Gourmet Food Supplier

“Um.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and answered like usual.

After he asked about the culinary skills, they made some small talk. Most of the time, Zhou Shijie asked and Yuan Zhou only answered. He asked about Yuan Zhou practicing the ice sculptures and then arrived at the proper business in the next breath.

“Here’s the thing. As far as I know, your restaurant is now very popular among the people and the Sichuan Cuisine is also very authentic. Do you have any interest in attending the Appraisal of Exemplary Restaurant?” Zhou Shijie said.

“Exemplary Restaurant?” Yuan Zhou was surprised and then, he asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t told you about that before. There is an appraisal of Sichuan Cuisine Exemplary Restaurant in our Sichuan Province every year. I act as the president of the award committee this year, so I have a quota of people to recommend. And I recommended your restaurant this year,” said Zhou Shijie lightly.

It was simply a pillow for drowsy people. Zhou Shijie’s recommendation had solved the problem of admission ticket just in time. Yuan Zhou revealed a smile on his face. Changes always went ahead of plans. Even the system didn’t expect it would end up with this result.

“Thank you,” Yuan Zhou said respectfully.

“Don’t mention it. It’s the wealth of our Chef’s Association to have a talented youngster like you join us. And it’s also a good fortune for the chefs’ circle in China. Such activities naturally should be open to capable youngsters like you. Only in this way could the chefs’ circle develop better,” said Zhou Shijie formally.

“I have only just been talking about the activity of the exemplary restaurant, yet forget to ask. You have accepted the invitation, haven’t you?” Zhou Shijie knew that Yuan Zhou didn’t like small talk, therefore, he terminated the conversation proactively.

“Yes, thank you for your kind recommendation, chairman,” Yuan Zhou nodded his head solemnly and then said, “I won’t let you down.”

“Good, good. I’m not going to bother your rest. And remember to take care of yourself when you practice your culinary skills. I’m hanging up.” Zhou Shijie nodded his head contentedly and then hung up the phone.

Since the admission ticket had been perfectly solved, what came next was the presentation of Yuan Zhou’s own capabilities. The system had judged that Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was now most well-known in Sichuan Province. And that was indeed so. But actually, it hadn’t been recognized officially by the authorities due to the limited time since it was opened.

If he could manage to get the title of “Exemplary Restaurant”, this problem would be solved definitively and perfectly.

Of course, this matter wasn’t that easy.

Back to the other side. After Yuan Zhou agreed, Zhou Shijie felt both contented and light-hearted.

“This guy is really not bad,” Zhou Shijie put down the phone and said, “He just keeps concentrating on his culinary skills.”

“Chairman, you have only the quota of one person and you gave nobody else but him. He will definitely agree.” It was Zhong Lili who stood at the side and spoke.

“You don’t understand. This guy is very prideful, so it’s the best result that he agrees to attend. In this way, he’s considered to have closer ties to our Chef’s Association,” said Zhou Shijie smilingly.

“Boss Yuan is essentially a chef.” Zhong Lili became a little puzzled, “Can he run away?”

“Yeah. He’s not only a chef, more precisely, a talented chef, but also a young master of cooked wheaten food. And now, he’s also an ice sculptor. Say, how could he have so many kinds of craftsmanship?” Zhou Shijie had a headache once he spoke of that.

Zhou Shijie indeed had good reasons to have a headache. He had just persuaded Steamed Bun Ji to give up poaching Yuan Zhou with great difficulties. And he hadn’t been able to take a deep breath when the ice sculpture circle represented by Yang Shuxin came again.

Anyhow, Steamed Bun Ji was somewhat understandable, as the cooked wheaten food was, at least, also an aspect of culinary skills. However, it was definitely an invasion for the ice sculpture circle to poach Yuan Zhou.

As an old man over fifty years old, he really made great efforts to retain a talent. It was also a happy kind of worry to be so lucky.

“Actually, all cooked wheaten food has something to do with the culinary skills. As for the ice sculpture, we also have frequent cooperation with them in our cuisines.” Zhong Lili could not say anything else but comfort Zhou Shijie in this way.

