Chapter 81: Try Again

Chapter 81: Try Again

Pushing open the door of the bar, the place was still quiet for the afternoon, and Zhao Yu immediately spotted Cao Xu.

Cao Xu was drinking alone, and when he saw Zhao Yu arrive, he waved him over to join him.

"You went to Yatai to find me?" Cao Xu asked.

Zhao Yu said, "Master, you don't need to resign. Che Shijie can't possibly jump over you to become Head Chef."

Cao Xu shook his head. "He's the boss's relative. Even if he can't become Head Chef, I'll never get the chance either."

Zhao Yu suddenly understood—no wonder Che Shijie was so cocky; he had that connection backing him.

Cao Xu sighed dejectedly. "I know what you're going to say, don't bother. I've never done Yatai wrong all these years. If the boss really is that heartless, then I'll take my lumps."

Zhao Yu felt a twinge of unease. If he weren't injured, he'd have loved to have a few drinks with Cao Xu.

"You don't have to stick with me," Cao Xu said. "With your talent, you're sure to make a name for yourself in the future. I've taught you all I can—go carve your own path. If Yatai blacklists me, I probably won't be able to make it in this city anyway. I won't drag you down."

"Master, don't say that."

"I'm serious, kid." Cao Xu said sternly. "You're the best apprentice I've ever had, with a huge future ahead of you. Go out and carve your own path—don't waste your time because of me."

Cao Xu might have a bad temper, but he had taught Zhao Yu everything he knew without holding back—he really earned that "Master" title.

Zhao Yu felt bad too, couldn't think of a good way to help him, so he just stayed with him until he was completely wasted.

A few hours later, Zhao Yu helped Cao Xu out of the bar, and Gu Hansheng's car was still parked on the street. But Cao Xu lived in the complex right next door, so there was no need for him to give them a ride.

As they walked into the complex, Cao Xu's phone suddenly rang. Zhao Yu pulled it out for him and took a look—the caller ID said it was the boss.

"Master, the boss is calling you," Zhao Yu said. "Don't argue with him, no matter what. Talk things through calmly—maybe you can still negotiate the penalty fee."

Cao Xu nodded drunkenly, and Zhao Yu answered the call for him, putting it on speaker.

"Chef Cao, you just up and quit today—that's not cool."

"Not cool...?!"

Hearing how aggressive Cao Xu sounded, Zhao Yu quickly covered the microphone and whispered, "Please, don't argue!"

The boss continued, "Chef Cao, do me a favor and come back to Yatai. The whole Head Chef thing was nonsense. Why walk out over something so trivial?"

Cao Xu said, "You think it's trivial, but look at what Che Shijie has done to the kitchen. He doesn't do any real work, just spends all day building his little gang."

"Eh, that kind of crap happens everywhere. Just ignore it—everyone respects the name Chef Cao."

"When you hired me, it was to run the kitchen right. Since that's not the deal anymore, I'm not coming back! I won't work with someone like Che Shijie, and I don't like fighting with people!"

"You'd rather pay the fine and walk away?"

Zhao Yu was about to speak when Cao Xu said firmly, "Yes!"

It's over. That was all Zhao Yu could think. He should never have let Cao Xu answer—he should've waited until he sobered up.

The boss was quiet for a long moment, then suddenly said, "Cao Xu, you're being so irresponsible that I wasn't going to let you off easy. But someone put in a good word for you, so forget the penalty fee. You've been diligent all these years—I wish you the best!" With that, he hung up.

Zhao Yu and Cao Xu looked at each other, stunned. They had expected Cao Xu to be sued left and right or even blacklisted by the industry, yet it had blown over so easily.

"Did I hear that right? Am I that drunk?" Cao Xu pinched his thigh hard.

"It's real, Master. A friend of yours put in a good word for you."

"What friend do I have with that much pull?" Cao Xu rubbed his head, starting to sober up.

Zhao Yu was puzzled too.

After Cao Xu got home safely, Zhao Yu was about to leave when he suddenly said, "Hey! A silver lining! Zhao Yu, didn't you say you wanted to open your own place?"

