Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 116 - 97 Liang Zhu (III)

Chapter 116: Chapter 97 Liang Zhu (III)

When Liu Tao noticed that she was staring intently at Luo Jun, she quickly realized her lapse and lowered her eyes in fright, asking even more quietly:

"Mr. Luo, do you really enjoy watching theater plays?"

After speaking, Liu Tao sighed regretfully, seemingly scolding herself for asking such a silly question.

"Not particularly."

Luo Jun’s answer was unexpected to Liu Tao.

"I prefer watching movies; some of the lyrics in plays are too complex for me to understand," Luo Jun said.

Liu Tao slightly opened her mouth, clearly a bit surprised that the scholarly Luo Jun would admit he couldn’t understand, but soon she came up with a reason for him.

"You studied abroad in the West, grew up over there, and didn’t study the Four Books and Five Classics, so it’s normal if you don’t understand the lyrics," Liu Tao said. "Did you often watch movies while you were over there?"

Luo Jun didn’t reply.

Liu Tao assumed she had asked another foolish question.

"I’ve never seen a movie." Liu Tao had no choice but to keep the conversation going, "I’ve heard that in movies the people move but don’t talk, someone reads the lines on the side. There’s everything in them, cars and trains, is it... like that?"

Luo Jun still didn’t speak, and Liu Tao’s voice got smaller and smaller: "But when I first came here, I saw posters of movie stars, they were so beautiful, wearing pearl necklaces and purple qipao, just like in paintings..."

"Mr. Luo, is what I’m saying really boring?" Liu Tao had already resigned to her fate.

"It is quite boring." Luo Jun’s honesty almost made Qin Huai despair.

Liu Tao, like Qin Huai, was also in despair.

Luo Jun still held onto his cup, indifferently asking, "Are you interested in watching a movie then?"

"Huh?" Liu Tao was completely dumbfounded.

"There’s a new film releasing this Sunday, I’ll be waiting for you at Licha Restaurant," Luo Jun said, putting down his tea cup, "The service here at the café is quite inefficient, the cake I ordered this morning still hasn’t arrived, I have something to do, so I won’t wait anymore."

Luo Jun stood up, and Liu Tao immediately followed him, opening her mouth, clearly wanting to say something to make up for it, but not a single word came out.

"Do you like chestnut cake?" Luo Jun asked.

"I do." Liu Tao blurted out.

"If you like it, that’s good. I have some things to deal with these days, so I won’t be coming to watch the plays. See you at 2 PM on Sunday at Licha Restaurant," Luo Jun said, and then quickly walked out, with the class leader hastily coming out from the corner to see him off with a smile.

Qin Huai looked at Liu Tao standing somewhat dejectedly in the courtyard, glanced at Luo Jun’s rapidly departing figure, thought for a couple of seconds, and chose to stay behind.

Might as well just run into the air wall.

Recalling Luo Jun’s earlier instructions to familiarize himself with Liu Tao’s appearance, Qin Huai opted to remain a bit longer to observe her.

The class leader escorted Luo Jun to the theater entrance and quickly returned, seeing Liu Tao still standing dumbly in the courtyard. He teased with a smile, "What, still thinking about Mr. Luo? He’s already getting on a rickshaw."

Noticing Liu Tao’s expression was off and not joyful, the class leader realized things might not have gone as smoothly as he had imagined, and asked, "Did you upset Mr. Luo?"

"I don’t know." Liu Tao lowered her head, her face full of regret, "I feel like Mr. Luo and I are from two different worlds."

"You are from two different worlds," the class leader said with disappointment, "so what? It doesn’t prevent Mr. Luo from marrying you as a concubine."

"But it seems I’m a bit too uninteresting in conversation. Mr. Luo doesn’t seem to enjoy listening, he didn’t even speak," Liu Tao said hesitantly.

Hearing this, the class leader was so anxious he almost stomped his feet: "Who told you to chat with Mr. Luo? Mr. Luo has seen it all, he’s just returned from the West, stayed at Licha Restaurant for over a year, and doesn’t carry any small coins, only tips with British Pounds."

"Mr. Luo is always reading, the waiters at Licha Restaurant have almost run out of books from the major bookstores in the concession because of him. He doesn’t like dance halls, he just loves watching movies and listening to music. Go out and ask around, now all the opera troupes in Shanghai envy you!"

"Is Mr. Luo here to watch our Liang Zhu? Your senior brother, your junior sister, and the performance level of our troupe’s musicians, aren’t you aware? With Mr. Luo’s unique taste, he overlooks the elaborate shows of the Shi family and comes to watch our more rustic performances?"

Liu Tao nodded, "Mr. Luo also said today that my brother singing Liang Shanbo was no good."

The class leader was almost angered to death by Liu Tao: "Who cares whether it’s good or not, is that the point? The point is you have to make Mr. Luo like you, so he marries you as a concubine!"

