A Restaurant Getting on Track

"We only have egg fried rice and milk for now." Zhang Han turned and glanced at her as he replied.

"Mainlander?" The woman froze slightly. She could tell from Zhang Han's Mandarin, and a trace of disdain involuntarily flashed through her eyes.

Zhang Han gave her a bland look and ignored her.

Whenever people spoke Mandarin outside, some local Hong Kongers would show a hint of contempt. It wasn't exactly discrimination, but rather a form of dislike.

Zhang Han remembered Zhang Li mentioning this when they were chatting. After spending several years in Hong Kong, she had also learned why the locals resented Mainlanders.

She said that many Mainlanders used various means to give birth in hospital beds in Hong Kong, forcing many local pregnant women to go to more expensive private hospitals. Gradually, the places in private hospitals were also taken up. You think you're rich? Sorry, Mainlanders are richer than you. Later, the Hong Kong authorities even issued regulations restricting Mainlanders from coming to Hong Kong to give birth, but faced all kinds of protests. Every weekend, especially during holidays, huge numbers of Mainlanders went shopping in Hong Kong. They didn't queue, shouted loudly, ran red lights... and bought many goods completely out of stock.

All these reasons made Hong Kongers dislike Mainlanders. But in truth, when the forest grew dense, all kinds of birds appeared. Every place had people with good and bad manners. Hong Kong also had plenty of scum; it was simply that too many Mainlanders went there.

Zhang Han, however, had always ignored such looks.

How could an anteater care about the gazes of mere ants?

Let alone Hong Kongers—even foreigners, aliens, or cultivators—Zhang Han wouldn't care about them.

"Just these two things? Then I'll have one serving of egg fried rice and some milk." The woman took out her wallet and asked, "How much are they?"

"The egg fried rice is 280 per serving, and the milk is 80 per cup." Zhang Han said, "If you want to eat, you'll have to wait half an hour."

"That expensive? Then forget it." The woman quickly put her wallet away, gave Zhang Han a contemptuous look, and turned to leave.

After stepping outside, she hurried back to the Sichuan Fragrance Restaurant next door.

The décor and layout inside were also quite good. It specialized in spicy Sichuan cuisine, and even its chef had been hired from Western Sichuan at a high price.

Since the restaurant did little business in the morning, it was relatively quiet. The employees only needed to clean in the morning. At that moment, the manager and five servers were sitting at a table beside the door.

"Manager, manager, I went to take a look. The restaurant next door is run by a Mainlander." The woman hurried back, sat down on a chair, and said.

"Run by a Mainlander?"

"Another Mainlander trying to come to New Moon Bay to make money."

"..."

The servers discussed it for a few moments, while the manager pondered before asking, "What kind of food does the restaurant sell?"

The woman paused, then said three words in an amused tone: "Egg fried rice."

Everyone froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"And milk." The woman quickly added, "Guess how much he's selling it for? One serving of egg fried rice costs 280, and one cup of milk costs 80 yuan."

Those words left the servers stunned.

"Heh, has he gone crazy trying to make money?" A man in his early twenties sneered.

"And he calls that opening a restaurant? He'll be lucky if he gets any customers!"

"Exactly. Does he think he's Chef God? Selling it that expensively—what a joke."

Amid the discussion, they could all see a trace of mockery in one another's eyes. Although they didn't say it outright, they all felt that the owner had something wrong with him.

"How interesting." The middle-aged manager chuckled and shook his head. "So that's why the customers who went in these past two days came back out in less than two minutes. It was a problem with the price."

As he spoke, the manager couldn't help laughing. He looked at the woman and said, "Then why didn't you try a 280-yuan plate of rice to see what it tasted like?"

"I'm not sick." The woman curled her lips and smiled.

In her mind, eating a 280-yuan serving of egg fried rice was already an act of insanity.

By her standards, Zhang Han's restaurant now had three "sick" people waiting outside.

"Boss, when will the food be ready?" Liang Mengqi walked in first with a smile.

"Twenty minutes." Zhang Han glanced at her and replied.

"Then we'll wait for a while." Liang Mengqi said this, then saw the effeminate man walking toward the large table Zhang Han used. She hurriedly reminded him, "Hey, hey, this is where the customers sit."

"What? We can't just sit anywhere?" The effeminate man froze slightly.

"What do you think? That's where the boss and his daughter eat." Liang Mengqi rolled her eyes at him and sat down first on the small chair beside the customer table. The short-haired woman said nothing and sat directly opposite Liang Mengqi.

"Such a tiny table? Damn, Mengqi, you didn't set us up, did you? If you two sit here, where am I supposed to sit?" the effeminate man complained.

"Isn't there room at the table beside us? Stop fussing and sit down. Otherwise, go wait outside!" The short-haired woman glared at him.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll sit beside you, all right? Honestly, I'm warning you, if today's food doesn't suit my taste, I'm going to raise hell!" The effeminate man gave a soft snort.

"You're so irritating you make my scalp tingle!" The short-haired woman rolled her eyes at him.

