The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

The temporary personnel change on Gu Yunwu’s side didn’t cause any ripple in the kitchen.

Everything was business as usual.

Taking orders, cooking, serving, everything proceeded in an orderly manner, step by step.

Before leaving work in the evening, Zhao Meng confirmed that no one had taken leave, and only then informed Fu Yu that he could take a break the next day.

Fu Yu knew that this was meant for him to go teach how to prepare the Three Revolutions Banquet.

Tired from a day’s work, Fu Yu called home after returning to his dormitory.

His parents were as caring as always.

After a long day’s work, listening to his parents’ affectionate reminders was a source of great happiness for Fu Yu.

He leaned lazily against the chair, smiling as he chatted with his parents.

After chatting for a while, his mom casually mentioned, ”By the way, when you have time, could you give Minghao a call? Ever since he went to school, he only contacted the family once during orientation. Later, his parents texted him, but he rarely responded. When they call, either he doesn’t answer or hangs up after a few words. His parents are very worried about him.”

Fu Yu wasn’t too worried about Lin Minghao; he was old enough to handle his own matters, so there was nothing to fret over.

However, it was evident his mom was quite concerned.

Fu Yu had to call Lin Minghao.

The phone was quickly picked up.

”Brother? Why did you call me? Oh, I get it; it must be my mom asking Aunt to intervene again, right?”

Fu Yu laughed and said, ”What’s up with you? You’re making the family worry.”

Lin Minghao said, ”It’s nothing. I just arrived in a new environment, so everything takes some getting used to, and I’m a bit down. My parents nag too much, and I find it annoying, so I can’t be bothered to stay in contact with them.”

Fu Yu’s parents were very understanding, and his relationship with them was completely different from that of Lin Minghao and his family, so he couldn’t offer any constructive solutions.

Nonetheless, he caringly asked, ”Did something happen that’s bothering you?”

Lin Minghao hesitated for a moment but finally said, ”Actually, it’s nothing major; it’s just that I realized I underestimated how tough live streaming would be. Now that I’m at school, there’s suddenly a ton of coursework, and I’m somewhat falling behind. Plus, my parents keep nagging me, saying I’ll regret today’s choice. They really just want me to follow their plans! But I’m not going to!”

Fu Yu wasn’t very familiar with live streaming, as each profession is different.

He considered the situation from another angle: ”I’ve never been exposed to your major, so I don’t know what advice to give, but if you truly want to change your parents’ view through live streaming and prove yourself, the only way is to outwork others in your studies. If you can’t pass your professional exams and graduate smoothly in the end, you’ll have no choice but to go back home and rely on your parents.”

Lin Minghao almost jumped up, ”I’m not going back to live off my parents! I finally got out, I’ll never go back!”

Fu Yu said, ”Then you’ll have to rely on yourself. What I know is: if a person wants to have their own path and not be criticized, they have to carve out their own path based on their skills.”

”Your path is to study diligently, graduate successfully, and then use your degree to do what you want. Whether it’s live streaming or some other job, as long as you’re not breaking the law, no one can control you.”

Lin Minghao said a bit unsure, ”Brother, can I really do it?”

”You can!” Fu Yu replied firmly, ”Even I managed to become a regular employee and stay in Bei’an, you’re no worse than me!”

Although Fu Yu succeeded in becoming a regular employee because of the system, he genuinely believed that Lin Minghao had hope.

Lin Minghao was indeed encouraged.

Before hanging up, he sincerely said, ”Thanks, brother!”

The next morning, Fu Yu directly took a taxi to the music restaurant.

Punched in, changed into his work clothes, he was now very familiar with and understood the environment and his colleagues here.

Once there, he could start working right away.

The music restaurant was different from Qianlima.

Here, it was busy from morning until afternoon, usually around five thirty or six in the evening, it would quiet down.

When Fu Yu walked into the kitchen, he was warmly welcomed by Zhang Zhen and others.

”Chef Fu, you’re finally here!” Zhang Zhen had a look of relief like he had found a savior, ”There was an order for a banquet of fifty tables at noon today, but suddenly last night, they changed it to sixty-six tables. Moreover, the additional sixteen tables are for guests over sixty years old, and they want to change the braised pork trotter to oil-steamed trotter because they said the elders have a hard time chewing, and the oil-steamed ones are more suitable.”

”The fifty portions of braised we started cooking early in the morning, but it’s really too late for the oil-steamed trotter.”

The music restaurant mostly hosted table banquets, sometimes a few dozen to over a hundred tables, and there was even a time it hosted more than two hundred tables.

Fortunately, most of this banquet-style dining was cold dishes primarily, so ingredients could be prepped in advance and cooking was usually quick.

But for hard dishes like trotters, they must be made on the same day.

Zhang Zhen and the others had everything arranged meticulously, who cooked which dishes and how many portions were all precisely divided.

Unexpectedly, such a variable emerged.

And suddenly a whole sixteen more tables, yet the dining time couldn’t be delayed for even a minute.

This situation undoubtedly put great pressure on the kitchen staff.

Zhang Zhen consulted with Fu Yu, ”Chef Fu, can you handle the oil-steamed trotter?”

Primarily because this dish was time-consuming, and they were all already assigned to other tasks and couldn’t spare extra hands.

Fu Yu readily agreed, ”Sure!”

Hearing his agreement, Zhang Zhen was immediately relieved.

From the beginning to the end, Zhang Zhen didn’t even doubt whether Fu Yu could make this dish.

Somehow, at some point in time, he had come to believe that there was nothing Fu Yu couldn’t make or cook well.

Fu Yu had never actually made oil-steamed trotter before, as at Qianlima, orders for such hard dishes as trotters were rare, given that the restaurant primarily served seafood.

On rare occasions when it was ordered, it was a pre-arranged banquet, and trotters were typically braised or stew-braised.

While the staff was moving the trotters, Fu Yu quickly checked the Classic Old Flavor recipe.

Initially, he wanted to refer to the Specialty Home Banquet recipe, but Zhang Zhen mentioned that the extra sixteen tables were for hosting guests over sixty years old.

Elders generally cherished old memories, and compared to creative presentations, they were more likely to appreciate familiar flavors.

Indeed, nostalgia is the way to go!

Fu Yu carefully memorized the specific steps and methods of cooking, and then began cooking confidently.