Leblouche's diary

24. A Brilliance restored

To understand the course of the story, it is recommended to read chapters: 18, 19, 20, 21 and 23.

Today, being a day off, I decided to go to Dragon Gourmand . Mr. Huang, who was running a restaurant in Lyon, had come back to Paris to visit his son, and celebrate his 65th birthday.

*The door opens and a bell rings*

"Hello, everyone!" I greeted.

"Yo Thierry! It's been a while!" Math said when he saw me.

"Isn't your father here?" I asked, knowing that the manager should already be there.

"He's coming, Aunt Marianne went to the station to pick him up, they should be here in a minute," explained Chun, as she came to drop off a birthday cake.

"I see, you're going to make a surprise, is that it?" I presumed.

"Yes, exactly. Say Math, couldn't you call Roland?"

"Yes, he told me he would be a little late, he said his car was acting up."

"It's going to be like, 15 years that he still owns this car, even the car tells him that it wants to retire."

"Isn't that Marianne's car?" I observed as I saw a car coming up.

"Whoa! We have to hurry! Okay, take the confetti, be careful when he opens the door," Chun said as he closed the curtains.

Meanwhile, outside...

"It's been a long time since I came back here, the Parisian atmosphere is so different from that of Lyon," comments Mr. Huang.

"It's kind of normal, right? Each city is a bit like a different country, within a country (where they also speak the same language)," said Marianne, closing the door of her car.

"Now that you mention it, it seems logical," the old manager admits.

*The door opens and a bell rings*

*POF!*

"Happy birthday!" we say in unison as we burst into flames.

"(Laughs) I knew you were going to give me a surprise, oddly enough, before I came in, my Buddha eye predicted that something funny was waiting for me behind that door," Mr. Huang chuckled.

"Well, of course we'll make it a surprise, it's your birthday after all," Math said, hugging his father.

"Ah! The one and only, Thierry Leblouche!" exclaimed the old man.

"(Laughs) In the flesh!" I joked as I walked over to give him a hug as well.

"Your face may have changed, but your hair hasn't. Not a single white hair!"

"I'm only thirty, it's too early to have one..."

"So what? I'm forgotten?" Chun asked.

"Of course not in the end!" the manager said, giving her a hug.

"Well, sorry to interrupt the reunion, but I remind you that we still have to open, it's 11 o'clock," Marianne announced as she put on an apron.

We are not the only ones celebrating it, however, we invited customers to the party and of course, it was packed.

"And then, who do I see coming in? Jean Dujardin. Yeah, the guy from OSS 117. I swear, it was him. He sat down next to me like it was nothing. Well, of course, I pretend I didn't recognize him, but in my head, I'm in fan mode," a customer told Mr. Huang.