Chapter 304: Burglary at Mount New Moon

Chapter 304 Burglary at Mount New Moon

Mengmeng's small palm patted a few times on Dahei's thick arms. "Big Heihei, Little Heihei, have you guys finished eating?" She said in a childish voice. "I'm done. So you guys should hurry up. Let's go play once you're done."

"Ow woo."

Little Hei slid to the floor and shook its head; it was Little Hei's way of saying, "We can go play right now."

"Ooh? Ooh, ooh, ooh? Ooh." Dahei scratched its head and stood up as well.

It was like it was trying to say, "Oh? We're not drinking anymore? Okay, let's go play then."

Dahei picked up Mengmeng and carried her into a quiet corner of the lobby. There, Dahei, Mengmeng and Little Hei began to entertain themselves with games.

The atmosphere was still pretty lively after another half an hour had passed.

Although they had not drunk much, the five ladies— Zi Yan, Zhang Li, Zhou Fei, Luo Qing, and Li Anna— were sporting red flushes on their faces. Considering that they were all beautiful women, they were truly a sight for sore eyes right then. But because Zi Yan was just too eye-catching, her presence eclipsed those of the other women by a considerable amount.

At the same table, Instructor Liu, Zhao Feng, Xu Yong, Ah Hu, and Zhang Han were all drinking to their hearts' content. Instructor Liu, who was eager to impress, kept saying things that drew out sounds of beautiful laughs from the women. Nobody had any idea that Instructor Liu even possessed that kind of sense of humor.

Zhang Han, on the other hand, would drink to any toast that had been offered to him. Despite the number of glasses that he had drained, his face wore its usual expression. That just went to show how well Zhang Han could hold his liquor.

When it was just around nine o'clock in the evening, Zhang Han began to check the time on his phone repeatedly. At 21:20, Zhang Han went to the washroom. After washing his hands, he pulled out his phone and accessed his QQ Mail. He waited until it was precisely 21:21:21.

Mail sent!

That was another birthday gift, but this time from Zhang Han's other persona.

The meaning behind the email's time stamp of 21:21:21 was obvious.

He went back to the table and partied for another half an hour.

The party was almost over at 10 o'clock.

Zhang Han glanced at Zi Yan and said, "Shall we head back?"

Zi Yan pressed her lips together and nodded. "Mm."

Zhou Fei was a little drunk at that point, and her voice had become much louder. "Hey, hey, hey! Every moment in the night of spring is worth a thousand gold! It's time to leave the lovebirds alone and go home!" Zhou Fei yelled, shaking her head.

Zhang Li laughed out loud and pouted at her brother suggestively. "Haha! Come, come! Let's go home!"

Zhang Li and Zhou Fei's antics incited roars of laughter among the crowd.

As a result of the teasing, Zi Yan's face turned a deeper shade of scarlet. Well, her face was already pretty red due to the alcohol, so if Zi Yan was embarrassed, one could not really tell from her face.

Zhao Feng stood up and said, "Then I'll bring Dahei and the others back."

Everyone at Zi Yan's table did some simple cleaning before they stood up and headed for the building's exit. Zhang Han was carrying Mengmeng. Zi Yan was hugging the wooden carving to her chest, looking nothing but exhilarated.

Moments later, they reached the lobby's exit. With a wave of his hand, Zhang Han signaled three guys who were completely sober; they were their designated drivers tonight.

There were three cars altogether: one for Zhang Han's family; another for Zhou Fei and the other three women; and the last one for Zhao Feng, Dahei and Little Hei.

The rest of the people were still partying and drinking inside; they were planning to let loose and go all out.

All three cars drove off in the same direction: Zhang Han's restaurant.

The first car pulled up in front of the restaurant. Zhang Han stepped out of the car while carrying Mengmeng. After Zi Yan had gotten out of the car as well, they went into the restaurant. The second car drove off towards Zhou Fei's place; Zhang Li and the other women would all be crashing at Zhou Fei's place tonight. They still had to get up to go to work tomorrow.

The third car was Zhao Feng's Land-Rover.

The Land-Rover drove at a slow and casual pace.

The lack of speed was most likely due to the fact that Dahei was getting high in the backseat.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Ooh, ooh! Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!"

Dahei might as well be singing a song at this point with all its jumping and clapping.

