The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Fu Yu chatted with his parents for a while and, noticing it was getting late, went back to his room to rest.

Lin Minghao, on the other hand, once again had an unpleasant ending with his parents, lying on the bed unhappily complaining to Fu Yu.

”Brother, what do you think my parents are thinking? Why can’t they understand me? It’s my life, why can’t I be in control...”

Fu Yu unknowingly fell asleep amidst Lin Minghao’s endless complaints.

The next morning, Fu Yu found a breakfast shop on a side street, where the two families sat at separate tables and chose their favorite meals to eat.

Since returning home during the New Year, it seemed almost a year since they last saw their parents.

The three of them always had endless things to talk about.

Moreover...

Fu Yu dropped out of high school to attend culinary school. Even though Mr. Fu and Mrs. Fu were open-minded, the attitudes of relatives and friends still made them feel pressured.

Now, Fu Yu finally achieved something, and the family’s financial situation greatly improved, which eased a lot of the burden on Mr. and Mrs. Fu’s shoulders.

With less pressure, their mood naturally improved significantly.

Fu Yu’s family was enjoying their conversation warmly while eating.

On Lin Minghao’s side, the three of them ate silently.

Even when they left the breakfast shop after eating, the family’s expressions did not improve.

Mrs. Fu thought about advising them, but considering they were about to go sightseeing, she hoped some time in nature might reconcile them.

After all, they were a family; there wasn’t any deep hatred, just a lack of agreement, communication, and understanding.

With that thought, Mrs. Fu swallowed her words of advice.

Mrs. Fu turned to urge Fu Yu, ”Let’s go to Sifeng Mountain.”

Sifeng Mountain truly lived up to its reputation as a famous tourist attraction in Bei’an.

Surrounded by mountains and water, the environment was tranquil.

Zhao Meng gave them a hundred vouchers, and Fu Yu directly chose a resort hotel in the scenic area for two days’ stay.

During these two days, they climbed mountains, visited temples, had barbecues in the wild, fished in the reservoir—all activities covered by vouchers, they enjoyed thoroughly.

It might have been because they used vouchers, Fu Yu didn’t feel any pain spending money; it felt particularly satisfying.

As if vouchers weren’t money at all.

The elders, hearing that the vouchers had an expiration date and would be wasted if not used, enjoyed themselves immensely.

But while they relaxed and had fun, they didn’t neglect important matters.

The resort in the scenic area didn’t include meals, and meals were particularly expensive.

So every day, around noon, the whole family took the large bus from the scenic area back to the city to taste all kinds of Bei’an specialties and then went to the sales office on Red Flag Avenue to look at houses.

Yao Shi’s name indeed worked wonders. Once Fu Yu mentioned Yao Shi referred them to look at houses, they were immediately upgraded from a salesgirl to a manager in charge.

The manager was extremely polite, providing a detailed introduction of the entire community, including geographical advantages, environment planning, pros, and cons of several houses, and finally, Fu Yu’s family took a liking to two houses.

Both faced south, with a layout of three bedrooms and two living rooms, both on the third floor of a multi-story building, with spacious, enclosed balconies on both the south and north sides.

One was near the community entrance, and the other close to the back gate.

The house at the main entrance was closer to Xuefu Road, while the one at the back gate was not far from the morning market and the park.

Besides the location difference, the two houses varied a lot in size.

The house near the main entrance had a rectangular living room and was smaller.

Meanwhile, the house at the back gate had a square living room and was larger.

Mr. and Mrs. Fu noticeably preferred the larger one.

However, a larger size meant a higher price.

When it came to money, Mr. and Mrs. Fu immediately appeared worried.

Before coming to Bei’an, they anticipated high house prices here but never expected them to be this steep.

If they really wanted the larger one, Fu Yu only barely had enough to pay the down payment, and the future mortgage would be a huge burden.

The thought of this house gave the two elders quite a headache.

After returning from Sifeng Mountain, they even booked an extra day at a chain inn on the side street.

The manager responsible for the sale was a very enthusiastic and professional person and provided many reasonable suggestions for these two houses.

Although the houses were not yet built, just based on the models and the sales staff’s descriptions, many of the currently available homes had already been sold.

The sales manager, with much patience, discussed lighting, layout, and even Feng Shui, wholeheartedly persuading Fu Yu’s family not to regret it later because of short-term financial pain.

Mr. and Mrs. Fu were quite moved by the manager’s words.

Fu Yu initially planned to choose the larger house, not only because of the location but mainly because it was close to the back gate. Once it was furnished, his parents could come live with him.

Living near the morning market and park would also be very convenient.

As for considering Xuefu Road, let’s not worry prematurely about children before there’s even a girlfriend.

Fu Yu listened absent-mindedly as the sales manager persuaded his parents, while casually observing other customers in the sales office.

Customers coming to buy houses were all well dressed.

The location on Red Flag Road was quite good, and the houses were relatively pricier.

Just a few months ago, Fu Yu wouldn’t dare think about buying a house, but now, he was part of the home-buying crowd.

Being in this environment felt somewhat surreal.

”Hey! Fu Yu!”

Fu Yu turned towards the voice, seeing a young couple walking over arm in arm, clearly in love.

Fu Yu’s gaze swept across the man’s vaguely familiar face and paused on the petite young woman beside him.

As their eyes met, Fu Yu felt a tremor in his heart.

This face had appeared in his brief school life for over a year, very familiar and dear.

But seeing her now, Fu Yu took a deep breath and then smiled gently.

”Fu Yu, it really is you!”

Guo Xinyi let go of her boyfriend’s arm, stepped forward, and smiled at Fu Yu, revealing a cute dimple.

Time had flown by, and the few years had brought noticeable changes to the person in front of him.

Her hair was longer, her face, elegantly made up, looked much slimmer, and out of her school uniform and in a well-fitting outfit, she appeared poised with a touch of mature elegance.

That smile took Fu Yu back to his high school classroom.

Guo Xinyi used to smile like that, a cute dimple appearing at the corner of her mouth.