Chapter 365 365. Epilogue: Twenty years later, the new generation (Part 3)
  Cassell is a well-known western restaurant in Tokyo. Japan has always been the place in East Asia that has been most yearning for western culture and lifestyle, both since the Meiji Restoration and more recently after World War II. High-end western restaurants have always been popular among people of status. For business cooperation, banquet invitations, and long-awaited reunions, in addition to their own traditional Japanese style, upscale western restaurants have always been the first choice.
  Cassell is such a place. It is said to have a history of more than ten years. The future successor of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the prince, grew up eating their meals. The restaurant operates on a reservation system and receives a limited number of guests each day. If you are not a special customer, you often have to wait in line for three months.

  The only special thing is that if a popular female star comes, there will always be an empty table. For example, the national idol Saito Asuka didn’t need to make a reservation when she came last week, and the boss even cooked in front of her.

  Female high school students from the neighborhood also like to patronize this place during gatherings, because the boss is a genuine foreigner who speaks more than a dozen languages, has wheat-like blonde hair, sea-blue eyes, and a towering height. In addition, as the chef and part-time boss of a high-end restaurant, he is simply the male protagonist who only appears in romance novels.

  Unfortunately, it is said that the boss is already in a relationship. Many people say that they have seen a red-haired girl entering and leaving the restaurant more than once. When the boss is on break, he will go out for a stroll with her in a red Ferrari. They can often be seen on Japan's ring road.

  Today, this restaurant hung up a Close sign early. It is not closing time yet, and the lights are still on. Regular customers passing by took a few more glances and knew very well that the boss must be entertaining some friends today. This place is frequented by foreigners every few days, from blacks to yellow-skinned people to Russians. In short, there are all kinds of people. It seems that the boss must have been a hero who had friends all over the world.

  He was the only customer sitting in the store, in the most central location of the lobby. It was difficult to be observed from outside through the transparent windows while dining here, so it was quite private. This was almost his exclusive choice, and he would choose this place every time he came.

  "Today's ramen tastes a bit bland and the portion is much smaller." Yuan Zhisheng swallowed a mouthful of the thick soup and commented lightly.

  It is hard to imagine that in a western restaurant, there would be a single dish called Japanese ramen. This is Cassell's signature dish. It is not on the menu, and only a few customers know that it exists. In the kitchen, there is a pot dedicated to thick bone broth, which is kept in the kitchen 24 hours a day.

  "Your taste is getting more and more picky. Before, you couldn't tell the difference between different ramen noodles, but now you talk to me about the taste and clearly point out what I didn't put in." Caesar sat opposite Yuan Zhisheng and flipped through the Japanese magazine in his hand. After so many years, his Japanese is still a bit mediocre, with a strong Western accent. "Today, the seasoning in the store is insufficient, and I didn't have time to buy new ones. After all, you are the only one who often comes to eat ramen here. This kind of cheap food can't be regarded as the business goal of this restaurant. It will lower the customers' impression of me."

  "I have tried other restaurants, but yours is the most authentic. There is nothing I can do about it." Yuan Zhisheng swallowed the noodles in big mouthfuls, making a slurping sound, which made people feel that the bowl of noodles was really delicious. "Dad taught you all his skills, but you opened a Western restaurant. If I can open a ramen restaurant, I don't need to come to your place so often. It always feels like a bother."

  Uesugi Yue had been dead for more than ten years. His health condition was very bad to begin with. He was admitted to the intensive care unit a few days after his dragon blood degenerated. He managed to stay there for several years. He even had a brief moment of vitality, but was sent back within two months.

  At that time, Caesar's Western restaurant had officially opened, and Uesugi Yue had also been there. Since they were all in the catering business, there should be a saying of inheritance. On his deathbed, Uesugi Yue passed on his decades-long ramen skills to Caesar, and then passed away. Since then, Caesar's Western restaurant has become Yuan Zhisheng's canteen. Whenever Yuan Zhisheng misses his past life and things, he will come to patronize it once, and Caesar will always prepare a seat that belongs only to him, as well as a pot of soup stock.

  "It's an honor to host the heads of the eight Sheqi families. If it weren't for you, I would have to pay a lot more protection fees and taxes every year." Caesar said.

  "You were not the Caesar who was worried about the daily necessities of life."

