Chapter Twelve: Zhao Shuihe

Her sudden appearance was something of a surprise to me.

Listening to that bright, piping voice of hers, it was obvious she was one of the Zhao family, or at least a distant relative. And from the way she addressed herself, she must have ranked pretty high in the family tree. Only someone of grandmotherly standing would dare call herself that.

After all, women rarely make themselves sound older than they are.

But the real question was: how had she ended up running with Old Master Lei Ren?

I could not make sense of it.

Still puzzling over that, I studied the newcomer carefully.

She was very pretty, about seventeen or eighteen, with a pure, fresh look and fair skin. Yet she seemed heavily shaped by the world around her: at such a young age, she was already wearing denim short shorts, her two long pale legs exposed like sections of white lotus root. On top she had on the simplest white tank. Her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, giving off a crisp, lively air.

This so-called grandmother had almost no ornament at all. The only thing that could barely count as decoration was the small shoulder bag slung across her body.

The pinkish-white bag was stuffed full, and from the strap hung a string of five emperor coins threaded with red cord and red tassels, meant to ward off evil. On the outside was a tiny lotus pattern, apparently hand-embroidered. It looked exquisite, delicate, and very pretty.

After Zhao Grandma reached the mouth of the alley, she simply ignored me and walked straight over to Lei Ren’s side. Pointing at him, she said to Zhao Haikun, "Master Lei has been so filial to me! He fed me all kinds of delicious things! How can you treat such a good man like this!"

What the hell? Lei Ren was a good man?

I was dumbfounded. If this black-hearted crook of a restaurant owner counted as a good man, then I figured everyone in the world might as well be dead.

But at that moment, listening to this little grandmother’s words, I suddenly had a revelation.

Once Lei Ren had learned that I carried the Zhao family’s inheritance, hadn’t he also treated me quite well? Could it be... that from the start, he had wanted me to speak up for him at this very moment, just like this Zhao grandmother was doing now, so I could become the stepping-stone that opened the gate to Zhao Haikun’s family?

Using her connection with the Zhao family to smooth over his grudge with them—wasn’t that his real aim all along?

Thinking this, I could not help glancing sidelong at Lei Ren, who was smiling to himself. A chill of suspicion ran through me.

This old bastard was crafty beyond belief. There was definitely something fishy here. I had to stay on guard.

It was clear to me that, compared with Lei Ren’s old fox tricks, I was still far too green. And as for this Zhao grandmother, who had not seen much of the world, she was even easier to exploit.

And the way Zhao Grandma behaved next only confirmed my suspicion.

She was practically a brainwashed sales pitch in human form.

Little Grandma Zhao began tirelessly extolling the virtues of the Lei uncle-and-nephew pair. She said that ever since she happened to meet Lei Ren, all her food and lodging had been paid for, and she had been having a grand time, traveling from Jinan all the way to Dezhou, and then from Dezhou to Yimeng. With such a filial and considerate junior, how could he not be a good man? Zhao Haikun should not bully a good man.

In the face of Zhao Grandma’s praise, Lei Ren displayed astonishing patience. He even bent slightly at the waist and said with a smile, "Serving Grandma is the duty of our younger generation."

Damn it. No shame whatsoever. He was already old enough to grow a beard down to his chest, and he was still flattering a young girl like this.

After hearing that nauseating flattery, I felt like I was about to vomit. Lei Ren really was something else.

Yet unlike my discomfort, Zhao Haikun remained strangely calm. After all, he was the white-flour master of my Fuzimiao outfit, a man who had seen the world.

Faced with Zhao Grandma’s weaponizing of seniority and Lei Ren’s old fox cunning, Zhao Haikun chuckled and said to her, "Well, well. So it’s the girl from the Zhao family in Huainan who handles the trays. Relying on your seniority again to come out here and swindle people?"

His words instantly knocked Zhao Grandma back to her original form.

The moment she heard the words "handles the trays," her face fell completely. Stamping her foot, she shouted at Zhao Haikun, "You... you’re bullying a child! I do not handle trays! I am a pastry-side master! I am not Zhao Trays! My name is Zhao Shuihe!"

The little girl’s righteous indignation immediately drew laughter from everyone present.

And I was laughing so hard I could barely stand up straight.

So she really was just a kitchen hand!

"Handling the trays" is one of the jobs in a restaurant kitchen. In Cantonese it is called that, though in earlier times people did not necessarily use this term. Among older generations, the Northern term would be something like a red-side assistant or knife helper, while in the South it might be called tray work or an all-purpose prep role.

In plain terms, it means the odd-jobs person.

Anyone who has worked in a restaurant kitchen knows that kitchen work is all connected, one step leading to the next. The bigger the restaurant, the finer the division of labor and the stricter the hierarchy. From the sink station to tray handling, to the stove, to prep, to the wok, each step climbs upward like a ladder to heaven. If a person wants to become a proper cook, they have to start from the most basic menial work.

Though it is said that revolution does not distinguish between high and low, and work does not distinguish between noble and humble, the hidden rules of these different kitchen posts are enough to show a person’s skill and experience.

The "tray handler" Zhao Haikun mentioned was one of the lower-ranking odd jobs in the kitchen. If one were to compare status within the kitchen, it was only slightly above the sink worker who butchered chickens and cleaned fish, and counted as the second-lowest post in the whole place.

So it seemed this girl had plenty of seniority... but not much skill. Otherwise Zhao Haikun would not have mockingly called her "Zhao Trays."

Of course, Zhao Haikun was only teasing a child. Even so, it was enough to make this Zhao Shuihe girl from Huainan extremely unhappy, so angry that her cheeks puffed out.

But what could she do if she was unhappy? It seemed that, beyond using seniority to pressure people, she had no other weapon.

Seeing the embarrassed look on the girl’s face, I felt a little sorry for her. Out of kindness, I stepped in to help her out. "Shuihe, stop fooling around. Go inside first. Leave Lei Ren’s business to the adults."

I meant it as kindness, but to my surprise, my words had the opposite effect. I failed not only to coax her away, but actually drew a more displeased look from Zhao Shuihe.

She snapped irritably, "Who are you calling a child?"

I stared at her in shock. "You said that yourself! We all heard you just now. You told us not to bully you, a child."

After hearing that, Zhao Shuihe suddenly flew into a rage. She came over, sized me up from head to toe, and started making a scene.

That lotus leaf actually had thorns.

The unwilling Zhao Shuihe pointed a finger at my nose and demanded, "Who are you? How dare you lecture me! What school are you from, and what rank are you in the family?"

That question left me momentarily stunned. For a beat, I was too baffled to answer.

Who was lecturing her? I did not think I had meant it that way.

Seeing that I stayed silent, Zhao Haikun, standing nearby, assumed I had been cornered by the little girl, so he answered for me first. "This one is called Tian Buer. He’s Zhao Haipeng’s comrade."

When Zhao Shuihe heard my name, her anger suddenly turned to delight. She looked at me and said, "Ah! So you’re Tian Buer?"

I nodded blankly, and from her expression, I suddenly felt that she seemed to have heard of me before.

Had Old Squad Leader told her about me? If she knew Zhao Haikun, then she should also know my old squad leader.

At that moment, Zhao Shuihe seemed to have heard something extraordinary hidden in my earlier words. After getting my confirmation, she let out an understanding "Oh!" and then tilted her head at me with a sly grin.

That look was pure wicked grandmother-from-the-storybooks.

Under Zhao Shuihe’s bizarre stare, I felt deeply uneasy.

Because I could see the glint of conspiracy in her eyes.