Alas, that brute of a creature had a large build, so every time it moved, the car would sink downwards before springing back up again; and the same thing would repeat, again and again so long as the creature continued its frenzied dance. The end result of all that action was a car which would shake until the cows come home. It was like there was an earthquake inside the car; well, a car-quake, essentially.

Safe to say that the driver of the Land Rover was having an exceptional experience driving under such circumstances. On the passenger seat, there was nothing Zhao Feng could do other than watch Dahei's shenanigans helplessly.

For one, he could not afford to mess with the big brother in the backseat!

Dahei's delirium had prompted Little Hei to join in the frenzy as well. Once in a while, Little Hei would release a cry or a shout, as if it was trying to set the beats of Dahei's song.

"Woo, woo!"

It was almost as if it knew what it was doing.

Judging from the looks on their faces and their current behavior, Zhao Feng knew that the two Heihei powers had had a lot of fun today!

Soon, the car exited the town area and drove into the road which led to Mount New Moon.

When they were still several minutes out from Mount New Moon, something happened.

Zoom!

All of a sudden, a van hurtled past them in the opposite direction.

At minimum, the van was traveling at 140 kilometers per hour based on its speed.

"Seriously? Racing in a van?"

Zhao Feng only smiled and shook his head without thinking any further of it.

Unbeknownst to Zhao Feng, the van which had just streaked past them was carrying some valuables stolen from the mountain. If Zhao Feng knew, he probably would have ordered the driver to run the Land-Rover straight into the van.

Then again, he would find out in a few minutes.

Because...

The moment the Rover arrived at Mount New Moon, Zhao Feng opened the door and got out. After that, he opened the backseat door for Dahei and Little Hei. "Go back now, little masters!" He said.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

Dahei curled its lips and shook its fist at Zhao Feng, "Now that's more like it. I've decided not to hate you this time!"

Little Hei slunk out of the car.

After taking several steps towards the mountain, Little Hei's nose suddenly began wiggling as it sniffed at the air.

"Sniff! Sniff! Sniff!"

Several sniffs later, Little Hei's ears suddenly picked up the vague sounds of dogs barking. The barking came from the area at the back of the mountain.

Swish!

A cold glint formed in Little Hei's eyes.

It was a look that was fiercer than that of a hungry wolf!

Little Hei's mouth parted slightly, revealing its sharp fangs which glinted despite the darkness of the night.

Woo!

A split second later, Little Hei moved with such a speed that its whole body was reduced to a mere silhouette. In just a few breaths' time, Little Hei had hightailed it into the woods in front.

"Ooh? Ooh, ooh?" Dahei seemed to have realized that something was wrong as well. With hurried strides, it ran after Little Hei.

Um? Zhao Feng's face changed slightly.

There was only one possible scenario that could make Little Hei react like that!

Something had happened in Mount New Moon!

Zhao Feng's heart hammered harshly in his chest at the thought. He took off after the two animals.

He sprinted for dozens meters before entering the dark forest. Then, he ran on for a few more seconds until he emerged on the other end of the forest. He stopped and glanced around.

Seeing that the front of the mountain still looked the same as they had left it, Zhao Feng heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he hurried to the back of the mountain.

When he reached the thunder yang tree and saw the state at the back of the mountain, he once again felt great relief.

The livestock and pets were all there.

But why did Little Hei react that way? Zhao Feng turned his eyes towards Little Hei and saw that Little Hei was still sniffing around endlessly. Again and again, it kept circling around the area where the livestock and crops were kept.

Zhao Feng took a closer look and counted the number of the livestock present. A scowl formed on Zhao Feng's face.

Something was missing!

He knew the total number of livestock in Mount New Moon like the back of his hand because Ah Hu and the others would always report back to him whenever they took ingredients from here. When Zhang Han had some ingredients that he needed, he would always have Zhao Feng retrieve them from here too.

After a thorough examination, Zhao Feng found out what was missing: At least one-fifth of the rice and one-tenth of wheat were missing from the paddy field; none of the Kobe beef cattle were missing, though two Hungarian baby sheep-pigs— which cost even more than the cattle—were gone; the Tai Lake Black Swines and Ujimqin Sheeps were all accounted for whereas the chickens, ducks and geese were missing two each; around seven or eight pet dogs were injured.

All that had rendered Zhao Feng incensed.

Someone came and looted the mountain just because they let their guard down for one night?

