The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

PM.

Half an hour left until the restaurant closes.

The front hall is no longer taking orders.

In the kitchen, after cooking the last dish, the junior staff started cleaning up the battlefield.

Wang Yulong, along with Liu Zhangpeng, arranged for the leftover ingredients to be processed, prepping people to marinate and boil in advance.

Everything came to a close.

Everyone sighed with relief.

Liu Zhangpeng let out a long breath, and as he passed by Fu Yu, he patted his shoulder lightly and said in a low voice, ”Xiaofu, we really have to thank you today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it through.”

Fu Yu smiled and waved it off, ”It was nothing.”

Fu Yu knew that getting through tonight smoothly wasn’t solely his credit but the result of the entire kitchen’s teamwork.

He was just doing his part.

Truthfully, he should be grateful for today’s opportunity, which allowed him to properly learn Liu Family Cuisine.

After all, accepting orders and cooking on your own is entirely different from the passive learning of being hand-held by a master.

Today was a bit of a rush, with all the kitchen work done past the end of the shift.

Boss Liu Yunong had come to the restaurant earlier, took a look around, and seeing the kitchen managing well, after a brief round of instructions in both the front and back, hurried off.

Fu Yu missed the chance for a ride, said goodbye to everyone, and took a cab back to Qianlima.

A little over half an hour ride.

When he got off and paid, he realized his phone had run out of battery at some point.

Luckily, he had the habit of carrying spare cash, so he could pay the fare smoothly.

Back at the dorm, Fu Yu hurried to charge his phone before changing and washing up.

With everything in order, he picked up his phone, turned it on, and lazily lay on the bed to rest.

Since 6:30 in the morning, he’d been stuck in the kitchen until late at night. Even with the enhanced stamina from the system, it was still quite draining.

Fu Yu reached up to rub his obviously sore neck when he suddenly heard continuous notification sounds from his phone.

Glancing at the screen, he saw no less than twenty missed call notifications.

He was instantly taken aback.

What the hell?

What on earth happened?

Earlier in the evening when he left Qianlima, he could still use his phone to pay the fare. It still had power then.

In just a few hours, there were over twenty missed calls. That’s quite something!

Master Chen from the music restaurant called four or five times.

Yao Shi twice.

Zhao Meng three times.

Zhang Zhen three times.

Sun Qingning twice.

Liu Yuqing once.

Several from unfamiliar numbers.

Even 10085 joined the fun.

Fu Yu looked at the time; it was almost midnight.

At this hour, it’s not wise to call anyone back.

Thinking it over, Fu Yu decided to message Liu Yuqing first.

So, he edited a message and sent it over.

[Phone died, just saw this. What’s up, did you need something?]

Liu Yuqing called directly.

”You haven’t slept yet or did you just get back?” Liu Yuqing threw two questions at Fu Yu right from the start.

Fu Yu chuckled and joked, ”Worried about me? What, you missed me after not seeing me for one night?”

Liu Yuqing laughed back, ”Miss you? Sort of. I wanted to ask how that cooking video clip I edited was. After I sent it to you, I heard nothing back. Is it okay or not?”

With that reminder, Fu Yu remembered that Feng Xiaoxiao had asked him to prepare a cooking video to submit to the association for a competition at the annual meeting.

He had handed the task over to Liu Yuqing.

Within two days, Liu Yuqing had sent back the finished video.

Fu Yu watched it once, feeling very satisfied, and sent it to Feng Xiaoxiao.

Feng Xiaoxiao didn’t say anything upon receiving it.

So Fu Yu had tossed the whole thing out of his mind.

Fu Yu quickly praised, ”It must be perfect! The video was done beautifully, like a documentary. The shots made me look too handsome, more like a movie lead than a cooking video!”

Liu Yuqing laughed heartily, blurting out, ”It’s mainly because you’re handsome! People look good on camera, and just a casual shot gets it.”

Fu Yu suddenly had a lot to say, showering praise without restraint, asking if Liu Yuqing was captivated by him...

His talk was flying off the handle.

Alone at home, Liu Yuqing, without the embarrassment of being overheard, felt less shy, simply saying, ”Can you be more modest? If I say you’re fat, you’re gonna start wheezing. A man’s looks don’t put food on the table... And stop always trying to be handsome, you’re already enough, don’t go flirting around with others.”

”I’m just talking to you today,” Fu Yu felt happy, saying, ”Are you an outsider?”

Liu Yuqing: ”...You’re crazy, who wants to talk about that with you.”

She continued, ”In the middle of the night, what are we doing chatting on the phone? I’m going to sleep now, you rest too!”

Saying that, without waiting for Fu Yu’s reaction, she hung up directly.

Looking at the hung-up call, Fu Yu couldn’t help but chuckle twice.

It was too late; he didn’t fiddle with his phone anymore but rather lay on the bed, contentedly flipping through his bedtime read: Classic Old Taste Recipes.

Perhaps because his cooking skills had improved, he no longer felt like he was forcing himself to find the motivation to persist through the dull cooking techniques described in books.

He genuinely found joy in learning through the dish introductions and small cooking tips in the recipes.

He even often felt an urge to try cooking after browsing through the recipes.

Indeed, they say that mastering a learning method can be simple and fun.

Realizing this, relieved of the stubborn tags associated with learning, allowing the release of tense nerves, sensitivities can freely extend, reaching different worlds, thus discovering the distinctive fun and joy of learning.

Fu Yu now deeply understood this.

With both his body and mind satisfied, Fu Yu enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

The next day, Zhao Meng had the night shift, allowing him to finally sleep in.

As he headed to the kitchen for breakfast, Sun Qingning sat next to him, inquiring with concern, ”Chef Fu, why didn’t you pick up last night? Chef Zhao called you twice, and it was off.”

Fu Yu quickly explained, ”Oh, my phone was dead yesterday. What did Chef Zhao want? I saw you called me too?”

Sun Qingning explained, ”I saw that Chef Zhao couldn’t reach you, thinking that if you suddenly turned your phone on, I’d try calling twice.”

Fu Yu asked, ”What did Chef Zhao need?”

Sun Qingning replied, ”I think Chef Yao wanted to reach you, and Chef Zhao was helping contact you, but since your phone was off, no one could reach you. I’m not sure what it was specifically; Chef Zhao didn’t say. You can ask when he arrives.”