Chapter 323: Chapter 322: The Red String of Fate
Fang Zhuoyue arrived at the entrance of the Taifeng Building.
As a single young man who grew up systematically in a socialist environment, this was his first time dining in such a high-end restaurant with friends.
Entering Taifeng Building, the door staff quickly came forward and asked with a smile, “Are you by yourself, sir?”
“I have a friend meeting me here, a chef from your restaurant named Jiang Feng,” Fang Zhuoyue answered.
“Ah, it’s Mr. Fang. Master Jiang has already notified us about you. I’ll take you there. The dishes are prepared, would you like to serve them now?” the waiter led the way.
“Serve them now,” Fang Zhuoyue said, following the waiter to his seat and sitting down.
Once seated, Fang Zhuoyue began to observe the hall of Taifeng Building.
The decor of Taifeng Building was exquisite, maintaining an antique charm throughout that was very comforting to look at. The dining hall was nearly at full capacity, evidence of their booming business.
“Daddy, I want to eat roasted Peppa!” a little girl at the next table to Fang Zhuoyue exclaimed, her voice high-pitched yet not too loud.
“Wenwen, didn’t Daddy ask the waitress last time? The roasted Peppa here needs to be pre-ordered. We can’t have it now,” Wenwen’s father explained with great patience.
“Then why didn’t Daddy pre-order it?” Wenwen fired a pointed question.
“That’s… um…” Wenwen’s father found himself at a loss for words, unable to speak for a long time.
“Well… You know Daddy has a bad memory, right? It’s normal for me to forget things now that I’m getting older. I forgot about it,” Wenwen’s father finally said.
“Now that Daddy remembers, go and make a reservation now, and we can come to eat another day,” Wenwen suggested.
Wenwen’s father was speechless…
How could this child not follow the script?
Fang Zhuoyue, who had been watching the interaction between the father and daughter, found it amusing. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he pulled out his phone and opened WeChat.
After a moment’s hesitation, he put it down again.
Fang Zhuoyue sighed. In the end, he just didn’t have the courage to take that step.
“Hello, the Destiny Combo has been served fully. Enjoy your meal,” the waiter said, presenting the chopped pepper fish head and vegetable bun chicken.
Destiny Combo?
Fang Zhuoyue looked at the chopped pepper fish head and the vegetable bun chicken in front of him, puzzled as to why these two dishes were named the Destiny Combo.
If they really wanted to create a Destiny Combo to bring good luck, shouldn’t they have shaped the dishes like Cupid’s arrows or the red strings of marriage gods? What kind of Destiny Combo is a red chopped pepper fish head paired with a yellow-green vegetable bun chicken?
Red paired with green?
Fang Zhuoyue picked up his chopsticks and tried some of the chopped pepper fish head.
Fresh, tender, spicy.
The flavor was good, worthy of a big restaurant.
Jiang Feng, having finished making the dish of stir-fried vegetables in the kitchen, planned to go to the dressing room to change his clothes and join Fang Zhuoyue for dinner; he was the one inviting, so he couldn’t let his guest wait while he lingered in the kitchen.
Jiang Jiankang was stir-frying his signature Kung Pao chicken at the stove, his spatula dancing over the wok. Despite a high-powered electric fan blowing on him, large beads of sweat kept forming on his forehead.
Jiang Feng suddenly remembered the hint he saw the day the game was activated about the Kung Pao chicken his dad made.
[A plate of Kung Pao chicken mixed with sweat]
Staring at the beads of sweat on Jiang Jiankang’s cheeks, Jiang Feng felt this scene might replay itself.
“Dad, it’s too hot in here. After you finish this dish, go take a break in the cold dish room!” Jiang Feng called out loudly.
“It’s not hot, not hot, don’t worry about your dad, I’m used to it. Aren’t you going to eat dinner with a friend? Go ahead, don’t keep your friend waiting,” Master Jiang cheerfully said.
“Mr. Jiang, I carved a watermelon this afternoon in the cold dish room, would you like to have some after you finish cooking?” Wu Minqi suddenly turned her head to ask.
