Chapter 36: New-Style Cantonese Cuisine, French Bread-Baked White-Cut Chicken…

When Bai Yuanzhi got off work,

Chen Shen’s secretary Anthony was already anxiously waiting at the west gate of the Bilanting Hotel.

The railing that had been damaged by Duoluoxi’s car crash yesterday had been removed, but the new railing hadn’t arrived yet, leaving an empty gap;

The skid marks on the concrete ground were clearly visible;

The bloodstains left by Duoluoxi had been cleaned, but faint traces could still be seen.

It was unclear how long Anthony had been standing at the west gate entrance,

But there he was, dressed in a suit, one hand in his trouser pocket, the other holding a cigarette between two fingers, staring blankly at the skid marks on the ground.

“Mr. Anthony?” Bai Yuanzhi asked curiously, “Why are you here?”

Anthony was startled.

Seeing it was Bai Yuanzhi, he sighed in relief and smiled bitterly, “Miss Bai, I was specifically waiting here for you.”

Bai Yuanzhi promptly showed a surprised expression, “Mr. Anthony, aren’t you very busy?”

Anthony felt somewhat ashamed, “Miss Bai, please don’t tease me, I… I’m very sorry for speaking to you that way before.”

Bai Yuanzhi knew when to stop.

“So? Mr. Anthony, now that you’re waiting for me here, is there something you need?” Bai Yuanzhi asked.

Anthony said, “I wanted to ask you about some… details of yesterday’s car accident.”

“After all, now that Mr. Zhou and Duoluoxi are both in police custody, even if I wanted to ask, it’s difficult to know the details,” Anthony explained.

Bai Yuanzhi nodded, “Then I’ll shamelessly take advantage of Mr. Anthony’s treat for a meal.”

“Of course, of course!”

And so, at Bai Yuanzhi’s suggestion, Anthony drove her to a restaurant.

Yes, during her leisure time, Bai Yuanzhi also kept an eye on which local restaurants had good food, preparing for future needs.

So today, the restaurant Bai Yuanzhi requested to go to was called Wang Ji, specializing in a “new-style Cantonese cuisine” theme.

Cantonese cuisine is basically divided into three major schools:

Guangfu cuisine, also known as Shunde cuisine;

Chaoshan cuisine;

And then there’s Hakka cuisine.

Wang Ji Restaurant mainly serves a modified version of Guangfu cuisine.

Thus, Bai Yuanzhi ordered three dishes: French bread-baked white-cut chicken, amber hundred-flavor nuts, and shrimp paste steamed water spinach.

French bread-baked white-cut chicken involves placing a raw chicken inside a bread dough to bake; when the bread is done, the raw chicken inside is also cooked.

When eating, you cut open the outer layer of bread,

The bread is baked crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, soaked with delicious chicken juices, and when eaten, dipped in the restaurant’s specially made roasted garlic chili powder, it’s crispy and especially tasty!

The white-cut chicken inside is very traditional, paired with traditional ginger-scallion dipping sauce, also very delicious.

As for the amber hundred-flavor nuts, it’s a dish made by stir-frying and cooking amber walnuts, salt-roasted cashews, fresh broad beans, peanuts, fresh ginkgo nuts, etc. It’s not very rice-friendly, but extremely tasty.

Shrimp paste steamed water spinach belongs to the traditional type of Cantonese dish, though the truly traditional shrimp paste steamed water spinach is stir-fried, but Wang Ji Restaurant changed it to a steaming method, which is indeed innovative.

Anthony was preoccupied with worries.

However, after eating a few bites, he couldn’t help but start asking Bai Yuanzhi for various details.

Bai Yuanzhi didn’t hold back either, not only clearly recounting what she saw and heard yesterday but even sharing her suspicions that Li Yongzhen’s disappearance seemed to be related to Zhou Weihao, telling Anthony everything.

Anthony was very anxious and couldn’t wait for Bai Yuanzhi to finish eating.

He placed several large-denomination banknotes on the table and politely told Bai Yuanzhi, “Miss Bai, I’m very sorry, but I suddenly remembered that I seem to have something very important to attend to… so I must leave first. This is the money for the bill. I’ll leave it here. Please don’t mind, and I’ll make it up to you another day by treating you to another meal.”

Bai Yuanzhi was delighted. “Please go ahead, Mr. Anthony.”

After Anthony left, Bai Yuanzhi sat alone in the restaurant, happily eating until she was full, then packed up all the leftover dishes.

