Chapter 392: To Become A Master Chef
Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
"Everybody, the pub time has commenced. Come on in, please." Shen Min said to the customers that had been waiting in the restaurant.
"Wait. We are not in a hurry. I prefer to eat my dishes after Yuan Zhou finishes his meal." Wu Hai refused with a smile.
"Um. I have also never seen Boss Yuan eat." The novelist said with great interest.
"The wine won't slip away." Su Mu said to Shen Min with his mildest voice.
"Ok, ok." Shen Min blushed from Su Mu's smile and then lowered her head.
"Tsk-tsk. I also have a good appearance." Seeing the scene, Wu Hai stroked his own face and muttered, not intending to show his weakness.
"Not as good as me." Being sharp-eared, Su Mu immediately answered smilingly.
Regardless of their conversations, Yuan Zhou laid the table in the kitchen and then began to fill the bowl with plain cooked rice.
The electric rice cooker looked a little old. There was a pattern of peony flowers on the surface. When Yuan Zhou uncovered it, a burst of white smoke emitted from the inside.
The bowls that Yuan Zhou were taking weren't those used in normal times. Instead, they were two small celadon porcelain bowls and a big white porcelain bowl.
"It's..." Su Mu hesitated and didn't know what to say. Therefore, he could only stop talking.
After all, what was happening in this scene appeared quite obvious.
Yuan Zhou filled three bowls with plain cooked rice cleanly and put them at three sides of the square table respectively. He just kept silent all along and meanwhile carried a serious expression of expectation on his face, causing the customers at the side embarrassed and wanted to leave.
"Pa Pa", Yuan Zhou placed a pair of chopsticks at each of the three sides, 3 pairs in total.
"Time to eat." Yuan Zhou said softly, but it was still captured by the customers.
He carried the bowl up and by convention, picked some Vegetable Stir-fried With Mushrooms and then directly stuffed it into his mouth.
"Slurp Slurp", he started to chew.
There was a soft and tender texture as well as a slightly crisp feeling once the vegetable entered his mouth. And the taste was fairly refreshing.
As for the mushrooms, its fragrance nevertheless suffused all over his mouth. Along with the bland and refreshing taste of the vegetables, the two ingredients just brought out the best in each other. The most wonderful thing was that it also carried a delicate flavor of the tea oil, which stimulated the freshness and delicacy of the mushrooms. Then, an indescribable taste suffused immediately.
"It looks so good." Wu Hai couldn't help saying that.
"You must have starved to death in your past life." The novelist looked at Wu Hai and said earnestly.
"I agree." Su Mu said with a low voice.
Only the man in a suit stared at Yuan Zhou without even blinking at the side.
Yuan Zhou ate up two mouthfuls of plain cooked rice and then some Vegetable Stir-fried With Mushrooms again.
He ate up the dish with his brows knitted this time.
Right after that, he set down the chopsticks and looked at the dish on the table and the two vacant seats in a daze.
"It does not seem to be as delicious as last time." Yuan Zhou frowned and said. He didn't really understand what caused that.
"System, are the ingredients provided by you top-notch?" Yuan Zhou suddenly asked.
The system displayed, "The green vegetables used by the system is a top-notch breed from the South of China. The texture is light and fluffy while the aftertaste is creamy. It will get soft after being rinsed in water and carries a little sweetness, with the leaves tasting refreshing. It's sent to the host during the best time for harvesting."
"The mushroom is the fresh and tasty wild winter mushroom."
"This kind of winter mushroom is small and piebald. The taste is strong and fresh while the flesh is thick. It grows on deciduous woods of Hamamelidaceaes between 15-20 years' old."
"The seed of the mushroom is from the border regions of the three counties of Jingjing, Qingyun and Sanshi of the Longquan Municipality, the oldest place where cultured mushrooms were first developed in history."
"The tea oil used this time is produced from the fruits of the one-thousand-year-old teoil trees in Yuanxi Village of Jiangxi Province. The oil color is a golden yellow while it is also clear and transparent; the flavor is delicate and the taste is quite pure."
"The tea oil produced in this particular village has been the article of tribute ever since the Ming Dynasty."
