Nothing to Do but Bang His Head Against the Wall

Jia residence, 9 a.m.

Jia Shengnan was still sitting in the same spot as the other day, his slightly plump body reclining on the spacious, luxurious sofa, a warm smile on his face.

Lu Yuan sat upright opposite Jia Shengnan, smiling silently.

By comparison, Jia Xuanxuan's expression was far more colorful. She was angry and resentful, but also deeply perplexed.

She was angry because of that phone call in the morning, when Xiao Bing had inexplicably acted like a total bitch to her. She was resentful because she didn't want to see Lu Yuan at all, but her father had forced her to stay and keep them company.

And there were far too many reasons for her confusion.

As for her father, why had he formally invited a poor student to their home? That was truly rare. Although Lu Yuan had entered the Jia residence a few days ago, he had only come to pick up study materials. That was worlds apart from a formal invitation like today's.

As for Lu Yuan, what was with this attitude of ignoring her? Jia Xuanxuan knew that Lu Yuan had always liked her. Before, she had found it so annoying that Lu Yuan was always staring at her that she wished he would never look at her again. Now Lu Yuan really had stopped looking at her. As a result, she was even more annoyed.

Women... tsk, tsk.

What puzzled Jia Xuanxuan most was what game her father and Lu Yuan were playing.

They weren't discussing business at all. The two of them were drinking tea and watching TV.

On TV was a drama about wealthy housewives tearing into each other, and the two grown men had been watching it with smiles on their faces for over an hour!

"Xuanxuan, pour Lu Yuan some more tea."

"Me?!"

Jia Xuanxuan had wanted to refuse, but her father shot her a fierce glare, so she reluctantly poured Lu Yuan another cup of tea.

"Xiao Lu, go on and try this tea. It's top-grade Zhenhao from my collection. You can't buy it anywhere."

Jia Shengnan urged him warmly, and Lu Yuan nodded mildly in agreement. He picked up the exquisite purple-clay teacup. The tea inside was clear and bright; as Jia Shengnan had said, it was very good tea.

"Good tea." Lu Yuan took a small sip and put down the cup.

"Xiao Lu, you know your tea too, don't you?"

"I don't know a thing about tea. But if Boss Jia says it's good tea, then it must be good tea."

"Haha!"

"Hahaha!"

Jia Shengnan laughed on the outside, but inwardly it was MMP. He grumbled to himself, Why is this student so hard to deal with?!

As Lu Yuan had expected, Jia Shengnan wanted exclusive rights to sell the zongzi. After things had wrapped up last night, the store manager, Auntie Zhang, had given him a detailed report of everything.

Before Lu Yuan arrived, Jia Shengnan had already made a plan: treat Lu Yuan to good food and drink, say a few flattering words to send the student's head soaring into the clouds, and finally offer him around ten thousand yuan as payment to settle the matter.

Jia Shengnan saw nothing wrong with doing this. And in fact, there was nothing wrong with it.

In the restaurant business, there was no such thing as a patent on an individual dish. If you could make a dish of greens and tofu, so could I. You couldn't say I had copied you just because you made it first.

In fact, Jia Shengnan could have continued selling zongzi without consulting Lu Yuan at all. It wouldn't have been illegal, but it would have given people grounds to criticize him. A large chain like Food Flavor Pavilion couldn't afford to be so careless in how it did things.

Besides, Lu Yuan was his daughter's classmate, so there was a bit of a connection between them.

Those were the reasons Jia Shengnan had invited Lu Yuan over so early in the morning.

But when he saw Lu Yuan arrive in formal clothes and insist on calling him "Boss Jia" instead of "Uncle Jia," Jia Shengnan knew things wouldn't be simple.

Sure enough, this student was impervious to both oil and salt!

If you exchanged pleasantries with him, he exchanged them right back. Jia Shengnan flattered Lu Yuan as a peerless talent of his generation, and Lu Yuan flattered Jia Shengnan as a dragon and phoenix among men.

