The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Early the next morning, the first thing Fu Yu did when he got up was to put on his freshly cleaned work clothes and then rub his sleeves on the ground two times.

Unlike Zhao Meng, Fu Yu couldn’t manage to mop the floor every day.

After a busy day feeling exhausted like a dog, he wished he could just collapse onto his bed as soon as he got home. How would he have the energy to mop the floor?

Besides, since he’d be wearing slippers and not barefoot, a bit of dirt on the floor didn’t matter.

Cleaning once a week on his days off was already quite good.

The clean chef’s uniform was lifted after being rubbed on the floor.

Indeed, the effect was spotless...

If he wasn’t afraid of being found out, he wouldn’t have to wash his chef’s uniform every day, and that would be quite delightful.

But unfortunately, this reward happened to be attached to the chef’s uniform!

No other option, he had to go buy a long apron to put on first.

At least with an apron covering it, it wouldn’t be so conspicuous.

As for whether he could think of some good way to replace it in the future... that wasn’t something to worry about right now.

Fu Yu clocked in, and took advantage of breakfast time to greet Zhao Meng and headed directly to the supermarket on the side street.

A very ordinary thing to do.

But just as he was busy shopping, trouble unexpectedly came his way.

Fu Yu was focused on solving the immediate problem, but some people just couldn’t let him be.

Fu Yu went through the backdoor, and happened to run into Zhang Jinyu halfway.

They greeted each other.

Zhang Jinyu curiously asked, ”Chef Fu, what are you up to so early?”

Fu Yu casually replied, ”I’m going to buy a long apron.”

After speaking, Fu Yu left.

And Zhang Jinyu went over to have breakfast with everyone else.

Zhao Meng didn’t see Fu Yu, so he casually asked Sun Qingning, ”Where’s Fu Yu?”

Before Sun Qingning could speak, Zhang Jinyu replied, ”Chef Fu went to the supermarket to buy an apron.”

Zhao Meng was startled and asked with surprise, ”What’s he buying an apron for?”

The few people in the Qianlima kitchen always just wore their work clothes directly.

No one ever wore an apron.

As they talked, Yao Yihang chimed in, ”Chef Fu’s always doing something fresh, really unusual. Since he wants to wear an apron, could it be that he wants to improve our work clothes?”

The Qianlima kitchen uniforms had actually undergone stylistic changes, but that was three years ago.

The old uniforms were just low-necked white tops paired with black straight trousers, but since they were too loose, everyone usually wore their personal clothes.

The current uniform is a white coat that prevents oil splashes on the trousers, balancing aesthetics and practicality.

To say Fu Yu wanted to improve the uniforms was indeed quite intriguing.

After all, why on earth was he buying an apron!

Moreover, the chef’s uniforms currently available in the market were indeed stylish and came in a variety of designs.

Fu Yu was young and handsome, everyone has a love for beauty.

At Qianlima, since chefs rarely had the chance to see guests in the front hall, as long as they wore their work clothes, there were no specific rules on how to match them or what shoes to wear underneath.

If Fu Yu wanted to wear an apron for style, nobody would say anything.

”Wearing an apron seems unnecessary...” This was said by a blunt and straightforward junior cook from Gu Yunwu’s side.

Sun Qingning couldn’t help but defend Fu Yu: ”If Chef Fu wants to wear an apron, it’s surely because washing the work clothes every day is a hassle, those oil stains are really hard to remove. If there’s an apron to block them, it would be more convenient.”

”I often see Chef Fu diligently washing his work clothes in the water room.”

”Chef Fu indeed washes his work clothes every day, and not just him, I wash every day too. No choice, the weather’s too hot, it’s so stuffy in the kitchen all day, if you don’t wash the clothes, they’ll be sour the next day!”

”Ah, talking about this makes me distressed, the kitchen environment is really too harsh, can’t they at least install an air conditioner for us?”

The group chatted from aprons to air conditioners and then was steered back by one of them, ”Don’t you really think Chef Fu is planning to improve the work clothes?”

”...” The kitchen staff continued eating their meals, some had congee, and the most polite response was a smile without saying anything.

Everyone knew the work clothes decision was made by the boss in the first place, and any improvements would need the boss’s approval.

Besides, whether they change work clothes or not, what difference does it make to them?

When the boss says new ones are available, they’ll just take them.

Who in their right mind would want to change them?

They’ve worn them for three years now, and the boss hasn’t mentioned anything about replacement, at most they got an extra set last year.

Isn’t the message clear enough?

Obviously, they want them to patch up and wear them for another three years.

Just wear them and it’s done!

After all, with such a big store and so many employees, if you were to actually replace the work clothes, there’d have to be a set for spring/summer and another for autumn/winter, not to mention spares for changing, two sets per person, how much would that cost altogether?

To say Fu Yu wants to improve the chef’s uniform is the same as telling the boss that Fu Yu is dissatisfied with the store’s benefits, obviously ill-intentioned.

”Who knows what he’s up to this time! Anyway, when he comes back after buying, just ask him and find out.” Zhao Meng said at this point.

Zhao Meng knew Fu Yu all too well.

This kid would hold onto money so tightly, he’d split a dollar in half to spend, asking him to spend frivolously was simply impossible.

If not for this, Zhao Meng wouldn’t feel particularly moved when Fu Yu occasionally treated him to something.

Early in the morning, the supermarket had just opened.

Those shopping inside were mostly elderly folks waking up early.

Fu Yu found the living section and happened to see aprons on sale.

The plain ones hanging on the rack looked quite high-end, twenty yuan each.

The ones piled on the counter were pink, yellow, green, with small floral patterns.

The clearly cheaper-looking aprons on the counter were twenty yuan for buy one, get one free.

Fu Yu was torn between buying one nice-looking one or two cheap ones for the same price.

An elderly woman next to him approached and asked: ”Hey, young man, are you buying an apron? How about we buy together?”

”Sure!”

...

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, as breakfast was finishing up, Fu Yu still hadn’t returned.

Just as everyone was about to get up and go back to work, Zhang Jinyu saw from afar Fu Yu walking over with a green floral long apron tied around him.

”Hey, Chef Fu is back!”

”Oh my gosh, that apron...”

Fu Yu felt so wronged, finally getting a reward, and it just had to be an oil-repelling chef’s uniform.

As a result, he had to spend extra money to figure out how to buy an apron as a cover.

”It’s such a hassle to wash the work clothes, I bought an apron to make it easier to clean afterward.” Fu Yu explained to everyone.

”Do you really have to wear an apron?” Zhao Meng looked at the green floral apron and thought it was simply too embarrassing.

”The oil splatters too much while cooking, how can I not wear an apron.”

Fu Yu argued justifiably.

Face doesn’t mean a thing!

What if someone discovers his secret without the apron?

”It’s getting late, come and have breakfast.” Gu Yunwu called out.

So everyone got up and left.

As for the topic of improving the work clothes, nobody mentioned it again.

The previous topic was utterly dumb.

With Fu Yu’s straight-man sense of style, he seemed completely incapable of improving the work clothes.