The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

The clay pot braised pork belly comes out steaming hot, with paper-thin slices of rump layered over a bed of pickled cabbage and vermicelli, simmered until meltingly soft and flavorful. Fat and lean alternating in each bite, silky but not greasy—what a deep, lingering fragrance!

After they didn’t know how many rounds of drinks, Fu Yu stopped pretending and calling her ”Master” and switched to following Liu Yuqing in calling her ”Sis.”

Liu Yunong went even further, directly calling Fu Yu by his full name, and stopped referring to herself as ”I,” instead greeting her warmly with ”Sis” over and over.

The lady boss was very interested in what was going on between Liu Yuqing and Fu Yu, and asked with gossipy curiosity, ”Xiaofu looks so sharp and handsome—have you ever dated before?”

Fu Yu shook his head. ”Nope, Xiaoqing is my first love.”

As soon as he said that, both Liu Sisters were stunned.

Never would they have imagined!

With Fu Yu’s looks and personality, he’s actually never been in a relationship?

Liu Yuqing thought to herself, I really ought to thank you for that!

The lady boss still wouldn’t let it go. ”How’s that possible! You’re this good-looking, you’re telling me no girls ever chased you?”

Fu Yu drained half a glass of beer and gave a careless smile. ”Really none. I didn’t even finish high school before I went straight to culinary school. Back then all I thought about was learning to cook, I didn’t have time to date.”

The lady boss raised her brows and smiled. ”No matter how busy work is, it can’t be so busy that you don’t have a private life at all, right?”

The alcohol had flushed Fu Yu’s eyes slightly red, and his real thoughts slowly spilled out. ”I really didn’t date back in school. After graduating I went straight into Qianlima. The work in the back kitchen is seriously busy, I don’t even have time to rest on normal days, let alone the time to keep a girlfriend company. New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Labor Day, National Day... whenever it’s a public holiday, you’re working from dawn till dark, overtime is a regular thing... I really didn’t have time to look for anyone.”

The lady boss stretched out her arm to refill his glass and clinked it with his, sounding quite moved. ”Sigh, everyone in our restaurant line is like this. But you and Xiaoqing working together, that’s kind of fate too. This kind of relationship that just naturally falls into place is actually pretty rare.”

Fu Yu smiled. ”Exactly, that’s why I’m taking this relationship very seriously. Someone like me, every day it’s either working or following my Sis around learning to cook. Xiaoqing and I honestly don’t have much time alone together. It’s only because Xiaoqing understands me... I get it, I really do.”

As he spoke, Fu Yu lifted his hand and gulped down another glass of beer.

The lady boss actually caught a faint, misty sheen of moisture in his eyes.

Dropping out of high school, going alone to Bei’an to learn to cook, only getting to go home once a year—

Fu Yu had tasted plenty of the world’s warmth and coldness, the fickleness of human nature, and the hardship of surviving when everything depends on yourself.

It was precisely these experiences that made him more mature in temperament than his peers. He would only ever tell his parents the good things, talk about whatever would put their minds at ease and make them happy.

Fu Yu learned how to endure, how to appear weak when needed, and how to make himself live better and more freely in unfamiliar surroundings.

People around him, after spending time with him, would all sigh that Fu Yu was a devoted son, always thinking about and caring for his parents.

But no one knew that very often, during those years of studying away from home, it was the caring words from his family over the phone that warmed those long, lonely, difficult days.

Thinking back over these past few years, Fu Yu felt quite emotional.

He turned his face away then, looking out at the bustling crowd in the night beyond the window. His nose bridge and jawline formed an almost perfect profile, edged in a soft, enchanting gold by the neon lights outside, his gaze unfocused...

Liu Yuqing turned her head at that moment to look at Fu Yu.

From her angle, she could see his sharply defined side profile, the lowered eyelashes, the high nose bridge—handsome and quiet.

Liu Yuqing stared at Fu Yu without blinking, feeling the deepest emotions in her heart surge up with the slight tremor in her chest.

Beside her, Liu Yunong suddenly called out Fu Yu’s name.

Fu Yu turned his head, and under the lights, it was as if a bright radiance burst out from his eyes.

Looking at Fu Yu like this, a thought suddenly flashed through Liu Yuqing’s mind.

The reason she fell for Fu Yu, became so taken with him, was that he matched exactly the type of man she liked in her heart.

Whether it was a strikingly handsome face or a clean, refined one, it felt like he’d been made to her taste.

Fu Yu turned his head, and the first person he looked at was Liu Yuqing sitting beside him.

Right then, a faint smile first appeared on his clean, handsome face, like a spring breeze brushing past willow branches. Then that slight smile rippled outward, spreading to his open, clear brows and eyes.

It made Liu Yuqing inexplicably feel that this smile had sprouted from deep inside his heart.

The few of them sat around one table, drinking and chatting. The more they talked, the more topics they found, and the closer their connection grew.

Fu Yu’s eyes grew redder, his face warmer, the smile at the corner of his lips deeper. He stopped holding himself back, eating, drinking, and chatting in total ease.

Outside, the night was just right; inside the restaurant, the noise of voices swelled. The lady boss, her cousin, and her younger uncle got up to go greet customers.

With no outsiders at the table anymore, they felt even more relaxed.

Liu Yunong’s professional instincts kicked in, and she pulled Fu Yu into a careful tasting and critique of all the dishes on the table.

Earlier, with her best friend there, there were a lot of details and ideas about the cooking that she hadn’t gone into.

Now that only Fu Yu and Liu Yuqing were left, she had no more reservations, and spoke very thoroughly, pointing out all the shortcomings and then offering her own suggestions.

Once work came up, Fu Yu was always serious, and the two of them chatted enthusiastically for a long while.

Master and apprentice really had endless things to talk about.