I am a Chef in the Modern Era

Chapter 42: Honeyed Walnuts

Translated by Crystal of Exiled Rebels Scanlations action

Everything about Xi Qin Restaurant’s renovation was outsourced, meaning Lin ShuYi only had to describe his idea to a designer then the rest would be dealt with by them. They would find a construction team and make sure everything went smoothly without Lin ShuYi needing to worry about it.

Once they had a talk with the designer in the restaurant, they managed to finalize the details. As they were leaving, they received a call from old man Yang.

The voice from the telephone was clear of the gloom that had loomed over, instead his laughter was exceptionally loud, “Xiao Yi, we’re back. Right now, we’re in the city. Xiao Wan’s grandma wants to go shopping, so we wanted to ask if you needed anything?”

Lin ShuYi was a bit surprised, “You’re back already?”

“Yes, we’re back.”

“Then you guys enjoy yourselves. There’s nothing I need.”

“Okay. We brought back a lot of souvenirs this time. I’ll give you something new tasting.”

Hearing that, Lin ShuYi smiled, “Okay, thanks grandpa.”

Then the two leisurely walked back.

Knowing that old man Yang was returning, Lin ShuYi looked as if his whole person brightened up. Shen Fu smiled inwardly, it seemed that Lin ShuYi had a weird attachment to old man Yang. It was even making him a bit jealous.

“Once old man Yang’s back, let’s go out too.” Shen Fu suddenly said looking at Lin ShuYi.

Lin ShuYi was just thinking about the souvenirs when he heard Shen Fu say this.. He turned around and asked, “Out? To where?”

Shen Fu thought about it. He didn’t want to go home, but he wanted to bring Lin ShuYi to H city. After all that was his territory. If Lin ShuYi wanted to stay here, he was willing to stay here with him, but he still wanted to bring Lin ShuYi back. After he had been gone for so long, everyone should’ve started to worry. Bringing Lin ShuYi back was to also to prove a point. So that his grandpa wouldn’t come find him, which would only bring more trouble.

“H city. You want to go?”

Lin ShuYi knew about H city because Shen Fu said that that’s where he was from. But he didn’t understand why he wanted to bring him there. “Why do you want go there?”

Shen Fu pressed his lips together. “There’s a lot of interesting places, I can bring you to all of them.”

Lin ShuYi was a bit hesitant, “Xi Qin restaurant’s still under renovations, can we just leave it?”

“The rest can only be left to the construction team, you can’t do anything anyways. Grandpa Yang’s back as well. Don’t you want to take this opportunity to go out and play?” Shen Fu’s eyes were black and shined as if coaxing him to say yes. He wasn’t about to tell Lin ShuYi that they were jumping ahead straight to the ‘meet my parents’ phase.

Lin ShuYi thought about it and agreed, “Okay, once grandpa returns, I’ll tell him.”

He actually wanted to know more about this world as well. What he had seen was only a small fraction. There was a lot he only knew from television as well. If possible, of course he would want to see everything for himself.

Gaining Lin ShuYi’s approval, Shen Fu’s eyes finally smiled.

Meeting his parents.. He didn’t know how dark grandpa’s expression was going to get, but he would probably like Lin ShuYi. After all, Lin ShuYi was a great cook.

Since old man Yang was about to return, Lin ShuYi and Shen Fu didn’t go back and just went to his house to wait. They were given the keys before he left.

It didn’t take long before the sound of a car engine could be heard and a bunch of elderly got out, smiling and laughing.

“Grandpa.” As Lin ShuYi and Shen Fu greeted them, they went to help with the luggage. Old man Yang really bought a lot and some were pretty heavy too.

“This time old man Yang bought the most and it’s all edible too.” A elderly women from the group teased.

Shen Fu helped bring their stuff in as Lin ShuYi brought them water.

Old man Yang just smiled without saying anything but Xiao Wan’s grandma knew all about it. The whole way old man Yang kept on saying ‘Xiao Yi would like this’ and ‘he would like that as well.’ Old man Yang really saw Lin ShuYi as his grandson, but it was good that this kid was by his side. Otherwise, he would’ve been so hurt from what happened.

It didn’t take long before the family members of the elders came. In the end, everyone just gathered around and talked about the trip. Out of all these people, the youngest was Xiao Wan’s grandma and even she was over sixty years old. Some were more than seventy but everyone looked super energetic.

