The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Opportunity Knocks

The guys in the kitchen hadn’t arrived for work yet, so Zhao Meng was making full use of Fu Yu.

Chopping, prepping ingredients, soaking two full basins of shredded potatoes alone.

As soon as Zhao Meng opened his mouth, Fu Yu had to hunch over by the kitchen counter and get to work.

”Hey, got everything sorted?”

Zhao Meng had a pot of lamb offal soup simmering over a low flame and turned to check on Fu Yu’s work.

Fu Yu straightened up: ”Chef Zhao, the customers can’t just come and eat nothing but shredded potatoes, right? I’ve prepped almost ten pounds of it... are you planning a potato feast or something?”

Zhao Meng kicked Fu Yu’s butt: ”Where’s all this nonsense coming from? Alright, come have some food, today’s breakfast is a real treat for you.”

Fu Yu glanced at the lamb soup and said with a grin, ”Soup alone’s a bit lacking, let me make some flatbreads. Chef Zhao, how many do you want?”

Zhao Meng was a bit surprised: ”Hey! Is the sun rising from my pocket today? Aren’t you the one who hates working with dough the most?”

Fu Yu wore a mysterious look: ”I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll show off a bit. Let’s have lamb flatbread with lamb soup, authentic flavors for authentic food.”

Ever since Fu Yu started working in the kitchen, he had been under Zhao Meng’s tutelage.

Zhao Meng was like half a mentor to him; although he called him Chef Zhao openly, he regarded him as a mentor in private.

Fu Yu kneaded the dough and mixed the fillings with ease.

Zhao Meng nodded approvingly as he watched from the side.

Six thin lamb flatbreads were cooking in the skillet.

Flipping them, taking them out, and placing six more in.

The flatbreads were served, and Fu Yu went to serve the lamb soup.

Zhao Meng instructed: ”Give me the whole belly! Add some scallions and cilantro, easy on the white pepper, and no chili!”

Fu Yu followed the instructions to the letter.

Two steaming bowls of lamb soup were placed on the table.

Zhao Meng stirred the soup with a spoon and said: ”I went to the finance department for reimbursement yesterday and heard some news. The boss plans to add two regular staff positions in the kitchen. This is a rare opportunity, you should start preparing in advance.”

Fu Yu was sipping on his flatbread, and upon hearing this, his face lit up with excitement: ”Is the news reliable?”

Fu Yu had initially been hired as a kitchen hand.

At that time, a batch of temporary workers and cutting assistants were recruited, all were temps.

The base salary was two thousand a month, with no social security and benefits, no commissions or year-end bonuses.

If one could maintain full attendance, with no tardiness or early leaves, there was an additional full attendance bonus of two hundred yuan a month.

Aside from that, there were no other benefits.

After all, in a high-end restaurant like Qianlima, the chefs hired had to have advanced certification, at least a level three professional qualification, and most of them now were at least technician level.

An apprentice from an ordinary technical school would just do some basic kitchen hand work.

Bei’an City is one of the top three cities in the province.

Although it’s only a second-tier city, for someone like Fu Yu coming from a small county with no money, power, or support, the pressure was still considerable.

He worked diligently in the back kitchen every day, hoping to stay long enough to eventually apply for the advanced certification through the restaurant connections and then return home to live.

Otherwise, how could he settle down here?

His parents had sold everything they could, and coupled with the little savings he had, they could barely buy a bathroom in the suburbs.

Fu Yu dared not dream of it.

But if he could get a permanent position as Zhao Meng said, the treatment would be completely different.

Although with a lower level, he’d still have to serve his time after becoming permanent staff, the treatment, apart from the base salary going up to three thousand, would include commissions then.

The more you work, the higher the commission.

Working in the kitchen relied on commissions and year-end bonuses.

After becoming regular staff, he could also get his own cooking station, the work would be easier, and he could earn more money.

Fu Yu got more excited as he thought about it.

After a few bites of the crispy, tender lamb flatbread, Zhao Meng finally said: ”There are only two slots available, and seven candidates are waiting for regular positions. You need to perform well during this time, and I’ll find an opportunity later to see if I can bring it up with Chef Yao.”

Yao Shi is the head chef, his word is law in the kitchen.

Fu Yu sincerely said: ”Thank you, Chef Zhao.”

He quickly stood up, went to the pot to flip the flatbreads, and added: ”Make sure you eat the ones in the pot while they’re hot, the lamb flatbread isn’t as tasty when it’s cold.”

Zhao Meng laughed and scolded: ”You little slicker, stop buttering me up. Finish your meal quickly, everyone’s going to arrive soon, and we’ll be busy.”

People who work in the kitchen all have the same habit, they eat fast.

The two of them shared twelve small flatbreads and each drank a big bowl of lamb soup.

Zhao Meng still had to go to the storeroom to order ingredients, he left right after lunch.

Fu Yu took the used bowls and chopsticks to the cleaning area, and turned back to the dormitory.

It was almost time to start work, and he hadn’t even washed up yet.

The dormitory in the kitchen was initially set for two persons per room.

However, most of the others were locals, with homes of their own, so no one chose to stay in the dorms.

As a result, Fu Yu had a single room to himself.

He hurried back to his room and went to the bathroom to wash up first.

The restaurant had strict hygiene requirements for the kitchen, not only the food had to be fresh, and the environment had to be clean, even the staff had to maintain personal hygiene.

Rolling up his sleeves, Fu Yu leaned over the sink, turned on the faucet, and glanced in the mirror, his hand holding water paused.

He noticed a [!] appeared above his reflection’s head in the mirror.

Fu Yu widened his eyes.

Wasn’t he the host of a bound system?

Why would he have a mark that only NPCs should have?

Fu Yu thought about checking it out.

[!] turned into a dialogue box in the next second.

[Name: Fu Yu]

[Occupation: Chef]

[Level: lv3: 300/1000 (Junior Apprentice)]

[Professional Skills:

Chopping: Low Level: 600/500

Dough Work: Low Level: 90/500

Pan-Frying: Low Level: 50/500

Stir-Frying: Low Level: 190/500

Cooking: Low Level: 80/500

Deep-Frying: Low Level: 75/500]

This...

Fu Yu looked at the detailed information in the dialogue box in disbelief.

Is this his personal attribute file?

Has he become a virtual character too?

Damn, damn, damn!

The system really got him bound!

He meticulously reviewed his attributes from top to bottom twice.

Level lv3, what’s that all about?

Although he graduated from chef school, he’s only been working for less than a year.

Even if it’s according to the level, shouldn’t he be lv1?

Did the system favor him, directly making him a lv3 pro?

The thought just came to mind when the dialogue box refreshed with a new line of text.

[Attribute Level Tips: Levels 1-10 are for Junior Apprentices. Levels 11-20 are for Intermediate Chefs. Levels 21-30 are for Senior Chefs. Levels 31-40 are for Chef Technicians. Levels 41-50 are for Chef Advanced Technicians.

Upgrade Requirement: Earn corresponding experience points by completing tasks.

Upgrade Reward: Advancing can gain special skills and large cash rewards.]

Fu Yu suddenly understood and was filled with joy.

He’s going to get really awesome here!

Completing tasks not only gives him skills but also money!

Damn!

He waved his arms and punched the air twice!

Fu Yu suddenly remembered something.

He opened his attribute dialogue box again.

[Chopping: Low Level: 600/500]

Sure enough, he saw that the task experience for chopping had reached the upgrade standard.