The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

At this moment, in Room 209, a large family was boisterously enjoying their meal.

The adults drank and chatted, children ran around everywhere, and the young parents carefully watched over them.

Li Linlin stretched her neck to take a look at the customers inside the private room, spinning around anxiously.

Dai Li hurried over with Wang Meng: ”Linlin, I asked Zhao Yue to go to the kitchen to find Chef Yao.”

Li Linlin was taken aback: ”Chef Yao took this order? Can he do it? Sister Dai, maybe you should tell Chef Zhao about it.”

Dai Li shook her head: ”Let’s wait and hear from Zhao Yue first. Maybe Chef Gu has an idea? This order wasn’t taken by Old Zhao, so we can’t butt in rashly.”

The situation in the kitchen was well-known to the experienced staff in the restaurant.

Li Linlin hurriedly thanked her: ”Thank you, Sister Dai. Without you, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

Li Linlin felt this situation was really unfair. She just went to the bathroom, and during that time, the newcomer Wang Meng managed to create such a mess.

But this wasn’t really Wang Meng’s fault.

Wang Meng had only been in the job for three days and hadn’t yet familiarized herself with the names of all the dishes in the restaurant.

If that weren’t the case, she wouldn’t have needed to guide her hand-in-hand.

Wang Meng felt quite wronged too.

The customer had asked to add a dish in a really casual manner, like a regular, without even checking if the restaurant had that dish.

She didn’t think to check in advance.

And now, the customer had ordered a dish the restaurant didn’t even have, yet she took the order.

Now she had unwittingly caused trouble for Li Linlin, who usually guided her. If this situation escalated, how would she continue working under Li Linlin?

Dai Li still had her own matters to attend to, so after comforting Li Linlin briefly, she left in a hurry.

As soon as Dai Li left, Li Linlin instructed: ”Wang Meng, you better go check in the kitchen. If Chef Yao really can’t handle it, you’ll need to quickly find Sister Dai and ask her to help Chef Zhao figure something out.”

Wang Meng quickly nodded in agreement.

At this time, inside the private room, the whole family was happily enjoying delicious food.

The family’s last name was Liu, with four siblings in total. When their parents were still alive, they would gather once a month at their parents’ home.

After the parents passed away, the gatherings were managed by the well-organized Liu Sanmei.

The family continued with the monthly gatherings, although the location changed from home to a restaurant.

Like a motherly elder sister, the Eldest Sister Liu, now in her sixties, sat at the head of the table, smiling as she listened to the conversations of her siblings and their families.

Today’s meal was arranged by Liu Sanmei, including a dish of soft-fried yellow croaker, which was Eldest Sister Liu’s favorite and nearly always ordered during gatherings.

Unfortunately, today, the restaurant couldn’t make this dish, so Liu Sanmei quickly went to change the dish.

When she returned, she heard her second brother had ordered an additional dish out of curiosity: ”Why did you add more dishes? Their portions here are big enough to feed everyone.”

Brother Liu Er laughed, ”Just came to mind suddenly. We used to have a dish called Su Huang Cai back home in Siping. It was quite delicious, so I thought we’d order it for everyone to try.”

Liu Sanmei couldn’t recall it but was interested, asking, ”Su Huang Cai? Never heard of it before. Eldest Sister, have you had it?”

Eldest Sister Liu nodded cheerfully, ”Yes, it’s not anything rare. When I was young, I’d often encounter this dish at functions with our parents. Now, it’s not very common anymore.”

Upon hearing it was a dish their parents’ generation often ate, Liu Sanmei’s interest was piqued, ”Really? Is it seafood too?”

Eldest Sister Liu said, ”No, it’s a sweet dish made with eggs that children usually love.”

Liu Sanmei laughed, ”Perfect! All the kids are here today. Let them try it. If it’s good, we’ll order it next time.”

The family chatted and laughed, enjoying a joyous atmosphere.

...

In the Qianlima kitchen.

Yao Yihang thought he misheard and asked again, ”You said the customer ordered Su Huang Cai?”

The runner nodded, ”Yes, that’s the dish.”

Having been in the industry for several years, chef Yao Yihang had worked at other restaurants besides Qianlima and was somewhat acquainted with various dishes.

But this Su Huang Cai—he had really never heard of it.

How could he make a dish he hadn’t even heard of?

Chef Yao straightforwardly refused, ”We can’t make this dish in the kitchen. Go back and tell them to change the order, please.”

The runner had never encountered such a situation before and was at a loss.

She knew the situation at the front well, though; the server already accepted the customer’s order, and now saying they couldn’t make it because it didn’t exist in the menu?

No doubt, the customer wouldn’t be happy.

The runner quickly suggested, ”Chef Yao, can you please think of something? The server has already accepted the order; if we don’t serve it now, we’ll be in trouble with the customer!”

Chef Yao didn’t relent.

He did want to help, but was powerless.

Besides, this issue wasn’t the kitchen’s fault; it was the front’s problem for not handling it properly.

Just then, Gu Yunwu came out from the storage room.

After hearing about the issue, Gu Yunwu frowned slightly, ”Su Huang Cai, right? I’ve heard of it, but never made it. It used to be quite common at wedding banquets years ago, but it’s not popular anymore.”

The runner immediately asked, ”Chef Gu, is there no one in our kitchen who can make it?”

Though a bit sly, Gu Yunwu was relatively attentive to matters in the restaurant.

Especially after hearing that the new server had already accepted the order, it was clear that going back to inform the customer they couldn’t make it—because the dish didn’t exist—wasn’t going to end well.

Separate issues should be handled separately; without a second thought, Gu Yunwu turned to Zhao Meng, ”Chef Zhao, can you make Su Huang Cai?”

Zhao Meng was currently at leisure, with three people able to man the stove simultaneously, and Fu Yu had been eager to work these days, allowing him a rare chance to rest, sitting by the counter with a grin and relaxing his feet.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Meng stood up, puzzled, ”Su Huang Cai? Why does that sound so familiar?”

Gu Yunwu reminded him, ”Egg-battered; we used to come across it occasionally at large gatherings!”

Catching a bit of a memory, Zhao Meng recalled, ”Ah! Got it. Why do we need to make this dish all of a sudden?”

The runner quickly explained the whole situation.

At that, the kitchen team immediately started discussing.

Was Wang Meng dumb or what?

She didn’t even know if the restaurant had this dish!

Not knowing is one thing, but couldn’t she check first before taking the order when the customer wanted to add a dish?

How could she just agree like that!

Now it’s a fine mess—customer is waiting, but the kitchen can’t deliver; isn’t that just asking for trouble from the customer?