Ch26.1 - The Cat Is Useless (Part One)

Because of the anti-corruption campaign that had been vigorously carried out, the first canteen became famous. But as a result, President Cui was placed in a difficult predicament.

Because after the local tyrant ate at the first canteen, numerous people wanted to emulate him.

Everyone wanted to go to the first canteen through the back door. Although President Cui could afford to treat them all for dinner since a few tens of yuan worth of canteen food was enough for one person to eat their fill, there weren’t enough ducks!

Because of this, Cui QiChao kept a much tighter watch over his ducks and refused to widely receive any more outsiders. Last time was an exception. Moreover, he did not expect such a result. If they kept making exceptions, then what was the difference between receiving special outsiders and keeping their doors wide open for business? 

This was CU’s first canteen, not CU’s private kitchen.

Thus, President Cui had no choice but to refuse amidst the pressure. Fortunately, his background was strong enough, and Cui QiChao was also his own nephew.

But in spite of this, CU’s students and teachers still discussed this matter through the grapevine, contemplating their personal gains and losses when eating at the canteen.

Someone said, “I was xxth in the queue today to get food, but I wasn’t able to get the beef. Let’s have a rational discussion. Do you guys think this is because the auntie who’s responsible for scooping ingredients wasn’t strict enough with the distribution of ingredients or because the first canteen welcomed another VIP?”

Another person said, “I saw a man with a huge belly head upstairs! You guys should go find which local tyrant that was!”

Of course, that person turned out to just be a rice supplier.

With all these unfounded rumours abound, the canteen had to solemnly declare that the auntie responsible for scooping ingredients absolutely wasn’t partial to anyone and that it didn’t receive any more VIP guests. The private room that had been used to receive guests was now converted into a room to place sundries.

. 

Recently, whenever XiaoBai was out herding ducks, it found that the number of people staring at it had increased. It was very confused and thought it had started losing fur. It wasn’t until it had gone closer to listen to the students’ conversations that it learned that these university students were worried about whether it felt upset since his herd was one duck short now.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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XiaoBai cocked its tail in disdain, revealing its balls, before scuttling away.

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Back then, he made sure he bought an ample number of ducks, taking into consideration the possibility of some ducks dying while they were still being reared. But no duck had had an accident so far. The only one who died was the one used to feed the investors.

And so, the extra ducks, together with those that were purposefully kept for the students in the first place, were cooked for the students’ consumption. This was also the first canteen’s way of wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year in advance.

Regardless of whether they were professors or local tyrants, they all bought the same duckies. When these people revealed that they bought the ducks online, their posts became trending yet again. Regardless of whether they bought it because they were smart or wealthy or because the duckies were popular, they felt that they had all made an incredibly wise decision to purchase it.

On the day they started selling the ducks, a lot of people came to the first canteen, so the security office had to step up and deploy a team of security guards. They were afraid that everyone would be too in a hurry to buy the duckies and that something unpleasant might happen. 

“It’s time to eat!!”

The people on the first floor all rushed in, while the second floor was also choked-full of people. They all started to record videos of the situation inside the canteen. They knew they definitely wouldn’t be able to snatch a duck, so they thought it would be better to take a video first. Once they returned home, they could even receive a few likes.

Meanwhile, some people had ill intentions. They recorded the scene where someone announced that it was time to eat, turned it into a GIF, photoshopped a picture of the flavorful duck dish on top, and added the caption: “Charge for the ducks!”

This GIF was so hilarious that it immediately became a popular sticker within CU. 

Anyway, with regards to Cui QiChao’s exclusive agency agreement, the research institute had already carried out experiments in various places. Once they were done collecting the experimental data, they would begin finalizing the experimental results. This would be carried out alongside the breeding process, the data identification, and the negotiation of the product’s price. All this information would then be sent to the Provincial Seed Varieties Approval Committee. Although the screening process of new seed varieties had a low approval rate, they felt that they stood a chance based on their past experience.

Cui QiChao had also made an agreement with them that he would continue to cooperate with the research institute if he were to breed new varieties in the future.

It was now the end of the year. Cui QiChao sun-baked 30 jin of dried chili pepper, prepared a duck, and harvested 10 jin of the vegetables he had planted. Then he prepared a box, stuffed everything in, and planned to drive back to the Cui family home for the new year.

