1996: Starting from a bankrupt farmhouse restaurant

Chapter 138 How did you know I can't dance?

Zhang Yuwen teaches very seriously. She insists on correcting the children's movements, even squatting down and using her hands to pry their feet apart.

Lu Yuan sat quietly for 45 minutes. After his second uncle arrived, he said goodbye to Zhang Yuwen and went back first.

As the initiator of this dance class, Lu Yuan has a responsibility to take good care of Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing.

So even though he came back, he still asked Lu Hua to wait for them after class and pick them up to go back to the shop.

There were two private banquets in the afternoon, one of which was a business banquet booked by the boss who had come specifically to see the restaurant.

So Lu Yuan was very busy in the afternoon, going to check the roasting of the whole lamb and the crispy pigeon.

He was so busy that he didn't even notice Lu Hua had returned alone ahead of time.

At 6 p.m., on a country road, Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing sat in the back seat of a jeep, looking quite uneasy.

They didn't know why the incredibly beautiful teacher, Xiao Zhao, suddenly wanted to bring them back.

As the chief, Zhang Yuwen has seen a lot and can recognize that Zhaoyan uses high-end brands.

She became deeply curious as to why the other person would come to such a poor place to teach.

Two women's bicycles clattered behind the jeep. Suddenly, the carefree Jingjing asked, "Teacher Xiao Zhao, I heard you're staying at Boss Lu's house?"

"Yes." Zhao Yan did not deny it.

"Why?" Zhang Yuwen tried her best to stop her, but she couldn't.

Zhao Yan sat in the driver's seat, suddenly had a bright idea, and then smiled wickedly and said: "I'm going to collect a debt. Lu Yuan owes me money!"

"Hiss!" Jingjing gasped, incredulous. "What? No way! How could Boss Lu be this kind of person?"

Zhao Yan snorted coldly and remained silent, leaving Jing Jing with room to speculate.

But the facts are clear: with Zhao Yan's expensive outfit and her car worth six figures, it seems reasonable for Lu Yuan to owe her money.

Jingjing didn't dare to ask too many questions. She knew perfectly well whether she could get involved in these kinds of江湖恩怨 (jianghu grievances).

The car swayed and bumped as it crossed the small bridge over the Baiyang River and slowly came to a stop in front of Xiao Lu's Farmhouse Restaurant.

After Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing got out of the car, they politely said goodbye to Zhao Yan: "Thank you, Teacher Zhao. It's getting late, so we'll head back now."

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yan warmly pulled Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing into the shop and sat them down: "Eat first, and after you finish eating, I'll take you to the county town to catch the bus."

Zhao Yan's unyielding demeanor made it difficult for the two women to refuse, so they could only follow her to Xiao Lu's farmhouse restaurant once again.

After entering Xiao Lu's Farmhouse Restaurant, Zhao Yan, contrary to her usual behavior, lifted the curtain at the kitchen entrance and arrogantly shouted at Lu Yuan, "Lu Yuan, get something for Teacher Zhang and Teacher Jingjing!"

Lu Yuan was a little confused by Zhao Yan's shout, but he still pointed to the tray that had been prepared and asked Lu Jie to bring it out.

Jingjing tugged at Zhang Yuwen's arm and whispered, "Sister Yuwen, judging from Teacher Zhao's attitude, it seems Boss Lu owes her a lot of money. Looks like we can't let him be my brother-in-law. Sister Yuwen, I'll find you another guy!"

Zhang Yuwen was completely exasperated. She resorted to her ultimate weapon, pinching Jingjing's stomach and saying, "Jingjing, you really can't say anything like that today!"

Jingjing winced in pain, but still stubbornly retorted, "I didn't say anything wrong!"

A moment later, Lu Jie brought out a tray with several bowls of exquisite dishes on it.

The most eye-catching dishes were three bowls of rich, reddish-brown, and glossy tomato-sauce double-diced rice.

The so-called tomato and shrimp diced meat rice is simply rice with tomatoes, shrimp, and diced meat.

First, stir-fry the shrimp heads to make a rich shrimp oil, then use the shrimp oil to sauté the fatty and lean diced meat.

Then add plenty of ripe tomatoes, along with some tomato sauce, and stir-fry to make a red soup, then season it.