Zhao Feng clenched his jaw forcefully and walked back towards the thunder yang tree. Under the tree were two buckets of Yang Qing Water which he could use to treat the wounded pets.

Meanwhile, both Little Hei and Dahei were acting strangely.

Little Hei bared its fangs and there was a savage look in its eyes; right then, Little Hei looked just like a wolf at the verge of going berserk.

"Ow woo."

All of a sudden, Little Hei stretched its neck to the sky and released an angry roar. Its thunderous voice pierced through the night, stirring up shock waves through entire Mount New Moon!

As the butler of Mount New Moon, Little Hei was enraged to learn that someone had stolen from them.

If even Little Hei got worked up, it goes without saying that Dahei would be enraged too. As the honcho of Mount New Moon, Dahei was filled with wrath at what it saw, especially after learning that many of its dog brothers had gotten hurt. Right now, Dahei's face held a scary look that was rarely seen on its face.

Dahei's mouth was wide open, revealing the rows of long teeth inside. Even its eyes had turned murderous.

"Ow, ow, ow."

Dahei began to pound its chest wildly as it released roar after roar; it was unleashing the wrath within its heart.

Zhao Feng strode over with the buckets. Seeing Dahei and Little Hei's behavior, he sighed.

He set down the buckets and waved at them. "Dahei, Little Hei, come here," he ordered.

Dahei was not in a mood for games, not at a time like this. Together with Little Hei, Dahei did as it was told and walked over towards Zhao Feng, panting and growling.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," Zhao Feng said, patting Little Hei's head before moving on to rub Dahei's chest. "Calm down and stop acting like you're on a warpath or something. It's going to be alright. We just lost a few things, that's all. It's my fault for not making proper arrangements to secure the place. I'll tell the master later. I'll make sure to secure the place next time I bring you guys out. You two need to stop looking so riled up."

"Ooh!"

Dahei curled its lips and stomped its foot forcefully.

Dahei turned its head to the side as if to convey a message with its face, "I'm the big boss of the mountain. How can I not be mad?"

Little Hei remained still, though the dewy tooth was also blocked.

Zhao Feng smile wryly and shook his head. He pulled out his phone and dialed Zhang Han's number straightaway. The call went through after a few rings.

"Hello, master. Someone broke into Mount New Moon and stole from us. We lost one-fifth of rice, one-tenth of wheat, two Hungarian sheep-pigs, two chickens, two ducks and two geese. Seven or eight of our pets are injured." Zhao Feng gave Zhang Han a full rundown of the situation. Then, in a remorseful tone, he said, "This is on me. I've been negligent and forgot about security. I'm sorry, master."

"Oh, it's alright. We just lost some ingredients, that's all. You don't have to shoulder all the blame. Even if they stole everything there, it would only last them for a few days at most. We can grow back the crops and breed a new batch of livestock. It matters not. We'll just station a few guys to watch the place next time we bring Dahei and Little Hei away from the mountain."

"Yes, master. Understood. It won't happen again," Zhao Feng said solemnly.

"Mm," Zhang Han answered before hanging up.

"Phew..."

Zhao Feng heaved a sigh of relief. What the master said made a lot of sense to him. It was not like the entire mountain was stolen; the mountain was still exactly where it was. All they lost were a few ingredients and farm animals here and there. The damage was nothing too major in the grand scheme of things. Then again, Zhao Feng had no plans to just let things slide. He would launch an investigation and see if he could figure out the identities of those thieves. By then...

As Zhao Feng entertained his thoughts further, he suddenly saw Dahei and Little Hei staring back at him.

He smiled at them and said, "The master said it was okay. I wonder how long those thieves have been watching us. But I suspect they just happen to stumble upon our place when we were out. Our losses would've been much greater if they were well-prepared. In that case, there will likely be a second attempt. They'll be back again after their first taste of success. When the time comes, Dahei and Little Hei, you both need to show some restraint, okay? Don't end up killing someone. That would just cause trouble. You shouldn't cause trouble for the master, you understand?"

With regards to Zhao Feng's intelligence, Zhao Feng was both clever and sensitive. Zhao Feng had probably already connected all the dots some time during their unilateral conversation.

"Ooh? Ooh, ooh, ooh? Ooh, ooh, ooh!"

