Not That Great
Very rarely, Su Ruixi and the System stood on the same side; they both did not want Sun Miao to be poached.
Needless to say for Su Ruixi, she would even eat the vinegar1 of Sun Miao’s small food cart, let alone the one who so blatantly had ill intentions towards Sun Miao, Yuan Xiangyi; as for the System, it certainly had not forgotten that Yuan Xiangyi had previously tried to recruit Sun Miao, wanting Sun Miao to give up the small food cart and go work in her restaurant.
Outside, Su Ruixi was there speaking ill of Yuan Xiangyi, while in Sun Miao’s mind, the System was still squeaking and yelling randomly: 【Your family’s Susu-jiejie is right, you must be careful of her!】
Sun Miao was given a bit of a headache by these two arguing, and could only agree in a hurry. Only after this were these two big aojiao satisfied.
At this moment, Sun Miao was able to quietly calm her heart and look at the menu. Su Ruixi was indifferent about what to eat, so she simply picked up the teapot, poured some tea, and first scalded the bowl, chopsticks, and spoon.
Sun Miao, sitting beside her, also took this entire scene into her eyes. Before, when surfing the internet, Sun Miao saw a post discussing the disqualifying actions of an overbearing CEO. Some people circuitously talked about novels, listing many outrageous things. Among them was the description of going to a restaurant and using disposable tableware, tearing the plastic film off the utensils.
It is hard to imagine a president with a net worth of over a hundred million going to a restaurant and opening his mouth with, “waiter, give me a disposable set, your tableware isn’t clean”.
However, if it was using boiling water to scald the tableware, this was acceptable. The comment section was full of: Even if the Heavenly King Laozi2 came, I would still have to scald the tableware first.
It had to be said, such an action really did not detract from the domineering president’s style. This Lu Cai3 restaurant was a very Chinese-style establishment; upon entering the door, one could also see a panlongzhu4, and the private room was also filled with small objects like bogujia5, calligraphy, and paintings. Even the tableware on the table was of a red-bottomed, gold-painted style.
That teapot was truly a round, plump teapot of the same color and style as the tableware. Su Ruixi’s slender, delicate hands lifted the teapot, and brownish-green tea water was poured into the bowl. Then, holding the soup spoon, she gently rotated it, making a crisp ding-ling sound as it contacted the surface of the bowl. Finally, she cleanly and neatly poured the tea water into the trash can. The entire sequence of actions was done in one breath, and it even carried a trace of ancient-style charm.
Sun Miao, who watched the whole process from the side, felt as if her little heart had been struck.
After finishing these things, Su Ruixi passed Sun Miao’s bowl, chopsticks, and spoon over, and also asked: “Miaomiao, what would you like to eat?”
Sun Miao had already decided while looking at the menu. She immediately no longer hesitated and directly opened her mouth: “Nine-Turn Large Intestine6……” Just as she said the name of the first dish, Sun Miao saw Su Ruixi’s expression change a bit, becoming a little dark.
A famous Lu-style dish like Nine-Turn Large Intestine was indeed a bit too challenging for Su Ruixi. Sun Miao explained again in a small voice: “I want to try it, I quite like eating large intestine.”
“You eat it.”
Su Ruixi slowly let out a breath: “It’s not like I said you couldn’t order it.”
Sun Miao revealed a big smile and continued to list the dishes she wanted to eat: “Scallion Braised Sea Cucumber7, First-Rank Tofu8, Braised Abalone in Original Shell.”
“Just these?” Su Ruixi took the menu and looked at it. Actually, there were many other representative dishes of Lu Cai, among which Kong Family Cuisine9 was the most famous. It was once even considered the national cuisine; whether in terms of fame or its own deliciousness, it was first-class.
But Sun Miao nodded: “There are just the two of us, and that’s four dishes, it’s enough.”
Since Sun Miao had said so, Su Ruixi had no objections, nodded, and called the waiter in to take their order.