The people at the canteen advised him to leave XiaoBai in the local pet shop. The cat would definitely be nervous due to the change in environment. His family members would be strangers to it, and his relatives might come and go during the New Year celebration. It would be very lively, which would be torturous for him and the cat. 

XiaoBai held onto Cui QiChao’s calf tightly. He didn’t want to go to the pet shop. He could only sleep in a cage at the pet shop. How could it be a lord if he lived in a cage??

Sure enough, Cui QiChao didn’t let him down. “Nah. Even though it’s troublesome, I’m responsible for XiaoBai.”

.

“Come on, XiaoBai. Get in,” said Cui QiChao, patting the cage beside him. 

XiaoBai: “……”

Cui QiChao continued, “I have to do this because I need to drive safely. Come on in.”

He stayed in school until it was already the last day he could remain there before he left for home. Although this was his car, Cui QiChao still bought a cage for XiaoBai.

XiaoBai angrily stepped into the cage and laid inside. 

“XiaoBai’s a good cat.” Cui QiChao touched XiaoBai’s head and placed the cage on the back seat.

He knew that in this virtual plane, the Cui family treasured the concept of family. Although the older generation had already passed away, they still took turns spending the Spring Festival at their brothers’ and sisters’ home. This year, they were all gathered at Cui QiChao’s parents’ home.

Cui QiChao drove along the highway with XiaoBai in the car with him. The drive to the Cui family home took up most of the day. Mother Cui waited downstairs ahead of time and helped him unload all the food. “Come now, we still haven’t finished the food you sent over last time—Oh, this vegetable looks really juicy. Did you just pick it this morning? Great. There’s also a duck here. I know about this duck. It’s more famous than the other things you’ve brought,” Mother Cui said with a smile.

While watching Cui QiChao take out a white square cage from the back seat, she said, “Did you bring the cat back? That’s fine then. Your younger female cousin has just said that she will bring her new cat over to hang out as well.” 

Right at that moment, a blue car drove into the yard and stopped behind them. Cui QiChao’s younger female cousin got out of the car and put down a pet cart.

The cart had four pneumatic tires, and its cockpit was one meter high. Reticulated tracery filled up the space in the front of the cart. Its top had a retractable window, while its back contained a storage bag.

Through the reticulated tracery, one could see a thick and soft mattress inside. Lying on the mattress was a lazy Exotic Shorthair cat, fat and shapeless. One could hardly see its neck, which had a lace bow tied around it. Its body had pressed down the mattress into a round shape.

XiaoBai stared at the Exotic Shorthair cat’s cart and then at the cage underneath him. “……” 

“Oh! Eldest Auntie, Brother.” His younger female cousin pushed the cart forward.

“Lass, you’re dressed up so beautifully today. Even the kitty is in the cart.” Then, stabbing XiaoBai’s heart once again, Mother Cui said, “Unlike your elder brother who’s carrying a rattled cage. He doesn’t even care if people compare him to others.”

His younger female cousin flashed a gloating smile and said, “Elder Brother, I still have stuff that I need to take out. Can you help me with it?”

Cui QiChao conveniently put the cage on top of her cart. “Sure.” 

His younger female cousin opened the trunk and showed him what she had brought. Almost everything was cat products. Although she was only going to stay here for a few days, she couldn’t be negligent towards the cat’s necessities. “I’ve brought everything I need: a water dispenser, a cat nest that has an intelligent temperature control, a weighing bowl, automatic cat litter, cat cans, freeze-dried kibbles, snacks, automated toys…”

XiaoBai: “……”

XiaoBai was already in a trance.

Cui QiChao helped his younger female cousin with her stuff as she pushed their cats into the house. As soon as they got in, they each went to find places to put their stuff down. Cui QiChao took the cage, the cushions, and Xiao Bai’s cat kibbles. The bowl could be used inside the house, and he planned to let XiaoBai solve his toiletry problems in the garden. 

His younger female cousin had different ideas. She filled up almost an entire corner of the house. Her cat had been desensitized rather well toward outdoor scenery, so it wasn’t too scared after it was taken out of the cart.

However, the cat didn’t seem to like this younger female cousin’s hugs. The Exotic Shorthair cat meowed once, pressed its paw against her face, and jumped onto the sofa.

