The Reviled God of Cooking Tries to Slack Off - Chapter 4

Fortunately, security arrived quickly, and nothing worse happened. The hospital promptly escorted the troublemaker, Manager Yang, away.

Manager Yang’s clothes were disheveled, and his arm throbbed with pain. He couldn’t understand how things went so wrong—he only came to take Jiang Tingzhou back, yet now it was all a mess.

He was questioned for ages, but even yelling about calling a lawyer didn’t help—security had dealt with people like him many times before and wasn’t the least bit afraid.

In the end, staff from the store rushed over and paid compensation to the hospital. They had to persuade him to leave quietly.

He walked out of the hospital under the gaze of many, covered in dust and thoroughly humiliated.

Back in the ward, Jiang Tingzhou heard how the matter was handled and figured he could finally enjoy some peace.

This tactic of feigning weakness in the face of trouble was something he learned from Jiang You. Right then, he didn’t have the energy or strength to argue or fight—it was the most effective method.

He used to scoff at such things, but now, he didn’t care. As long as it worked, that was enough.

After Manager Yang, who stormed in so aggressively, left in disgrace, Jiang Tingzhou was helped back onto the bed. The crowd that had gathered slowly dispersed, and the mess on the floor was quickly cleaned up.

It was a shame, though—the fruits all fell to the ground and got dirty. He hadn’t even eaten a few bites.

The boy who rushed in—who looked like a high school student—had his hand cut by debris on the floor. The wound wasn’t deep, and the bleeding had already stopped.

Hospital security asked if he wanted to file a report, but the boy knew a minor injury wouldn’t lead to serious consequences and didn’t want to go to the police station. He insisted on staying by Jiang Tingzhou’s side.

The nurse tried to check his wound, but he refused. He simply bandaged it himself and sat quietly by the bed, unwilling to leave—like he was afraid someone else might come and hurt Jiang Tingzhou again.

Jiang Tingzhou watched him for a long time before advising, “Don’t be stubborn. Even a small wound needs proper care. Go apply some medicine.”

The boy, who just risked himself to protect him, snapped: “Jiang Tingzhou, do you still have the nerve to care about me? Did you see how they treated you? You were bullied like that in the Jiang family, and no one even cared if you died of illness!”

Jiang Tingzhou sighed. “An Xiaoping, we haven’t seen each other in a long time. Do you really have to talk to me like this?”

It really was a long time.

Only when he saw that familiar face again did Jiang Tingzhou remember that, apart from the transactional relationships of the business world, he once had a real friend.

His good friend, An Xiaoping, now had orange hair—like the color of the oranges Jiang Tingzhou just ate—and looked particularly energetic.

With his fair skin, the bright hair made him stand out even more. When he heard Jiang Tingzhou call him by name, he gave him a fierce glare, snorted, and turned to leave the room, carrying out the trash he just picked up—leaving Jiang Tingzhou with only his cold back.

Despite the boy’s harsh demeanor, Jiang Tingzhou felt happy. After eating a little, he regained some strength. He no longer lay weakly in bed but sat up on his own.

The aunt in the next bed glanced at the two of them and said, “Your friend’s pretty fierce, huh?”

“He’s not fierce,” Jiang Tingzhou replied, finally showing a faint smile. “He wasn’t like this before. He used to be very obedient when he was younger.”

Not just obedient—he was even a little timid.

An Xiaoping was his only friend during childhood. Three years younger, only nineteen this year.

The scar on Jiang Tingzhou’s face from when he first returned to the Jiang family was for him.

Back then, some high school thugs were demanding protection money—even elementary and junior high kids weren’t spared. Jiang Tingzhou encountered them once and couldn’t stand it. He rolled up his sleeves and fought back. After that, the thugs toned things down and didn’t dare bully others so openly.

An Xiaoping was the one he saved. Since that day, he stuck to Jiang Tingzhou like glue and never seemed afraid. He always called him “brother” and was incredibly sweet.

After that fight, the delinquent kids from surrounding schools all started calling Jiang Tingzhou “boss,” thinking he was the toughest. Though Jiang Tingzhou never acknowledged it—he was too busy working to play the boss—the only person he could truly call a friend was the somewhat silly, naive An Xiaoping.

But why did An Xiaoping show up now?

It all started with the enthusiastic aunt next door.

After Jiang Tingzhou collapsed and fell into a coma, lying there alone clearly wasn’t good. Someone had to be notified. The aunt wanted to help, so she coordinated with the hospital to use fingerprint unlocking to open his phone and contact the first name in the address book.

