The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Looking at the top of the old man’s head: [...]

Fu Yu chose to take a look.

The next second, a simple sketch appeared.

On the drawing was a round plate with a few fish on it.

The fish had plump bodies, big heads, bulging eyes, and mouths filled with rows of sharp teeth, looking quite ugly.

Fu Yu almost recognized it at a glance, wasn’t this Old Man Fish!

Looking closer at the Old Man Fish on the plate.

The well-stewed fish meat lay in a thick sauce, sprinkled with red pepper pieces and chopped cilantro.

This dish was clearly braised Old Man Fish!

So the old man was craving this?

Fu Yu suddenly realized.

The middle-aged woman had just finished her phone call.

Fu Yu couldn’t directly see the old man’s thoughts and had to use a roundabout way to say: ”I think what your father wants to eat might be our restaurant’s specialty dish, braised Old Man Fish, this dish...”

Upon hearing Fu Yu’s words, the middle-aged woman frowned all of a sudden.

She interrupted him: ”Are you kidding me? That Old Man Fish is the ’Rejuvenating Fish’, isn’t it? How can you eat it? That thing has parasites in its head! It’s filthy!!”

The middle-aged woman was extremely opposed to this dish, even looking at Fu Yu with a mix of doubt and dissatisfaction.

”My main profession is as a nutritionist, and I currently work as a health manager at the company. I have done extensive research on cooking and ingredients. Does your restaurant actually feature this as a specialty? Isn’t that deceiving customers?”

Fu Yu felt somewhat helpless.

This Old Man Fish is indeed the indestructible ”Rejuvenating Fish.”

Just as its name suggests, it doesn’t freeze to death.

In winter, it freezes, but when placed in cold water at home, it revives again.

And indeed, the head of the Old Man Fish has many bacteria, so when cooking, we remove the head, scales, and innards.

In fact, the innards of the Old Man Fish are quite clean, and the meat is very tender, with few bones and a delicious taste, especially when cooked braised in sauce. It’s particularly flavorful.

But seeing the middle-aged woman’s biased and self-righteous expression and tone, Fu Yu knew the chances of persuading her to order this dish were almost zero.

However, he still wanted to try, so he patiently explained: ”This dish is indeed a specialty in our restaurant and is very popular with customers. It’s possible that your father just wants to try this dish because it’s an old-style dish and very authentic. It’s braised fish similar to what your father might have mentioned. Perhaps you could give it a try, maybe this is it?”

The expression on the middle-aged woman’s face could no longer be maintained, and if she weren’t so cultivated, she might have lost her temper by now.

She restrainedly said: ”It’s impossible! My father grew up in the South and has never been exposed to Northern things. Now that he has dementia, he recalls some things from the past, but he definitely wouldn’t want to eat something like Old Man Fish...”

The atmosphere instantly became tense!

On one side is Fu Yu, who knows the facts but can’t express them clearly.

On the other side is a customer who is doubtful yet blindly confident.

Yet, the customer is always right, and the money is in their pocket.

They have the freedom to eat what they want and order what they like.

Fu Yu couldn’t command them, ultimately following instructions, allowing the person taking orders to add an old-style dipping dish.

Returning to the kitchen, Fu Yu instructed Sun Qingning to prepare the sauce.

Zhao Meng asked about the situation, and Fu Yu told him honestly.

However, when he mentioned his guess that the old man wanted to eat braised Old Man Fish, and the middle-aged woman said it was dirty, Zhao Meng was speechless.

”If Old Man Fish were inedible, our restaurant would have poisoned countless customers by now! That’s simply nonsense!”

Fu Yu didn’t think much of it, casually saying, ”It’s like food incompatibility, it’s all about personal perception.”

At this moment, Sun Qingning returned with the sauce.

Fu Yu began mixing the sauce with water.

After preparing it, he cut the meat into small cubes and chopped the green onions.

Fu Yu looked up and saw Sun Qingning staring at him, saying helplessly, ”There’s nothing difficult about frying sauce, hurry up and prepare the ingredients. Make sure the cucumbers are neatly cut and pay attention to the presentation details.”

Sun Qingning chuckled, ”Chef Fu, watching you cook is really inspiring! Your knife skills are amazing, I love watching it.”

Fu Yu couldn’t help but chuckle; he was just cutting meat cubes, but Sun Qingning praised it like it was art.

Zhao Meng was about to lean in to say something, but seeing this flattery, he rolled his eyes, looking as if he couldn’t bear to watch.

With the meat sauce cooked, Sun Qingning also finished the presentation.

The waiter quickly took the dish away.

Fu Yu continued taking orders and cooking.

Not long after, the waiter began clearing the tables one after another.

”Why haven’t they eaten and already taking the food away?”

Sun Qingning glanced at the plates placed aside on an empty table, surprised, and asked the waiter.

Fu Yu also glanced at the untouched dishes, especially the old-style dipping dish, which was returned in the same state it left.

The waiter said: ”The old man saw this old-style dipping dish and threw his chopsticks away. His daughter said it wasn’t what he had in mind, and started causing a scene, so they left without eating.”

Fu Yu sighed helplessly.

Knowing it would be difficult for the old man to get what he wished.

After all, he couldn’t express his thoughts, and his daughter seemed to be a stubborn person.

Now, aside from himself who could rely on his special skill to glimpse the old man’s thoughts and know what he wanted to eat, it would be hard for anyone else to think in that direction.

But since they left, the matter was soon forgotten.

Fu Yu busily took orders and cooked until after the lunch rush, when he finally got some downtime and had lunch with the staff.

The afternoon remained busy.

As the festival approached, gatherings became more frequent, with the restaurant busier and more customers coming in, the kitchen bustling with activity.

Fu Yu had the morning shift today.

After finishing work and clocking out, Fu Yu took the keys and went to Zhao Meng’s place.

He took out the sorted garbage and threw it away downstairs.

The unopened packages and taped boxes were stacked on the first-floor balcony.

All the tables and cabinets were wiped clean.

Fu Yu originally planned to mop the floor, but seeing the thick dust, he gave up.

After a day of cooking, he was indeed exhausted.

The Great Wall wasn’t built in a day.

Anyway, there’s no rush to move, so it’s better to take things slowly.

Leaving Zhao Meng’s place.

Fu Yu strolled back to the dormitory.

Since it wasn’t bedtime yet, Fu Yu snuck over to Zhao Meng’s to take a shower using his water heater.

No choice, the small worker’s room didn’t have a private bathroom, and the communal one was a mess.

Zhao Meng’s place was better.

Even though Zhao Meng was a bachelor, he still maintained good hygiene in his daily life.

Fu Yu happily took a shower at his place, only needing to mop the bathroom floor in return.