Chapter 392

Chapter 392: To Become A Master Chef

“Everybody, the pub time has commenced. Come on in, please.” Shen Min said to the customers that had been waiting in the restaurant.

“Wait. We are not in a hurry. I prefer to eat my dishes after Yuan Zhou finishes his meal.” Wu Hai refused with a smile.

“Um. I have also never seen Boss Yuan eat.” The novelist said with great interest.

“The wine won’t slip away.” Su Mu said to Shen Min with his mildest voice.

“Ok, ok.” Shen Min blushed from Su Mu’s smile and then lowered her head.

“Tsk-tsk. I also have a good appearance.” Seeing the scene, Wu Hai stroked his own face and muttered, not intending to show his weakness.

“Not as good as me.” Being sharp-eared, Su Mu immediately answered smilingly.

Regardless of their conversations, Yuan Zhou laid the table in the kitchen and then began to fill the bowl with plain cooked rice.

The electric rice cooker looked a little old. There was a pattern of peony flowers on the surface. When Yuan Zhou uncovered it, a burst of white smoke emitted from the inside.

The bowls that Yuan Zhou were taking weren’t those used in normal times. Instead, they were two small celadon porcelain bowls and a big white porcelain bowl.

“It’s…” Su Mu hesitated and didn’t know what to say. Therefore, he could only stop talking.

After all, what was happening in this scene appeared quite obvious.

Yuan Zhou filled three bowls with plain cooked rice cleanly and put them at three sides of the square table respectively. He just kept silent all along and meanwhile carried a serious expression of expectation on his face, causing the customers at the side embarrassed and wanted to leave.

“Pa Pa”, Yuan Zhou placed a pair of chopsticks at each of the three sides, 3 pairs in total.

“Time to eat.” Yuan Zhou said softly, but it was still captured by the customers.

He carried the bowl up and by convention, picked some Vegetable Stir-fried With Mushrooms and then directly stuffed it into his mouth.

“Slurp Slurp”, he started to chew.

There was a soft and tender texture as well as a slightly crisp feeling once the vegetable entered his mouth. And the taste was fairly refreshing.

As for the mushrooms, its fragrance nevertheless suffused all over his mouth. Along with the bland and refreshing taste of the vegetables, the two ingredients just brought out the best in each other. The most wonderful thing was that it also carried a delicate flavor of the tea oil, which stimulated the freshness and delicacy of the mushrooms. Then, an indescribable taste suffused immediately.

“It looks so good.” Wu Hai couldn’t help saying that.

“You must have starved to death in your past life.” The novelist looked at Wu Hai and said earnestly.

“I agree.” Su Mu said with a low voice.

Only the man in a suit stared at Yuan Zhou without even blinking at the side.

Yuan Zhou ate up two mouthfuls of plain cooked rice and then some Vegetable Stir-fried With Mushrooms again.

He ate up the dish with his brows knitted this time.

Right after that, he set down the chopsticks and looked at the dish on the table and the two vacant seats in a daze.

“It does not seem to be as delicious as last time.” Yuan Zhou frowned and said. He didn’t really understand what caused that.

“System, are the ingredients provided by you top-notch?” Yuan Zhou suddenly asked.

The system displayed, “The green vegetables used by the system is a top-notch breed from the South of China. The texture is light and fluffy while the aftertaste is creamy. It will get soft after being rinsed in water and carries a little sweetness, with the leaves tasting refreshing. It’s sent to the host during the best time for harvesting.”

“The mushroom is the fresh and tasty wild winter mushroom.”

“This kind of winter mushroom is small and piebald. The taste is strong and fresh while the flesh is thick. It grows on deciduous woods of Hamamelidaceaes between 15-20 years’ old.”

“The seed of the mushroom is from the border regions of the three counties of Jingjing, Qingyun and Sanshi of the Longquan Municipality, the oldest place where cultured mushrooms were first developed in history.”

“The tea oil used this time is produced from the fruits of the one-thousand-year-old tea-oil trees in Yuanxi Village of Jiangxi Province. The oil color is a golden yellow while it is also clear and transparent; the flavor is delicate and the taste is quite pure.”

“The tea oil produced in this particular village has been the article of tribute ever since the Ming Dynasty.”

“Well… as expected.” Yuan Zhou checked the system’s answer and finally confirmed his.

