Chef Hua
Chapter 542: Episode 291 The Bigger the Commotion, the Better

Chapter 542: Episode 291 The Bigger the Commotion, the Better

Hua Xiaomai pondered for a while before she remembered who this so-called "Owner Sun of Gui Lin Inn" was and expressed in her heart a full understanding of his actions.

That "Owner Sun," he had a past!

The story goes back to the time of the Feast of Distinguished Scholars.

During the finals, there were five restaurants in the competition. While everyone was busy preparing, Fatty Wei suddenly made a fuss, claiming that Owner Sun of Gui Lin Inn had added something to his pot while he was in the restroom. The two immediately started fighting at the venue and were both disqualified and thrown out.

At that time, Hua Xiaomai was too busy with her own concerns, focused solely on her dishes, and only glanced at their scuffle before disregarding it. She didn’t give it much thought afterward, only sneering to herself that Fatty Wei was no good and his words couldn’t be trusted.

Now, it looked like Fatty Wei might really have been wronged!

The past didn’t concern her, and she hadn’t planned to spend too much energy on it. But now, she just couldn’t understand—why would Owner Sun have a problem with her?

If it was out of jealousy, there were many other restaurants and taverns in the city. Even Lord Zhao couldn’t help but utter some sour words, and others probably had their own thoughts. But while they might feel uncomfortable, at most they would just scheme in their hearts or curse in secret. Why couldn’t that Sun hold back and felt the need to take action and stir up trouble?

The apprentice had his cheeks red and swollen from Mother Meng’s shoe-beatings, as high as two fingers, and, seemingly having bitten his lip in panic, a line of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He cried tears as big as beads, and his speech, not smooth before, now turned to constant sobbing in his throat.

Hua Xiaomai, puzzled, heard his annoying crying and turned to scold him, "Can’t you be quiet? Don’t you see others are contemplating? You really are Fatty Wei’s follower, no manners! If you whimper again, just try it, see if you don’t get a thorough beating!"

True to her threat, the apprentice immediately fell silent and almost bit his tongue, then stayed quiet for a while. Eventually, he couldn’t stand it and flashed Hua Xiaomai a flattering smile, "If there’s... anything you don’t know, just ask me. As long as I know it, I will definitely..."

"I was about to ask you, what’s the rush?" Hua Xiaomai glared at him then pondered, "Do you know why Owner Sun would go after me?"

"Isn’t that simple?"

The apprentice clapped his hands eagerly and said, "Could it be you don’t know what Owner Sun’s place looks like? In a word, his Gui Lin Inn resembles your Daoxiang Garden quite a bit, built to imitate a rural farmhouse, with water and flowers inside, but much smaller, covering only about a quarter of an acre. It used to seem quite interesting to see, but now, compared to yours, it appears much less impressive!"

His words reminded the Great Saint, who immediately nodded and said, "Yes, I remember now, the owner of Gui Lin Inn seemed to be named Sun Zhengkuan, and his place was quite renowned in Fuzhe County, almost a scenic spot to the south of the city."

Hua Xiaomai had her epiphany and finally completely understood.

After all this time, it turned out he was just upset that her Daoxiang Garden had made a bigger splash and eclipsed his business, inevitably competing for customers in the future!

This was really... Feeling outdone, he should have just built a large garden in the city and openly competed with her, instead of sneakily taking underhanded actions—what kind of skill is that?

Indeed, people like Sun Zhengkuan would probably never look for the cause within themselves, no matter the situation; in their view, others are always to blame.

Hua Xiaomai thought for a moment, the corners of her lips slowly curving up as she looked at the apprentice with a kind expression: "We’ve been talking for so long, but I still don’t know your name."

Before the man could answer, the Great Saint cut in: "Found out just now, he’s called Zhuzi."

"Oh, Brother Zhuzi." Hua Xiaomai smiled harmlessly, "We can be considered old acquaintances. Back then, you and Chef Wei schemed against me, and although I was furious and beat him up, I never troubled you, right?"

Zhuzi quickly glanced at her and nodded twice: "Right, right..."

"You see, you’ve already harmed me once, and not only didn’t you refrain, but you came again today—if you repeatedly act this way, even if it’s just following the crowd, I can hardly overlook it, can I?"