Chapter 58: The Art Troupe, Finding Trouble

The Zhong family.

Zhong Xuexi looked at the busy figures in the kitchen and stood at the door, hesitating to move forward.

Lin Ziqiu caught a glimpse of the figure out of the corner of his eye and felt amused.

"What are you doing standing there? Come and light a fire for me."

Zhong Xuexi took a deep breath and slowly sat down in front of the stove. "Can you tell me what Zhao Huaian said when he took a female teacher to the state-owned restaurant for dinner yesterday?"

"Or can anyone else in your store tell me what you heard?"

Lin Ziqiu's hands never stopped peeling garlic. "Why do you care about him so much? You don't like him."

"How can I say that I care about him? Doesn't the woman he's dating look familiar to you? If Zhao Huaian were to be with her, I would really..."

"Really? You don't like him, and you have no right to tell him who he's with." Lin Ziqiu interrupted her, "What do you think of him? He will eventually get married and have children, and the person he will spend the rest of his life with is his wife. You're really crossing the line."

Zhong Xuexi was so anxious that she jumped up and down, "I didn't say I wanted to stop him from getting married and having children, but he can't be with someone I hate, right?"

Lin Ziqiu paused and stood up slowly. "If you decide his wife based on your personal preference, and he hates Wei Zhihe, will you choose to give up Wei Zhihe for his feelings?"

These words completely stumped Zhong Xuexi.

If she were asked to give up Wei Zhihe for Zhao Huaian, that would be absolutely impossible.

Even her brother's marriage to Lin Ziqiu was ineffective, let alone Zhao Huaian, an outsider. It was just a relationship that they had grown up with, and she had no right to decide Zhao Huaian's future.

On the military side, Zhong Heyang was about to ride his bike home when he was stopped by people from the regiment.

"Brother Zhong, there will be a performance at the cultural troupe tomorrow. Are you really not coming?"

Zhong Heyang has never been interested in these things. When leaders from above came to inspect, he never liked to do the reception work, so he took the initiative to give it to Wei Zhihe at the meeting.

Unexpectedly, Wei Zhihe, who always loved to be in the limelight, also declined this time, saying that he was not up to the task.

In the end, Commander Nguyen had no choice but to choose the Chief of Staff to take full responsibility.

"No."

"I heard that the art troupe spent a lot of money this time, and even hired a chef from outside to prepare the dinner after the performance! You won't be able to enjoy this feast if you don't go."

Zhong Heyang disagreed, "No one can compare to my wife's cooking skills."

Zhou Shun is the most capable company commander under him, and the two are good brothers who have been through thick and thin together.

"They say you were forced to marry her. Why? It's only been a few days and you've been bewitched by your sister-in-law."

Zhong Heyang glanced at him mysteriously: "You don't understand."

"Hey! You're still pretending! You got married so suddenly, and you still owe us brothers a drink! When are you going to pay it back?"

Zhou Shun is also a bachelor. He always used Zhong Heyang as a shield in the past. The captain hasn’t even gotten married, so why is he in such a hurry?

But no one expected that Zhong Heyang only took a few days off and got married when he came back.

Everyone was thankful that Ruan Qing was transferred to another province to study, otherwise there would have been a scene at the wedding, which would have been a lot of fun.

"Don't worry, I'll let you drink sooner or later." Zhong Heyang waved his hand, "Don't block the way and delay me from going home to find my wife."

"I was wondering why you didn't come back to the compound with me recently. It turns out you have a wife and have forgotten your brothers!"

Zhong Heyang ignored his laughter and scolding and rode away on his bike.

Zhou Shun gave him a thumbs up backwards and said sarcastically, "Hey! You're really good!"

The art troupe's performance arrived as scheduled.

Jiang Lin sympathized with Lin Ziqiu, so he closed the hotel for a day and personally sent Lin Ziqiu and his friends there.

"Perform well today! Try to take them all down!"

In addition to wanting to give his two children more opportunities, Jiang Lin also had some selfish motives.

If their cooking skills are recognized by so many people, are they still worried that the restaurant will have no business?

Lin Ziqiu had long expressed his willingness to stay in the store, and Tian Xiaobo was a diligent child, but he couldn't always follow his father around, and there had to be a time for him to be able to stand on his own.