Then add peeled and diced shrimp, stir-fry until cooked, then add rice and simmer in the tomato broth until thickened.

The tangy aroma of tomatoes instantly fills the air, mingling with the fragrance of meat sauce and the delicate scent of rice, making it irresistible.

Zhao Yan placed the small bowls in front of them and enthusiastically introduced, "Eat up, Lu Yuan's cooking skills are pretty good."

Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing bowed their heads to appreciate Zhaoyan's enthusiasm while enjoying the delicious food in front of them.

This tomato and diced meat risotto is so satisfying! It's packed with shrimp, and the meat sauce is so plentiful it's practically free, even more than the rice itself.

Zhang Yuwen was quite conscious of her eating manners, while Jingjing's mouth was greasy from eating, completely obscuring her dancer demeanor from before.

The tray held several side dishes: cold beef tendon salad, shredded chicken, shredded wild vegetables, and meatball soup.

The small table of food was very plentiful. Jingjing ate with a very happy expression, and from time to time she made some profound criticisms of the dance troupe's canteen.

Zhao Yan also wanted to eat to her heart's content, but she still maintained appropriate restraint in front of them.

After all, a creditor shouldn't be so happy to be eating the food of a deadbeat.

None of the three spoke. Zhao Yan kept glancing at the kitchen door, keeping a close eye on Lu Yuan's movements.

Jingjing kept glancing at Zhaoyan, trying to figure out what was going on with this mysterious older sister.

Zhang Yuwen kept a close eye on Jingjing, ready to cover her mouth at any moment.

In this silent and eerie atmosphere, the three of them ate quickly, finishing their CD mission in about ten minutes.

At this moment, Zhao Yan asked Zhang Yuwen and the others to wait a moment, then went to the kitchen, roughly lifted the curtain, and took out a small bag from inside.

This braised duck dish was something Lu Yuan had put with the food before, so Zhang Yuwen could take it back for her sisters to eat.

After all, we're going to be troubling them for a whole semester, so it's always good to be polite, since it's not worth much money anyway.

Previously, when Lu Yuan asked Lu Jie to take the dishes out, he also asked him to bring them out on the way, but Zhao Yan specifically emphasized that she would come to pick them up later.

So Zhao Yan, carrying a bag of braised duck, roughly lifted the curtain and came out, placing it in front of Zhang Yuwen, saying, "I heard you're a dance troupe. This braised duck is quite good; take it back and let everyone try it."

"Oh? I'm so sorry!" Zhang Yuwen declined, while covering Jingjing's mouth, which was about to frantically agree.

Zhao Yan smiled faintly and waved her hand, "It's no big deal. If it's delicious, I'll just have Lu Yuan make it again."

Although Jingjing's mouth was covered, she sent Zhang Yuwen a Morse code message with her eyes, roughly meaning: "Boss Lu really does owe a lot of money, and now Teacher Zhao has him completely under her control."

Afterwards, Zhao Yan drove the jeep with Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing towards the county town.

Zhang Yuwen felt extremely uncomfortable throughout the journey.

The main problem was that she didn't know what Zhaoyan meant, and when she first went to school, she was as cold as a block of ice.

Suddenly, he offered to send them back, and then his attitude became incredibly warm and welcoming. One minute he'd ask Lu Yuan to cook, and the next he'd bring them things. He was completely unpredictable.

Jingjing didn't care; she had already set her sights on the bag of braised duck in Zhang Yuwen's hand.

According to her idea, she and Zhang Yuwen simply ate outside before going back.

Anything produced by Lu Yuan is guaranteed to be of high quality; what's the point of distinguishing between them?

Zhao Yan drove very fast, and when she arrived at the county station, it was still bright outside.

She waved goodbye to Zhang Yuwen and Jingjing enthusiastically, and then, with barely suppressed impulse, rushed into a large shopping mall.

Half an hour later, she returned to Luwangtan Village carrying large and small bags of things.

After finishing preparing the dishes for the private banquet, Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Today's dishes were quite complicated and required a lot of effort.

As usual, he sat on the steps by the door, gulping down his iced soda.

If there's one advantage to being young, it's being able to drink ice-cold soda without restraint.

Zhao Yan's jeep, with two yellow lights on, turned off the national highway.