  "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. A stable life actually has different fun to some extent. For example, I meet different female college students here every day. Although many of them cannot be said to be particularly beautiful, each of them will tell me something interesting about themselves. I am also happy to listen, because this way I will feel that I am still living in the past, when I was the youngest and loved adventure the most." Caesar smiled, "Just eat that much today. If you are not in a hurry and have something else to do, you can wait a little longer. An old friend is coming."

  "Your old friend?"

  "Your old friend too."

  The door was gently pushed open. After so many years, the man still maintained this habit, coming and going like an unpredictable breeze.

  "Ladys and Gentlemen! Long time no see!" Although there were only two people in the store, Lu Mingfei still opened her arms, like a female star on the red carpet trying to please her fans. Behind her, Chu Zihang slowly closed the door.

  "Indeed, we are old friends." Yuan Zhisheng raised his eyebrows and put down the chopsticks in his hand.

  Caesar gave Lu Mingfei a big hug. After not seeing her for many years, he always felt that this girl seemed to have stopped at the moment when she was 20 years old. The child was already in high school, but this mother looked like Chu Yufei's sister. If she hadn't dressed much more maturely, she would definitely be able to enter Yingmeng Middle School in school uniform. In fact, Chu Zihang stopped the car on the way here, and Lu Mingfei was even asked about Line by a young guy when she was standing on the side of the road.

  "I feel like you're going to be bald in a few years!" Lu Mingfei jumped up and touched Caesar's forehead.

  As an old friend, Lu Mingfei could easily see that Caesar's hairline had receded a bit. Although in the eyes of others he had simply changed from a sharp young man to a sexy middle-aged man as aged as Bacardi, in the eyes of old friends, the change was indeed huge.

  "I heard that you sent your daughter to study in Japan, but you didn't even tell me in advance. Have you forgotten about me?" Yuan Zhisheng also opened his arms.

  "Eri told you, right? She would have told you anyway, so why should I bother you? The head of the Sheqi family is a very busy man, the kind that can hardly get away." Lu Mingfei jumped up and down and gave Yuan Zhisheng another long-unseen hug. "Besides, my kid has always liked you. The table in his bedroom at home is full of photos of you when you were young! If he really sees you, he will definitely turn into a star-chasing idiot! That won't do!"

  "Want one?" Chu Zihang took out a cigar box from his pocket. The logo on it was Caesar's favorite Italian brand.

  "Thanks, I've quit smoking for a few years. If I still smoke in a restaurant like this, the slightest smell on myself and the environment will leave a bad impression on the customers." Caesar waved his hand. "Come to think of it, you actually started smoking?"

  "No, I bought a box when I passed through Italy. I wanted to give it to you as a gift. I remember you used to complain that Japanese cigarettes were too light in taste." Chu Zihang said.

  "Where's Nuonuo? Where's Nuonuo?" After reminiscing about the past with the two old men, Lu Mingfei immediately went to the back kitchen and looked around.

  "She drove her car to Hokkaido to play in the snow." Caesar looked at Chu Zihang and then at Lu Mingfei, thinking of Nuonuo, and was really emotional. "It seems that only us old men have grown old, and the girls are still as crazy and playful as before."

  "Are men over 40 considered old? According to the legal definition, they are in the prime of life!" Lu Mingfei laughed loudly, and then started gossiping again, "What do you mean? You still don't plan to have a child? Look at Yuan Zhisheng's child, he's already that big, and my daughter is so beautiful, do you and Nuonuo really want to guarantee your world for the rest of your lives?"

  "You seem to care a lot about this." Caesar looked at Lu Mingfei with interest.

  "The cabbages in our garden have grown up. We have to be careful not to get eaten by pigs... I think given your and Nuo Nuo's level, the baby you give birth to will definitely be top-notch!" Lu Mingfei gave a thumbs up.

  "But I heard that in Yu Fei's eyes, her parents are not trustworthy."

  "Which little bastard spread rumors about me?" Lu Mingfei's brows turned cold in an instant.

  "That's what Eri said when she came." Caesar shrugged. "So you see, having a child will only add to your troubles. You raise the child with great difficulty, and you still have to worry about his or her life. If it's a girl, you're worried that she'll be stolen by bad people, and if it's a boy, you're worried that he or she will marry the wrong person. As long as I don't have a child, there won't be such a problem. Nono and I have already planned that when we are really old, we will close this store and travel around the world until we die of old age on the way and be buried anywhere in the world."

