Chapter 234 - 300 Dishes
The kitchen was extremely wide. Various cooking tools were neatly arranged. Between the kitchen and the dining hall, there was a large partitioning glass that showed the customers how clean the kitchen was and allowed them to see the process of how their food was made.
Behind the glass, there were more than 10 tall-hat chefs busying themselves. In a separate kitchen further behind it, the staff were busying themselves by cutting vegetables, mincing meat, chopping bones, and preparing various ingredients.
The person in charge of the kitchen was named Huang Jun. It was said that at 40 years old he became one of the top grade chefs in the entire country who was proficient in Cantonese, Szechuan, and Shandong Cuisines. His face appeared fierce, but his body was chubby and tall. He wore a chef's white tall hat and looked at Wei Xiao Bei as he asked, "What dishes do you know how to make?"
For him, a person who relied on connections to come in like Wei Xiao Bei was his greatest headache. If it was not a good person who made a lot of careless mistakes, he had to take responsibility and even help them do the last stage of work.
However, not accepting was also out of the question. It was said that this person was someone personally brought in by the crown prince, Huang Kun. In other words, this person had a high standing.
It was out of the question for Huang Jun to just let him go to the back kitchen and do odd jobs. Thus, he had no choice but to ask clearly, else he might make a careless mistake.
Before meeting Huang Kun's mother, Wei Xiao Bei knew that he was going to work for a Cantonese restaurant. Thus he had carefully looked at materials on Cantonese cuisine.
After all, in terms off cuisine, Cantonese cuisine used various ingredients and was also nice to look at.
Wei Xiao Bei had seen a post in the internet forums. It said that among chefs that had finished their apprenticeship, chefs who cooked Cantonese cuisine would have an easier time finding work. As long as their foundations were good, the food that they make would look good.
Cantonese cuisine took careful consideration on the food's taste to be light but not weak as they pursued the food's original taste. Thus, they also needed to exert more effort in designing the food, which suited Wei Xiao Bei's request.
"I know all the Cantonese cuisines."
Hearing Huang Jun's question, Wei Xiao Bei thought for a bit before answering without any hint of modesty.
He actually wanted to be modest, but he was worried that once he was modest, Huang Jun might strip him of privilege on the kitchen stove.
Although his idea was to come here and learn, he was not willing to become apprenticed to a chef.
All cuisines?
It was the first time Huang Jun encountered a chef that was not modest. He saw that Wei Xiao Bei appeared buff and taller than him, but his age should only be at most 22 years old.
Being a chef required a lot of experience. The peak age of the occupation should be around 30 to 60 years old. The deeper they walked, the more skilled they were.
22-year-old chefs should only be at the level of graduating from school.
Could it be that he is only pretending?
Huang Jun looked at Wei Xiao Bei's leaf-like hands and thick joints, seeing that it was an expert's.
Maybe I should let him directly go in?
Huang Jun pondered, but he did not dare risk it. He guided Wei Xiao Bei to a stove and let him cook beef chao fun as a test.
In Cantonese cuisine, beef chao fun was a kind of snack. It was separated into wet fired or dry fired. Its ingredients mainly include rice noodles, bean sprouts, beef, and many other ingredients.
Dry frying was the more difficult one. It required the oil to make the dish glisten, the beef tender and fragrant, the rice noodles smooth, and the plate dry and juiceless.
A slight inattentiveness would cause the beef to overcook and harden, and it would result in the rice noodles sticking together.
In the occupation, this dish was used to test a Cantonese chef's skills.
Thus, it was not Huang Jun's intention to make things difficult for Wei Xiao Bei.
There was not much to say about the stir-frying process. Wei Xiao Bei had tried cooking various dishes back in the dojo. Among them, he had already tried cooking beef chao for fun.
As Wei Xiao Bei finished cooking, Huang Jun, as a chef for almost 30 years, could see that Wei Xiao Bei lacked experience but had a lot of innate talent. Although the fire control during the cooking was a bit high, it could still be considered a good dish.
Just like that, Huang Jun admired his talent.
In truth, Huang Jun had seen many talented youths before, but it was the first time he had seen a talent like Wei Xiao Bei in all his years.
Naturally, Huang Jun did not know that it was all thanks to a skill and not innate talent.
Huang Jun nodded his head and made Wei Xiao Bei his assistant. Just like that, Wei Xiao Bei would observe him while sometimes helping out, and he would sometimes work on his own.
As a team member of the Long Hu Dou Restaurant, Huang Jun's position was high. Countless chefs wanted to be his assistant and learn a few things from him, so that they would not need to worry about their living expenses. Seeing Wei Xiao Bei being nurtured by Huang Jun the first time he began, a lot of them became unhappy, but they could only endure it.