Qin Huai felt like eating sunflower seeds.

The class leader pointed at Liu Tao, his fingertip almost touching her forehead, but dared not actually poke: "Who asked you to chat and connect? Are you someone who chats? Do you have any knowledge in your belly? You can’t even recognize half the words when you open a book, it’s a wonder if Mr. Luo likes chatting with you."

"Then... what can I do?" Liu Tao lowered her head further, almost burying it in the ground like an ostrich.

"Seduce him!" the class leader’s voice was almost piercing the sky, "Didn’t Sister Hong teach you? Sing to him, sit close to him, feed him the soup you’ve brewed!"

"Do this and that, and then that and this!" The class leader almost wanted to demo it for Liu Tao, "If your soup isn’t good enough, no problem, wasn’t Sister Hong there to help you brew it? Just say you made it. Does Mr. Luo really care about that? Once you’re really married in as a concubine, will you still need to personally cook soup? There’s time to learn later!"

Liu Tao cried out in shock, "The soup, Mr. Luo hasn’t had the soup yet!"

"Is that the key issue?!" The class leader was almost fainting from anger, "Why did Mr. Luo fancy you? Goodness, if he’d fancied Sister Hong, she’d probably already be married in."

"Did Mr. Luo say he’d come tomorrow?" the class leader asked.

"Mr. Luo said he’s busy these few days, so he won’t come."

The class leader closed his eyes in despair.

"But he did ask me to meet him at Licha Restaurant on Sunday to watch a movie."

The class leader’s eyes reopened, shimmering with light.

"So do you know what to do on Sunday?" the class leader asked excitedly.

"What should I do?" Liu Tao wasn’t very sure, "Should I... spend these days learning soup-making from Sister Hong?"

"Learn how to seduce, not soup-making!"

Liu Tao appeared troubled, "But I feel Mr. Luo might not like..."

"What do you know about liking or not liking? Let me tell you, as long as he’s a man, they’ll like it!" the class leader stated emphatically, "These days I’ll say you’ve got a sore throat, don’t sing Liang Zhu. I’ll have Sister Hong teach you some more. Don’t underestimate Sister Hong because she was kicked out; she successfully married in as the Thirteenth Concubine back in the day. You’ve got to learn from her!"

"Tao, whether our troupe can establish itself in Shanghai depends on you," the class leader said earnestly, "You have feelings for Mr. Luo, and I think Mr. Luo finds you quite interesting too. Haven’t I treated you well all these years? Haven’t your senior brothers and sisters been kind to you?"

"Look at Sister Hong, she was driven out, her leg was broken, but I still took her in. Old Jin can’t perform because his voice is wrecked, yet he still has a bite to eat in the troupe, doesn’t he?"

"If you can marry Mr. Luo, everyone can have a better life, can’t they? Even if you’re old and kicked out in ten years, as long as I’m alive, you can come back to the troupe and scrape a living as Sister Hong does."

"Everyone is counting on you!"

The entire troupe’s hope Liu Tao nodded, "I... still want to make the soup myself."

"Taking the soup cooked by Sister Hong and claiming it’s mine feels weird to me."

"Cook, cook it yourself!" The class leader thought Liu Tao had understood and didn’t dwell on the trivial matter of soup cooking, "Soup aside, I recall Sister Hong makes good cold tea, she has a secret recipe with dried tangerine peel, red sugar, and salt. Have her teach you to make dried tangerine peel tea, and bring it to Mr. Luo for the movie."

"I..."

Qin Huai was listening intently, when suddenly an air wall knocked him stumble, reminding him that in memory there are places he can’t stray too far from Luo Jun, so he quickly ran outside.

Why is this memory’s movement range so wide?

Qin Huai had roughly gauged the range in Chen Huihong’s memories, estimating it at twenty to thirty meters. He stood here engrossed for so long, nearly forgetting the range restriction, only now to be blocked by the wall.

How does one get to Licha Restaurant?

Does it count as an accident if in Luo Jun’s memory he can’t find Luo Jun?

Qin Huai rushed outside, realizing as soon as he exited that he’d worried for nothing.

Luo Jun hadn’t left; the rickshaw driver had barely taken a few steps.

Qin Huai hurried to catch up, starting a marathon.

"Sir, didn’t you say the cake hasn’t arrived yet? Leaving now..." the rickshaw driver was asking Luo Jun.

"It doesn’t matter anymore." Luo Jun calmly looked at the serialized novel in the newspaper, "I’ve heard all I needed to."

The rickshaw driver didn’t dare ask what Luo Jun had heard, so he just focused on running.

Qin Huai: ...

He almost forgot, Luo Jun has excellent hearing.

As one ages and loses divine power, turning into a 92-year-old with decent hearing is still quite good, let alone when they were young and could light a cigarette with a mere breath.

Ha, Bi fang.

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