What in the world is all this?
A thumb-sized cylinder of minced scallions blanketing a block of tofu, a small piece of goose liver dabbed with sauce, and a piece of pan-fried cod with a lightly charred crust.
Facing the incredulous look projected by Liu Yu, Zhou Yu turned his head away and pretended nothing was the matter.
Such a fine Yufang Grand Hotel, instead of making traditional regional cuisine, why did it suddenly switch to western dishes that completely clashed with the hotel style?
The crucial point was that these eight dishes were simply not enough to fill two normal people’s stomachs. The moment he thought about how Xiaoyu had traveled by train all day, only for him to turn around and bring him here to eat this, Zhou Yu closed his eyes in embarrassment.
Liu Yu, on the other hand, was quite interested in these dishes. He cut off a small piece of the goose liver nearby and placed it in his mouth to savor it carefully.
The goose liver was soft, delicate, and melted on the tongue. Although not much sauce was drizzled over it, the flavor was unexpectedly savory and delicious.
Liu Yu showed an approving expression and said to Zhou Yu, who had not picked up his chopsticks yet, “Brother, you should try this. The taste is really quite good.”
Zhou Yu only then reacted and picked up his knife and fork.
The nearby waiter timely stepped forward to introduce: “Sir, this crystal goose liver was crafted by our hotel’s specially hired chef Lucas, renowned for being rich without being greasy and remarkably delicious. It is practically a must-order dish for every distinguished guest.”
Liu Yu nodded in understanding, then looked around at the array of exquisite dishes on the table and asked, “Does your hotel mainly serve Western dishes? Do you have any signature local cuisine?”
The waiter likely assumed he had eaten Chinese food here before and hurriedly explained, “I am sorry, but ever since our hotel was taken over by the newly appointed boss last August, we have successively hired multiple master chefs from France at great expense, and we have now officially transitioned to serving Western cuisine.”
What does that mean? A local hotel transitioning to Western cuisine, that is far too big a leap! Liu Yu was somewhat perplexed.
Zhou Yu put down his fork, wiped his mouth, and asked, “Isn’t your boss Liu Zhihao anymore?”
The waiter glanced around and, seeing no one nearby, leaned over to whisper: “The current boss is our former boss’s nephew. He is a returnee from studying abroad and apparently holds Western cuisine in high regard, so right after taking over, he remodeled this place into a Western restaurant.”
So it was Liu Jiawang. Zhou Yu instantly felt it made sense; this guy had been a lackey and follower of Zhou Zhaoxing in his youth, frequently borrowing others’ clout to gang up with Zhou Zhaoxing and specialize in making things difficult for him.
At that time, he was about the same age as Liu Yu. His parents’ sudden accident shortly before had left his personality somewhat warped and unwilling to confide in others, and his grandfather never pried into his personal life, causing him to suffer quite a few hidden losses.
Liu Jiawang hadn’t appeared in J-City for a long time afterward; word was that his family had sent him abroad to study.
Since this fellow had always been blindly infatuated with foreign things in his daily life, it was hardly surprising that he would transform his family’s hotel into this sort of appearance. He just wondered if his uncle, who had been forced into early retirement, would be coughing up blood in anger over this stunt of his.
Zhou Yu completely lost his appetite. He handed the waiter two small tips and dismissed him.
Liu Yu was also eating with a lack of enthusiasm; among these dishes, only the goose liver was palatable to him, while the rest were mere empty reputations in his eyes. Especially the tofu blanketed with scallions, the raw tofu hadn’t been properly prepared, leaving a muddy, fishy taste that was hard to swallow.
“Brother, let’s just go home and eat! I will make egg fried rice for you, guaranteed to be delicious,” Liu Yu proposed.
“Alright.” Zhou Yu agreed without hesitation. He was beginning to regret listening to Zhuang Zhengjun and getting tricked into bringing Xiaoyu here to eat a western meal.
