I am a Chef in the Modern Era

Chapter 55: Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Translated by Yan of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Even though XiQin Restaurant had been closed recently, Lin ShuYi wasn’t any less busy than before.

First it was XiQin Restaurant’s renovation and décor; then it was purchasing materials for XiQin Restaurant; finally there was still the menu for a private room restaurant. Nobody else could do these tasks, so he had to go and do them.

The menu could remain indefinite for the time being, but it was already almost too late to go and buy things, because there were quite a few things that had to be settled together with the renovation. For example, many of the facilities in the kitchen – such as the range hood and oven – had to be installed beforehand. Even though the architect could design the entire kitchen, ultimately Lin ShuYi still had to make the final decision about what kind of electric appliances they should use.

Lin ShuYi had now come in contact with more and more modernized electrical appliances, and he was getting better and better at using them. But he truly had absolutely no idea what brand had good ovens, what brand had refrigerators that wasted less energy, what brand had range hoods with first-rate performance and a long lifespan.

As a result, he could only hand over the purchasing of appliances to Shen Fu.

Old Man Yang couldn’t buy them either, because if you gave the money to him, the first thing he would think of would be which one was the cheapest and saved the most money.

That was actually a point that Lin ShuYi had thoroughly thought about. He didn’t need the most expensive option, but when comparing goods, he would definitely buy one that had a relatively appropriate price to quality ratio. So he didn’t need one that was very cheap or expensive.

Shen Fu became the one with the best ideas and the most experience. Regarding this, Shen Fu’s answer was, “I will guarantee my lord’s satisfaction.”

And then he left.

Once Shen Fu was gone, Lin ShuYi tidied up the room and locked up the house before he went to XiQin Restaurant.

XiQin Restaurant was set up in the format of a courtyard in the front, followed by the hall in the middle and then the backyard. The courtyard was used to grow flowers and herbs, adorning the exterior in order to attract customers, while the backyard was set up with a huge fully decked out kitchen.

But the architect who arranged the kitchen couldn’t be the one with the last say in the matter, since the architect didn’t know what was needed inside. This was also the reason why the front was almost done with its renovation, but the kitchen in the back was still an empty shell.

Lin ShuYi went to XiQin Restaurant early because he wanted to properly explain to the architect what he wanted to turn the kitchen into.

The architect was still young. His surname was Liu, and everyone liked to call him Xiao Liu. He wore a pair of glasses, and he looked cultured and refined. Shen Fu had found him, and he seemed to be somewhat well-known. However, he wasn’t actually acquainted with Shen Fu, nor did he know that Shen Fu was the one who had found him.

Though Xiao Liu looked to be cultured, he was actually a chatterbox. When he met another person, he had an awful lot to say. Because Lin ShuYi had quite a few opinions on the design, he immediately considered Lin ShuYi to be a close friend, endlessly calling for ‘Xiao Yi Xiao Yi’ intimately. Lin ShuYi was also quite good-looking, so gradually it grew into a problem where he wanted to talk to Lin ShuYi the moment he saw him.

As a matter of fact, the moment he saw Lin ShuYi, he plastered himself to his side, beaming. “Xiao Yi ah, you’re here.”

Lin ShuYi nodded and looked at today’s progress, thinking that the goods did indeed need to be purchased sooner. Installing it would take a few more days, and they would most likely still need at least another month before they could officially reopen.

Lin ShuYi didn’t have any particular feelings for this Xiao Liu. He just felt like Xiao Liu talked a bit too much, but everything else was okay.

Lin ShuYi’s expressions had always been placid, so even though Lin ShuYi had only casually nodded at him, Xiao Liu didn’t care in the slightest. He still chattered away to Lin ShuYi.

“I left five sockets here for you. When the time comes, there’ll definitely be a lot of things that have to be plugged in here. And also here, since the oven will be going here, we can’t put anything else in, so we only left one space...”

Xiao Liu talked endlessly, and Lin ShuYi followed behind, nodding. Inside, he was thinking that he didn’t actually know where Shen Fu was or what he was buying. There were so many things that needed to be bought, Shen Fu should’ve remembered everything, right...

