Rebirth 07: Starting with Saving a Bankrupt Restaurant

"Won't eating this be bad for your health?" Jiang Zhiyu asked with some concern.

"No, it won't happen," Zhou Wen said confidently.

Jiang Zhiyu glanced at Zhou Wendao and said, "You're that confident? If I get sick from eating it, I'll come looking for you."

"Don't worry, it might all come out by tonight," Zhou Wen said with a smile.

Jiang Zhiyu was taken aback, and for a moment she was so angry that she laughed. Then she slapped Zhou Wen a little harder.

It won't hurt.

She gave Zhou Wen a coquettish look, feeling quite speechless for a moment. But perhaps it was really funny, because Jiang Zhiyu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Shall we go take a look?" Zhou Wen asked with a smile.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded, also somewhat curious about the stinky tofu.

Have you eaten here before?

"Of course I've eaten it. How can I recommend you try it if you haven't? It's the food from Hunan Province."

"Have you really been to that many places?"

Zhou Wen chuckled and said, "It's not much."

Jiang Zhiyu also asked, "Can you really eat well in a place like this?"

Zhou Wen smiled. The food at these night markets is usually pretty good, and everyone enjoys the lively atmosphere.

"We'll find out soon enough by trying it out. You've probably never been to a place like this before, right?" Zhou Wen asked.

Jiang Zhiyu also shook her head honestly. If it weren't for the fact that Zhou's Restaurant had a good reputation on Zhongshan Street, Jiang Zhiyu would have been too disdainful to go there at the time.

As for Zhouji Restaurant, that kind of hole-in-the-wall eatery, well... it might be slightly better than those hole-in-the-wall eateries, but on a normal day, I really wouldn't even bother to glance at it.

"Handsome guy, beautiful lady, wanna give it a try?"

Seeing Zhou Wen and his companion approaching her stall, the proprietress quickly greeted them.

Zhou Wen looked at the prices, then at the stall.

The stalls weren't exactly clean, but they weren't filthy or messy either. There were quite a few food stalls on this street, and if they weren't kept clean, they probably wouldn't be able to compete with others.

While frying the stinky tofu, the stall owner chatted with Zhou Wen and his companion; it seemed like every stall owner did the same.

"Handsome, your girlfriend is really beautiful, she has the same temperament as a female celebrity." The female stall owner said with admiration as she looked at Jiang Zhiyu.

Zhou Wen's lips twitched as he tried to explain.

But for some reason, the female stall owner immediately changed the subject and brought up her stinky tofu again, talking one sentence after another.

Zhou Wen had no chance to intervene or offer any corrections.

The female stall owner talked for several minutes in a row. Zhou Wen thought about explaining, but then realized it seemed unnecessary. Finally, his eyelids twitched.

"Handsome guy, beautiful lady, your stinky tofu is ready."

Jiang Zhiyu also took the stinky tofu, and after smelling the aroma, she shoved it into Zhou Wen's hand.

I smelled that pungent, fragrant smell when I was at the stall. If Zhou Wen hadn't been there, I probably would have run away long ago.

"Why don't you try some?"

Jiang Zhiyu shook her head: "The smell is a bit unpleasant, let's forget about it."

"I own a restaurant myself, how can I just kill it because it smells bad? You have to try it to know how it tastes."

"Didn't you see that the other stalls are getting pretty good customer traffic?"

Seeing that Zhou Wen's words made some sense, Jiang Zhiyu hesitated for a moment before taking the stinky tofu back from Zhou Wen's hand.

But I still couldn't bring myself to eat it for a long time.

Seeing his struggle, Zhou Wen comforted him, saying, "You've probably eaten durian before, right? They all look the same. They might smell a bit pungent, but they taste delicious."

Sometimes Zhou Wen doesn't understand why people always say that stinky tofu and durian smell bad. Zhou Wen thinks it's not that exaggerated, at most it's just that the smell is a bit strong.

After Zhou Wen said that, Jiang Zhiyu made up her mind and picked up a piece of stinky tofu to eat.

As a result of this attempt, the previously tense facial features gradually relaxed. Just as Zhou Wen said, the smell was indeed a bit strong, but the taste was actually quite good.

The outer shell was deep-fried, and the inside was full of juice. With the addition of some side dishes, the taste was enhanced. Jiang Zhiyu nodded in approval.

After finishing the first piece, I ate another one, and this time I didn't feel any psychological burden.

After eating, she put it back into Zhou Wen's hand, clearly indicating that Miss Jiang was not going to eat it anymore.

However, after finishing the meal, she patted Zhou Wen again, leaving Zhou Wen completely confused.

Seeing Zhou Wen's bewildered expression, Jiang Zhiyu forced a smile and said, "You're taking advantage of me."

Zhou Wen didn't understand at first, but he quickly realized what Jiang Zhiyu was talking about. Earlier at the stall, the female stall owner said that the two of them were in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

Zhou Wen didn't think Jiang Zhiyu was angry based on her expression. After spending time with her these past few days, Zhou Wen knew that Jiang Zhiyu actually had a pretty big heart.

This might just be a case of settling a personal score.

However, Zhou Wen still offered a brief explanation: "The proprietress didn't give us a chance to speak at all, so there was no way to explain."

After saying that, Zhou Wen shrugged.

Jiang Zhiyu curled her lip in disdain.

The two walked along like this. Since Jiang Zhiyu had never been to a night market food street before, she didn't know which things tasted good.

Zhou Wen also acted like a tour guide, introducing the various delicacies to Jiang Zhiyu.

The two walked and looked around, and if anything caught Jiang Zhiyu's interest, she would step forward to join in the fun.

After starting with stinky tofu, Jiang Zhiyu didn't hesitate to buy any decent-looking dishes along the way, since she wasn't short of money anyway.

They tried all sorts of things like skewers and bubble tea, and as a result, Zhou Wen's arms were full of food, all of which were leftovers from Jiang Zhiyu.

After walking for a while, Zhou Wen finally saw a barbecue place and invited Jiang Zhiyu to sit down. He then placed the food he was carrying on the table.

"You've had barbecue before, haven't you?"

Jiang Zhiyu shook her head, admitting that she had never eaten barbecue before.

Zhou Wen shook his head with a slight sense of regret; it was truly a pity he had never eaten barbecue.

Seeing Zhou Wen's expression, Jiang Zhiyu asked, "What's wrong? Is this barbecue delicious?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Wen said, "Actually, most barbecues taste pretty much the same, but the key to barbecue is the atmosphere."

"Atmosphere?" Jiang Zhiyu was a little confused by Zhou Wen's words.

Zhou Wen pursed his lips and said, "Yeah, it's like sitting by the roadside and enjoying the lively atmosphere."

"Let's go, let's see what we want to eat first."

"Would you like some of this chicken strip?" Zhou Wen asked.

Jiang Zhiyu shook her head, looking at the ingredients on the stall, she really couldn't muster any interest in them.

It's not that I'm being pretentious; it's just that the ingredients were simply and casually arranged on the table, which really didn't whet my appetite.