Release that Man

Other than hot pot, Japanese and western cuisine would be served the fastest. This was because, considering the order of serving and the importance of the ingredient’s freshness for the enjoyment of the food, the time spent at these restaurants would be short. The dishes were served separately with a logical order. For example, not long after they made their choice, the first dish, which normally would be soup, would be served. While they enjoyed the soup, they would be waiting for the other dishes until the final dessert or fruit plate was served. The whole process would not take that long.

If this was some other cuisine, things would be different. The chef would prepare all the dishes and send them out all at once. The whole table of food would give the diners enough time to be slow and pick at it. Combining the waiting time and the time used for chatting over meals, basically, a meal would not end until it had gone over one or two hours.

Since it was lunch and not dinner, the restaurant was quite deserted. Ye Shuang and Sister Yao did not need to wait for long for them to be served. Twenty minutes later, they were led by the waitress to their table. They held the menu and started to think about what they wanted to have.

Ye Shuang had not been there before, so she could only discern the freshness and standard of the food there from the choices other guests made. As half of a host, even though Sister Yao had not been to this restaurant personally, she did overhear some inside information when she was at home, so she was introducing some of the dishes to Ye Shuang in a soft voice.

“When we were cooperating with Uncle Zhou’s cold chain business, the main selling point was the northern meats combined with three sets of seafood quota. After the main shop took its share, the rest would be divided equally among the rest. Therefore, the high-end ingredients that would reach here would not be much so before this. The sashimi would not be recommended; however, items like sushi, seared steaks, pork cutlet, and curry were not bad.”

Sister Yao’s voice was soft and gentle like the caressing wind of spring. However, her logic was strong and clear, causing one to pay attention to her words. “However, after we changed our cooperating partner to the Noah Organization, the rate of transport and cold chain channels has drastically increased, and they put the Yao family’s business first. Therefore, the choices that have opened up to us have widened a lot. The price of the sashimi has been given a hike but so did the quality. Other than that, we have also introduced new menu items that were previously limited due to the lack of ingredients like cheese baked lobster and eel rice. Why don’t we try and order one of those?”

The waitress who was waiting for their order was shocked by what she heard. This kind of insider information could not have been known to outsiders. This was information privy only to those who worked here. Normal customers at most would hear about the increase in the quality of the ingredients but would have no idea the reason why and by how much.

Ye Shuang looked at Sister Yao with a half-smile. “Okay, then we shall order one of those.”

Order one of what? The waitress looked at Ye Shuang with confusion.

The two of them had already ordered some sashimi, tempura, and seafood salad. For two girls, that should already be their limit. Furthermore, the size of the eel rice there was really quite big. The waitress was trying to place herself in her customer’s shoes and just as she was about to jot down the order for the cheese baked lobster, Ye Shuang opened her lips to say casually, “Hmm, give me one order of cheese baked rice and eel rice each. On top of that, I’ll add a seared salmon and a set of common sushi.”

Based on the food on the table next to them and the smell that evaporated from them, they should taste quite good.

“…” The waitress.

“…” Sister Yao.

Are you sure you can finish all that?

After ordering, the waitress left their table with an order list that was full. Her face was blank with confusion. Sister Yao forced an awkward smile and sipped on the cup of green tea to calm the chaos in her heart. “Sister Ye, do you always order so many things when you have lunch out?”

Wasting food is not a good habit—this deserved a cross… but wait, it might be too early to make a call like this. After all, the family is rich, so this kind of flaw is not really a deal-breaker as long as it is not a manic splurge.

Sister Yao lowered her face slightly and held the cup of green tea in her hands. She arranged her emotions and raised her face with a shy smile and continued conversing softly with Sister Ye.

The impression from the day before could not be taken as a whole anymore. Now, she had to reassess this potential sister-in-law and, at the same time, decide whether to adjust the scamming… cough conciliation tactics.