"Well... as expected." Yuan Zhou checked the system's answer and finally confirmed his.
The ingredients were indeed the best and even the tea oil for stir-frying the dish had some significant background. However, Yuan Zhou felt the resulting dish, on the contrary, was not tasty.
At least, not as good as what he had imagined.
Yuan Zhou was a little dumbfounded. He just sat there quietly.
"Boss, if you don't mind, I want to taste the dish." The man in a suit suddenly uttered.
His voice sounded quite abrupt and loud in the quiet restaurant.
"Hey, you stop." Su Mu was a little exasperated, but it was inappropriate for him to say anything.
Obviously, Yuan Zhou was having dinner with his parents that had passed away. And the behavior of the man in a suit didn't seem to be appropriate.
"You brat. You are even braver than me." Wu Hai stroked his small mustaches and said.
"What do you think?" Then, the man in a suit looked at Yuan Zhou and asked that. He just turned a deaf ear to others' words.
"You want to eat?" Yuan Zhou raised his head and looked at the man in surprise.
Yuan Zhou knew that he didn't have a sense of taste, which meant that he couldn't taste anything from eating. That could probably only be described as "tasteless as wax". It might be not an enjoyment to him for delicacies to be eaten that way.
Therefore, Yuan Zhou felt very surprised when he wanted to eat it voluntarily. If it was the shameless person like Ling Hong or Wu Hai that requested that, it wouldn't be so strange then.
"If you don't mind, boss." The man in a suit nodded his head mildly.
"If you don't mind, I don't think they will mind." Yuan Zhou considered for a while and said that.
"Sorry for bothering you." The man in a suit stood up and prepared to receive the plate carefully.
"Please." Yuan Zhou handed him the chopsticks.
"What the f*ck. This brat has surprisingly grabbed dishes from that Compass. He is snatching food from the jaws of a tiger." Su Mu was quite surprised.
"I'm thinking where I can get a pair of chopsticks. I don't mind, either." While stroking his mustaches with one hand, Wu Hai prepared to get a pair of chopsticks.
"What a coincidence! I have few pairs." The novelist took up some cooked food that was well wrapped and said smilingly.
"Let's share together." Wu Hai said with an earnest expression.
Whilst Wu Hai, Su Mu and the novelist were unpacking the chopsticks, the man in a suit was already eating.
Having eaten only one mouthful, he said, "The dish is really delicious."
"Thank you." Yuan Zhou nodded his head courteously and didn't really take it seriously.
After all, the man in a suit couldn't tell the taste and as for Yuan Zhou, he didn't feel it to be delicious at all.
"Come on. How could one tell the taste so easily? Let us help for free." Wu Hai said rightly.
"Please." The man in a suit made some room for them without hesitation.
The three of them immediately went up and were no longer particular about the way how they ate. What a joke! Ever since Yuan Zhou's restaurant was opened, they had managed to grab others' food for quite a few times. However, it was Yuan Zhou's plate this time. Therefore, the three people became more motivated.
They stuffed the dish into their mouth one after another.
"Woah, it is sooo delicious. Judging from its fragrant taste, this must be winter mushroom." The novelist said first.
"I must have eaten the fake Vegetable Stir-fried With Mushrooms formerly. I am a little sympathetic to that foolish me." Having just swallowed the dish afterwards, Su Mu made a gesture of holding the heart in both hands and revealed a sympathy in his peach blossom eyes.
"..." Without saying anything, Wu Hai merely ate there quietly.
"The craftsmanship of the boss is actually fairly good." The man in a suit suddenly said again.
"No, not as good as before, really." Yuan Zhou said earnestly.
"Before?" Only then did Wu Hai ask with puzzlement. In his opinion, the word 'before' meant one year ago or two years ago.
"This is the dish that my mother liked and was good at cooking. I'm not doing it as well as her." Yuan Zhou said sincerely.
"You might be able to surpass her in future." Wu Hai blurted out. But once he said that, he felt himself a little foolish.
"It might be after I become the Master Chef." Yuan Zhou said lightly, yet with a decisive expression on his face.
