After My Rebirth Chapter 12: Cooperation

Chapter 12: Cooperation

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

A pile of lunch boxes stacked up in the fridge, and Jiang Rongxuan just randomly grabbed a few and stuffed them into his hands. 

Ma Chi was starving, so he didn’t care too much about what he got. Whatever Jiang Rongxuan handed him, he simply heated up. After he finished warming up the food and opened the boxes, he realized all the dishes were vegetarian.

The carnivore Ma Chi, who couldn’t go without meat, was left speechless. While scooping rice, he grumbled to Jiang Rongxuan, “Little Jiang, you’re so stingy. Finally got a chance to eat at your place, and there isn’t even a bite of meat.”

Jiang Rongxuan threw a pillow at him. “Eat it if you want; if you don’t, then leave.”

Ma Chi caught the pillow, but feeling obligated not to throw it back after eating at someone else’s expense, he carefully placed it back on the sofa as he walked through the living room.

Ma Chi returned to the table and was about to eat when Jiang Rongxuan came over again with a small bag of chili sauce from the fridge. The sauce was packaged rather haphazardly, just in a small plastic bag like the kind you’d see at street vendors. It didn’t look particularly clean.

Jiang Rongxuan put the chili sauce on the table. “If you really think the veggies are tasteless, mix this with the rice.” Then, he muttered as he turned back toward the living room, “Though I doubt you’d really need it…”

Ma Chi looked at the oily chili sauce that was seeping through the bag and promptly chose to eat the few dishes of green, leafy vegetables. They didn’t look very appetizing but, at the very least, they were clean!

The heated dishes were boiled choy sum, spicy stir-fried romaine, and celery with tofu.

Ma Chi reluctantly picked out a piece of tofu to try. It wasn’t that he particularly liked tofu; it was just that the celery with tofu had the best appearance out of the three. After scooping up some rice to cover the tofu, he hoped the rice would help mask the taste of leftover vegetables.

Perhaps because he usually ate rich, meaty dishes, even with the rice, he found these vegetables hard to stomach.

After struggling for a while, he finally gave in to his cravings. Looking up, he called pitifully to Jiang Rongxuan, “Little Jiang, brother Rongxuan, could you lend me some money to order takeout?”

Jiang Rongxuan threw the pillow again. “Speak properly! Disgusting.”

Ma Chi chuckled slyly and returned to his shameless tone. “Come on, Little Jiang. Lend me some money. I want a barbecue. I want meat.”

Jiang Rongxuan went over, picked up the pillow, and, finally losing patience with Ma Chi’s antics, frowned. “Why didn’t you mention ordering takeout earlier? Such a hassle.”

Glancing down, he saw the reheated vegetables. They had become limp and even a bit darkened from multiple heatings, which indeed didn’t look great. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and tasted one. 

Thinking Ma Chi was only complaining because of the reheating, he realized the flavor and texture were still fine even though the color was affected. He felt irritated by Ma Chi’s pickiness.

“This is fine. I’m not lending you money. Eat this.”

Jiang Rongxuan was usually generous with money, so Ma Chi didn’t expect his small request to be turned down. 

“No way, bro, are you broke? It’s just some barbecue. It wouldn’t even cost five hundred bucks, and you’re being that stingy.”

Jiang Rongxuan turned to him with a cold stare. “If you think I’m stingy, go find a generous friend to take you in.”

Ma Chi shut up.

Jiang Rongxuan opened the fridge, took out a few containers with meat dishes, reheated them, and placed them in front of Ma Chi. “Now you can have your meat. Keep your mouth shut.”

Reheated leftovers couldn’t look that great, but the meat dishes did look much better than the three vegetarian options. 

Reluctantly, Ma Chi picked up a small piece of meat and put it in his mouth. His eyes widened with surprise as he tasted the slightly dark braised chicken.

Wait, it tasted that good?

Hurriedly, he scooped up a few more pieces, discovering that the pieces soaked in the broth below were even better—delicious but not greasy.