Zhao Yu stopped and turned around. "Yes."

"Then we need to figure that out." Cao Xu rubbed his head—he wasn't just sober—his mind was suddenly sharp. "Alright, you head back first. Let me think about how to work this out."

"Master, you really want to open your own restaurant?"

"Rather than taking crap from other people, better to open my own place. You in?"

Zhao Yu's eyes lit up. "Of course! Master, I've got some cash saved up. What's the plan? Where are we opening?"

"Don't rush me, let me think. Ugh, my head's spinning today..."

"Right, right, right—you should get inside and get some sleep. We'll talk about it all tomorrow."

Zhao Yu saw him inside, closed the door behind him, and walked downstairs in a much better mood.

He'd originally planned to learn more before opening a restaurant, but now with Cao Xu joining, the plan had suddenly jumped to the front of the line—so of course he was happy.

As he walked out of the complex, he saw Gu Hansheng's car parked under the streetlight, and suddenly remembered what the boss said about someone putting in a good word for Cao Xu.

Gu Hansheng had said he was willing to help Cao Xu, and he'd moved that quickly.

Zhao Yu instinctively took two steps toward the car, then stopped short. He hesitated for a second but didn't go over, and hailed a cab on the street instead.

As the cab passed the Maybach, Zhao Yu didn't turn to look at the man inside the car. Instead, he transferred three hundred yuan to Assistant Wu and told him to give it to Gu Hansheng—as payment for the ride.

Then he texted Cao Xu to say the person who helped him might be President Gu.

After doing all this, Zhao Yu watched the tree shadows flash past the window, rolled it down a little, and let the wind blow away the thoughts he shouldn't be having.

The Maybach parked on the street finally moved, slowly disappearing into the night after receiving the three hundred yuan fare.

The fragile connection that had just started to form was once again neatly settled and cut off.

A wave of frustration washed over him. Gu Hansheng watched a tiny bug on the car window—it seemed so close, yet with the slightest breeze, it was gone.

...

When Zhao Yu returned to the ward, he bumped right into Zhuang Shubai. Still in his outdoor clothes, he smiled awkwardly. "Dr. Zhuang, all done for the day?"

Zhuang Shubai arched an eyebrow. "I'm done. And you?"

"I'm done too."

Zhuang Shubai shook his head helplessly, motioning for him to lie down so he could change the bandage.

"Where did you go?"

"Had to go see my master about something."

"Did everything get sorted out?"

"Mm."

"Let me know if it hurts."

"It doesn't."

Zhuang Shubai finished changing his dressing: "The wound's healing up nicely. You can get discharged in a couple of days. But getting discharged doesn't mean you can go wild—watch what you eat, make sure you rest up, and take your meds on time. Did you take your meds today?"

Zhao Yu opened the drawer, shook out two capsules, and was about to put them in his mouth when Zhuang Shubai asked again, "Have you had dinner?"

Zhao Yu's hand paused, and Zhuang Shubai took the capsules from him.

"Take them after you eat." Zhuang Shubai sighed. "If you can't take care of yourself, I won't feel good about letting you leave."

"Dr. Zhuang, are you this hard on all your other patients?" Zhao Yu smiled. "I took my morning and afternoon meds on time—I just got busy and forgot the night dose."

"Alright, I'll trust you this time." Zhuang Shubai glanced at the time and asked, "What do you want for a midnight snack? I'll go buy it."

"Everything I want to eat, I probably shouldn't have. How about we use the kitchen downstairs and I cook?"

"Let's go to the doctor's apartment."

"Sure."

Zhao Yu followed him to the apartment next to the hospital. It wasn't until he stepped inside that he realized this was Zhuang Shubai's temporary place—so this was his first time at his place.

The apartment was bright and spotless, with some groceries in the fridge.

"What do you want? I'll make it," Zhuang Shubai said.

"How about... tomato egg noodles."

Zhao Yu watched him cut the tomatoes. The doctor's hands were beautiful—pale skin with visible veins, long fingers that looked strong.

