Chapter 51: The Chef Flies into the Net

  At night, he is a quiet and peaceful person, like a calm lake. In his free time, he likes to raise fish and plant flowers. When speaking with others, he is polite and courteous, making people feel comfortable and respectful. To outsiders, he appears to be a respectable elder. Occasionally, however, a glimmer of wisdom flashes in the old man's eyes. But Ye Wen Zhong prefers to call him an old fox, often mentioning it in front of Ye Yang Jian.

  Ye Wen Zhong was completely different from his own father, he was like a raging fire, strong and bold, and unrestrained. When Ye Wen Tian and Ye Yang Jian were chatting in the army, they once commented that Ye Wen Zhong belonged to the "fishing with a brick" type... Meaning that when fishing, if no fish bites within three minutes, he would immediately smash the water with a brick to vent his frustration...

  As the only man of this generation in the Ye family, Ye Yang Jian seems to have inherited half of his grandfather Ye Zhi Jun's and half of his father Ye Wen Zhong's personalities... His uncle Ye Wen Tian always thought that the name Ye Yang Jian was very well-chosen. It's a perfect combination of opposites, with "night" and "sun" being absolute contradictions, yet they blend together perfectly in him. The character "jian" can be interpreted as either "compatible" or "boiling"... Who knows, contradictions are always relative; who says there can't be sunshine at night? When it's midnight in China, it's lunchtime on the other side of the United States. When one's vision is broad enough and reaches a certain height, all contradictions in this world cease to exist...

  At 3 am, I sent off the last table of drunk customers who were staggering around. The bustling night market finally came to an end...

  Ye Yang Jian first led a few people to clean up San Shu's stall and put away the tables and chairs. He then went to help other bosses clean up, and in this small district, several large stalls that had been open for more than ten years were all run by bosses who had watched Ye Yang Jian grow up from a young age. So when it was time to close up shop, the stall owners would intentionally or unintentionally come over to chat with him for a bit. To have some fun. Ye Yang Jian politely declined an invitation from a boss surnamed Li to have another round of drinks. He borrowed a broom and trash can from Juanzi. Ye Yang Jian began leading the six-person "mixed group" to sweep and clean up the entire night market's sanitation.

  "Hey, Big Brother Ye, take a look! Ah... just let us handle it. Why did you have to use force, Xiao Ke? Go ask Miss Juan for a chair for Big Brother Ye to sit on. And bring over some cigarettes..." A tall and lanky thug said to his short and chubby companion. From their conversation earlier, Ye Yangjian learned the names of these people. This 1.97-meter-tall giant was called Cui Liang. Although he was tall, he wasn't sturdy, far from having a build like Da Xiong or Tank's... It was also possible that at the time, Ye Yangjian had drunk too much and didn't pay attention to this giant, only realizing later when he sobered up that this guy had great potential for playing basketball...

  "Alright! I'll go right away..." Xiao Ke, who was short and chubby, had a very kind face and when he smiled, he looked just like a small Maitreya Buddha. He responded with a sound and was about to go find Juanzi to borrow something when he was stopped by Ye Yangjian.

  "Don't go, Xiaojuan has been busy all day and performed a show for you in the evening. Now they should be resting, don't go. Besides, I also participated in the fight tonight, and it's only right that we clean up together." As soon as he said it, he took action, Ye Yangjian wasn't afraid of getting dirty either, and he randomly picked up the trash on the ground, plastic bags and the like, and threw them into the trash can...

  "Alright, alright, don't say anything more, you're making us feel guilty..." said Cui Liang, the big guy, as he sighed and continued to pick up trash quickly with his long hands...

  "Hey, big guys! I think you're not cut out for this kind of thing. Why don't you find something more decent to do?" Ye Yang Jianle chuckled as he picked up trash and chatted with them.

  "Hey! Big Brother Ye, I'm telling the truth, don't laugh at us, actually we're not thugs, we... we... are chefs..." Cui Liang said with a tone that would kill if it didn't shock.

  "Huh... chefs? You're not kidding me, I had a lot to drink tonight..." Ye Yang Jian was indeed stunned, who would have thought that the six rough-looking men in front of him were actually all chefs.

  "Honestly, no deception, Night brother, I think you're a straightforward person, so let's get to the bottom of it. We're all chefs, but we're not really chefs yet..." Little Ke said with some embarrassment. Night Yang Jian was even more confused...

  "It's like this, Night Brother. We're students from a culinary school, just graduated. We were assigned to work in H City by the school, and we all had high salary dreams. But when we got to the kitchen, we found out that our job was just the lowest level tasks. We had to wash vegetables, scrub plates, and sometimes even unclog drains. We didn't think it was tough because we knew that's how senior chefs worked their way up too. We were mentally prepared since we entered this line of work. But that damned boss kept squeezing our already meager salary, deducting pay for every little mistake. We didn't want to do it anymore, but he had our ID cards and health certificates, so we really couldn't do anything about it. A few days ago, we collectively quit on our own accord, but the boss found out and wouldn't even let us stay in the dorms. He kicked us out, and after a few days, our money ran out. We really had no choice but to come up with a plan to scam some money for living expenses." Cui Liang slumped his shoulders as he told Night Yangjian about their experience...

