Chapter 30: The Culinary Tycoon

Are you avoiding me?

After the probation period, Chang Hao would be able to go to school.

That evening, Grandpa Chang took Chang Hao with a gift to visit the master Yu Xiucai, leaving only Yu Qingze and Chang Le busy in the kitchen.

(1. Xiucai (秀才): The lowest level of successful candidates in the imperial examination system. They passed the county-level examination.

2. Juren (举人): The second level of successful candidates who passed the provincial-level examination. Juren were eligible for certain official positions and had higher social status than xiucai.

3. Jinshi (进士): The highest level of successful candidates who passed the palace-level examination in the capital city. Jinshi were the most elite scholars and had the greatest opportunities for advancement in the imperial bureaucracy. They were eligible for high-ranking official positions and often held prestigious roles in the government.)

Yu Qingze had been concerned about Chang Le’s change in attitude towards him these past two days. He tried to find some topics to talk about, but after starting two conversations, he ended up talking a lot by himself while Chang Le simply smiled and didn’t respond, not showing any interest in continuing the conversation.

Awkward small talk was impossible to initiate.

Yu Qingze felt a bit discouraged. He vigorously kneaded the dough under his hands, imagining it as Chang Le’s little butt, disobedient and deserving of a spanking!

In his past life, Yu Qingze had never been in a serious relationship, and his skills in pursuing someone were far from proficient. He had no idea what topics to use to make the person he liked happy. Thinking about it made him feel quite sad.

In the kitchen, only the sounds of the two of them working could be heard. The atmosphere became somewhat heavy and awkward.

The more Yu Qingze thought about it, the more he couldn’t figure it out. He decided to slap the dough onto the chopping board, turned around, and called out to Chang Le, “Brother Le.”

Chang Le turned to look at him, then quickly averted his gaze, focusing on the chopping board.

Yu Qingze walked over, lowered his head, and looked at Chang Le, throwing a straightforward question, “Brother Le, do you have any issues with me?”

Chang Le suddenly raised his head, vigorously shaking his head and hands. How could Big Brother Yu ask such a question? How could he have any issues with him? He just… just…

“Then why have you been avoiding me these past few days?” Yu Qingze saw Chang Le about to shake his head again and preemptively said, “Don’t say you haven’t. You have. Look, you don’t even look at me anymore.”

Chang Le’s hand movements to shake his head stopped. His face turned red, and he kept his head down, unable to look at Yu Qingze.

Seeing him lower his head again, Yu Qingze didn’t care about the flour on his hands anymore. He directly lifted Chang Le’s delicate chin, holding it, making him face himself, and then asked, “Brother Le, do you know that you’ve been acting strange these past few days? Pale complexion, low spirits, and avoiding me. Did I do something to make you uncomfortable? Tell me.”

With his chin being held, this ambiguous action made Chang Le’s face even redder. He couldn’t even look at Yu Qingze, whom he was already avoiding eye contact with. It wasn’t until he heard the last sentence that he anxiously lifted his eyes to look into Yu Qingze’s eyes and earnestly shook his head.

“Really nothing?” Yu Qingze asked.

Chang Le nodded. Brother Yu didn’t do anything that made him uncomfortable. On the contrary, he couldn’t control himself and kept thinking about those intimate contacts, which made him feel ashamed.

“Then why? Tell me, hmm?” Yu Qingze softly said, locking his gaze onto Chang Le’s face, observing his expression.

Chang Le’s gaze started to wander again. His secret in his heart must never be known by Brother Yu. If he knew, who knows how he would see him. He would probably think he was a toad wanting to eat swan meat.

Completely unaware that he had already become swan meat in Chang Le’s heart, Yu Qingze was about to push him further, but at that moment, voices of Grandpa Chang and Chang Hao came from the courtyard. They had returned from visiting Yu Xiucai.

Yu Qingze also heard the voices of Grandpa Chang and Chang Hao, but he didn’t let go yet. It was only when the voices got closer, and he already heard Chang Hao’s voice saying, “So Master is actually so nice. I always thought he was very serious,” that he noticed Chang Le’s anxious and scared expression, afraid that Grandpa and Little Brother would see it. His heart ached for him, so he let go and left with the words, “Let’s talk when we have time.”

Chang Le felt like he had been granted amnesty and quickly turned around, lowering his head, and busily picked up a plate, pouring the steamed cold skin onto the cutting board, cutting it with a knife, and then putting it in a sieve to cool.

But Yu Qingze’s “Let’s talk when we have time” scared him quite a bit.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

He really didn’t want to ‘talk’ with Brother Yu again!

So the next day, Yu Qingze noticed that Chang Le was avoiding him even more, not daring to meet his occasional gaze and not even lifting his head when he called him.

Yu Qingze: …

Brother Chang was observant, and these past few days, he also noticed something strange between the two of them. When Chang Le went to fetch water at Boss Li’s shop, Brother Chang took the opportunity to ask Yu Qingze, “Boss Yu, did you make Brother Le angry? Why is he ignoring you?”

He still remembered how well Chang Le and Yu Qingze cooperated on their first day of work.