There was a thing called memory. It was quite horrible. Even if he greatly outclassed others in all aspects including color, fragrance, taste and ingredients, he was probably defeated by the taste in his memory.
The taste that could surpass that in his memory might only come in the future after he became the Master Chef.
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Chapter 393: Protest From Abroad
Translator: Xiong_Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
"Boss Yuan, when will you serve this new dish?" Wu Hai wiped his mouth elegantly and asked.
"Not for now." The expression on Yuan Zhou's face was extraordinarily serious.
"Then why did you cook this dish today?" The novelist was a straightforward man and hence asked straightforwardly.
"It's only for me," Yuan Zhou said deservedly.
"..." The novelist instantly became speechless.
"I think it will be good to our health if you can increase the vegetable dishes quickly," Su Mu suggested sincerely.
"I think so, too." Yuan Zhou nodded his head, indicating he agreed.
"Then what about the time for the new vegetable dish?" Su Mu asked with an expectant look.
"When it's done well enough." Yuan Zhou said quite naturally this time.
"But I think it's just tasty now. Really, it's delicious." Wu Hai tried to prove his words by pointing at the clean plate.
"Half an hour of the pub time has passed." Yuan Zhou reminded earnestly.
"Damn it. I almost forget my liquor." The novelist rushed towards the backyard anxiously.
"Your skill in changing subjects is so awkward every time." Wu Hai said grudgingly.
"Never mind. I feel it's good and useful. Besides, it's also very considerate." Yuan Zhou appeared quite serious, but actually he wanted to laugh inwardly.
"That's really like the advertising slogan of a sanitary napkin." The man in a suit said abruptly.
"Haw-haw-haw. It really is like that." Su Mu laughed first.
Then, other customers all burst into laughter one after another.
It wasn't early anymore. Those who were supposed to leave had left while those who would drink liquor went to the pub.
Yuan Zhou nevertheless gathered all the remaining plain cooked rice together and cooked a serving of Egg Fried Rice. After that, he ate it up for his dinner.
Then, the dog Broth ate a small bowl of Egg Fried Rice as his midnight snack, rather than the noodle broth, for the first time.
"There's no broth today. I have only the Egg Fried Rice." While saying that, Yuan Zhou poured the rice into the bowl of Broth.
After Yuan Zhou left, Broth held the bowl in the mouth and went to the place where he had lived before.
"One that has a girlfriend won't accompany friends." Yuan Zhou shook his head and sighed.
It was going smoothly at Yuan Zhou's end. However, Wu Zhou was facing some troubles.
"Martin, let's have lunch together tomorrow. What do you think?" Wu Zhou chatted with somebody through Wechat.
"Ok. Sorry to bother you." A golden-haired man, namely Martin, picked up the phone and sent the message back earnestly.
Of course the message was in English, but they could use the translation software. That way, it would be Chinese when Wu Zhou received it.
"Have you made the appointment?" Zhuang Xinmu went up and asked at the side.
"Um. It's all because of the good luck that my sweetheart brings me." While saying that, Wu Zhou went up and intended to hug his girlfriend.
"Stop. I'm folding the clothes." Zhuang Xinmu patted on Wu Zhou's arm reproachfully.
"Sweetheart, I want to apply for 2000 RMB to take that Martin for lunch tomorrow." Wu Zhou set Zhuang Xinmu down carefully.
"Ok. You have my approval." Zhuang Xinmu nodded her head smilingly.
"My sweetheart is so nice." Wu Zhou smiled blissfully.
Even before lunch time arrived the next day, Wu Zhou had prepared to take Martin out for lunch.
Fortunately, they didn't have much work to do recently and could leave earlier. Besides, Martin came over here for a visit and exchange of pointers. Thus, he didn't really have to adhere to the time rigidly.
"Martin, we are going to the most famous local place around here, Yuan Zhou's restaurant now. The dishes there are awfully delicious." Wu Zhou got straight to the point.
"Oh, really? I will have to bother you then, Zhou." Unlike other programmers that spoke little, Martin was a man with an open and frank disposition.
"Not really. Since you come here, I must make you satisfied with the food here. Do you have any dietetic restraints?" Wu Zhou asked carefully.