Dahei opened its mouth and brandished its fists, looking fierce and bloodthirsty, almost as if it were saying, "Trouble? What trouble? If they come next time, I'll beat them to death!"

Little Hei, on the other hand, had a look of compliance on its face.

Zhao Feng gave Dahei a serious look and said, "Dahei, I'm not joking around, okay? I still haven't dealt with the trouble you caused the first time I brought you to that villa. God knows what's going to happen if you cause trouble again. That's why you must keep yourself in check even if the thieves do return. Let me handle them."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!"

Dahei curled its lips and shouted. Then, it reached out and shoved Zhao Feng with its palm; Zhao Feng ended up stumbling forward.

Despite everything, Zhao Feng knew from the look on Dahei's face that he had gotten the message across. With that, Zhao Feng felt more at ease and grabbed the buckets to tend to the injured doggies.

Every time Zhao Feng fed water to the injured doggies, he would pat their heads gently; and every time, he would feel a pang of guilt in his heart.

They had all gotten hurt due to his own negligence.

He had focused all his attention on Operation Love Confession tonight. When Dahei and Little Hei were brought away from Mount New Moon, the place was left without its guardians.

Once he was done feeding the dogs, Zhao Feng carried the buckets back to the thunder yang tree. While doing so, he could not help but feel a little amused.

A lot of true treasures lay here in Mount New Moon. But the thieves had utterly failed to discern them; they did not even touch the two buckets of water under the tree, which were practically laid out in the open for them to take.

This hinted at the fact that the thieves came here for a specific purpose: to steal ingredients. Well, they had succeeded this time. If they set foot here again next time, Zhao Feng was very interested to find out the identities of those who had big enough balls to steal from them!

Elsewhere, in Mengmeng's Recreational Restaurant, Mengmeng was seated comfortably on the couch, munching on a small slice of apple as she occupied herself with a cartoon playing on the TV.

#

Meanwhile, Zi Yan and Zhang Han were both seated at the small round table beside Mengmeng, enjoying a bottle of red wine worth several hundred thousand yuan each.

Zhang Han had picked up his phone right in front of Zi Yan. From the words that Zhang Han had spoken into the phone earlier, Zi Yan could pretty much guess what it was that had transpired.

"Did we lose something from the mountain?" Zi Yan asked when Zhang Han put his phone away.

Zhang Han nodded and said, "Yeah, we lost some ingredients."

Zi Yan's lips pursed slightly. "Then why aren't we calling the police? We should let the police catch the thieves."

"Nah. It's too troublesome. Right now, I just want to spend some quiet time with you," Zhang Han said while giving Zi Yan a suggestive look.

Swish!

In an instant, Zi Yan's face turned a deep shade of scarlet.

In front of others, she would feel shy too. But when they were alone with each other, her shyness would be accompanied by nerves and anxiety.

The look on Zi Yan's face ignited a fire inside Zhang Han's heart. Despite his usual calmness and self-possession, Zhang Han could not help but feel the flame of passion raging in his heart right now.

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It felt like being in love for the first time.

This was the kind of passion that would only be found during the beginning of a relationship, the kind of passion that was beyond the descriptive powers of words.

Needless to say, Zhang Han valued a time like this very much. Otherwise, he would not have gone through all the trouble to prepare the gifts today.

When Zi Yan felt Zhang Han's fiery gaze upon her, she released a light hum. "Humph! I wonder who's capable of such atrocious behavior. I mean, stealing? Come on."

"Hahaha." Zhang Han laughed and shook his head at Zi Yan's attempt to change the subject. He took a sip of red wine and said, "Well, there are only a few possibilities, really. The first is that a customer, or customers, of our restaurant had been trying to get their hands on our ingredients. Perhaps they had spent many days looking into it and eventually stumbled upon Mount New Moon. Then again, this is rather unlikely. I'd say that the chances of this being the case are less than 20%."

"Why do you say that?" Zi Yan asked curiously.

"Oh, because of Dahei and Little Hei's presence, of course. Not many people know about them. If it were really true that someone had spent a lot of time investigating, they would've been well-prepared. And it they were well-prepared, our losses would've been much greater." Clearly, Zhang Han and Zhao Feng shared similar views regarding the incident.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Zi Yan nodded and stared at Zhang Han with a mildly confused look. Then, like a student, she asked, "What other possibilities are there?"

