Chapter 826 - Rival For Life

Due to the discount and the coming arrival of celebrities, Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was extremely crowded. But to be honest, the main reason for the large crowd was still the discount.

One of them was a certain lad who had once told his goddess this: Once, the national soccer team participated in the World Cup Qualifier, and the probability of the national soccer team actually getting in was 0.04%. Ultimately, the team had indeed failed. As for the probability of getting Boss Yuan’s discount, it is as low as 0.018%, even lower than their national soccer team getting into the World Cup. Therefore, if I actually managed to get Boss Yuan’s discount, will you also give me a chance to court you?

The goddess agreed.

That’s right. For his goddess, he was putting everything on the line. Even after trying his best, he still hadn’t gotten into the restaurant at 12.30 pm. On the bright side, he had finally gotten the number.

Li He and co had no idea of the fate awaiting them. Let’s first focus on the guest to their show. Two days ago, this guest was still in France.

Let’s shift the point of view to Chu Xiao’s kitchen.

“Head Chef Chu, Mr Dean is here to see you,” a blond woman called out to Chu Xiao while he was busy in the kitchen.

“Shh, don’t talk. Come with me,” before Chu Xiao could raise his head, a brown-haired man appeared and dragged the blond beauty out.

Ta. Ta. Ta. Shortly after, they arrived outside. The blond beauty pulled her arm off the man’s grip and stared at him resentfully.

“Jimmy, what are you doing? I am here looking for Mr Chu for proper business,” the blond beauty spoke with an unfriendly tone.

“I am helping you. Did you not see that Head Chef Chu is busy? Are you trying to get fired for disturbing him?” the brown-haired man replied with contempt.

“Mr Chu is not the kind of people that is so easily offended,” the blond beauty did not believe his words. As far as she was concerned, this man was simply trying to scare her.

“Oh, sure. Go in then. Let’s see if you can even survive past noon,” Jimmy crossed his arms and challenged her.

“Hmph.” The blond beauty first glanced at the kitchen before glancing at the look of provocation on Jimmy’s face. Then, she snorted and left.

She had finally recalled that on her first day here, the store manager had reminded her to never disturb Head Chef Chu when he was cooking.

“Big boobs but no brain,” Jimmy sneered as he looked at the blond beauty’s back.

“There really is a guy called Dean waiting for Head Chef Chu outside. He claims they know each other,” the blond beauty suddenly turned and said.

“I know. Many people know Head Chef Chu. Who the hell is that Dean guy?” Jimmy waved his hand in an uncaring manner before returning to the kitchen.

And when Jimmy returned to the kitchen, he silently approached Chu Xiao who was concentrating on cooking a pot of stew.

Holding an iron ladle, Chu Xiao gently stirred the stew. The stew was brown in color, and every now and then, different types of fish would twist and turn on the surface of the boiling stew.

This was obviously a pot of fish stew, a stew of various fishes.

This fish stew was also known as the Bouillabaisse, one of the supreme dishes of France. It originated from the coastal area facing the Mediterranean Sea, and was the pride of Provence.

In truth, many parts of France had their own fish stew. And according to region, the stews would have a different name. At Burgundy, their fish stew would be called Pauchouse. As for the stew Chu Xiao was making, it was the most popular at Marseille, and was known as one of the world’s top three stews.

The Bouillabaisse had a long history of about 500 years, originated from the Greeks. As Marseille faced the Mediterranean Sea, it was rich in seafood. And thus, that was a suitable location to make this stew.

In truth, Bouillabaisse was very easy to cook. It did not need to be over-stewed. Therefore, when Jimmy arrived, Chu Xiao was already finishing.

Ding. Chu Xiao laid the ladle down, a signal that the stew had been completed.

“Head chef, someone is looking for you outside. I think his name is Dean,” Jimmy said.

“Dean? Dean Bradbury?” Chu Xiao asked.

“Not sure as I haven’t seen him. I heard this from a waitress,” Jimmy spoke honestly.

