Chapter 335 - 317: The Great Director Comes Again

Chapter 335: Chapter 317: The Great Director Comes Again

Jiulong Gorge.

Li You stayed busy in the kitchen. He took a moment to ask Ling Xiaoru and Chu Yiwei what else they wanted for dinner, besides the steamed sea bass.

It turned out both of them wanted stir-fried bitter melon, and they were fine with anything else. After all, everything he made was delicious.

’Stir-fried bitter melon? That’s easy enough.’

Consider it done.

As for the rest, he decided on five pounds of spicy crayfish and a tomato and egg soup.

The last wave of customers didn’t finish eating and leave until nine at night.

Finally, it was time to eat.

Up on the second floor.

The steamed sea bass, stir-fried bitter melon, spicy crayfish, and tomato and egg soup were all set on the table.

There was liquor, too.

Li You and Ling Xiaoru each had a full bowl, while Chu Yiwei had half.

They tried the steamed sea bass first.

Both Ling Xiaoru and Chu Yiwei exclaimed how delicious it was. Li You also thought it was quite good.

’Compared to steamed mandarin fish, you can’t really say one is better than the other. They just have different textures and flavors.’

’However, sea bass is relatively cheaper. Once I add both fish to the menu, the steamed sea bass will definitely sell for less. It’ll probably be more popular.’

"Teacher Chu, try this bitter melon. See? It’s not bitter in the slightest," Ling Xiaoru said to Chu Yiwei.

After taking a bite, Chu Yiwei’s face lit up. "You’re right, it’s not bitter at all! And the texture is actually quite nice. I can eat this more often from now on."

Chu Yiwei was overjoyed, as she knew that eating more bitter melon was great for her skin.

...

「The next day.」

Chu Yiwei had classes today, so she was up early again.

At seven in the morning, after eating two of Li You’s poached eggs in fermented rice soup, she headed back to school.

Ling Xiaoru, on the other hand, didn’t get up until nine. She also had two poached eggs in fermented rice soup before heading back.

It was time for her to return to work as well.

After finishing up in the kitchen, Li You walked over to the arcade area and switched on one of the cabinets.

He was going to play for a little while.

’Now that I have these arcade machines, I’ll never have to play arcade games on my phone again.’

’Playing on a phone just doesn’t feel the same.’

’I think I’ll play some *Metal Slug*.’

’It’s probably the best shooter in the arcade.’

Just as he was getting into it, a voice called out from a distance, "Boss! Ten tokens!"

It was the voice of Director Wei Yang.

Li You turned and, sure enough, saw Wei Yang leading a group of people toward him.

Li You was happy to see him again. He stopped playing, stood up, and went to greet them.

Wei Yang’s request for "ten tokens" was, of course, just a joke.

Back in the day, you played arcade games with tokens, and every time you went to an arcade, you had to find the owner to buy some.

Of course, it’s the same in modern arcades—you still have to buy tokens from the owner.

There were a dozen or so people trailing behind Wei Yang. Li You recognized some of them from before, but others were new faces.

’A new film crew?’ he wondered.

As they drew closer, Li You smiled. "Director Wei, it’s great to see you again! And to everyone else, welcome, welcome."

Wei Yang laughed. "The pleasure is all ours, Boss. We’re thrilled to be here again. Though, we really should have come yesterday."

"Oh?" Li You said. "Why do you say that, Director Wei?"

Wei Yang said, "Because it was so lively here yesterday! There was a really exciting tournament to watch!"

Li You was surprised. The tournament Wei Yang was talking about had to be the *The King of Fighters ’97* tournament.

’But how did he know about that?’

"How did you find out, Director Wei?" Li You asked, confused.

Wei Yang replied, "We overheard some people talking about it when we were passing through Wenxian Town. And I have to say, Boss, you ran that tournament beautifully! That kind of event is really interesting, especially with a big, lively crowd."

’So that’s how,’ Li You thought.

He nodded with a smile. "But I imagine a game like *The King of Fighters ’97* itself isn’t really your thing, Director Wei."

Wei Yang said, "I wouldn’t say I have no interest. I actually used to play it, back when I was a student. I played other arcade games too, like *Cadillacs and Dinosaurs*, *Warriors of Fate*, and *Knights of Valour*."

Li You was quite surprised. ’I never thought a big-shot director would have played these games.’

’But on second thought, it makes perfect sense. He wasn’t a big-shot director when he was a student, and arcade games were all the rage back then. It’s only natural that he would have played them.’

Li You smiled. "So you’ve played all those, huh? By the way, Director Wei, how did you all get here so early today?"

Wei Yang said, "We actually arrived in Changxi County Town last night. We stayed there for the night and then headed over here first thing this morning. Boss, let me make some introductions..."

Wei Yang introduced everyone Li You didn’t know, the ones who hadn’t been here before.

’They’re all actors. But they’re still newcomers, without any fame to speak of. No wonder I don’t recognize them.’

’For new actors to be able to travel this far with Wei Yang just for a meal...’

’It seems he has high hopes for them and values them a lot.’

’Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought them all the way out here to eat.’

’These actors have a bright future ahead of them.’

"Hello, Boss! It’s a pleasure to finally be here. We’ve heard Director Wei talk about how incredible the food is here for so long. We’re so excited to finally try it."

"It’s a real honor to be here and get a taste of your cooking, Boss!"

"Great to meet you, Boss."

"..."

The new actors all greeted Li You with utmost courtesy.

They had often heard Wei Yang mention this place and Li You. Now, seeing that Wei Yang and Li You were as familiar as old friends, they naturally didn’t dare put on any airs.

Forget the fact they were just newcomers—even an established movie star would have to be polite in this situation.

Li You responded to each of them in turn. "You’re all too kind. I just hope you aren’t disappointed after trying the food."

The new actors all insisted there was no way they would be.

Afterward, Li You invited the group to take a seat inside the restaurant.

Wei Yang said, "We haven’t eaten breakfast yet. Boss, why don’t you start us off with a large bowl of noodles for everyone? They can choose between beef noodles or Yangchun Noodles. I’ll have the beef noodles."

"Beef noodles for me too."

"I’ll have the Yangchun Noodles."

"..."

The actors all placed their orders, some for beef noodles and others for Yangchun Noodles.

After writing everything down, Li You once again invited them inside, promising the noodles would be ready soon.

Wei Yang, however, didn’t go inside. Instead, he walked straight to the arcade cabinet Li You had just been playing, sat down, and said, "You go cook the noodles, Boss. I’ll take over here for a bit. This game is *Metal Slug*, isn’t it? I used to play it, too. But wow, that was over twenty years ago."

A wave of nostalgia washed over Wei Yang; he’d never expected to be playing an arcade game again.

In truth, he had lost interest in arcade games long ago. He had all but forgotten about them.

But for some reason, when he passed through Wenxian Town and overheard people talking about the *The King of Fighters ’97* tournament that had been held here over the last couple of days, his interest was suddenly rekindled.

Then, upon arriving and seeing Li You playing at this very machine from a distance, that interest grew even stronger.

It was strange.

Perhaps what had reawakened Wei Yang’s interest wasn’t the arcade games themselves. Rather, it was that everything—the tournament he’d heard about, the arcade cabinets he was now seeing—was connected to Li You and this restaurant.

It was precisely because Li You had organized the tournament, and because these machines were sitting right outside Li You’s restaurant, that his interest in arcade games had been sparked anew.

...