"One other possibility, which I think has an 80% chance of being the truth, is that someone from the competition at Aslin Restaurant this morning is behind the theft." Zhang Han laughed humorlessly and continued, "We defeated them today. Let's not forget that Liu Qingfeng had even stepped in on our behalf. Considering his status and position, I'm pretty sure he had rebuked quite a lot of people after we left. That Lv Chao will harbor hatred for us, no doubt. And that chef, Wang Long, I could tell just from his face that Liu Qingfeng had reprimanded him before they had arrived at the competition. But there's practically zero chance that Wang Long was a part of the theft, which leaves us with only three suspects. Lv Chao is the first one. And then Lv Chao's master, Luo something. The last one is the manager of the restaurant."

"Why?" Zi Yan asked in confusion.

"Because of hatred and envy. But more than anything else, because of self-interest," Zhang Han explained.

"What about the owner of Aslin Restaurant? Why isn't he a suspect?"

"Because he fears Liu Qingfeng," Zhang Han said. "That guy's face changed completely the moment Liu Qingfeng entered the scene. After that, he started walking on eggshells around Liu Qingfeng. That Lv Chao, on the other hand, had kept his head low the whole time, looking angry and dissatisfied. Lv Chao's master kept avoiding everyone's eyes. When he sneaked glances at Liu Qingfeng, Wang Long and the others, I noticed him clenching his jaw at least five times. That kind of body language indicates that the guy had evil intentions. The restaurant manager was least likely suspect among them. He was panicking back there. He feared losing his job. At the start, he kept standing beside Lv Chao. But afterwards, he was standing more than five meters away from Lv Chao. This goes to show that the manager lived for self-interest and self-preservation."

Zhang Han shook his head. "So if we take all suspects into account, I'd say that there's a 70% chance that it was Lv Chao and his master behind the theft. Maybe 10% for the restaurant manager. The remaining 20% chance would go to our customers."

Zi Yan gave him a slight pout. "Oh. How come your observations are so detailed?"

Zhang Han chuckled. "Well, it wasn't that hard, really. It just took me a few glances, that's all."

The eyes are the windows to one's soul. To Zhang Han, decoding the facial expressions and eyes of Lv Chao and his companions was merely child's play; however, someone like Liu Qingfeng, who had weathered through many storms and tides, would take much more than such observations to completely decipher.

"Then why didn't you tell Zhao Feng about it and have him look into it?"

"Nah. They're just a few puny thugs. I won't even bother. Besides, those idiots will return again after today's success. But next time, they won't be so lucky because they'll then have to face the wrath of Dahei and Little Hei." Zhang Han felt amused when he pictured the image in his head; his face broke into a wide grin.

Zi Yan looked like she was in a bit of a daze. "They won't tear the intruders into pieces, will they?"

Zhang Han shook his head lightly. "Nah, I'm sure Zhang Han will warn them."

"Oh, wow. You're so great. Hey? No, something's not right." All of a sudden, something occurred to Zi Yan. She arched her brows and glared at Zhang Han. "If your powers of observation are that great, then why did you ignore me back then?" She said in a murderous tone. "Tell me! Did you do it on purpose? You deliberately gave me the cold shoulder, didn't you? And then you suddenly started acting nice to me so that I'll accept you faster. You, you, you devious man!"

"Huh?" Zhang Han froze abruptly. Deep down, he was bemoaning his woman's overactive imagination. Wait a few more seconds and she would probably start talking about unicorns flying across the sky.

In that moment, Zhang Han really did not know whether to laugh or to cry. "Um, no, that's not it. Why would I do that?" He said lamely.

"Then what is it?" Zi Yan shot back with a pout. "Humph. I bet you did it on purpose. You were just bidding your time, waiting for the moment I fell into your trap."

Her face looked so adorable right then that Zhang Han's heart began hammering against his rib cage.

Zhang Han licked his suddenly parched lips. "Ahem, ahem. No. I could tell, but it was even because I'm skilled in divination and physiognomy."

"Divination? This isn't just some hocus-pocus, is it?" Zi Yan said, blinking her large eyes at him. "Fine, then. Show me what you got. If you fail, I'll never speak to you again!"

"Sure. Come sit beside me," Zhang Han said and patted the chair beside him.

Zi Yan snorted and stood up. Then she sat down on Zhang Han's right.

