Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle

Chapter 1343: Luo Jun: Extra Story (Part 1)

My name is Luo Jun, a Bi Fang who failed the divine tribulation.

Once I thought failing the tribulation was no big deal, it’s what I deserved. What’s so scary about failing it, after all, I’m Bi Fang. But it wasn’t until I truly reincarnated after failing that I realized how frightening failure can sometimes be.

.

Under normal circumstances, even if Luo Jun reincarnated, Qin Huai and the others wouldn’t need to immediately hire a private detective to gather information about newborns nationwide, screening to identify which child is Luo Jun; it’s really unnecessary.

Luo Jun remembers everyone’s phone numbers. In a few years, when Luo Jun can speak clearly and can get hold of his parents’ phone, he would naturally call Qin Huai to reclaim his inheritance.

However, not a single person in the "Loving Family" group chat opposed Chen Huihong hiring a private detective.

Firstly, there is only one person in this group.

Secondly, the minds of those in the group aren’t normal; there are never normal situations in this group.

Chen Huihong was very enthusiastic about finding Luo Jun, and with a single stroke, she generously hired a private detective to find him, leaving everyone moved by her spirit.

The people in the group chat also responded enthusiastically, speculating about where Luo Jun might be reincarnated. What kind of family would it be, rich or poor, happy or quarrelsome, an only child or with siblings, how would a Bi Fang with past life memories face his parents in this life, and would he fight with his kindergarten friends? Would Luo Jun choose to be unique and showcase his genius side, or be cautious and pretend to be a normal child?

Even Cheng Gong, who was in a meeting, couldn’t resist joining the heated discussion for two minutes.

Qin Huai also eagerly joined the group chat, typing away without even replying promptly to Zheng Siyuan’s messages. For a time, he forgot it was long past his work hours and that he should be at home enjoying cheese sticks and TV, sitting in the kitchen playing on his phone.

The boss not leaving work, so Pei Xing and Li Hua didn’t dare leave work either.

Of course, Pei Xing and Li Hua didn’t want to leave work. When Qin Huai hadn’t awakened, despite his high culinary skills, he was terrible at teaching. Listening to him teach was like listening to an incomprehensible scripture, slightly less perceptive people couldn’t grasp it, needing to reach a state of enlightenment to understand Qin Huai’s teachings.

But now it’s different, now that Qin Huai has awakened, though he’s still bad with words, his skills are high.

With absolute skill, no matter how bad at speaking, he could accurately point out issues in Pei Xing and Li Hua’s cooking. Now, Pei Xing and Li Hua feel a glimpse of their apprenticeship days at Zhiwei Restaurant, looking forward each day to Master Qin walking up to them, watching them make snacks, and softly guiding them in a few words. They feel enlightened, wishing they could make snacks in the kitchen for another 10 hours.

Nowadays, Pei Xing is no longer lazy, arrives on time, and saves a fortune in dental expenses, happily working each day, exhausted but satisfied. After work, lying on the sofa at home, scrolling through social media, seeing posts from his Zhiwei Restaurant friends, he feels a sense of pride.

"You were better than me back then, but what’s the point of staying at Zhiwei Restaurant? Do you know how amazing my current workplace is?"

"Do you know how amazing Master Qin is?"

"What, you know? Great if you do, but you can’t come here anyway. Recently, Yunzhong Restaurant isn’t accepting visiting chefs, not even Tan Wei’an."

In this atmosphere, Qin Huai forgot to leave work, indulged in the group chat, and how could Pei Xing and Li Hua bear to leave work? Of course, they had to make another batch of snacks. With the snack masters working overtime, naturally, the helpers can’t leave either. Although it’s a bit stressful, the overtime pay at Yunzhong Restaurant is decent, and most helpers are happy to work extra hours.

An Youyou is especially willing.