Zhao Yan, clicking her tongue in envy, jumped out of the car and said, "Boss Lu, you treated me to dinner and gave me braised dishes today. You've really touched me!"

"Look, Teacher Zhang specially bought a gift for me in the county town to bring to you, including some local fried sugar cakes. She said you're so busy you don't even have time to eat, so she insisted I give it to you personally!"

Zhao Yan spoke sourly, as if there was some story between Lu Yuan and Zhang Yuwen, and then handed a delicate little bag to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan took the small bag with some confusion, thinking to himself, "What kind of nonsense is this?"

It's as if there's some kind of story between him and Zhang Yuwen. She's the principal dancer of the dance troupe, and he's just a cook in the village. What kind of story could they possibly have?

However, when he glanced at the front of the kitchen from time to time, he did notice that Zhang Yuwen's expression was strange, as if she was embarrassed.

Lu Yuan didn't think much of it. He figured he had only met Zhang Yuwen a few times, so it was probably Zhao Yan spreading rumors.

He casually picked up the gift and glanced at it; it was a pair of gloves that looked expensive, and he placed it aside.

Then he picked up the fried sugar cake again, took a closer sniff, and confirmed that it was indeed a long-established brand in the county.

Zhao Yan shouldn't know about this store, so it seems that Zhang Yuwen did indeed buy it.

He had just had a vague suspicion that Zhao Yan might be up to something.

However, if Zhang Yuwen were to buy it, she probably wouldn't do something like that. It would be bad if it caused Zhang Yuwen to misunderstand. Zhaoyan still has that much sense of propriety.

He hadn't eaten lunch and was feeling hungry, so he picked up a piece of fried sugar cake and stuffed it into his mouth.

The fried sugar cake had a very crispy outer layer, and the chef fried it to perfection.

But as Lu Yuan was chewing, his expression suddenly changed drastically. A very strong taste came out of his mouth, which was instantly released under the cover of the brown sugar filling.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

It's wasabi! A lethal dose of wasabi!

Then he heard Zhao Yan's wild laughter, and Zhao Yan admired her own quick wit.

She created a topic that prevented Lu Yuan and Zhang Yuwen from communicating with each other, and while passing messages to each other, she created certain psychological suggestions, which allowed her to take the opportunity to carry out the final kill!

"Ten times the wasabi!" Zhao Yan gestured triumphantly to Lu Yuan, then said happily, "Lu Yuan, I made a trip all the way to the county town just for this one bite of wasabi. You got your money's worth!"

Tears streamed down Lu Yuan's face, his cheeks flushed red from coughing, the lingering effects of the wasabi still tormenting his nerves.

It took him almost half an hour to recover. He then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Zhao Yan and said, "I am convinced. The journey is long and arduous; we shall meet again!"

Lu Yuan left the scene in a disheveled state, while Zhao Yan was laughing so hard she could barely stand up straight.

This bastard tricked me several times, and this time he finally got his revenge!

After a while, Lu Yuan washed his face and then came back, asking curiously, "How did you manage to put mustard into the sugar cake?"

Zhao Yan asked smugly, "Have you ever played with bubble gum before?"

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and immediately asked, "You didn't blow it in, did you?"

Zhao Yan smiled beautifully and said, "You guessed right! It took me a lot of effort to blow the wasabi in!"

"Wait a minute, doesn't this mean you blew your saliva in?" Lu Yuan exclaimed in horror.

Zhao Yan:

The next morning, Lu Yuan and Zhao Yan were rushing to finish the last painting in the courtyard.

Today is already Saturday, and even though Zhaoyan went to the county town last night, she still hasn't finished the painting by the end of the week.

Lu Yuan rescheduled the gathering for children with cleft lips to 2 PM today.

As the weather gets colder, the temperature difference in the north can reach 20°C in a single day, and it starts to get chilly as the night goes on.

Moreover, this time of day falls right between two mealtimes, so Lu Yuan is free.

The last picture was completed quickly with the help of the two of them.

The murals in the courtyard have been redesigned and now look much more positive.

The last picture is a classic scene from One Piece where everyone raises their hands to greet Robin.

Zhao Yan looked at the painting, her eyes slightly trembling. This bond of friendship was the perfect interpretation of youthful passion.

