Chapter 420: 332, Been Waiting Forever to Catch You!

Nagishiro Sho froze.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist, a little past seven thirty.

Not open?

But didn’t Lin say he’d be here setting up the stall by seven?

Just as he was feeling puzzled, his nose twitched, sharply catching a familiar aroma.

Fish balls!

He quickly stepped forward, tilting his head to look past the employee.

Blake looked a bit tense, his body slightly hunched forward, holding the paper cup closer to his chest.

Nagishiro Sho shook his head amusedly: "Don’t be nervous, I’m not taking yours. Is Chef Lin already setting up inside?"

"Chef Lin?"

Blake froze, then quickly reacted: "Oh, oh, oh, you mean the owner of the red food truck, the one wearing the black-and-gold chef’s uniform?"

"Yes, that’s him. I’m a chef too; he invited me over."

"Uh... alright, I don’t know if you need a ticket, but our boss John is also over there. He probably won’t give me a hard time, right?"

"John? Don’t worry, we know each other; he knows I’m coming."

"Whew—"

Blake breathed a sigh of relief and opened the small employee passage door for him.

"That’s good, turn left when you enter and you’ll see the food truck, just a few steps away."

"Thank you."

As Nagishiro Sho stepped out of the wooden cabin, he immediately saw a group of employees in uniform gathered in front of the food truck, each holding a paper cup and eating.

Only John sat alone on a nearby plastic stool, his expression gloomy as he stared over there, lost in thought.

But then he realized, after all, he himself was also a boss.

What boss would willingly watch his employees openly slacking off right in front of him?

He strode forward, patting John’s shoulder, and casually grabbed a nearby stool to sit down.

"Good morning, Mr. John, having breakfast?"

John hadn’t expected someone to suddenly come and talk to him; he looked up and immediately smiled. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"So it’s Chef Nagishiro, hello, hello, you’re here early?"

To be fair, it wasn’t their second meeting, but the fourth.

The first was when the restaurant first opened, and this head chef personally came to gather ingredients; it was President Wang who called him to inform, leaving a deep impression.

The second was at the kite festival, but unfortunately, there were too many tourists, and he didn’t get a chance to taste the delicious food.

The third was yesterday, and now, it’s the fourth time.

"Yes, I came to help this guy with his work."

Nagishiro Sho shrugged helplessly, glancing at the iron wire fences on both sides of the wooden cabin, where he clearly saw the situation outside the road and parking lot through countless holes.

He came to learn skills and knowledge, but he couldn’t delay others’ main work, right?

Yesterday afternoon, he had a brief discussion with Lin, and they finally agreed that he would help out for free when Lin Chen was out setting up the stall. Any questions or things he wanted to learn, Lin Chen would freely teach or answer on the spot.

As for how long to learn, it entirely depended on how long he wanted to stay; this deal could continue indefinitely, with no current time restrictions.

Since the guests hadn’t arrived yet, he was in no rush to help; he could wait until the bus came to start working.

"Helping him with his work?"

John blinked, looking puzzled.

"But I remember, Chef, don’t you have your own restaurant? Why come to help others?"

"For learning; chefs need to continuously improve throughout their lives, or they’ll eventually be eliminated by the market."

The two sat and chatted casually for a while.

Finally.

The employees finished buying their desired balls, paid, and headed toward the wooden cabin in small groups.

"Goofing off needs to be reasonable; can’t do it excessively in front of the boss."

"Honk! Beep beep!!"

Just then.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a car horn from afar, and a minibuss full of passengers wobbly drove toward this side along the road.

Upon hearing the horn, the employees were startled and quickened their pace, instantly disappearing at the wooden cabin entrance.

Nagishiro Sho stood up, patted his pants, and pointed at the food truck: "Looks like I need to start working. Mr. John should go watch the lobby too, right?"

"Yes."

John chuckled coldly and stood up: "I’ve been telling these little rascals to hurry earlier. Now the guests are here, and they haven’t finished breakfast. Watch me yell at them to death!"

He’d been holding back for five or six minutes and was just looking for a reason to vent his emotions, immediately striding toward the wooden cabin while clearing his throat.

"Cough-cough... Cough!"

"I say, you all!!!"

"Didn’t I tell you earlier to hurry up?!!"

"Huh?!"

"The guests are here!"

"Hurry up! Swallow your food! Throw away the trash! Spray the air freshener!!!"

"Smile!!"

As John’s roar faded away at the wooden cabin entrance, Nagishiro Sho shook his head amusedly, almost seeing a reflection of himself through others’ eyes.

First, go to the sink nearby to wash and disinfect your hands, then climb onto the food cart, find two pairs of black gloves to wear, and start helping Lin Chen squeeze out the meatballs.

