Chapter 9 - The Mafia King Is A Master Chef
Lihua trembled, seeing the blank cheque. Her mind was a jumbled mess. She looked at him, stunned. She rubbed her eyes.
"Boss...It's a blank cheque signed by you."
Wei said, "Yes."
"It's a cheque where I can enter any incredible amount in that tiny box and it will be credited to my account."
"Yes."
"Any amount. Like a super-duper large amount. The sky's the limit."
"Yes."
"But there is one problem here."
"What?"
"Why are you giving it to me?"
Wei tilted his head. "You saved me from wasting my time and effort."
And I get a blank cheque for that!? A BLANK CHEQUE for getting the dirt out of your bathroom's faucet!?
The sweat in her forehead turned into a full course river. "Boss. I think you don't understand. It was a very very teensy tiny issue. I don't deserve a blank cheque for that."
Suddenly, she felt nervous standing in front of this man who handed her a blank cheque so easily.
Godly handsome prince, just who are you? Your definition of money and reward is too out of this world!
Wei's beautiful brows furrowed. "You helped me. How else should I reward you?"
Lihua blinked her eyes. Her smile faltered as she spoke, "Boss, if it takes such a minor thing for someone to get a blank cheque from you, then robbing you out of your wealth would be really easy."
Wei curiously looked at her. "Don't people get rewarded for good work done?"
"S-sure they do, but for small things like these, a simple thank you is enough."
He touched his chin as if he seemed to be in deep thought. "Thank you? Just that?"
Lihua nodded. "Yes."
"Is it more satisfying than getting money?"
She looked at him in disbelief. "Gratitude isn't necessarily expressed in monetary terms and especially not for just fixing the faucet. It's the sincerity that matters."
Wei looked down at his cheque and then at her. "I am giving you this cheque with all my sincerity."
"..."
Why do I feel we don't speak the same language?
She shed invisible tears. "Boss, what I mean is that I don't need it. I thoroughly understood how grateful you are and that is enough for me."
He pursed his lips. Clearly, he wasn't satisfied with the outcome.
"You are strange."
Lihua had this violent urge to twitch her brows but she resisted.
A strange person is calling me strange…
"Nobody rejected my reward before. You say something incomprehensible that merely two words are enough. I never came across a person like you."
Lihua's mouth was wide open in shock. "Boss, haven't you thanked anyone before? Like just saying thank you?"
"No," he calmly said without much emotion.
He paused.
"Though others have said those two words to me a lot of times."
Her mouth twitched.
Lihua was now convinced that not only he was a Godly handsome prince, but he was an alien too. He was rich but she didn't expect that he would use money like some typical spoiled brats.
The only difference was that it seemed that he genuinely meant it and not as if he was looking down on her.
It was as if the very concept of simple gratitude was foreign to him.
Lihua said, "If you are unsatisfied with just saying thank you then you can also thank me by helping me clean my kitchen…"
She coughed.
Though it was my fault to begin with…
"Small acts like these are also a way to show your gratitude."
And for the budding romance too.
"Help you?"
"Yes! We will clean up the kitchen together and cook a meal too. This way, I can also give you my welcome dinner."
"I see."
Wei followed her into her home and she gulped on seeing the state of her kitchen. But he seemed unaffected and started working his hands around the mess as if he already sorted out the course of action.
Just like he had helped her gather and sort her thesis papers, he worked extremely fast and efficiently.
"B-Boss...wait for me. With that speed, I will be standing pretty much useless here."
When it was time to cook, Wei showed yet another of his talent.
Lihua assumed that the rich young master would know nothing about the kitchen, but to her shock, he was working as a professional chef.
"Boss, you know how to cook?"
The image of him in her mind shattered into pieces.
"A little bit."
This is not a little bit! You can open your own five-star hotel with these skills.
In a blink of an eye, he took control over her kitchen and a delicious smell wafted from the food. The curry in the pot looked spicy and fragrant.
"Boss, please tell me the source of your skills!"
Wei glanced at her pleading expression. "Cookbooks. Videos."
She blinked her eyes. "That's it?"
"Yes."
"You mastered such awesome skills just by that?"
He nodded. "They are too easy."
"If it's that easy then why am I suffering like this?"
Wei absolutely didn't mean any harm or mockery to her self-esteem by saying the next words.
"Lack of talent."
Lihua wished to disappear. She simply wished to merge with the infinite cosmos today and say goodbye to this harsh world.
He tilted his head. "Everything can be learned by guidance. If you follow the steps, it shouldn't be a problem. If you cannot, it's a matter of lack of intelligence is what my acquaintance says. In simple terms, that person is a fool."
"..."
Why am I getting so humiliated in a single day? Just what did I do?
Lihua cried. "Your acquaintance is cruel. I am not a fool! It ju-just takes a little bit of time for me," she harrumphed.
"Only fools make such excuses is what he says."
"..."
Alright, let that man come in front of me. I will show him who is a fool!
Lihua hopefully asked, "Do you think I am a fool too?"
My Godly handsome prince will definitely be different than his friend.
Wei stared at her black orbs, shining with hope.
The hope which he didn't understand.
"You are not a fool."
Her eyes brightened.
Ah, I knew-
"You are simply pitiful."
"..."