Zhang Han stretched out his hand at Zi Yan. "Let's start with palm reading, shall we?"

Zi Yan pressed her lips together and smiled. She gave him her palm.

Holding Zi Yan's hand, Zhang Han stroked it a few times and whispered, "So soft."

"Are you going to start the reading or are you going to keep stalling?" Zi Yan said in mock anger, biting her bottom lip gently.

"Yes, I will. I'm starting now." Zhang Han smiled and perused Zi Yan's palm.

"Tsk, tsk. Hm, let's see. How about we start with the career line? Your career line is quite horizontal and flat at the beginning, but when it reached here." Zhang Han touched a spot on Zi Yan's palm, "It starts to curve upwards abruptly. That feature represents the fact that you have reached the peak of your career a few years ago. These cracks here represent the time you went to North America. See how the line forms two waves here before it becomes a straight line again? This means that you'll be experiencing ups and downs in your career, but after you weather through them, everything will be smooth sailing. It shows you have a wide career potential. You can easily become a singing queen or a top actress without any problems."

Zi Yan noticed the comical look on Zhang Han's face right then and could not contain her laughter. "Pfft, you're such a good b*llsh*tter. You know what you sound like right now? A charlatan."

"Huh? Hey, this is the real deal. Fine, then. Let's move on to your life line. Hmm, it seems like you'll live a long life. Now this one is the marriage line. Look, there's only one, which means..." Zhang Han suddenly raised his head to look at Zi Yan. His voice dropped into a soft whisper. "You and I will grow old together."

Zi Yan pouted. "Humph, liar," she said in a smiling tone.

The way Zi Yan was acting was so alluring that Zhang Han could barely keep it in his pants. "Shall we do a face reading now?"

"Aren't you already in the middle of it?" Zi Yan said in a leisure tone, blinking her beautiful eyes.

"Oh, but for me to do a face reading, you must close your eyes."

"Oh, okay." Zi Yan closed her eyes obediently.

The next thing she knew was Zhang Han's lips were on hers.

This bastard!

"Mm..."

After a long time, Zi Yan gently pushed Zhang Han away. She was panting and breathing heavily, and her face was as red as an apple.

"You meanie. Mengmeng is still here," Zi Yan grumbled, leaning into Zhang Han and pounded her fist against his chest.

Zhang Han planted a gentle kiss on Zi Yan's cheek. "It's okay. She's watching TV."

"Eh?"

Mengmeng's voice sounded from the couch. "I, I, I'm not watching TV!"

Swish!

Both Zhang Han and Zi Yan turned their heads and saw Mengmeng staring right at them with blinking eyes.

"Humph!" Mengmeng said in a tone of dissatisfaction. "PaPa, MaMa, you guys are kissing without me again. I want to kiss too. Mengmeng wants to kiss!"

"Alright, alright, alright," Zhang Han said, once again struggling between tears and laughter.

Zhang Han pulled Zi Yan to her feet and, together, they walked towards Mengmeng hand in hand.

Mengmeng presented her tiny lips to Zi Yan first. After kissing Zi Yan, the girl went up to Zhang Han and kissed him too.

#

"Eh? It doesn't taste sweet at all? Then, MaMa and PaPa, how come you guys are kissing for that long? Um, a bunch of liars."

Zhang Han broke into a laughing fit.

Rolling her eyes, Zi Yan reached out with her slender hand and pinched Zhang Han's waist.

"Yeah, the cartoon's back!" Mengmeng cheered with her arms above her head when she heard the opening theme of Boonie Bears.

There you had it: a happy and peaceful family, lazing on the couch watching TV.

Even the two adults were enjoying the cartoon.

Perhaps happiness was really just that simple.

A him, a her, and a home; that was all it took.

...

Meanwhile, a total of four people were hanging out inside the kitchen of a closed restaurant in Zhu Keng District.

#

Those people were Luo Sheng, Lv Chao and two other Luo Sheng's students.

"Oh, f*ck! This sh*t smells so heavenly! Is this even rice?"

That was Luo Sheng's first reaction when he opened the cover of the rice cooker. Amid the hot steam, the pleasant aroma of the rice wafted into his nose. The aroma was so good that he started cursing like a sailor the moment he smelled it.

Lv Chao stared at Luo Sheng with wide eyes. "Have a taste, master. Let's all taste it," he said excitedly.

