The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Dai Li took quite a while to fully grasp the meaning of these words.

She left the meeting room and instinctively started walking towards the kitchen. Midway, she turned around and went back to her workspace.

No customers had entered the restaurant to dine yet, so everyone found a place to rest.

She slipped into an empty private room on the second floor, pulled out a chair, and sat down in a daze.

She knew her new life had begun.

This promotion, whether it was because Zhao Meng pulled some strings and called in favors, whether Gao Wenjing had initially planned to promote Wang Yuxuan instead of her, essentially taking Wang Yuxuan’s opportunity... or how others might view her because of this, or what Wang Yuxuan might think...

All these things seemed to become less important.

Opportunities always favor those who are prepared.

Zhao Meng even risked his own face for her; she definitely needed to cherish this opportunity and hold onto this position.

Moreover, with a higher salary, the burden of supporting the family would be much lighter.

Thinking of Zhao Meng, Dai Li felt a slight warmth in her heart.

Good people aren’t forsaken by heaven.

She had endured hardships for so long and finally met the right person, reaping the rewards after the struggles.

...

The matter of front hall staff adjustments quickly spread in the kitchen.

Jiang Mo handled things meticulously, always carefully checking any customer note requests on takeout orders and marking them, worried the kitchen staff might overlook them.

The temporary grilling area was still led by Fu Yu, with Sun Qingning and Yao Yihang only stepping in to help when things got really busy.

The main issue was that the kitchen had ample staff, while in the grilling area, even though they were trained by the same master, the barbecue by Sun Qingning and Yao Yihang wasn’t as tasty as Fu Yu’s.

New customers didn’t notice the difference, which was manageable, but the regulars could tell right away, always requesting the same chef who did their barbecue last time in their notes.

Over time, the takeout orders for barbecue gradually became exclusive requests from Fu Yu’s regulars.

During lunchtime, the orders still mainly came from dine-in customers, but the takeout section received two large orders, with the grilling area particularly bustling.

Throughout the entire afternoon, Liu Yuqing’s trips back and forth to the kitchen were more frequent than the sum she had made the entire previous week.

She was responsible for handing all takeout orders over to the kitchen.

Even though the running around was tiring, she noticeably had more free time.

When there were no takeout orders, she could arrange her time as she wished, either watching the chefs cook in the kitchen or staying in the front hall, learning how to communicate with customers and promote the restaurant’s takeout dishes without any props.

Liu Yuqing was very interested in the cooking methods of Qianlima’s various specialty dishes.

Especially when she heard that Yao Shi was using the afternoon downtime, when customers weren’t ordering, to personally guide others in cooking, she quickly informed Jiang Mo and hurried to the kitchen.

Fu Yu had already followed Yao Shi to the Red Case District.

Liu Yuqing found herself empty-handed and couldn’t help but ask, ”Where’s Chef Fu?”

The kitchen hand was momentarily stunned. ”He should be over in the Red Case District; I saw Chef Sun call him over earlier.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Yuqing hurried to the Red Case District and indeed saw Fu Yu standing in front of Yao Shi’s cooking station, cooking.

The cooking station was set with ingredients prepared by the kitchen hand beforehand.

Apart from Fu Yu, Yao Yihang and Sun Qingning were also craning their necks to watch from the side.

Yao Shi showed no intention of cooking himself; instead, he turned to look at the others.

Yao Yihang: Want to volunteer to handle the cooking?

Zhang Jiaxin: I really don’t know...

Sun Qingning: Don’t look at me; I’m just doing odd jobs here.

The trio instinctively looked towards Fu Yu.

As expected, Yao Shi asked, ”Xiaofu, would you like to handle the cooking?”

Fu Yu was stunned and quickly shook his head. ”Chef Yao, you’re giving me too much credit. I’ve never made Stir-Fried Eggplant before. It’s not ordered much by customers, so I’ve never seen Chef Zhao prepare it; I wouldn’t know how to cook it.”

Once Fu Yu said this, Yao Shi inexplicably felt a sense of relief.

Good, good.

There’s still something you can’t do.

However, just as Yao Shi stepped in front of the cooking station, placing the wok on the stove, he unexpectedly said, ”No problem, it’s a good time to practice your flexibility while cooking. Come on, stand here, and I’ll guide you in cooking Stir-Fried Eggplant.”

Yao Yihang and the others immediately exchanged glances!

No way!

Is it really okay to be so overtly biased?

And then a sudden electronic notification sounded in Fu Yu’s ear:

[Ding! Rear Kitchen Artisan Title Reward: Congratulations on receiving NPC Chef Yao Shi’s sincere guidance: Stir-Fried Eggplant cooking method]

Fu Yu: ”!”

It actually triggered the rear kitchen artisan title’s sincere guidance teaching mode!

This is great!

Fu Yu quickly nodded and said, ”Alright, Chef Yao!”

After speaking, he walked quickly to the cooking station, immediately adopting a cooking stance.

When Liu Yuqing hurried over to the Red Case District, she saw Fu Yu standing calmly and happily at the cooking station, handling the cooking.

Meanwhile, Yao Yihang and the others watching beside them wore complex expressions, staring dumbfounded!

Turns out he was just being modest earlier?

...

Yao Shi stood on one side of Fu Yu, in a spot better for observing Fu Yu’s cooking view and more convenient for guidance.

Due to its complex preparation and costly ingredients, yet low selling price, the restaurant didn’t particularly encourage servers to recommend the Stir-Fried Eggplant to customers.

However, probably because it was quite troublesome and challenging to cook, it had significant teaching value.

As an experienced chef from Qianlima, Yao Shi had cooked specialty dishes like Stir-Fried Eggplant countless times.

In his eyes, the cooking difficulty was negligible.

The cooking of such dishes mainly relied on ingredient use, cooking method, and mastery of seasoning ratios.

No matter the dish, after enough practice, even the most complicated methods become second nature.

Yao Shi glanced at Fu Yu and handed the tray with eggplants over. ”Listen carefully, Xiaofu, the first thing to watch out for with this dish is cutting the eggplant.”

”Peel the eggplant, slice it, then cut the slices into squares, and finally into even, small dice-sized pieces for later use.”

After listening carefully, Fu Yu began cutting the eggplant following Yao Shi’s instructions.

Yao Shi’s guidance was detailed, while Fu Yu’s cutting started slowly but gradually picked up speed.

The eggplant peel was removed cleanly, and the diced pieces were uniform in size and thickness.

Yao Shi nodded in satisfaction and continued, ”Wash the pigeon meat, let it drain, gently tap it with the knife, score it with cross-hatch cuts, then cut into small dice-sized pieces for later use.”

Compared to the firm texture of the eggplant, the pigeon meat was overly tender and thus more challenging to cut.

Fu Yu gently tapped the pigeon meat with the knife and carefully scored it.

He saw his actions as meticulous, while to others, they appeared as smooth as flowing water.

After all, scoring cross-hatch cuts was a skill used when preparing kidneys, and compared to the slippery kidneys, scoring the pigeon meat was still a skill Fu Yu could easily manage.