Waiting for Someone

In the days following the holiday, Haiqin Restaurant's business was almost a replica of what it used to be.

The restaurant is packed with customers every day, and business is booming.

It's absolutely astonishing.

These past few nights, Zhang Zhaohai and Song Wenqin have been tallying up their sales figures, going from initial elation to shock and bewilderment, and finally to numbness.

They seem to have finally begun to accept the fact that their hotel has become inexplicably popular.

That noon, Zhang Zhaohai stood outside the restaurant, looking at the bustling lobby, smoking one cigarette after another.

"Is this really going to be a hit?" he muttered to himself.

Just two days ago, their family finalized the filming details with the documentary production team of "[Flavors of the Human World]". The schedule is set, and they're just waiting for them to come and start filming soon.

His original plan was to take advantage of the documentary's release to promote his restaurant.

A restaurant that gets featured on Penguin Video food program is bound to generate buzz, and given the local Yinghai residents' love of excitement, its business is sure to skyrocket.

But filming hasn't even started yet, so how did it get into this pace so early?

"May our ancestors protect us!" He closed his eyes and silently uttered these two words of prayer.

"Old Zhang, go help out in the kitchen again. The new chef will arrive this afternoon," Song Wenqin called out from behind the bar.

"Coming, coming!" Zhang Zhaohai replied as he turned and walked into the kitchen.

The booming business has made the original number of chefs insufficient, and in the past few days, chefs, waitresses, and even kitchen dishwashers have all been urgently recruiting more staff.

He's a boss, and these past few days... to put it bluntly, he's practically been treated like an animal.

Around two or three in the afternoon, the shop finally caught a break.

Zhang Zhaohai and Song Wenqin stood outside the restaurant, enjoying the fresh air and chatting.

"Stop smoking, haven't you had enough of the kitchen fumes?" Song Wenqin saw Zhang Zhaohai smoking so enthusiastically, so she took the cigarette butt off him and threw it away.

Zhang Zhaohai didn't take it to heart and just laughed to himself.

As he laughed, he took a deep breath, his eyes showing none of the cloudiness of middle age, but rather an unusual brightness.

"Indeed, men need to be busy with their careers to have energy and to look young."

He smiled and put his arm around Song Wenqin's shoulder.

"Brother Zhang, I really envy you and your wife. After all these years, your relationship is still so good." The owner of the tobacco and liquor store next door came out and happened to see this scene, jokingly.

"That's great! Our relationship is as inseparable as glue." Zhang Zhaohai said proudly.

Just as I was laughing, a sharp pain shot through the soft flesh of my waist.

"Are you getting carried away?" Song Wenqin said with amusement. "If you keep getting this cocky, you'll have to explain to me why you've been seeing Maybach going out to meet your old classmates lately."

"I was just buying goods and negotiating business, don't wrong me," Zhang Zhaohai quickly raised his hand to swear.

"I believe you. Oh, and don't forget about dinner tonight," Song Wenqin suddenly remembered something and reminded her.

"Do you know it's your sister-in-law's birthday?" Zhang Zhaohai said with a smile.

Today is the birthday of Zhou Xiaona, the wife of his brother-in-law Song Wenbo.

Although the two families' relationship has soured since that incident, it's not like they've completely severed ties. After all, he's Song Wenqin's younger brother and sister-in-law.

She is his son Zhang Yang's maternal uncle and aunt.

That facade was on the verge of being torn off, but... well, it wasn't completely torn off after all...

"It's good that you haven't forgotten. It's just a meal." Song Wenqin looked at Zhang Zhaohai's expression and said with a smile, "Just don't take them to heart. Anyway, our family is doing very well now, they can only be envious."

"No, I wouldn't waste my time like that," Zhang Zhaohai smiled. "Don't worry, I won't hold back on the proper etiquette, and I won't make things difficult for you."

"I'm glad you understand what I mean." Song Wenqin breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter what, he is still her brother.

Even if she disliked the couple, she didn't want to put on a show of sibling rivalry in front of her mother, needlessly causing the old woman worry.

Just like Zhang Zhaohai just said, as long as the appearances are passable, that's enough.

"I've already told Zhang Yang that we'll go together tonight." Zhang Zhaohai thought for a moment and asked, "Shall we share a car?"

"How about we bring three cars?" Song Wenqin asked with a smile, seemingly having read Zhang Zhaohai's mind.

"Huh? Isn't that too deliberate?" Zhang Zhaohai paused for a moment, then said, a rare moment of embarrassment on his face.