When she returned to Xingfu Building, Zhou Zhaoer was already there.

As soon as she saw Bai Yuanzhi, she exclaimed excitedly, “Third Sister! You were absolutely right today! I went to find Mom early in the morning and insisted she help me settle my matter. She was quite impatient and told me she had no time today. Remembering your words, I didn’t back down. She had no choice but to take me to the Immigration Department, and my matter has already been taken care of!”

As she spoke, Zhou Zhaoer handed over a stack of documents and proofs for Bai Yuanzhi to see. “Look, Third Sister!”

Bai Yuanzhi took them and examined them.

The documents indicated the mother-daughter relationship between Zhou Zhaoer and Zhou Xiangmei, and specifically noted that Zhou Zhaoer was a minor over sixteen but under eighteen years old, requiring care and subsidies from the Hong Kong government.

Additionally, Zhou Zhaoer had successfully obtained a temporary residence permit, but she needed to report to the Immigration Department every three months until she turned eighteen, at which point she would need to apply for another form of temporary residence permit.

During this period, Zhou Zhaoer could legally work part-time in Hong Kong City.

Once she had stayed in Hong Kong City for the required number of years and paid the required taxes according to regulations, she would be eligible for formal Hong Kong City residency in the future.

“Third Sister! I’m so happy!” Zhou Zhaoer said excitedly. “I finally have an identity! From now on, I won’t be afraid of seeing the police anymore…”

Then she changed the subject. “Third Sister, how did you know Mom would definitely help me with this today?”

Bai Yuanzhi thought to herself: At this stage, what Zhou Xiangmei is most anxious about is finding Li Yongzhen and getting her salary and bonuses, and there are only two days left before the deadline…

How could Zhou Xiangmei not be in a hurry?

But then Zhou Zhaoer showed up halfway, insisting that Zhou Xiangmei help her with the temporary residence permit.

To ensure she could smoothly get Li Yongzhen’s money,

Zhou Xiangmei had to deal with Zhou Zhaoer’s matter first, to avoid Zhou Zhaoer bothering her again.

However, someone as simple-minded as Zhou Zhaoer wouldn’t understand even if she explained too much.

So Bai Yuanzhi said, “Because you went to find her a few days ago, I went to find her yesterday, and you went to find her again today… We went too often, and she was afraid Mr. Wu would look down on her!”

Zhou Zhaoer suddenly understood. “Third Sister, you’re so clever!”

Bai Yuanzhi just smiled without saying anything.

Zhou Zhaoer then noticed the food Bai Yuanzhi had brought back and asked excitedly, “Third Sister, what’s this?”

Bai Yuanzhi was already very full, and recently she had been able to ensure she had three meals a day. She no longer cared about food as much as she used to, so she handed the takeout box to Zhou Zhaoer. “You can have it!”

Zhou Zhaoer happily took the box, and her eyes lit up when she saw what was inside. “Wow, there’s chicken!”

Bai Yuanzhi planned to take a shower and then go to bed to read and study.

As she tidied up, she said to Zhou Zhaoer, “Now that you’re officially registered, you shouldn’t take on those messy jobs anymore…”

Zhou Zhaoer froze.

“You’re still a minor. If you want to work, it can only be under the supervision and assistance of community volunteers, doing light but legitimate work,” Bai Yuanzhi instructed. “If you’re willing to listen to me, then go to night school.”

“I’ll pay for it… Hmm, you can attend the same night school as me. However, I’m in the advanced class, aiming for Hong Kong University in the future. If your foundation is weak, you can join the intermediate class and aim for high school later.”

With that, Bai Yuanzhi glanced at Zhou Zhaoer. “But I’ll only cover your tuition. You’ll have to figure out your living expenses on your own.”

Zhou Zhaoer’s expression immediately fell.

She glared at Bai Yuanzhi, angrily biting into a chicken nugget and letting out a heavy snort.

Bai Yuanzhi added, “I should also remind you that I’ll be moving out in half a month… If you want to renew the lease on this apartment, you’ll have to talk to Aunt Huang yourself. If you don’t want to rent it anymore, then you can move in with your mom.”

“After all—”

“Now that Li Yongzhen no longer lives at your mom’s place, there should be an empty bed, right?” Bai Yuanzhi said casually.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhaoer’s anger instantly turned to joy. “Really? That’s great! Then… then I’ll move in with Mom. Food and lodging will be free!”

Bai Yuanzhi smiled faintly and said nothing more.