To speed up the process, Lin Chen put a commercial induction cooker on the table to cook a third pot, making three flavors simultaneously to significantly reduce the wait time for the guests.

Parking lot.

A black business car followed closely behind the bus.

While the bus was still unloading passengers, Wang Ziqin, with two dark circles under his eyes, got out of the car, followed by a similarly sleepy Chu Yueyue.

Last night, when they heard Lin Chen would be making handmade fish balls and shrimp balls in the morning, Chu Yueyue clapped her thighs and said she wanted to come eat.

There was nothing he could do; he had to fulfill his wife’s request.

But somehow, she pulled him into watching horror movies in the middle of the night...

Women, what a whimsical bunch.

"Old Zhang, you haven’t had breakfast, right? Come, come, let’s go, we’re here."

"Okay, Boss."

Zhang Cheng didn’t bother to stand on ceremony, as he was already used to accompanying the boss and his wife for meals, given he also worked part-time security and both were easygoing.

Yet he wouldn’t impose in just any situation; if it were a romantic Western restaurant, he would stay put in the car.

It’s basic professional etiquette for a driver-bodyguard.

Seeing the guests alighting from the bus heading toward the ticket hall, Chu Yueyue quickly slapped Wang Ziqin’s arm.

"Hurry, go for it, hubby! Don’t let them beat us!"

"Rushing! I’m rushing now!"

Wang Ziqin winced in pain but had to jog, muttering under his breath.

"Why dash recklessly... with just a few people, there’s nothing urgent. Handmade balls are cooked in a big pot, and queuing only takes a minute or two."

"Hmm? What are you mumbling about? Looking for trouble?"

"Nothing! I said I’ll definitely get the first serving for my wife!"

Zhang Cheng couldn’t resist turning away, his tense skin slightly quivering, straining hard to keep from laughing.

Others wouldn’t know, but he had never seen a boss with such low status at home.

Radisson Hotel entrance.

Lisa hopped out of the car excitedly, too impatient to wait for her dad, running straight toward the restaurant.

"Hey! Slow down, be careful not to fall!"

The man smiled knowingly, quickly locked the car door casually, and followed.

The two were considered staff family members, entitled to special perks like half-price dining without needing to present proof of reservation.

But the benefits extended only to direct relatives or partners.

While running, Lisa suddenly sensed something and stopped abruptly, looking around in confusion.

"Daddy, did you see Chef Lin’s food cart?"

"Hmm?"

The man was taken aback, instinctively scanning the surroundings.

"Now that you mention it, indeed. Could it be he’s not setting up a stall today but serving inside the restaurant?"

Lisa realized, "Right, Chef Lin is the Head Chef; that’s quite possible!"

The queue at the restaurant door had already formed long lines, visible through the clear floor-to-ceiling windows crowded with diners, obviously indicating the first batch of guests had started dining.

Wanting to enter likely means waiting another half hour or so.

The father and daughter weren’t in a hurry, leisurely joining the end of the line, each pulling out masks they had prepared, one black, one white, covering most of their faces.

"Hehe, think mama will be scared when she sees us?"

"I doubt it. She’ll surely guess we’d come, just not knowing when."

"True, mama’s so smart, unlike daddy who could only think of wearing masks, such an old-fashioned idea."

"...Thank you for your compliment, dear."

The two waited quietly for nearly forty minutes before there was finally some movement in the line.

Curiously, there weren’t many people behind them, starkly different from last week’s bustling scene.

From what he knew, the menu here updates weekly, unlikely leading to guest boredom.

Plus, tourists usually don’t stay long; rare are those who lodge two or three days, most just one or two days.

Then why no crowding now?

He glanced at the time, a little past eight o’clock.

Breakfast service ends at what time again?

Curiously, he stood on tiptoe to look at the small sign on the entrance wall.

"Oh, no wonder. Service ends at nine, unlikely to accommodate a third batch, queuing’s just a waste of time."

"Are there any good eateries nearby? I don’t remember seeing any."

While he was lost in thought, Helena, who was busy registering guest information at the entrance, nodded smilingly while glancing outside, seemingly surveying the queue length.

As her gaze swept over a masked man, her eyes narrowed slightly, shifting down to the girl standing at half-height, a hint of amusement surfaced in her eyes.

All other dozens of guests were outright bold, only you two wore masks — a tall one, a short one, a male, a female, a big, a small — you think I’m oblivious?

The queue moved quickly, and information registration had been optimized to record only room numbers, not personal details; additionally, smart screens were added for guests to scan room cards themselves.

When it was finally the turn for the pair of masked acquaintances to enter, Helena kept smiling as if unrecognizing them, pointing to the screen beside them.

"Please swipe your room card in the sensing area, dear guests ~"

Then, she didn’t give them a chance to speak, turning away, disappearing into the greenery passage.