Chapter Seventy-Nine: Quite Feminine

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In fact, the plan devised by Kenzo Mikura was quite shrewd. The offer of two million dollars a year to entice Qiu Fengyu to be their exclusive chef was partly a publicity stunt, with ulterior motives, but it was also true that they valued his superb culinary skills. Their intention was to use his expertise to train top-tier chefs for their hotel restaurant—even if those chefs could only make ramen. After all, when a craft is honed to its pinnacle, the practitioner earns the title of master.

So, Kenzo Mikura had planned to promote Qiu Fengyu, have him participate in several world-class chef competitions to establish his reputation as a master, and then leverage that fame to elevate his hotel and restaurant’s profile.

However, Qiu Fengyu refused, and the plan was shelved.

Still, Kenzo Mikura was not one to give up easily and came up with the idea of apprenticeship.

Thus, the training began: from fermenting flour to selecting beef, simmering broth, slicing meat, and finally pulling noodles and serving the dish—every step was recorded on camera. When the ramen was finished, the taste was as exquisite as ever.

A check was written, a hundred thousand dollars pocketed.

When Masatoshi Mikura took his turn mimicking Qiu Fengyu to make ramen, the result was quite good, but never reached Qiu Fengyu’s level. Each person’s cooking always carries a unique flavor. Still, Kenzo Mikura was satisfied—culinary skill is not acquired overnight; it takes time and experience to perfect. Masatoshi Mikura still had time.

“If that guy opens a ramen shop in town, won’t he take away much of our business?” Davis asked Qiu Fengyu with some concern.

Qiu Fengyu was unbothered. “Cooking requires talent. That guy’s aptitude is average, so I’m not worried teaching him. I’m really not concerned at all.”

As the two of them spoke, preparing ingredients for the lunch service, a customer entered the shop.

To be precise, it was a woman—or rather, a girl. Dressed in tight leather jacket and pants, with long boots, she looked every bit the part of a biker chick, her golden hair swinging energetically, exuding a fiery presence.

Qiu Fengyu had indeed noticed the flashy motorcycle parked outside the shop.

“One bowl of ramen!” the girl announced loudly, plopping herself into a booth as soon as she entered.

Davis was immediately energized by her presence, cheerfully walking over and greeting her with a warm smile. “Sorry, miss, our opening time is… eleven-thirty, but… I don’t think I’ve seen you before?”

The girl seemed amused by his train of thought, glanced at him, and chuckled. “It’s my first time here, how would you have seen me before? Is everyone in this shop as crazy as you?”

“I mean… you’re not from this town, are you—?”

“Of course not, otherwise you would already know me, wouldn’t you?” the girl said with a shake of her head, clearly concerned about his intelligence.

Davis was somewhat deflated.

“I’ll go check if the ramen is ready. If it is, I’ll have my chef make you a bowl!” Davis said with a grin, putting on a show of being the boss as he shouted towards the kitchen, “Hey, Qiu, hurry up, we’ve got a customer, one bowl of ramen.”

“Are you the boss here?” the girl asked, a hint of skepticism in her voice.

“Of course…” Davis tidied his clothes and replied with a self-satisfied air, “He’s the chef I hired, really skilled.”

The girl nodded. “I came because I saw his videos online.”

“Hey, Qiu, you have a fan!” Davis called out again, skipping the usual “Boss” this time to maintain his own sense of dignity. But there was no reply from the kitchen, and Davis could only chuckle awkwardly. “He’s just like that, you know—an immigrant from out of town, always a bit eccentric. Don’t worry, I’ll teach him some manners…”

He was a natural braggart, always ready with a story.

“Can I go watch… your employee make ramen?” the girl asked, glancing toward the kitchen where Qiu Fengyu was starting to work.

“Of course, that’s no problem…” Davis replied.

But the girl was already on her feet, heading into the kitchen. She saw Qiu Fengyu beginning to pull noodles and was about to take out her phone to record a video.

“Get out—don’t get in my way!” Qiu Fengyu said bluntly, not interested in conversation.

The girl grinned, “I’ll just shoot a short video, I promise—”

“Not leaving, huh?” Qiu Fengyu stopped, looked at her, shook his head, and walked over.

The result: the girl was physically carried back into the dining area by Qiu Fengyu and obediently sat back down in her booth.

“You’re not really the boss, are you?” the girl asked Davis with a mischievous smile.

Davis rubbed his nose—a gesture he’d picked up from Qiu Fengyu, trying to show how close they were.

“I knew it… honestly, I figured it out right away…” The girl extended her hand with a cheerful grin. “Cynthia Full. Pleased to meet you.”

Davis returned her handshake awkwardly. “So, you saw right through me. I thought I could keep up the act a bit longer. Didn’t expect you to see through me so quickly.”

“It was obvious!” the girl replied mercilessly.

Davis decided to stick close to Qiu Fengyu and avoid further ridicule.

“Thrown out too?” Qiu Fengyu teased as he joined him.

“Alright, I admit, I shouldn’t have pretended to be the boss, but… don’t be like that, the mockery is really hard on my self-esteem,” Davis said, dejected.

“Because you failed to impress the girl?”

“No, because the girl I was trying to impress mocked me.”

“Haha… Davis, you picked the wrong target. Just look at her outfit—do you know what kind of girls dress like that?” Qiu Fengyu chuckled. “Only those who want to make a statement. Tight leather, biker chick, and from out of town…”

“Fine, I admit I was wrong this time…”

“Many times, actually…”

“Yes, many times. Can I stay here a bit longer?”

“Of course. You can stay until I finish this bowl of noodles…” Qiu Fengyu nodded seriously. “And Davis, when it comes to women, you need a bit more confidence, a bit more smarts!”

“Are you giving me advice on picking up girls?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Alright, boss, first tell me—do you have a girlfriend? Have you ever had one?”

“Get out! Don’t just stand there, you’re getting on my nerves!” Qiu Fengyu grew irritated and drove him off.

After a while—

“Davis—damn it, take this bowl of ramen out.”

Davis hurried over, brought out the bowl, set it in front of the girl, and was about to leave.

“Hey, wait, your name is Davis?” the girl asked, looking up with a smile.

“Yeah, the boss just called me that—why? Is there something wrong with the name?” Davis stood with his hands on his hips, challenging her.

“No, just… that name with someone so effeminate—it’s a bit funny,” the girl said, then burst out laughing. Davis was instantly filled with murderous intent.

“Hey, boss, she says I’m effeminate—should I prove her wrong?” Davis shouted toward the kitchen, suppressing his frustration.

“Are you challenging me to a duel?”

“No, I want to duel this girl…”

“Alright, Davis, if you can be any more shameless, I’m all for it!” Qiu Fengyu spread his hands.

“Did you hear that? If you keep calling me effeminate, I won’t mind dueling you—my fists aren’t so dainty.” Davis, having learned a few moves from Qiu Fengyu, felt emboldened, especially when facing a girl.

“Really want to duel?” the girl’s eyes narrowed.

“Of course—if you keep saying that.”

“You really are effeminate, and you talk too much…” the girl said, standing up.

“I won’t let you say that again, or else I’ll…” With a muffled thud, Davis’s head snapped back and he let out a high-pitched scream, “You broke my nose? You broke my nose—!”

“See? Screaming just like a woman. I’ve seen it plenty of times!” The girl shrugged nonchalantly, as if she’d expected it all along.

“Damn it… I’ll show you what I can do… thud… thud…” Two more punches, and Davis was knocked out flat, crashing to the floor with a resounding thump.