An Youyou doesn’t even play on her phone, nor join the group chat, she just puts her head down and works overtime to earn overtime pay. Even though Qin Huai transferred 52% of Yunzhong Restaurant’s shares to her, and gives her payouts every three months, An Youyou still loves working overtime, earning that extra pay, hoping to, with her own strength, become the manager of Yunzhong Restaurant as everyone expects.

As for the dividends from Yunzhong Restaurant...

To be fair, although Qin Huai, inheriting all of Luo Jun’s estate, is now a super rich person, he still sees Yunzhong Restaurant’s revenue as considerable. As a community restaurant, Yunzhong Restaurant has high volume, with snacks priced quite high, and its operating costs low, making its revenue and profits comparable to Huang Ji Restaurant. An Youyou’s quarterly dividends compared to her salary are certainly a huge sum.

But An Youyou is still living paycheck to paycheck, perpetually in poverty.

Upon receiving her first dividend, she immediately bought a rosewood offering table, placed a pure gold Three-Legged Golden Toad on it, and replaced the usual apples and pears with cherries on the table.

Qin Huai doesn’t quite understand what’s special about the aroma of cherries compared to other fruits. If he wanted to smell fruit aroma, he might as well put peaches instead of cherries.

Perhaps the Three-Legged Golden Toad really doesn’t like a good life.

In any case, the Three-Legged Golden Toad still loves working overtime, even after becoming the major shareholder, it still wants to be the manager, remaining in poverty, leaving people wondering where on earth she’s spending her money.

Let’s turn our attention back to Qin Huai.

Qin Huai sat in the kitchen playing on his phone, so engrossed that he didn’t notice the time passing, making the diners’ hearts leap with joy, thinking Master Qin has decided to work extra hours. They all stayed at Yunzhong Restaurant, hoping to buy snacks made by Master Qin.

No one disturbed Qin Huai.

Ouyang was lifting weights in the gym (after Qin Huai improved his cooking, Ouyang gained weight again), Qin Luo was still in school, Pei Xing and Li Hua occasionally stole glances at Qin Huai with hopeful eyes, wishing Master Qin would come to them.

Qin Huai remained unfazed, focused on playing on his phone, eagerly discussing what kind of family Luo Jun would be reborn into, and what sparks would fly with his parents.

It’s truly something to look forward to!

Just as they were chatting, Zhang Shumei walked into Yunzhong Restaurant with a smile on her face, carrying a basket of groceries.

As a well-known top babysitter in Yunzhong District, Zhang Shumei has been living quite comfortably since Luo Jun passed away. Yunzhong District is a school district, and Luo Jun gave Zhang Shumei a 4-bedroom 2-living room flat, with a total area of about 300 square meters. After the house was transferred over, Zhang Shumei’s son and daughter-in-law moved in together. Zhang Shumei works as a babysitter during the day at her new employer’s house, goes home to sleep at night, often buys snacks from Yunzhong Restaurant, and occasionally chats with Qin Huai.

Huang Xi was in the hall and greeted Zhang Shumei with a big smile: "Sister Zhang, you’re here! Master Pei and Master Li are still on shift, and we have fresh snacks just out of the pot."

Zhang Shumei was also smiling broadly, to be precise, she was smiling so much she couldn’t close her mouth. She reached into a basket and pulled out a red egg to give to Huang Xi: "I’m not buying snacks today. My daughter-in-law just gave birth at the hospital, a big baby boy weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces. I’m here to give everyone red eggs."

With that, Zhang Shumei showcased the speed of a top babysitter, swiftly distributing red eggs to the employees at Yunzhong Restaurant.

Everyone congratulated her, and a round-faced, chubby server curiously asked Zhang Shumei: "Aunt Zhang, have you named your grandson yet?"

"Yes, the names were decided long ago. The boy is called Chen Jun, and the girl is called Chen Shu. They are both good names; my son and daughter-in-law feel Mr. Luo’s name brings good fortune, so they named the boy after him."

