The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

At this moment, the old lady who had been sitting by the dining table frowned and covered her stomach, ”Alright, stop arguing. The shrimp head does taste particularly bitter. If you don’t believe me, try it yourselves.”

Hearing the voice, everyone looked over simultaneously, and what they saw startled them.

They had been too focused on arguing with the male customer to observe closely before.

The old lady dining with them indeed didn’t look very well.

The elderly, naturally not as vibrant as the young, sat in her chair with a dull complexion, notably pale lips, and her hand on the edge of the table clenched into a fist, clearly showing discomfort.

Fu Yu and the others exchanged a hurried glance, their hearts sinking in unison!

What’s going on?

Could it be... that the food really made the customer sick?

Food poisoning?

Upon seeing the old lady’s condition, the first thought that flashed through their minds was almost identical.

This is bad!

Most likely, seafood poisoning!

Just as they were preparing to go over and ask, the old lady suddenly straightened up, her complexion visibly improving, and she looked not as uncomfortable as before.

Is she... fine now?

No one present understood medicine, so seeing the old lady seemingly alright, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Fu Yu stepped forward and said, ”I cooked this dish, let me taste it first.”

Because of his confidence in his culinary skills, Fu Yu rarely tasted his dishes while cooking.

The customer had no objection and even pushed the plate forward.

Their order was a small set meal, consisting of four dishes and a soup, with meat pies as the staple food.

They came specifically to dine at Qianlima, but the only seafood dish they ordered was this braised prawns.

The prawns on the plate were mostly untouched.

The one taken for tasting sat obediently on the plate in front of the old lady, its head separated from the body, the meat eaten, leaving only a solitary shrimp head and a few incomplete shells.

Fu Yu picked up a prawn from the untouched side with clean, new chopsticks.

He directly started to dissect it, first putting the shrimp head in his mouth to suck on it.

He rarely ate prawns in his daily life.

On one hand, his family had no habit of eating prawns, and on the other hand, prawns are quite expensive.

It’s not that he can’t afford them, but buying such seafood on a non-celebratory day feels wasteful.

At Qianlima, the seafood available for employee meals usually included fish and crabs, hardly ever prawns that customers ordered but left untouched.

So Fu Yu didn’t eat prawns often, and when he had the chance, he’d eat the heads too.

Not by biting directly, but by sucking the rich juices from the shrimp heads, and taking a bite of the connecting part for the sparse meat.

The rich juice entered his mouth, with flavors sweet and salty, complementing each other, leaving a lingering taste.

The taste was very authentic, not only carrying the rich aroma of the sauce but also the unique fresh flavor of prawns.

To create such a flavor, if these weren’t fresh prawns, how could anyone say such things with a clear conscience!

Moreover, each prawn in the dish was 15 to 20 cm long, glistening, plump, large-bodied, and full of shrimp roe in the head.

Braised prawns made with such shrimps taste the best.

Before personally tasting the prawns, even though Fu Yu was very confident in his culinary skills, he couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.

But now, all his worries were completely dispelled.

This dish had no problems whatsoever.

The flavor was excellent, the presentation beautiful, and the prawns used were fresh—one could have anyone present taste it, yet not find a single fault.

But just then, the state of the slightly recovering old lady changed suddenly; she let out a muffled sound, leaned on the table, and bent her head down.

The male customer was taken aback upon seeing this, quickly moving closer to ask with concern, ”Mom? Are you alright? What’s wrong? Feeling uncomfortable?”

At this moment, the old lady was entirely devoid of strength, one hand on her stomach, the other supporting the table, her head resting on her arm, eyes tightly shut.

”It’s nothing, just suddenly feeling a bit nauseated, my stomach feels uncomfortable!”

The old lady was drenched in sweat, her voice trembling, clearly in severe distress.

The male customer’s face changed instantly: ”How is it that suddenly your stomach feels unwell? Could it be something you ate that’s not right?”

With that, his tone instantly became agitated: ”What is going on with your restaurant? It’s definitely the seafood’s problem. My mom was fine before leaving, did nothing, ate nothing, and now after eating a couple of mouthfuls here, she’s like this!”

”Could it be seafood poisoning!”

”I told you, these prawns aren’t fresh, definitely treated with something, yet you wouldn’t admit! Now it’s made someone sick!”

The more the male customer spoke, the angrier he became, and at last, even shouted.

Gao Wenjing hadn’t expected to encounter such a situation and her previously calm demeanor suddenly shifted.

If it really were due to the ingredients causing harm to the customer, it would be a big issue for the restaurant.

But by right, the restaurant’s ingredients shouldn’t be problematic?

The seafood was all fresh and alive, the vegetables and fruits fresh, no cutting corners ever happened in this aspect.

Thinking of this, Gao Wenjing quickly dismissed the thought, intuitively suspecting the old lady had her own issues.

After all, it’s impossible that it was the restaurant’s food that caused harm.

After all, the ordered dishes were among the restaurant’s bestsellers, sold for many years with no cases of food poisoning ever.

Gao Wenjing instinctively wanted to refute the male customer’s words.

But at this time, Fu Yu interrupted the male customer’s questioning: ”Please don’t get agitated, let’s first see how the elder’s doing!”

Fu Yu moved closer, asking calmly and clearly, ”Elder, how are you feeling now? Should we call an ambulance?”

The mention of calling an ambulance panicked the male customer.

How could having a meal outside end up with the old lady needing emergency help?

”Is it really food poisoning?”

The male customer looked anxious, genuinely scared.

Fu Yu looked at him, speaking calmly: ”Please don’t worry. I tasted it just now, and there’s nothing wrong with the dish. The prawns are very fresh, the shrimp head doesn’t have any bitterness. The elder’s illness might not be food poisoning; it could be another acute condition. It’s best to check it at a hospital.”

The male customer, hearing this, panicked further: ”You’re just trying to shirk responsibility! My mom clearly said the shrimp head tasted very bitter!”

Fu Yu found this strange and couldn’t help but say: ”If you don’t believe me, you can taste it yourself. The dish is right here, I won’t do any tricks, you’ll know if it’s fresh with one taste.”