The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Gao Wen Jing said with a smile, ”Of course! My aunt really has an eye for things.”

Uncle Liu laughed heartily, looking at the dishes laid out on the table, and suddenly sighed, ”In the past, my wife loved to eat this Rich and Magnificent Seafood Delight, every time we booked a banquet, this dish had to be on the table. Actually, it wasn’t the dishes she loved the most, but the pastry holding them!”

”Every time we came here, she would eat all the pastries, and I would be left to finish up the dishes on top.”

Uncle Liu had no children, and in the past, he and his wife depended on each other, living quite a happy life.

Now that his wife is gone, he’s left by himself, and life’s lost its meaning.

But...

He doesn’t dare to leave, as those kids he’s sponsoring are at a critical time in their studies, relying on the money he sends for their tuition.

So, no matter how difficult it is, he has to keep going!

Just as Uncle Liu began to eat, his phone rang — a video call.

Uncle Liu answered, putting it on speaker.

The video suddenly showed two bright, smiling faces, ”Grandpa! Happy Birthday!”

Uncle Liu looked at the two adorable children on the screen joyfully, but he pretended to scold them, ”Why are you calling instead of paying attention in class!”

The more lively of the two kids laughed and said, ”It’s break time now, we’re using the teacher’s phone to call you!”

Uncle Liu felt a warmth in his heart, sighing, ”Next time, don’t call again; spend your time studying well. I’m doing fine here, you don’t need to worry about me.”

The two kids agreed cheerfully, but their eyes stayed fixed on the camera.

The other slightly shy kid said, ”Grandpa, you don’t need to send us living expenses this month. The school is sending us to a science competition for half a month, and they’ll cover food and lodging. If we win, the school said they’d give us money too...”

The child spoke in detail, from the school’s arrangements, the competition itinerary, to their usual preparations...

Looking at the lively kids in front of him, Uncle Liu smiled with relief, and as he smiled, his vision blurred, and somehow he saw his wife’s gentle face.

Uncle Liu sighed, dear wife, it would be great if you were still alive, you must want to see how the kids we supported are doing now, right?

Darling!

The old lady smiled at him, just like he remembered...

Fu Yu was about to leave, but... the conversation softened his heart to a pulp...

It turns out the old man has been supporting underprivileged students to go to school.

This person is truly faithful and kind.

Though the kids are young, they mature early due to their circumstances, each one is thoughtful and grateful.

In this complicated and difficult life, accompanying each other, not family, but even more than family.

Watching this scene, Fu Yu was deeply moved.

He silently looked at Uncle Liu, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

Maybe now, with limited abilities, he can’t do much, but he believes that someday, he too can become someone like Uncle Liu, compassionate and able to put that compassion into action.

No matter how busy the restaurant got, once the peak dining time passed, there were fewer customers.

Once through this busy time, Fu Yu could catch his breath and take a break.

Of course, saying it was a break usually just meant squeezing in a quick bite.

With no customers, he could eat in peace.

As soon as a new order came in, regardless of hunger, accepting it meant the meal was over.

After eating, with no new orders coming in, Fu Yu grabbed two low stools and invited Zhao Meng to take a break.

Zhao Meng rubbed his fingers together, ”You take a break; I’m going out for a smoke to relax.”

Saying that, he went out through the back door.

Fu Yu had just sat down when Sun Qingning hopped over, dragging another low stool to sit next to him.

Sun Qingning said proudly, ”Chef Fu, when I was noting things down earlier, I ran into Chef Yao. He looked over my notes, take a guess at what he said?”

Fu Yu: ”Specific content, appropriate detail, lively wording, highly readable, comprehensive data, very valuable as a reference!”

These words made Sun Qingning beam with joy, ”Chef Fu, I never expected you to be so satisfied with my notes!”

Beside them, Zhang Jinyu, who had just finished eating, curiously asked, ”What notes are you talking about?”

Sun Qingning waved his hand dismissively, ”Even if I tell you, it won’t be of use!”

Zhang Jinyu became even more curious, ”Let me see what it is?”

Sun Qingning pulled out his phone smugly and tapped a few times: ”These are the statistical records Chef Fu had me do. Chef Yao said I’ve handled them very thoroughly and comprehensively and told me to keep it up.”

Zhang Jinyu reached out to take it and, after a glance at the content, asked in surprise, ”Isn’t this just the restaurant’s order sheet? Chef Fu, what’s the purpose of this?”

Fu Yu took the phone, flipping through it as he replied, ”It’s nothing, I just wanted to analyze the sales situation of the restaurant’s dishes.”

Upon reviewing, Fu Yu found that Sun Qingning’s later notes were indeed better.

The content was much richer than before, and he had even added cooking notes and tips for each dish.

Compared to before, it looked much more professional.

However... in terms of cooking techniques, when he taught them at the time, he didn’t notice much, but now that it’s been organized into such detailed notes, he realized there were quite a few details that needed correction.

Sun Qingning wasn’t very familiar with the cooking methods for some dishes, so there were minor issues in the notes.

Nevertheless, he had to admit, Sun Qingning did an excellent job with the statistical records.

Sun Qingning and Zhang Jinyu continued discussing the restaurant’s recently popular dishes.

With nothing else to do, Fu Yu casually flipped through a a specialty family banquet recipe book, picking out a few dishes that were currently popular in the restaurant.

The methods in the recipe book for the same dish were more detailed and categorized by taste and presentation complexity — simple, medium, and complex.

Fu Yu glanced through a couple and, finding some interesting parts, he added them to the statistics records.

After updating, Fu Yu set the phone on the table and got up to check the marinating process in the storeroom.

Zhang Jinyu praised, ”Qingning, I didn’t realize you had such talent! This isn’t just statistics; if you organized it well, it could almost be a culinary teaching book!”

Sun Qingning chuckled, ”Yeah, that’s what Chef Yao said too.”

As they were chatting, Sun Qingning’s phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at it quickly and answered, ”Hello? Chef Yao... Oh, sure, I’m coming over now, okay.”

Sun Qingning hung up, excitedly announcing, ”Chef Yao said there are some areas in the cooking methods that need adjustments; he wants me to bring my statistics over! Once Chef Fu returns, could you tell him for me?”

Zhang Jinyu nodded, ”Sure.”