This...
Why did the boss suddenly look at me with such a gentle gaze?
He instinctively glanced at his mentor.
As expected, he was met with a glare from his own mentor.
However, even though he was glared at, Liu Zhangpeng instead calmed down.
That’s right!
It must have been an illusion just now, how could he think the boss would look at him so gently for no reason!
After all, the boss is always very strict with them in the kitchen.
Liu Zhangpeng discreetly sneaked another glance at Liu Yunong.
Liu Yunong was focused on watching Fu Yu cook.
Hmm, as expected, it was a mistake.
...
The cooking lesson continued.
Fu Yu, with a mindset of practice and research, perfected the operational details.
With Fu Yu’s assistance, the dish-serving speed on the kitchen’s side increased significantly.
While cooking, Fu Yu would often ask questions when something came to mind.
And Liu Yunong’s rich practical experience, along with her knowledge and communication skills cultivated by her high education, played a crucial role at this moment.
With a smart and perceptive apprentice, Liu Yunong found herself interested in guiding him, often providing additional cooking knowledge as she spoke.
"Actually, cooking doesn’t always have to involve stuffing, clamping, or wrapping. Sometimes, simply applying one or multiple ingredients results in great flavors."
"Moreover, considering our restaurant’s situation, with branches in various locations, the local specialties and dietary habits vary, so we often use local materials."
"You make what you have, thus creating a variety of stuffed dishes, like stuffed tofu, peppers, eggplant, bitter melon, dried bean curd, eggs, taro, green garlic... resulting in a diverse array of courses where everything can be stuffed."
"In my family’s ancient records, an ancestor once said, ’No dish can’t be stuffed, no dish can’t be part of stuffing,’ — that’s the implication."
Fu Yu nodded, just about to speak when suddenly an electronic notification sound rang in his ear:
[Ding! Kitchen Artisan Title Reward: Congratulations on receiving heartfelt guidance from NPC Master Chef Liu Yunong: Personal Skill "Color Perception"]
Oh!
Fu Yu remained stoic outwardly, but inside he felt like "riding a donkey-shouting with joy," delighted to the core.
Great!
He already possesses advanced painting skills, and now he’s gained a personal skill in color perception.
Could it be?
Is it that after achieving full marks in the Grill Master role, he’ll switch directly to becoming an artist?
Fu Yu, expressionless, arranged the plates while amusing himself with these thoughts internally.
Just then, Liu Yunong said, "By the way, let me tell you more about the characteristics of stuffed dishes."
Fu Yu quickly focused to listen attentively.
Liu Yunong elaborated, "Stuffed dishes, besides having rich flavors, also have more distinct features in their appearance and color."
"Ever since we discovered that colors can psychologically or emotionally affect humans, the research and application of colors have never stopped."
"The dishes, through different color combinations, can significantly enhance aesthetic appeal, increase appetite, and stimulate ordering when paired correctly."
"Color coordination for stuffed dishes is particularly demanding since the cooking method is somewhat monotonous and requires significant effort in plating."
"To make a plate of stuffed dish appealing, attention must be given to the skills of basic color, additional color, compositional color, embellishment, and hue balance in color composition."
...
Fu Yu carefully memorized all the knowledge Liu Yunong imparted.
The mentor and the apprentice, one teaching and the other learning, shared a harmonious dynamic.
Liu Zhangpeng, eavesdropping intently, was listening with eyes sparkling.
This is all experience!
Despite Liu Yunong being young, she has traveled extensively and is a top student returning from overseas studies. Her insights and understanding of culinary techniques unmistakably surpass those of them, who cooped up in the kitchen, merely focusing on practice.
Therefore, when he noticed Liu Yunong teaching Fu Yu about how to arrange colors in dish presentation, Liu Zhangpeng listened exceptionally carefully.
He was afraid of missing any crucial tip.
But as he listened, he suddenly found his mind wandering.
His gaze turned vacant, his mind blank.