That night, the car slowly drove into a detached courtyard surrounded by vintage iron railings.
Here, Liu Yu finally caught sight of lush, continuous tree shades and greenery.
Seeing that the master had returned, the lights in the courtyard lit up in an instant, instantly illuminating the surroundings brightly.
Only then did Liu Yu see the overall appearance of the courtyard. Raising his gaze, the first thing that came into view was a four-story-tall grand villa. The walls were built from brownish-red brickwork with a sense of age, yet it didn’t look outdated; instead, it carried an added sense of weighty traditional cultural atmosphere.
The first floor of the villa consisted of a massive glass window frame, outside of which grew many rose bushes, looking quite picturesque.
Liu Yu held Zhou Yu’s hand, following closely behind him step by step along the path into the villa.
The interior design and decoration of the villa were extremely noble and elegant, with rigorous attention to detail evident everywhere.
Liu Yu parted his lips slightly, looking left and right, unable to suppress a series of gasps.
“Brother, this villa of yours is way too luxurious.”
A servant brought over a plate of washed fruit, and Zhou Yu peeled a lychee and popped it into his mouth, smiling as he explained, “This was a property previously owned by my parents. It is very close to the company, so for convenience, I often stay here since returning.”
Ordinary people could truly never imagine the lives of the rich. Zhou Yu could casually choose among such luxury villas to live in, while he might not be able to afford one in a lifetime.
Liu Yu laughed at his own poverty, and right on cue, his stomach began to rumble again, that bit of Western food had long since been digested away in his stomach.
A curve formed at the corner of Zhou Yu’s mouth as he stood up and walked over to the refrigerator to open the door. Egg fried rice was definitely out of the question tonight; the kitchen would never allow leftover rice to exist.
Zhou Yu didn’t mind, but the chef responsible for his diet exercised strict control over his daily meals and would never allow him to eat a single bite of overnight rice or leftover dishes.
He took eggs and greens out of the freezer, turned around, and asked, “Would you like me to make noodles with greens and eggs?”
Liu Yu was in the middle of stuffing fruit into his mouth, trying to suppress the rumbling sounds coming from his stomach, and looked up when he heard this.
“I will help you pull the noodles,” he replied with his mouth half full.
In the villa kitchen around eight or nine at night, two figures, one large and one small, shuttled back and forth busily.
Zhou Yu kneaded the dough, Liu Yu pulled the noodles; Zhou Yu beat the egg liquid and washed the greens, while Liu Yu set up the pot and dropped the noodles in. Working together in tacit understanding, in an instant it felt as though they had returned to the days in Qinghe Town a few months ago, harmonious and full of joy.
Two bowls of piping hot egg and green vegetable noodles were brought to the table. Liu Yu lightly picked up a chopstickful of noodles, blew on them perfunctorily, and eagerly popped them into his mouth, a satisfied look spreading across his face. When a person was hungry, a bowl of genuine handmade noodles tasted far, far better than flashy Western cuisine.
The goose liver was indeed delicious, but it could only give him a fleeting moment of pleasure upon entering the mouth. It fell far short of a hot bowl of noodles making him feel comforted from mouth to stomach.
Zhou Yu’s expression was also very pleasant. He had missed Liu Yu’s cooking for a long time, and finally getting to taste that familiar flavor today made him sigh inwardly, after getting used to Xiaoyu’s cooking, he probably wouldn’t find any other chef’s food flavorful anymore.
A servant would clean up the bowls and chopsticks, so as soon as Liu Yu finished his midnight snack, he was led to a room on the third floor, right next to Zhou Yu’s bedroom.
Liu Yu’s bedroom was massive, with the sofa, desk, and potted plants arranged very aesthetically, and soft carpeting covered the floor.
The bedroom also came equipped with a bathroom and a washroom. Toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, and everything else were neatly arranged, obviously prepared in advance.