“Of course, I know that. If we have nothing to do with them, do you think I can be bullied by that Old Guy Yang?” Zhou Shijie became angry once he talked about Yang Shuxin.

That’s right. After Yang Shuxin went back and talked about the competition with the people from ice sculpture circle, not only did a vehement quarrel arose on the Internet, but even the chairman of the ice sculpture circle asked Zhou Shijie for Yuan Zhou in reality.

In Zhou Shijie’s eyes, Yang Shuxin was to blame for this matter. Since you had been defeated in the competition, why did you still talk about it with others and even want to drag Yuan Zhou away?

On hearing Zhou Shijie’s complaint, Zhong Lili found it inappropriate to say anything, thus she just smiled silently. When she lowered her head and found the documents in her arms, she immediately handed them to him.

“Chairman, here are some documents for you. Call me when you finish.” Zhong Lili put down the documents and prepared to sneak out.

“Peng”. A hollow sound passed from the heavy touch of the documents and the solid wood table. Zhou Shijie looked down at the documents and found the first one was a letter, of which the signature clearly indicated it was from the chairman of the ice sculpture circle.

“Sh*t. What a troublesome guy! I didn’t answer his phone call, yet he surprisingly wrote to me.” As soon as Zhou Shijie saw the latter, he almost immediately thumped against the table and stood up.

“Cough cough. Are you okay?” Zhong Lili was startled and thus she immediately turned her head and asked.

“Never mind. Throw this letter away.” Zhou Shijie directly took up the envelope and threw it to Zhong Lili.

“Okay. Take your time with the rest of the content.” Zhong Lili received the envelope and immediately turned around out of the room and then closed the door. The whole course of actions was finished in one go.

Once Zhong Lili came out, another assistant who was responsible for Zhou Shijie’s Weibo matters asked her at the door, “Did the chairman lose his temper again?”

“Yes.” Zhong Lili regained her composure and nodded her head.

“Still because of that Boss Yuan?” This assistant continued asking with curiosity, not knowing to act appropriately during this occasion and asked inquisitively.

“Um.” Zhong Lili nodded her head perfunctorily and then glared at the assistant severely.

“Tsk tsk. This Boss Yuan is so awesome. It’s been so long and our Chef’s Association has never been so boisterous like that. People from cooked wheaten food circle have just left and now, people from the ice sculpture circle come for him again. It is like everyone wants a bite of Boss Yuan.” The assistant still didn’t see anything wrong. She even muttered when she was staring at the computer.

“All right. Stop it now. Just do your own things.” Zhong Lili finally couldn’t help reprimanding her.

“Oh, okay. I’ll do it right away.” Only then did the assistant find in surprise Zhong Lili didn’t look good. Therefore, she immediately sat down and got started with her work.

Having handled the talkative Weibo assistant, Zhong Lili sat down on her seat and let out a sigh. Only then did she finally have a sense of relaxation.

As soon as she saw the pile of documents on her table, however, she became worried again. The Chef’s Association had never been so busy and tiring before.

“I really can’t imagine how Yuan Zhou manages to get these skills since he is so young.” Looking at a big pile of documents about Yuan Zhou, Zhong Lili couldn’t help sighing with emotion.

Most of these documents were actually invitations to Yuan Zhou, no matter whether they were competitions, interviews, or TV programs.

After all, the most accepted identity of Yuan Zhou was still a chef. Therefore, those who wanted to invite him would naturally send the invitation letter to the Chef’s Association.

These things had already been negotiated between Zhou Shijie and Yuan Zhou. After the Chef’s Association released an announcement, they would help Yuan Zhou to attend to these trifles. Basically, people seldom went to talk with Yuan Zhou about these trifles face to face except those who didn’t know the announcement or those who were quite persistent.

Zhou Shijie specifically gave a verbal instruction that Yuan Zhou cannot be bothered because of these small things.

EMPTY