"Hehehe... The two of you—a sissy and a tomboy. You really make a good match." Liang Mengqi chuckled.

The effeminate man was named Zhao Dahu, a very masculine name for a very effeminate man. The short-haired woman was named Yu Qingqing, a delicate-sounding name for someone with a cheerful personality. More interestingly, Zhao Dahu had been desperately pursuing Yu Qingqing for nearly two years.

"Who's a good match with him? I don't like sissies!" Yu Qingqing said irritably.

"Hmph! I like tomboys." Zhao Dahu muttered before looking around at the surroundings. "This place hardly looks like a restaurant. There are only three tiny customer tables. I think that guy didn't even sincerely intend to open a restaurant."

"What does his décor have to do with you? Can you stop running your mouth?" Yu Qingqing turned around and slapped Zhao Dahu on the shoulder.

"Fine, fine, fine. I won't say anything, all right?" Zhao Dahu twisted his body and said, "Although it doesn't look like a restaurant, the décor here is pretty distinctive. That really is a jadeite feature wall over there. And I have to say, this Steinway piano is cool. I just don't know whether it's purely decorative."

"I'm telling you, Zhao the Sissy." Liang Mengqi nodded toward Zhang Han and said, "His piano skills are no worse than Lang Zong's."

"Seriously? He's that good?" Yu Qingqing asked in surprise.

"Oho, Mengqi, don't tell me you've fallen for that old man? You're really praising him like crazy. Tsk, tsk." Zhao Dahu spoke sarcastically. Then he suddenly sniffed and asked in surprise, "Huh? Is that the smell of goat milk? It smells so good."

"Yeah, this milk seems really pure." Yu Qingqing also caught the smell of goat milk. She turned to look and saw Zhang Han pouring goat milk into two cups. There seemed to be some left in the pot, steaming hot and filling the air with its rich fragrance.

"Gurgle..." Liang Mengqi's stomach growled twice. She instinctively ran her tongue over her alluring lips and murmured, "I'm almost at my limit."

Under her eager anticipation, the agonizing twenty minutes finally passed.

"Mengmeng, we're going to eat." Zhang Han placed the breakfast on the table, then walked over and picked up Mengmeng, who was still engrossed in her cartoon.

"Time to eat!" Mengmeng cheered, raising her little arms in her daddy's embrace. It was only after she sat at the dining table that she noticed the three people there.

"Oh, the pretty ladies are here?" Mengmeng waved her little hand.

"Good morning, Mengmeng." Liang Mengqi smiled sweetly, a small dimple showing on her right cheek.

"Good morning, Mengmeng." Zhao Dahu and Yu Qingqing also greeted her with smiles.

"Hello, hmph." Mengmeng greeted them politely at first, then remembered what the two had said at the beach and let out another little snort. She turned away, picked up her spoon, and began eating breakfast.

"Your plates are on the counter. The rice is in the large container above. Serve yourselves. The milk is in the large pot beside it, and the goat milk is in the small pot." Zhang Han said this to the three of them.

"Okay." Liang Mengqi excitedly got up and walked over.

Yu Qingqing frowned slightly.

This was the first time she had encountered a restaurant where customers had to serve themselves. It would have been understandable if it were a buffet, but this was a small restaurant selling egg fried rice!

"Hmph!" Zhao Dahu rolled his eyes at Zhang Han and sashayed over.

"It really is plain egg fried rice. There's only egg and rice, and barely any scallions. But it smells pretty good." Zhao Dahu sniffed, then served himself a portion after the two women had finished.

As for the milk and goat milk, all three chose the goat milk. They often drank cow's milk, while goat milk was something they rarely had.

But after Zhao Dahu and Yu Qingqing poured their milk, they suddenly froze when they turned around.

Liang Mengqi had returned to the table in three quick steps. After setting down her breakfast, she began eating as though swept away by a gale.

Judging from the way she ate, the two of them felt as if she hadn't eaten in three days.

"Is it really that good?" Yu Qingqing and Zhao Dahu looked at each other and murmured.

"Go try it!" Zhao Dahu said. The two of them hurried back.

After sitting down, Yu Qingqing glanced at Liang Mengqi, who didn't even lift her head, and froze again. She scooped up a spoonful of rice and put it into her mouth. The instant she tasted it, her eyes gradually widened.

This... is this really egg fried rice?

Yu Qingqing actually began to doubt it. She closed her eyes and chewed several times. After swallowing, she suddenly felt utterly refreshed.

She lowered her head and glanced at the egg fried rice on her plate, then at Liang Mengqi, who had already eaten half of hers, and finally at her own spoon. She began eating at three times her usual speed.

A certain Chef God had once said: "The joy of food lies in making the person eating it immerse themselves completely, as though embarking on a wondrous journey of taste."

That was exactly how Yu Qingqing felt now. She was completely intoxicated by the food.

In a daze, she seemed to hear Zhao Dahu choking up behind her.

"Boo-hoo... It's so delicious. It's damn delicious... This isn't egg fried rice. This is practically life..."