Liu Yu soaked in a wonderful hot bath in the bathtub, refusing to come out until his body was thoroughly relaxed.
This was his first time using modern bathing facilities since coming to this world, which gave him an illusory illusion of dreaming back to his past life. Counting the days, it had been a full half-year since he last took a proper bath.
After finishing his bath, Liu Yu immediately pounced onto the two-meter luxury bed, burying half his face in the soft quilt, rubbing against it happily, and fell soundly asleep shortly after.
Liu Yu slept in until late morning. Learning that Zhou Yu had a morning meeting and had left early, and wouldn’t be back until two or three in the afternoon, he didn’t rush to get up either. Stealing a moment of laziness, he went back to sleep until midday when a villa servant came knocking on his door.
“Young Master, the kitchen saw that you hadn’t woken up yet, so they went ahead and prepared the meals. We are not sure if they suit your taste. Would you like to…” the butler, dressed in a suit, stepped forward to ask.
Liu Yu felt a bit embarrassed. Besides, since he was eating alone at noon, he didn’t really feel like cooking for himself.
“Right,” he scratched his head in unfamiliarity, “You can just call me Xiao Liu or Xiaoyu in the future!”
He didn’t know who started it, but this constant “Young Master” business made him feel thoroughly uncomfortable all over.
In neither of his two lifetimes had he ever been born into a wealthy family, and this title of “young master” felt even more awkward than when those mischievous kids in the village used to call him boss.
“This…” The butler was somewhat troubled. This form of address had been tacitly permitted by Zhou Yu; otherwise, an old hand like him wouldn’t dare throw it around casually.
Anyone with eyes could tell that given the importance Zhou Yu placed on this young boy, calling him his biological younger brother wouldn’t be an exaggeration at all.
Outsiders might not know, but managing every single aspect of the entire villa meant he was very clear about things. To name just one, leaving everything else aside, simply looking at things inside Liu Yu’s bedroom, ranging from the bed as large as a bed to something as small as a toothbrush, was something he had been notified of many days in advance and personally re-procured, all of them top-quality goods.
And those rose flowers in and around the courtyard had also been transplanted at great expense.
All because Liu Yu had collected many flower seeds previously, saying he wanted to plant vast seas of flowers all over the courtyard the following year.
Anyone even slightly familiar with Zhou Yu knew he wasn’t the type to actively cater to others’ preferences, not even among that group of friends; this boy, as far as he knew, was still the first.
“Never mind, call me whatever you like!” Seeing the butler hesitate for ages over a single sentence without coming up with an answer, Liu Yu blushed and compromised.
Call me whatever you want! It was no big deal; being called a few times wouldn’t peel off a layer of skin, Liu Yu thought to himself.
The midday dishes were extremely lavish, by Liu Yu’s definition, it had reached the extreme level of sheer extravagance and wastefulness. The servants and butler in the house didn’t eat with him; how on earth could a single person finish a whole table of food like this?
Helplessly, he could only pick a few dishes that caught his interest, and had the servants take all the other dishes down to finish themselves.
Actually, the chef’s culinary skills weren’t bad at all, at least much better than the vast majority of people back home. Coupled with top-tier ingredients, as long as the chef didn’t deliberately show off unnecessary techniques, nothing would turn out unpalatable.
For instance, this steamed Boston lobster, the butler introduced it as having been air-freighted just yesterday. It was simply steamed and dipped in some sauce, yet it was already remarkably delicious.
As he chewed the sweet, bouncy lobster meat, Liu Yu’s view of Zhou Yu became somewhat more concrete.
In the CEO romance novels he had read, the vast majority of CEOs were indifferent to culinary desires.
However, this was his first time seeing a CEO who spared no expense on air-freighting ingredients just for a bite to eat. No wonder his Brother Zhou couldn’t be a novel protagonist: zero stomach issues and a big appetite, this definitely wasn’t the character design a protagonist was supposed to have.