The plates were left dirty on the counter, half a dozen pots scattered around the stoves. All sorts of scents mixed with the wood burning under the grill. Oil was everywhere. If Master Lorenzo were here, he’d be screaming at Lei, eyes bulging, that finger of his jabbing over and over into Lei’s chest. He’d say how useless a head chef Lei was, that he couldn’t even keep his kitchen clean.
He’d be right, of course, if it weren’t for the three golden coins Fatty Lou displayed in the palm of his left hand.
Oh, how beautiful they were! Hand-made, not mass-produced. You could see the fine details of the golden silk draped over the Emperor’s wide shoulders. His face was not visible, the upper part of the coins only showing a strong chin, but it was the dragon, painted in vivid gold on the side of his chest, that gave these coins an ethereal sense of wealth.
They were cold to the touch. Lei could feel his Spiritual Sensitivity skill tingling in the back of his head as he stared at the coins. Nothing was simple about them.
“Courtesy of our rich patrons,” Fatty Lou was saying, but nobody paid him any heed. All the faces were too focused on the coins, so Lei had to push Brother He toward the main hall. They couldn’t leave their esteemed guests unattended.
“This is money?” Little Chuanli asked innocently, his big eyes glinting. “It doesn’t look like the copper coins. I’ve seen a hundred-copper cash coin once, but even that—”
“You’re looking at three thousand coppers, Little Chuanli,” Fatty Lou said with a smug face. “The rich folk don’t bother with coppers. That’s why they say gold is the king. You could use this wherever you go; even in the other continents, people would gladly take it.”
Lei leaned back against the counter, drops of sweat trickling down his chin. He didn’t know how he should feel. He’d been confident in his dishes. Surely, he had what it took to please a bunch of ancient folk. But there had also been another voice that kept telling him how much of a fraud he was.
That voice was silent now. Gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. Yet, Lei knew most of his life he’d fought and struggled against that shadow. It had been there when Master Lorenzo told him how useless he was in front of the kitchen staff. It had been there when he’d spent day after day in that room, with no one but his cooking books for company. Even when he decided to speak with Granny Xu, that voice had whispered at the back of his head.
Could he do it? Were he and the bunch of kids he’d picked from the streets really fit for the job? What if they couldn’t do it? What would he say to Master Li and Granny Xu in that case?
Forgive me? I tried?
It had been years since Lei learned how meaningless it was to come up with excuses. Yes, you learn from failures, but there were times when you just couldn’t fail. One way or another, you had to succeed.
“We did it,” Lei muttered, pressure building up behind his eyes. “They liked it.”
Faces turned toward him. The little ones looked confused. They didn’t know. How could they? At the side, their new server, Xie Yanyu, silently withdrew to the main hall, leaving them alone.
There was one face, however, that looked at him with a hint of a smile — a proud smile.
Fatty Lou reached out and gripped his shoulder tightly. “You fucking did it,” he said, staring into Lei’s eyes. His voice trembled. He sniffed. “I never doubted.”
Lei raised his chin and drew in a deep breath. It only helped a little to alleviate the pressure. He wiped his eyes and held Fatty Lou at arm’s length. His brother-in-arms’ eyes were red.
“We did it,” Lei said, thumping a fist into Fatty Lou’s chest. “You and me, Brother Lou.” He waved an arm at the kids. “And these little brats. Couldn’t have done anything without you guys.”
“It’s a group hug!” Little Chuanli almost roared as he jumped toward the two of them.
“I’m in!” Little Jiao came after him, tiptoeing around the other kids and grinning widely.
Little Yunru and Little Ning couldn’t hold themselves back either, joining the hug shortly after. It was warm here, in the kitchen. Warm like no other.
“Team!” Lei managed to say. “Did we do it or not?”
“We did it, Chef!”
“Did we do it or not?”
“We did it, Chef!”
“Good!” Lei gave them a strong nod, then tried to press his lips into a straight line. “Now let’s clean this mess, shall we? Start with the plates. I need those pots scrubbed. Gather the leftover ingredients to the side. We’ll cook something with them later. Remember, you can’t let anything go to waste in the kitchen.”
“There he is again,” Little Chuanli muttered.
