The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Yao Yihang frowned slightly, a large family gathering for dinner?

”Got it, my phone was on silent during the training just now, so I missed Chef Gu’s call.”

With a quick explanation, Yao Yihang sped up his pace.

Although he agreed readily, Yao Yihang was complaining in his heart.

Gu Yunwu is always like this; as long as it’s a large gathering, he hands over the order to him without a second word.

Even for small gatherings, the heavy work, like stir-frying, is still given to Qi Shun to cook.

Several people under Gu Yunwu’s command are kept busy moving around.

Qi Shun was quite happy though, as it’s a rare opportunity to practice on the stove.

The junior workers were also quite content, with another cooking chef joining, one of them was promoted to assistant chef.

Moreover, Gu Yunwu would usually call on a junior worker for tasks like a second-time frying when he’s too lazy to do it himself.

Compared to Zhao Meng’s side where work is distinctly divided, people on Gu Yunwu’s side have more opportunities to practice.

However, for Yao Yihang, it’s hard work.

With Gu Yunwu unwilling to lend a hand, all the kitchen work falls on him.

Though now he’s confirmed, earning commissions on each table, working from morning till night is truly exhausting.

Obviously doing the most work, yet earning the least commission, over time, Yao Yihang felt increasingly unbalanced.

But he couldn’t refuse to work; he considered changing jobs before, but then he found the monthly salary quite substantial.

This hesitation made his formerly firm decision to resign waver a little.

Living in this world, one always has to bow down for a bit of salary.

Yao Yihang muttered in his heart, but didn’t slow his footsteps one bit.

Gu Yunwu is the head chef and his direct supervisor.

When the boss gives orders, he, as a cooking chef, can only follow them.

As soon as Yao Yihang returned to the kitchen, he took the order slip from Gu Yunwu.

It should be a family gathering; they ordered eighteen dishes in total, not counting the staples and soups.

”I’ve already asked Lu Yao and the others to prepare the ingredients,” Gu Yunwu instructed, ”The customer has reserved for dining at 11:30 in the noon, so we need to start preparing now.”

Yao Yihang realized it was a pre-order reservation.

Once the junior workers delivered the prepped ingredients, Yao Yihang started cooking.

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For a restaurant, the off-season is just that short one-month time, and then the busy season comes around again.

Just after eleven every morning, customers start arriving one after another.

The ordering area in the front hall is the busiest, with all the order takers at their stations, taking turns greeting customers following the day’s seating order.

Liu Yuqing stood behind Jiang Mo.

She can now take orders independently, so the good-tempered and experienced Jiang Mo was assigned by the supervisor Gao Wenjing to mentor newbies.

When guests just entering the restaurant were warmly greeted to the ordering area by Jiang Mo, Liu Yuqing quickly stepped forward to stand in the service position.

She didn’t wait long before seeing a server escorting two customers over.

The visitors were a pair of sisters, the older looking about thirty-five or thirty-six, and the younger appearing slightly younger.

The sisters looked very alike, especially their eyes and brows, as if cast from the same mold.

When customers come to order, they are generally greeted by a server; if there are many people, they are taken directly to the lounge or a private room, while those responsible for ordering are guided to the ordering area.

However, the server bringing these two customers over wasn’t specifically a guide from the front hall but a dedicated server for the second-floor private rooms.

Liu Yuqing quickly greeted them with a smile, ”Hello! Please come this way to order!”

Before the customers could speak, the server who brought them explained, ”They are customers with a pre-order. When they placed the order, they ordered soft-fried yellow croaker. Procurement just sent word that the yellow croaker will be delivered in the afternoon, so they want to change the dish.”

Liu Yuqing understood immediately.

The seafood in the restaurant is always fresh and of good quality, and it must be alive.

So sometimes, if the supplier’s seafood quality is not up to standard, the procurement can only temporarily switch suppliers.

Such occurrences of being unable to replenish stock on the day occasionally happen.

The restaurant’s servers and order-takers have long had a tacit understanding; procurement is always done in the morning, and if there’s none today, then there will be none.

But to not let customers feel there’s a shortage of supply, they say such things to appease them.

Liu Yuqing exchanged a quick glance with the server, then warmly invited the two customers, ”Please follow me to choose your dishes.”

The server led them, reported the assigned room for dining, and then turned to leave.

Liu Yuqing brought them to the ordering spot, and while the customers were choosing seafood, she quickly located the pre-order, deleted the soft-fried yellow croaker, and was prepared to add new dishes at any time.

After taking a look, Liu Yuqing noticed that this was a large pre-order, with twenty-two dishes in total, including staples and soups.

And several of the main courses were quite pricey.

For such pre-orders, since seafood needs weighing, customers generally have specific requirements regarding the size.

However, there were no remarks on this customer’s pre-order, indicating that when placing the order, they didn’t consider such details and left it to the order takers to decide.

For such money-is-no-object customers, if they dine here once, they will return a second time.

Thinking of this, Liu Yuqing became even more enthusiastic in her service.

It was clear the elder sister was in charge while the younger one accompanied her.

Liu Yuqing, referencing the dishes on the order list, recommended two delicious dishes.

Sure enough, the elder sister quickly chose the soft-fried fish fillet.

Liu Yuqing efficiently attended to them, then continued with her work.

After changing the dish, the sisters made their way back to their private room along the original path.

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At that moment, the kitchen staff had started their busy day.

Yao Yihang was handed a large order and rushed to begin cooking.

Just as he finished two dishes and was making seafood soup, a server came with news: the pre-order customers had arrived.

Yao Yihang acknowledged and quickened his pace.

He had just finished plating a dish when the server who had come earlier jogged back to report.

”Chef Yao, the customers in 209 want to add a dish.”

Yao Yihang was taken aback: ”Add a dish? Where’s the slip?”

When a customer adds a dish, the order taker directly adds it to the order slip, which the server then brings to the kitchen.

The kitchen always cooks based on the order slips.

The server hurriedly explained, ”The customers ordered a dish we don’t have on our menu, so it can’t be added to the slip.”

Yao Yihang was surprised and asked, ”If it’s not on our menu, how do I make it?”

The server awkwardly replied, ”Linlin was responsible for room 209, but she was in the restroom then. The new employee Wang Meng handled the order, and she agreed without getting more details. Chef Yao, Linlin asked me to check with the kitchen to see if we can make the dish.”