President *, Dinner Is Ready

Ji Yu is a laid-back sort. He doesn't want to stand out, earn honors, or get rich. He just wants to coast through each day.

Yet he has a pair of hands born to cook.

He doesn't want to work hard, but he still has to make a living. So Ji Yu decides to rely on his natural talent, carefully choosing an ordinary storefront in an ordinary location with average foot traffic, where he sets up as a small-time owner.

He doesn't deliver. He only opens around mealtimes and serves just a few dishes each day. All he wants is to earn enough not to starve.

Yet in less than three months, his shop is packed, and foot traffic on the whole street has increased twentyfold.

After pounding his spatula until his arm went limp one too many times, Ji Yu promptly closed up shop, changed his name, and opened an even smaller place in a residential complex.

The kind with a gated entrance, no less.

Yet in less than three months, the complex, which had been less than half occupied, sold out completely, and another long line formed outside his shop.

When he heard the complex was about to expand, Ji Yu wasted no time running away overnight again.

This time, he went straight to the heart of the old city, where not even a four-wheeled vehicle could get in, determined to scrape by until the end of his days.

Yet in less than a month, roads had been built through the maze-like old city, and a hundred-meter-wide boulevard led straight to his shop. The demolition notice that had been delayed for years finally arrived, and everything around his shop was torn down except the shop itself...

◇

Furious, Ji Yu stared expressionlessly at the men in front of him: Mr. Zhao, Mr. Qian, Mr. Sun, Mr. Li, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Wu, Mr. Zheng, Mr. Wang... Then he promptly threw down his wok.

He admitted his cooking was pretty good, but it couldn't cure stomachaches, facial paralysis, kidney deficiency, leg problems, eye problems, or reticence... Could they please stay away from him?

Secretary No. 1: "Sorry, Mr. Wang. All the spots are taken for today."

Mr. Wang (through gritted teeth): "I'll pay extra."

Secretary: "The minimum bid is three times the total value of your company."

Secretary No. 2: "Mr. Li, I've already bought it. It's in the building farthest from that shop..."

Mr. Li: "Why didn't you buy the place right above his shop? It'd be so convenient to go downstairs for a meal."

Secretary No. 2: "You've got it wrong. Every apartment in the complex sold out three days ago. What you got is a parking spot beside the building farthest from his shop."

After a pause, Secretary No. 2 added: "A spot for an electric scooter."

The top is also a big shot.

A big shot plagued by stomachaches, facial paralysis, kidney deficiency (crossed out), leg problems, eye problems, and reticence.

Theme: Living life with determination