The next morning.
After spending the entire night in his workshop, Tony finally emerged to greet the rising sun.
He promptly bundled Pepper and Yinsen into his sports car and tore off toward Evan’s restaurant.
Naturally, several agents who had spent the night keeping watch outside Stark’s mansion started their engines and followed.
The mastermind behind Tony Stark’s kidnapping was still at large.
Organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. were obviously going to assign agents to keep an eye on his surroundings.
Did Tony know they were there?
Of course he did.
J.A.R.V.I.S. was no pushover.
Technically, he didn’t eat meat or vegetables, or anything at all, but his capabilities were very real.
Everything around the mansion was under J.A.R.V.I.S.’s constant surveillance.
There was no way a few strangers could suddenly appear and spend hours watching the place without being noticed.
So why hadn’t Tony driven them off?
Because intelligence agents were like chewing gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe.
Get rid of one batch and another would show up, only better hidden than the last.
Rather than playing hide and seek with them every single day, Tony preferred to leave the ones he’d already spotted exactly where they were.
At least he knew where they were.
The streets were nearly empty in the early morning.
Tony drove like a man with a personal grudge against speed limits, cutting across half of New York before finally arriving at 176 Bleecker Street.
He looked at the familiar wooden door in front of him and grinned.
“We’re here. Everybody out.” Tony snapped his fingers and glanced toward the other two.
“Pepper, grab the case from the trunk. We’re going in for a real breakfast.”
With that, he slipped on his sunglasses, opened the door, and stepped out.
He strode straight toward the wooden door and pushed it open without hesitation.
“Ding-a-ling…”
The same crisp chime as yesterday rang out.
Beyond the door lay the familiar restaurant.
The enormous dining room was completely empty, and Evan was sitting by the window, staring into space.
“Welcome.”
The greeting came almost by reflex.
Evan raised his head, saw who had arrived, and smiled.
“Oh, Mr. Stark. You’re early. What’ll it be? For breakfast, I’d recommend xiaolongbao and rice porridge.”
“Nope. Cheeseburger.” Tony waved him off, then turned toward Yinsen and Pepper, who had entered a step behind him.
“You two?”
“Me?” Yinsen rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, then made his decision.
“Rice porridge and a cheeseburger.”
“Hmm? Oh!”
Pepper was still slightly dazed from the information that had suddenly appeared in her mind upon entering the restaurant.
Hearing Tony’s question, she answered almost automatically.
“I’ll have the recommended breakfast.”
“Take any seat you like. The xiaolongbao and porridge will take a little while.” Evan nodded and walked into the kitchen.
He took out some Paradise Rice, washed his hands, rinsed the grains, and set the porridge to cook.
Tony didn’t bother choosing a table.
Instead, he sat down directly in front of the open kitchen counter so he could watch Evan cook from up close.
Evan didn’t mind.
That was half the point of having an open kitchen in the first place, to let customers see exactly how their food was being prepared.
He took out the ingredients for the xiaolongbao and arranged them one by one.
Then silver light cascaded from his knife like a waterfall.
A moment later, everything had been perfectly chopped.
“Wow. Cool.” Tony gave an appreciative whistle.
Evan glanced at him but said nothing.
He mixed the chopped ingredients into the filling, then took out flour and began kneading the dough.
Make the wrappers.
Fill them.
Fold them.
Steam them.
Everything flowed together with effortless precision.
Five or six minutes later, the freshly steamed xiaolongbao were ready.
At almost the exact same time, the porridge made from Paradise Rice finished cooking.
A captivating fragrance exploded through the restaurant.
It was as though someone had detonated an aroma bomb, instantly turning the entire dining room into an ocean of delicious scents.
Tony, Pepper, and Yinsen were practically drowning in it.
Their expressions turned blissful.
Evan placed a bamboo steamer of xiaolongbao and a bowl of porridge in front of Pepper.
The aroma became even more enticing at close range.
All three of them swallowed audibly.
