227 Collision 2 in 1 (1/2)

Other than hot pot, Japanese and western cuisine would be served the fastest. This was because, considering the order of serving and the importance of the ingredient's freshness for the enjoyment of the food, the time spent at these restaurants would be short. The dishes were served separately with a logical order. For example, not long after they made their choice, the first dish, which normally would be soup, would be served. While they enjoyed the soup, they would be waiting for the other dishes until the final dessert or fruit plate was served. The whole process would not take that long.

If this was some other cuisine, things would be different. The chef would prepare all the dishes and send them out all at once. The whole table of food would give the diners enough time to be slow and pick at it. Combining the waiting time and the time used for chatting over meals, basically, a meal would not end until it had gone over one or two hours.

Since it was lunch and not dinner, the restaurant was quite deserted. Ye Shuang and Sister Yao did not need to wait for long for them to be served. Twenty minutes later, they were led by the waitress to their table. They held the menu and started to think about what they wanted to have.

Ye Shuang had not been there before, so she could only discern the freshness and standard of the food there from the choices other guests made. As half of a host, even though Sister Yao had not been to this restaurant personally, she did overhear some inside information when she was at home, so she was introducing some of the dishes to Ye Shuang in a soft voice.

”When we were cooperating with Uncle Zhou's cold chain business, the main selling point was the northern meats combined with three sets of seafood quota. After the main shop took its share, the rest would be divided equally among the rest. Therefore, the high-end ingredients that would reach here would not be much so before this. The sashimi would not be recommended; however, items like sushi, seared steaks, pork cutlet, and curry were not bad.”

Sister Yao's voice was soft and gentle like the caressing wind of spring. However, her logic was strong and clear, causing one to pay attention to her words. ”However, after we changed our cooperating partner to the Noah Organization, the rate of transport and cold chain channels has drastically increased, and they put the Yao family's business first. Therefore, the choices that have opened up to us have widened a lot. The price of the sashimi has been given a hike but so did the quality. Other than that, we have also introduced new menu items that were previously limited due to the lack of ingredients like cheese baked lobster and eel rice. Why don't we try and order one of those?”

The waitress who was waiting for their order was shocked by what she heard. This kind of insider information could not have been known to outsiders. This was information privy only to those who worked here. Normal customers at most would hear about the increase in the quality of the ingredients but would have no idea the reason why and by how much.

Ye Shuang looked at Sister Yao with a half-smile. ”Okay, then we shall order one of those.”

Order one of what? The waitress looked at Ye Shuang with confusion.

The two of them had already ordered some sashimi, tempura, and seafood salad. For two girls, that should already be their limit. Furthermore, the size of the eel rice there was really quite big. The waitress was trying to place herself in her customer's shoes and just as she was about to jot down the order for the cheese baked lobster, Ye Shuang opened her lips to say casually, ”Hmm, give me one order of cheese baked rice and eel rice each. On top of that, I'll add a seared salmon and a set of common sushi.”

Based on the food on the table next to them and the smell that evaporated from them, they should taste quite good.

”…” The waitress.

”…” Sister Yao.

Are you sure you can finish all that?

After ordering, the waitress left their table with an order list that was full. Her face was blank with confusion. Sister Yao forced an awkward smile and sipped on the cup of green tea to calm the chaos in her heart. ”Sister Ye, do you always order so many things when you have lunch out?”

Wasting food is not a good habit—this deserved a cross… but wait, it might be too early to make a call like this. After all, the family is rich, so this kind of flaw is not really a deal-breaker as long as it is not a manic splurge.

Sister Yao lowered her face slightly and held the cup of green tea in her hands. She arranged her emotions and raised her face with a shy smile and continued conversing softly with Sister Ye.

The impression from the day before could not be taken as a whole anymore. Now, she had to reassess this potential sister-in-law and, at the same time, decide whether to adjust the scamming… cough conciliation tactics.

…

Perhaps it was destiny or maybe she was just that unlucky. Just as Sister Yao was trying to find some topic of conversation and tried to evaluate Ye Shuang's real personality, someone walked in from the entrance of the restaurant.

This person was not only familiar to Ye Shuang but also familiar to Sister Yao. His face was filled with sarcasm and annoyance. From the door, he had been giving the waitress who led him to his table a condescending side-eye. His whole presence spoke of impatience like whenever he turned and saw something that did not match his taste, he would start barking.

He he, why would this idiot come to this place?

Ye Shuang noticed the pause in Sister Yao's conversation. She looked up with confusion and happened to chance the girl pulling her gaze away from the space behind her. Therefore, Ye Shuang turned her head around, and her eyes met Zhou Yue's eyes as he was walking into the shop.

