The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Yao Yihang went to the storeroom and saw Gu Yunwu, and sure enough, his expression didn’t look quite right.

As soon as they met, he hurriedly said, ”Don’t be mad, don’t be mad, boss, what’s going on...”

”What’s going on?” Gu Yunwu coldly interrupted Yao Yihang and recounted what happened during the meeting.

Yao Yihang: ”...Calm down, it’s all my fault! I didn’t watch their side closely enough, I was negligent! I really didn’t expect even Sun Qingning could handle the stove independently, that’s on me!”

”...” Gu Yunwu felt a lump in his chest, unable to express his frustration, he closed his eyes and reluctantly said, ”Forget it, I’m not blaming you, things are already like this, no point dwelling on it. But there’s one thing we need to discuss further.”

”Chef Zhao’s side now has three people who can take charge at the stove, which is not good for us! We’re all taking turns now in the kitchen, so naturally, they’ll handle more orders with their speed. This can’t go on!”

”The signature dishes in our restaurant are limited, and my cooking methods are different from Chef Zhao’s. If customers get used to his style, they’re all going to order from his side in the future, and eventually, we’ll lose our customers!”

”Moreover, for a longstanding restaurant like ours, most of the in-person diners are nostalgic old customers. New customers generally just come to try something new. If customers are diverted to their side, it will be really detrimental for us in accepting orders in the future!”

What Gu Yunwu said was factual.

In the past, when he partnered with Zhao Meng for orders, it didn’t matter who the customers came for, as they shared and cooperated on the workload.

It didn’t matter who had more or fewer customers.

But now it’s different. With the kitchen split for order-taking, it’s essentially making the two sides scramble for customer sources.

The number of orders is linked to commission; whoever works faster and takes more orders will naturally earn more commission!

No customers walking in with orders, and you earn squat!

Falling behind in the order scramble means you earn squat in commission!

So one way or another, Gu Yunwu had to compete with Zhao Meng for orders!

Each table is eight bucks!

It doesn’t seem like much, but the business at the restaurant is booming!

If you work well throughout the year, earning an additional tens of thousands is just the beginning!

Only a fool wouldn’t fight for it!

Yao Yihang looked at Gu Yunwu’s expression, secretly sweating, and softly asked, ”Boss, what do we do now?”

Gu Yunwu had a face like frost and stayed silent.

He was a classic case of trying to steal chicken only to lose the rice!

Instead of tripping Zhao Meng up, he sent a large chunk of his own customers over.

Just thinking about it made Gu Yunwu ache.

Yao Yihang knew that Gu Yunwu was not as easygoing as he seemed, and his temper wasn’t the best, so seeing him stay silent, he dared not say anything either.

The entire storeroom was so quiet you could hear someone breathing.

After a while, Gu Yunwu suddenly said, ”Let’s leave it for now. In a few days, I’ll need to prepare some dishes for an interview event. The boss wants us, as we’re a well-known old brand, to promote our signature dishes somewhat. Pay attention to customer preferences when they order; it might help me make some references...”

Yao Yihang quickly responded, ”Okay, boss.”

This was a big deal, he’d definitely handle it well.

At the same time, Fu Yu also understood the whole story and speechlessly remarked, ”What was Chef Gu thinking? No normal person would do something like this, right!”

He was quite surprised before, wondering how Zhao Meng’s side suddenly got so many orders!

Turns out it was Gu Yunwu’s doing behind the scenes!

Speaking of which, Fu Yu suddenly remembered something and asked softly, ”Chef Zhao, who told you about this?”

Zhao Meng tried to appear calm and composed rather than showing off like a smug novice, which would seem immature.

He cleared his throat and said quietly to Fu Yu, ”Xiaodai told me last night, she just got the news and immediately shared it with me.”

Fu Yu nodded, ”Sister Dai is so nice. Hey, Chef Zhao, didn’t you say Boss Pang was delivering desserts this afternoon? Maybe you could ask for an extra cream puff! When there’s time, I’ll give it to Sister Dai; her Bao’Er will surely love it! Since Sister Dai is so good to us, we should show some appreciation!”

Zhao Meng was expecting to hear something from Fu Yu when he heard this rebellious statement.

Zhao Meng, who should’ve been the one showing appreciation, was speechless.

Completely unaware of Zhao Meng’s darkened expression behind him, Fu Yu continued to inspect the prep work and said, ”But, Boss Pang, I’m not sure what time he’ll come this afternoon... Perhaps you should contact him first...”

”No need.” Zhao Meng was so mad at Fu Yu that it made him physically ache, he said angrily, ”We’ll talk about it later.”

Fu Yu responded with an ”Oh,” not taking it seriously.

...

Lately, business at the restaurant has been booming.

Although the number of orders has noticeably diminished, they still keep getting orders until they’re exhausted.

Sun Qingning can now independently cook two simple dishes.

And he hasn’t asked for any rest days all week.

Resisting the urge to slack off is quite admirable for such a young man.

After lunch, when Fu Yu returned to work, he happened to bump into Yao Shi.

Yao Shi hadn’t been to the music restaurant much lately; with too many orders on Zhao Meng’s side, he took on a few himself.

”Tired from the last few days?” Yao Shi smiled, asking Fu Yu.

Fu Yu nodded, ”Yeah, exhausted! But Chef Zhao’s had it rougher, he always saves the difficult dishes for himself and gives me the easier ones.”

Yao Shi smiled, ”Old Zhao is just like that. By the way, I’ve noticed the improved processing of salt and pepper mantis shrimp has been quite effective lately. Let’s trial it first at the music restaurant. If it’s successful, we can try promoting it here too.”

The two exchanged a few words and were about to get busy with their tasks when they suddenly saw a dish runner from the front hall hurrying towards the kitchen with a tray.

”Master Li! The children’s meal you made wasn’t satisfactory to the customer!” The order taker exclaimed anxiously, ”The kid is making a fuss, and Sister Gao asked me to come and see if you could think of a way to redo it.”

The restaurant’s fruit carving chef is Li Shuli, who usually works alongside the kitchen staff to create various vegetable and fruit carvings for plating.

Fu Yu looked over, just in time to see Li Shuli frowning and taking the tray, clearly at a loss.

Qianlima Restaurant has always dealt with single orders; for in-house diners, if they happen to be celebrating a birthday, at most, they’d get a bowl of longevity noodles and a fruit platter. They’ve never made children’s meals before.

Li Shuli never expected after all these years to encounter such a situation!

If it was carving a flower or a bird, it would be a piece of cake.

But a children’s meal, how should it be made?

He genuinely had no experience.

”I’ve done my best, but if the customer isn’t satisfied, there’s not much I can do. Who knows what a children’s meal should look like?”

Speaking of which, Li Shuli inadvertently turned his head and happened to see Yao Shi approaching.

Li Shuli’s eyes lit up, and he eagerly called out, ”Chef Yao!”