“Watermelon!” Jiang Jiankang was tempted.
“It’s even chilled,” Wu Minqi added.
“Great idea, I’ll go over there and enjoy it after I finish this Kung Pao chicken,” Jiang Jiankang felt as if he could already taste the ice-cold, sweet watermelon, “and Qiqi, you’ve been in the kitchen all day too. Why don’t you take a break, or better yet, you could go out and have dinner with Feng.”
“Mr. Jiang, I’m not tired; I still have several dishes to prepare,” Wu Minqi gave Jiang Feng a look that said everything was under control and urged him to go on without worry.
After changing his clothes in the changing room, Jiang Feng found Fang Zhuoyue’s table and sat across from him.
The three untouched vegetable bun chickens remained in the plate, while a few chops had been taken from the chopped pepper fish head.
“Not to your taste?” Jiang Feng asked.
“No, it’s quite good, but I just can’t eat much right now,” replied Fang Zhuoyue, as his mind was troubled, naturally affecting his appetite.
“Why are these two dishes called the Destiny Combo?” Fang Zhuoyue asked curiously.
“Previously, someone ordered these two dishes here, and after the meal, they successfully confessed to a girl they had long had a crush on. To seek good fortune, we combined these two dishes into a combo called the Destiny Combo,” Jiang Feng spun a tale, “I invited you over for dinner today to wish you good luck.”
Fang Zhuoyue forced a smile, “Thanks, but I’m afraid I’m not as lucky as that customer. I don’t even have the courage to confess.”
“Don’t overthink. Try the vegetable bun chicken; it’s not as good when it gets cold,” Jiang Feng urged him to eat, placing a piece of vegetable bun chicken on Fang Zhuoyue’s plate and watching him eat it.
A minute passed, and Fang Zhuoyue tried the chopped pepper fish head again.
Two minutes went by, and Fang Zhuoyue checked his phone but did nothing.
Three minutes later, Fang Zhuoyue opened WeChat and quickly exited.
Five minutes later, Fang Zhuoyue decisively put away his phone.
Jiang Feng: ???
No way, even with the dish’s buff, he still didn’t have the guts to speak out his love, how deeply buried was this love in his heart!
Even though the dish’s details claimed that after eating, one would feel compelled to express one’s love within two hours, Jiang Feng, having crafted buff dishes for so long, knew they often took immediate effect; at the most, those slightly more oblivious would feel it within a minute or two.
Looking at Fang Zhuoyue’s behavior, it was clear the buff wasn’t strong enough yet.
He needed to administer an even stronger dose.
The matchmaker Jiang declared that he wouldn’t feel content until he accomplished this matchmaking today.
Actually, Fang Zhuoyue himself felt that he was a bit strange tonight.
Just moments ago, he suddenly had a strong urge to confess his feelings to the girl he had been secretly in love with for many years. He had always wanted to, but never had the impulse been as strong as it was just then.
But in the end, hesitation and fear overcame the impulse, so he tucked his phone away – out of sight, out of mind.
Without seeing his phone, he wouldn’t think about confessing his feelings.
“Do you drink?” Jiang Feng asked. “Our restaurant recently got a new batch of blueberry wine, it’s of great quality. Want to try it?”
In fact, Fang Zhuoyue didn’t drink, even two bottles of beer would knock him out. He also knew what Jiang Feng was up to.
After all, alcohol strengthens the coward’s courage. He had already tried this method a few days ago, getting himself completely drunk in his dorm but still failed to send that “I like you” message.
“I’ll drink.” Fang Zhuoyue was very clear in his mind, he wanted to confess.
After a glass of blueberry wine, Fang Zhuoyue started to feel a bit dizzy.
Fang Zhuoyue took out his phone. This time he didn’t open WeChat. His courage suddenly grew, as if the glass of blueberry wine had given him strength, and he opened his contacts.
He found Huang Chenxuan.
He dialed the number and began to regret it, wanting to hang up, but the call had already connected.