  "Hey! Not right~ I just saw, your lines, posture and all that are quite familiar, were you also in this line of work before becoming a chef?" Yin Yang Jian thought of a detail and asked in a low voice. He respects others, but the premise is that others also respect themselves... Malicious deception should not be considered within the scope of respect.

  "Haha, Night brother, look at what you said. We didn't study well since we were young, otherwise who would become a chef? However, although we didn't study well, we aren't thugs. Think about it, if we were thugs, then we'd just be thugs all the way, why bother learning to be chefs?" Cui Liang explained with a smile.

  "Earlier, you were kicking the table and wanting to tease Jun's daughter, it felt like that kind of thing?" Night Yang Jian now also believed more than half of it. As a fellow drifter, he himself didn't have an ID card, and was even more miserable than them. Every Monday, he had to go to the police station to report in. However, his years of military service and multiple life-and-death experiences had taught him that there's no harm in asking two more questions.

  "Hey, Big Brother Ye, haven't you seen any Hong Kong gangster movies? Every movie has these scenes. It's just the accent that's different... Look at us holding knives for half a day, have we really cut anyone?" Cui Liang said with a smile.

  "Oh! Hehe, I knew it, hehe, now that you mention it, I remember, that's what happened..." Yèyáng Jiàn said with a hearty laugh.

  After cleaning up, it was already past 5 o'clock in the morning. Several big men were busy sweating profusely, this cleaning was really a laborious task. Those sweeping mothers were not easy, Ye Yangjian thought to himself. Looking at his watch, it was already past five o'clock, and the breakfast stalls would be out soon. Looking at the new friends sitting on the stone bench next to him, who had been exhausted from being cleaned up by themselves and busy all night, Ye Yangjian decided to invite everyone to eat breakfast...

  "Hey! You guys come over, let's take a smoke break and rest for a bit. In a little while, I'll treat you to breakfast as a reward for your hard work..." Yang Jian handed out the cigarettes and lit one up. The crowd lit theirs and puffed away in satisfaction. For men, being able to smoke after a long day of labor was the most enjoyable thing... The early morning air was cool and refreshing, with a gentle breeze that blew away everyone's fatigue...

  Finally, the breakfast stall came out, and as soon as the boss of the baozi shop opened the rolling door, he saw Yang Jian leading a group of people rushing over, scaring the boss so much that he almost closed the door. In his heart, he was still thinking "What's going on? A few days ago, someone found something in the filling of the baozi? No way! These days, leeks are expensive, and I added some vermicelli to the filling, but it shouldn't be a big deal... just a few baozi... is it worth making such a fuss?"

  Until Yang Jian explained the situation, the baozi shop owner finally relaxed, looking at the two large tables filled with customers. The owner wondered if he had added a bit more vermicelli to his buns, making them taste even better? There were already customers coming in groups to eat at 5 o'clock in the morning? He dared to add more vermicelli tomorrow, after all, leeks are expensive...

  Baozi will take a while to steam well, so Yeye Jian first gave each person a bowl of porridge to drink...

  "What are you going to do later?" Yè Yáng Jiàn asked while blowing on his thin porridge, turning to ask Dà Gè Zi Cuī Liàng. He thought about these few people...

  "What else can we do? We don't care about the salary, but at least we want our ID cards and health certificates back. If not, we won't be able to find jobs in the future. Actually, it's easy for us to find work in this line, it's just that my fellow apprentices and I don't want to split up. And the certificates are a must. We plan to get some living expenses and then go back to ask our boss for the certificates..." Cui Liang said with a bitter face after drinking a mouthful of porridge.

  "Alright, this matter isn't too big of a deal, I think I can help you guys. You go ahead and eat first, after you're done eating, take me to the restaurant where you work, I'll find someone to help you with your documents, who knows, maybe we can even solve your living expenses problem..." Night Yang Jian chuckled and gestured for the boss to hurry up with the buns...

  "Hey, Big Brother Ye, you used to be a soldier, right?" Little Ke bit into a freshly steamed meat bun, thought for a moment, and then added some vinegar and a little chili oil. Ye Yangjian watched from the side, thinking that as a chef, he really knew how to eat...

  "Hmm... yeah, but how did you know?" Yèyáng Jiàn sucked up a mouthful of thin porridge, added some small dishes, and answered in his spare time.

  "Just by looking at your posture, I can tell. Normal people don't sit up so straight when eating, hehe, I still have some common sense...". Xiao Ke smiled and nodded his head, revealing a small Maitreya Buddha-like smile.