Los Angeles, Chinatown, Rongfu Hall, a Chinese restaurant claiming to be an "old brand."
Orange chicken, sweet and sour pork, sesame chicken, General Tsoâs chicken.
Four dishes of chickenâno, three dishes of chicken plus one of porkâall are sweet, yet each sweet in its own unique way, which is quite fascinating.
Of course, the important thing is, they definitely donât suit the taste of the women, even Liu Qingyan, whoâs usually not picky, put down her chopsticks after just a couple of bites.
Facing a table full of dishes, they looked at each other, surprised and puzzled, and then all their eyes focused on Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng grinned helplessly, "So I really have to make a move?"
"You said it yourself." Shen Ying chuckled, her eyes curved, "Besides, you really want us to eat this stuff?"
After laughing, Shen Ying pointed to a dish of sweet mapo tofu in front of her, putting on a pitiful look that made even Zhang Weili feel a surge of protective instinct.
"I canât bear it! I canât bear it!"
Lu Zheng shook his head, helpless, and called for the waiter, "Could you bring your manager here?"
A Latina waitress came over, understood Lu Zhengâs words, and quickly ran to the front desk, bringing back a middle-aged Chinese man.
"Hello, sir, what can I do for you?" The middle-aged man approached, speaking Mandarin with a Minnan accent.
Lu Zheng said, "Hello, we are tourists from China. We really canât get used to your Chinese dishes with Lighthouse Country flavors."
"Oh, fellow countrymen from China." The middle-aged man greeted politely, then said apologetically, "But our kitchen staff now arenât very good at cooking traditional Chinese dishes..."
"Itâs okay." Lu Zheng waved his hand, "So, could I use your kitchen for a bit? Weâll still pay for the food."
"Huh?"
The middle-aged man was taken aback; he had seen people borrow the restroom, but never the kitchen.
"You can watch me. I wonât mess around. Iâm a chef myself." Lu Zheng smiled.
"Well... alright."
The middle-aged man, the owner of the restaurant, thought for a moment and agreed. After all, it wasnât a big deal.
"Please, follow me." The middle-aged man gestured politely and reminded, "But our kitchen may not have all the spices a restaurant in China would have."
"No problem, Iâll use whatever you have." Lu Zheng shook his head and smiled, "Thank you."
"Youâre welcome, itâs no trouble."
The middle-aged man led Lu Zheng to the kitchen, informed the cook and assistants, cleared a stove for Lu Zheng, then left the Latina waitress to assist, returning to the restaurant hall.
And that Latina waitress being there also seemed to have a monitoring intent.
Lu Zheng didnât mind; it was good that the owner was cautious. In case of a bad person, tampering with the ingredients, how would they deal with that?
So, being allowed to use the kitchen was fortunate enough, and Lu Zheng seriously suspected it was thanks to all the beauties at the same table.
So Lu Zheng, with a confident smile, picked up a knife under the skeptical gazes of the kitchen staff, looked around, and chuckled with confidence.
"Heh heh heh heh..."
...
Leaving Lu Zheng busy in the kitchen, the women left in the hall naturally started chatting about topics only women would discuss.
And this topic naturally continued from what Liu Qingyan and Zhao Xiaodao were discussing just now.
"Uh, Sister Qingyan..." the little assistant spoke hesitantly, "Look at me, I..."
Liu Qingyan glanced at the little assistantâs not much larger slope compared to Zhao Xiaodaoâs and curiously asked Zhao Xiaodao, "Did you recruit your assistant based on similarity to yourself?"
Liu Qingyan had seen videos of Lu Zhengâs group in Africa, and it seemed Zhao Xiaodaoâs previous assistant, too, sported an A-cup.
Thinking of Sister Jing, the little assistant instinctively cast suspicious looks at Zhao Xiaodao, who straightened up and denied seriously.
"Iâm not, I donât, donât talk nonsense!"
"Haha, I think itâs true!" Zhang Weili nodded in agreement while the little assistant showed a bit of grief.
Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan laughed, teasing Zhao Xiaodao, even Si Lingxi couldnât help chuckling as she glanced between Zhao Xiaodao and the little assistant.
Just as they were joking, outside suddenly came a commotion, growing louder and closer, mixed with screams, cries, and even... gunshots!
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out, Lin Wan turned her head suddenly, "Whatâs going on?"
"Not good! Itâs getting out of hand!" The ownerâs face changed, he went to the door to take a look, and backed away in panic.
At the same time, several tables of diners quickly stood up, tossed some money onto the tables, and rushed out the door.
"Whatâs happening?" Zhang Weili grabbed the owner.
"Itâs because of what happened a few days ago, theyâre causing trouble again!" The owner said anxiously, "They might start looting again, and Iâve heard there are many people marching in the Los Angeles District; if this escalates, there could be big trouble!"
As the owner finished speaking, they could see through the restaurant window that many people had rushed onto the street, mostly African-Americans, but also Latinos, Whites, Indians, and Asians.
"Theyâre protesting a white cop killing a black man and yet smashing up Chinatown?" Zhao Xiaodao felt her worldview shatter.
"It was like this back in â92!" The owner muttered, then went to close the restaurant.
But he was too slow; a group had already arrived, several Whites stormed into the convenience store across the street, looting and pulling knives to warn the Chinese woman store owner not to move.
Meanwhile, several African-Americans rushed into the restaurant, one even pulled out a gun, pointed at the owner, while two others quickly ran to the restaurant counter, smashed the cash register, and stuffed money into their pockets.
The owner raised his hands in surrender, gesturing toward the counter, "The money in the restaurant is all there, feel free to take it, just please donât hurt anyone or damage the place, I beg you!"
Zhang Weili kept her eyes on the gunman, her palms sweaty, ready to act, while sneaking glances toward the kitchen.
Shen Ying looked at the several African-Americans and then across to the convenience store, turned to ask Lin Wan, "Arenât you going to act?"
Lin Wan frowned, hesitating, "The stores all have insurance, if the damage isnât too bad, we shouldnât act, or these stores may face retaliation later, and we canât protect them always."
Right then, a Chinese girl was dragged out by her hair from the storage room of the convenience store across the street, thrown to the ground, and kicked several times, while the African-Americans whoâd just grabbed the money saw Lin Wanâs group, their eyes lit up, circling them with sneers and slowly approaching.
Lin Wanâs face darkened, Shen Ying and Liu Qingyanâs eyes flashed, while Si Lingxiâs Divine Thought swept over, seeing the same scenario occurring over a hundred miles: riots, vandalism, car fires, and heinous crimes, totaling near ten thousand people.
The moment Zhang Weili and Lin Wan sprang into action, and Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying prepared their techniques, Si Lingxi subtly blinked her eyes.
Suddenly, an abrupt change occurred!