The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

When Fu Yu returned to the store, it was not yet nine o’clock.

He didn’t go to the kitchen, instead, he turned directly from the back door to the dormitory.

Zhao Meng had an early shift today, and those who lived locally had already gone home. The hallway was quiet, with no one around.

Fu Yu went back to his room, made a call home to chat with his parents for a bit, and then took a quick shower.

Seeing that it was past ten, Fu Yu took a takeout box to the public lounge, and used the microwave to heat up the braised lamb and roasted lamb ribs that had long gone cold.

This stuff is inedible when cold, with a thick layer of lamb fat congealed on top.

Actually, Zhao Meng ordered quite a few dishes, mostly hearty ones, and although the three of them chatted lively, they drank a lot without really eating much.

The public lounge in the dormitory has two microwaves for employees to heat up their food.

Because the kitchen work is busy, sometimes there’s hardly time to eat dinner.

After finally slogging through until the customers left, they had to tidy up the food prep, check the storeroom, and verify the next day’s supplies with the buyer.

By the time they got off work, they found that the dinner they prepared had long gone cold, and since it was time to clear out the kitchen, they simply brought some food back to the dorm and heated it up to make do.

This newly added lounge is quite popular with the residents, especially the two microwaves, which often come in handy.

However, the initial approval by Dong Jun Tian was due to considering that with the new lounge, on one hand, it would be convenient, and on the other hand, it would prevent kitchen staff from privately using the kitchen after hours, which not only wastes electricity but also poses safety hazards.

Fu Yu quite likes this lounge, as sometimes when he returns from Shangshi Private Kitchen, Liu Yunong would send him some of the day’s specialty dishes from the store.

Sometimes, if he gets hungry in the middle of the night, he can just come over and heat something up to eat, which is very convenient.

When Fu Yu went to the lounge to heat his food, the hallway was still quiet. As soon as he finished heating the braised lamb and put the roast lamb ribs in the microwave, someone came out of the room diagonally opposite.

Sun Qingning came over with exaggerated enthusiasm.

”Wow! Chef Fu, what are you heating up? Smells amazing!”

As he spoke, Sun Qingning came closer and peeked in: ”Whoa! Is this lamb shank? Living the good life! It smells so good; it’s making me hungry just smelling it!”

His voice was loud, and this time of night, the hallway was particularly quiet. His shouting brought more people out into the hallway.

Zhang Jinyu, who shared a room with Sun Qingning, was in the washroom washing his face, heard the noise, and came over to take a look.

”Oh! The smell of lamb!” Zhang Jinyu sniffed hard: ”Smells like braised lamb!”

Fu Yu couldn’t help but roll his eyes: ”That nose of yours is really something!”

There was a lot of food packed, and Fu Yu didn’t plan to eat it all by himself. Since Sun Qingning and Zhang Jinyu didn’t mind, the three of them happily heated up all the food and took it to the room, enjoying a lively late-night snack together.

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Though the Chinese New Year was past, business at the store was still booming.

A little after eleven in the afternoon, it was the peak time for customers to dine, and the kitchen was the busiest.

Fu Yu was holding three order slips, just plating some dishes from the wok, and before he could even start the presentation, another order slip was brought over by the server.

This was a banquet order with eighteen dishes, apparently ordered by a group of high school students.

Fu Yu’s stomach turned!

He asked especially: ”How many people came?”

The server replied, ”More than ten, wearing uniforms from No. 2 High School, and they ordered a lot of beer.”

That’s just great!

After finding out the details, Fu Yu anxiously checked the order slip carefully and then instructed the junior staff to start preparing the ingredients.

It’s often said that a growing boy can eat a family out of house and home!

This saying is not without reason.

Seventeen to eighteen-year-old boys, during their growth spurt, have stomachs like bottomless pits and eat frightening amounts.

Right now, they’ve ordered eighteen dishes, which seems like a lot, but who knows, they might order more later.

The front-of-house staff were pleased with such a banquet, but the kitchen was grumbling.

The same commission, but cooking five or six dishes for a small banquet, can’t compare with the effort needed for a table with more than ten dishes.

Especially with this particular banquet order, who knows how much more they might order!

After instructing the junior staff on food prep, Fu Yu quickly organized the cooking order for the upcoming dishes.

In situations where multiple orders come in at once, dishes need to be categorized appropriately.

For instance, considering the speed of cooking, the sequence of operations, and alternating between hot and cold dishes, ensuring each table of guests does not have to wait too long for their food.

In addition, the serving order for each table must be considered, avoiding long waits during dining and ensuring there aren’t long intervals between dishes being served.

This requires the chef to be highly familiar with each dish and able to accurately judge cooking times and arrange operations methodically.

After roughly sorting the order slips, Fu Yu turned to Zhang Jinyu and said, ”We’ve got a new banquet order. You handle the basic food prep for it.”

Zhang Jinyu quickly went over to organize the food prep while the junior staff busily started moving vegetables, washing, and basic cutting tasks.

Everyone had been working in the kitchen for nearly a year, and having encountered such things many times, they dealt with it efficiently and in good order.

At the same time, in the large private room on the second floor, a group of high school boys were sitting together, laughing and joking.