XiaoBai was still in the cage. This meant that it could see the Exotic Shorthair cat’s actions in close-up view. It could see how it raised its paws, how the cat slapped the younger female cousin, causing her face to distort from the impact, how she endured this hardship happily and even cooed to the cat dotingly afterward…

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to hug you,” she even said to the cat. 

“!!!” Its two cat eyes widened into round balls as it received the final blow from another cat owner.

No, this can’t be! How can there be a cat happier than me in this world?!!

Ch26.2 - The Cat Is Useless (Part Two)

The Cui family came home one after the other. Mother Cui made sure to inform everyone in advance to not mention, under any circumstances, changing career paths in front of Cui QiChao. Her son already knew about it very well in his heart, and no one should hurt him—what would they do if they tried to rush him and he fell ill again?

Even Father Cui held back after seeing Cui QiChao and only said, “It’s good that you’ve come back, but why are you still bringing ducks back?”

Cui QiChao’s younger female cousin: “……” It was rare for her to hear such laidback words from her uncle’s mouth.

“I raised them myself, so I brought one back to eat at the end of the year.” Cui QiChao stated. 

“Ah, these are the ones mentioned in the news, right? JieQing said the duck was only served to the most important guests—you see, our son was still thinking about us.” Mother Cui was very happy and let someone cook the duck, and the family got to try this flavorful dish.

No matter what the relatives thought, the moment they put the duck in their mouth, their respect for Cui QiChao rose very high and they finally understood why the first canteen was on the news.

For the past few years, their own chefs had been trying to create a variety of styles for their dishes to the best of their abilities, but this year, Mother Cui specially ordered the chefs to cook the homemade food Cui QiChao made for her before. Fortunately, everyone felt it was a refreshing concept, and this simple cooking method really brought out the original taste of the food.

Cui QiChao also brought back some duck eggs to be made into dumplings and put into soups. They were golden, fragrant, and tender, full of soup juice, and wrapped with bulging meat stuffing. The dish might not have looked fancy, but just a mouthful and a half of the dumplings and everyone could taste its heat and fragrance. The skin was soft, yet with the slightest bounce to hold unbroken on chopsticks. As soon as one bit into the skin, it would break and delicious juices would flow out. The egg rolls and minced meat stuffing were integrated with each other and tasted soft and savoury.

Father Cui and the people in his generation once lived a life of hardship when they were young. Now, they were rich and were used to the taste of new, luxurious foods—but this meal, on the contrary, gave them the nostalgic feeling of returning to their childhood, which they had not felt for a long time. It wasn’t only similar based on the coloring of the food, but also stimulated their deep desire for food.

When they were children, the food was not particularly delicious, but it was the circumstances that made it that way. Later, when delicious foods became common for them, their desire for food gradually waned. Now, this table of simple yet familiar dishes made them rekindle that strong appetite.

“The last one must be left for me. This is the egg my son brought back!” Father Cui firmly said.

President Cui: “Elder brother, I helped you take care of QiChao every day. Although I didn’t receive any merit, I received hardship!” 

“Both of you are already so old, yet you’re still fighting for an egg dumpling. Look around, the kids are laughing at you.” Although Mother Cui admonished them, she had a fond smile on her face.

The brothers and sisters of the Cui family felt as if they had returned to their youths. It was rare for them to spend Chinese New Year all together—the girls and boys who were going through puberty were all fighting and grabbing the food, being laughingly scolded by their parents. The children found it fascinating to see their elders’ rare bout of mischievousness.

The flavorful duck, fried green vegetables, spinach soup, egg dumplings, Mala spicy fish, pine nuts and corn…

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

They were all home-cooked dishes. 

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The entire plate of Mala spicy fish was red, dotted with some green scallion, sesame, and garlic. They used fresh silver carp. The fat and tender fish was fried until the skin was slightly scorched, soaked in fish soup, dipped in a little red oil, and split into two sections, revealing the snow-white and delicate flesh inside.

The interior of the fish was filled with CX-7 and Sichuan pepper. The sliced fish was spicy and delicious. It warmed everyone’s body and caused their noses to sweat, even in winter.