It’s fair to say that Luo Jun used a house and 2 million yuan to buy the naming rights for Zhang Shumei’s grandson.

After distributing red eggs in the hall and to familiar customers, Zhang Shumei asked Huang Xi to tell the kitchen staff so they could come out and get their red eggs.

According to Zhang Shumei’s hometown tradition, giving red eggs when a child is born brings luck, and the red eggs must be handed over personally. Zhang Shumei understands the rules at Yunzhong Restaurant; as an outsider, she can’t enter the kitchen.

Huang Xi quickly went into the kitchen to tell Qin Huai.

Qin Huai was in a group chat, discussing the possible psychological activities of Luo Jun when attending kindergarten later. When he heard Huang Xi say Zhang Shumei’s grandson was born and she’s here to give red eggs, his first reaction was:

No way, could it really be this coincidental?

Qin Huai walked out in a bit of a daze, and Zhang Shumei handed him a red egg with a smile.

Qin Huai tentatively asked: "Aunt Zhang, when was your grandson born?"

"Six hours ago; her water broke last night. My son and I took Yanyan to the hospital overnight. These red eggs were prepared in advance and distributed at the hospital; now I’ve come specially to distribute them here. According to the tradition back home, red eggs must be given out on the day the child is born."

"There are two more baskets at home; once all are distributed I have to return to the hospital. Master Qin, would you like to take a couple more? Absorb some of the good fortune." Zhang Shumei said, smiling.

"Have you named your grandson yet?" Qin Huai asked again.

"Yes, he is named after Mr. Luo, called Chen Jun."

Although Qin Huai hasn’t seen the just-born Chen Jun yet, his intuition tells him that this child is likely to be Luo Jun.

Luo Jun has reincarnated as Zhang Shumei’s grandson.

Qin Huai was already eager to go to the hospital.

But Qin Huai knows it’s not the right time yet; when Qin Luo was born, Qin Huai was there at the hospital and saw firsthand what Qin Luo looked like just after birth.

Though Qin Luo loves reading novels that often write about reincarnation, with phrases like "I have been reborn back into my mother’s womb, this time I will reclaim everything I lost before," in reality, newborns can’t do anything; some even can’t open their eyes. Qin Luo, for instance, opened his eyes 18 hours after birth.

Even if Luo Jun is gifted and can open his eyes right after birth, he can’t speak, and there’s a high chance he won’t understand what Qin Huai and others are saying.

A newborn has poor hearing due to residual amniotic fluid in the ears, which takes about three days to clear up. Alongside poor hearing, their vision is also lacking, only about one-thirtieth of an adult’s.

Even if Qin Huai and others want to confirm whether Zhang Shumei’s grandson is Luo Jun, they can’t do it right now — they’ll have to wait a few days to confirm.

"Aunt Zhang, when will your daughter-in-law be discharged? When would it be convenient for us to visit your house to see the child? Sister Hong has a gap in the articles this month, so we’ll bring along some things to your home and you provide some material to help them complete their tasks."

Although Zhang Shumei doesn’t understand how she could help Chen Huihong complete tasks when there are no elderly living alone or left-behind children at her home, she nods to show her cooperation.

After setting a date for their visit with Zhang Shumei, Qin Huai doesn’t delay her red egg distribution and excitedly sends a message to the group chat.

Qin Huai: I think I know which family Luo Jun has reincarnated into!

Chen Huihong: ?

Chen Huihong: ??

Chen Huihong: ???

Chen Huihong: Qin Huai, which private detective did you hire? They’re investigating so quickly, I haven’t even paid yet!

Seeing Chen Huihong almost instantly replying with four messages, Qin Huai couldn’t help but marvel that someone who often plays with their phone really does have superior typing speed; while others hadn’t even typed out the first question mark, Chen Huihong had already typed out six question marks and a line of text.

Indeed, the one who cares most about Bi fang still has to be the Plant Spirits.