“Ok, got it,” Chu Xiao nodded. But he did not look like he intended to immediately go out. Rather, he started washing his hands in an unhurried fashion.

“Head chef, is that Dean THE Dean?” Jimmy asked curiously.

Jimmy’s curiosity had been piqued the moment he heard the name from Chu Xiao. After all, Dean Bradbury was an extremely popular genius chef in France. Without Chu Xiao above him, he would probably the most popular French chef around.

More importantly, not only was this Dean skilled in cooking, he was popular with the girls as well. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he looked exceedingly handsome.

“What do you think?” Chu Xiao asked.

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked you,” Jimmy said with a flattering smile.

“He’s probably here to get a free meal if he’s arriving at this time. Go get a serving of stew for two outside,” Chu Xiao said, indirectly admitting to that person’s identity.

“No problem. I will personally serve the stew,” Jimmy said.

“Be careful in the kitchen,” Chu Xiao exhorted before he walked out of the kitchen.

The moment he entered the dining hall, Chu Xiao saw Dean Bradbury sitting at an empty table.

“Mr Chu, it has been a while,” Dean Bradbury stood up the moment he saw Chu Xiao and greeted with a solemn expression.

“Um,” Chu Xiao nodded.

“I wonder if I am lucky enough to try any of Mr Chu’s food today?” Dean Bradbury asked expectantly.

“You arrived at this hour for free food in the first place anyway,” Chu Xiao sat down and said.

“True. I will be troubling you, Mr Chu,” Dean admitted.

“We’re having fish stew today,” Chu Xiao said.

“That’s great to hear. Thank you, Mr Chu,” Dean gazed at the kitchen longingly, waiting for the food to arrive.

In truth, Dean Bradbury wasn’t exactly close to Chu Xiao. But they still knew each other. To be precise, they were old friends from competitions.

Chu Xiao would always stumble upon this guy whenever he went to a large-scale competition. On the other hand, the two had only clashed once. And without any suspense, Dean Bradbury had suffered defeat under Chu Xiao’s hands.

Subsequently, Dean Bradbury started greeting Chu Xiao each time he saw him. And just like that, they started getting to know each other. But they did not see each other much in private settings.

And thus, they did not have much to talk about. Silently, they sat there waiting for Jimmy to serve the stew.

There are no appetizers for Bouillabaisse. The stew will be directly served and nothing else.

“Enjoy your meal,” Jimmy served diligently.

“Mr Chu, I won’t bother holding back,” Dean picked up the spoon and started drinking the stew.

“Sure,” Chu Xiao lifted his bowl and picked up the spoon to start drinking the stew as well.

Fish stews of France did not focus on removing the fishy smell. However, Chu Xiao was able to combine the fishy and the fresh taste in an ingenious manner. When drinking the stew, the two flavors intermingled together, emitting an exquisite flavor.

The two were seriously drinking the stew. Chu Xiao was seriously trying to see if there was any room for improvement, while Dean was seriously trying to see the difference between him and Chu Xiao.

Dean finished the entire bowl of stew without even touching the bread.

“The taste is somewhat different than the other versions of Bouillabaisse. This must be a product of Mr Chu’s innovation,” Dean said fervently.

“Not really. This is how an authentic Bouillabaisse is like,” Chu Xiao frowned and clarified.

“Authentic? But it tastes completely different,” Dean said.

After all, Chu Xiao gained his fame from his innovation in cooking. Suddenly, he came out with a so-called authentic Bouillabaisse that not even Dean had tried before. It was understandable that this would astonish Dean.

“Everyone is cooking the improvised versions nowadays, resulting in the slow disappearance of the authentic version,” Chu Xiao gave a short explanation.

Dean was smart and immediately recalled that Bouillabaisse originated from the leftover fish in the fishermen’s net in the past. And thus, this was not a stew with complicated preparation steps. He immediately understood Chu Xiao’s meaning as he looked at Chu Xiao with a burning gaze.

“I see. You are indeed worthy of being my rival for life,” Dean lamented.

Chu Xiao: “…”