The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Fu Yu tried to invite Zhao Meng, but didn’t manage to, and then he turned and saw Sun Qingning.

Fu Yu paused and greeted, ”Qingning, are you free this evening?”

Sun Qingning usually takes time off to provide for his girlfriend, but today was an early shift, so Fu Yu wasn’t sure if he had other plans.

Sun Qingning quickly replied, ”I am free. What’s up? Need something from me?”

Fu Yu smiled and said, ”Didn’t I make some extra money today? I’m treating, let’s go out and have something nice to eat. How about it?”

Sun Qingning was delighted to hear that. ”Great! If you hadn’t asked, I was thinking of going out to grab a bite myself tonight!”

When you’ve been in the kitchen for too long, even the tastiest food can become tiresome.

Even for master chefs like Yao Shi and Zhao Meng, who can cook anything delicious, they sometimes go out to change up the flavors, enjoying barbecues and other things the restaurant doesn’t serve.

Thinking about it, Fu Yu felt quite decent; to save money, he always ate all three meals in the kitchen.

On rare occasions, when he got tired of it, he’d buy a pancake roll as a treat.

After leaving the restaurant, Fu Yu took Sun Qingning to the Hometown Garden Barbecue on the side street.

The two of them ordered some of the restaurant’s specialty meats, two stone pot bibimbaps, two bowls of cold noodles, and two bottles of chilled beer.

Lately, the restaurant was busy with promotions and catering reservations, and the workload in the kitchen had noticeably increased.

Working alongside Fu Yu, Sun Qingning also didn’t have it easy. He had to prepare ingredients, wash pots, pass dishes, and sometimes he even helped with the cooking and running around.

With this kind of workload, to be honest, two thousand yuan a month was definitely a bit too low.

The cleaning lady in the kitchen earned an extra 500 yuan a month.

Fu Yu had worked his way up from being a newbie, and only those who’ve been through it can understand the hardship.

Since his promotion, Fu Yu has handled so many orders, earning a tip from each table service.

This included the dishes prepared by Sun Qingning, which were also counted under his name.

This was simply because Fu Yu had been promoted, whereas Sun Qingning was still a junior and wasn’t eligible for commissions.

Fu Yu estimated that he could earn at least over five thousand yuan this month.

And that didn’t even include his door-to-door service fees, innovation bonuses, or system rewards.

Fu Yu spread the meat slices on the grill, filling it up, before raising his glass to clink with Sun Qingning’s.

”Have you been exhausted lately?”

Sun Qingning took a sip of cold beer, squinted with comfort, and then smiled, ”Oh, the kitchen work is like this, never a dull day, I’m used to it already.”

Fu Yu also took a sip of beer.

Having been busy all afternoon, he hadn’t had a chance to drink water. Now sitting in the barbecue restaurant, enjoying the air conditioning and sipping cold beer, it was really satisfying.

Sun Qingning picked up chopsticks, turning the grilled meat slices with a smile, saying, ”Actually, being physically tired isn’t much. When I chose this profession, I knew this kind of work was inevitable. The real challenge is the uncertainty about the future that makes one uneasy.”

Fu Yu nodded, naturally understanding what Sun Qingning meant.

Before his promotion, he was worried and unsure of his future, even pessimistically prepared to return to his hometown at any time.

Fu Yu filled Sun Qingning’s glass, comforting him, ”Don’t worry, you’re already able to handle the cooking station, you just need more time to accumulate experience. Once you master all the dishes in the restaurant and can independently handle cooking, when the next promotion slot comes up, you’ll definitely be the first to get promoted among this group.”

Fu Yu paused before adding, ”Besides, hasn’t Chef Zhao already mentioned it? The boss plans to train a few more chefs in the kitchen to take on orders. With business booming, we’re obviously short-staffed!”

Sun Qingning’s eyes lit up!

Indeed.

What’s lacking now is more hands-on cooking experience.

As long as he sticks with it and works diligently, when the next promotion slot opens, besides him, no one else would be capable of independently manning the cooking station.

The most crucial point is that these past two weeks working as Fu Yu’s assistant have given him real opportunities to learn and practice, and he truly feels that he’s made some significant progress.

If he’s given more time to hone his skills, he feels sure that he’ll smoothly secure a promotion when the opportunity arises.

Fu Yu and Sun Qingning got along quite well. Sun Qingning had a great personality, quick on his feet.

Working and living together every day, they had plenty of topics to chat about and hit it off quite well.

As they chatted and ate, the two consumed six plates of grilled meat, along with finishing off the stone pot bibimbap and cold noodles.

Though young men in their early twenties might not eat as much as during their growth spurts, after a truly exhausting afternoon, they still had quite an impressive appetite when they let themselves indulge.

Stuffed and satisfied, they leaned back on their chairs to rest.

Fu Yu casually asked, ”When I was making the three-stuffed silk today, I just added an egg, and it became an innovative version. Did you get any inspiration from that?”

Sun Qingning, with a mind that was quite sharp, nodded at his words, ”Yes, adding just an egg indeed transformed both the plating and the flavor of this dish for the better. Chef Fu, how did you come up with doing it that way?”

Of course, Fu Yu couldn’t admit he took that idea from the special domestic banquet recipe book, so he thickened his face and said, ”I just happened to see Chef Zhao making egg pancakes and thought of the dish. As for the flavor, egg is pretty versatile, especially since the three-stuffed silk uses a clear broth, which certainly enhances the taste.”

Sun Qingning was genuinely impressed.

It really shows that there can be gaps between people!

When he saw Chef Zhao making egg pancakes, what came to his mind was how great they’d taste with a layer of sweet chili sauce.

But Fu Yu was able to relate the egg pancakes to creating an innovative three-stuffed silk.

Sun Qingning earnestly said, ”Chef Fu, I truly admire you to the max! It’s no wonder you’re the one who managed to get promoted among all of us.”

”Your mind is much more agile than ours! You take the time to study things, think them through, and you’re daring to explore. You’re really awesome!”

”When you were cooking, I saw you suddenly start making an egg pancake and didn’t realize what you were up to until you were done! Just by simply adding an ingredient, the dish immediately became more appealing and appetizing!”

Fu Yu chuckled.

To be honest, without the special domestic banquet recipe, he probably wouldn’t have thought of that either.

But Fu Yu did take the chance to point out to Sun Qingning the key aspects to note when cooking this dish.

Sun Qingning listened intently; he knew what Fu Yu was telling him came from accumulated experience.

For that, he was particularly grateful and appreciative.

So, before leaving, he excused himself to go to the restroom and promptly covered the bill.

When Fu Yu went to settle up and found out, he was touched and a bit helpless.

Initially, he wanted to use his extra earnings to treat Sun Qingning, but instead got preempted.

Looks like next time they eat out, he might have to pay a deposit in advance to successfully host the treat.