Chef Hua
Chapter 259 - 154: Call the Master

Chapter 259: Chapter 154: Call the Master

Zhou Yunyun seemed extremely disappointed but bit her lips hard, restraining herself from crying, still whispered a word of thanks to Hua Xiaomai, and then turned and ran out quickly.

Luo Yuejiao had intended to see her out, but on chasing her to the doorway, found she had already run off like a wisp of smoke, leaving no trace, so Luo Yuejiao had to return sulkily. Walking into the courtyard, she pouted and turned her attention to Hua Xiaomai.

Food Madam Hua stood at the top of the doorsteps of the main house, arms crossed, squinting her eyes and staring daggers at Hua Xiaomai’s face. She suddenly barked in anger, "Are you sick?"

"That’s right, are you sick..." Luo Yuejiao chimed in like a backup singer, but after receiving a glare from Hua Xiaomai, she hurriedly swallowed the last word and stuck out her tongue.

"What’s wrong with me?" Hua Xiaomai innocently spread her hands, looking up at Food Madam Hua with a playful smile on her face.

"Yunyun is so pitiful, what harm is there to help her?" Food Madam Hua was pretty furious, stomping forward in two or three steps to get close to her, one hand on her hip, her eyebrows inverted like willow leaves, her apricot eyes flaring as though they were about to ring out like bells, "You’re not being forced to squeeze someone into a restaurant, are you? You’re looking for a helper yourself, what’s wrong with Yunyun?"

The more she spoke, the more outraged she became; her teeth were clenched tight: "I understand that cooking requires talent. If Yunyun is as bad as me, unable to even cook a bowl of porridge without making a mess of it, I would just let it go and wouldn’t insist on you keeping her. But just now, I clearly saw you were quite satisfied with her, so why the hell did you send her away?"

Hua Xiaomai didn’t want to discuss it further with her, to save her the worry. Moving forward, she took her by the arm with a smile and said, "Alright, anyway I know what I’m doing; don’t concern yourself with this matter. This morning, I made a pot of osmanthus and Chinese yam soup for you. It should be about the right time to drink it. Hurry up and get yourself a bowl. I have to head to the restaurant now and will be busy. We can talk about this in the evening, okay?"

After she spoke, she instructed Luo Yuejiao to go home early if there was nothing to do, and not caring whether Food Madam Hua agreed or not, she left the courtyard and headed straight to the east of the village.

She had a sense of what was going on; since Zhou Yunyun’s father had made up his mind to rely on his daughter to support the family, he would surely not let it go easily, and was bound to come knocking sooner or later. Sure enough, the next morning, just as Hua Xiaomai was about to leave her house, Zhou Qing came running furiously.

The man should not be more than thirty-three or thirty-four years old, but perhaps due to chronic alcoholism, he looked at least ten years older than he actually was. Wearing gray, dirty clothes, with a red nose and disheveled hair, his whole body reeked of a foul stench of alcohol, which would make anyone recoil if they got too close.

Zhou Yunyun had also followed, leading three string-bean-like little girls, the youngest of whom couldn’t be more than six, with a runny nose, her face and hands filthy, looking rather pitiful.

Zhou Qing was a notorious troublemaker in Fire Knife Village, and when drunk, he would not even recognize his own mother. Upon reaching the door of the Jing Family’s small courtyard, he wasted no words and directly gave an order, "Attack!" The three little girls were initially hesitant but afraid to disobey, they crept forward, one grasping the legs, another hugging the arms, all clinging to Hua Xiaomai, and began to wail loudly, smearing their snot and tears all over her.

The children didn’t know their own strength, and Hua Xiaomai felt a sharp pain when one of them pinched her wrist. But she dared not push too hard, afraid to hurt them. Zhou Yunyun, standing by, stamped her feet anxiously, too timid to confront her father, could only constantly reach out to pull her little sisters away as she whispered, "Don’t, don’t do this..."

Hua Xiaomai was extremely annoyed, she wrenched the little girl who was clinging to her arm and put her aside, and glared at Zhou Qing, "What are you trying to do this early in the morning? I have a pregnant woman in my house who shouldn’t be startled. If you scare her into harming the baby, can you afford the consequences?"

No sooner had she finished speaking, Food Madam Hua and Jing Taihe rushed out from the eastern room. Seeing the situation, Jing Taihe quickly intervened, pulled the remaining two little girls aside in a few moves, and glowering, frowned deeply at Zhou Qing, "What kind of show are you putting on, bringing your drunk tantrum to my house? Such a big man, shamelessly playing the bully with children in the village, you may not care about your face, but these kids will still need to face people in the future!"

He had always been a gentle person, but today, he was really angry and began to shout loudly without restraint.

Food Madam Hua was pregnant and could not bear to be frightened, Hua Xiaomai was already working herself ragged from morning to night, and with this Mr. Zhou acting mad, what on earth was all this about!