“Enjoy.” Evan handed Pepper a small bamboo fork.
Pepper accepted it and carefully speared one of the soft, snowy-white dumplings.
She brought it to her mouth and gently bit down.
“Mmmmmm…”
A flush crept across her cheeks.
The involuntary, distinctly alluring sound that escaped her made Tony visibly shudder.
“Okay, nope. Cancel the burger.” Tony tore his eyes away from Pepper with considerable difficulty.
He swallowed hard, though whether that was because of the food or Pepper was anyone’s guess.
He slapped the counter.
“I want those. Give me the dumplings.”
“Same here!” Yinsen immediately called out.
“One moment.” Evan leisurely ladled out a bowl of porridge and passed it to Yinsen first.
Only then did he retrieve two more bamboo steamers of xiaolongbao and set one in front of each man.
Neither Tony nor Yinsen wasted another second.
They immediately started eating.
Evan washed his hands, removed his apron, and came out of the kitchen.
He sat down beside the three of them, poured himself a glass of Air Aqua, and took a small sip.
“Interested in making a deal with me?”
Tony tossed an entire xiaolongbao into his mouth.
“What kind of deal?”
He chewed as he spoke, one eyebrow rising.
“One that’s good for you.” Evan turned slightly and set down his glass.
“I can tell you who was really behind your kidnapping.”
The instant those words left his mouth, the restaurant fell silent.
Yinsen stopped eating.
So did Pepper.
Both turned their attention toward the conversation.
Tony, despite being the person most directly involved, seemed completely unconcerned.
“Oh. That’s nice.”
He chewed.
“One tiny problem. How do I know you’re not lying?”
“If I’m willing to make this deal with you, then naturally I have enough evidence to prove what I’m saying.” Evan paused.
Then, instead of continuing, he slowly swept his gaze around the restaurant before raising an eyebrow at Tony.
The meaning was obvious.
Look at me.
Look at this place.
Why would someone like me need to lie to you?
Tony understood perfectly.
His response remained entirely internal.
Yeah, see, I’m still a little worried you’ll screw me over.
We’ve met exactly twice.
We’re not friends.
Our closest relationship is that I’m the guy who owes you money and you’re the guy collecting it.
Still, Tony didn’t voice any of that.
Instead, he asked the obvious question.
“If it’s a deal, what do you want from me?”
“My restaurant’s pretty big, right?”
Rather than answering directly, Evan suddenly changed the subject to something that seemed completely unrelated.
“It’s… pretty big.”
Tony drew out the word as he glanced around the several hundred square meter restaurant.
Then he mentally compared it with some of the luxury hotels he’d visited.
His agreement sounded remarkably reluctant.
Evan heard the hesitation.
He didn’t care.
As far as he was concerned, the restaurant was more than big enough.
He organized his thoughts and continued.
“Since you agree it’s big enough, then you should’ve noticed one problem—”
“No.” Tony cut him off immediately.
“I haven’t noticed any problem.”
Then his eyes lit up.
“Oh, wait. Actually, I have. Customer service could use some work, and the chef keeps wandering away from his job.”
Evan’s face darkened.
Your bill is doubling today.
He silently added that offense to Tony’s growing tab.
I’ll find a chance to screw you over for this later.
After being interrupted like that, Evan lost all interest in beating around the bush.
He went straight to the point.
“Staff.”
Tony blinked.
“I’m short on waitstaff, and I’m short on chefs. But I’m not going to hire ordinary people to work as cooks or servers here.” Evan pointed at him.
“That’s where you come in.”
“NO.” Tony crossed his arms in a giant X.
“Absolutely not. Mr. Stark does not do kitchen duty.”
“I don’t want a culinary disaster who could burn a fried egg anywhere near my kitchen!”
Evan very nearly lost control of the urge to lift his leg and plant his foot squarely in Tony Stark’s face.
He gritted his teeth.
“I need robots. Intelligent robots capable of working as both chefs and servers.”