…

Perhaps it was destiny or maybe she was just that unlucky. Just as Sister Yao was trying to find some topic of conversation and tried to evaluate Ye Shuang’s real personality, someone walked in from the entrance of the restaurant.

This person was not only familiar to Ye Shuang but also familiar to Sister Yao. His face was filled with sarcasm and annoyance. From the door, he had been giving the waitress who led him to his table a condescending side-eye. His whole presence spoke of impatience like whenever he turned and saw something that did not match his taste, he would start barking.

He he, why would this idiot come to this place?

Ye Shuang noticed the pause in Sister Yao’s conversation. She looked up with confusion and happened to chance the girl pulling her gaze away from the space behind her. Therefore, Ye Shuang turned her head around, and her eyes met Zhou Yue’s eyes as he was walking into the shop.

When he saw Ye Shuang, the expression on Zhou Yue’s face froze for half a second, and the muscles on his face twitched. Then his brows locked like he was in a deep conundrum about something. However, Ye Shuang reacted to this chance encounter faster than he was. She raised her hand and greeted him with a smile. “Oh my, isn’t this our little Yue Yue?”

What the f*ck! Zhou Yue had not decided what kind of expression he was supposed to make but was instantly depressed. He abandoned the girl who was leading the way and came over to slam his palms on Ye Shuang’s table. “Who are you calling Yue Yue?”

“Whoever answers of course.” Ye Shuang pulled out her phone with great flourish, and as her finger danced over the display, she showed a hesitant expression on her face. “Uncle Zhou has been calling me to come over to be his house guest, and I was considering answering his invitation. I wonder when the both of us will be free. Sigh, this is such a hard decision to make.”

Hard your head! Zhou Yue felt like coughing out blood. This woman was obviously lording her relationship with his father over him, as if she was afraid that he did not know she was threatening him.

Zhou Yue gritted his teeth angrily. The waitress who was handling Zhou Yue earlier came over and asked, “Sir, are you together with them?”

“Yes!” Zhou Yue sat down impolitely.

“Tsk tsk, trying to get girls to treat you?” Ye Shuang continued with her snide comments.

Zhou Yue tried to put a lid on his patience as he reached into his pocket to pull out a credit card from his wallet and tossed it to the waitress. “When you draft up the bill, count this whole table.”

Then, he raised his brow at Ye Shuang.

Ye Shuang pushed the man a cup of tea with a smile. “Then, we shall thank you for your kindness first.”

The battle of who would be paying thus ended. It was no fun for Zhou Yue.

Zhou Yue glared fiendishly at Ye Shuang and grabbed the menu away from the waitress. With a face filled with impatience, he started to make his order. Sister Yao, who had been watching the show, was beyond shocked. She blinked several times and whispered softly and hesitantly to Ye Shuang, “Sister Ye, you two are…”

“Huh, such an old woman already is still pretending to be so naïve and innocent?”

Before Sister Yao could finish, she was mocked by Zhou Yue. The rest of the words stuck in her throat. Ye Shuang looked on with interest as two seconds later, Sister Yao turned her equally harmless face to Zhou Yue and asked in her soft and shy voice, “Is Little Brother Yue Yue talking about me?”

Ye Shuang covered her lips with her hands while Zhou Yue’s face was popping with green veins. He glared at Sister Yao angrily, and his hands that gripped the menu were white from anger. The waitress who stood the side felt like escaping. This whole table of guests is full of weirdoes. Please, someone, save me!

…

Technically, the relationship between Zhou Yue and Ye Shuang could not be described as friendly. After all, since the fisticuffs at the New Year’s Eve party, they had not spent an encounter in a friendly mood. Basically, they were either mocking each other or calling the other person out. The only time of peace was when both parents were around, and they had to act obedient for the sake of their parents.