It would be great if I could be noticed by the art troupe and recruited as a cook.

Lin Ziqiu is someone who has seen big scenes, and she is not at all shy about places like the art troupe. Tian Xiaobo was much more nervous than her, but there was no expression on his face, only cold sweat on his palms.

The show ends at eight o'clock in the evening, so they come over in the afternoon to prepare the food.

The head of the art troupe, Fu Zhaoxue, was a classmate of Jiang Lin. Upon learning that they had arrived at the door, he came out to greet them in person.

"Old classmate, you are finally here. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Jiang Lin shook her hand and introduced her, "For your performance tonight, I've given you my precious chef. My restaurant is closed today. Go and call your husband to have a drink with me!"

Fu Zhaoxue's husband has also known Jiang Lin for many years, but he is busy with work, so they don't see each other when they get together every year.

"I will make sure he makes it up to you later!"

The two exchanged a few pleasantries before Jiang Lin introduced them to her, "These two are the chefs in my restaurant, Lin Ziqiu and Tian Xiaobo."

Fu Zhaoxue originally thought that the two people he brought were just to help the chef, but he never expected that the chef was so young.

If it were someone else, she would definitely have doubts, but she believed Jiang Lin's words without a doubt.

She couldn't help but sigh: "It's great that he can be a chef at such a young age!" In her impression, chefs are usually old masters in their forties. This is the first time she has seen someone so young.

"Hello, Captain Lin!" Lin Ziqiu and Tian Xiaobo shouted. Before that, Jiang Lin had already briefly introduced the art troupe to them.

"Our Xiaoqiu is Mr. Li's granddaughter. It's true that the disciple is better than her father!" Jiang Lin was very proud.

"Oh? Grandpa Li's granddaughter! That's amazing. I remember when I was in school, I had to queue up if I wanted to eat Grandpa Li's food! It's a pity that he is very old now, but there will be successors!"

Fu Zhaoxue came from a wealthy family. He went abroad to study when he was young and later devoted himself to the art industry.

When they were young, Mr. Li was already a very famous chef, and no one who had eaten his food had anything bad to say about it.

"Our Xiaofeng is not bad either. His father was taught by Mr. Li, and he has been familiar with him since he was a child."

Jiang Lin's sudden praise left Tian Xiaobo stunned for a moment.

Fu Zhaoxue nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad! With them around, I can rest assured!"

"Come on, let's stop standing outside and talking. I'll take you to the cafeteria."

The canteen of the art troupe is not very large, but it can accommodate several hundred people.

In addition to Lin Ziqiu and Tian Xiaobo, there were several female soldiers in logistics, a total of nine people, responsible for dinner for nearly four hundred people.

In addition, a separate table of dishes must be prepared.

After Fu Zhaoxue briefly introduced Lin Ziqiu to the others, he left with Jiang Lin.

"You prepare the separate table of dishes tonight, and I'll take care of the rest." Lin Ziqiu's goal was very clear. Tian Xiaobo needed to take advantage of this opportunity to make a splash, so it would be most appropriate for him to prepare the important dishes.

Tian Xiaobo backed out in his heart, "How can that be possible? I'm alone..."

"You are no worse than anyone else. Besides, don't you still have me? I will help you."

It is actually not difficult to cook for hundreds of people. The key is to make sure the food suits the public’s taste.

Besides her, there are seven helpers.

Tian Xiaobo clenched his fist, "Well! Then I'll choose the dishes first."

The seven female logistics soldiers nearby felt somewhat dissatisfied when they saw how young the two of them were.

They have been in the art troupe for so many years, but today such a good opportunity was taken by someone else.

"You let him cook for a table by himself? Do you know who the people who came to the table today are from?"

One of the oldest female soldiers couldn't help but speak up, "If we mess up tonight, no one will be able to take the blame! Don't let yourself get in trouble for not being able to do anything!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the female comrade next to her joined in the conversation, mocking her in a sarcastic tone: "What a country bumpkin who came to the city, he has no self-awareness at all."

"If you're so scared, why not just leave before it starts?"

Lin Ziqiu didn't give in either. Time was tight and she didn't have time to prove her strength to these people.