The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 63: Chapter 62: Shameless

Fu Yu carried the shopping bag back to the dormitory first.

He opened one pack from a box of cigarettes and took one out, then repacked the rest.

He planned to find a chance to give it to Zhao Meng in the evening.

Back in the kitchen, Fu Yu handed a box of Zhonghua cigarettes to Zhao Meng.

Zhao Meng received the cigarettes and smiled helplessly, ”You rascal, really... Alright, consider it a celebration for me.”

Zhao Meng had always noticed how frugal Fu Yu was in his daily life.

So whenever Fu Yu treated him like this, Zhao Meng would find a way to repay him afterward.

Fu Yu curiously asked, ”Chef Zhao, did something good happen?”

Zhao Meng chuckled, ”The stock I bought earlier is finally going up, isn’t it? I thought I’d wait a bit longer, but then my friend said it was the right time, so he helped me sell it. And guess what? I made this much!”

Zhao Meng held up four fingers.

Fu Yu’s eyes lit up, ”Four thousand?”

Zhao Meng opened the cigarette box, fumbling for a lighter as he said, ”Add another zero.”

Fu Yu was shocked and asked, ”Chef Zhao, I remember you didn’t buy that stock for very long, right?”

Zhao Meng nodded, ”I bought it on the sixth of last month.”

Fu Yu immediately regretted it, ”If I had known it would make this much, I would have joined you when you invested.”

”With the little money you have, you should just save it. Stock trading comes with risks; it’s all well and good if you make money, but what if you lose? I’m just doing some casual trading to make some pocket money.”

Zhao Meng said, waving his hand, ”Hey, hang in there, I’m going out for a smoke.”

Fu Yu agreed and glanced at the kitchen wall. The order tickets were all cleared, and no new ones had come in yet.

So Fu Yu started cleaning the messy kitchen counter.

Earlier, while cooking, he had accidentally spilled some oil, which was now a greasy puddle.

Fu Yu wiped it with a paper towel.

The absorbency of the paper towel was too strong, and the oil seeped through, sticking to his hand.

Looking at his greasy, dirty hand, Fu Yu couldn’t help but sigh.

They were both working hard in the kitchen all day.

Others had money to invest in the stock market to earn a living.

Yet he had to live frugally just to make ends meet, fearing to spend an extra penny.

It’s really frustrating to compare oneself to others!

Fortunately, he now had some extra income.

Thinking about the money he’d recently made, Fu Yu wiped his hands clean and couldn’t resist taking out his phone to check his account balance.

Alright, it was still over twenty thousand, but it was almost close to thirty thousand.

He put away his phone.

Fu Yu couldn’t help but mumble softly, ”If it can be directly transferred from the bank, why can’t it be a bit more considerate? After all, it’s a mature system, can’t it learn to trade stocks on its own to make money?”

The system was silent, as if it had crashed.

...

It was a night shift, and Fu Yu worked until ten thirty at night before clocking out to go back and rest.

As part of his routine, he called home.

His mom reminded him to take care of himself and not to overwork.

He agreed while massaging his legs.

After his mom finished speaking, his dad took over the call.

His dad asked if he had enough money and told him to ask for more if needed.

Fu Yu felt a pang of sourness in his heart but bragged a bit to reassure them.

Once he managed to assure his parents, he hung up the phone.

Lying in bed, exhausted in both body and mind.

He thought of home for a while and fell asleep without realizing it.

It was a good night’s dream.

The next morning, Fu Yu woke up on time, got ready, and went to the front hall to clock in.

The electronic voice from the clock-in machine was crisp, ”Signed in, thank you!”

At the same time, an electronic prompt sounded in Fu Yu’s ear:

[Ding! Daily task: Complete independent cooking ten times, task reward: 20 RMB, task experience +10]

[Ding! Consecutive sign-in daily task 10/10 days, task reward: Advanced ingredient selection skill, current task progress: 9/10]

The daily task can extend into a chain task?

That’s great!

But the content of this task... It’s as if they saw him about to reach the goal, and specifically made such a difficult task to make it impossible for him to complete, right?

Independent cooking ten times?

Yesterday Zhao Meng mostly taught while letting him practice cooking, and they only managed to make about seven dishes in total.

The restaurant was too busy; even if Zhao Meng wanted to help, he had to prioritize the restaurant’s business.