Because the dishes would take some time, upon the waiter’s recommendation, they ordered two more cold dishes. One Old Vinegar Jellyfish Head10, and one Warm-Tossed Conch Meat11.
Su Ruixi and Sun Miao both quite liked eating Old Vinegar Jellyfish Head. With jellyfish head as the main ingredient, paired with seasonings like old vinegar, sugar, and oyster sauce, it was a good appetizer. Sun Miao had made it for Su Ruixi before; where they were from, it was called Cold-Tossed Jellyfish12.
This stuff was really delicious, sour and refreshing. With some cucumber placed underneath, it was one bite and not a squeak13. This was something Su Ruixi liked to eat, so even though it wasn’t made by Sun Miao, she could still eat it. But to say she loved it would be an overstatement. After a few chopsticksful, Su Ruixi put down her chopsticks and instead started chatting with Sun Miao.
Afterward, the dishes were served one after another, and Sun Miao started eating the Nine-Turn Large Intestine. This restaurant was worthy of being the face of Lu Cai in Qindao; the taste was indeed very good. Sun Miao ate several mouthfuls. Su Ruixi was a little curious and leaned over to ask: “Is it really that delicious?”
Su Ruixi’s tone meant——her heart was moved, and she wanted to eat.
It was the exact same tone as when she was eating chili fish head at home before. At that time, Sun Miao had let Su Ruixi have some. Now that she was like this again, Sun Miao didn’t dare to give her any. If she ended up making herself go cry-jiji14 again, the one whose heart would ache at that time would still be Sun Miao.
So Sun Miao decisively shook her head: “It’s just so-so. It’s prepared quite cleanly, but the original taste of the fatty intestine is still there.”
Sure enough, as long as Sun Miao didn’t show an expression of it being especially delicious, Su Ruixi didn’t have that much interest. She just said “Oh,” and there was no follow-up. Instead, she idly fiddled with her phone for a while. It wasn’t until the dishes Su Ruixi could eat were served that she extended her chopsticks to eat.
The taste of this restaurant was not bad, but Su Ruixi would always unconsciously compare it to Sun Miao’s cooking. The First-Rank Tofu was made with effort, but Su Ruixi didn’t like the taste, always feeling it wasn’t as delicious as the Tuhuangyou Steamed Tofu that Sun Miao made. She told Sun Miao this and asked if she could make Tuhuangyou for her tomorrow.
Su Ruixi thought to herself, there are so many sea crabs here, logically, making Tuhuangyou should be very simple, but Sun Miao shook her head: “No, Tuhuangyou must be made with lake crabs, sea crabs won’t work.”
Only someone like Su Ruixi with no cooking experience would think sea crabs could also be used. In reality, the difference between the two is huge: not only does sea crab meat have its own salty taste, but the roe of many sea crabs is also not tasty—it’s dry and hard, not to mention not plump enough. Moreover, most sea crabs are wild-caught, different from farmed ones, and they have less fat.
The Tuhuangyou made from them would really not be delicious.
Sun Miao explained it all in detail to Su Ruixi, who could only nod: “Alright, then make Tuhuangyou Steamed Tofu for me when we get back.”
“Okay.”
Setting aside Su Ruixi’s judgment made because of her own taste, Sun Miao really felt the master chef’s cooking was still not bad. Su Ruixi had spent a lot of money to book a Lu Cai master chef in advance; how could the flavor not be good. It was just that Sun Miao’s current culinary skill level was indeed high. Under the System’s guidance, her tongue was about to become the “God’s Tongue”15; she could distinguish the taste with a single bite.
This Lu Cai master chef had something on his mind; the Scallion Braised Sea Cucumber was a bit tough, which shouldn’t be a mistake a master chef could make.
But overall, this meal was still quite worth it. Sun Miao stopped Su Ruixi and paid for the meal herself. What she said was also reasonable and well-founded: “Susu-jiejie paid for the travel and hotel expenses, so at least let me pay for one meal.”
Su Ruixi didn’t mind and just nodded.