Yu Qingze helplessly replied, “I don’t know either. I asked him, but he refuses to say.”

Brother Chang blinked and saw Chang Le coming out quickly, so he didn’t ask further.

On the way home that day, another matchmaker came to propose to Yu Qingze. This time it was arranged by Chang Le’s uncle, and he specifically found a matchmaker to propose to Brother Yue.

Yu Qingze couldn’t help but laugh when he thought of Brother Yue, who was obviously not yet of age and still a young boy, following behind Wen Li.

He once again informed the matchmaker that he already had someone he liked and sent him away.

After seeing off the matchmaker, a sudden realization struck Yu Qingze’s mind. He remembered that Chang Le started acting strange after that matchmaker, Liao, came to propose to him. Chang Le had trouble sleeping that night, and then he started avoiding Yu Qingze ever since.

What did this mean?

Was Chang Le afraid of being misunderstood and thus avoided mentioning the proposal?

Or…

Yu Qingze thought about the times when he unintentionally flirted with Chang Le and saw his blushing and shy expressions. He couldn’t help but boldly speculate if Chang Le actually liked him but was too shy, so he was avoiding him?

Or perhaps he realized that the proposed match was a good catch and felt inferior, thinking that he couldn’t compare? So, he became self-conscious and started avoiding himself?

Yu Qingze went through the sequence of events and thought that the last possibility seemed the most likely.

This discovery left him with mixed feelings.

It was indeed a good thing if Chang Le could like him. However, if Chang Le felt inferior because of his physical condition, got trapped in negative thoughts, and withdrew into his shell, making him too afraid to get close to Yu Qingze, then it would be troublesome.

In any case, he needed to confirm it clearly first.

After dinner, the group was working in the kitchen, and Yu Qingze was making noodles while thinking about how to solve the situation.

Suddenly, someone called out for Brother Le from outside.

Chang Le heard the voice and went outside.

Yu Qingze walked to the door to take a look and was surprised to see Dahe.

Their conversation was not loud, and Yu Qingze couldn’t hear clearly. He only saw Dahe clumsily touching the back of his head while avoiding eye contact with Chang Le, laughing foolishly and saying something, while Chang Le attentively looked at him, listening to what he said.

Yu Qingze: …Could it be that he’s trying to steal Brother Le away again?!

Thinking back to their encounter with the little gangster, Dahe’s gaze toward Chang Le had been somewhat strange. When Chang Le looked at him, he couldn’t meet Chang Le’s eyes, but when Chang Le wasn’t looking at him, he stared at him.

Could it be that he has a secret crush on Chang Le?

Yu Qingze suddenly shuddered, realizing a very serious problem. There might be another reason why Brother Le was avoiding him!

It was entirely possible that Brother Le had feelings for someone else and was afraid that this person would misunderstand, so he was avoiding Yu Qingze?!

And that person is Dahe?

A sense of unease surged in Yu Qingze’s heart, accompanied by a feeling of crisis that jolted him awake.

He had made a prejudiced mistake, assuming that when Wen Li said nobody wanted to marry Chang Le, it meant that nobody truly liked Chang Le?

Moreover, he hadn’t even considered the possibility of Chang Le having someone he liked!

This was a grave mistake!

Someone as good as Chang Le, how could nobody like him?! He was in the prime of his youth, so it was only natural for him to have someone he liked, right?!

He had been thinking of taking things slow, waiting until he earned enough money and resolved his household registration issue before telling Chang Le about his feelings. But taking things slow? What a load of nonsense!

The slower he went, the more likely it would be that someone else would snatch his bride!

He must find the right moment to tell Chang Le first.

When Chang Le returned from talking with Dahe, Yu Qingze casually asked, “Was that Dahe? Does he have something urgent to discuss at this late hour?”

Grandpa Chang also turned his head to look at Chang Le.

Chang Le then gestured to explain.

Grandpa Chang nodded and said, “Oh, I see. I’ll take care of that tomorrow.”

Yu Qingze only understood half of what was said, so he asked Grandpa Chang, “Grandpa, what is it about?”

Grandpa Chang replied, “It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year tomorrow, and next month it’s our turn to graze the cattle in the afternoon. It’s nothing, I’ll go tomorrow afternoon.”

So that’s the matter. Yu Qingze felt relieved and said to Grandpa Chang, “By the way, Grandpa, let me tell you something. This morning, I went to Liu’s Noodle House and saw Boss Liu washing the dough. It looks like they’re about to make liangpi.”

Earlier in the morning, he heard from Liu’s son that when Boss Liu was having porridge, he noticed that the layer of skin on the porridge resembled liangpi. That’s when they thought it might be steamed, but their previous attempt of directly steaming the flour and water mixture failed. So they started experimenting with washing the dough.

Boss Liu is quite clever, he must say.

Grandpa Chang exclaimed, “Boss Liu and his sons learned how to make it?”

Yu Qingze nodded, “They’ve figured out the right method. I reckon they’re making it now.”

Grandpa Chang then said, “If they introduce liangpi, it will affect our business.”

