Little Fu Gui?

This kind of gossip-filled moment isn't nearly as satisfying if you have to enjoy it alone; you need company to truly savor the drama.

So, Chen An brought Zhu Zhuqing along, following the commotion until they gradually arrived at the kitchen area, where a circle of onlookers had already formed.

Most had rushed over upon hearing the noise, and among them were a few of his own students.

"What's going on?"

Chen An noticed the situation the moment he arrived, and one look at the scene told him this drama had only just begun.

"Dean?"

The two students heard Chen An's voice from behind and jumped in fright, looking exactly like children caught sneaking out by their teacher.

They turned their heads, shivering, only to relax upon seeing Chen An, as he was usually quite approachable despite his authority.

"We only just got here, too. We heard an apprentice messed up a dish and a customer caught him to berate him."

Oh, is that so?

The situation here didn't quite look like that.

The person being scolded was just a child, and judging by his appearance, he wasn't very old. His rather chubby, round face reminded Chen An of an old acquaintance.

Especially that queue braid tied at the back of his head—it really looked identical, though Chen An found the hairstyle disgusting and off-putting.

The man was in the middle of a tirade, and while he didn't use a single profanity, every word was cutting.

"You're the apprentice in charge of the stove? Look at what you've done to the Jade White Soup! Look at it! It's like swill! If you want to be a chef, you'd be better off going back to plow the fields."

The one doing the scolding was a young man in rather lavish clothing. He didn't seem to be looking for trouble on purpose, because the soup—or rather, the entire table of dishes—was indeed terrible.

In that sense, he had a point, and the fact that he suppressed his urge to resort to violence showed he was quite well-bred.

"N-no, it's not, uh, I'm sorry."

The child shrank his head, looking as if he had something to say but didn't dare, only to settle for an apology instead.

The young master kept scolding without ever laying a hand on him; he was likely showing restraint out of consideration for the child's age.

Strangely, the hotel's lobby manager just watched from the sidelines without saying a word, looking completely indifferent.

"Master, it's a bit strange. That person is likely just a scapegoat."

After observing for a while, Zhu Zhuqing whispered her analysis to Chen An.

"Oh, insightful. I think so too."

The master and disciple were currently in full "gossip-watching" mode, so they saw no reason to intervene.

Since the young master was just shouting and not throwing punches, they treated it like a grand performance, even feeling a bit of admiration.

He had been scolding for two and a half minutes without repeating a single word; he was quite the expert in this field, possessing high literary talent.

"How did you figure that out?"

Chen An feigned ignorance and asked Zhu Zhuqing.

"He's not much older than me. If he's truly in charge of the stove, his skills shouldn't be that poor, so he wouldn't have made it like this. There must be another reason for it to turn out this way."

Zhu Zhuqing analyzed it with a serious air, though she had arrived at this information through pure intuition.

But it made sense; it was hard to refute.

If someone is young and in charge of the kitchen, their ability shouldn't be that bad—at the very least, they should be competent.

Given the situation, he was either pushed out to take the fall, or the staff was working together to drive him away.

"Very logical."

Chen An agreed with Zhu Zhuqing's point of view but offered no further comment.

At this moment, higher-level management arrived. Chen An had some impression of this person; he was the one working in the back when they tried to make a reservation a few days ago.

"Young Master Qin, please don't be angry. This is entirely that bastard's fault. I promise you, he will be fired immediately, and we will compensate you with five thousand Gold Soul Coins, plus today's meal on the house. How about that?"

He spoke with a beaming smile. The compensation was generous, mostly because the young master was someone he knew, and he needed to save face.

After his anger subsided slightly, the young master replied.

"Fine, but I don't want to see this brat again. You know what happens if I do."

The manager replied with a smile: "Of course, of course."

Next came the child's desperate pleas for the manager not to fire him, claiming he had nowhere else to go.

It was a classic plot development. Once the matter settled, the onlookers dispersed—there was no more show to watch, so why stay?

"Master, shall we go too?" Zhu Zhuqing asked.

But the reply was not an affirmation. Chen An narrowed his eyes, staring at the kitchen, feeling that things were not as simple as they seemed.

His sixth sense told him there was a bigger player involved, so he patted Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder and smiled.

"Don't be in such a hurry. It shouldn't be over yet."

As a good disciple who listened to her master, Zhu Zhuqing sat back down.

After the crowd dispersed, they found a vantage point that allowed them to observe the private room. As for those two students, they could go back on their own.

The students are not that young anymore, so why worry so much? Besides, Chao Tianxiang is there; yes, that's right, it is Chao Tianxiang's turn to lead the team today.

Furthermore, he hasn't wandered too far away. If he couldn't even protect people under these circumstances, he might as well step down as Dean.

"You motherf***er..."

Following the apprentice's departure, Young Master Qin sat back down to wait. Once the dishes were served, he couldn't help but curse.

It wasn't just him; everyone else here was the same, because the subsequent dishes all had issues of varying degrees.

A group version of the classic "Crow Brother" table-flipping scene immediately unfolded—if you can't do it right, just don't do it at all.

"Oh ho, oh ho."

Chen An and Zhu Zhuqing were full of excitement, clearly enjoying the drama.

To watch the show with a calm mindset, one must look the part of a spectator.

"What are you all trying to do?"

Young Master Qin led the charge. After being played for a fool twice, he concluded that someone was messing with him.

If they all attacked together, wouldn't that force the higher-ups to step in?

After slightly stabilizing the situation, they paid a large sum in compensation and then dragged out the person responsible for this mess: a middle-aged woman who, judging by her appearance, was the type to be weary of the world and its customs.

"I didn't know it would turn out like this! It's all that apprentice's fault for messing up the ingredients."

Unable to bear the intense stares, she spoke again.

"I really didn't mean to. How was I supposed to know it would end up like this? I always cook like this at home."

This rhetoric perfectly fit the stereotype; it was no exaggeration to say it was astonishing. Chen An and Zhu Zhuqing had truly witnessed the brilliance of a hypocrite.

"Cut the f***ing crap."

The executive was red-faced the entire time. He fired a large group of people on the spot and had the primary culprits dragged off to the dungeon. As for the rest, it was a predictable outcome: just because they had to bow and scrape before the powerful didn't mean they couldn't handle these few nobodies.

Their fates would naturally be miserable; one could say they would find it impossible to live and unable to die.

"Master, where are we going now? Are we going out for a stroll?"

After the show ended, Zhu Zhuqing saw Chen An preparing to leave and asked.

Chen An nodded. They would go for a walk and see if fate had anything in store for them.

"Master, look over there."

Looking up, they saw the very child who had been kicked out.

No one cared about him. Even though the mastermind behind the farce had been dragged out, no one would bother with his life or death.

Because... he was just an apprentice, an apprentice who hadn't even reached level ten.

He sat all alone in a dark, cramped corner, curled up with his head down, as if he were crying.

"Child, what is your name?"

The boy heard the voice and looked up in a daze, tear tracks still visible at the corners of his eyes.

He shouldn't have spoken so quickly, but Chen An seemed to possess a certain magic—at a time like this, he was particularly reassuring.

And so, his emotions stabilized a little.

"My name is Cheng Fugui, 'Cheng' as in future prospects."