She glanced at Lu Yuan furtively; the guy was laughing carefree, just like Luffy.

But sometimes he can be really infuriating, so infuriating that it makes your liver hurt.

Remembering Zhang Yuwen in her red dress, gracefully dancing yesterday, she suddenly asked, "Lu Yuan, you didn't even ask me, how do you know I can't dance?"

"Huh?" Lu Yuan was a little confused by the question.

After Zhao Yan finished speaking, she went back. Lu Yuan looked at her slender and tall figure, which was even taller than Zhang Yuwen's.

Lu Yuan couldn't help but have some illusions, as if Zhao Yan was wearing a moon-white fairy dress, surrounded by a light white mist, dancing gracefully like a fairy.

It felt like he was locked in a fiery struggle with Zhang Yuwen. Lu Yuan was somewhat dazed. He shook his head violently, but Zhao Yan's figure had already walked away.

At lunchtime, the door leading from the courtyard to the front hall was locked, leaving the space entirely to the children with cleft lips.

This time, Lu Yuan also invited the children from the Xu family and the children from the Lu family.

After getting to know Mr. Wang and Mr. Xu, Mr. Wang heard about the last gathering of children with cleft lips and came along this time as well.

Mr. Ding's wife learned about the gathering through chatting with Wei Yinghong, so she also came along.

These CEOs, though busy with social engagements on a daily basis, are no different from ordinary parents when it comes to their children's education.

They can't buy this kind of meaningful gathering, even with money.

Moreover, given Lu Yuan's innovative capabilities, they were 100% confident that this event would be a great success.

Although everyone was prepared to see children with cleft lips and palates, they were still shocked and felt some resistance when they actually saw them.

The children with cleft lips were overjoyed to see Lu Yuan again and gathered around to greet him. Lu Yuan affectionately patted their heads.

After settling the children in and greeting the CEOs, Lu Yuan began to host the gathering.

Lu Yuan had made quite thorough preparations for this gathering.

When he went to the provincial capital last time, he specially bought some small gifts.

The purpose was to bring joy to these children through the games at the party, while also indirectly providing benefits to children with cleft lips.

Because several new members had joined, the first activity was an icebreaker: "Red Light, Green Light".

Lu Yuan pretended to be a ghost and was responsible for turning around and catching people. On the two tables at the same level as him, there were various toy blind boxes. Anyone who could successfully complete the game could take one away.

His method of turning around was tricky, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, and in just two rounds, he eliminated several children.

Lu Yuan's principle is that when playing games, you have to take them seriously; there's no way he'll let you win.

The game truly ignites the children's enthusiasm when the first child to complete the level appears and takes the toy.

Actually, the game "123 Wooden Man" wasn't played much in most people's childhood memories, mainly because the prize for winning wasn't very tempting.

When the first child unpacked the toy, it turned out to be a finely crafted alloy toy car, the kind that sells for 0 yuan in stores.

The appearance of this little car instantly excited the children, who all looked on with envy.

These days, owning a toy car is a huge advantage among kids.

A line of children would follow behind, begging to play for a little while.

The eliminated children all showed expressions of frustration.

Meanwhile, the children on the field stared intently at Lu Yuan, cherishing their opportunity to be on the field.

As expected, Lu Yuan increased the difficulty, turning around more frequently, creating a tense atmosphere on the field.

Soon, the first round of the game ended, and a total of 5 children received toys.

This is where Lu Yuan needs to control the success rate of distributing toys. If too many are given out, the children will become less engaged in subsequent games.

If too few are given, their enthusiasm will not be aroused.

The second item was the sharing of recent experiences. Lu Yuan found several children to tell everyone about their experiences over the past month, whether good or bad.

He deliberately invited several children with cleft lips to share their experiences. They had indeed become much more cheerful after the last gathering, and most of their stories were positive.

Lu Yuan also asked the children of these executives to introduce themselves as new members.

After all the children had finished speaking, Lu Yuan began asking questions: "The first child to share their experience, how many people appeared in their story? A correct answer will earn you a toy!"

Zhao Yan, who was watching with great interest, almost broke her back when she heard Lu Yuan's question. She thought to herself, "This guy really doesn't play by the rules. How can he ask such a question!"

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