Chapter 739: 738
About Chef Arno running off, Sun Maochai and the others didn’t have much of a reaction.
Their lack of reaction was mainly because Tao Shu was just an ordinary sous chef at the top-floor restaurant, and his words didn’t carry much credibility. It’s like if Sang Ming told soone that Jiang Feng had run off to Yonghe House, not many people would believe it either.
Sun Maochai told Jiang Feng that when he used to work at the Hong Kong City restaurant, it was quite common for him to take several days off in a row to go abroad for exchanges or competitions. Chef Arno, a competition fanatic, was even more so, and his sudden disappearance wasn’t sothing to make a fuss about.
It was just that the timing of his disappearance this ti was rather coincidental, so it looked a bit like running away. But Chef Arno’s character was definitely not that of soone who would run off.
Having heard Sun Maochai say this, Jiang Feng actually felt a bit relieved.
Compared to what Chef Arno was up to back in Arica, everyone was more concerned about when Peng Changping would arrive.
The news of Peng Changping wanting to take Zhou Shi as a disciple had just been shared by Jiang Feng with everyone. It was a happy occasion, and he ntioned it to cheer everybody up. People were happy, so were envious, and others were confused, but one thing was certain—today’s center of attention was Zhou Shi, and nobody could steal his lilight.
Even the cold sea cucumber dish that Zhou Shi had prepared was safeguarded, placed in a very secure spot. They made sure no one would accidentally bump into it while passing by or let anything strange drift into it, affecting its taste and flavor.
You could say it was given VIP level protection.
Zhou Shi was oblivious to this, even striking up a calm conversation with Tao Shu.
Having just ordered, Zhou Shi noticed that the nu at Taifeng Building had undergone quite a few updates and couldn’t help but exclaim, “I didn’t expect that after being gone for more than half a year, the nu has completely changed.”
“Oh, have there been a lot of changes?” Tao Shu asked curiously.
“The prices have gone up quite a bit.”
Tao Shu: ?
Zhou Shi sighed sorrowfully, “If I had resigned just half a year later, maybe I could have taken over that bigger storefront nearby.”
Tao Shu: ???
Without any dishes served yet and nothing else to eat, Tao Shu could only drink several sips of the complintary kumquat lemon water, “I feel like… you seem to have so regrets.”
Tao Shu couldn’t understand why Zhou Shi was talking with such a nostalgic tone about his old employer. He thought if he himself one day saved up enough money to open a shop back ho, he would happily leave the top-floor restaurant without any reluctance.
Zhou Shi was living the life he aspired to.
“Regrets?” Zhou Shi hadn’t even realized his tone had been a bit off, “Maybe it’s after starting my own business that I’ve discovered… it’s different from what I had originally imagined.”
Tao Shu looked at Zhou Shi, unusually quiet, just listening to him talk.
“I used to think that drifting around without a fixed abode, without security, was no good. No matter how hard or tireso the work was, I was always working for others, and the money I could take ho each month was just that fixed salary. Even with bonuses, I couldn’t earn much. It seed better to save enough money to go back to my hotown, open a shop, have a more stable life, and spend ti with my parents.”
Tao Shu nodded; he had thought the sa.
“But when I really opened my shop, I found it wasn’t as wonderful as I had imagined. I had been in Beiping for over a decade and had grown accustod to the nine-to-five, busy life. After returning ho, I was actually quite exhausted, especially during the initial stages of renovating, choosing a location, and hiring staff. Although my mom helped, I was still busy from dawn to dusk without a break for those few months. Yet, I always felt it was too quiet, as if I was missing sothing. Despite being so busy every day that I didn’t even want to talk after coming ho from the shop, showering, and just wanting to sleep, I felt it was too quiet,”
“After the shop opened, the business was indeed pretty good, I was earning much more than when I was in Beiping. But… I just felt sothing was off, I felt this was not what I wanted. Am I being too sentintal?” Zhou Shi said with a self-deprecating smile, “Especially just now, when I went into the kitchen and looked around, I didn’t say much. I just made a dish, and it felt as fulfilling as it did when I was working before,”
Tao Shu: ?
“I think you just felt nostalgic when you saw the previous work environnt in the kitchen. Didn’t you tell earlier that the working environnt in Taifeng Building was good? You’re just a bit nostalgic. Let tell you, if you really close your shop and co back to work here, I bet you’ll miss the days when you had your own shop,” Tao Shu said, spotting a waiter approaching him, he quickly said, “The dishes are here, let’s eat, I’m starving.”