An Xiaoping’s name happened to come first alphabetically.

After finishing the college entrance exam, he went to university in Shangying City, the capital of Dongjiang Province, right next to Yongqing. He came rushing over as soon as he got the call.

“He came over in the middle of the night last night, in such a panic,” the auntie said. “Bit of a bad temper, but he’s very warm-hearted. Don’t you two go fighting again.”

Jiang Tingzhou was a bit surprised by what she said.

In recent years, his relationship with An Xiaoping became strained. Things weren’t as simple as when they were kids—and their current attitudes made that obvious.

The last time they saw each other was during Chinese New Year. It should’ve been a joyful day, and they finally had a chance to reunite—but they ended up arguing after just a few words.

An Xiaoping called the Jiang family a bloodsucking hellhole and told him to leave. Jiang Tingzhou refused, insisting he needed to prove himself. They parted on bad terms, and the awkwardness lingered to this day.

The root of their falling out lay with Jiang You.

When Jiang Tingzhou first returned to the Jiang family, An Xiaoping was genuinely happy for him—until that birthday party.

Jiang You and Jiang Tingzhou shared the same birthday, so their celebration was held together. It was a grand affair. Jiang You had many friends, but Jiang Tingzhou only had An Xiaoping.

An Xiaoping dressed up in his best clothes but happened to arrive at the same time as Jiang You’s friends.

By some unlucky coincidence—or perhaps not—a few of them were wearing the exact same outfit as An Xiaoping. Theirs were designer originals. His was an imitation.

At the time, An Xiaoping was still a little chubby and looked young. Surrounded by the glittering elite, he felt embarrassed and out of place. Compared to Jiang You and her stylish entourage, they were from two completely different worlds.

Jiang You’s friends even played a prank on him, covering him in cake cream and matting his hair. Jiang Tingzhou couldn’t protect him like he once could—not when he himself was being targeted, both openly and subtly, throughout the banquet.

The slow-to-react An Xiaoping eventually realized what was happening. He left the party in tears.

Similar things happened more than once.

Every time An Xiaoping went to see him, he often saw Jiang Tingzhou being excluded.

As his only friend, An Xiaoping tried several times to persuade him to leave the Jiang family, thinking no one in that household respected him and hoping he could return to a peaceful life instead of struggling like this.

But Jiang Tingzhou had no power, and he was constantly mocked by Jiang You and her group.

He knew it was because of his connection to An Xiaoping. Every time, he stepped up to defend him, but he could barely protect himself, and things only got worse afterward.

Eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and broke Jiang You’s nose. Both he and An Xiaoping were detained at the police station for a few days.

When the incident blew up, Jiang Tingzhou had no choice but to drop out of school.

An Xiaoping made a huge scene over it, but he was powerless. Nothing changed. He couldn’t accept that Jiang Tingzhou had to quit school, and that was when their relationship started to shift.

Even after Jiang Tingzhou became the head chef at Gongyan and invited him over, An Xiaoping didn’t go. When Jiang tried to reach out, he avoided him. Even if they did meet, they often ended up fighting over various things.

An Xiaoping returned quickly after taking out the trash. He went out earlier to fill out the paperwork to stay overnight as a companion, and he brought breakfast too, which he left on the side. The freshly cut fruit, of course, was something he carefully prepared.

“I’ve told you so many times—you’re throwing your life away at the Jiang house, and this is the result,” An Xiaoping snapped when he saw his pale face. “You’re this sick and you didn’t even tell me?!”

But his hands said something else—while he scolded him, he saw that Jiang Tingzhou’s lips were dry and immediately reached out to feed him water, moving gently as if afraid he might choke.

Jiang Tingzhou slowly drank a few sips, then looked up at him.

Getting to see the young and fiery An Xiaoping again was one of the few good things about this miserable rebirth. So even though he was getting yelled at, Jiang Tingzhou actually felt better.

An Xiaoping sensed his gaze and snapped, “What are you looking at?”

“Looking at how good you look,” Jiang Tingzhou said honestly. “That hair color suits you. It looks great.”

He even reached out to touch it. After being dyed orange, the hair had stiffened—it wasn’t as soft as it used to be.

An Xiaoping lost a lot of weight in recent years. He was no longer the pudgy kid who used to get mocked by Jiang You and her crowd as a “fatso.” He grew taller and didn’t look soft and easy to bully anymore. His features became quite delicate and handsome, and his personality changed too. He was no longer timid like he used to be.