Jia Shengnan painfully rubbed the spot between his brows. This felt like facing a few of his old rivals.

Are students these days all this formidable?

He glanced at his daughter sitting to the side, fuming, a clear, innocent stupidity radiating from her.

Hmm, it seems Lu Yuan is just exceptional.

After all, Lu Yuan had lived two lives. In his previous life, he had spent decades struggling his way through the restaurant industry and knew all its rules and conventions inside out. By treating him as a student, Jia Shengnan had put himself at a disadvantage from the start.

On TV, two housewives were trading insults.

"You're a stupid pig!"

"No, you're the stupid pig!"

The racket got on Jia Shengnan's nerves. He picked up the remote and changed the channel.

Ning City Television Station was broadcasting a Dragon Boat Festival program. Its subject was zongzi, which had only appeared in Ning City yesterday and had already swept through it like a whirlwind today.

On the screen, reporter Ding Lin introduced the segment:

"Viewers, that was a live report just sent in by our reporter on the scene. In less than a day, this novel food called zongzi has become a household name in Ning City.

"There are rumors that in ancient times, back on Earth, people ate zongzi to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

"Regarding this rumor, we were fortunate enough to interview Mr. Fang Daozhang, director of the Ning City Cultural Center, and ask him to discuss the matter."

A veteran expert with a full head of silver hair appeared on screen.

Reporter Ding Lin asked:

"Director Fang, did people in ancient times eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival to commemorate Qu Yuan?"

"Whether they ate baked flatbread or zongzi to commemorate Qu Yuan is something we cannot say for certain." Holding a zongzi in his hand, the old gentleman spoke solemnly to the camera. "But zongzi did indeed exist as a food in ancient times.

"Scholars have found scattered references to the word 'zongzi' in some very old records.

"Based on an examination and analysis of the context, scholars have conjectured that zongzi was a kind of food.

"But no one knows exactly what it looked like."

Ding Lin smiled and asked, "Then is it possible it looked just like the one in your hand?"

"Very possible! It's quite possible that the ancients in the Earth era held these to commemorate Qu Yuan!" The veteran expert was quite excited. "The archaeological community is in an uproar now!"

Jia Shengnan nodded. "Xiao Lu, not bad. The restaurant industry hasn't even had time to be rocked by this, but the archaeological community has beaten it to the punch."

Lu Yuan smiled awkwardly. He certainly hadn't seen that coming.

"Xiao Lu, I'm actually quite curious. How did you reconstruct the ancient method of making zongzi?"

Lu Yuan made something up without batting an eye. "I read some ancient books and combined what I found with a few ideas of my own."

Jia Shengnan sighed, suddenly letting some genuine feeling show.

He said:

"Lu Yuan, I'll tell you the truth. Working in the restaurant business, I never imagined I'd have any connection to the great poet Qu Yuan one day.

"Qu Yuan is the poet I admire most. Right now, I'm feeling rather awestruck."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan nodded in agreement. He did believe those few words from Jia Shengnan.

Qu Yuan truly was one of the greatest poets in the history of the Hua People, and later generations should remember this sage of old with reverence.

Jia Shengnan wasn't finished. The big boss closed his eyes and recalled, "There's a simple, innocent emotion in Qu Yuan's poetry that moves people.

"My favorite of Qu Yuan's poems is 'Thoughts on a Quiet Night'..."

Lu Yuan: ???

Jia Shengnan was suddenly seized by poetic inspiration. Gently swaying his head, he casually began to recite:

"Before my bed, the moonlight shines bright,

"I wonder if it is frost on the ground.

"I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon,

"Then lower it, thinking of my hometown.

"What a wonderful poem!"

Lu Yuan stood up, walked straight to the wall, and slammed his head against it.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Jia Shengnan and Jia Xuanxuan were shocked and cried out in unison, "Lu Yuan, what's wrong?!"

"The poem was so good, I got too excited and needed to calm down." Lu Yuan chuckled, smoothed his hair, and calmly sat back down. "Let's continue."