  "You will be a romantic person all your life." Chu Zihang said.

  "How dare you say that! Learn from others!" Lu Mingfei used her elbow to poke her own iron man. Chu Zihang just smiled silently and cast a helpless look at Caesar. Caesar winked and said, "Come on, you can take care of your own wife. Do you still need to ask me for help after so many years? Have you not improved at all?"

  Caesar retreated into the front hall and started to get busy. Casell's kitchen is divided into two parts, one is the back kitchen and the other is the front hall. The front hall is open and directly faces the guests. It is only used when a few distinguished guests come. You can prepare the guests' favorite dishes in person. It is also a kind of enjoyment to watch the master complete the delicious dishes bit by bit, cutting vegetables, assembling platters and seasoning. You can learn something in every link.

  Lu Mingfei also went to help. After traveling around the world for many years, she was almost sick of airplane meals, so she developed a good habit of making her own meals. She always had a set of simple equipment in her bag, so she could make a hot tomato scrambled eggs even in the Sahara Desert. This is probably the Chinese food culture, after all, hot food is the best.

  "Is Zhinu okay?" There were only two people left at the table. Chu Zihang and Yuan Zhisheng clinked their glasses and enjoyed the sweet wine before the meal.

  "He and Sakurai Kogure moved to Osaka and were responsible for establishing the second branch of the Snake Eight Clan in Osaka," said Minamoto Chisei. "Although there are no such things as dragon clans now, past experience has taught us that it is not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket, so the family decided to open up a new battlefield in Osaka, so that they can support each other with the headquarters in Tokyo and also share the daily chores."

  "It seems like you guys have had a good relationship over the years."

  "It should be considered plain beauty, but this is enough." Yuan Zhisheng smiled, "You are also different. At least now you will take the initiative to bring up the topic. You are not as indifferent as before."

  "People always change." Chu Zihang said.

  "Yes, people always change." Yuan Zhisheng nodded, looking at the little bit of bright red left in the wine glass, "But sometimes I still miss the past, and feel that time was my favorite time in my life. Time is really a terrible enemy. When I had bloodline before, I would think about how I would spend my long old age. Now that I don't have bloodline, I worry that I have already lived half of my life. I always feel that I have not finished, but many things can no longer be found."

  "You have also become a sentimental person." Chu Zihang raised his glass, "Don't think too much. I still like you better than you are now. A stubborn boy is always better than a man with a lot on his mind."

  "I really don't know whether you are comforting me or giving me advice... But this is your style, which is good. It's a rare skill to be able to maintain this style for a lifetime." Yuan Zhisheng gently clinked glasses with Chu Zihang.

  Outside the Cassell store, the silver tag with the word Closer swayed, illuminating Chu Yufei's face. Standing here, she could see familiar faces in the store. She hadn't seen them for a long time, and she was looking forward to it before coming here. But now that she was here, she was a little reluctant to open the door.

  "Don't you plan to meet them?" Eri leaned close to Chu Yufei and whispered in her ear, "If we don't meet this time, I don't know when the next time will be."

  "My parents and those people must have had a very special time together in the past, right?" She couldn't hear the conversation inside, but she could feel it from their behavior.

  "So you don't want to disturb them?"

  "A little bit..." Chu Yufei whispered, "I always feel that if I go there, they won't be able to chat like this. Some of the topics that adults talk about don't belong to me, and they can't talk about them in front of me."

  What a sensitive child! Eri touched Chu Yufei's hair. Whenever she did this, she would remember that someone had treated her like this before, but now the person doing this was her.

  "Then let's wait for a chance to meet alone again. A new restaurant has opened in Shinjuku District, claiming to serve authentic Sichuan hotpot. Let's go together and you can help me determine whether they are authentic enough." Eri said.

  "It can't be opened by Japanese, right? Sichuan hotpot is both spicy and numb, and Japanese people don't seem to like spicy food, so the taste must not be that good." Without any reluctance, Chu Yufei turned back decisively, her long hair swirling beautifully.

  At this time, Lu Mingfei looked up at the door. Through the transparent window, Eri waved at her gently, pointing at the person in front of her. Lu Mingfei immediately smiled and waved at her silently.

  (End of this chapter)