However, if one was to say they were each other’s nemesis, that was not really true as well. When they first crossed paths, Ye Shuang really thought there was no chance she was going to have a truce with this man, but fate had a surprise in store for her at the restaurant. Mother Ye’s old flame surfaced from the past, and the man had a son—Zhou Yue. With that extra layer of relationship, with her own mother on one side and Uncle Zhou at the back of Zhou Yue’s mind, as much as they hated each other’s guts, they had to maintain a risky yet peaceful relationship. In a way, they would respect each other.

Since both parties did not have the intention to fight to the end, the most they could do was stand on opposing sides. If they happened to come across each other, there would be a battle of words, but no one was seriously going to make something of it.

Therefore, that was how they had agreed to coexist, and eventually, it had evolved to this kind of weird and contractual peaceful relationship. Zhou Yue continued to fight Yao Zhixing, and Yao Zhixing did his best to crush Zhou Yue. Ye Shuang, who stayed in the middle, maintained a neutral stance. Both parties had the silent agreement that she would be left out of it and allowed to watch the war from the side lines.

Even Zhou Yue’s lackeys and Yao Zhixing’s racer buddies had both silently accepted Ye Shuang’s position as the big sister. Other than the few boys around Zhou Yue whose family background was exposed by Ye Shuang could not stand her and tried to come for her whenever they could, other people naturally avoided having a battle when Ye Shuang was around.

Naturally, Sister Yao had not grasped these layers of convoluted relationship.

After the waitress left with Zhou Yue’s order, Ye Shuang and Sister Yao’s order also arrived. Zhou Yue sipped on the tea and kept his lips zipped. Sister Yao though poked at the sashimi in her plate like there was something on her mind. She pouted and raised her head to smile at Ye Shuang, who was picking at the tempura prawn. “I hear from big brother’s racing friends that Sister Ye’s family and Brother Yue Yue’s family are friends?”

“Yes, our parents are friends.” Ye Shuang did not deny it and sighed as she turned to look at Zhou Yue. “Our Yue Yue is such a filial son.”

As mentioned before, there was no absolute evil in this world. As horrible as Zhou Yue was outside, before Uncle Zhou, he was an obedient and filial son. Or else with the thing that happened on New Year’s Eve and at the mall, he would have retaliated against Ye Shuang already. Zhou Yue gave Sister Yao an impatient look, and his knuckles tapped against the table in the form of a challenge. “You must be so free to poke into other people’s business like this.”

Sister Yao received the challenge and raised her lips to smile softly. “Not really, but Brother Yue Yue sure is in a bad mood today. By the way, why would Brother Yue Yue come to our family’s restaurant for lunch? Are you, too, a connoisseur of Japanese food?”

Sister Yao had reminded Zhou Yue the real reason he was there that day. He scoffed coldly and added, “I just came to see what kind of ingredients your new supplier is able to get you.”

The fact that Yao Zhixing wanted to change the supplier had been kept in the dark from the construction of the cold depot and the confirmation of the chain link… From the very beginning, this news had not been leaked until the official contract had been signed with the Noah Organization. After the new cold chain had been in place for about a month, the Yao family suddenly informed the Zhou family that they would be dropping his service.

Uncle Zhou had truly been blindsided. Honestly, he did not lose much from missing this cold chain. After all, San Lin City was not a high-end market. Only the Yao family was keeping the standard up. That was the reason there were so little quota for the Yao family.

Even if the Yao family stopped requesting the service from the Zhou family, with Uncle Zhou’s national business, this cold chain could definitely be taken up by other cities. The problem was they had been working together for so many years already, and it had always been Uncle Zhou who handled the business with the Yao family. Suddenly, they turned on his back, and it flustered Uncle Zhou. The lack of preparation meant that he would lose one round of gas money.

The loss was not big, but it did annoy him.

Then, Uncle Zhou used his connections to do some digging and finally found out the real reason the Yao family suddenly bowed out from the cooperation. In the end, it was his own son who had been raising hell outside and got into a bad relationship with the Yao family’s son.