He watched Liu Yunong’s lips moving and Fu Yu listening intently, yet he couldn’t hear a single word.
"Chef Liu!"
A nearby assistant, following instructions, brought over cleaned and prepped ingredients, only to find Liu Zhangpeng staring blankly in Liu Yunong’s direction.
The food was still in the pot, the fire turned off, but the plating was yet to be done.
What’s going on?
The assistant couldn’t help but speak up to remind him.
Liu Zhangpeng snapped back to reality, glanced at the food still in the pot yet to be plated, and hurriedly finished the plating.
He then instructed the assistant to take the plate away before starting to cook the next dish.
It wasn’t until the oil in the new pot was heating up that Liu Zhangpeng felt something wasn’t quite right.
Strange!
He felt as though he missed something very important.
But what’s there to do besides accepting orders and cooking?
He subconsciously glanced at Liu Yunong and saw her, as usual, guiding Fu Yu on cooking.
Everything’s as usual...
But why did he feel something was off...
While cooking, he, as usual, paid attention to any activity around Liu Yunong.
However, he needed to focus on stir-frying, and couldn’t spare much attention.
Once finished, he wanted to glance over again at Liu Yunong’s side, but Liu Yunong had already finished guiding Fu Yu.
In a short ten minutes, Fu Yu had learned all there was to know about color perception.
When he first started listening, he didn’t realize it, but once he had learned it all, Fu Yu suddenly understood — if he combined the knowledge of color perception with painting skills, it would be a mighty current of information!
As Fu Yu quietly practiced making stuffed dishes, he processed the new knowledge he had just acquired.
Once he memorized and understood everything, Fu Yu couldn’t help but slightly lift the corners of his mouth.
Hmm, his creativity in plating had improved vastly!
Unlike the precision design brought by advanced culinary techniques, this time, Fu Yu made substantial progress also in color perception.
Combining the two, Fu Yu felt he was now at a near-master level in plating design.
That night, Fu Yu repeatedly cooked several stuffed dishes.
His speed became increasingly faster, his actions more skilled.
Liu Yunong observed for a while, and by nine o’clock in the evening, she simply entrusted Fu Yu with assembling the stuffed cherries.
The task, always the most time-consuming and frustrating, had a dedicated person, and everyone felt relieved.
Fu Yu was also quite happy; normally, where would he find an opportunity to practice like this!
The other kitchen staff were also delighted, having initially thought they’d be busy all night, only to find Fu Yu tackling the hardest soup dishes.
Liu Yunong usually focused on guiding Fu Yu in cooking and didn’t often intervene in the kitchen.
But today, seeing Fu Yu’s rapid progress and his ability to independently manage the cooking, Liu Yunong also started taking orders and cooking.
With Liu Yunong and Fu Yu working together, the overall speed of dish serving in the kitchen picked up too.
The faster dish serving in the kitchen saved customers a lot of time in the dining hall.
In return, the closing time in the evening was actually fifteen minutes earlier than usual.
It’s all thanks to Fu Yu!
The rare opportunity to rest more left Liu Zhangpeng and the assistants quietly grateful.
Especially Liu Zhangpeng, who, with more time, began to shift his attention from Liu Yunong to Fu Yu.
He realized many details in Fu Yu’s cooking learning process were worth pondering over and learning from, benefiting him greatly.
After all...
This banquet of stuffed dishes was something Fu Yu had never encountered before, so he started from scratch, slowly learning the cooking bit by bit.
And with Liu Yunong’s wholehearted guidance, Fu Yu maximized his newly acquired advanced stuffing skills, learning all of Liu Yunong’s stuffed cooking techniques.
This is indeed talent.
At this moment, Liu Zhangpeng looked at Fu Yu with eyes full of admiration.
When there’s time tomorrow, he must have a good chat with Fu Yu to learn from each other.
As for what was overlooked before...
Oh well, if he can’t remember, it’s not worth recalling.
It’s more important to engage with Fu Yu in cooking and learning experiences."