"Yeah. Let's serve up the rice first. Bring the bowls!" Luo Sheng barked out.

Then, he filled up four bowls of rice.

After that, the few of them sat at the kitchen counter, staring at the bowls of rice. When the aroma of the rice hit them, they each had to swallow down a mouthful of their own drool.

"Why don't we try a bit first?" said a man with small eyes.

"But the chicken is still simmering in the pot," Lv Chao said doubtfully.

Luo Sheng was too powerless to resist the lure of the rice's aroma. "Ah, to hell with it. It's fine. Let's just eat first," he said.

Luo Sheng picked up a pair of chopsticks and tasted a mouthful of rice. The first bite was taken elegantly. But after that, it was like the notion of table manners just got thrown out of the window; Luo Sheng picked up his bowl and began shoving plain rice into his mouth like a caveman.

The same thing happened to the other three men. Very soon, they each gobbled down an entire bowl of plain rice.

Their movements were akin to how people enjoy drink at the bar during the olden days, "Come, let's drain this bowl of liquor!"

But here, it was, "Come, let's finish this bowl of rice!"

Having each finished a bowl of rice, the few of them shared looks with each other. They immediately recognized the looks of surprise in each of their faces.

"So I really lost in terms of ingredients. M*th*rf*ck*r! Like hell I'd lose if I have access to ingredients like this," Lv Chao said, slapping his thigh forcefully.

"That's right!" Luo Sheng nodded confidently. "Lil Chao, if you use these ingredients, I bet you'll win."

"Shameless f*ck*rs! Relying on ingredients to win? That's cheating!" A man with flattop haircut said angrily.

"Yeah, and that f*ck*r even had the balls to act like some badass chef who knew what he was doing. Like, come on, waiting until the last minute before starting to cook? It drives me mad just thinking about it!" Lv Chao said, clenching his jaw.

"It's already in the past. It's pointless to complain about it now," Luo Sheng said, waving him off. "Now, tell me again about what you saw when you were there at the mountain."

"Okay," Lv Chao said, taking in a deep, calming breath. "I found out about it from a buddy of mine at the agricultural site. He told me that the owner of Mengmeng's Recreational Restaurant will purchase rice and wheat from the site at intervals. The rice purchased was the Daohuaxiang 2."

"How's that even possible? This is the most fragrant rice I've tasted in my life. That doesn't make any sense." Luo Sheng frowned and thought for a moment. When he failed to come up with an explanation after a while, he told Lv Chao to keep going. "Go on."

"That buddy of mine then told me where they grow their crops. It turned out to be Mount New Moon. Apparently, the environment there is superb. Oh, I was also told that there's a huge and vicious hound guarding the place. So, the three of us went to the place three days later to check things out. We entered the mountain armed with metal sticks, but we didn't see any hounds, only ten or so pet dogs. Those little dipsh*ts took their watchdog duties quite seriously, though. They charged at us the moment we got there, but the three of us managed to beat up quite a few of them with our sticks."

"After that, they began barking like crazy. We were scared that there might be guards nearby so we took a few things hastily before we hauled ass out of there. We didn't take much, just some ingredients. Some rice, wheat, two piglets, two ducks, two geese, and two chickens. But that place pretty much has it all. I mean, it's got dozens Japanese Black Cattles, dozens of Hungarian sheep-pigs, Tai Lake Black Swines and Ujimqin Sheeps. The numbers are objective and factual. Sh*t, the whole place is a trove for crops and livestock!"

Lv Chao smacked his thigh again. "If we hadn't been in a hurry and if those f*ck*ng dogs hadn't been barking their heads off, we would've brought back more. I mean, how nice would that be!"

Luo Sheng's eyes glinted brightly. "There's no hurry in that. Since we already know where the place is, then... everything there will be ours sooner or later!"

"But..." The man with the flattop haircut cringed and hesitated for a moment. Then, in a wary tone, he said, "What if the grandmaster finds out? I mean, he's so righteous. If he finds out, I fear he'll..."

The man did not utter the final few words of his statement. He did not need to; everyone there knew what those words were: end our apprenticeships!

By now, all the other three men were looking at Luo Sheng.

None of them had expected the cold sneer from Luo Sheng.