Uncle Zhou was incensed and dragged his son home to give him a good spanking. Zhou Yue was blindsided by this corporal punishment as well. However, since it was his father who delivered the punishment, there was nothing he could do but accept it. Retaliation was definitely not an option. After that was over, he also went to find out the truth. Without taking much time, he heard from the company workers why his father was so angry. Instantly, Zhou Yue exploded—that Yao Zhixing had been slandering his name to his father?

Once the business relationship between both families was cancelled, the last layer of hesitation disappeared. Yao Zhixing did not need to hold back, and Zhou Yue did not need to worry about Yao Zhixing complaining about him to his father anymore. The battle between them rose to another level. Just in this month alone, at various public events, like parties and private gatherings or random encounters on the street, they had been in more than four altercations. Other than the two main bosses who had not joined the battle, the underlings had been fighting like the end was near.

That day, Zhou Yue purposely paid Yao Zhixing’s restaurant a visit mainly because he was annoyed at Yao Zhixing. He wanted to know what kind of new supplier he had traded their family for. If not for Ye Shuang’s appearance, Zhou Yue most likely would already have been turning tables and creating hell, but now…

Considering Ye Shuang’s shamelessness and her explosive capability, Zhou Yue knew he would have to practice the virtue of patience that day.

Sister Yao twirled her hair around her finger twice. She raised her small face and said in a polite and innocent manner, “Brother Yue Yue, if you are such a fan of our restaurant, how about I give you a VIP card? You’ll be able to get twenty percent off every meal.”

“Who would ever want that?” Zhou Yue scoffed as his eyes wandered about the place. “It’s just a restaurant. There are so many places to have lunch in San Lin City—why would I purposely come to suffer here?”

Ye Shuang smiled but did not say anything. Sister Yao unleashed yet another attack with a shy smile. “It’ll be fine. There’s no need for Brother Yue Yue to be shy. In a bit, I’ll have father’s secretary send the VIP card directly over to Uncle Zhou.”

You dare to come for us? If you do, then of course we’ll strike back… From the earlier conversation between Ye Shuang and Zhou Yue, the clever Sister Yao did receive quite a bit of information.

Zhou Yue choked. He did not expect an altercation between young people to lead to one of them complaining to the parents. Was that not the tricks of primary school students?

Oh right, this is a woman. If she cannot fight with her fists, then of course, this is the only thing she can do.

With no avenue to vent his anger, Zhou Yue was close to exploding. He realized that his plan that day was most likely going to fail, and he would not be able to do the same thing in the future. His mood dropped intensely, and when the food he ordered was served, he attacked it with veracity like he imagined the food was the two women who shared his table.

During the dining process, Zhou Yue did not make any more sound, and he left in a hurry after he was done. Before he left, he kicked the chair, and it echoed loudly. Even when he left, he was still fuming, causing the other people in the restaurant to think he had run out without paying.

“I haven’t even gotten the chance to thank Brother Yue Yue for his treat.” Sister Yao sighed with regret as she looked at Zhou Yue who was retreating.

Ye Shuang chewed on the sweet lobster and said, “Have you had your fun?”

Sister Yao turned her head away shyly. “Shall we go shopping for clothes next?”

Ye Shuang sighed. She looked at the entrance before turning back. Her fists tapped against the table, and she added, “Actually, I feel like Brother Yao is quite absent-minded…”

Huh? Sister Yao maintained a sweet smile as she looked at Ye Shuang with open curiosity. She did not quite understand what Ye Shuang was getting at. Is she complaining about big brother, and that is why they’re not in a relationship?

Ye Shuang did not look at Sister Yao and seemed to be talking to herself. “A pair of twins… Even though one is called the sister, but actually, the age is the same, right? Unmarried man at twenty-seven can be considered young and still working, but an unmarried woman at 27…”

“…” Sister Yao.