The vegetables were stir fried. If one liked their food more seasoned, one could dip them in the fish soup. The green vegetables, dipped in red oil fish soup were crisp and tender and carried a spicy flavor, and the flavor of fish would be different. 

CX-7 was the new breed of pepper crops bred by Cui QiChao. Everyone praised his genius while eating the food, and although the breed of pepper crop had not obtained the approval of the government, everyone seemed to think that the seeds were set to sell for high prices in the future—Cui QiChao really was a genius.

With their appetites finally filled, Father Cui had a feeling that there was nothing wrong with his son continuing to do this. He was already highly acclaimed, and his family was happy.

Cui QiChao was silent, but being surrounded by such warmth gave him a sense of nostalgia. He went into the kitchen to cook cat food and fetch XiaoBai.

XiaoBai’s mat was in his room. The cat was lying on its back, staring at the ceiling with dead eyes. 

“Xiao Bai, time to eat.” Cui QiChao called.

XiaoBai didn’t move.

“XiaoBai?” Cui QiChao squatted down and saw XiaoBai’s pale and miserable appearance. After thinking about it, he guessed that XiaoBai may have become too stimulated by the previous scene.

He picked up XiaoBai and said in a low voice, “Is XiaoBai unhappy? You want that Exotic Shorthair cat’s cart, too?” 

XiaoBai’s head listlessly hung downwards. At first glance, it was as if his neck had snapped.

No, it also wanted to swat Cui QiChao’s face with its paw.

“You are not the same. That little Exotic Shorthair is a pet cat. You are a working cat. You are not so delicate.” During the Spring Festival, Cui QiChao’s heart melted under the atmosphere created by his family. He also knew that XiaoBai was not an ordinary cat, and his tone was much softer.

He saw that XiaoBai was still half-dead, and said, “How about this, since today is a holiday, you can sleep in my bed.” 

XiaoBai: “!!”

Cui QiChao kept his word. He really took XiaoBai to his bedside and put XiaoBai on the pillow and said, “Just for one night, you can sleep here.”

XiaoBai lay on the soft bed, feeling like it was a dream. It didn’t move for a long time.

On the other side of the bed, Cui QiChao was tired after driving for most of the day. As soon as he laid down, he felt tired and began to doze off. 

XiaoBai had a close-up look at Cui QiChao in his sleep. When he wasn’t speaking or doing anything, Cui QiChao seemed very likeable.

After a while, fireworks burst out, the sound muffled by the window. XiaoBao rubbed its face against the bedsheets, thinking that since even the terrible Cui QiChao could make an exception to open up his bed to it, it was truly the most powerful cat in the world…

Cui QiChao stayed at the Cui family home for ten days. In those ten days, he straightened Mother Cui’s balcony and bought blueberry seedlings and strawberry plants to plant them in rectangular flower pots. At first glance, the plants only sprouted leaves, and they were not much different from regular green plants.

He was very comfortable in the Cui family home, and he could only attribute it to another advantage given to him by this virtual plane. In addition to satisfying his planting desire, he also felt the warmth of his family again. Cui QiChao even thought of accepting XiaoBai as his family member, though he was very clear in his heart that it was still a pet, despite Cui QiChao not truly knowing what XiaoBai was. 

As for XiaoBai’s slight unhappiness about the Exotic Shorthair cat, it had been successfully soothed by Cui QiChao. Besides, it discovered that it was a very fortunate cat that didn’t have to care about its owner.

It was easy to say that that cat would never be able to herd animals. Cui QiChao thought for a long time and it really didn’t match the lineage of a shepherd cat. It was unable to scratch a mouse, would ignore when someone called his name, couldn’t shake hands, and even needed to be fed. It was too fat to even climb up his leg, so Cui QiChao didn’t even look at it. It proved what XiaoBai was thinking.

That cat was useless.

Another thing that made XiaoBai upset again was a trait Mother Cui had in common with Cui QiChao. She woke him up from Cui QiChao’s bed early the next day and said, “Ah, the cat is sleeping. I’ll change the bedsheets and quilt covers for you.” 

XiaoBai couldn’t wait to get into the cage as it abided for Cui QiChao to put him back in the car.

There weren’t that many people on campus by the time they got back, and the canteen staff was still on spring vacation. There were only a small number of people on duty, and Cui QiChao’s vegetable garden was being tended by someone he trusted. The first thing Cui QiChao did after he exited the car was go around the university for an inspection.