"So what? Haha. I'm telling you, in the culinary world, having the perfect ingredients is king! And the creation of savory dishes is the way of kings! Just picture for a second what would happen if we can get our hands on ingredients like these. Master Chef? What master Chef? Those master Chefs are nothing! We would be able to start our own culinary school and earn butt loads of money from now on! Who gives a sh*t about apprenticeships when we can earn money? From the very beginning, Wang Long had only really taught me for two years. After that, he no longer cared. What's the use in that? You know what? I've been thinking about starting my own school for quite some time now. What I lacked was the opportunity. Now, obviously, the opportunity has arrived!"

Luo Sheng leveled a fiery gaze at everyone.

"Since we now know where they got their raw materials from as well as where they grew their crops, then what else is there to fear? You guys should stop worrying so much and join me bravely. I guarantee that you'll live a life of wealth and glory in the future. Status? Money? You name it, and you'll have it!"

Three gasps sounded right then.

Looks of excitement formed on the faces of all three men.

"Then again, this has to be done with proper planning. With just the four of us, we don't have enough manpower. Find a way to bring everything from the mountain back here. Oh, and take some water and soil samples also. We'll have those samples tested and analyzed. Okay, we'll leave it at that for now. I'll spend a couple more days to think about this. For now, let's just enjoy the chicken!"

"Huh?" The sudden change of topic dazed Lv Chao and the other two men.

Luo Sheng pointed at the pressure cooker. "The chicken is done. Serve it up."

"Oh, okay. Yes, master." Lv Chao quickly opened the cover of the pressure cooker.

Not a few seconds after the pressure cooker was opened, the pleasant aroma of meat wafted through the entire room.

"That smells heavenly! Hurry up and serve it so that we can taste it!" Luo Sheng urged.

Lv Chao picked up his pace and served up the chicken meat.

Once he was done, everyone took a piece each. They placed the meat into their mouths and took a bite.

"Ho! This is m*th*rf*ck*ng unrivaled!" Lv Chao said, nearing biting his own tongue.

"Is this even chicken? How can it smell so goddamn good? This is f*ck*ng too much!"

"My God, it's like I'm eating chicken for the first time of my life!"

Even Luo Sheng had a wide-eyed look right then. He had been rendered speechless the moment that piece of chicken reached his palate.

Luo Sheng found his voice 10 seconds later.

"With ingredients like this, I, too, can claim the title of master Chef," he mumbled in shock.

Regardless of how much they were enjoying the food's aroma in this moment, the fates of these four men had already been sealed the moment they began plotting their second visit to Mount New Moon.

Nobody's path to success was ever easy; and for people like them who strayed from the right path, things would obviously not end well.

...

Meanwhile, back at Mengmeng's Recreational Restaurant, familial love continued to thrive.

The family of three had been watching TV until it was 22:40, when the cartoon ended.

"Aw. The show ended," Mengmeng said as if she had been left hanging. "But I still want to watch some more, humph."

Zi Yan gave her daughter a small smile. "The show will pick up tomorrow," Zi Yan said, reaching out to pinch Mengmeng's tender cheeks gently. "It's almost 11 o'clock now. It's time for us to go to bed. How about we ask PaPa to tell us a story?"

"Yes! I want to hear the one about the king of dwarfs!" Then, Mengmeng held out her tiny arms to Zhang Han. In a childish voice, she said, "PaPa, I want a hug."

"Coming," Zhang Han said. He picked up the TV remote and switched off the TV. Then, he took Mengmeng into his arms.

"Kiss." Mengmeng pursed her lips at Zhang Han like a goldfish.

"Muack!" Zhang Han planted one right on Mengmeng's waiting lips.

Annoyed, Zi Yan shot a look of disapproval at Zhang Han. Mengmeng had never demanded kisses from Zhang Han before. Now that Mengmeng had seen her and Zhang Han kissing, Mengmeng was starting to want kisses too.

Then again, it was alright for Mengmeng to kiss Zhang Han. What worried Zi Yan was that Mengmeng might try to kiss other people too.

After a moment of thought, Zi Yan said, "Mengmeng, you can kiss PaPa like this. But you can't do that with other people, do you understand?"

"Eh? I know! PaPa told me already. No kissing with others. No hugging also," Mengmeng told Zi Yan with a serious face.

"Good," Zi Yan said, scratching Mengmeng's nose gently. "Now what say we go upstairs and head to bed!"

Right now, Zi Yan's gait was so light that she was practically walking on springs.

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