What she didn’t remind Zhou Zhaoer was—

Li Yongzhen was Wu Hao’s niece, and even the Wu family couldn’t tolerate her.

How could they possibly tolerate Zhou Xiangmei’s daughter?

Relying on others

is never as reliable as relying on oneself.

The next day, while at work, Bai Yuanzhi suddenly received a pager message.

Judging by the number, it was likely from Anthony.

So, Bai Yuanzhi called back.

Anthony answered the phone, his tone respectful. “Hello, Miss Bai. Yesterday, I heard you mention that your cousin, Miss Li Yongzhen, was missing… Coincidentally, we discovered Miss Li’s whereabouts.”

“So Mr. Chen asked me to inform you that Miss Li is currently hospitalized at Prince of Wales Hospital.”

“If you’d like to visit, I can arrange a car to take you there.”

Bai Yuanzhi was stunned for a long moment before finally realizing that her suspicions… had come true!

It seemed that when she mentioned to Zhou Weihao that she was going to look for Li Yongzhen, his panicked reaction…

So he really had replaced Li Yongzhen with Duoluoxi?

That was why Anthony was so surprised yesterday when he heard that Duoluoxi, who should have disappeared, had driven to the Bilanting Hotel.

She just didn’t know how Zhou Weihao had taken Li Yongzhen away,

nor did she know what Li Yongzhen had endured in Duoluoxi’s place, or why she ended up in the hospital.

Bai Yuanzhi fell silent for a moment.

In that instant,

she thought about many, many things.

Her first reaction was—the Chen Family really was as Zhou Weihao had said, with connections in both the legitimate and underworld spheres!

In fact, the more this was the case, the more she should keep her distance from the Chen Family.

That was the way to protect herself.

But then she reconsidered,

fortune favors the bold!

Besides, she was already responsible for the cooperation between the Chen and Zhou families and taking a cut from it.

She couldn’t avoid the Chen Family.

After some thought, Bai Yuanzhi said to Anthony, “Mr. Anthony, I don’t have any plans to visit my cousin for now. I’ll let you know when I decide.”

Anthony didn’t press further, simply replying, “Alright.” He then asked, “Then may I ask when Miss Bai might be available to come to the company to discuss our collaboration?”

Bai Yuanzhi smiled, “Sure, we’ll talk later.”

Anthony understood, “Then I won’t disturb Miss Bai any further. If you need anything, please feel free to call me anytime.”

After work, Bai Yuanzhi went straight to Prince of Wales Hospital.

But she went to see Chen Shuojie first.

Yes, Chen Shuojie was also hospitalized at this hospital.

When Chen Shuojie suddenly saw Bai Yuanzhi, he wore an expression of disbelief.

Soon, he sneered, “Bai Yuanzhi, are you here today… looking for death?”

Bai Yuanzhi laughed, looking at Chen Shuojie with disdain, “Why don’t you think I’m here to send you off instead?”

Chen Shuojie froze.

Soon, he realized—oh right, he was currently immobile, with his right hand and left leg both in casts. If Bai Yuanzhi really wanted to do something to him, he truly had no way to defend himself.

“What do you want?” Chen Shuojie snapped angrily.

Bai Yuanzhi stared at him for a moment, “Are you scared of me?”

Chen Shuojie froze again, sizing up Bai Yuanzhi briefly before suddenly blushing, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“What are you afraid of?” Bai Yuanzhi found it amusing, “There are surveillance cameras in the ward, and besides, what could a girl like me… possibly do to you?”

Chen Shuojie blurted out, “Who the hell would dare install cameras in my ward!”

“Is that so!” With that, Bai Yuanzhi walked smilingly to the door, closed it, and drew the curtains.

Chen Shuojie felt inexplicably flustered, “Bai Yuanzhi, you… what are you doing?”

Bai Yuanzhi had already turned around, looking at Chen Shuojie with an enigmatic smile.

She said word by word, “So there really aren’t any cameras in your room… you should’ve said so earlier!”

Thud! Bai Yuanzhi swung the canvas bag filled with heavy books in her hand, smashing it hard against Chen Shuojie’s cast-covered right hand.

Chen Shuojie let out a sudden cry of pain, “Agh—”

Bai Yuanzhi threatened him, “If you dare call the nurses, I’ll hit you even harder!”

Chen Shuojie instantly fell silent.

Next, Bai Yuanzhi swung the canvas bag wildly, beating Chen Shuojie thoroughly.