Actually, Chen Xitong's hands were nice too—after all, they were piano hands.

Zhao Yu looked down, pulling his thoughts back.

"What are you thinking?" Zhuang Shubai turned to look at him at some point, his gentle gaze landing on Zhao Yu's face as if he could read his emotions.

Zhao Yu smiled. "I was thinking, you peeled the tomatoes all bumpy and uneven—no presentation at all."

Zhuang Shubai looked at the tomatoes in the bowl and laughed softly. "Yeah, no presentation. I'm showing off in front of an expert."

"Don't be so modest. Let me help."

The kitchen was small, and as Zhao Yu stepped up, he ended up shoulder-to-shoulder with Zhuang Shubai. He deftly boiled a pot of water, blanched the tomatoes to peel them, and the peeled tomatoes came out clean and perfectly round.

After chopping them, he turned to grab the eggs just as Zhuang Shubai came over with a rag to wipe the cutting board. He accidentally bumped into Zhuang Shubai and knocked over the bowl of beaten eggs.

Zhao Yu scrambled to set the bowl upright, and Zhuang Shubai immediately covered the spilled egg with the rag.

"Haha, Dr. Zhuang, we make a perfect team."

Zhao Yu looked up with a grin and only then realized how close they were standing—close enough to be awkward.

Zhuang Shubai's eyes smiled as he leaned in slightly, the distance shrinking in an instant, almost becoming a kiss.

"Knock, knock, knock!" A knock suddenly sounded at the door, followed by Zhuang Peiying's voice: "Bro! I know you're home—come save me, it's an emergency!"

Zhuang Shubai paused, then went to open the door.

For some reason, Zhao Yu felt a wave of relief and immediately lowered his head to clean the stove.

Zhuang Peiying burst in frantically: "Mom keeps trying to set me up on a blind date—I can't get out of it no matter what. I told her I have a big consultation tomorrow, so you have to cover for me."

She only noticed someone else in the kitchen after barging in, and said in surprise, "Oh, bro, you have a guest?"

"Want me to step out?" Zhao Yu asked.

"No, no, I just need to say one thing and I'll be out of your hair."

"Want to stay and eat?" Zhao Yu offered politely.

"Sure!"

Zhuang Peiying sat down with a smile, her curious eyes darting between Zhuang Shubai and Zhao Yu. The doctor's apartment was small, and Zhuang Shubai never brought people here—yet now he had a handsome guy over.

"If you don't want to go on the blind date, just say no. Why make up such crazy excuses?" Zhuang Shubai said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Saying no doesn't work either. You know how stubborn Mom is." Zhuang Peiying followed to the kitchen doorway and watched Zhuang Shubai cook the noodles, teasing him, "You never cook—you spend all your free time on your career. Why are you in the kitchen today? Cooking for someone special?"

Zhao Yu was taken aback. He'd assumed the groceries in the fridge meant Zhuang Shubai cooked regularly, but he hadn't expected that they were all bought by Zhuang Peiying—she'd stay over when Zhuang Shubai wasn't there.

"Dr. Zhuang, maybe I should cook instead?" Zhao Yu asked.

"I do know how to make noodles." Zhuang Shubai glanced at Zhuang Peiying, signaling for her to go sit in the living room.

"Fine, I'll just enjoy the results." Zhuang Peiying smiled, then said to Zhao Yu, "Looks like my brother really likes you. Handsome, my family's very open-minded—being with my brother, you definitely won't regret it."

"Yingying."

"Okay, okay, I'll shut up."

Zhuang Peiying gave Zhao Yu another look, watching his reaction to what she'd said.

After finishing the midnight snack, Zhuang Peiying pulled Zhuang Shubai aside by the door and whispered, "Bro, that handsome guy doesn't seem to feel the same way about you. I tested him, and he didn't react at all."

Zhuang Shubai didn't say anything. He didn't need Zhuang Peiying to test him to know that—he'd known it just as clearly when he was about to kiss Zhao Yu earlier.

Even so, he still wanted to kiss him, to try once more for that heart that seemed almost impossible to reach.