Chef Hua
Chapter 371: Episode 208 Tricky Business_3

Chapter 371: Episode 208 Tricky Business_3

"Eh, Brother Yuhuai, why have you come back at noon? Isn’t your escort agency busy today? Oh dear, just as I said, you’re so fond of your wife. You didn’t even go home and rushed straight to the store, didn’t you?"

Hua Xiaomai turned around in response, her hands still busy as she tiptoed to peer through the crowd outside, and indeed, she saw Meng Yuhuai standing at the entrance with his hands behind his back, looking over at her.

She was baffled and a little apprehensive at the same time, but she was firmly surrounded by customers and couldn’t easily squeeze her way out, so she had to patiently deal with one guest after another in front of her stall. As soon as there was a lull in customers, she hurried over to him, smiled at Meng Yuhuai, and then anxiously blurted out, "Why have you come back so soon? Did you go to the store and get the milk?"

Meng Yuhuai glanced at her, led her into the hall, went straight up to the private room on the floor above, closed the door, and then frowned, "Don’t rush, listen to me first. I went to that store today, and who would have known, the shopkeeper told me someone had already bought all the milk, not a jar left."

He had indeed reassured Hua Xiaomai not to worry, but in such a situation, who could stay calm? Hua Xiaomai immediately felt her temper rise and looking up, she said, "How could this happen? Didn’t we have a standing order with them and even paid the deposit? How could they..."

Meng Yuhuai shook his head with a wry smile, "The shopkeeper kept apologizing to me and even gave me double the deposit back, but it was clear that someone had bought the milk for a high price, and no matter what, he wouldn’t tell me who it was. After I left his shop, I went around other places in town, and without exception, all the milk was sold out."

This was really... Hua Xiaomai had thought she was being careful enough and had made thorough preparations, yet unexpectedly, there was still this trouble! This was most likely a tactic played by one of the competitors in the finals, aiming to catch her off guard at the last minute!

She was frantic and slightly panicking, stirring her own fingers and with a frown said, "This is troublesome, what should we do?"

But Meng Yuhuai kept a calm face and thoughtfully said, "Don’t panic. Before I came back, I stopped by Chunfeng Restaurant, and Manager Zhao said that he had anticipated such a situation, so he had specially bought some milk from the provincial city. He still has some left and mentioned that if we needed it, he could share some with us."

"Really?" Hua Xiaomai saw a glimmer of hope amidst her despair and quickly patted him down, only to come up empty and she said impatiently, "If that’s the case, why are you still here talking and gasping for breath, trying to scare me? You scared me half to death—I mean, where on earth did you put the stuff? Bring it out!"

Meng Yuhuai held her hand and calmly said, "Don’t fuss; though he said he was willing to share with us, I didn’t take any and came back empty-handed."

"Why on earth did you do that? Are you out of your mind?!" Hua Xiaomai was so frustrated she wanted to bite him, rushing forward to clutch his lapels tightly, "You said it yourself, hosting the literary banquet would benefit not just our little eatery, but also the Lianshun Escort Agency. Earlier, you were very eager to help me with arrangements, and now when the fire is at our heels, how can you..."

"Don’t make a fuss." Meng Yuhuai looked down at her hands but didn’t brush them away, somewhat amused, and said, "Manager Zhao’s relationship with us is merely superficial and not very close. Is it proper for you to accept his generous offer now? Don’t forget, you’re currently competitors for hosting the literary banquet. If he falls short in the finals and hopes you will give way, what will you do?"

His words made sense, and it wasn’t about what Manager Zhao might think, but at the very least, they couldn’t give others such an opportunity.

Hua Xiaomai was beside herself with worry, almost on the verge of tears, her lips drooping as she said, "...this won’t work, that’s not good, you need to give me a solution. Tomorrow is the fifteenth of April, I..."

The man named Meng sighed, glanced at the tightly shut door, drew her into his arms, and patted her back like comforting a child, whispering, "Don’t be anxious, I just came back to tell you. In a little while, I’ll ride to the nearby counties to look around. No matter who’s behind this, I don’t think they could have bought up all the milk in the entire Tong’an Prefecture, right? I’ll be back soon; you just wait here at ease." (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome your votes for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)