Little Ning sighed. “Be quick, you know how he is.”
“What did you say?” Lei arched an eyebrow at them.
“Nothing, Chef. We’re cleaning!” came the joint response as his team of little cooks started tidying the kitchen.
With that, Lei checked his apron and made sure he was presentable enough for the little farewell ceremony for the guests. He had to be there to see them off and tell them the Chef sent his regards.
“You really told them our Chef is a secret Master sick of all the attention in the Immortal Cities?” Lei asked a moment later. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, come up with something else?”
“They were planning to send a guard to our doorstep to keep us safe.” Fatty Lou sighed. “Trust me, they would’ve used that guard to try and learn who this Master Chef was. I couldn’t let them get their way.”
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“Makes sense,” Lei said, a little impressed by how quickly his brother-in-arms had come up with such an excuse. He doubted he could’ve done the same. “We won’t be staying here for too long, anyway.”
“A month will be more than enough,” Fatty Lou nodded. “I’ll tell my old man about it. He has some small connections in Lanzhou. Best we secure some place before we move, but nothing’s cheap there. I don’t think we can get a two-story restaurant like this one.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Lei said, then gave him a look. “You know what, a small restaurant will be better. At least it’ll allow us to stay away from curious eyes while we get used to the place. No need to hurry, right?”
“Right,” Fatty Lou said, reaching for the knob. “You ready, Chef?”
“Oh, I’m ready, Chef. Go ahead.”
The door creaked open.
……
The first thing that hit him was the scent. An insidious reek that wormed its way through his nose, burning his throat on its way. Pus and rot. So strong that Lei had to clamp a hand over his mouth as he stared around the main hall.
He scowled. No one seemed aware of the nasty stench that had taken hold of the restaurant. The cultivators were seated around the table, conversing in hushed tones, while two middle-aged men — Lei recognized them as the Head Scribe and the Head of the Post Office — stood near the entrance.
The door was open, and the two men were talking with someone Lei couldn’t see from where he stood. But the stench was coming from there, flooding through the opening like a rotten fog.
“Brother—” Lei was about to speak when his Spiritual Sensitivity skill sent a jolt of pain up his head, making him wobble back and raise a hand to the wall to steady himself. His world spun madly. Blinking through the blur only made it worse.
“Brother Lei, what’s wrong?” Fatty Lou’s voice came, muffled by the ringing in Lei’s ears. A strong hand helped him as he kept taking deep breaths. “Are you alright?”
Just then, the door closed in the corner of his eye, and his vision slowly came back into focus. He pinched the bridge of his nose, blinking as a tear trickled down from his left eye. His nose was still full of the rotten smell, but with each breath, it began to fade.
Until, finally, he could see clearly again.
“Yeah, I’m fine now,” Lei said, shaking his head at fatty Lou “We’ll talk later, you go ahead now. I’ll be right behind you.”
Fatty Lou nodded solemnly, moving over to the table as the two middle-aged men by the entrance eased back into their seats. Though they tried to hide it, Lei could see the panic in their eyes as they kept stealing glances at the door, as if expecting another knock at any moment.
“We’re thankful that you took a chance on us tonight,” Fatty Lou started, a professional smile on his lips. “Though I’m sure the dinner lacked the grandeur to match a group such as yourselves, I hope the food was to your satisfaction.”
That earned him nods and chuckles from the crowd. It seemed not a single person in the group had a bad thing to say about the dinner. In fact, Lei knew, for some reason, that they would be willing to eat more of his simple dishes should he give them the offer.
Fried rice. Kimchi ramen. Chicken wings. None of these dishes should be worthy of cultivators. They dined in heavenly palaces and glorious mansions. They thought of mortals as lessers, bugs to be crushed or ignored.
Well, maybe not this bunch, but at least that was how the stories often went. These people were Body Tempering Stage cultivators, which meant that they were no different than mortals. But even though that was the case, it didn’t change the fact that they were gods of Jiangzhen.
And pleasing the gods was no simple thing.
Even if they were corrupt. There was a man there… They were talking with him. So it’s true—they have a connection with those bastards.