Yu Qingze nodded again and said, “Boss Liu is unpredictable, so it’s hard to say. Maybe he will consider the other noodle recipes I taught him and won’t introduce liangpi. But it’s okay. Cold noodles and liangpi are seasonal dishes after all. At most, they’ll be popular for another month. Once we pass August and the weather gets cooler, the business will gradually slow down. It won’t last long.”

He never intended to rely solely on cold noodles and liangpi to become wealthy. The street food stall was just a way to accumulate capital in the early stages. Opening a restaurant is his ultimate goal.

“That’s true. When it’s too cold, everyone prefers something warm,” Grandpa Chang said.

Yu Qingze continued, “So, Grandpa, there’s another matter. We can start selling Guandong zhu (skewered snacks) the day after tomorrow. But there will be a lot to prepare, and it will be too much work for us to handle alone. I’m thinking of assigning some of the tasks to the villagers. For time-consuming items like noodles and liangpi gluten, we can outsource them and buy from the villagers. We can handle making tofu puffs, tofu skewers, and meatballs ourselves. These items can also generate profits. What do you think?”

Earlier, Yu Qingze experimented and made Guandong zhu, including seaweed knots, tofu puffs, gluten, meatballs, radishes, and so on. They served them with chili sauce and garlic sauce, and everyone, including Chang Le and the others, said it was delicious. So they decided to sell them.

Grandpa Chang thought for a moment. They were already quite busy making noodles and liangpi every day, and during the day, he had to take care of the fields. They truly couldn’t spare any more manpower. He said, “Alright. But who should we assign the tasks to?”

Indeed, that was a question.

Yu Qingze recalled the gossip he overheard while heading to the village chief’s house, saying that Grandpa Chang cares more about big things than small matters and would rather give money-making opportunities to outsiders than his own son. He said, “How about giving the noodle-making task to Brother Chang’s family and assigning liangpi and gluten to Uncle’s family?”

Recently, everyone knew that they were making money, and gossip started circulating in the village. They were not in the village during the day, so they didn’t hear much. Grandpa Chang was in the village all the time, and he must have endured a lot of rumors, but he never mentioned it to them.

On the other hand, recently, Wen Li stopped talking about marriage with Chang Le and always found excuses to come over at night. He wanted to see how they made liangpi and cold noodles and had to be cautious around him, which made it inconvenient to work.

Since the recipe for liangpi was no longer an exclusive secret, and this business wouldn’t last long anyway, it didn’t matter if Wen Li knew. It could even help suppress gossip in the village. Besides, keeping Wen Li busy would prevent him from constantly disturbing them.

Words can be dangerous, but using a small recipe for making liangpi to solve two troublesome matters, Yu Qingze felt it was worth it.

Grandpa Chang fell silent for a moment, sighed, and said, “Ah, don’t worry, I’m not very at ease either.” He was familiar with his own family members, but Wen Li wasn’t someone who would be honest and well-behaved. “What if something goes wrong on his end…”

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “Grandpa, if Uncle is smart, he won’t share this method. And even if he sells the liangpi-making method, it’s fine. We won’t be doing this for long anyway. At that time, we can even openly share the recipe, and everyone will know, so it won’t matter if it’s a secret recipe or not.”

After a pause, Yu Qingze added, “Of course, you should also talk to Uncle a bit about this matter. If he can be honest and reliable, we can still assign him other tasks in the future. After all, we’re family. If we make money without involving them at all, it won’t sound good if it gets out in the village. But if he betrays our trust, then we won’t involve him anymore.”

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Chang remained silent for a while. After a long pause, he finally said, “Aze, you truly are benevolent.”

The old man also felt a bit emotional, just like what Wen Li said. Chang Sheng was also his son, and as a father, how could he not hope for their family’s well-being and good fortune? How could he not think about their happiness?

However, Wen Li, sigh, he indeed had some concerns. Moreover, this business, although they were partners with Yu Qingze, in reality, it was all supported by Yu Qingze alone. They were just benefiting from it.

Now, Yu Qingze was actually considering all these matters, and it deeply touched the old man.

Yu Qingze smiled, half jokingly and half seriously, saying, “Anyway, whether it’s given to someone else or not, let Uncle stay busy with something so that he won’t keep coming to me about marriage.”

Grandpa Chang also felt a bit embarrassed, hurriedly saying, “I apologize on his behalf for causing you trouble. I’ll go talk to him and make things clear tomorrow!”

Yu Qingze quickly said, “There’s no need for Grandpa to apologize. It’s fine. It’s just that…” He glanced at Chang Le and continued, “I told Uncle that I have someone I like, and it’s true. So, there’s no need for him to keep coming to propose marriage for Brother Yue.”

Chang Le’s hand, which was preparing the dough, paused for a moment, and then continued.

Grandpa Chang saw the look in Yu Qingze’s eyes and looked at his beloved grandson. He sighed and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

With this matter settled, Yu Qingze finally felt relieved. He was afraid of being targeted by Wen Li. He didn’t have the time to deal with him every day. He needed to make money and find a good opportunity to confess to Brother Le.

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Thingyan: I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to get involved with that Wen Li. I don’t trust this guy at all.