Chapter 677 Bootlicking and Wielding a Chicken Feather as a Command

Chen Xuezhi had seen Wu Zhizheng a few times at meetings and recognized him. He smiled and nodded. "Ah, Xiaowu. Are you here to eat at Lakefront House too?"

"Er..." Wu Zhizheng was too embarrassed to admit he thought the place was a dump and was just about to leave, so he could only stammer, "That's right. I'm here to eat."

"It seems you're a real foodie, Xiaowu, knowing that the food at Lakefront House is so good." Chen Xuezhi, unsuspecting, said with a smile, "Come to think of it, this place used to be even better. The ambiance was elegant, with a classic, old-world charm. It's just a pity there was a fire, and now it has to be rebuilt. Thankfully, even though the ambiance is gone, the flavor hasn't changed a bit. It's just as delicious as before. My whole family loves the food here. It's just a shame we've never had the chance to taste the owner's cooking."

Wu Zhizheng had never eaten here in his life, so how could he know anything about it? He could only offer an obsequious smile, not daring to say more for fear of giving himself away.

After a few more pleasantries, Chen Xuezhi said, "Well, Xiaowu, we're heading in."

Wu Zhizheng quickly replied, "Of course, of course. After you. I hope you and your family have a wonderful meal."

He wanted to follow Chen Xuezhi into the prefab-panel restaurant, but he knew he wasn't qualified. If he shamelessly tagged along and annoyed Director Chen's family, his luck would be truly rotten.

After watching Chen Xuezhi's family enter the prefab-panel restaurant, Wu Zhizheng hesitated for a moment before heading toward it himself.

He had already told Chen Xuezhi he was eating here. It would be incredibly rude not to go over and offer a toast later, so he had no choice but to stay.

As for whether returning after deciding to leave made him look like a fool? He couldn't be bothered with that now.

At the same time, Wu Zhizheng was also quite curious. What kind of delicacies could a place that looked like a hole-in-the-wall possibly serve to have attracted Director Chen and his entire family?

But when he reached the entrance of the prefab-panel restaurant, he saw Chen Xuezhi's family being stopped by a server. "I'm very sorry, sir, but we're completely full at the moment. Please take a number and wait in line outside."

Chen Xuezhi's wife complained, "See? I told you to call for a reservation. You forgot again, didn't you?"

"My fault, my fault," Chen Xuezhi said. "I never thought it would be packed even though we came so early. What should we do now? Wait?"

Before her mother could answer, their daughter jumped in. "Of course we're waiting! I haven't eaten here in ages, I've been craving it."

Chen Xuezhi chuckled and replied, "Alright, we'll listen to my little princess. Let's get a number and wait."

Hearing their conversation, Wu Zhizheng immediately recognized an opportunity to curry favor with his superior. He chimed in, "Director Chen, we have a table reserved. Why don't you take ours?"

"No, no, that's not necessary. We can wait," Chen Xuezhi politely refused.

But Wu Zhizheng refused to let this opportunity pass him by. "It's no trouble at all, Director Chen!" he said hurriedly. "We're not that hungry yet anyway, so waiting a little longer is perfectly fine. You just wait here. I'll go in right now and have my group clear the table for you."

He strode into the prefab-panel restaurant to find Zhao Yuan and the others, completely ignoring Director Chen's repeated protests from behind.

Once inside, he saw that business was indeed booming. There wasn't a single empty seat.

Strangely, despite so many people being packed into the prefab structure, the air wasn't stuffy in the slightest. On the contrary, it was incredibly refreshing and carried a faint floral fragrance, as if one were in an open-air garden.

These were all effects produced by the array.

When the prefab-panel restaurant was being constructed, Hao Li had secretly laid out a special array. Besides ensuring the air always remained fresh, it also maintained the temperature at a perfectly comfortable level.

Wu Zhizheng, however, was in no mood to marvel at such things. His eyes swept across the restaurant, found Zhao Yuan's group, and he hurried over.

Zhao Yuan saw him and asked in surprise, "Assistant Wu, didn't you leave because you had something to do? What are you doing back here?"

Wu Zhizheng ignored him, instead saying in a commanding tone, "All of you, get up. Vacate this table immediately."

Everyone was taken aback. Zhao Yuan's brow furrowed. "Assistant Wu, what do you mean by that?"

Wu Zhizheng explained, "A director from the Education Bureau is here, but there are no tables, so he's waiting in line outside. Hurry up and clear this table so they can have it."

Hearing this, teachers like Xu Yang, though displeased, felt they had no choice but to stand up.

Zhao Ling started to get up as well, but Zhao Yuan pulled her back down.

He said coldly, "Assistant Wu, I reserved this table to treat these teachers to a meal, not for you to use for your bootlicking."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wu Zhizheng's expression darkened instantly.

Zhao Yuan had long since grown tired of Wu Zhizheng's attitude.

'From the moment he arrived, the man had worn a sour expression and made sarcastic remarks. After just a few words, he'd stormed off, muttering curses under his breath. Now, the second he sees a director from the Education Bureau, he instantly transforms into a spineless lackey. And he actually has the gall to run back here, acting high and mighty, and demand they give up their table just so he can suck up to a superior.'

Zhao Yuan wasn't about to be polite to someone like that.

He said, his voice laced with sarcasm, "It's simple: I'm not giving up this table. Assistant Wu, if you can't even understand something as straightforward as that, how on earth did you become an assistant to the principal?"

Zhao Yuan wasn't afraid of offending Wu Zhizheng. If that bastard dared to make things difficult for Zhao Ling at school, Zhao Yuan had plenty of ways to take care of him.

"You!" Wu Zhizheng was livid and about to erupt.

Just then, Chen Xuezhi hurried over, calling out from a distance, "Xiaowu, you really don't need to give us the table. We can wait. We're in no rush."

Hearing this, Zhao Yuan let out a snort of laughter. "So you were just borrowing the tiger's might," he mocked. "Taking a mere suggestion and treating it as an imperial decree!"

Although Wu Zhizheng was burning with rage, he couldn't possibly throw a fit in front of Chen Xuezhi. He had to force it down, which was so agonizingly difficult that his face turned beet red.

What he never, ever expected was that when Chen Xuezhi got closer, he would first pause in surprise, and then break into a warm smile. "Well, if it isn't Zhao Yuan! Are you eating here too?"

"Hello, Director Chen," Zhao Yuan said, standing up to greet him. He had seen Director Chen once during the university's New Year's gala but hadn't expected the director to actually remember him.

In truth, while Zhao Yuan didn't know Director Chen well, Director Chen was very familiar with him.

A genius student from West Hua Medical University who, at such a young age, had already published several papers in the nation's most authoritative medical journals. At the same time, during a China-Japan medical competition, he had single-handedly defeated a renowned master of Japanese Traditional Chinese Medicine, bringing honor to Traditional Chinese Medicine! He had also won immense prestige for West Hua Medical University!

Although West Hua Medical University was not under the jurisdiction of the Rongcheng City Education Bureau, it was still located within Rongcheng City. Therefore, when Zhao Yuan made his great contributions, the Rongcheng City Education Bureau not only shared in the glory but also reaped tangible benefits, receiving commendations from both provincial and municipal authorities.

Therefore, Chen Xuezhi was not only familiar with Zhao Yuan but was also extremely fond of him—a fact made obvious by his enthusiastic demeanor.