“Hello.” The voice that Fang Zhuoyue was so familiar with came through the phone.
Huang Chenxuan was at home, and her 7-year-old nephew was causing a ruckus beside her.
She had been at home for two weeks now, doing nothing but sleeping, watching TV, or listening to music – anything that would help her relax. Her cousin knew her situation, so he got his wife to bring over her favorite nephew every afternoon to keep her company and make her laugh, then take him back in the evening.
Huang Chenxuan knew she should be happy, but she couldn’t muster the feeling. She liked her little nephew but her laughter was hollow and forced.
“It’s Fang Zhuoyue, how are you feeling? What are you doing right now?” Fang Zhuoyue asked.
“I’m watching TV with my nephew,” Huang Chenxuan replied. “Is there a reason you called at this time?”
“Yes, there is.” Fang Zhuoyue took a deep breath and paused.
“I have something very important I want to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“You…I…next Saturday is Qixi, the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Would you spend it with me?”
Huang Chenxuan was stunned on the other end of the line.
As Fang Zhuoyue didn’t receive a response for a long time, he thought he had indeed been presumptuous. Trying to sound nonchalant despite his disappointment, he said, “Sorry, I just had a couple of drinks with friends. Just ignore me, talking nonsense.”
“I’d be willing,” said Huang Chenxuan. “Not only am I willing to spend next Saturday’s Qixi with you, but I also want to be your girlfriend.”
This time, it was Fang Zhuoyue’s turn to be speechless for a long time.
“What’s wrong? You make a confession to me first, and now you’re the one who’s silent?” Huang Chenxuan laughed, the first genuine laugh she had had in a month.
“I, I didn’t expect… I thought…”
“Fang Zhuoyue, you even ranked top 30 in the whole city on your college entrance exams. Do you really not understand, or are you just pretending not to understand? Or is it that all you guys don’t get it? Every summer break when you came back, we old classmates would hang out together, and I always invited you to have tofu pudding with me after. Did you really think it was because the others didn’t like tofu pudding?” Huang Chenxuan asked.
“I…” Fang Zhuoyue felt his tongue was suddenly tied in knots.
“I’m eating tofu pudding, you’re watching Doudou, don’t you realize that Doudou has always been waiting for you to make the first move?” Huang Chenxuan said, her nickname being Doudou.
“If you don’t speak up soon, I’m going to get impatient.”
…
As a confirmed atheist who wouldn’t pray to Conan or forward luck chain messages even before finals, Fang Zhuoyue now felt, perhaps there was something to this destined love meal.
As he took another chopstick-full of chopped pepper fish head, Fang Zhuoyue thought it was the most delicious in the whole world.
This restaurant was the best restaurant in the world!
“Ding, acknowledgment from a customer obtained, mission progress (6/10).” The game notification sounded in Jiang Feng’s mind.
Jiang Feng could tell from the silly smile on Fang Zhuoyue’s face, akin to his own from before, that he had successfully entered a relationship and even began to emit the aura of a lovey-dovey couple.
Seeing Fang Zhuoyue furiously typing on his phone, Jiang Feng knew that eating was probably the last thing on his mind now.
With a bite of chopped pepper fish head and a small sip of blueberry wine, having successfully played matchmaker, Jiang Feng felt utterly delighted.
Playing matchmaker was indeed more joyful than being in love himself!
He pulled out his phone and began happily scrolling through his social media.
Fang Zhuoyue had updated his status 6 minutes ago—
Since the year I was 15 when I stole your bottle of milk, I knew I had to spend a lifetime making it up to you.
Jiang Feng couldn’t help shaking his head and looked across at Fang Zhuoyue.
Men in love sure are terrifying.
Why hadn’t he come up with such a lovey-dovey social media post himself?
Jiang Feng began to reflect, the Jiang family really suffered from a lack of culture!
PS:
This love story is true (with a bit of embellishment), and the ones involved are two of my middle school classmates.
Enough said, I’m off to eat some lemons.