As the two left hand in hand, they ran into Yuan Xiangyi again at the restaurant entrance. There was another person standing beside her. Su Ruixi and Sun Miao had originally planned to pretend not to see them and walk away directly, but Yuan Xiangyi’s eyes were too sharp, and she immediately called out to Sun Miao: “Little Boss Sun.”
Sun Miao steeled herself and turned around to look at Yuan Xiangyi. Yuan Xiangyi walked a few quick steps to come before them, and the person behind her also followed. Before that person had even reached them, Sun Miao smelled a thick odor of cooking fumes. It wasn’t hard to identify; this middle-aged man of about forty or fifty was also a chef.
Moreover, since he was standing with Yuan Xiangyi, he certainly wouldn’t be some unknown person; perhaps he was the master chef of this very restaurant.
Sun Miao thought to herself, I’ll definitely have to be more careful with my words later. If they ask me how the food tasted, I’ll have to praise them no matter what.
Just as Sun Miao thought, Yuan Xiangyi indeed came up with a smile and said: “The two of you and I really have fate……” She hadn’t finished her sentence when she saw that Su Ruixi was unhappy. Yuan Xiangyi was silent for a moment, thinking, did I say something wrong? Now Yuan Xiangyi could only try to salvage the situation, the smile on her face not diminishing: “It just so happens that we’ve all finished eating. How did the two of you find the taste?”
When she said this, she made it seem as if she were the boss of this restaurant, and not someone who had come over to dig the corner of a wall16.
Sun Miao’s heart stirred; she thought, as expected, she was going to ask this question. But before Sun Miao could open her mouth, Su Ruixi spoke first: “Not that great.”
In that instant, both Sun Miao and Yuan Xiangyi fell silent. Even the master chef beside Yuan Xiangyi’s expression turned unpleasant. It was truly that Su Ruixi spoke quite impolitely. But she was originally like this anyway; her speech was never considered polite. Even for dishes made by Sun Miao, she would at most get a reply of “not bad”.
Wanting to hear “delicious” from her mouth was almost as difficult as ascending to heaven17.
Sun Miao tried to smooth things over with a laugh: “Actually, it was quite delicious. The Nine-Turn Large Intestine was handled particularly cleanly.”
In terms of human warmth, Sun Miao had more of it than Su Ruixi; at the very least, her words didn’t anger people. Of course, even if Su Ruixi’s words were infuriating, Yuan Xiangyi and the others had to endure it. Others might not know Su Ruixi’s identity, but how could Yuan Xiangyi not know? Her family background was there for all to see; being bossy and arrogant18 was only to be expected.
So Yuan Xiangyi just smiled and said nothing: “It’s a certainty that Miss Su has high standards.”
She then turned to look at Sun Miao: “What does Little Boss Sun think?” Yuan Xiangyi was a renjing19; she could hear the other meaning in Sun Miao’s words: handled cleanly, so what about besides that? What about the taste?
Sun Miao was stunned for a moment. She looked at Yuan Xiangyi and then at the master chef before finally speaking the truth: “The Scallion Braised Sea Cucumber is a bit tough, and I feel the Braised Abalone in Original Shell is also a bit salty. The other dishes were all very good.” Yuan Xiangyi nodded, indicating she understood. The master chef behind her had quite a good attitude: “Is that so? The kitchen helper today might have been a bit distracted. I’ll waive this meal for you. Next time you come, mention my name, and you can get a discount.”
But Su Ruixi said directly: “No need.”
She led Sun Miao far away, leaving Yuan Xiangyi and the master chef behind. Yuan Xiangyi looked at the master chef, her face still carrying a smile: “Master Chef, it seems the dishes you make can’t satisfy everyone. Being too self-confident is really not a good thing; there are people beyond people20.” After Yuan Xiangyi finished speaking, she also patted the master chef’s shoulder.
On the surface, the master chef had an “I have been taught a lesson” expression, but looking at him, Yuan Xiangyi knew: he probably didn’t truly think that what Little Boss Sun, a little girl, said had any merit.
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