Cui QiChao paid special attention to the transplanted fruit trees. In fact, under his care, the new shoots of these trees grew quite well after transplantation, indicating that the roots grew very well. Although it was only the second year, there should be no problem with fruit bearing.

It’s just that compared to normal fruit trees, the harvest may be a bit less. He tried not to overload the tree with flower buds, as too many transplants would become harmful. Even if it wanted to grow more fruits, it wouldn’t be able to bear more. 

This was the disadvantage of fruit trees as compared to trees used for landscaping. They needed a lot of time to take care of them. If it wasn’t for the first canteen undertaking all the work, it wouldn’t have been that easy to transplant the trees.

In the next two months, it will be time for fruit trees to bear fruits.

Every day, the teachers and students of the school would stare at the green fruit and wonder when they could eat it.

Cui QiChao attached great importance after witnessing their longing and specially asked people to patrol under the tree. He was afraid that some students wouldn’t be able to help themselves from picking the fruit before it was ripe enough. Not only would it destroy the fruit, but it would also be dangerous for them to try and casually climb the tree. 

As soon as the fruits reached maturity, Cui QiChao hired a group of students to pick the first batch of peaches that ripened early in their spare time.

The peach he transplanted was called the honey peach, which grew big and pink. After picking it, Cui QiChao gave some ripened ones to the hired students and it made them happy.

In fact, the purpose of the registration was to test if the pavilion closest to the water enjoyed moonlight first. The results from this experiment weren’t surprising. Although they were only transplanted last year, Cui QiChao took very good care of them, and the yield was half that of a normal peach tree. Each of the fruits were heavy, and the surface fuzzy. It was easy to break in half with bare hands, revealing the tender and ruddy pulp and a large pit inside. Just eating the pulp along would make one’s mouth flood with sweet and rich juice. Cui QiChao specially picked ones that were slightly more ripe for their even sweeter and more tender flavors, and the scent alone was enough to fill anyone with joy.

As soon as Cui QiChao saw the quantity of the fruits, he discussed it with the chef. In the next few days, he decided he would take the peaches to make a dish. So far, what he cooked was home-cooked style dishes, so he wanted to make some slight alterations to the dishes. 

The kitchen in the back was operated by staff who had worked in the canteen for a very long time, so they were all calm, clearly used to the ‘innovative dishes’.

But somehow, when the news reached the students, it caused a huge panic.

Before the first canteen changed its owner, a considerable part of the innovative dishes it cooked were fruit related dishes, such as strawberry stew, which was also claimed to be nutritious. As soon as they heard the key words innovation and fruits dishes, the CU students’ legs went soft, and they instantly associated the words with the painful experiences in the past.

How many CU students experienced the nightmares of being poor and hungry when it was very late into the night, and the normal dishes in the canteen have all been wiped out, leaving only strawberry stew, stir fried spicy strip noodles with vermicelli, stir-fried spareribs with sugar cane and so on? 

The black history left deep impressions in their minds, and these young people also had broad imaginations. When they thought that the first canteen was going to make innovative dishes, all kinds of speculation were tossed out by them. Quite a few people had the thought that Boss Cui had had enough fun and was going to retire, so the chefs were all dancing around and wasting the peaches.

Unfortunately, the news was very popular, and many people believed in it. And so they waited for Cui QiChao in the canteen.

Coincidentally, Cui QiChao went to see the experimental field with the people from the Vegetable Research Institute. They were not surprised to see Cui QiChao. The rumor became more and more intense. Even if a small group of people asked the canteen staff about the whereabouts of Cui QiChao, they said that he was busy. With hearts full of distrust and heartache, they wondered when did Beauty Cui put aside the vegetables grown in the school and leave everything behind?

It’s all over. The good days are over. Every meal they are going to have may revert to its original taste at any time. 

The freshmen indignantly posted in the ranting section of the school forum: “In the beginning, I was cheated into the school by the first canteen. It’s been less than a year. As time passes, the newer students become the older students, and soon, we have to be fed with innovative food!”

Attached is a picture of a howling duck with a wide mouth facing the trough. Caption: I don’t agree with this decision!!