The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Zhao Meng frowned and asked, ”This dish doesn’t have much to begin with, and you’ve already set some aside. What will the customers eat?”

Fu Yu, unfazed by the scolding, held up a small bowl to Zhao Meng and explained, ”Don’t worry, I deliberately prepared a bit extra. I assure you, I didn’t cut corners! Quick, try it and see how it tastes.”

Zhao Meng, though giving a bit of a reprimand, eventually took a spoonful of the king oyster mushroom and tasted it carefully.

Zhao Meng: ”!”

It turns out that the king oyster mushrooms, cut with a decorative knife technique, taste this good!

The texture is reminiscent of abalone, and the slits where the knife cut have absorbed the flavorful juices, making it delicious!

Moreover, paired with the aromatic basil, the taste is quite unique.

Zhao Meng was truly amazed this time.

Who knew king oyster mushrooms could be prepared this way?

As the head chef of a seafood restaurant, Zhao Meng is quite adept with the eighteen ways to cook abalone.

But using king oyster mushrooms as a substitute for abalone, Zhao Meng had never tried.

And he had to admit, this bowl of Three Cups King Oyster Mushrooms in front of him was uncannily similar to abalone, be it in presentation or flavor.

Having been cooked in this way, unless you taste it carefully, you wouldn’t notice at all.

Even Zhao Meng, who has dealt with seafood for years, couldn’t stop praising this Three Cups King Oyster Mushroom dish.

As someone from the North who has never tasted abalone, Ma Hua Chao didn’t even realize that this Three Cups ”Abalone” in front of him was actually made with king oyster mushrooms as a substitute ingredient.

He only knew that this dish was expensive, and once he tried it, he understood what value for money truly means.

It was indeed delicious!

Rich people really know how to live!

After tasting two pieces of the three-cup ”abalone,” Ma Hua Chao reluctantly put down his chopsticks.

He genuinely couldn’t eat any more, and his stomach began to churn slightly, a familiar discomfort signaling the onset of his condition.

Ma Hua Chao closed his eyes to steady himself, then mustered the strength to call for the waiter.

The waiter walked in with a smile: ”Sir, hello, may I help you with anything?”

Ma Hua Chao nodded: ”Please, could you pack this up for me?”

This table of dishes cost over a thousand yuan, so it would be a shame to waste it.

The waiter promptly responded, ”Certainly, sir.”

The waiter quickly packed all the dishes into the restaurant’s special takeaway boxes.

Ma Hua Chao took them and said, ”I’ll settle the bill.”

The waiter quickly presented the bill and handed it over: ”Sir, your total is 175 yuan.”

Ma Hua Chao reached into his pocket to pull out those wads of bills, ready to pay, but was stunned upon hearing the amount.

”How much?”

The waiter replied, ”A total of 175 yuan.”

Ma Hua Chao was astonished: ”This, this must be a mistake, right?”

The waiter, surprised, said, ”No, it’s correct. Normally, it would be 206 yuan, but your table is under Chef Fu’s name, so it’s part of the employee internal discount, which is 15% off, making it 175 yuan.”

”But...” Ma Hua Chao said incredulously, ”I don’t even know Chef Fu, and I remember just this abalone dish being over two hundred!”

The waiter glanced at the order slip, hesitated, and said, ”But sir, that’s how the bill was prepared, so there shouldn’t be any mistake...”

However...

The waiter looked at the packed boxes on the table.

The dishes this customer just had clearly did not match those on the order slip.

Could it be that there was a mistake on the server’s side?

The waiter quickly said, ”Sir, please wait a moment, I’ll contact the front desk now.”

Ma Hua Chao nodded, somewhat impatiently: ”Please hurry up!”

The waiter hastily pulled out the restaurant’s specialized walkie-talkie and contacted Gao Wenjing.

”Sister Gao, the bill for the 207 box doesn’t seem right. The dishes don’t match the order slip.”

Gao Wenjing’s voice came through quickly, ”207? Oh, it’s all right, just process the payment according to the bill.”

”But...” the waiter hesitated and said, ”These dishes...”

Gao Wenjing paused for a moment and said, ”This customer has a connection with Chef Fu, if there’s an issue, just contact Fu Yu and have him resolve it.”

The waiter was taken aback.

Does the head of the section mean she should look for Fu Yu?

The waiter had no choice but to say, ”Sir, our management has said that there is no problem with the bill. If you still have any doubts, you can seek clarification with Chef Fu.”

Ma Hua Chao frowned and said, ”But I don’t know Chef Fu, he...”

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly thought of a young guy with a handsome face when ordering.

At that time, this person had indeed mentioned that he was a chef.

Ma Hua Chao asked, ”Are you talking about Chef Fu, who is quite young and rather handsome?”

The waiter nodded: ”Yes, that’s him! Don’t you know him?”

Ma Hua Chao shook his head: ”I don’t know him.”

The waiter, puzzled, said, ”But he processed it under the employee internal rate, a discount reserved only for our internal staff’s friends and family dining here.”

Ma Hua Chao, inexplicably, thought of the young chef who had indeed said earlier that if he couldn’t afford the meal, he would treat him.

Could it be... he really did pay for him?

Otherwise, this table of dishes, which should have cost at least over a thousand, was only charged this much now.

Ma Hua Chao’s expression was complicated; he took a deep breath and turned to the waiter: ”I’d like to see Chef Fu.”

The waiter was happy to oblige: ”Certainly, sir.”

The waiter briskly walked out of the booth and happened to see a server delivering dishes. She quickly took it and, in a low voice, said, ”Yu Xuan, you came just in time. Please go and tell Chef Fu that the customer in booth 207 wants to see him!”

Wang Yuxuan was taken aback, ”See Chef Fu? What happened? Did something go wrong?”

The waiter, without time to explain, just urged, ”The order slip and the dishes on the table don’t match. Quickly call Chef Fu over; we’ll talk about it later!”

Wang Yuxuan didn’t dare delay and quickly ran to the back kitchen.

...

Fu Yu was happily flipping the wok.

Just five minutes ago, he finally heard the electronic notification for completing the task:

[Ding! NPC customer Ma Hua Chao’s task: Eat a delicious meal has been successfully completed, reward received: RMB +50, a chance for a lucky draw, task experience +100]

Fu Yu rubbed his hands in excitement, curious about what treasure he might win in the lucky draw!

He quickly found an excuse to send Zhang Jinyu to prepare the ingredients.

Once Zhang Jinyu left, Fu Yu took advantage of the heated wok to swiftly draw his prize.

[Ding! Lucky draw complete, reward received: Skill points +5]

He got 5 skill points all at once!!

This was a huge win!

Fu Yu was overjoyed and began cooking with enthusiasm.

Beside him, Zhao Meng scolded Sun Qingning, ”You’ve only been flipping woks for half a morning and you can’t hold on? Look at Fu Yu! Only passion keeps you going! You need to treat being a chef as your hobby!”

Sun Qingning glanced at Fu Yu with a sigh.

Fu Yu was flipping the wok with ease, and there was an obvious hint of joy in his eyes.

Indeed, for Fu Yu, cooking was truly an enjoyable experience.

Sun Qingning grew increasingly admiring of Fu Yu from the bottom of his heart.

Truly, when it comes to comparing oneself with another, one either feels inferior or struggles with envy!

If he could be half as good as Fu Yu, he would be satisfied!

At this moment, Wang Yuxuan rushed into the back kitchen, urgently saying, ”Chef Fu, the customer in booth 207 wants to see you!”