The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World
Chapter 336 - 335: Truly Impressive
On Tuesday, Lin Minghao’s train arrived in Bei’an at eleven o’clock.
Fu Yu had taken time off in advance, and on that day, he timed it just right to take a cab to the train station.
The train was not delayed, and Fu Yu arrived just as it was entering the station.
A continuous stream of travelers flowed out of the exit.
Fu Yu’s initial flustered emotions due to Lin Minghao’s sudden arrival vanished the moment he saw him.
At six-foot-tall, Lin Minghao was covered with luggage like a walking baggage rack, laboriously squeezing through the crowd.
As soon as he saw Fu Yu, Lin Minghao happily greeted him, "Brother!"
Fu Yu took his two oversized suitcases, pulling one with each hand. The cases were extremely heavy, and while dragging them, he could feel the wheels making a small but skin-crawling noise.
Relieved, Lin Minghao quickly shifted the two messenger bags hanging from his shoulders to carry by hand. Even then, he had a bulky large black backpack on his back.
"I thought you hadn’t arrived yet. Didn’t Auntie say this is the busiest time at your shop? Did you take special time off to come pick me up?"
Fu Yu responded with a counter-question, "Did you empty the house?"
The large and small bags were quite impressive.
Lin Minghao chuckled and explained, "I brought all my belongings — over a thousand tubes of lipstick, more than three hundred bottles of foundation, plus barrier cream, facial cleanser, and masks. These are all top-sellers in the market now, but half the price of those in stores."
Fu Yu couldn’t help but glance at the suitcase in his hand.
Goodness!
It was all filled with cosmetics!
As they walked, Lin Minghao inspected the Bei’an train station.
Not bad, the station was newly built and looked quite grand, much better than the rundown station in their university town.
After looking around, Lin Minghao was satisfied and had a good initial impression of Bei’an.
He then smiled and asked Fu Yu, "Brother, do you want any of these cosmetics? I’ll give them to you at cost!"
Fu Yu stopped and wiped his sweat, "Of course not, I’m a guy, why would I need cosmetics?"
Having endured a long train ride and now burdened with luggage, Lin Minghao panted, "What’s wrong with being a guy! Once you hit a certain age, men need skincare too! Let me check for you later. I’m telling you, brother, skincare is important! The face is a person’s front porch!"
With Lin Minghao’s constant persuasion along the way, Fu Yu took him to Zhao Meng’s place by cab.
Initially, he planned to temporarily place Lin Minghao in a hotel on Qianlima Side Street.
The restaurant’s dormitory had explicit rules against outsiders staying.
Anyway, once Lin Minghao registered and attended classes at the training school, he could stay there, so he’d only be at the hotel for two or three days at most.
But when Zhao Meng heard, he insisted that Fu Yu bring him to his own house.
Zhao Meng said, "The house isn’t tidied up, let him stay and clean, it’ll be his lodging fee."
Only then did Fu Yu agree to let Lin Minghao temporarily stay at Zhao Meng’s place for two days.
They took a cab to Zhao Meng’s house.
Lin Minghao was amazed at the neighborhood in front of him, "Brother, did you buy a house?"
Fu Yu shook his head, "No, this is my master’s house, borrowing it for your temporary stay."
Lin Minghao was astounded, "So being a chef is so lucrative? This upscale community must have expensive housing prices!"
But his amazement lasted only until Zhao Meng’s doorstep.
When Fu Yu unlocked the door, Lin Minghao saw the messy spacious duplex inside and felt a tremendous letdown.
"What a waste!"
Lin Minghao dropped his luggage and took a tour upstairs and downstairs.
In disbelief, he asked Fu Yu, "Brother, is your master’s house freshly renovated?"
Fu Yu nodded, "Renovation’s done but haven’t had time to clean."
He’d been too busy with work to come over, so until now, only one bedroom and the bathroom upstairs were cleaned, and the piled-up renovation waste was removed.
Downstairs, only the living room was tidied up a bit, and no other furniture or items were organized yet.
The two moved all the luggage to the cleaned room on the second floor.
For the next two days, Lin Minghao temporarily stayed in this room.
Sweaty, Fu Yu sat on the bed, watching Lin Minghao rummage through his enormous pile of cosmetics.
He realized these products were just like the ones sold at mall counters — beautifully packaged and expertly crafted.
The difference was he’d never heard of the brands.
Of course, it might also be because he never paid attention to such things.
Lin Minghao brought these cosmetics from manufacturers through his channels, intending to sell them during a live-streaming competition.
Looking at the full two suitcases of lipsticks and the three large bags of assorted cosmetics, Fu Yu felt that Lin Minghao’s sales plan was an ambitious undertaking!
Once Lin Minghao organized his things, Fu Yu got up and said, "Let’s go, my treat, we’re going to Qianlima for a meal!"
After a long journey and exhausting unpacking, Lin Minghao was thrilled, "Brother, are you taking me to your shop to eat?"
Qianlima is a somewhat famous restaurant in Bei’an, heavily promoted by restaurant-hopping influencers over the past two years, and previously featured by the provincial TV station, its local fame has significantly increased.
Qianlima is renowned for its seafood, frequented by their view of socially successful individuals, while cash-strapped college students would never dine there, even for someone like Lin Minghao with a relatively well-off family, Qianlima seemed too extravagant.
Fu Yu helped Lin Minghao up from the ground, "Yes, Qianlima. I’ll let you try some of the restaurant’s specialties."
Lin Minghao was immediately excited, his fatigue vanishing, eagerly following Fu Yu to Qianlima.
Fu Yu was already handsome, but compared to the delicately-featured, tall, and lean Lin Minghao, he fell slightly short.
The main reason was that while Fu Yu had inherited his mother’s eyes and eyebrows, his nose, mouth, and face shape resembled his father.
And his mother was known as a great beauty among her peers, while his father had average looks.
The combination lowered Fu Yu’s baseline appearance.
Lin Minghao, on the other hand, almost perfectly inherited the looks of Fu Yu’s aunt, and his physique mirrored his father’s — tall and well-built.
The brothers entered Qianlima’s main entrance, immediately drawing a lot of glances, their heads turning frequently.