The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Zhao Meng injured his wrist, so all the meal orders here were taken over by Fu Yu.

Originally, Gu Yunwu was scheduled to participate in an interview with the provincial TV station today, but the program reporter happened to call to inform him that the recording time was postponed as the station was preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival gala.

As a result, both Yao Shi and Gu Yunwu stayed in the kitchen.

During dinner hours, the restaurant was bustling with business.

Order slips kept coming one after another, and Fu Yu had been cooking nonstop since he started the stove.

Sun Qingning was helping in the kitchen beside him, very impressed with whoever designed these light green floral aprons.

Two order slips were cooked alternately, and just as the last dish was served, a new order slip was handed over.

According to the order rotation, this order was supposed to be taken by Fu Yu.

But the order taker went directly to Yao Shi with the slip.

”Chef Yao, the customer for this order slip wants to meet you in person.”

Yao Shi was a bit surprised and turned around to ask, ”Did they say what it was about?”

The order taker said, ”He said his surname is Tang, and he’s talking in room 209 with our boss.”

Upon hearing about the boss, Yao Shi was slightly taken aback, nodded, and said, ”I need three more minutes to finish here, then I’ll go over.”

The order taker agreed and handed the slip to Yao Shi.

Yao Shi took a look at it and frowned slightly.

The order slip had simply one line: Authentic Old-Style Three Meals.

This wasn’t just one dish or three meals; it was a full banquet.

Yao Shi frowned a little, quickened his pace, plated the dish from the wok, and embellished it a bit before handing it to the order taker, then hurried over to room 209.

Inside the private room, Yao Shi saw Dong Jun Tian sitting there, chatting and laughing amiably with a plump middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man looked a bit wealthier than Dong Jun Tian and seemed sharp and dynamic.

In the midst of a hot season, he wore a well-fitted casual suit, and his wristwatch was identical to the one Yao Shi bought last month, a high luxury item worth almost six but less than seven figures.

Their laughter and ease in conversation suggested they were on good terms.

Yet Yao Shi was surprised to find this was someone he had never met.

Looking across the entire Bei’an, there didn’t seem to be such a character either.

Dong Jun Tian smiled and greeted Yao Shi, ”Come, Yao Shi, let me introduce you. This is President Tang, Tang Jian, the owner of Jiu Hua Hotel. President Tang, this is our head chef, Yao Shi.”

Tang Jian reached out to shake Yao Shi’s hand and greeted, ”Hello, Mr. Yao!”

The Jiu Hua Hotel is a chain hotel in the provincial capital, doing exceptionally well, with branches in fifteen major cities in the province, and one in each of the four districts of Bei’an.

Yao Shi shook hands with Tang Jian without a change in expression, guessing in his mind that Tang Jian was probably here to order a meal, and the banquet was this Three Meals.

The Three Meals at Qianlima were indeed not the restaurant’s specialty banquet.

This table setting was one left by Master Guo, who was in the kitchen when Qianlima first opened.

The old gentleman visited Bei’an from out of town for family, and after staying for a while, felt bored. By chance, he applied to work in the kitchen at Qianlima as the head chef.

Master Guo was excellent at cooking and could make many specialty dishes.

Yao Shi got along well with Master Guo at the time and earnestly learned a lot of culinary techniques.

Even this banquet was taught to Yao Shi by Master Guo, which was gradually promoted in the restaurant later.

However, since Qianlima mainly served seafood, the chances of this banquet being ordered weren’t high.

Instead, it became popular later in the music restaurant it was introduced to, after renaming it to ”Golden Perfection” and listing it as a medium-grade banquet.

In Bei’an, if someone in the know mentioned Three Meals, they’d surely go straight to the music restaurant. Why come to Qianlima instead?

But if someone wasn’t in the know, how could they precisely order this banquet?

Yao Shi couldn’t help but take a closer look at Tang Jian.

At this moment, Tang Jian also revealed the purpose of his visit today: ”I came today to change the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet I ordered earlier. I hadn’t returned from the provincial capital, so my wife took the child back first for family visits and arbitrarily ordered the banquet, which made me very angry!”

”During the festival, we don’t order the authentic holiday set, instead opting for some seafood mishmash and innovative fusion stew. Those things are fine for normal meals, but for a family reunion, who eats such things?”

Dong Jun Tian chuckled, ”Actually, the few dishes your wife ordered are genuinely some of our restaurant’s specialties, and they look quite festive together.”

Tang Jian sighed, ”That’s not the point... You know my parents, they’ve been traditional all their lives, wanting to celebrate all twenty-four solar terms in a year! With their traditional nature, how could they accept this?”

”Moreover, living in the provincial capital and finally managing to return to accompany the elders during the festival, how can it not delight them? If we really want to eat those dishes, we can always order them before leaving. Why insist on having a table full of spicy stir-fried seafood during such an important festival?”

”Besides, my wife is always unreliable in handling matters. If she had given it some thought, would she really have ordered such a spread? Isn’t this just adding to my parents’ distress?”

Dong Jun Tian nodded, ”Indeed, uncle and aunt probably won’t be very satisfied, but you should also somewhat understand your wife’s situation.”

”Your wife is also from Bei’an and used to frequently come to the restaurant to eat, probably wanting to order dishes that suited her taste so you could try them too. The fact she thought about helping set up the banquet already shows she cares about you!”

Outsiders wouldn’t know, but Dong Jun Tian understood well how fond Tang Jian was of his second wife, who was nearly twenty years younger.

If he really dared to say something bad about his young wife now, and it somehow reached her ears, their already somewhat distant relationship due to infrequent contact might just end completely.

Tang Jian shook his head, ”Old Dong, this restaurant is yours, so I won’t say much, but I’ll say this one thing. I came today to change the banquet. See if you can make it happen. As for the cost, don’t worry, I’ll pay the price. I also understand that these Three Meals are time-consuming and troublesome to prepare. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival, and you’ll surely be busy with many customers in your restaurant. How about this, don’t rush to serve our banquet, prioritize other customers first, and when you have time, complete our banquet, what do you think?”

Yao Shi was taken aback. How could a customer enter the restaurant and not be in a hurry to get served?

And to say they would complete the banquet in their spare time, how could one not rush them if they were busy and it took too long?

Yao Shi didn’t believe it at all.