When he saw Ye Shuang, the expression on Zhou Yue's face froze for half a second, and the muscles on his face twitched. Then his brows locked like he was in a deep conundrum about something. However, Ye Shuang reacted to this chance encounter faster than he was. She raised her hand and greeted him with a smile. ”Oh my, isn't this our little Yue Yue?”

What the f*ck! Zhou Yue had not decided what kind of expression he was supposed to make but was instantly depressed. He abandoned the girl who was leading the way and came over to slam his palms on Ye Shuang's table. ”Who are you calling Yue Yue?”

”Whoever answers of course.” Ye Shuang pulled out her phone with great flourish, and as her finger danced over the display, she showed a hesitant expression on her face. ”Uncle Zhou has been calling me to come over to be his house guest, and I was considering answering his invitation. I wonder when the both of us will be free. Sigh, this is such a hard decision to make.”

Hard your head! Zhou Yue felt like coughing out blood. This woman was obviously lording her relationship with his father over him, as if she was afraid that he did not know she was threatening him.

Zhou Yue gritted his teeth angrily. The waitress who was handling Zhou Yue earlier came over and asked, ”Sir, are you together with them?”

”Yes!” Zhou Yue sat down impolitely.

”Tsk tsk, trying to get girls to treat you?” Ye Shuang continued with her snide comments.

Zhou Yue tried to put a lid on his patience as he reached into his pocket to pull out a credit card from his wallet and tossed it to the waitress. ”When you draft up the bill, count this whole table.”

Then, he raised his brow at Ye Shuang.

Ye Shuang pushed the man a cup of tea with a smile. ”Then, we shall thank you for your kindness first.”

The battle of who would be paying thus ended. It was no fun for Zhou Yue.

Zhou Yue glared fiendishly at Ye Shuang and grabbed the menu away from the waitress. With a face filled with impatience, he started to make his order. Sister Yao, who had been watching the show, was beyond shocked. She blinked several times and whispered softly and hesitantly to Ye Shuang, ”Sister Ye, you two are…”

”Huh, such an old woman already is still pretending to be so naïve and innocent?”

Before Sister Yao could finish, she was mocked by Zhou Yue. The rest of the words stuck in her throat. Ye Shuang looked on with interest as two seconds later, Sister Yao turned her equally harmless face to Zhou Yue and asked in her soft and shy voice, ”Is Little Brother Yue Yue talking about me?”

Ye Shuang covered her lips with her hands while Zhou Yue's face was popping with green veins. He glared at Sister Yao angrily, and his hands that gripped the menu were white from anger. The waitress who stood the side felt like escaping. This whole table of guests is full of weirdoes. Please, someone, save me!

…

Technically, the relationship between Zhou Yue and Ye Shuang could not be described as friendly. After all, since the fisticuffs at the New Year's Eve party, they had not spent an encounter in a friendly mood. Basically, they were either mocking each other or calling the other person out. The only time of peace was when both parents were around, and they had to act obedient for the sake of their parents.

However, if one was to say they were each other's nemesis, that was not really true as well. When they first crossed paths, Ye Shuang really thought there was no chance she was going to have a truce with this man, but fate had a surprise in store for her at the restaurant. Mother Ye's old flame surfaced from the past, and the man had a son—Zhou Yue. With that extra layer of relationship, with her own mother on one side and Uncle Zhou at the back of Zhou Yue's mind, as much as they hated each other's guts, they had to maintain a risky yet peaceful relationship. In a way, they would respect each other.

Since both parties did not have the intention to fight to the end, the most they could do was stand on opposing sides. If they happened to come across each other, there would be a battle of words, but no one was seriously going to make something of it.

Therefore, that was how they had agreed to coexist, and eventually, it had evolved to this kind of weird and contractual peaceful relationship. Zhou Yue continued to fight Yao Zhixing, and Yao Zhixing did his best to crush Zhou Yue. Ye Shuang, who stayed in the middle, maintained a neutral stance. Both parties had the silent agreement that she would be left out of it and allowed to watch the war from the side lines.

Even Zhou Yue's lackeys and Yao Zhixing's racer buddies had both silently accepted Ye Shuang's position as the big sister. Other than the few boys around Zhou Yue whose family background was exposed by Ye Shuang could not stand her and tried to come for her whenever they could, other people naturally avoided having a battle when Ye Shuang was around.

Naturally, Sister Yao had not grasped these layers of convoluted relationship.