The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

I’ve already spent several hundreds.

As the saying goes, when you have lots of lice, you stop itching.

Next, Fu Yu introduced a few more dishes: glass ’fish fins’, slippery ’fish slices’.

Ma Hua Chao agreed quite readily.

Fu Yu noted them down one by one and advised, ”Our dishes here, the portions are decent. Five dishes for just one person should be enough. Usually, these are ordered by two people together.”

Ma Hua Chao thought about the dishes he had ordered earlier and asked, ”About that prawn dish just now...”

Fu Yu, acting mysterious, whispered, ”Let me tell you, the garlic herb roasted prawns only come with nine prawns per plate. Besides being pricey, it’s not even a signature dish here. If you really want to order more, why not try a main dish? How about our fruit and vegetable seafood noodle soup?”

”Let me tell you, this fruit and veggie seafood noodle soup is made with our secret recipe broth. The taste is exceptionally authentic! You won’t find it anywhere else!”

Persuaded by Fu Yu, Ma Hua Chao nodded, ”Sure, I’ll go with your recommendation. Let’s add a bowl of fruit and veggie seafood noodle soup.”

After saying this, Ma Hua Chao flipped through the menu, ”Hey, why don’t I see this fruit and veggie seafood noodle soup you mentioned?”

Fu Yu coughed lightly, a bit embarrassed, ”Since it’s a secret signature dish, regular customers know it well. They just order it directly when they enter. It’s a standard table selection.”

Ma Hua Chao believed him and said, ”Then I must try it.”

Fu Yu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, ”Shall we finalize the order then?”

Ma Hua Chao nodded, ”Go ahead!”

Fu Yu felt relieved, and at this moment, Jiang Mo ran back hurriedly.

Fu Yu instructed, ”The dishes have been ordered. Please help to place the order.”

Jiang Mo quickly agreed and took over the order list.

Upon seeing it, she was stunned.

Uh...

What’s this fruit and veggie seafood noodle soup?

Aromatic seafood noodles? Secret seafood noodles? Fresh prawn and loofah seafood noodles?

Was it written incorrectly?

Jiang Mo quickly raised her head to shout for someone.

But Fu Yu had already left with Ma Hua Chao.

Forget it!

Anyway, Fu Yu’s the one placing the order and cooking. Jiang Mo decided to leave the seafood noodle dish blank and would ask Fu Yu in the kitchen later about which dish the customer really ordered.

Under normal circumstances, after the customer places an order, the order taker would take them to the front area where a server would naturally escort the customer to a private dining room.

However, after Fu Yu brought Ma Hua Chao to the front area this time, instead of finding a server, they headed directly to the restroom near the side door.

Ma Hua Chao was a bit surprised, gave Fu Yu a glance, and hurried in.

After a while, Ma Hua Chao came out and softly said to Fu Yu, ”Thank you.”

Fu Yu smiled at him.

The two returned to the front area, and a server came over to escort Ma Hua Chao to the private dining room.

Fu Yu changed his clothes and headed to the kitchen. He had just greeted Zhao Meng when Zhao Meng asked, ”Was this order from one of your regular customers?”

Fu Yu publicly answered, ”Yes! He came here specially for me!”

Zhao Meng handed him the order and questioned, ”What’s this fruit and veggie seafood noodle soup?”

Fu Yu looked around to make sure there were no outsiders, then quietly explained what had happened.

After hearing the story, Zhao Meng was dumbfounded and asked in a low voice, ”How are you going to make this dish without seafood?”

Fu Yu replied, ”Don’t worry, I already know how to handle it.”

Zhao Meng was taken aback, ”Are you sure?”

The dishes on the order were all signature items of the restaurant.

Each dish primarily used seafood as the main ingredient.

If there’s no seafood, then what’s there to make?

Fu Yu, however, nodded earnestly, ”I’m sure. If we go by the exact order, his money would barely cover the bill.”

Zhao Meng sighed, ”It’s really hard to manage these things; you never truly know people. Sometimes, even with good intentions, if you meet someone who doesn’t understand gratitude and is unreasonable, you end up in trouble.”

Fu Yu sighed, ”Well, since we ran into this situation, let’s help out while we can.”

After saying this, knowing Zhao Meng was worried for him, Fu Yu quietly added, ”No worries, I am confident that the substitute ingredients will be as good as the original, and when the final bill comes, I’ll explain it to him. If he’s really not satisfied, I’ll just pay for the meal myself and consider it my treat to him.”

Zhao Meng couldn’t persuade Fu Yu otherwise and reluctantly said, ”Alright, do as you think best. But if it really doesn’t work out, don’t rush to make it known. As long as it’s not lobster or abalone, using other ingredients doesn’t matter.”

He was offering to cover for him.

Fu Yu felt a warmth in his heart and nodded, ”Alright, thank you, Chef Zhao!”

Zhao Meng made a gesture of glaring at Fu Yu and turned to continue overseeing Sun Qingning’s cooking.

They say illness strikes like a mountain but leaves like silk unraveling.

Ever since Zhao Meng’s tenosynovitis relapsed, he still hadn’t regained his strength.

However, it was noticeably less painful compared to before.

Zhao Meng deliberately moved his wrist a bit, and unknowingly, a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.

Still young, possessing this level of kindness and enthusiasm. For someone his age, who has experienced so much, it’s tough to muster it anymore.

Fu Yu instructed Zhang Jinyu to start preparing the ingredients.

He turned and saw the prawns and crabs that had just been delivered. Fu Yu hurriedly called out to Zhang Jinyu, ”Quick, send them back! Just say the customer switched dishes!”

Zhang Jinyu, not knowing the reason, followed the instruction and promptly returned the newly delivered seafood to the ordering area.

Once back, Zhang Jinyu quickly prepared all the necessary ingredients.

Fu Yu immediately started cooking.

He had just sliced the peeled yam when Jiang Mo came over.

Jiang Mo first handed the newly received order to Gu Yunwu, then deliberately went over and quietly asked Fu Yu, ”Chef Fu, why did you return all the seafood again?”

Fu Yu replied, ”We’re not making seafood.”

Jiang Mo was surprised, ”Not... not making seafood?”

Fu Yu said, ”He only has so much money. If he really orders a full table of dishes, his pocket will bear the brunt. How will he live after leaving the restaurant?”

Jiang Mo worriedly said, ”But I’ve already reported the order!”

Fu Yu said, ”Just explain it to Sister Gao later, and treat everything as priced for vegetarian dishes.”

Jiang Mo said, embarrassed, ”How should we price this!”

Fu Yu said, ”Just calculate the crispy fish fillets like sugar-coated yam, one plate for 58 yuan. The glass ’fish fins’ like homemade tofu, one plate for 38 yuan. And the Liangxi ’crispy eel’ like oyster mushroom in oyster sauce, one plate for 42 yuan. Slippery ’fish slices’ like braised mushrooms, how much is a plate?”

”48 yuan...” Jiang Mo widened her eyes in surprise, ”But, Chef Fu, can you really do that? Are you really planning to pay for his meal?”

Earlier while ordering, Fu Yu had promised on the spot that if Ma Hua Chao couldn’t afford the meal, he would pay for it himself as a treat.

Jiang Mo thought Fu Yu was just casually speaking, but she didn’t expect he really planned to cover it.

But with the restaurant’s dishes, just ordering a couple could easily go up to several hundred.

Now Fu Yu seemed to plan to nominally charge Ma Hua Chao, as a gesture, since the customer had already dined, and an order had to be made.

Then the remaining difference would be covered by Fu Yu himself.