Miao Miao's Birthday

Bai Lu continued to cook, but three girls ran into the kitchen. They giggled and chuckled while saying hello to him. "The God of Cookery is here. What are you cooking for us today?"

They were the classmates of Le Miao Miao who lived with her in the same accommodation. Bai Lu has met them a couple of times, and he asked, "What do you girls want to eat?"

"Roast beef!" The three of them shouted unanimously.

"How depressing," Bai Lu thought, and he asked, "You guys know about this already?"

"You are the God of Cookery now. Who would not know about this?" The girls continued giggling while they spoke, and they took out their phones to show him the video. "You are so awesome. We are all your supporters."

"It's so great to be young." Bai Lu sighed.

"You little squirt. How old are you? Come, how about calling me Sister?"

With a serious tone, he said, "I am 40 years old. It's not my fault for looking so youthful."

"Lies. Continue your lies. But don't forget to cook the roast beef for us." The girls ran out again.

"But there's no beef here." Speaking of which, there were a wide variety of ingredients in the kitchen, but strangely there was no beef in particular.

"There will be." The voices of the girls could be heard from the corridor.

He thought, "This bunch of fellows must be hiding something from me." He looked at the six dishes that he has cooked and thought about the number of people in the living room. "There should be about 30 people? How many tables should I divide the food into?"

As he was contemplating about the serving size, there were a couple of people that barged into the kitchen. The young man previously was leading the way, with Liu Chen by his side and Le Miao Miao behind. As they entered the kitchen, she squeezed in front of the rest and said to Bai Lu, "Brother Bai, the beef has arrived. It is the Kobe Beef from Japan."

Behind them were four workers that were carrying the meat. There were two large chunks of beef, with two legs, which had a total of more than 300kg.

Bai Lu looked, and he said, "Why didn't you guys inform me beforehand?" This bunch of fellows really wanted to eat beef today.

"I was afraid that if we had told you, you would be unwilling to cook it." Le Miao Miao laughed mischievously. 

"Why should we inform him beforehand? He is just a chef. He shall cook whatever we ask him to. Let me tell you. This meat was flown here by air. It is the authentic Kobe Beef that was raised with beer and music; Roast it properly. If I am satisfied with it, I will raise your reward."

"This fellow is outlandish."

After the workers have laid the meat down, Bai Lu went up to poke at it. He thought, "Judging solely from the quality of the meat, it is indeed slightly better than the market variety. However, it is only slightly better. As for the authenticity of the meat, it is up to question. Also, because of the cold storage for the air transport, the quality of the meat has already been compromised."

"Come, let's go out." The young man turned around in a suave manner. As he walked, he said, "Do you have any idea what the Kobe Beef is? It is the world's top grade beef, which costs more several thousand dollars per pound—"

Le Miao Miao stayed behind, and she said, "I apologize for that. Gai Le behaves like that, but he is not a bad person."

He thought, "Not a bad person? His eyes are glowing with a strong sexual desire to possess the ladies: Not just Liu Chen, and Le Miao Miao, but also the rest of their classmates."

Bai Lu was raised in prison. Day in and day out, he was pitting himself in a battle of wits against the experienced professionals. To him, it was easily noticeable if someone was up to no good with just a few verbal exchanges.

Bai Lu was willing to interact with Gao Yuan because he fundamentally believed that Gao Yuan had a good heart. As for He San Qing, Duckie, and the rest, he did not think that they were terrible people, but their rich young master behaviors were a little off-putting for him. If Gao yuan were not in the middle, he would not have mingled with them.

Le Miao Miao said, "I have seen that video; It was jaw-dropping. The beef looked incredibly tantalizing, and also the noodles as well. Oh yes, I want to eat Longevity Noodles."

Le Miao Miao's classmate returned to the kitchen. "I was saying, why was the Birthday Girl missing? It turns out you were flirting with him here. Be honest, what kind of relationship do you two have?"

Le Miao Miao said, "What nonsense are you saying?" She dragged her classmate out of the kitchen.

Lunch consisted of the roast beef. To please Le Miao Miao, Gai Le had prepared all the ingredients that were shown in the viral video. There were even additional ingredients like oranges and other fruits to increase the flavor.