This daily task is really a bit challenging.

However, looking at the rewards for completing the task, Fu Yu was truly tempted.

In Yuan Mei’s ”Suiyuan Food List,” it’s mentioned: Ingredients account for forty percent, cooking skills account for sixty percent.

This shows the importance of the quality of ingredients in a dish.

For common vegetables and seafood, Fu Yu could recognize freshness, but only for regular ingredients.

However, most fruits and vegetables, meats sold in the market are sprayed with chemicals to ripen and preserve them, leading to pesticide residues and unclean washing, affecting the taste of fruits and vegetables.

Therefore, acquiring the ingredient selection skill would be very beneficial for his future cooking results.

On the way to the kitchen, Fu Yu pondered how to express his eagerness to cook to Zhao Meng.

If nothing else worked, he would just keep at it relentlessly.

Additionally, what if he could also learn some personal skills from Zhao Meng?

After all, the title of ”kitchen star” was indeed very powerful.

They say it’s random, but the probability is quite high.

When Fu Yu arrived at the kitchen, he found Zhao Meng was not there.

He asked Sun Qingning, ”Where’s Chef Zhao?”

Sun Qingning had genuinely admired Fu Yu lately and had become increasingly friendly with him.

”When I came over, I saw Chef Zhao and Chef Yao heading to the front together.”

As they were talking, Zhao Meng returned with a serious expression.

His presence was so intimidating that Sun Qingning quickly tried to slip away.

Zhao Meng, with a cold face, announced, ”You all, come over here for a moment, I have something to say.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

What’s going on now?

The helpers on Zhao Meng’s side quickly gathered around.

Zhao Meng shouted to the helpers on Chef Gu’s side, ”Yao Yihang, you guys come over too.”

Once everyone was present.

Zhao Meng took a deep breath, clearly still a bit angry, ”Chef Gu isn’t feeling well and took leave, and Chef Yao is on temporary leave, so I’m in charge of the kitchen today. Be diligent, everyone. Also, since we’re short-handed, Yao Yihang will be cooking independently today. When the orders come in, you pick the ingredients first, and I’ll handle the rest.”

Yao Yihang quickly agreed, ”Okay, Chef Zhao.”

Zhao Meng gave a few more routine reminders before dismissing everyone.

Everything was business as usual on Chef Gu’s side, but Zhao Meng specifically called Fu Yu over.

”You’re on a shift today too; I just spoke with Chef Yao. Head over to the music restaurant; he’ll take you to cook today.”

Fu Yu was a bit surprised, ”Is Chef Yao on leave because there’s work at the music restaurant?”

”If there was work, would I be saying anything!” Zhao Meng’s mood was evidently low, and his voice had a touch of anger, ”The boss is planning to go fishing today and invited Chef Yao along. Chef Yao made an excuse about something happening at the music restaurant to avoid it.”

Fu Yu nodded, ”So that’s it.”

Fu Yu casually asked, ”Chef Gu seemed fine yesterday, how come he’s suddenly sick?”

Zhao Meng snorted coldly, ”Falling ill at the perfect time! Who doesn’t see through his little schemes!”

Zhao Meng really had no respect for Gu Yunwu. It was unbelievable what people would do for a simple kitchen helper evaluation.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got; Zhao Meng’s voice had a hint of frustration, ”Yesterday, when Wang Yuxuan was delivering dishes, he encountered Gu Yunwu looking for the boss. Chef Yao just told me that the boss talked to him yesterday, asking him to be fair in the kitchen!”

If Fu Yu hadn’t stumbled upon the conversation between the boss and Chef Yao in the parking lot yesterday afternoon, he might not have understood why Zhao Meng was so angry when suddenly hearing him complain.

But now, piecing it together, Fu Yu immediately understood!

This was clearly Gu Yunwu trying to manipulate things!

Gu Yunwu taking leave, and Chef Yao being away meant Zhao Meng was holding down the fort in the kitchen alone.

Zhao Meng was too busy to guide Fu Yu.

He couldn’t even cook independently.

Meanwhile, Yao Yihang could easily take orders and cook.

It was obvious they were trying to block his opportunities to practice!

Thinking of this, Fu Yu couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh.

The plan was quite clever, but unfortunately, they met me!

This time, I must show them what it means to be a cut above the rest!