If they had offended Huang Jun, let alone the Long Hu Dou Restaurant, they would not be able to find any work as a chef in the entire Cui Hu City.
In current society, everything was a circle.
Wei Xiao Bei was also not an idiot. Although he was slightly unhappy at being an assistant chef, he knew that there might not be a chance for him to cook a dish with only his intermediate rank [Cooking] skill after observing his surroundings.
It had previously been said that the people eating in this restaurant were all rich and powerful. Chefs who had lower skills could only be placed at the side, acting as substitutes when the better chefs were out.
If they wanted to change the situation, who knew how long it would take.
On his first day as a chef, Wei Xiao Bei was given many pointers by Huang Jun.
Although he did not work alone in the restaurant, Huang Jun would let Wei Xiao Bei cook a few dishes during their idle time and give him comments, pointing out Wei Xiao Bei's mistakes.
When it was time to get off work, Wei Xiao Bei felt that his skills in cooking had increased by a lot. The things that he did not understand in the materials had been connected properly. Even the color of the [Cooking] skill in his status panel had slightly changed.
After returning to the dojo, Wei Xiao Bei cooked a few Cantonese dishes for Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi. While he was cooking, the hard work during the day had been clearly displayed.
Previously, whenever Wei Xiao Bei cooked Cantonese cuisine, getting one colorful dish out of ten dishes was already lucky.
But now, two colorful dishes had appeared after cooking five dishes. This was a pleasant surprise for him.
The next morning, Wei Xiao Bei did shadowboxing and trained his Qi. Afterwards, he immediately went to the restaurant.
This was Huang Jun's request.
Huang Jun had regarded Wei Xiao Bei as important. He wanted to find an apprentice and pass down his legacy.
It must be known that Huang Jun had already received a lot of apprentices, but compared to him, their talents were slightly worse and could only imitate Huang Jun's skill. If they wanted to inherit everything, they must be able to push out the old with the new, which was beyond difficult.
This pushing out the old with the new was not as simple as only developing a few dishes.
Instead, they needed to have their own innovative ideas and their own styles.
It was like how Huang Jun's old diners would immediately knew Huang Jun cooked the dish in a single bite. It was only at that point could it be called pushing out the old with the new.
Just like that, Huang Jun had looked upon Wei Xiao Bei. He was unwilling to waste such a good successor. Thus he was much more stricter on him.
When Wei Xiao Bei arrived, the restaurant was already open.
In Cantonese cuisine, there was a concept of morning tea.
Seeing Wei Xiao Bei arrive, Huang Jun immediately called him to the stove and explained to him how to make various breakfast dishes.
Compared to other cuisine, Cantonese breakfast could be called as the most abundant.
If you looked at Hong Kong movies, you would be able to understand how abundant it was. There was the famous roast pork buns, rice noodle rolls, prawn dumplings, steamed shumai, steamed spare ribs, and many other foods that made people drool.
In truth, Wei Xiao Bei had never eaten morning tea before in his life. When he saw it today, his interest was overflowing.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc. Wei Xiao Bei's day was full of color.
When the kitchen was very busy, Wei Xiao Bei had been appointed by Huang Jun to work on his own.
Initially, Huang Jun was slightly worried, so while cooking on one side, he examined Wei Xiao Bei for a while before being relieved.
The dishes that Wei Xiao Bei cooked might not yet be called nice to look at, but they were flavorful and fragrant.
After all, not every dish in the restaurant was expensive, there were also cheap dishes.
Thus, Huang Jun had placed these cheap dishes at the hands of Wei XIao Bei, using this to train Wei Xiao Bei's skills.
After getting off work and returning to the dojo, Wei Xiao Bei felt a bit tired even with his strength.
This was not in terms of stamina consumption, but for every dish he made, he needed to focus all attention, so his mental consumption was higher.
On the contrary, the main chefs were also focused on their dishes, but with their experience, they could finish their dishes on conditional reflex even if they closed their eyes.
If Wei Xiao Bei wanted to do such a thing now, it would be a long road ahead.
However, Wei Xiao Bei felt that the day's work was all worth it.
In the entire day, the amount of colorful dishes he had made was 52, making a total of 64 colorful dishes.
When he returned to the dojo, he cooked five Cantonse dishes for Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi, where three dishes were evaluated as colorful.
Wei Xiao Bei could not help but sigh. This was the difference between reading materials alone and being taught by a master.
After all, there were too many things involved in cooking. It would be inevitable to miss a few things just by relying on internet resources.
For example, according to Huang Jun, for a dish to reach the peak, learning its foundation was necessary.
What foundation you might ask?
