Chapter 238 (1/2)

Chapter 238: Royal Chef

Nonetheless, Yuan Zhou wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he just asked peacefully, “Could I know who’s speaking please?”

“It’s none of your business to know who I am,” with a frown, the old man turned around and prepared to leave after saying that.

“You must be Mr. Ma, aren’t you?” said Yuan Zhou affirmatively.

“Do you know me?” The old man turned his head and asked him with an unfriendly tone.

“No, it’s just my instinct.” Yuan Zhou was also a person of frankness, therefore he replied straightforwardly.

“Humph.” The old man grunted and then directly turned around and left, paying no attention to Yuan Zhou.

“Excuse me. Could you please wait a moment?” Yuan Zhou went up for a few steps and directly walked to the old man despite his cold face.

“I have nothing to talk with you. You’d better return wherever you come from.” Dressed in the crease-free Chinese tunic suit, every step the old man took was steady and he just kept his head upright. He appeared to be quite influential.

“Mr. Ma, you seem to know my purpose. So let me make it short. I wish I could have the honor to savor the dishes cooked by you personally.” Yuan Zhou revealed an expression of solemnity and seriousness.

“Huh, this young man really talks big. Why would I cook dishes for you?” Although it was an interrogative sentence, the old spoke in an affirmative tone.

“You said just now that it’s a reckless waste of the god’s gift to cook that way. So I don’t think you would like to see the delicious food ingredients recklessly wasted?” said Yuan Zhou affirmatively.

“That has nothing to do with me. Get away from me.” Without knowing why, the old man suddenly got angry and directly drove Yuan Zhou away.

Seeing the determined manner of Mr. Ma, Yuan Zhou found it inappropriate to go up and question him anymore. He could only to return to the house that he rented. After all, unwillingness cannot produce desired results.

“Ha Ha. I heard you were scolded by Mr. Ma just now,” said the aged man at a distance with an ironic tone.

“Not really. It’s just that he doesn’t agree to cook the chicken soup for me.” No secret could be kept in such a small village. Therefore, Yuan Zhou just admitted frankly.

“Young man, you are truly brave. But Mr. Ma isn’t the right person. He hasn’t cooked dishes for a long time,” the aged man said after a sigh with emotion.

“Why?” Yuan Zhou made a close observation of Mr. Ma today and found he was healthy with a rosy face and besides talked vigorously. There should be no problem with his physical health.

“I have no idea about that. The old man is fairly weird. He never cooks and yet always complains that dishes cooked by others are terrible,” the aged man knocked his long tobacco pipe and then said peacefully.

“Does Mr. Ma go to other people’s home for his three meals?” Yuan Zhou was a little curious.

After all, he was a chef and still preferred to cook dishes for himself to eat unless he heard rumors of delicious dishes at other places. No one could match him in culinary skills.

“Yeah, that’s true. The old man is truly eccentric. But I do know his ancestor was a royal chef and he indeed cooked for the state banquet before. Otherwise, who would believe and respect him so much?” The aged man smoked the dried tobacco leaves heavily, making the surroundings smoggy.

“State banquet?” Yuan Zhou had never heard of that before. He only knew Mr. Ma was originally a Manchurian and from one of the eight most influential families in ancient times. His ancestor had cooked dishes for the emperors before and he also followed along to learn the culinary skills. It was said that he was a great master in cooking.

“Yes, absolutely. When he came back to the village at first, all the villagers were quite excited. But now, no one likes to talk to him anymore.” The aged man continued to smoke and meanwhile talked about the old man while Yuan Zhou listened to him seriously.

Occasionally, he asked some questions. “Why don’t they want to talk with him?”

“After he came back, he refused to teach anybody his culinary skills, saying that it was a waste of time if they didn’t have the natural endowments. What’s more, he never cooked by himself and just had his meals around in other people’s home every day, not to mention he often complained harshly about their dishes,” said the aged man indignantly. It seemed that he had also suffered from the old man’s bad temper.

“Thank you. I got it.” Hearing the aged man’s words, he suddenly thought of an idea that could help him to reach his goal.