Everyone chatted away happily and half a day passed away before they started leaving. Only Xiao Wan’s grandma stayed since Xiao Wan’s parents were still working while Xiao Wan was in school. No one was home so she stayed. Otherwise, she would have to make a meal only for herself at home.

“Xiao Yi, where did you put that red bag of mine?” Suddenly old man Yang asked.

“I put it in your room.”

Old man Yang nodded and went to grab the bag. As he opened it, he said, “These are honeyed walnuts, salted almonds and sugared cashews. The nuts there were super cheap and tasty. We all bought a lot.” As he continued, he pulled out a few more boxes from the bag. There were five in total. Other than the ones he said, there was also pine nuts and dried raisins. Together it looked like a gift box.

Lin ShuYi looked over with sparkling eyes. The boxes weren’t small and inside were all nuts sugar coated into sparkling pieces.

Seeing his reaction, Xiao Wan’s grandma smiled. It wasn’t nearly as cheap as old man Yang made them out to be. They were still in Tian Chao, even if it was cheap, it couldn’t be super cheap. Not only that, the ones he bought were all de-shelled. He didn’t like sweets so Xiao Wan’s grandma knew instantly who they were for.

“Xiao Fu, have some as well.” Old man Yang said to Shen Fu with a smile. Even after knowing they weren’t brothers, he still treated him the same, just like before.

But, if Shen Fu wasn’t Lin ShuYi’s cousin, he would have to ask what exactly their relationship was. Not to mention, he still remembered what those people who escorted him out said. He knew about his relatives, ignoring the fact that most he lost contact with because of Zhao XueMei, none had that kind of ability or connection. At first, he was still confused, but now he slowly understood. The first time he saw Shen Fu, he knew he wasn’t from an ordinary family, but after so long, he didn’t seem like a young master either. The fact that he was able to do everything made him ignore his initial instinct.

Thinking back, the only reason those people had such a big reaction could only be because of Shen Fu.

Shen Fu didn’t have a sweet tooth like Lin ShuYi, actually his love of sweets was very limited. But seeing Lin ShuYi eating them with such joy, he couldn’t help but think they were tasty as well.

Once they finished eating, Xiao Wan’s grandma left and Lin ShuYi helped bring her stuff back, while Shen Fu and old man Yang cleaned up the rooms.

“Xiao Fu, you were the one who got people to bring me back right?” Old man Yang suddenly said as he was tidying up.

Shen Fu paused for a moment and understood. Old man Yang had figured it out, so there was no point in him hiding it any longer. After all, he already came clean to Lin ShuYi. There was nothing else to say so he smiled and replied, “Ah, so you know now.”

“My memory is getting bad. I completely forgot about the fact that I saw you before.”

Shen Fu’s mouth twitched, as he had completely forgotten about this fact. He had lied to old man Yang saying he was Lin ShuYi’s cousin. Thinking it this far, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed, “Grandpa, so you remembered everything...”

Old man Yang smiled, “Good thing I remembered, otherwise how long were you guys going to hide it from me? But, no matter. No matter who you are, I know you are a good kid....Xiao Yi’s a good kid as well, but can you tell grandpa who you actually are?”

Shen Fu nodded, “Actually I’m not Lin ShuYi’s brother. Ummm, it’s better to say he picked me up.”

Old man Yang exclaimed in surprise, “Picked you up?’

Shen Fu nodded again and told him everything from the beginning.

At first he didn’t want to expose his identity and afterwards it was because old man Yang had already forgotten about him, so explaining it then was unnecessary. Thus, he never told him, not because he was purposely hiding it or anything. Now that old man Yang asked, he told him everything, so that he wouldn’t think he approached Lin ShuYi with ulterior motives. After all, it really was all an accident in the beginning.

Hearing that, old man Yang’s expression didn’t change and even teased him, “So that was also the second time you guys met? Xiao Yi really is kind hearted despite what he says. Did he consider you could’ve been a bad guy?”

Shen Fu didn’t say anything but the corner of his mouth went up. Bad guy? What else would he have done but eat him whole?

Before he could finish his thought, Lin ShuYi came back. Meeting Shen Fu’s unbridledly ‘evil’ gaze, Lin ShuYi felt a cold shiver down his back.

“Grandpa, can I bring Xiao Yi out for a few days?” Once he confessed to old man Yang, Shen Fu called him grandpa left and right. If Old Master Shen, his real grandpa, heard this, he would probably died from anger.