“Um... that older brother of yours isn’t actually related to you, right?” Xiao Liu scratched his head, suddenly bringing up this topic before looking at Lin ShuYi with a very gossipy expression. No matter how he looked at it, the two of them didn’t appear to be blood brothers. Even though he didn’t even know the other’s name, and Old Man Yang said that they were brothers, how come they didn’t seem like brothers at all, regardless in terms of their looks or personalities?

Lin ShuYi’s mind wasn’t there at all. When he heard him say that, he tilted his head. “Hm?”

Xiao Liu wasn’t implying anything else; he just felt like the two of them didn’t seem like blood brothers. But since they lived together, presumably even if they weren’t blood brothers then their relationship had to be even better than that of blood brothers, right? When he asked initially, he didn’t think so, but with Lin ShuYi’s ‘hm?’, he suddenly felt like he had overstepped a bit. He hastily waved his hands. “Nothing, nothing. I was just asking.”

But Lin ShuYi laughed. “Mhm, we aren’t blood brothers.” They weren’t even brothers, so how could they be blood brothers.

Xiao Liu had an ‘I knew it’ expression on his face. But Lin ShuYi’s disinclination to talk more about the matter suddenly made Xiao Liu think of another alternative, and his brain suddenly exploded: it can’t be that they were the children of that kind of remarried household, right!! So that’s why they lived together, even though they weren’t related!!!

This time, Xiao Liu felt even more than he had gossiped too much, even ruminating whether he had prodded into a sore spot of Lin ShuYi’s that he didn’t want to talk about. Then his brain started to go in the direction of a soap drama, imagining an entire show about wretched household ethics.

He overthought the psychological drama too much, to the point that when Xiao Liu looked at Lin ShuYi again, he wore an expression of confused constipation.

If Lin ShuYi knew what Xiao Liu was thinking, he would definitely think, ‘Holy shit.’

It was almost noon, time for lunch, when Shen Fu called to ask Lin ShuYi, “Have you eaten yet?”

Lin ShuYi said, “Not yet. I’m at XiQin Restaurant.”

Shen Fu was startled. “Where?”

“XiQin Restaurant.” Lin ShuYi clearly didn’t see what was the matter with those two words.

But Shen Fu stood up immediately. “Hurry, deliver it within the hour.”

Clearly, he wasn’t talking to Lin ShuYi.

“Deliver what?” Lin ShuYi asked, puzzled.

“Nothing. Then you haven’t eaten yet, right? What do you want to eat?”

Shen Fu should be in the city right now, so that it was more convenient to buy things. Now that it was already time to eat, Lin ShuYi still hadn’t cooked anything yet, but he didn’t want to cook anything anymore either. He might as well tell Shen Fu to bring something. “Anything will do, whatever you want.”

Shen Fu curved his eyes. That was right; Lin ShuYi was the easiest to take care of, not picky at all. As long as it was delicious, he liked it all.

“En, then wait, I’ll bring it over immediately.”

Lin ShuYi glanced at the workers, who were still busy. He didn’t need to worry about their meals, since in the end it wasn’t his responsibility either. They had box meals delivered to them that would be here soon, but shouldn’t Shen Fu be out buying things?

“You go buy things first. I’m not really hungry right now. When you’re on your way back in a bit, you can pick something up for me.”

There was laughter from the other end of the phone. “It’s fine, I’ve already arranged for everything. Just wait a little longer...”

Shen Fu didn’t finish speaking yet when Xiao Liu sidled over with great delight and spoke after hearing Lin ShuYi mentioned eating. “Is someone bringing Xiao Yi food? Then can they also bring me a portion too? The box meals that the engineering team gets are extremely disgusting, I’m gonna vomit if I eat any more.”