After finishing off the braised chicken, Ma Chi moved on to the tomato beef stew. The stew had more broth than the braised chicken, and once he was fully engrossed, he flipped the container over into his bowl, letting the tomato sauce soak into the rice.

With the meat gone, he finished the entire bowl of rice with the broth. 

Ma Chi wasn’t exactly skinny, but he wasn’t overweight either, and his appetite could be mysterious. He could eat three bowls of rice if the food was good or barely manage three bites if it wasn’t.

Today clearly fell into the former category, so he eagerly took his tomato-sauce-stained bowl and went to scoop another bowl of rice.

There were still several containers in the fridge with what seemed like more meat, but Ma Chi didn’t heat up any new dishes. Instead, he eyed the few vegetarian dishes from earlier.

Although the chef’s skill was top-notch, and the braised chicken and beef stew weren’t greasy, too much meat could still feel heavy.

So he turned to vegetarian dishes.

There was another reason as well: the previous meat dishes had made him trust the chef, so he figured the veggie dishes shouldn’t be too bad either.

Without hesitation, he took a bite of the stir-fried romaine. This time, he didn’t hold back and immediately popped it into his mouth.

It turned out his trust wasn’t misplaced. This stir-fried romaine was incredibly tasty!

Although it looked a bit limp from reheating, the texture was still crisp, with a hint of spiciness that perfectly masked any bitterness, leaving only the vegetable’s natural sweetness.

The spiciness was worth mentioning on its own.

Some peppers were fiery and intense, but all they offered was heat, leaving people with an upset stomach afterward. But the spice in this dish was different—it focused on aroma. Only after finishing did Ma Chi realize his mouth had gone numb from the heat. No ordinary pepper could achieve this, so he guessed the chef must have used homemade chili oil.

Ma Chi glanced at a cheap plastic bag already leaking oil.

Could it be…?

He opened the bag and dipped his chopsticks into a bit of the chili, tasting it. The rich, aromatic spice filled his mouth, just like the stir-fried lettuce from before. Ma Chi’s eyes lit up. Without worrying about the oil leak, he mixed the entire amount of chili sauce into his rice. Another big bowl disappeared as he ate rice with chili sauce, and he didn’t leave a single bite of the two other vegetable dishes he’d previously dismissed.

He was particularly astonished to discover that the celery and dried tofu dish had been cooked with lard. Meat fat added to a vegetable dish—he nearly licked the plate clean. Ma Chi thought to himself that the true test of a chef’s skill wasn’t in extravagant meat dishes, but in simple vegetable dishes. Some ingredients had their own natural flavors, but vegetables required a chef’s finesse to bring out their taste. The most challenging were purely vegetarian dishes, though technically, cooking vegetables with lard didn’t count as “pure vegetarian.” The lard added flavor. Still, Ma Chi was most impressed by the stir-fried lettuce.

Holding his stuffed belly, he stared at the empty bowl and containers in front of him, lost in thought—either savoring the meal or reflecting on his choices. The reflection part was Jiang Rongxuan’s guess; he hadn’t actually watched Ma Chi eat, but he’d heard the noise. Ma Chi had eaten three and a half bowls of rice in one sitting, and if Jiang Rongxuan had eaten that much, he would have done some reflecting himself.

Jiang Rongxuan knocked on the table. “Lost in thought? Did that meal make you forget yourself?”

Ma Chi moved his eyes and belched before speaking, “President Jiang, where did you get this food? It’s amazing! I haven’t heard of any fancy restaurant opening in Suzhou recently.”

“It’s not from a restaurant, just a little spot on the street.” Jiang Rongxuan leaned against the table, looking at him with a smirk. “What’s the matter? Weren’t you just talking about ordering takeout? Seems like you changed your tune pretty quickly.”

He looked at the remnants on the table with mild disdain and clicked his tongue. “You really can put it away, can’t you?”

Ma Chi shook his head gently. “I didn’t recognize true talent until now. Luckily, I didn’t order takeout. If I’d missed out on this meal, I’d have regretted it forever.”

“Where is this street food place that can cook with this kind of five-star flavor? Is it far from your place? Should we go again tomorrow?”

