The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Could this young man be trying to skip out on the bill? Fu Yu wasn’t sure.

To him, the man seemed more like he had some mental issues.

Dining alone with a urine bag—no normal person would do something like that!

But...

The security couldn’t handle it, and Jiang Mo was pleading for his help.

Fu Yu looked around; it seemed like he really was the only one who could deal with this.

He glanced at the young man whose brows were furrowed, clearly a bit impatient.

Fu Yu braced himself and greeted, ”Hello!”

The young man completely ignored Fu Yu and turned to Jiang Mo, saying, ”I want to order food!”

As he spoke, he pointed to the shrimp behind him, ”Give me two pounds of this!”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mo didn’t dare to really go fetch the shrimp. In a panic, she said, ”We don’t sell shrimp by the pound; it’s sold per piece.”

The young man was taken aback for a moment, glanced at the fresh shrimp, and hesitated, ”Then, then start with ten pieces, no, twenty pieces!”

Fu Yu saw he was being ignored but wasn’t annoyed.

He had just come back from outside and wasn’t in his chef’s attire, so he was probably mistaken for a customer.

Fu Yu had to introduce himself, ”Sir, hello, I’m the chef here. If you need anything, you can talk to me.”

The young man was startled, then looked at Fu Yu.

He gave him a once-over and asked with a frown, ”I want to order! Do you chefs here handle the ordering?”

Fu Yu bluffed, ”Yes, it’s almost holiday season, so we come out to understand customers’ needs. You can just tell me what you’d like to order.”

The young man nodded, ”Give me an order of this shrimp. Since it’s sold per piece, I’ll take twenty!”

Fu Yu didn’t move and explained, ”Shrimp are weighed according to the dish you order. You need to order a dish first, then we can fetch it for you.”

Fu Yu signaled to Jiang Mo to bring over the menu.

Jiang Mo hesitated, but she still handed the menu to the young man as Fu Yu requested.

The young man took the menu, skimmed through it, and his expression clearly wasn’t as calm as before.

He looked at the page with garlic herb roasted shrimp, where a delicate rectangular shallow dish had only nine pieces of shrimp. It looked appetizing, but the price was actually 88 yuan!

In the market, shrimp are only forty yuan per pound!

This was practically daylight robbery!

Flipping further, he saw steamed abalone with ginger and scallions, five pieces for 188 yuan!

Spicy crab, 128 yuan per dish!

Seafood porridge, 138 yuan per serving, barely enough for two small bowls.

Just casually ordering a few dishes would cost nearly a thousand yuan.

The young man stared at the garlic herb roasted shrimp, took a deep breath, and looked up at Fu Yu, ”First, give me a plate of garlic herb roasted shrimp!”

Fu Yu smiled and nodded, ”Alright!”

After speaking, Fu Yu stepped forward and pointed at the menu, saying, ”We also have many other specialty dishes if you’d like to choose.”

Jiang Mo was anxious and wanted to come over, but Fu Yu signaled for her to wait on the side.

Jiang Mo had to stand there worried, watching Fu Yu introduce the restaurant’s various specialty dishes to the young man.

”Perhaps you might want to try this signature mixed dish. If you’re eating alone, these two dishes might be enough.”

The young man looked at the signature mixed dish, visibly displeased.

”Isn’t this just a mishmash stew? I don’t want it! I know your restaurant is famous for seafood! I just want seafood!”

Fu Yu said, ”Alright, then you can check out this spicy crayfish, which is our specialty, especially the spicy and garlic ones; they are the most popular!”

The young man glanced at the price—198 yuan per order.

”And we have this salt-baked crab; our crabs are authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs! Oh, and this special turtle soup; the turtles, like the crabs, also come from Yangcheng Lake!”

After seeing the prices of the salt-baked crab and special turtle soup, the young man closed his eyes.

”Then, then I’ll take one of each!”

Jiang Mo, who was waiting by the side, couldn’t hold back any longer and reminded, ”At our restaurant, just ordering two dishes casually costs at least a few hundred yuan!”

The young man was startled, turned to Jiang Mo, and questioned, ”What do you mean by that?”

Jiang Mo didn’t speak, but her face was full of distrust.

The young man frowned, ”Are you afraid I can’t pay?”

Jiang Mo awkwardly said, ”That’s not what I meant, just...”

Seeing the situation in a stalemate,

Fu Yu was about to speak when he looked up and noticed something above the young man’s head: [ ? ]

There’s a task!

Fu Yu chose to check it out.

[Ding! Ma Hua Chao, a terminally ill patient, longs for a hearty lunch. Communicating sincerely might trigger a side quest.]

So this man is terminally ill.

Fu Yu looked at Ma Hua Chao, swallowing back what he was about to say.

He initially planned to introduce the restaurant’s specialties to Ma Hua Chao first, then gently advise him that if he’s undergoing treatment, some illnesses require avoiding seafood, hoping to deter Ma Hua Chao from ordering.

After all, dining and dashing is illegal, and if reported, who knows how it might escalate.

But the task hint was that Ma Hua Chao’s wish was to have a hearty meal.

Fu Yu found it hard to bring up.

For a moment, he imagined many possibilities.

Perhaps Ma Hua Chao was just diagnosed, and in desperation, he wanted to have a proper meal before being stuck in the hospital.

Or maybe Ma Hua Chao knew he didn’t have much time left, so he came to have a dish he’s been longing for, as a form of remembrance.

Or perhaps Ma Hua Chao had been in the hospital for years, exhausting the family’s savings and accumulating debts, not wanting to burden them further, so he’s here for one last meal, planning to give up treatment and peacefully await the end.

...

No matter the possibility, Fu Yu’s gaze at Ma Hua Chao unwittingly carried a hint of sympathy.

Fu Yu hurriedly interrupted Jiang Mo, ”I’m sorry. You can order whatever you wish.”

”Chef Fu!” Jiang Mo looked at Fu Yu in surprise.

Ma Hua Chao was also a bit stunned, ”Aren’t you worried I can’t afford it?”

Fu Yu smiled slightly, ”Not worried. See what you want to eat; we have plenty of specialties.”

Ma Hua Chao looked at Fu Yu in shock, hesitated for a while before saying, ”What if I really can’t pay?”

Fu Yu earnestly said, ”No worries, if you really can’t pay, I’ll treat you.”

Ma Hua Chao fell silent, looked at Fu Yu with a complicated gaze.

After a long pause, he reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a roll of money, and counted it bill by bill, totalling two thousand yuan.

Ma Hua Chao earnestly said, ”This is all the money I have left. I just want to have a good meal.”

Jiang Mo’s face changed suddenly upon hearing this, unable to help saying, ”Since it’s all your money, and you spend it all in one meal, won’t you see the doctor anymore?”

Ma Hua Chao still had the urine bag, and his face indeed looked particularly haggard.

Ma Hua Chao languidly said, ”I just don’t want to live anymore, so before I die, I want to have a good meal before I go.”

One sentence left Fu Yu and Jiang Mo speechless.

```