[What did I just hear? Yellow monkey? Does he mean East Continent people?]
[I never imagined people from what is now the biggest continent used to be called such a derogatory name. (snickers)]
[Looks like the person above isn't from the East Continent. What, are you green with envy?]
[All right, there aren't even any countries anymore, so what are you arguing about? A thousand years ago, people could be discriminated against just for their skin color, but I think dividing people into seven grades now is the biggest discrimination of all!]
[Person above, protect your citizen ID number. Careful, or they might send you to Prisoner Island too.]
Xie Qi was still dressed in a black shirt and pants. He looked less like a head chef than the elegant, distinguished master of the villa.
Of course, he wasn't wearing the same clothes as yesterday.
Not long after Xie Qi returned to his room last night, someone had knocked on his door.
When he opened it, he found Lina standing there. She looked as timid as ever, but she was holding a set of black clothes.
They were the same style as the ones he was wearing, but his had been stained with blood. He had been worried about what to do, and hadn't expected Lina to be so diligent.
She had also taken the clothes he changed out of to wash them.
Because of that, Xie Qi had nothing but praise for the maid. She seemed very afraid of him, though, so for the sake of Lina's mental health, Xie Qi decided not to scare her on purpose anymore.
Everyone downstairs was dazzled by his appearance, but not everyone was impressed. Hearing his words, the fat, wealthy businessman grew even angrier:
"What? Are the yellow monkeys sticking together? How dare a mere cook raise his voice at me? Do you know how many properties I own in Manhattan?"
"Oh? Of course I don't know how many properties you own, but I do know that if you keep this up, sir, there won't be any dinner for you today."
Xie Qi showed no anger. As though looking at a child who didn't know any better, he walked down the stairs one step at a time.
"What?"
When the fat businessman saw Xie Qi walk up to him, his imposing height made him take an involuntary step back.
Perhaps because he felt he had lost face, his plump, pale cheeks flushed red, making him look like a cooked meatball.
"What gives you the right to keep me from eating? Where's Mrs. Caster? I'm going to tell her you're a worm who neglects the guests!"
"All right, all right! Everyone calm down!"
Bailey adjusted his glasses and looked at Xie Qi, who was still calmly smiling as he studied the fat businessman pointing at him.
"I'm sorry, Head Chef Kani. His nerves are just too frayed. I apologize for his careless words."
When Bailey spoke up, Xie Qi turned to look at him. Tilting his head, he smiled and asked:
"And what is your relationship with him?"
"Well... I'm his attorney. He was the one who brought me aboard the cruise ship."
As he spoke, a hint of complaint crept into Bailey's voice. Apparently, he too was unhappy that the businessman had dragged him into this and was now causing him trouble by behaving so recklessly in an unfamiliar place.
"In that case, I'll accept your apology. But I wasn't joking when I said there would be no dinner~"
Xie Qi held one finger to his lips and smiled at everyone.
"What? Is there a problem with the food?"
Before Bailey could make sense of it, Phil, who had been watching the spectacle from the side, suddenly spoke up.
Seeing that there were some clever people present, Xie Qi kept smiling as he said:
"Yesterday, the master said the next cargo ship would arrive in seven days. The ingredients in the villa were just enough to last us until then, but now we have eight more guests. With more food being consumed, we can only serve one meal a day."
The moment he finished, someone challenged him: "Then why didn't you say so yesterday? How could one meal a day possibly fill us up?"
Brussels, the black man sitting on a sofa in the distance, had been holding the blonde woman in his arms and hadn't planned to get involved in the dispute. He hadn't expected to hear such news.
The others looked grim as well. They hadn't expected to have to worry about food after arriving on the island.
"Didn't you say there was a farm out back? There are only eight more of us. Surely there's a way to make it last seven days?"
Someone recalled what Xie Qi had said yesterday and asked.
Seeing that the capable-looking female captain had thought of it so quickly, Xie Qi gave her an appreciative look.
Song Nan felt a little uncomfortable under Xie Qi's gaze. She didn't know why he was looking at her as though she were a child.
Xie Qi looked away and addressed the guests, who were all staring at him.
"Unfortunately, when I went to check on the farm last night, a mad dog had bitten every animal there to death. Since I don't know what viruses the mad dog might have been carrying, I wouldn't dare serve those ingredients to our honored guests."
The others didn't say whether they believed him or not.
After all, he had given them a reason. They were dependent on his hospitality; surely they couldn't insist that he take them to the farm to see whether there really had been a mad dog.
Seeing that the guests understood his predicament, Xie Qi's smile grew wider.
"In that case, when do we eat? With only one meal a day, you're not going to make us wait until evening, are you?"
Phil, the white-haired second-generation rich kid, sat with his legs crossed and looked askance at Xie Qi.
"Of course not."
Xie Qi bowed to the honored guests.
"As for when the meal will be served, that depends on when you all finish the game."
With that, he straightened up and spread his arms. The fixed smile on his pale face slowly stretched into a strange curve.
The spiral staircase behind him formed his backdrop, and his voice echoed around the hall into the ears of everyone present:
"Welcome to my game~"
My lambs~
[Waaah! So handsome, handsome, handsome!]
[AI butler, three seconds. I want every piece of information on this man!]
[I thought this was just a survival instance. I didn't expect there to be a game too. Nice, nice.]
[I came from the head chef's perspective. All I can say is, good luck to you all. (praying)]
[Same here. I get so excited thinking about how they'll react when they find out what the head chef is really like. (not really)]
[Why are the people above talking in riddles? How impressive could a mere cook be?]
Many viewers who had never paid attention to Xie Qi had only caught a brief glimpse of him serving food last night, so naturally they didn't know what he had done behind the scenes.
As for the viewers who knew the truth, whether or not Xie Qi's perversity had rubbed off on them, they didn't spell it out either. They just wanted to see those people get slapped in the face.
All that could be said was that anyone who could keep watching Xie Qi's outrageous antics wasn't normal to begin with.
In the hall, meanwhile, the others were all stunned by Xie Qi's sudden madness.
Only three people still looked calm. Everyone else swallowed and watched Xie Qi's movements intently.
Seeing that the guests hadn't reacted, Xie Qi lowered his outstretched arms and produced something from behind his back as if by magic.
With dazzling speed, he performed numerous tricks with a deck of playing cards. Finally, he shuffled the cards between his palms, a flash of hidden excitement in his black eyes as he said:
"This game is called—Texas Hold'em."
(Cuties who don't know the rules of Texas Hold'em, don't worry. I'll do my best to make it simple and easy to understand. (finger heart))