The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Meeting each other, they turned out to be familiar faces.

Seeing Qiao Shengfeng and his wife, the other party was also delighted and greeted with a smile, ”Brother Qiao, sister-in-law, are you here to make a reservation too?”

Qiao Shengfeng nodded, ”Yes, my son is coming back, so my wife and I decided to book a table outside to make things easier.”

The other party smiled, ”We had the same idea, eating out is more convenient and worry-free.”

”Come, come, Brother Qiao, you order first. I’m easy, I already know what I want.”

This person specifically made room and invited Qiao Shengfeng and his wife to place their order first.

Qiao Shengfeng quickly waved his hand, ”No need, you go ahead. My wife and I just booked a table on the other side and were about to pay the deposit!”

The other casually asked, ”Did you book Chef Gu’s table? Why not choose Chef Zhao?”

Qiao Shengfeng was puzzled and asked curiously, ”Isn’t it the same restaurant? What’s the difference?”

This person said, ”It’s the same restaurant, but the chefs are different. I’ve heard Chef Gu specializes in stews and boiled dishes. If you like stir-fry, Master Zhao’s skills are more authentic.”

He then deliberately turned his head to ask the young chef in charge of registration, ”Right?”

Qiao Shengfeng and his wife exchanged a glance, ”Ah... so that’s it, is Master Zhao’s skill better?”

They also looked at the young chef sitting in the chair.

Sun Qingning thought for a moment and said, ”Both chefs are very skilled. If you had to compare, they each have their own strengths. Chef Gu might have a wider audience for stews and soups... On our side, most customers order stir-fried, pan-fried, and baked dishes... But apart from Chef Zhao, we also have Chef Fu, who is equally talented...”

Sun Qingning gave a balanced explanation. After all, he couldn’t badmouth the restaurant’s chefs in front of customers!

Upon hearing this, Qiao Shengfeng wasn’t in a hurry to pay the deposit and curiously asked, ”Hey... what are your specialty dishes here? My son has a strong taste and loves spicy food... He’s coming back with his girlfriend this time, and young people surely like unique and creative dishes, do you have any?”

Sun Qingning smiled, turned the menu to the innovative cuisine section, and handed it over, ”Innovative cuisine is our specialty, and we’ve made improvements to some dishes. You can take a look... For example, this Innovative Harvest Stew is newly launched by us, and this improved Salt and Pepper Mantis Shrimp is much easier to peel when eating...”

Sun Qingning gave a very detailed introduction.

Qiao Shengfeng and his wife, looking at those innovative specialty dishes, couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Qiao Shengfeng took out the menu they had just confirmed on the other side and compared it with the current one. Just by looking at the dish names they didn’t notice it, but upon seeing the traditional Harvest Stew and comparing it with the innovative version, they realized how big the difference was!

With the exact same dish, the presentation makes it look much more upscale.

Qiao Shengfeng’s wife took a closer look at the innovative version’s presentation and turned to ask, ”This... can you guarantee that the dishes will look like the ones in the photos?”

Sun Qingning nodded, ”Yes, these photos are taken directly in the kitchen. The way it looks when plated from the pot is exactly what you see!”

Qiao Shengfeng’s wife was instantly tempted, ”The innovative dishes seem to be a bit more expensive, right?”

Sun Qingning explained, ”They are a bit pricier because they require the chef to plate them personally, which can’t be done by a regular staff member and takes time. But the effect is indeed good, as you’ve seen. These innovative dishes not only look high-end and beautiful but also have added ingredients for a better taste.”

Qiao Shengfeng was a bit hesitant, ”Wife, their store is known for being an old brand, their old-style dishes must be better, I think we should stick with our original order, right?”

But Qiao Shengfeng’s wife didn’t respond immediately, she continued flipping through the innovative cuisine menu, looking at each dish, and gradually made up her mind.

Since their son was finally bringing his girlfriend home, they had to entertain them well.

Since they’ve already spent money on the reservation, a little extra wouldn’t hurt.

At that time, as long as the food looks upscale and tastes delicious, it’ll be fine!

Besides, each dish includes lots of additional ingredients, so paying a bit more is reasonable.

The main thing is that when innovative and traditional dishes are placed together, the comparative effect is too obvious.

Young people surely like things that are trendy and stylish.

Once again, Qiao Shengfeng asked, ”What do you think?”

His wife, hearing this, made the decision, ”Let’s go with these few innovative dishes! Besides, haven’t you heard? This Chef Zhao is good at making stir-fried specialties, and for seafood, besides steaming, stir-frying gives it more flavor! After all, it’s the same restaurant, how much difference can there be in the chefs’ skills?”

Thinking about it, Qiao Shengfeng found it reasonable, so the two of them decided to stay and take a fresh look at the menu.

...

At ten in the morning, the promotional activity ended.

Yao Yihang was packing up with Zhang Jiaxin when his phone suddenly rang. It was a call from Gu Yunwu.

Yao Yihang quickly answered the call, ”Boss.”

Gu Yunwu asked, ”How did the promotion go?”

Yao Yihang smiled as he reported, ”It went quite well, we registered four people today, all ready to place orders.”

Hearing this, Gu Yunwu was quite happy too, ”Great, you and Xiaozhang worked hard. Remember to let the front desk know to stagger the times when taking orders in the coming days.”

Yao Yihang agreed repeatedly, feeling particularly pleased!

Finally able to show off a bit in front of Chef Gu!

Thank goodness!

At least regain some of the favor he had in Chef Gu’s eyes.

Happily, he packed things up and carried them back to the warehouse.

Zhang Jiaxin went back to the kitchen to work while Yao Yihang was ordered to go to the front desk to coordinate previous order numbers with the order taker.

With the list in hand, Yao Yihang looked carefully and found that it seemed two orders were missing.

Thinking about the dishes on the menu, he slowly remembered.

One was an old customer of Gu Yunwu’s side, whom he had personally served, and had agreed to place an order, why hadn’t they paid?

The other one seemed to be the middle-aged couple who had also selected their meals. He had watched the staff escort them into the restaurant, why hadn’t they ordered either?

What... what on earth is going on?

In a hurry, he quickly pulled out the register, turned to the contact details of these two customers, and called them separately.

The result of this inquiry revealed that both customers had actually gone over to place orders with Zhao Meng.

When he asked, the middle-aged couple shut him up with just one sentence, ”Aren’t you the same restaurant?”

And the old customer’s side was even more indifferent, ”Sometimes it’s nice to try new flavors, I heard there are some innovative dishes now, they look good, so I figured I’d give them a try.”

Hanging up the phone, Yao Yihang was dumbfounded.

Thinking about the words he just bragged to Gu Yunwu.

It truly felt like, after such a bold maneuver, all he saw on the order list was zero point five.

Yao Yihang felt as if his heart had plunged into an icy cave.

Today was just not his day!

How could things go wrong every day like this?

The trust value he had painstakingly gained in Gu Yunwu’s eyes was visibly plummeting!

If asked later, how would he explain himself!

Just thinking about all this made Yao Yihang’s head ache.