Chapter 249: Yuan Zhou’s Three Outlooks

Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth

After Yuan Zhou said that there would be a delay, customers at the latter part of the line left immediately, but most stayed. After all, it didn’t take much time.

Only then did the middle-aged woman at the second floor open the box and take out her work clothes. After she got dressed and wrapped herself tightly, she began to clear out the drain.

"Boss, what about I carrying him for you?" Zhou Jia came forward and said.

"Yeah, good idea. Boss Yuan, you can give the baby to the girl to carry," the customers anxious for the meal suggested.

"No need. I can manage it myself," Looking at the baby in his arms, Yuan Zhou said gently.

Carrying the baby in his arms, Yuan Zhou took a look at his own kitchen. The baby was looking around curiously with his big dark eyes and lying curled up in Yuan Zhou’s arms obediently all along. He didn’t try to touch anything.

The customers who waited in line nevertheless began to chat.

"What do you think is wrong with Boss Yuan? Why is he carrying the baby? He is totally wasting our time," a young man said with discontent.

"I think so, too. The woman that clears out the drain, tsk....." The people who chimed in clearly expressed their standpoint with that "tsk".

"Yeah, you are right. Luckily, there isn’t a bad smell. Otherwise, it will severely affect our mood." A girl who liked cleanliness also found it difficult to withstand her.

"What are you guys paying attention to? Don’t you think Boss Yuan is so nice?" Another person didn’t agree with their opinions.

"That’s true. The culinary skills of Boss Yuan are definitely very good." Speaking of Yuan Zhou, what everyone generally accepted were still his supreme culinary skills.

"I feel Boss Yuan is also a nice person." The regular customers knew Yuan Zhou. He just had a temperament of being cold outside but warm-hearted inside.

"Last time when it was raining, Boss Yuan prepared towels for free to wipe the rainwater." The several customers who had been here for a meal in the heavy rain still remembered that.

"Yeah, that’s also true. Boss Yuan is indeed quite warm-hearted," the customers said conclusively.

Yuan Zhou didn’t participate in the heated discussions, nor did the woman who worked carefully on the second floor. She finished the work and changed her clothes, shoes, and hat very soon. After getting dressed and ensuring no bad smells lingered, she walked downstairs.

"It’s only a plastic bag that was blocking the drain. I have handled it." The middle-aged woman reached out her hands to receive her own child while revealing the reason.

"Ok. Sorry to bother you. Here is the pay." Yuan Zhou took out a clamp and picked up the money and then gave it to her.

During business time, Yuan Zhou never touched money with his hands. After all, the bacteria on the notes were too much.

"Thank you." The woman expressed her gratitude earnestly. Then, she received the money and walked out of the restaurant from the back door.

"Take care." Seeing the woman carry the baby and walk away, Yuan Zhou closed the back door.

Having slightly tidied up himself, he said, "The dishes can be ordered now."

"Everybody, now you can order the dishes. Please tell me the orders over here." Zhou Jia uttered timely.

"I have waited for so long. One serving of Egg Fried Rice, please." A person couldn’t wait to order the dishes.

"Boss Yuan, you are so caring. Please provide me with a serving of Sautéed Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork." Looking at Yuan Zhou with quite a gentle expression, the girl started to order her dishes.

"Boss Yuan, why didn’t you tell the woman to come next time or not to take the kid here? How troublesome it is!" The young man who had complained just now couldn’t help saying that to Yuan Zhou.

"Yeah. Boss Yuan, why are you so courteous to a woman that clears out the drain? Besides, you even help her to carry her baby. She really is unprofessional. Carrying her baby would inevitably affect her job." This was a person who was picky about jobs.

"It’s not good to say so. If anybody can help her to take care of her baby, who would like to take her own baby to clear out drains? It’s all about living. No one has it easy," said Man Man. "However, you have to make up for the delayed 10 minutes or so. It’s not a good deal, Boss Yuan."

Normally, Yuan Zhou would be reluctant to explain nor did he take notice of the customers’ questions. But, he answered this time.