"No, I don't. But I don't like the eggs that go bad." Martin knitted his brows while speaking of the egg.
"Are you talking about the preserved egg?" Wu Zhou knew that foreigners didn't like eating the preserved eggs.
"Yeah, yeah, you are right. That's the name." Martin revealed a lingering fear on his face.
"Don't worry. There isn't this dish there. Can you eat spicy food?" Wu Zhou said smilingly.
"No problem. I can." Martin nodded his head.
"Then you follow me." Wu Zhou waved his hand and signaled Martin to go with him.
On the way there, Wu Zhou briefly introduced Chengdu City to Martin in English fluently all along and Martin just listened to him earnestly. Occasionally, he asked some questions. The atmosphere was quite harmonious.
"Here we are." Wu Zhou said while pointing at the crowd of people that lined up and waited to get the number ticket.
"It seems to be a good restaurant. Look, there are so many people." Martin looked at the crowds of people and sighed with emotion.
"Of course. The dishes here are so tasty that they can even outclass those made by any other restaurant in China." Wu Zhou said immodestly.
"It seems to be so." For that short moment, Martin had seen more than ten people join in the long line and thus he nodded his head.
"Hey, wait a moment. I feel that this restaurant is a little familiar." While looking at the door of Yuan Zhou's restaurant, Martin revealed a look of deep thought.
"You might have seen this restaurant on some websites that recommend nice food. Look, those people are the tourists." Wu Zhou pointed at some people and said.
"Website. Oh, yeah, it's the website." On hearing that, Martin quivered. Then, he took out his phone and started to check.
"Yes, I got it. It turns out to be this restaurant evil-mind black-hearted shop." Martin pointed at the door of Yuan Zhou's restaurant and said loudly.
"Haw?" Wu Zhou indicated that he suddenly couldn't understand English well.
"Zhou, you check by yourself." Martin handed his phone to Wu Zhou.
Then, Wu Zhou saw various comments on the website, all from abroad. Of course, there were also some comments in Chinese, but all of them were overwhelmed by the English comments.
[Hey, I don't believe it. Since the restaurant is so black-hearted, its dishes definitely taste terrible] from Radiance of Cilveti.
[But some say the dishes are not bad] from Abigail.
[I think we'd better go for a look in person and then make the conclusion. However, the price is indeed very high.] from William.
"This is ...?" Wu Zhou glanced at them quickly.
"It's said that the boss charges the foreigners dollars while for your fellow countrymen, he charges RMB." Martin shrugged and said.
"It's indeed like that. This is the privilege offered by Boss Yuan." Wu Zhou nodded his head.
"But it's quite unfair to us foreigners." Martin said discontentedly.
"Indeed." Wu Zhou nodded his head. He agreed to Martin concerning the "unfair" part.
"But it seems that injustice exists everywhere. Take the clauses of Screen Actors Guild concerning the protection to the Black people for example, if there's no discrimination, how would they protect?" Wu Zhou said that right after that.
"You are right, Zhou. But I won't eat here." Martin nodded his head, but still insisted on his opinion.
"Ok. I'm in favor of your decision. Then let's go to the western restaurant next door, shall we?" Wu Zhou didn't insist on persuading Martin, but only pointed at the western restaurant next door and suggested.
"Ok." Martin only nodded his head by then.
This was only one case out of many. Many foreign tourists came here. Some came over to visit Yuan Zhou's restaurant specially and some came to taste.
Therefore, the protests seen by Wu Zhou wasn't that fierce anymore.
When Jet Li became well-known to all by means of his film Shaolin Temple, the Songshan Shaolin Temple received the attention from all over the world.
During that period, many martial arts enthusiasts from all over the world studied in Shaolin Temple.
The instructors naturally wouldn't teach them for free. They also charged foreigners US dollars. And the entrance ticket was 10 times more expensive than that of the native people.
The price at that time was even as high as 1300 USD per month, which was approved by the authorities.
Therefore, there were examples for Yuan Zhou's differential treatment to the foreigners. Of the foreign tourists that came to Yuan Zhou's restaurant now, however, more were here to hunt novelty.
But most were there to protest...