Now a college freshman, An Xiaoping once went viral online after someone took a picture of him. These days, he was a moderately well-known face in the looks-based influencer world.

He really was quite good-looking now.

An Xiaoping: “……”

He looked at him suspiciously and reached out to feel his forehead, like he was checking whether the fever fried his brain. Why was Jiang Tingzhou suddenly being so nice?

Back then, Jiang Tingzhou would’ve found this inappropriate. He’d worry that An Xiaoping might get led astray and feel like his personality changed too much. The two of them even argued over it and fell out.

“Don’t touch me. I’m perfectly clearheaded,” Jiang Tingzhou said. “You came all this way—you’re not here just to fight with a sick man like me, are you?”

An Xiaoping grumbled a bit but said nothing more.

He was just angry and sharp-tongued, but his heart was in the right place.

There was still some fruit left, which he re-cut, and he also brought porridge for Jiang Tingzhou. That’s what he went out for—to buy breakfast. He didn’t let Jiang take it himself either and continued feeding him by hand.

Jiang Tingzhou was a bit unused to it. He had been handling everything on his own for a long time—no one treated him like a child in years. But his friend didn’t care. When Jiang didn’t open his mouth, An Xiaoping glared at him. “Eat.”

Jiang Tingzhou swallowed a spoonful of porridge. It was just plain white porridge, no strong flavor, but it was warm and lightly fragrant with the sweetness of rice.

Everyone around him was affected by his feud with Jiang You, and An Xiaoping was no exception. Most people who sided with Jiang Tingzhou never met a good ending.

In the years that followed, as the fight between him and Jiang You intensified, Jiang Tingzhou was slandered by Jiang You’s fans. An Xiaoping tried to defend him publicly but was immediately targeted.

Jiang You’s fans dug up old photos of his chubby days, accused him of heavy photo editing, and even distorted facts, claiming he used to bully people alongside Jiang Tingzhou.

Fans obsessed with appearances could be brutal. As a young internet celebrity with no background, An Xiaoping couldn’t clear his name. He was eventually forced to leave the internet. Although the truth came out later, he never returned to the spotlight.

Other influencers who rose alongside him gained fame and fortune, but he remained silent. The cyberbullying changed his personality and impacted his life for a long time.

He should never have had to endure any of this. Even if Jiang Tingzhou eventually won a round, the damage done to An Xiaoping couldn’t be undone. In the end, he moved far away. Before leaving, he told Jiang Tingzhou he didn’t blame him—it was just that he couldn’t take it anymore. He had to go, and he hoped he wouldn’t drag Jiang Tingzhou down any further.

As if that was just the price you paid for going against the “protagonist”—even though An Xiaoping never did anything wrong.

Later, Jiang Tingzhou became smooth and charismatic in the business world, with countless business partners. But those relationships were all entangled with interests. The pure, genuine friendship he had in his youth was lost.

On the path he took, Jiang Tingzhou didn’t regret what he lost for his own sake—but when it came to this friend, he always felt guilty, and there was nothing he could do to make it right.

He thought maybe God should’ve let An Xiaoping be the one reborn instead, so he could stay far away from this cursed disaster of a person. But instead, reality had him being the one who was reborn.

Thinking of this, he finally mustered a bit of spirit—at least, he didn’t want to die anymore.

“Your hand still needs some medicine,” Jiang Tingzhou said. “It’s my fault. I should’ve caught you when you fell.”

His voice was hoarse, softer than before. An Xiaoping found him acting strangely—even the way he looked at him carried a sort of… inexplicable gentleness?

What the hell was up with Jiang Tingzhou? Did the fever fry his brain?

But with this kind of attitude, the two of them couldn’t even get into an argument anymore. Things were, for once, peacefully harmonious.

An Xiaoping’s tone also softened. He hummed a bit, then said, “No need. It’s just a small injury—it’ll be fine tomorrow. Besides, I’m not the one who lost out. I managed to kick that guy twice when no one was looking. Guarantee you his legs are bruised by now.”

He even seemed a bit proud when he talked about it and happily fed Jiang Tingzhou another few spoonfuls of porridge. The atmosphere between them now felt warm and lighthearted.

At that moment, the young reporter next to the woman in the floral shirt in the next bed played back the footage she just recorded. After watching it a few times, she suddenly recognized Jiang Tingzhou and said, “I just remembered who you are—you’re the one who just won that food competition on national TV, right? No wonder you looked familiar!”

“Oh my god, you’re a national champion and you’re still being bullied like this by the people in your own restaurant?”