is this? A combination of traditional operas?

Qin Guan and Cong Nianwei stopped eating for fear that they would choke on their dumplings.

They were curious about what the monkey would do next. According to common sense, the martial arts part had to follow. The monkey would play with his famous stick and hit Pan Jinlian, or Su San, on the head.

The Monkey King moved. The stick was rotating like a wind wheel in his hand before it took flight. It danced in the air like a golden flower and then landed on Qin Guan and Cong Nianwei's table.

"Careful!" Qin Guan yelled, shielding Cong Nianwei's head.

In an instant, water and dumplings splashed out in all directions. Their plates and chopsticks fell on the floor with a loud sound.

"Thank god the soup was warm, and not hot!" If the soup had been boiling hot, Qin Guan would have gotten burned.

He let Cong Nianwei go and spat the dirt out. It had been an accident.

The monkey on the stage was confounded, but the audience was laughing happily. They all applauded Qin Guan. "Good, very good!"

Are they praising me?

The monkey ran up to Qin Guan with a bitter expression. "Qin Guan? Is that you?"

"Who are you?" Qin Guan picked a dumpling off his hair angrily. There go my hard-earned dollars...

"It's me, Xu Xiaoxiao!"

What? The obsequious boy? Are you kidding me?

The two of them were classmates. Qin Guan calmed down. "Do you work here?" he asked Xu sympathetically. What a hard job!

Xu sniffed as he watched Cong Nianwei clean Qin Guan's face with a handkerchief. Finally, he noticed Qin Guan’s real face.

Oh, my! Words can’t express my feelings.

Reality had exceeded his imagination. Students at Columbia University were considered the most modest among Ivy League Universities. That guy was too modest in Xu's opinion though. He had heard about the mysterious, ancient skill of disguising in China.

Although he had been born and raised in the US, Xu admired Chinese culture a lot. His family had lived in Chinatown for hundreds of years and worshipped traditional Chinese culture the most.

Xu showed off to Qin Guan proudly. "No, this is my family’s restaurant. I direct the performance. Isn’t it perfect?"

Both Qin Guan and Cong Nianwei smiled kindly at him.

Xu waved his stick at the stage and the percussion resumed.

"People say that bright, beautiful flowers will bloom in Luoyang, but this is no spring before my eyes..." It was an authentic Peking opera.

"My grandpa will celebrate his 68th birthday and all my family members will gather in New York. We’ll play an opera during the party. As his grandson, I have to perform on stage. I have to dress up in motley attire to amuse my parents."

"So you’re practising here? How is it going?"

Xu looked down gloomily. "I’m too busy with courses. I have no time to practise. Besides, there are few opera actors in New York. Nobody has agreed to teach me."

Qin Guan and Cong Nianwei exchanged a glance. He's a devoted, but unlucky boy.