Bai Xiaobo was still puzzled. "Boss, can’t we afford it?"
Su Chen shook his head. "Just a taste is enough."
To get revenge for missing out on the chicken dish the night before, Zhang Li rushed ahead of everyone, holding a bowl of the douzhi.
"Let’s see any of you try to get past me this time! Hah!"
Her triumph didn’t last three seconds.
"PFFT!!!"
A large mouthful of the douzhi had barely swirled around in her mouth before it went right back into the bowl, returning to whence it came.
Only the elderly locals who saw it chuckled to themselves.
’Another out-of-towner!’
’The douzhi is a pass,’ Su Chen thought. ’Soy milk is more reliable. It could be a staple beverage for my little cafeteria.’
Su Chen had originally intended to find the descendants of Wu Dianyuan, who was mentioned in the book of famous recipes, but after asking around for a long time, he came up empty.
He tried a few places afterward, but their versions were all quite mediocre.
’Jiaoquan, pass!’
Unfortunately, Su Chen possessed these recipes but lacked the ability to restore these culinary masterpieces to their former glory.
’Times really have changed, after all.’
After two days of wandering and eating, Su Chen came to a realization.
’No wonder people say the Capital City is a food desert!’
’To put it bluntly, the Capital City really doesn’t have any food that makes you want to stay...’
’Most of the good restaurants serve cuisines from other provinces, and the truly authentic local flavors are too expensive for the average person.’
For the last few days of the trip, Su Chen gave everyone else time off.
The ladies had a great time shopping, while Liu Ahbao continued to eat his way through the city with a camera mounted on his head every day.
Su Chen, on the other hand, stayed in the guest house watching videos and occasionally went to the practice room to study the book of famous recipes.
When it was time to eat, he would look up highly-rated restaurants on a review app and order a few signature dishes to try.
He would make a mental note of the good dishes, and he had to remember the bad ones, too.
It was like a vacation for himself, in a way.
It wasn’t good to be so tense all the time.
Seven days passed in a flash. Amidst the ladies’ cheerful laughter, it was time for their final lunch.
"Boss Su, please forgive me if my hospitality these past few days has been lacking." Shang Mingke stood up, holding his tea. "None of us are drinking alcohol, so I’ll toast you all with tea instead!"
Everyone raised their teacups, stood, and drank the tea.
This farewell lunch was held in the City Construction Group’s cafeteria, where a special meal had been prepared for them.
Shang Mingke teased, "Boss Su, the chef we have here is from Sichuan Province. How about you give him some pointers later?"
Su Chen quickly shook his head. "Old Shang, don’t mess with me! I caused such a huge mess on my first trip to the Capital City. Didn’t you see the news a few days ago? Cuihua Building even took their Kung Pao Chicken off the menu..."
"Speaking of which, that Manager Wang really can’t handle the pressure. That’s their signature dish, after all. To just take it off the menu like that..." Shang Mingke was rather perplexed.
What puzzled him even more was that he had been very clear when he left that day, even telling them where Su Chen was staying for the next few days.
’Why hadn’t Wang Peixing come to pay a visit?’
Of course, Shang Mingke had also been busy with work for the past few days, so there were some things he wouldn’t know.
Right now, Wang Peixing looked like a wilted cucumber.
"Is this how you act just because you messed up one dish? Where’s the man who single-handedly restored the glory of two great restaurants?"
An important guest had arrived at Cuihua Building today. It was none other than the head chef’s master, Cui Yufen!
Cui Yufen had been out of town for a culinary exchange a few days prior. The moment she returned to the Capital City, she heard that Cuihua Building had removed one of its signature dishes from the menu.
Although she had never worked at Cuihua Building herself, her star pupil did!
Out of curiosity, Cui Yufen went straight to Cuihua Building the moment she was back in the city. The first sight of her disciple almost made her jump.
’How long has it been?’
’Why does this kid, Wang Peixing, look so haggard? His eyes are practically bulging out of his head!’
After getting the full story, she finally understood.
It turned out he had lost a showdown a few days ago.
"Master, it’s not... You don’t know, you don’t understand the situation." Wang Peixing didn’t know how to explain it to his teacher.
Ever since that day, whenever he picked up his knife to make that dish, the image of Su Chen would involuntarily appear in his mind.
Then, he would subconsciously try to follow Su Chen’s methods, and as a result, he would mess it up every single time.
"What do you mean I don’t understand the situation? Just tell me, whose disciple is he? Among this generation of Lu Cuisine masters, there isn’t a single one worth his salt that I don’t know. I’ll take you to go learn from them!"
Cui Yufen’s words were sharp and direct.
For a woman to have been a head chef her entire life, from the state-run canteens to the post-reform international hotels, one could only imagine her character and capabilities.
In her eyes, for someone to brazenly walk into Cuihua Building’s kitchen, cook a dish, and even do it better than the head chef...
...what was that if not a direct challenge?
She didn’t know whose disciple was so audacious, but when a student loses face, it was up to the master to win it back!
"Master, it’s really not what you think." Wang Peixing was at a loss for how to explain. "He really didn’t come to challenge the restaurant, it’s just that..."
’Wait, if I hadn’t insisted on inviting him back to give me some pointers, would that whole incident even have happened?’
’Argh, the more I try to explain, the messier it gets!’
"But don’t worry, Master. Once I’ve spent a few days studying and figuring out that Kung Pao Chicken, I’ll definitely put it back on the menu."
Cui Yufen’s eyebrows shot up. "What’s there to study? Did I not teach you how to make it?"
Wang Peixing’s face was a mask of misery.
’You did teach me, but even your version can’t compare to that young master’s!’
’Master, it’s not that I don’t want you to meet him. It’s that I’m afraid at your age, you wouldn’t be able to handle the shock!’