At that time, people might start gossiping behind our backs.

This family is clearly doing it on purpose; one car would have been enough, but they brought three to show off.

"Stop pretending, you just want to show off, don't you? Just show off openly!" Song Wenqin laughed.

Whether it's intentional or not depends on the situation.

If you drove three ordinary cars there, it would obviously look strange, deliberate, and pretentious. People would definitely gossip behind your back, saying, "What are you trying to show off? The total price isn't even enough for a Mercedes-Benz. What's there to show off?"

But what if it's a combination of Cullinan, Bentley, and Maybach?

You can openly show off and flaunt your achievements. Even if others know you're showing off, what can they do? The roar of the V12 engine is enough to drown out any gossip.

"Haha!" Zhang Zhaohai rubbed his hands excitedly. "Then our family will take three cars!"

It was approaching evening.

Zhang Zhaohai and Song Wenqin gave some instructions to the staff at the restaurant, and then went to the restaurant owned by Song Wenbo, the younger brother's wife.

The two cars, Bentley and Maybach, drove side by side towards their destination.

Downstairs at the Four Seasons Hotel, Zhang Yang had just stepped out of the hotel and headed straight for his Cullinan.

A moment later, I lightly pressed the accelerator, and with a roar, we headed straight for our destination.

··

Night falls at Wenbo Grand Restaurant.

Three cars, one after the other, parked side by side in the parking lot in front of the restaurant.

As dusk settled and the autumn air grew slightly chilly, there were naturally few people outside at this hour. The family of three got out of the car and chatted and laughed as they headed straight into the restaurant.

"Dad, how does it feel?" Zhang Yang asked, half-jokingly.

"This..." Zhang Zhaohai looked at the restaurant in front of him, where he had worked for quite some time, clicked his tongue, and was filled with mixed feelings.

From living under someone else's roof to now owning his own restaurant, and the business of his own restaurant is more prosperous on any given day than the restaurant in front of him on New Year's Eve.

This feeling... it's truly exhilarating...

If things had gone wrong after I left, resentment would have only accumulated, and I would have felt even more sorry for myself. But now that I'm living such a good life, all those unhappy memories are just something to laugh off and let go with the wind.

Only now did he truly understand what it meant for a great person to not hold a grudge against a petty person.

"It's all in the past," Zhang Zhaohai said simply and calmly.

Upon entering, we found the entire family gathered in a private room on the second floor.

Grandma, several aunts and uncles, and only Li Kaiguang among the younger generation were present, as the others were either in school or working in other cities. Even my little cousin, Song Yumeng, couldn't attend her mother's birthday celebration because of her heavy academic workload.

"Third sister, third brother-in-law, you've arrived!" Song Wenbo stepped forward and spoke somewhat awkwardly.

"Hmm." Song Wenqin nodded indifferently.

Zhang Zhaohai, on the other hand, remained calm and naturally took out a cigarette and offered it to others.

The cigarettes are of course good quality; they're the Golden Leaf Sky Leaf he always smokes, which costs over a thousand yuan a pack. When he first started smoking them, it stung a bit, but gradually, with all the hospitality, it's become a regular part of his life.

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they happily accepted the cigarettes amidst the pleasantries.

When it was handed to Song Wenbo, he hesitated for a moment, then took it and hung it behind his ear.

"Hello, Uncle and Aunt." Zhang Yang nodded in greeting.

When Song Wenbo and his wife first saw Zhang Yang, they were both dumbfounded.

His eyebrows and eyes, his handsome appearance, he was like a dragon among men. As for his former shadow, it took a lot of effort to find even a trace of it.

"Zhang Yang, you really are..." Song Wenbo racked his brains for a long time, but was at a loss for words, unable to find any words to describe it. In the end, he could only say dryly, "Your character and appearance are becoming more and more outstanding."

"Zhang Yang, did our Song Yumeng go to your place for summer vacation? She said you seem to have a girlfriend, why didn't you bring her back?" Aunt Zhou Xiaona suddenly asked from the side.

"What else did Yu Meng say?" Zhang Yang asked, blinking.

"Isn't that all? What else?" Zhou Xiaona asked, puzzled.

"That's all. My girlfriend is busy in Magic City, so she hasn't come back," Zhang Yang explained simply, knowing that his little cousin had indeed followed his advice and hadn't revealed any further details.

Including the things I bought for her.

He bought things for his younger cousin purely out of brotherly affection, never expecting any gratitude from his aunt.

Therefore, it's better to avoid trouble and not tell anyone.