Bai Lu did not want to bicker with them. He swung his cleaver to cut the meat. Luckily, there was no one in the vicinity. Otherwise, if they saw his movements, they would be shocked. Even the legendary Chef Ding, who slaughtered a cow for King Hui of Wei, would be incomparable to him.

After a few gentle and precise knife strokes, he lifted the leg bone and shooked it. The meat slid off the bone effortlessly and landed with a splat on the chopping board.

Bai Lu had no intention to display his prowess, he just wanted to finish the chores as fast as possible.

In less than 20 minutes, he finished processing the four chunks of meat, which became long slabs of steak. He laid them neatly on a few large trays.

He had only made two slabs of beef a few days ago so he could work slowly. However, it was not possible today to take his own sweet time as there were close to 30 people.

Speaking of which, it was kind of depressing for Bai Lu. Initially, Le Miao Miao asked him to cook for her on her birthday. He had thought that it was just a small party with the group of girls and that he could simply make do with a couple of easy meals. Who would have thought that there were going to be so many people?

However, there was no point lamenting about this now as it would not change the reality. The right course of action would be for him to cook the meat immediately.

After he finished cutting the meat, two girls came in and asked, "Do you need help?"

Le Miao Miao was a dance student. There were six girls in her dormitory who were about the same height. They were beautiful and youthfully dressed; They would be the highlight no matter where they are.

Looking at the two beautiful ladies, Bai Lu smiled and said, "There's no need. Just wait for the meal to be ready."

"Oh my, the meat is already cut? How did you cut it up so fast?" Beneath the chopping board was a large bowl, with all the bones that he had removed. On the chopping board were six steel trays. In each of the tray, he placed two slabs of meat neatly, which looked very appealing.

There was a backdoor in the kitchen. Looking through the glass window, he saw that there was a sunshade. And underneath the sunshade was a long cooking grill. 

Bai Lu transferred the meat outside. The two ladies helped him with the task by carrying the brush and seasonings out.

"Why are you not enjoying yourself inside?" Bai Lu started the fire and asked nonchalantly.

"Nah. There were a few dudes who kept approaching us persistently. How annoying." The girl that was speaking was called Meng Bing. It was a very tough and manly name, but she was a tall and slender beauty.

"Exactly, exactly. You have no idea; Those guys were pestering us like flies." The other girl was called Feng Bao Bei. He had no idea what her parents were thinking, to come up with such a ridiculous name.

"Aren't you all classmates?"

"Not really. Liu Chen's boyfriend brought over five of his friends. There are only two guys in our class who are also here. There are also girls from other classes..."

It was quite a good feeling to have other people accompanying him while he cooked. After the charcoal flame was strong enough, he started roasting the meat.

"Wait a minute. It is not the same cooking process as shown in the video. You are stinting on the ingredients." Feng Bao Bei caught him red-handed.

Bai Lu explained, "Sister, how many people are there? If I roast the beef in the same way as shown in the video, then I would have to cancel all of my plans for the day."

"That's true. Then roast it your way. If you need anything from us, please do not hesitate to ask. I could brush the sauce on the meat." Right when Feng Bao Bei finished her sentence, some tall young guy busted into the kitchen. "I was saying, that all the ladies in the house were gone. So you are all outside. Come, let's go back inside for a drink. Le Miao Miao has been looking all over for you." There was a tinge of flirtiness in his tone.

"I don't want to drink. We want to roast the meat here. It is much more interesting." Feng Bao Bei took the brush and pretended to help.

"Roast the meat? Just leave it to the workers. After all, didn't we paid him the money to work for us here? Come, let's go back inside and play." As he spoke, he started getting physical to drag them along. 

Feng Bao Bei jumped away. "Maybe later. I want to learn how to roast the meat so that I can cook for myself next time."

There was a flash of uneasiness in the eyes of the tall young guy, and he tried to force out a smile. "Ok fine, you learn it first. The two of us shall go and drink without you." And he went to pressure Meng Bing.

Meng Bing was holding the seasoning powder in her hands. When he tugged on her, the bowl was flipped over, and the seasoning powder scattered all over his body. Instinctively, the young man raised his hand with the subconscious intent to slap her. But he reacted in a moment and restrained himself. Following the previous movement of raising his arm, he smoothly transitioned his hand to dust off the powder on his clothes.