Xiao Liu was very diligent in terms of design, and he could provide a lot with just one plan. But this wasn’t the case all the time. If nobody would go out to eat with him, then he was too lazy to go, so he basically ate with the engineering team all the time. Since he was also picky with his food, he hadn’t eaten properly for many days now. After he had occasionally tried Lin ShuYi’s cooking, he glued himself to him; but since Lin ShuYi was busy during the past few days and rarely cooked, he couldn’t freeload off of him. Now, when he heard someone was going to bring Lin ShuYi food, he immediately pleaded for them to also bring him a portion.

Lin ShuYi nodded before he told Shen Fu on the other end, “Two portions.”

Concise and comprehensive, but Shen Fu’s face darkened when he heard that.

Chen Fang found that architect for him. Now, he wanted to simply lash Chen Fang a hundred times, ah, a hundred times.

Lin ShuYi thought that Shen Fu had first shelved the task of buying goods. Unexpectedly, when Shen Fu returned, all the things that they needed to buy had arrived in front of XiQin Restaurant.

Shen Fu got out of the car and gave a few orders. People nodded before respectfully moving the goods inside.

“So fast!!” Xiao Liu looked worshipful before bounding out.

Shen Fu was currently bent over, taking something out from the passenger seat. When he heard that voice, he glanced back.

Xiao Liu didn’t know why, but he jumped backwards a huge step, not daring to scoot closer to him. For some reason, it felt like this person’s eyes were brimming with killing intent!!

Lin ShuYi passed Xiao Liu and walked over to Shen Fu. “How come you’re back so soon?”

Shen Fu handed the takeout box to Lin ShuYi as the anger in his eyes immediately vanished. “I bought it for you, hurry and go eat.”

Xiao Liu took another step backwards, silently. If he had known that this person was the one bringing Lin ShuYi food, he wouldn’t have asked for it. But judging from the situation, it seemed like there wasn’t his portion either.

Lin ShuYi took the bag before he asked Shen Fu, “Where’s his?”

Shen Fu smiled as he lifted another takeout box and beckoned towards Xiao Liu. “Yours.”

Xiao Liu’s fine hairs raised, and an ominous premonition assaulted him. He scowled miserably as he continued to retreat backwards. “Big, big bro, you’re too kind. I already ate a box lunch...”

Lin ShuYi was confused. “Didn’t you say that the box lunches were disgusting, so even if you died today you won’t eat it again?”

Xiao Liu: ...

He trembled as he took the takeout box. Xiao Liu’s tears were about to fall. Why did he have an indescribable feeling that this takeout box had some kind of drug in it.

Otherwise why would that person smile so horrifyingly!!

No, the main point was – he didn’t have animosity or grudges with that person, right? Then why was his hostility off the charts the moment he saw Xiao Liu!!

Lin ShuYi ignored Shen Fu’s horrifying smile and Xiao Liu’s psychological tremors from wanting to cry but having no tears. He put the takeout box onto the table and opened the lid. Bright red, plump and tender sweet and sour meatballs were paired with fried bamboo stems. There was also a bowl of fragrant winter melon and pork chop soup, the archetypal simple meal. However, they smelled extremely good.

Lin ShuYi poked open a meatball and tried one before he turned to tell Xiao Liu, “It tastes really good, you try one.”

Xiao Liu sat in the corner and opened his own takeout box. Two dry chicken feet laid all alone in the box, and Xiao Liu shuddered as he picked up one to try. He only took one bite before he abruptly put down the box and covered his mouth.

Lin ShuYi was still looking at him, not understanding. “What’s wrong? It doesn’t taste good?”

Shen Fu sat at the side. While he handed freshly pressed fruit juice to Lin ShuYi, he glanced lightly at Xiao Liu again.

Xiao Liu shot to his feet and, hugging his takeout box, he forced out, “Good, it tastes good, I, I’m going to eat it over there...”

Without waiting for Lin ShuYi to speak again, he darted away, still holding his takeout box.

Lin ShuYi was baffled. “What’s wrong with him?”

Shen Fu smiled slightly. “It’s probably too delicious.”

After running away, Xiao Liu wanted to tilt his face back and let out a long scream, as it was so spicy that his tears were mingling. What animosity was it, what grudge!

And then, he vowed never to say that the engineering team’s box lunches were disgusting anymore.