They knew something was wrong with Jiangzhen’s governance. It all started with that thug, after all. But this essentially confirmed their suspicions once and for all. The Governor was in bed with those monsters.
We have to get out of this place.
“Our Master sends his regards,” Lei said shortly after. He had to keep up the act. “He hopes you can understand his worries and give him face about this matter.”
“Tell your Master we appreciate his talent,” said a man from the table, the young man with hawkish eyes. “It is our fortune that he’s chosen Jiangzhen to open a restaurant. I’m sure the cultivators in our city will flock here once you open the place. Your food deserves the attention!”
“That’s very kind of you, Sir.” Lei bowed deeply. “Rest assured, our Master will hear your words. He may not like the attention of the masses, but I can tell you that no chef would be displeased to hear their food being praised like this.”
“Good! Good!” came another voice from the Commissioner, one of the most hated men in Jiangzhen. But then again, it was little wonder why people hated the taxmen. “I can’t wait to try new dishes!”
What followed was a string of praises and promises that they would definitely be dining in the restaurant in the future. They also made a point of showing their satisfaction by giving five more golden coins to Brother Lou to reserve some of the special rooms—a generous act that Lei hadn’t expected at all. The restaurant wasn’t even open yet, but they’d earned more money from these cultivators than Lei had ever seen before.
The decision to go for the heavyweights of Jiangzhen was no doubt a huge success. It seemed to Lei that whatever his brother-in-arms decided to do, he couldn’t go wrong. The man had a natural talent for marketing.
They saw them off not long after, closing the door as Lei breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a crazy day, a long day, though he felt more alive than ever. They’d struck gold here, in the literal sense. The pile of coins would only get bigger and bigger once the restaurant opened.
“I need to see Sister Luli,” he said when they all slumped down around the table. “We can’t delay the opening.”
“Strike the iron while it’s hot. We should do that, yeah,” Fatty Lou said, then chuckled as he stared at the kids. Most of them were about to nod off, with only Little Yunru keeping a close eye on them. “But I don’t think your little team will be enough to handle all that work. You should recruit new faces.”
“New faces?” Lei raised an eyebrow at him, massaging his knees. The pain from people eating his dishes hadn’t bothered him much lately, but still, it’d sting now and then. “I don’t think we need it. It’s not like we’re going to open the restaurant right in the morning.”
“Oh?” It was Fatty Lou’s turn to be surprised. “Isn’t that how restaurants work?”
Lei shook his head with a silly smile. “You’re better than this, Brother Lou. If we want to charge an arm and a leg for these dishes, then we can’t let them eat whenever they want. They’ve already reserved some of the rooms, why stretch ourselves too thin? We’ll just serve dinner.”
“That’s…” Fatty Lou muttered. “Certainly a new idea.”
“Yeah, trust me on this,” Lei said, glancing at the kids. He rose slowly and clapped his hands. “Alright, team. Time to wake up. We have scrubbing to do. This hall isn’t going to clean itself.”
“Uhh…”
“I can’t…”
The kids grumbled and mumbled tiredly, sending pleading looks Lei’s way. He tried to keep a straight face, but at long last, he breathed out a long sigh. The kids had worked hard today. They did a damned good job.
“You know what, I’ve changed my mind,” Lei said. “You can go with your Big Brother Lou. Get a good bath and straight to your beds. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day as well.”
“Big Brother Lei, I can help,” Little Yunru said with an eager face. “I’m not tired.”
“I can work too!” came Little Ning’s voice.
Little Chuanli and Little Jiao huffed at the pair of them, but they too raised their hands.
“Go.” Lei waved a hand at them. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Brother Lei, you’re sure?” Fatty Lou came over and looked him in the eye. “It was a long day, you know. And we have two more days till the opening.”
“It’s fine,” Lei said, shaking his head. “Just make sure the wine’s ready when I get back, and ask Sister Luli too.”
We need to talk. One of those rotten bastard’s here
Fatty Lou nodded. “Deal.”
With that, Lei watched as the kids trudged out of the restaurant, leaving him alone in the main hall. He breathed deep once they were gone. He then took a long look around him.
This place. That table. The kitchen behind him. This all belonged to him.
There's no way I'm letting you mess with this place.
……