Chen Yu slowly rose to his feet."I've heard of this dish before; it was once a royal tribute dish, but unfortunately the original recipe has been lost! If you ask me, I can restore this dish for you right here."
The arrogance in his voice completely dispelled Chef Jin's earlier brashness.
It's not that Chen Yu really wanted to prove a point, but this guy had gone too far and almost scared Tuan Tuan.
He had to teach this guy a lesson.
Chef Jin's breathing suddenly quickened, "If you can really restore this dish, I won't have a problem kowtowing a hundred times."
Chen Yu rolled up his sleeves, "Do you have a portable kitchen here?"
"Of course!" The manager was also excited.
No matter what happened today, their Tianfu Alley was sure to trend on social media.
After all, scenes of chefs competing like this are hard to come by.
Moreover, many people were already filming videos on the side, which was akin to free publicity for them.
Before long, the portable kitchen was wheeled over, and the ingredients Chen Yu had requested were also brought.
"The five types of fish you used were not the most perfect combination, but they were used because they can be perfectly merged together. The original dish used just five very ordinary types of fish."
As he spoke, Chen Yu scooped up five live fish from the nearby water tank.
Grass carp, black carp, crucian carp, bighead carp, and common carp!
These five types of fish were as common as could be, no matter where you were.
Chen Yu took the kitchen knife and deftly twirled it, then swiftly drew it across the bodies of the five fish.
The smooth and flowing knife skills dazzled the onlookers and, before long, the five fish were skinned and deboned, their flesh placed in a small basin.
Next, the ingredients Chen Yu chose were all extremely common staples.
After wrapping them into cubes, they were fried at low temperature in oil heated to sixty degrees Celsius.
Soon, the fragrant aroma spread throughout the hall.
Chen Yu finished one piece and brought it directly to Chef Jin.
"Try this, it's my 'Five Dragons Ascending to the Palace'."
Chef Jin's eyes bulged, the aroma was much richer than what he had created.
He didn't hesitate and quickly picked up his chopsticks to take a bite.
Delicious, crispy, tender, smooth, chewy—several textures almost exploded in his throat at the same time.
"My God! How did you do this? How could such ordinary ingredients possibly..."
Chen Yu smiled, "In this world, there are no ordinary ingredients, only incompetent chefs."
With one sentence, Chef Jin's pride was completely shattered.
He fell to the ground with a thud and kowtowed deeply.
"I hope you can enlighten me on how to prepare this dish. I'm willing to take you as my master! I will kowtow these hundred times to you right now."
Chen Yu paid no attention to him and simply served a dish of the 'Five Dragons Ascending to the Palace' for Tong Ya and Tuan Tuan.
The rest he shared with others.
After the meal, Chen Yu was about to settle the bill but was stopped by the manager, who also handed him a membership card for Tianfu Alley.
As the family of three left, Chef Jin remained on the ground, continually kowtowing.
"Daddy, that uncle looks so pitiful, let's just stop making him kowtow."
Chen Yu ruffled Tuan Tuan's little head, "He scared you just now, so he needs to be punished by kowtowing! Unless you forgive him."
Tuan Tuan nodded her little head and then let go of Chen Yu's hand, running over to Chef Jin.
"Uncle, there's no need to kowtow anymore. Even if you knocked your head until it breaks, my dad still might not take you on as an apprentice, unless you show enough sincerity."
Having said that, Tuan Tuan bounced back to Chen Yu's side.
Chen Yu was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected his daughter to be so wise.
She had not only refrained from directly forgiving the other party but had also vaguely refused the other party's request to become an apprentice.
Tong Ya also cast an approving glance.
Chen Yu didn't say anything more. It was already ten o'clock at night, right when the factory shifts to the night crew, and he wanted to go take a look.
After sending Tong Ya and Tuan Tuan home, Chen Yu headed straight for the factory.
The remaining section of the factory that was under construction was already taking shape, and he believed it would be fully operational in another ten days or half a month.
The section of the factory that was already running was operating smoothly.
Chen Yu could hear the roar of machinery as soon as he arrived.
Just as he was about to enter to check things out, he suddenly noticed an SUV parked in the adjacent parking lot.
Hou Jianchang was sitting at the driver's seat, resting with his eyes closed.
Next to the car, a large number of cigarette butts were scattered.
It seemed Hou Jianchang hadn't had a good sleep for a long time.
After arranging the daytime and nighttime supervisory tasks with Hou Jianchang, Chen Yu had gone back to sleep.
But Hou Jianchang had stayed alone in the factory area, fearing something might go wrong.
"Old Hou!" Chen Yu gently knocked on the window.
Hou Jianchang immediately woke up, his face full of vigilance.
When he saw it was Chen Yu, he relaxed.
"Old Chen, it's you!" Sёarᴄh the NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
As he spoke, Hou Jianchang stepped out of the car, offering a cigarette in passing.
Chen Yu waved his hand: "I don't smoke, as you know!"
Hou Jianchang slapped his forehead: "Look at me, all muddled, I forgot."
"Why don't you go home to sleep?" Chen Yu patted Hou Jianchang's shoulder: "It must be uncomfortable to be cooped up in the car."
Hou Jianchang sighed: "The factory isn't finished yet, and we haven't put up the protective fences. If someone sneaks in to steal things in the middle of the night, it's the factory that will suffer the loss."
Chen Yu raised an eyebrow, after all, Hou Jianchang had been duped before and was now a bit overly cautious.
Xie Jiang had specifically left some workers to live in the simple prefabricated houses near the factory.
There were lights still on in that place.
With those workers keeping watch, he doubted any petty thieves would dare cause trouble.
As they were speaking, a faint engine sound suddenly came from a not-too-distant place.
A medium-sized truck leisurely passed through the factory's fence and headed straight for the construction site.
Chen Yu instantly became alert, moving behind the SUV to observe the situation over there.
Hou Jianchang also perked up considerably: "Lately, there have been many such guys committing crimes in Suzhou City. Many construction sites and unfinished factories have been hit, and one electronics factory even had two trucks' worth of goods stolen."
Although Hou Jianchang spoke in a low voice, Chen Yu could still hear the anger in his words.
"Old Hou, have these guys stolen from you before?"
Hou Jianchang sighed helplessly: "They've stolen once, but the people under me caught them."
Chen Yu let out a heavy breath: "Then this time, let's catch them red-handed!"