Ye Shuang smiled at Sister Yao and added, “By the way, what is it they say about do unto others what you want others to do unto you?”

Sister Yao looked at Ye Shuang meaningfully before she smiled a big smile that reveal her row of white sparkling teeth. “If Sister Ye is really that busy, there’s really no reason to come over to our place. Big brother is already an adult, I’m sure we do not need to worry about his social circle.”

Ye Shuang nodded satisfactorily and continued eating. Of the Yao clan, this sister was the most cunning. Father Yao was mature and stable. Even though he had great observation power, he would not act easily. Mother Yao was filled with contradictions—she wanted to act, but she had other hesitations. Yao Zhixing… did not need any further introduction, and thus, Sister Yao was the most difficult character to deal with. As long as this Sister Yao did not do anything, Ye Shuang would have nothing to worry about regarding the Yao family. Ye Shuang sighed in relief.

After lunch, they did go to the mall to do some shopping. Even though Sister Yao had bad intentions initially, it was also true that she did not come out that often. It was not bad going shopping to relax.

Ye Shuang did not have that many female friends, but she had many brothers. Perhaps it was the testosterone that had made her act more valiantly or what, but Ye Shuang found herself surrounded by males. The only close female friend she had was Mo Xiao Xia. However, this was a person who had a background going through the entertainment world. She had her pick of movies to shoot and would fly all over the country every few days.

So, in conclusion, Ye Shuang normally would not go shopping because it was hard for her to find someone to go shopping with. Therefore, she had to resign herself to spend time doing male activities, either racing or gambling with the boys. It was even rarer for her to run into female friends at places like that, and this created a vicious cycle. Next time, she also needed to go find her male friends when she was bored. As the time passed on, even Ye Shuang felt like she had almost morphed into a man.

The two girls were quite capable shoppers. Ye Shuang did not buy clothes that often, but once she started, she had the plan to buy all the clothes she needed for the next half of a year. She shopped until 4 pm, and big and small bags were hanging all over her body. Sister Yao received a call that said she had to leave because of work or else they would have continued to shop until they dropped.

Sister Yao took the taxi when she arrived, so she was going to call the taxi to go home. Ye Shuang parted with the girl at the first floor, and she went down to the underground parking lot to grab her ride. When she was on the way there, she received a call from Han Chu. The content of the phone call made Ye Shuang’s light mood come down immediately. A deep frown was etched onto her face.

After hanging up, she jumped right into her car. She completed the series of actions expertly, and Ye Shuang stepped on the gas pedal and the car shot out of the parking lot like an arrow. It did not take long for her to arrive at the main street. She weaved through the traffic and took a detour around the market street before she stopped by one of the streets. The tires created a loud friction noise as the car grinded to a halt.

Sister Yao was shocked by the car that stopped close to touching her. She was about to jump back when she saw the passenger seat door flung open. Ye Shuang then leaned over with her upper body, pulled the girl into the car, and closed the door at the same time. She sat back in the driver’s seat and stepped on the gas. The car shot out like it was about to leave the ground. The fast velocity slammed Sister Yao’s back against the seat.

“What is…”

Sister Yao’s eyes widened in shock, and she did not even have the mind to put on her innocent act. She watched as Ye Shuang’s car weaved through the traffic, and the speed was actually faster than her twin brother.

“I’m not going to waste time with the not important stuff. I’ll get straight to the point.” Ye Shuang pressed her lips and narrowed her eyes. She put one hand on the steering wheel and stepped on the gas to increase the speed. The car passed many other vehicles. While that was happening, she managed to use her free hand to help Sister Yao with the seat belt. “Brother Yao is now at the hospital—a motorcycle ran into him.”

Sister Yao was about to tell Ye Shuang to focus on driving, but her mind went blank when she heard the news. The blood on her face disappeared, and she gasped, “How‽”

Ye Shuang grinned darkly, and her eyes were sharp. “It’s one of Zhou Yue’s lackeys.”