The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 390: Chapter 389: Popularity Explodes

Zhang Zhen watched the entire communication between Fu Yu and Zhang Xueyao, feeling quite emotional.

After settling Zhang Xueyao, Zhang Zhen and Fu Yu returned to the kitchen.

At this moment, his phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from Xiao Jiping.

”Hello, Dr. Xiao?”

Xiao Jiping, calling despite his busy schedule, got straight to the point: ”Mr. Zhang, I’d like to know how Yaoyao’s herbal cuisine therapy is progressing?”

Zhang Zhen quickly said, ”The herbal dishes have already been consumed. We’ve arranged for her to have them twice a week. Besides, Chef Fu specially prepared two additional herbal dishes that can be taken home for daily use.”

Xiao Jiping was quite interested and asked, ”Oh? They’ve already been eaten? That’s great. I can communicate with Mr. Fu to understand the specific cooking process. Would that be convenient?”

Zhang Zhen turned to Fu Yu and said, ”Chef Fu, Dr. Xiao wants to talk to you about the herbal cuisine you just cooked. Are you... available?”

Fu Yu thought to himself, that’s a good thing!

After all, herbal cuisine is closely related to traditional Chinese medicine, with a very close connection.

Xiao Jiping is a leading figure in the Chinese medicine community, and being able to discuss herbal cuisine with him would be extremely beneficial.

Fu Yu nodded, ”Sure.”

Zhang Zhen quickly handed over the phone.

Xiao Jiping asked very detailed questions, and Fu Yu answered earnestly.

While Fu Yu was on the call, Zhang Zhen quickly arranged some tasks in the kitchen.

After finishing his arrangements, Chef Liu looked at Fu Yu, who was not far away talking on the phone, and asked Zhang Zhen, ”What’s the story behind Chef Fu? This herbal cuisine is quite extraordinary.”

Zhang Zhen’s understanding of Fu Yu is mostly from the boss’s previous briefing; aside from that, he hadn’t really inquired deeply.

Looking back now, Fu Yu never seemed to mention much about his own background.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhen couldn’t help but shake his head. He never noticed before that this guy is actually quite reserved!

”I really haven’t asked carefully.”

After saying that, Zhang Zhen asked in return, ”Old Liu, why are you curious about this?”

Chef Liu said, ”The herbal cuisine Chef Fu cooked today really opened my eyes! Did you know before that Chef Fu’s herbal cuisine was this excellent?”

Zhang Zhen explained, ”I was just trying anything that might help since someone mentioned that herbal cuisine could benefit Yaoyao’s condition, so I thought of Chef Fu.”

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhen couldn’t help but feel grateful and said, ”In fact, before asking Chef Fu, I also contacted Xiao Jiping at the Provincial Third Hospital, but I couldn’t get in touch at that time.”

”In this herbal cuisine therapy, Yaoyao is a student I’m sponsoring, and her family is already very disadvantaged, so I’ve been doing my best to cover the expenses, and Chef Fu volunteered to help with the herbal cuisine therapy without charging anything. After understanding Yaoyao’s situation, he absolutely refused to accept payment and wanted to contribute out of goodwill.”

”And yesterday, after seeing Yaoyao, Chef Fu tailored the herbal cuisine dishes for her. It was also at that time that I suddenly got in touch with Xiao Jiping, who was willing to assist with a remote consultation. Xiao Jiping also highly approved of Chef Fu’s herbal cuisine prescription...”

Zhang Zhen narrated the events truthfully.

”So it was then that I truly realized Chef Fu’s expertise in herbal cuisine!”

”Seeing Chef Fu cook with my own eyes today, I felt completely reassured; Yaoyao’s illness now truly has hope!”

As he said this, Zhang Zhen looked at Fu Yu with admiration and gratitude in his eyes!

Chef Liu was stunned by Zhang Zhen’s words.

Chef Liu had naturally heard of Xiao Jiping from the Provincial Third Hospital, primarily because Elder Xiao, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, was truly renowned.

Being able to enlist Xiao Jiping’s help speaks to Zhang Zhen’s connections!

And gaining Xiao Jiping’s approval indicates that Fu Yu’s skill in herbal cuisine is naturally mature and well-finessed.

Chef Liu was now even more convinced of his own hypothesis.

It wasn’t because of anything else, but because of Fu Yu’s grasp on herbal cuisine design and the entire cooking process, Fu Yu personally handled almost every step, and all the operations could be described as utterly smooth and flowing.

Confident ingredient pairing, as well as the final perfect plating presentation—all these small details continuously proved that this young chef was no ordinary talent.

However, what surprised Chef Liu was that this set of herbal cuisine therapy was formally designed by Fu Yu in just one day, and it even received the approval of a traditional Chinese medicine expert.

This alone was enough to show that his talent and ability in herbal cuisine had reached a certain level.

Reaching such a level would typically require training under a renowned master or coming from a family with considerable pedigree.

In just a few minutes, Chef Liu had sketched an impressive background of an extremely well-founded culinary family for Fu Yu.

With shrewd foresight, Chef Liu looked at Zhang Zhen and said, ”Chef Zhang, do you have Chef Fu’s WeChat? Push it to me, will you?”

Zhang Zhen nodded, ”Sure!”

Back at the kitchen counter, Tian Lei curiously asked, ”Master, what were you chatting about with Chef Zhang just now?”

With an educational and encouraging mindset, Chef Liu recounted the story of Fu Yu gaining approval from Xiao Jiping.

After listening, Tian Lei’s eyes lit up, and he asked, ”Master, do you have Chef Fu’s WeChat? Can you push it to me?”

Proximity to red ink makes one red; proximity to black ink makes one black.

Chef Liu nodded, ”Sure!”

However, fully aware of his apprentice’s chatty nature, Chef Liu anxiously reminded, ”Don’t go spreading this around.”

Chatty Tian Lei nodded, ”Don’t worry, Master.”

Fu Yu was completely unaware of this; he was engrossed in discussing herbal cuisine with Elder Xiao, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner.

The two of them talked for half an hour.

Xiao Jiping was very interested in the herbal cuisine Fu Yu cooked and, upon hearing that the completed dishes were photographed, quickly asked if he could view what Fu Yu’s dishes looked like.

Fu Yu readily agreed and, upon ending the call, went to ask the photographer for the photos of the completed dishes.

Zhang Zhen pushed Xiao Jiping’s WeChat to Fu Yu.

After adding the contact, Fu Yu assumed Xiao Jiping was busy again and hadn’t immediately accepted the request.

Being busy up to now, it was nearly one in the afternoon.

Fu Yu came to the music restaurant today for on-site service, as per the store’s record.

It was also time to leave.

Not lingering, Fu Yu greeted Yao Shi, said goodbye to Zhang Zhen and others, and hurriedly caught a cab to head back.

Halfway through, his phone suddenly chimed with a notification.

Assuming it was the verification message from Xiao Jiping, he hurriedly picked up the phone but saw it was a friend request from Chef Liu.

He accepted.

Soon after, another notification rang.

It was a friend request from Tian Lei, the head chef at the music restaurant.

He accepted.

Shortly afterward, his phone suddenly rang with a torrent of notifications.

Over a dozen friend requests on WeChat.

”Chef Fu, I’m Chef Lin.”

”Chef Fu, I’m Zhou Yesheng.”

”Chef Fu, I’m Shen Guanghao.”

...

”Chef Fu, I’m Li Xintong.”

Fu Yu: ”!”

Wow, he’s really popular!

Fu Yu chuckled and accepted each one.