"Honestly, it's a holiday, and you don't even bring your girlfriend home to show her off to everyone. My Yu Meng has raved about her a lot." Zhou Xiaona exchanged a few simple pleasantries. "Age-wise, twenty-five is about right for marriage. Don't just focus on your career. How big is big enough? Are you really planning to buy a house in Magic City?"

She was still stuck on the time Zhang Yang drove back in his Porsche. At this moment, she was acting like a proper elder.

Zhang Yang smiled, said nothing, and went straight to the table.

"Zhang Yang, come, sit here with me?" Li Kaiguang, the older brother from my aunt's family, quickly gestured.

"How have you been lately?" Zhang Yang sat down and casually exchanged pleasantries with Li Kaiguang. "That Zhou Tian on your WeChat, right? Do you still keep in touch?"

"Still the same." Li Kaiguang adjusted his thick glasses. "Neither hot nor cold. I've figured it out, mindset is key. She's keeping me hanging on, and I'm keeping her hanging on too. I'm determined not to be subservient."

"That's good." Zhang Yang nodded, offering no further comment.

"By the way, do you remember Wang Luyao, the girl who went to the nightclub with Zhou Tian last time? She's Zhou Tian's best friend, right?" Li Kaiguang asked. "I heard from Zhou Tian that she's still hung up on you after breaking up with her boyfriend."

"I remember," Zhang Yang nodded.

"Every time Zhou Tian contacts me, it's to talk about her best friend. You should at least talk to her a little more." Li Kaiguang sighed, "Only you could be so indifferent to a girl like that."

"Don't talk nonsense, we're just friends, okay?" Zhang Yang chuckled, adding in his mind.

The kind of friendship that involves playing a friendly match occasionally.

Sitting next to Li Kaiguang, Zhang Yang felt a sense of loss, realizing that they could never go back to the days when the two brothers enthusiastically exchanged their experiences.

Because of their different social standing, those topics that once excited him no longer hold his interest.

It's like Li Kaiguang excitedly saying that so-and-so in the company is a goddess, incredibly beautiful, but when Zhang Yang goes to take a look, he finds that their looks are just like any other female employee he sees in his hotel business.

Like fish crossing a river, there are as many as you want.

"Who are you waiting for?" Zhang Yang looked around and felt that almost everyone had arrived.

My own relatives, and my aunt Zhou Xiaona's parents.

"I heard he's a distant cousin of my aunt's, who's a very successful businessman who's been doing business out of town for years," Li Kaiguang explained in a low voice. "I heard he's been doing business in Yinghai recently, so he came back. My aunt specially invited him for her birthday."

"Oh." Zhang Yang nodded, not taking it to heart.

Inside the private room, he and Li Kaiguang were chatting.

Not far away, the elders were also chatting, and the topic often revolved around Zhang Zhaohai and his wife. After all, they all knew that their family now owned a restaurant, and they heard that the business was doing quite well.

"Working in a restaurant and being a chef are two completely different things," Zhou Xiaona remarked sarcastically from the side.

"Take your time," Zhang Zhaohai said with a smile, sipping his tea.

Facing that same old face again, I felt absolutely no emotion. In terms of self-cultivation, I am far superior to the person before me.

"Take it slow? As long as the business isn't picking up, the rent, utilities, and labor all cost money. There's no time to take it slow," Zhou Xiaona muttered.

Song Wenbo gently tugged at Zhou Xiaona's sleeve, but Zhou Xiaona impatiently shook him off and glared at him fiercely.

Beside her, Zhou Xiaona's parents coughed twice.

"Xiaona, call your brother Wen Cheng and see where he is. It's getting late," Zhou Xiaona's mother reminded her, as she was chatting with Zhang Yang's grandmother.

"We can't rush him, Mom. You know how busy he is with his career, please be understanding." Zhou Xiaona said, raising her eyes with a smile and greeting everyone, "Everyone, please wait a little longer, he'll be here soon."

The group exchanged glances, noticing that it was almost seven o'clock, and hesitated to speak.

Besides, how do you know it'll be soon if you haven't even called to ask?

"Come on, let's play cards. Wait a little longer, just a little longer," Song Wenbo stepped in to smooth things over, inviting his uncles to join him in playing cards.

No one was really interested in playing cards.

After all, it's time, and everyone's hungry. Usually, by this time, they would have already finished dinner and gone for a walk, but today they haven't even touched their chopsticks yet.

"It's alright, it's alright, let's have some tea, there's no rush, we'll stop playing cards." It was Uncle who stepped forward and said.