Only this way—

could she avenge the humiliation she had suffered when this pervert harassed her.

After beating Chen Shuojie, the anger in Bai Yuanzhi’s heart subsided,

but Chen Shuojie had passed out.

Bai Yuanzhi: …

Looking at Chen Shuojie, eyes tightly shut, face flushed, and breathing rapidly,

Bai Yuanzhi worried he might be in trouble and went out to find a nurse.

The nurse hurried over to check, first complaining to Bai Yuanzhi, “What on earth did you say to Mr. Chen? He’s been getting better these past few days, so why did he faint as soon as you arrived?”

Just as the nurse was about to attend to Chen Shuojie, he slowly regained consciousness on his own.

He stared at Bai Yuanzhi for a moment before dismissing the nurse.

The nurse anxiously said, “Mr. Chen! Let me check on you. If anything happens to you… Mr. Chen will blame us!”

Chen Shuojie’s tone was harsh as he growled, “…Get out!”

The young nurse fled in fright, covering her face.

Bai Yuanzhi stared at Chen Shuojie for a while, “Are you sure you don’t need the nurse to take care of you?”

Chen Shuojie whispered, “No need.”

For some reason, Bai Yuanzhi felt his voice was trembling a little.

So?

Was he… beaten into submission by her?

Bai Yuanzhi looked at Chen Shuojie suspiciously.

Chen Shuojie felt a bit uncomfortable. “Wh-why are you looking at me?”

Bai Yuanzhi asked him, “Didn’t your father say he’s going to do business with the Zhou family and insisted you must be involved? So I’m here to ask you, what can you actually do?”

Hearing it was about business, Chen Shuojie immediately lost interest. “Whatever.”

“Whatever?” Bai Yuanzhi frowned. “So that means you can’t do anything, huh!”

Chen Shuojie started to flush with anger, gritting his teeth as he growled her name, “Bai—Yuan—zhi!!!”

Bai Yuanzhi gave him a dismissive look and left.

Furious, Chen Shuojie pounded the bed frantically. “Come back here! Come back! Who told you I can’t do anything! Get back here! Explain yourself clearly!”

But Bai Yuanzhi had already left with her bag.

Chen Shuojie stared at Bai Yuanzhi’s retreating figure, panting heavily with rage.

He zoned out for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

His face slowly, slowly flushed red again.

Bai Yuanzhi couldn’t be bothered to guess what Chen Shuojie was thinking.

She went to find a nurse and, after much effort, finally located Li Yongzhen’s hospital room.

As soon as she entered the room, Bai Yuanzhi froze.

Because she didn’t see Li Yongzhen.

All she saw lying on the hospital bed was… a mummy!

Bai Yuanzhi backed out of the room, looked up, and widened her eyes to carefully examine the small nameplate hanging on the door, confirming it indeed said “Li Yongzhen.”

She entered the room again, walked over to the bed, and called out, “Li Yongzhen.”

The mummy slowly opened its eyes.

A moment later, the mummy’s gaze gradually cleared. Upon seeing Bai Yuanzhi, it began to struggle.

Bai Yuanzhi called out again, “…Li Yongzhen?”

The mummy nodded.

Only then did Bai Yuanzhi dare to confirm that this mummy really was Li Yongzhen.

She gasped sharply.

—What on earth had Li Yongzhen gone through? How did she end up like this?!

Apart from a pair of eyes, Li Yongzhen’s entire body was wrapped in bandages. Even her mouth was covered, with a tube inserted.

She looked at Bai Yuanzhi, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, then her whole body began to tremble as if she were crying.

Bai Yuanzhi sat down beside Li Yongzhen and began to ask questions patiently and meticulously.

Li Yongzhen couldn’t speak or move, but she could blink.

If Bai Yuanzhi said something correct, Li Yongzhen would blink.

If Bai Yuanzhi said something incorrect, Li Yongzhen would stare wide-eyed without moving.

In this way, Bai Yuanzhi slowly pieced together a horrifying story:

That night, Zhou Weihao took Li Yongzhen to a slum. Then she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and knew nothing more. When she woke up, she was tied up tightly. Someone told her she had offended someone she shouldn’t have, so she was going to be sold to a very scary place.

Li Yongzhen was terrified and desperately tried to explain, but no one would listen.

Or perhaps, even if they believed her, it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Li Yongzhen’s fate could not be changed.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly someone told her that something seemed to have gone wrong somewhere, and now a very powerful person was going to rescue her and bring her back to Hong Kong City.

