Qin Huai wasn't quite sure what a normal exchange eting was like, but he had his own plans.
The next morning at 8:50, Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an headed to Babaozhai together. As an old brand of Beiping, Babaozhai was also a two-story independent restaurant building. It appeared ancient from the outside, but the interior was very modern, clearly renovated in the past couple of years.
For this exchange eting, Babaozhai specifically closed for a day, which showed a lot of importance.
"Qin Huai, why do you think Babaozhai is making such a big deal about this exchange eting? They actually closed for a day; when Zhiwei Restaurant holds exchange etings, we just launch new snacks and see better revenue than usual," Zhao Cheng'an whispered his complaint.
Qin Huai: When Zhiwei Restaurant holds exchange etings, we focus on pulling snack masters from all corners into our kitchen to make snacks, so how could the revenue not be good?
"No idea," Qin Huai said, "I'm only concerned whether they will provide snacks and tea at the banquet hall during the exchange eting."
It turned out, Boss Ling, who wasn't short on cash, did provide them.
Not only were snacks and tea provided, but also a variety of drinks: Coke, Sprite, sparkling water, various juices, coffee — all were available, with a drinks list even more complete than on an airplane.
Participants from each restaurant had assigned seats, generally with at cooks at one table and pastry chefs at another. Typically, at such exchange etings, either the boss would co, or the second or third chefs who aren't the main chef would attend.
Since Babaozhai is an old brand of Beiping, and has been quite popular these past couple of years, they were lavish in spending. As it was the first ti hosting such a large-scale exchange eting, many restaurants showed Boss Ling respect by sending their head chefs.
Sitting next to Qin Huai was the renowned chef of Chengfang Inn, the lon King, Pei Shenghua.
Qin Huai curiously and discreetly observed Pei Shenghua.
Pei Shenghua was now at the peak age for at chefs, among the top Huaiyang cuisine masters currently active in the country, second only to Xia Mubing and Sun Mao Cai. In contrast to Xia Mubing, whose old age left everyone amazed at his continued service, Pei Shenghua and Sun Mao Cai, who were possibly not yet at their peak, clearly had promising futures and were very hopeful contenders for moving up the ranks in the Chef Record, potentially breaking into the top ten as a beacon of Chinese cuisine.
Logically, such an esteed master should first be associated with peerless culinary skills, stunning signature dishes, intriguing ntorships, and jaw-dropping heritage.
But in reality…
ntion Pei Shenghua, and the first thing everyone thinks of is his gossip prowess, surpassing even his culinary skills. Compared to newcors like Tan Wei'an who collect hearsay and concoct gossip, or Dong Shi who chatters endlessly without hitting the point, or Zhao Cheng'an who insists on factual accuracy and only shares corroborated gossip, Pei Shenghua is undoubtedly the Gossip King.
In the chef circle, whether at chefs or pastry chefs, real gossip, fake gossip, diluted gossip, or secondhand gossip — there's no lon that lon King Pei Shenghua doesn't know. While other masters secure their positions in the culinary community with their reputations, Pei Shenghua leverages his status in this community to indulge in gossip.
Being a master ranked 24th in the Chef Record, if Pei Shenghua wants to hear gossip, people generally oblige to save face.
Take last night's video for example: it's said that the boss and head chef of Weixian Building issued strict orders and even offered hush money to avoid the video's circulation, and indeed it didn't really spread. But Pei Shenghua sohow still got hold of it.
That's the gold standard of a lon King.
Noticing Qin Huai discreetly watching him, Pei Shenghua was very approachable and smiled kindly, asking, "Master Qin from Huang Ji?"
Qin Huai was surprised that Pei Shenghua recognized him, knowing that the actual participant from Huang Ji this ti was Huang An Yao, and Qin Huai was a last-minute replacent.
Pei Shenghua continued, "I heard Huang An Yao was hospitalized with gastroenteritis, and you were a last-minute replacent. Is Xiao Huang okay?"
At this point, Qin Huai was really seeing the prowess of the lon King, and he marveled, "He's fine, but Master Pei, how did you find out?"
"Last night, Xiao Zhao sent a ssage."
Qin Huai: …I knew Tan Wei'an had a loose tongue, but I didn't expect Zhao Cheng'an too, spreading the word as early as last night.
Pei Shenghua smiled kindly: "Xiao Zhao ntioned that you're quite introverted and unfamiliar with people, and asked to guide you around. I've already guessed — everyone at Huang Ji tends to be like this, except Huang Jia is slightly more outgoing."
Thinking about what Pei Shenghua said, Qin Huai realized it was true. Nonetheless, there was one exception: Dong Shi, who was terrifyingly outgoing. Even the chatterbox Huang Shengli wouldn't dare send him out for socializing due to his noisiness.
"Xiao Qin, let introduce you. That guy up front, who seems a bit unkempt, is Li Ming from Shendu Rongji. He's a marvel at cooking beef and mutton, but has a severe bias and dislikes marketing, hence why his na isn't on the Chef Record. Don't be fooled by his appearance now; back in his youth, he was a renowned handso guy, even had girls fighting over him. After he got married, he neglected his figure and gained weight to this size."
"Hey, Xiao Qin, I vaguely rember you're quite young. Are you in a relationship? If not, what's your preferred type of girl? You might want to get Xiao Zhao to inquire for you once you get back. I'm a fad matchmaker around Jiangnan, helping several couples a year. I know quite a few nice girls; take a look…"
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