Bai Lu chuckled secretly, and he thought, "This is getting interesting."

The tall guy asked Meng Bing again, "Go back inside to drink with me."

Meng Bing shook her head. "I want to accompany Bao Bei."

"So be it." And he went back into the house.

Bai Lu asked, "What's going on today? Today is Le Miao Miao's birthday, why did she choose to borrow the apartment from Liu Chen's boyfriend?" 

"There's nothing wrong with borrowing the apartment from him." Meng Bing disagreed.

Feng Bao Bei said, "The last time that we ate together, Gai Le was present as well. When we discussed the birthday party, we had originally wanted to make do with our dormitory or go to your restaurant for a meal. However, Gai Le heard the conversation and said that it was not a common occasion for her birthday, so he wanted to make it bigger and better. He offered his apartment and paid for the meal, as long as we are there to have fun."

He thought, "How could there be such a good person?" He recalled Gai Le's expression and also the action of the tall guy. "This bunch of dudes are up to no good for sure."

With the help of these two beautiful ladies, it took them an hour to cook the meat to medium well. He placed them into the heat preservation box and asked Meng Bing, "Go and ask them, when they want to eat."

She said yes and entered the house.

Bai Lu said to Feng Bao Bei, "There are six dishes in the heat preservation box. If you are hungry, you can eat some of it first."

"You made them? That's great." Feng Bao Bei rushed into the kitchen.

Bai Lu shook his head, and he thought, "Those bunch of fellows did not respect others at all. They made me cook the six dishes for nothing, and end up eating roast beef for lunch. Isn't that a clear sign of disrespect?"

Not long after, Meng Bing has returned, and she saw Feng Bao Bei eating the food. She hurriedly ran up and fought with her over the food. "Great, how could you be biased? You let her eat without me. And you, how could you eat quietly by yourself."

　　...

Afterward, all the guys and girls in the house carried their own large plate and swarmed towards Bai Lu. After waiting for a moment, they took their piece of roast beef back into the house to eat.

When all the meat in the heat preservation box were finished, the people also stopped coming. Bai Lu was abandoned by the rest, and he stood alone with a bitter expression underneath the sunshade. He thought, "This world is so cruel. No one cared about me once there is no food to eat."

Luckily, there was Feng Bao Bei. She carried a plate and sneaked over. "Brother Bai, the Kobe Beef was delicious. You should have some of it as well." On the white porcelain plate was a large piece of tender beef that was cooked to medium well. There were droplets of clear oil coating the surface which glistened faintly.

"Have you eaten already?" Bai Lu asked with a smile.

"Yes, I have eaten already. I ate two pieces, and this is the third piece. I kept it for you."

"Thank you." Bai Lu wiped his hands. Then he grabbed the beef and chewed into it.

"I should be the one thanking you. If you are not here, how could we enjoy such delicious meat?"

"Why are you still here? We are opening the presents soon. What are you eating? Who gave you the permission to eat? You are a chef, not the guest." The tall guy came out to look for Feng Bao Bei. He saw Bai Lu eating the meat and reprimanded him with a loud voice.

Feng Bao Bei said, "I was the one that gave the meat to him."

After hearing that it was a beautiful girl that gave it to him, the tall guy looked at Bai Lu with disgust. "We hired you here to work for us, and not for you to eat the food. You should be mindful of what you are allowed to do, and also what you are not allowed to do! Bao Bei, let's go. We are going back in."

Feng Bao Bei hummed and agreed. She looked at Bai Lu with an apologetic smile and went back inside the house.

Bai Lu shook his head and followed them in. He reached the main hall and spoke to Le Miao Miao. "I have finished the task that I have promised you. Are there anything else that you need? If not, I will be leaving."

Le Miao Miao hurriedly stopped him. "Don't go. There are still more events."

Originally, Gai Le wanted to let Bai Lu leave, but after hearing what Le Miao Miao said, he shouted at Bai Lu. "Aren't there still prawns and abalones in the kitchen? Go and prepare them, they will be the snacks after the meal."

He thought, "You eat abalones as snacks after your meal in your household? Fine, I will stay behind a little bit longer." He kept feeling like there was something wrong with Gai Le and his friends.