“Even reheated, it’s this good. I can’t imagine how it must taste fresh from the kitchen.”

“Alright, after work tomorrow, I’ll take you there,” Jiang Rongxuan replied.

Ma Chi had expected him to refuse, given how busy he was, but then he understood. No one could resist food this good. Jiang Rongxuan must have already planned to go again and decided to bring him along.

Jiang Rongxuan chuckled lightly at Ma Chi’s reasoning but said nothing more as he headed upstairs to bed.

—

Jiang Rongxuan was in Suzhou on business. The next day, after finishing up at the branch office, he contacted Ma Chi about dinner, and Ma Chi was already waiting downstairs at the company by the time he received the message.

When Jiang Rongxuan stepped outside, he saw Ma Chi in a formal suit. Jiang Rongxuan stopped a couple of steps away and, taking in Ma Chi’s appearance—particularly his round stomach—laughed a bit. “Dressed up so nicely, are you going on a date?”

Ma Chi, noticing the mockery in his eyes, tugged at his jacket to hide his stomach.

“Who said anything about a date? I’m here to talk about business.” Ma Chi replied, “Didn’t you say last night that the place we’re going is just a small joint on the street? That amazing food, served in such a simple place, means the owner must be short on funds.”

“A dish like last night’s could be a nationwide hit. If I invest, the owner would jump at the chance. He’ll bring the culinary skills, and I’ll bring the capital. Together, we’ll turn this little spot into a national chain and make a fortune!”

“Then my dad would finally see me in a new light and beg me to come back home, admitting he was wrong, haha…”

Jiang Rongxuan frowned, looking at Ma Chi with the kind of gaze reserved for people lacking common sense. He opened his mouth a few times but ultimately couldn’t bring himself to interrupt Ma Chi’s daydream.

Li Sinian had suddenly come to Suzhou, supposedly kicked out by the Li family, but the recent deal with ChuanHe showed he’d likely done it on purpose. Ruining the deal had been deliberate, and his arrival in Suzhou’s countryside probably was too. As one of the heirs to the Li family, someone willing to walk away from their family’s vast empire was probably fed up with the cutthroat world of business. There was no way he’d agree to partner with someone like Ma Chi, who seemed a few cards short of a full deck.

But Ma Chi wasn’t satisfied with dreaming alone; he needed Jiang Rongxuan’s validation. “As long as people need to eat, the food business will never go bankrupt! Don’t you think I’m pretty smart?”

Jiang Rongxuan nodded half-heartedly, “Mm, you’re right. Keep it up, you’re sure to succeed this time!”

Ma Chi, full of enthusiasm, followed Jiang Rongxuan to Li Sinian’s small restaurant on the outskirts of town. But things didn’t go as planned; Ma Chi didn’t get to use a single word of the sales pitch he’d prepared on the way over.

Because the restaurant was closed today.

Jiang Rongxuan walked forward and saw an A4 paper taped to the glass door of the restaurant. It was a handwritten notice: “The boss is too tired, too lazy to open the restaurant, taking a few days off.”

It wasn’t clear how many days off.

The words were written with a marker, and although the note seemed casual, the handwriting itself was quite pleasant, indicating that the person who wrote it had a solid grasp of calligraphy.

Upon seeing the notice, Jiang Rongxuan didn’t get angry. Instead, he chuckled softly.

He raised his hand, gently traced the now-dried characters, and then took out his phone to take a picture.

Ma Chi walked up behind him and, seeing the leave notice, his eyes widened. “Too tired? Too lazy to open the door? This boss really has a personality! How can a business be run like this? He didn’t even leave a phone number!”

Jiang Rongxuan ignored his complaints, took the photo, and turned to leave. “Let’s go. We’ll come back tomorrow.”

Ma Chi had no choice but to follow him, continuing to grumble. It wasn’t until they got in the car that he realized, “Wait, he didn’t say how many days off. What if he still doesn’t open tomorrow?”

“We’ll come the day after tomorrow.”

“This boss is so irresponsible!”

 

 

This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.