His voice was, as usual, a little hollow from the face mask but fairly clear. He said, "I’m no more than a man who cooks."

"Boss Yuan, how can one that clears out the drain match with your job?" somebody answered.

"When does the occupation of chef rank higher than other occupations?" Yuan Zhou asked back.

When? It was probably when people covered their noses and detoured as soon as they heard one was to clear out the drain.

Yuan Zhou didn’t divert his attention anymore. It was more important to take care of the dishes in the pot.

...

The business time at noon passed soon. Yuan Zhou, again, became free. Only then did he get time to refine the honey. The honey collected was cool-natured when it was unprocessed. After refining, it would become mild natured and hence was suitable for most people to eat.

"System, what do you think of my honey?" Yuan Zhou took out the honeycomb that he had cut and appeared quite satisfied with it.

After all, he collected it after being stung for several times.

The system displayed, "The quality honey should be white in color and have small crystalline granules with fragrance of pear blossom. Nevertheless, the royal jelly is the secretion from the hypopharyngeal gland of the worker bees that attend to bee pupae in a honeycomb. It’s the food provided for the pupae that will become the queen bee and also the food for the queen bee in her lifetime."

"According to the different pollen that the bees eat, the colors of the royal jelly would slightly change, normally into milky white and yellowish. Besides, contained in the royal jelly are also very high content of some longevity factors."

"I just want to know how is my honey?" Having failed in acting cool, Yuan Zhou was a little sorrowful.

The system displayed, "Although the honey that host has collected isn’t the best, it’s also considered as a superior one."

"Thanks for your compliments." Yuan Zhou then became speechless. It turned out that processing the honey was more important.

As the royal jelly was a kind of emulsions secreted by the young adult bees after eating the pollen, the taste was extremely sour with a slight hint of spiciness. The texture and taste were so bad that they couldn’t be used as the flavorings directly.

Neither the honey nor the royal jelly could be processed at high temperature; therefore, Yuan Zhou intended to refine the honey first before considering the new dish.

The honey would be refined well when a drop of water on it could form a bead without dispersing. What Yuan Zhou used was a refining method that required a very long time, specifically one whole day. Of course, he didn’t use the fire refining method.

For the whole afternoon, Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was filled with fragrance of the honey.

"Little Boss Yuan, what delicacy are you making?" The neighboring Boss Tong stretched out her neck and asked.

"Honey. It’s the bee honey I went to collect." Yuan Zhou was seated at the door and had just prepared to sculpt something. The Jinyaolou peony that he sculpted in the morning had already disappeared.

"That’s really a good thing. There are many fake ones on the market currently," Boss Yuan sighed with emotion and said.

"You are right. What I collected is, nevertheless, genuine ones," said Yuan Zhou earnestly.

"Well, of course. The honey you have collected are naturally genuine ones." Boss Yuan was stunned for a while and then echoed.

"This young man still isn’t good at communication." Boss Tong whispered in her heart. She had been doing business here for many years and already known that Yuan Zhou didn’t do well in communicating with others. He wasn’t honey-lipped.

She just didn’t expect him to be the same even when he had grown up.

"Aunt Tong, I’m going to practice sculpting now." Yuan Zhou picked up the chosen radish and put it on the empty shelf, preparing to carve it.

"Wait. You carved so many sculptures every day and they were all taken away by others. What are you carving them for?" The shelf full of various flowers both bizarre and beautiful immediately became empty in a short moment when Boss Tong went to get the clean clothing.

"To practice my technique." Currently, Yuan Zhou was directly using the kitchen knife to sculpt flowers. It still needed constant practice to make his work better and more vivid.

"That does make sense. The craftsmanship for making a living can never be out of practice." Boss Tong nodded the head, indicating that she understood that.

"But you can put them away. Otherwise, they will disappear very soon." Boss Tong still instructed Yuan Zhou.

"Thank you, Boss Tong. However, it’s a kind of affirmation that they like my work," said Yuan Zhou quite confidently.

Boss Tong found it inappropriate to advise him anymore. And Yuan Zhou also had his wish fulfilled and began to enjoy the time of sculpting.

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