The ingredients were indeed the best and even the tea oil for stir-frying the dish had some significant background. However, Yuan Zhou felt the resulting dish, on the contrary, was not tasty.

At least, not as good as what he had imagined.

Yuan Zhou was a little dumbfounded. He just sat there quietly.

“Boss, if you don’t mind, I want to taste the dish.” The man in a suit suddenly uttered.

His voice sounded quite abrupt and loud in the quiet restaurant.

“Hey, you stop.” Su Mu was a little exasperated, but it was inappropriate for him to say anything.

Obviously, Yuan Zhou was having dinner with his parents that had passed away. And the behavior of the man in a suit didn’t seem to be appropriate.

“You brat. You are even braver than me.” Wu Hai stroked his small mustaches and said.

“What do you think?” Then, the man in a suit looked at Yuan Zhou and asked that. He just turned a deaf ear to others’ words.

“You want to eat?” Yuan Zhou raised his head and looked at the man in surprise.

Yuan Zhou knew that he didn’t have a sense of taste, which meant that he couldn’t taste anything from eating. That could probably only be described as “tasteless as wax”. It might be not an enjoyment to him for delicacies to be eaten that way.

Therefore, Yuan Zhou felt very surprised when he wanted to eat it voluntarily. If it was the shameless person like Ling Hong or Wu Hai that requested that, it wouldn’t be so strange then.

“If you don’t mind, boss.” The man in a suit nodded his head mildly.

“If you don’t mind, I don’t think they will mind.” Yuan Zhou considered for a while and said that.

“Sorry for bothering you.” The man in a suit stood up and prepared to receive the plate carefully.

“Please.” Yuan Zhou handed him the chopsticks.

“What the f*ck. This brat has surprisingly grabbed dishes from that Compass. He is snatching food from the jaws of a tiger.” Su Mu was quite surprised.

“I’m thinking where I can get a pair of chopsticks. I don’t mind, either.” While stroking his mustaches with one hand, Wu Hai prepared to get a pair of chopsticks.

“What a coincidence! I have few pairs.” The novelist took up some cooked food that was well wrapped and said smilingly.

“Let’s share together.” Wu Hai said with an earnest expression.

Whilst Wu Hai, Su Mu and the novelist were unpacking the chopsticks, the man in a suit was already eating.

Having eaten only one mouthful, he said, “The dish is really delicious.”

“Thank you.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head courteously and didn’t really take it seriously.

After all, the man in a suit couldn’t tell the taste and as for Yuan Zhou, he didn’t feel it to be delicious at all.

“Come on. How could one tell the taste so easily? Let us help for free.” Wu Hai said rightly.

“Please.” The man in a suit made some room for them without hesitation.

The three of them immediately went up and were no longer particular about the way how they ate. What a joke! Ever since Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was opened, they had managed to grab others’ food for quite a few times. However, it was Yuan Zhou’s plate this time. Therefore, the three people became more motivated.

They stuffed the dish into their mouth one after another.

“Woah, it is sooo delicious. Judging from its fragrant taste, this must be winter mushroom.” The novelist said first.

“I must have eaten the fake Vegetable Stir-fried With Mushrooms formerly. I am a little sympathetic to that foolish me.” Having just swallowed the dish afterwards, Su Mu made a gesture of holding the heart in both hands and revealed a sympathy in his peach blossom eyes.

“…” Without saying anything, Wu Hai merely ate there quietly.

“The craftsmanship of the boss is actually fairly good.” The man in a suit suddenly said again.

“No, not as good as before, really.” Yuan Zhou said earnestly.

“Before?” Only then did Wu Hai ask with puzzlement. In his opinion, the word ‘before’ meant one year ago or two years ago.

“This is the dish that my mother liked and was good at cooking. I’m not doing it as well as her.” Yuan Zhou said sincerely.

“You might be able to surpass her in future.” Wu Hai blurted out. But once he said that, he felt himself a little foolish.

“It might be after I become the Master Chef.” Yuan Zhou said lightly, yet with a decisive expression on his face.

There was a thing called memory. It was quite horrible. Even if he greatly outclassed others in all aspects including color, fragrance, taste and ingredients, he was probably defeated by the taste in his memory.

The taste that could surpass that in his memory might only come in the future after he became the Master Chef.