It's the ingredients!
The environment where the ingredients were made had a huge influence on them. For example, during the ingredients' growth, the climate changes for one year could affect them differently.
Even condiments needed to be studied from their source. Only then was cooking learned.
In short, Wei Xiao Bei was now admiring Huang Jun.
In the next four days, the rate at which Wei Xiao Bei made colorful dishes increased. After getting off work on the Friday, his [Cooking] skill's requirement of 300 colorful dishes had been fulfilled.
Chapter 235 - Calamari (High Quality)
Wei Xiao Bei pushed down the happiness in his heart. Only when he returned to the dojo did he check his [Cooking] skill.
After focusing on it, evolution points quickly decreased, turning the skill into a deeper shade of red.
In the end, after using up 400 evolution points, his [Cooking] skill turned from deep red to pale yellow.
His [Cooking] skill ranked up from advanced into expert!
In the first moment, he focused his attention on the promotion requirements behind the [Cooking] skill.
Cooking (Expert) dishes that smell, look, and taste great: 0/500
500 dishes that smell, look, and taste great!
Seeing this requirement, the corner of Wei Xiao Bei's mouth twitched. He did not know what kind of higher request would appear in the future.
Compared to other skills, the requirements to increase the [Cooking] skill was too high. Not only did the evolution point requirement double, there were other requirements!
In truth, Wei Xiao Bei had expectations for this.
Since the requirements were special, then he should get a pleasant surprise for reaching the higher ranks.
In truth, at that moment, he could already feel something different from the [Cooking] skill, but he could not clearly tell what was different.
After thinking for a bit, he went to the kitchen took out a portion of frozen squid, placed it in warm water to defrost, and then prepared all the other ingredients. After the squid defrosted, he lit up the stove and poured in oil to turn the squid into calamari.
What Wei Xiao Bei never imagined was that after removing the calamari from the pan and sprinkling hot pepper and cumin powder, a faint fragrance began to spread.
Anyone who smelled it would drool.
Wei Xiao Bei felt that this was peculiar as he tried using [Status Appraisal] on the calamari.
Information appeared in his mind.
Name: Calamari (High Quality)
Description: This dish was created by the [Cooking] skill. Main ingredient: Squid Feelers
Effect 1: Fragrance increase by 30%
Effect 2: Consuming this would hasten recovery from fatigue.
Effect 3: This item cannot be brought into the Dust World.
…...
So it was like that!
At this moment, Wei Xiao Bei finally understood the true use of the [Cooking] skill!
It actually allowed the created food to have special effects!
Just having expert rank could create such results.
What kind of dish could I create with master rank or even perfect rank!
The scene was so wonderful that Wei Xiao Bei could not clearly imagine it.
After placing a calamari into his mouth, Wei Xiao Bei chewed it as he felt his fatigue slowly going away.
It's really effective!
Not bad!
Wei Xiao Bei smiled as he carried three plates into the dining room.
Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi had just finished their special training. They were like limp dogs as they lied on the table.
Huang Kun muttered, "Why is master so slow today. My stomach is about to be flattened from hunger."
Zhu Xin Yi glared at Huang Kun, since she was utterly worshipping Wei Xiao Bei. Since she was a disciple, Zhu Xin Yi could not tolerate any disrespect toward the master.
When the two disciples were glaring at each other, Wei Xiao Bei brought out six plates and placed them on the table. He smiled and said, "Meal is served."
"Master, this disciple had been so hungry that my chest is sticking to my back, but you only brought a few plates of calamari? Could it be that you are training us to resist hunger? Even if this disciple needs to lose weight, how could you endure seeing senior apprentice sister, such a cute girl, become a thin monkey?"
Before Huang Kun finished, he had been hit by Zhu Xin Yi in the back of the head with a chopstick, "You should speak less. When did your senior apprentice sister ever become a thin monkey?"
After being hit by Zhu Xin Yi, Huang Kun immediately became obedient.
He did not dare provoke Zhu Xin Yi at the moment.
He had said careless stuff in the morning and had been pursued by her for a long time.
Sigh. I truly did not see this coming. Senior apprentice sister was originally a quiet girl, but after following master for a long time, she had actually become so fierce.
Huang Kun shook his head as he became worried. Suddenly, a fragrant smell entered his nose. When he looked at the plates, he saw that two of them had been emptied!
"Senior apprentice sister! How could you not give prior notice when you begin eating? Ok, ok, ok, eat!"
Huang Kun used his chopsticks to grab a lot of calamari and stuffed them into his mouth. In an instant, his eyes grew wide. He did not even keep his modesty as he began to take a lot at once.
