Outside.
When Lin Fan saw the scene before him, he was dumbfounded. “What are you all doing?”
Everyone didn’t even drink their wine. They were all snatching the only dish on their tables. Right after the dish was taken by one person, the person next to him would snatch the dish away. They didn’t even leave the fish bones. They placed the bones into their mouths and chewed.
The waitresses stood at the side, staring blankly. How long have these people not eaten?
Servings of ‘squirrel mandarin fish’ disappeared in the blink of an eye. The plate was even cleaner than if it had been washed. The waitresses had smelled the dish’s fragrance and knew how great it smelled. However, they had no idea how it tasted.
Fraud Tian was immersed in the aftertaste, “You came late. You missed out on a delicious delicacy.”
Wang Ming Yang hadn’t had more than a few mouthfuls. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to eat more, but he hadn’t managed to snatch any more of it. He looked at Lin Fan. “This squirrel mandarin fish is truly scrumptious. How could I have never eaten this before? Don’t worry, we’ll get a few more servings of it. I’ll make sure we’re all filled up.”
The shop owners cheered. That squirrel mandarin fish was really too delicious. It lingered in their memories.
Lin Fan laughed. His dish had gained recognition from these people. It felt good.
Wang Ming Yang then asked, “Weren’t you going to cook? Where’s your dish?”
Lin Fan chuckled, “Haven’t you eaten it already?”
Suddenly, the place went silent.
Everyone looked at Lin Fan. “You mean that squirrel mandarin fish was made by you?”
Lin Fan laughed coolly, “Is it unexpected…?”
In his mind, everyone would cry out in shock, then frantically praise him. However, there was a difference between his imagination and reality.
One of the shop owners cried out, “Heavens, gods, why must you be so cruel? Why must all delicious food be made by Master Lin’s hands? Could it be that we have to queue for this next time too?”
“Those scallion pancakes made us endure so much suffering already. Now there’s this delicious squirrel mandarin fish as well. How can we carry on like this?”
The crowd was upset. Then, they looked over at Lin Fan, “Master Lin, can we have another serving?”
Lin Fan smiled thinly. The crowd was looking at him with pleading eyes, hoping for another serving. He hadn’t even tasted the dish yet.
At that moment, the waitresses brought out the rest of the dishes.
Lin Fan waved his hand, “One serving is enough. Try the other dishes.”
Someone asked, “Are these made by you too?”
“Nope. How could I have so much energy? These are made by the chefs,” replied Lin Fan. These guys were really addicted.
Everyone sighed in frustration. How could these dishes possibly compare to Master Lin’s?
After eating that ‘squirrel mandarin fish’, they had no appetite for the other dishes. It was like heaven and earth. They were simply incomparable.
Even so, everyone was still joyous.
“Come, let us drink to Master Lin.”
“Cheers!”
…
The meal lasted until 1.30 pm. Everyone went back together. Meanwhile, Wang Ming Yang kept thinking about Lin Fan. He wanted to invite Lin Fan to his place and have his girlfriend buy some ingredients. His intention was clear. He wanted Lin Fan to cook for him. However, would Lin Fan abide by his wishes? Definitely not.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
Nothing much happened during this period. The news on Weibo regarding the human traffickers gradually died down but not without many people joining the fight against the human traffickers. With the help of these volunteers, many children managed to find their families. However, many more of them were still unable to contact their families.
Nevertheless, it was huge progress. At least it was much better than before. More children returned to their families and it was beneficial to their growth.
However, that Autumn Sword Fish Killer who had always brought joy and excitement to Lin Fan’s life was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he just disappeared all of a sudden and was never seen on Weibo again.
Meanwhile, in a certain gym.
Autumn Sword Fish Killer was on the treadmill. His sweat dropped like rain. His first love had given him too big of a hit. He vowed to get back that dashing body that he once had.
That 150kg fatty was training in the gym. It was a magnificent view that drew the attention of many people. But even amidst their laughter and doubts, Autumn Sword Fish Killer didn’t cower.
A while ago, he had felt the urge to give up but when he thought of what happened a month ago, he gritted his teeth and thought, I can’t give up. I have to succeed. I have to slim down and give everyone a pleasant surprise. I have to show my first love that I haven’t changed a bit since last time.
Those mocking and doubtful eyes surrounding him were completely ignored. He lowered his head and kept training. He dismounted the treadmill and began doing squats. He took a deep breath and slowly squatted down.
*Zzzt!*
His exercise tights suddenly burst open at his butt.
The surrounding people all started roaring with laughter but Autumn Sword Fish Killer still kept his head down and kept training. “Keep laughing. I, Autumn Sword Fish Killer will not admit defeat,” he thought.
…
The previous day, Lin Fan had gotten a call from Liu Xiao Tian. He had been hoping that Lin Fan could attend the reclaiming ceremony of the children. Lin Fan didn’t decline. After all, it wouldn’t be bad to go take a look. At least he would be able to see those who had lost their children find them back. These parents would finally be able to emerge from their dark pits into the light.
Looking at the time, it was about time to go. Lin Fan gave Fraud Tian and the rest a holler, then he prepared to go to the venue. Wu You Lan knew about it and she wanted to go as well.
At the venue.
Lin Fan ran into Liu Xiao Tian.
Lin Fan said, “How is it? How many parents came?”
Liu Xiao Tian was so busy that his whole head was full of sweat but he was smiling widely. “It’s not bad at all. With the help of the volunteers, we’ve contacted over 600 parents. There are many of them already here and some of them will be here soon.
It was a huge improvement. This wasn’t a task that could be done overnight. In the past, people didn’t record the DNA of newborn babies so it was difficult to locate the relatives of someone. However, hospitals now made records of the DNA of each newborn baby and it was exactly for the purpose of locating a child if he/she got lost.
Wu You Lan stood next to Lin Fan. “Let’s go and see the children.”
Lin Fan smiled. “You seem to really like children.”
Wu You Lan blushed slightly, then she nodded. “Yep, I really like children. I want to have two children next time. A boy and a girl.”
Lin Fan laughed. What is she telling me that for? It’s not like I can make two children for her. Still, girls who like children are cute. It means that they are kind-hearted.
When they reached the back, they saw a group of children sitting together. Some of them were playing around while some of them were just lost in thought. There were several volunteers around taking care of them.
When they saw this scene, Lin Fan furrowed his brows because he realized that some of the children were crippled and it was because of the human traffickers.
Some of them had had both legs broken and because they had been broken for too long, even with today’s medical advancements, they could not be healed. They could only crawl around with their two hands.
In fact, many of the children didn’t have smiles on their faces. They were dull and gloomy as if wallowing in despair. This was the result of young souls being hit by traumatic events. Somewhere along the way of the cruel treatment by the human traffickers, they had developed this mental illness.
To recover from it would probably require great effort.
It couldn’t be done in a short time.
Wu You Lan’s eyes turned slightly red. “These human traffickers really are cruel. How could they do something like that?”
Lin Fan sighed. There were even crueler, more brutal realities that they couldn’t see. Because those children had already been killed. Those that had been saved could only be considered lucky to not have to face that brutality.