The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 64: Chapter 63: Freestyle

Zhao Meng gave Fu Yu some instructions, then urged him to quickly head to the music restaurant.

Gu Yunwu’s actions were unscrupulous from the start, so they shouldn’t blame them for taking a different path.

Yao Shi is the investor of the music restaurant, and all matters in the restaurant are managed by him.

Zhao Meng was overwhelmed on his end, so he simply handed Fu Yu over to Yao Shi.

Taking advantage of the absence of others around him, Zhao Meng slipped away to a corner to call Yao Shi.

”I’ve sent Fu Yu straight over, Chef Yao. Is it okay for us to handle it this way?”

Yao Shi replied, ”No problem, I make the decisions here, ensuring that nothing leaks out.”

Zhao Meng felt relieved but couldn’t help complaining, ”I’m not deliberately against Gu Yunwu, but his actions are really disgusting!”

Yao Shi sneered, ”There’s something even more disgusting, guess what it is?”

Zhao Meng asked curiously, ”What is it?”

Yao Shi asked, ”Do you know who the boss went fishing with today?”

Zhao Meng paused and slowly widened his eyes, ”It’s not Gu Yunwu, is it?”

Yao Shi sighed, ”This person, really... I was originally planning to transfer you to the music restaurant, and let Lao Gu take over at Qianlima. After all, I can’t keep managing both sides forever; sooner or later, I’ll have to hand over Qianlima to him.”

Yao Shi said helplessly, ”Sometimes I find it hard to put into words... what is he tirelessly striving for?”

Zhao Meng, always straightforward, indignantly said, ”A person never satisfied is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant! This shows someone’s true nature! That’s why I don’t think highly of him!”

Yao Shi advised, ”Forget it, once the assessment is over, he’ll settle down. I know the boss’s temperament too well; as long as it doesn’t affect the store’s interests, he’s easygoing, but if it impacts the business, you’ll see...”

Zhao Meng said gloomily, ”Ah, if only we had known earlier. I thought Fu Yu needed to build a solid foundation and practice gradually, and only consider advancement after mastering his skills. Who would’ve thought an opportunity for promotion would arise suddenly.”

Yao Shi consoled, ”It’s okay, don’t blame yourself. Fu Yu is young, there will be plenty of opportunities for advancement in the future. Besides, the promotion news isn’t finalized yet; who knows what might change in the end.”

Zhao Meng realized this too; originally aiming for a permanent position, now he was slightly overambitious.

...

Fu Yu, preoccupied with his daily tasks, noticed it was almost 8:30. Resolutely, he took a taxi to the music restaurant.

The front hall staff of the music restaurant recognized Fu Yu, and seeing him, they greeted with a smile, ”Chef Fu is here.”

Fu Yu smiled, ”Yeah, Qu Jing, have you seen Chef Yao?”

Qu Jing was very pretty, with especially fair skin, and spoke with a smile even before her words, ”The boss is in the back kitchen; you can go straight there.”

Fu Yu thanked her and headed familiarly to the changing room to change clothes.

Entering the back kitchen, he saw Yao Shi holding the order list, talking to Zhang Zhen.

Seeing him come in, the people in the back kitchen greeted him one after another.

Yao Shi called Fu Yu over, without any small talk since Fu Yu had been there a couple of times, directly handing him the order list on his phone, ”These are all the banquets we have today, take a look.”

Fu Yu took it and glanced through it; there were a total of three order lists.

One was for a birthday banquet, another for a wedding banquet, and the last for a company gathering event banquet.

After reading through them, Fu Yu was left with only one thought in his mind: Oh my!

The first order alone for the sixty-six-table birthday banquet brought in nearly two hundred thousand.

Even after deducting the cost of ingredients, labor, and other miscellaneous expenses,

It’s still a huge profit!

Fu Yu suddenly realized that his previous heated efforts to make money through stock trading, inspired by Zhao Meng, were indeed shortsighted.

Compared to Yao Shi’s net worth, Zhao Meng’s earnings were just pocket change.