Seeing his two disciples fighting over food, Wei Xiao Bei let out a smile. For a chef, the customers focusing only on the food and not talking at all was the greatest reward.
Although the calamari could not be brought into the Dust World, it did not mean that it was impossible after the [Cooking] skill ranks up again. Moreover, if it was truly impossible, then he could just use ingredients from the Dust World.
Time slowly passed, and the day turned into the night as the moon was even blocked by clouds. The clock on the wall struck 11 o'clock.
Wei Xiao Bei brought Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi into his room. He let Zhu Xin Yi read her book and Huang Kun play his games, deciding to let them go in first.
As long as the two of them did not go and provoke the Monster Tools in the inner practice ground, then the dojo was a safe place to be.
On the other hand, Wei Xiao Bei lied down on the sofa as he thought about various things.
After Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi reach 2-star, Wei Xiao Bei planned to have them go in the Dust World by themselves.
After all, Wei Xiao Bei felt that there were a lot of things pestering him.
The Mutated Farmer's Market had marked him as a target of revenge, and the evil possession had not appeared for a while. The strange footsteps and many other things were also a problem.
Yesterday night, Wei Xiao Bei had returned back to his new apartment. Seeing his return, Li Lan Xing and Zhang Tian Tian appeared to be pleasantly surprised.
When he carefully inspected the both of them and saw that there were no abnormalities on their bodies, he became relieved.
In truth, Wei Xiao Bei wanted to let the both of them move into a new apartment.
Seeing that both of them were in good health, he understood that the strange footsteps were something only he could hear and did not affect other people.
After thinking through all of these matters, he saw that Zhu Xin Yi and Huang Kun were continuously disappearing. He placed his attention on his status panel.
After the [Cooking] skill used up 400 evolution points, he had 1320 points remaining.
If Wei Xiao Bei enters the Dust World this time, he should be able to gain some evolution points. Thus, in order to ensure his safety, he would naturally use up his evolution points.
He did not hesitate as he focused on his health attribute.
His health attribute was currently at 30 points.
He was aware of how important this attribute was. After all, it was this attribute that allowed him to recover from his injuries in just a week. The ability [Elementary Regeneration] gained from this skill was also a great assistance.
The ability to recover was something that was very useful for survival in a world where unexpected things happen like the Dust World.
As his evolution points continuously decreased, his health attribute began to increase.
Because the consumption was doubled, 1320 evolution points had increased his health attribute to 36.3 points.
After that, Wei Xiao Bei was able to clearly feel the vitality pulsing from his body as it increased.
He was originally a bit tired, but it quickly disappeared thanks to the surging vitality.
Wei Xiao Bei stretched his hand out and touched his back. The injury had completely vanished, leaving behind a smooth skin.
Great!
Wei Xiao Bei extended his hand and grabbed a bottle of wine under the chair that he had prepared. He opened the bottle and began to chug it down.
After three bottles, his eyes began to close as he sunk into a dream.
…...
When Wei Xiao Bei woke up, Huang Kun and Zhu Xin Yi were already not in the room.
The corner of Wei Xiao Bei's mouth twitched as he felt that his disciples were getting bolder.
However, this was normal. As people gain strength, they also become bolder.
Humans were like that. As long as they possess strong abilities, even a person who did not speak when small would have earth shattering changes once these abilities came out.
After getting up and pushing the door open, Wei Xiao Bei walked out and used [Response Search] to inspect his surroundings.
There were no problems. The Monster Tools were obediently staying inside the inner practice grounds. Zhu Xin Yi, Huang Kun, the seven Zombie Dogs, and five Treeman Saplings had already charged through the lime line and began killing the saplings.
Whether it was Zhu Xin Yi or Huang Kun, their changes were big. Even if they did not rely on the Zombie Dogs or the saplings, they could deal with the enemy saplings.
Naturally, with the help of the saplings' bindings and Zombie Dogs' attack support, Zhu Xin Yi and Huang Kun had an easier time.
When the roots of the enemy saplings begin to spread out, they had already been bound by Zhu Xin Yi's saplings. Afterwards, the Zombie Dogs would go in and tear their roots, and Zhu Xin Yi and Huang Kun would raise their machetes to kill the enemy saplings.
Naturally, compared to Huang Kun who was on a killing frenzy, Zhu Xin Yi had to charm some saplings to replenish her forces.
Saplings were quite useful. It might not be possible to find them anywhere apart from the dojo.
After walking in front of the divider, Wei Xiao Bei hesitated. Who knew why but whenever he passes by it, he would always get the impulse to charge into the inner practice ground.
It was as if he could feel some kind of treasure was hidden inside of the inner practice ground. However, after hesitating, he still decided to walk towards the outer practice ground's hallway.