But Li Yongzhen had to pay a price—she had to undergo plastic surgery.

So now, Li Yongzhen’s entire body was wrapped in bandages not because she had suffered some terrible ordeal, but because she had already undergone the first phase of plastic surgery.

To be honest, Bai Yuanzhi didn’t really understand what had happened.

After all, Li Yongzhen couldn’t speak at the moment.

But no matter what, Li Yongzhen’s life… had been saved.

It was probably because when Bai Yuanzhi came to visit Li Yongzhen, the nurse informed Anthony,

and soon, Anthony hurriedly arrived at the hospital.

Through Anthony’s account, Bai Yuanzhi finally learned the whole story of the incident.

It turned out—

Late that night, after Zhou Weihao secretly switched Li Yongzhen in place of Duoluoxi,

Li Yongzhen was mistaken for Duoluoxi by the contact person and, while unconscious, was put on a ship that sailed into international waters.

Later, when Bai Yuanzhi informed Anthony that something had gone wrong, Anthony immediately reported to Chen Shen. After some thought, Chen Shen ordered people to rescue Li Yongzhen from international waters at any cost.

At this point,

Anthony seemed reluctant to tell Bai Yuanzhi too much,

so he spoke vaguely: “…At that time, Miss Li had already been photographed. To cover up this matter, the only way for her to escape was to undergo plastic surgery. Our people had already reached an agreement with Miss Li—she was willing to have the surgery, so we brought her back.”

After a pause, Anthony added, “To compensate Miss Li, Mr. Chen has already signed an agreement with her—once she recovers, she will become an artist under our Wanmei Film Industry and enter the entertainment industry.”

“So please rest assured, Miss Bai, our Mr. Chen won’t let Miss Li suffer,” Anthony said, glancing at the mummy-like figure lying on the hospital bed. “This is also Miss Li’s fortune… but it was thanks to Miss Bai that she was able to turn misfortune into blessing. In the future, Miss Li should remember Miss Bai’s kindness!”

Bai Yuanzhi suddenly understood and fell silent.

She thought to herself that Chen Shen’s side… was too deep.

After finishing this job, she needed to keep her distance from the Chen Family.

No matter what,

since Li Yongzhen was safe, Bai Yuanzhi felt relieved and prepared to leave.

Anthony offered to drive Bai Yuanzhi back.

Bai Yuanzhi didn’t refuse.

So, the two got into the car.

Anthony told Bai Yuanzhi, “Mr. Chen said that nothing should be kept from Miss Bai.”

Bai Yuanzhi thought: You’d better keep things from me!

“So I’ll also update Miss Bai on the follow-up of this matter,” Anthony said. “Mr. Zhou and Duoluoxi have been detained. The Zhou Group has hired a top lawyer and is making great efforts to get Mr. Zhou out. Mr. Chen’s stance is that he has a close relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Zhou. Although Mr. Zhou also did something wrong, he was set up by that Filipina domestic helper, so Mr. Chen doesn’t want to pursue Mr. Zhou’s matter…”

“Mr. Zhou will likely get off with a not-guilty plea, but that Filipina domestic helper probably won’t be so lucky. She’s definitely going to prison, probably for at least ten years!”

Bai Yuanzhi showed a distant and indifferent smile.

Anthony added, “So, Miss Bai, our Mr. Chen is also asking when you will finally initiate the cooperation between our Chen Group and the Zhou Group?”

Bai Yuanzhi replied politely, “Ah, actually, I came today to visit Chen Shuojie… Well, visiting Li Yongzhen was just a side trip!”

Then she quickly seized the opportunity to complain, “But Chen Shuojie doesn’t seem very cooperative. So, Mr. Anthony, could you please inform Mr. Chen that since Chen Shuojie doesn’t want to work with me, there’s nothing I can do! How about you ask Mr. Chen to talk to him again?”

Unexpectedly—

Anthony seemed to have been waiting for Bai Yuanzhi to say exactly that!

He replied with a smile, “Miss Bai, Mr. Chen has already instructed me to convey to you—in this project between the Chen Group and the Zhou Group, you are the lead. Our young master will follow your lead in everything. If he doesn’t listen, you can call Mr. Chen directly.”

As he spoke, Anthony handed a business card to Bai Yuanzhi.

“Our young master is in your care, Miss Bai!” Anthony said with a smile.

Bai Yuanzhi: ???