Hearing that, old man Yang was taken aback too, “You want to take a trip as well?”

Shen Fu pulled Lin ShuYi over and said, “He has never been out before, so I wanted to show him around.”

Old man Yang smiled, “Go, go. Why are you asking me? If you guys want to go, then you can go anywhere you’d like.”

Although Shen Fu said he wasn’t Lin ShuYi’s real brother, seeing that their relationship was still good, old man Yang was content.

“Right, Xi Qin Restaurant is starting it’s renovation as well.” Lin ShuYi opened his mouth to say.

Old man Yang hadn’t gone back to the restaurant yet, so he only knew what Lin ShuYi told him and that was he was planning on turning into a private restaurant. He didn’t know they started it this early. Old man Yang paused for a moment and the first thing he thought of was, “Xiao Yi, where did you get this money?”

Lin ShuYi looked at Shen Fu, his gaze was calm as he said, “I used my house as mortgage and borrowed it from him.”

Old man Yang was once again shocked.

Shen Fu could only continue what he had been wanting to say before they were interrupted by Lin ShuYi. “Actually, I own a small company. So I have a bit of money on my hands. He already told me his idea and I think it’s quite good, so I’m in full support of it.”

This time, he didn’t joke around and say that he was a second generation rich kid. The rest he didn’t need to explain because old man Yang could figure out the rest himself.

Like he thought, Shen Fu wasn’t from an ordinary family, then he didn’t need to ask further about his family. However, if that’s the case, why he was being so nice to Lin ShuYi? Although Lin ShuYi used his house as mortgage, Shen Fu clearly didn’t care much about it. Not only that, as unflattering as it may be, Lin ShuYi’s house was even worse than his, even as mortgage it wouldn’t be worth much.

But, just like him, Lin ShuYi had nothing, there was nothing he could be taken advantage for....right?

He already gave Xi Qin Restaurant over to Lin ShuYi. In his mind, he could make all the decisions about it himself, but he still came to ask his opinion. Old man Yang couldn’t help but feel warm inside. Thus, he replied with, “Don’t worry about Xi Qin Restaurant. I’ll take care of it. Didn’t you say you had everything else organized? If I’m just watching over it, then even this old man can do it.” Old man Yang agreed without hesitation and told Shen Fu and Lin ShuYi to go enjoy themselves. Lin ShuYi probably didn’t have an easy childhood, so taking this time to enjoy himself was good.

Thinking about it more, old man Yang went inside and grabbed the card Lin ShuYi gave to him before. Then, he handed it over to Lin ShuYi.

Lin ShuYi didn’t take it, instead he asked old man Yang with furrowed brows, “Grandpa, what is this for?”

Old man Yang smiled, “Take it. You still need to renovate the restaurant and go on a trip. How can you not have money on you? Grandpa’s old and has nothing to give, but I’m desperate enough to take stuff from you.”

Lin ShuYi’s furrowed his brows further, “Grandpa, this money wasn’t given to you. It’s to buy the restaurant. The rest I already have prepared on another card. If you don’t take this card, then I can’t take the restaurant.” Lin ShuYi stared at old man Yang stubbornly, clearly he meant every word he said.

At first, when old man Yang said that he was going to sell the restaurant to Lin ShuYi, he didn’t actually mean it, but to think Lin ShuYi took it seriously and actually saved up money for it... But, Lin ShuYi didn’t even have money himself, there was no way old man Yang could keep this money.

“I know. Grandpa isn’t saying he doesn’t want it, but this money, you can give it to me whenever. Right now is not the time.”

But no matter what old man Yang said, Lin ShuYi wasn’t going to take it back.

Shen Fu was watching on the side and finally, rubbing his temples, pushed the card into old man Yang’s hand as he reassured him, “Grandpa, this is something he gave to you, just take it. If you don’t take it, with his temper, there’s no way he will take it back. Don’t worry, just leave him to me. I’ll be sure to take care of him.”

With one hand across Lin ShuYi’s shoulder, Shen Fu said with the feeling of a son-in-law talking to their mother-in-law, but too bad no one else noticed. Lin ShuYi even looked at him gratefully, “Yeah, grandpa just take it. There’s still him, right?”

Shen Fu looked at Lin ShuYi, pleased. This child learns quickly. He was his soon-to-be husband. Of course he could use his money.

Old man Yang turned to look at Shen Fu then Lin ShuYi. He hesitantly took the card, but he still felt like something wasn’t quite right.