Yao Shi said to Zhang Zhen, ”For the birthday banquet, stick to the previous division of tasks for arrangements. But for the Soy Sauce King Shrimp and Osmanthus Yam, I’ll do these two dishes myself.”

Zhang Zhen went to make arrangements.

Yao Shi brought Fu Yu over to the stove, ”I’ll make one serving first, watch and learn. Once you get the hang of it, you can start.”

The menu listed the restaurant’s specialty dishes.

Having cooked them often, the process became familiar and effortless.

Yao Shi took the prepared fresh shrimp, dried them, and marinated them briefly with salt, MSG, egg white, cornstarch, and oil.

During this time, he started steaming the yam.

The yams were pre-washed and placed in the steamer with the skins on, to avoid skin irritation.

With the yams prepared, the shrimp was also marinated.

Yao Shi blanched the shrimp on high heat and then took them out. He poured a layer of shrimp sauce onto the plate, followed by some fragrance oil.

Then he started plating.

The plating design in the music restaurant was decided collectively by the chefs in the back kitchen.

From color to structure,

From ingredients to presentation,

Even the style of plates.

The placement of different types of dishes for different occasions,

The role of spices and sauces in plating are all considered.

Ultimately creating specific plating methods for each dish.

Yao Shi was already proficient in this.

He skillfully arranged all the shrimp on the plate, garnishing them with carefully selected parsley leaves.

The cooking process was swift, with every step executed precisely.

Though Fu Yu didn’t do it himself, he could guess that even if an error appeared, it wouldn’t be as glaring as when he corrected Zhao Meng, where everything seemed errors.

Yao Shi handed the used wok to a nearby assistant to clean and turned to Fu Yu, saying, ”There’s nothing difficult about making this dish, just be mindful of the heat, and don’t overcook the shrimp. As for the other seasonings, just follow the proportions, and there won’t be any major issues.”

Fu Yu nodded.

Yao Shi continued, ”Do you know why I chose this dish for you to practice?”

Fu Yu felt that the cooking process wasn’t particularly difficult; Yao Shi likely wanted him to practice plating.

So he honestly said, ”Is it for me to practice my plating skills?”

Yao Shi nodded with satisfaction, ”Exactly, but it’s not because your plating skills are lacking that I want you to practice. It’s because I’ve noticed you have a talent for this, your speed and attention to detail are excellent, so I want you to take advantage of this opportunity to practice more.”

Fu Yu understood immediately.

In others’ eyes, his gap with Yao Yihang seemed quite large.

Whether in work experience or culinary mastery, the disparity was significant.

Now, with limited time and urgent tasks, it’s too late to hone culinary skills, so Yao Shi wanted him to compensate for his culinary deficiencies by improving his plating skills.

Feeling grateful, Fu Yu nodded solemnly, ”Okay, Chef Yao, I’ll definitely practice well.”

But Yao Shi said, ”You don’t have to follow my plating, I’m just demonstrating for you. You can use this design style or be creative on your own.”

Fu Yu was taken aback.

Does this mean he could plate freely, as he wished?

But...

Fu Yu was concerned, ”Chef Yao, what if the plating I do turns out bad?”

Yao Shi reassured him, ”No worries, I chose this dish because it allows for free adjustments. If it doesn’t work, I can correct it, no loss, so no pressure.”

Fu Yu felt immediately relieved.

Just then, the assistant who had just cleaned the wok overheard this and looked at Fu Yu curiously.

The news of Yao Shi letting Fu Yu cook and freely innovate with plating spread quickly in the kitchen.

Everyone glanced over, some out of curiosity, some in disbelief, and others just to watch the excitement.

Zhang Zhen, busy flipping pans, paused slightly upon hearing this.

Free rein?

They were indeed planning to transfer him here!

Was this to let Fu Yu showcase his skills, to preemptively intimidate the other kitchen staff?

Even Zhang Zhen grew curious as he called someone over to watch his pan and joined in to see what Fu Yu was planning to do.