Zhou Shi just smiled and ate quietly.
The dishes were all ordered by Zhou Shi; he didn’t order much, just three dishes and a soup. Although Tao Shu worked in the restaurant at the top floor, such a high-end place wouldn’t have each Furnace Chef take turns cooking like Taifeng Building. The staff als at the top-floor restaurant were worse than those at Yonghe House and quite perfunctory.
He wasn’t like Zhou Shi, who just got a girlfriend at the age of 30. He had a family, a wife, and kids, and the daily expenses were large. He usually lived frugally and simply couldn’t afford to dine at a restaurant like Taifeng Building.
The al was so delicious that they didn’t even want to talk, and it was only after finishing that the chatterbox mode was activated.
“Zhou Shi, let tell you, don’t you ever get the idea of closing your shop back ho and drift back to Beiping,” Tao Shu still rembered what Zhou Shi had told him before the al, “Do you still keep in touch with those few who used to ss around in the shop with us?”
Zhou Shi shook his head; the only person he had kept in touch with all these years was Tao Shu.
“Let tell you, even soone like has actually done pretty well. You rember Wang, right? The one who was recruited into the shop with you, the one who could not do anything and wasn’t allowed to chop vegetables at first.”
With Tao Shu ntioning that, Zhou Shi seed to have a vague mory.
“A tall guy, right?” Zhou Shi asked.
“Exactly, that one. He went back to his hotown several years ago and hasn’t worked as a chef since. I heard he went into sales, sold furniture first and then real estate. It seems like he made a bit of money selling houses and just went straight back to his hotown,” Tao Shu said, “I still have so contact with him. I casually ntioned to him once that you had gone back ho to open a shop, and you wouldn’t believe how envious he was. I’m telling you, out of all those people in the shop back then, you are doing the best now.”
“Actually, I’ve always thought you were the most impressive. I was just lucky. My dad was a chef, and I learned a bit from him when I was young. Later, I joined the shop through connections and followed the masters to learn a few tricks, which allowed to get into so big hotels and muddle through as an assistant chef.” Tao Shu burped, “Although I haven’t saved much money over the years, at least I haven’t starved to death. Luckily, I got married early and bought a house, otherwise, I wouldn’t even have the chance to think about getting a mortgage now,”
Zhou Shi was amused by his last sentence.
“Don’t laugh, I’m serious. I’ve always thought you were impressive. Tell , what could you do when you first entered the shop? You could only hold a knife, and you didn’t even hold it correctly, couldn’t chop veggies, no one taught you, and you just watched others and learned sneakily.”
“I rember back then I didn’t know how to chop at, always made a ss and got scolded by Master Peng. In the end, it was you who taught ,” Zhou Shi smiled.
“That wasn’t really teaching, chopping at is simple. Even if I didn’t teach you, by watching others for a week or two, you would have learned. Back then, I thought it was odd why you chose such a job, it was tough, tireso, and didn’t pay much, plus you didn’t know how to do anything and earned the least.”
“I was just a teenager then, how could I think so much? I just happened to see a help wanted sign at the restaurant door and went to apply, got hired on the spot without thinking, and didn’t have any money in my pocket, not even enough to pay rent, so I had no choice but to keep at it,” Zhou Shi said.
“At first, I really didn’t accept it. With Master Peng’s terrible temper, I had used a connection back then to ask him to teach sothing, but he didn’t teach much and never showed a good face. And you? You haven’t even been in the restaurant for half a year, and Master Peng is willing to teach you two good dishes. I was much better than you back then,” Tao Shu spoke and felt his mouth getting dry, so he took a sip of his kumquat lemonade. “But actually, afterwards, I understood why Master Peng would teach you. You were just a handyman, and they let you cut vegetables only because the kitchen was short-staffed. You couldn’t even cut at at the beginning, but in just a few months, the vegetables you cut started to look decent.”
“You’re so smart, if I were Master Peng, I would teach you too.”
“Actually, it wasn’t Master Peng who actively taught ; at first, I learned secretly,” Zhou Shi said.
Tao Shu was shocked.
“At first, I just felt that the money for doing odd jobs was too little. If my cooking skills could improve, and I could beco a cutting board chef or even a furnace chef, then my wages would be much higher. So, I started watching how others did it and taught myself a little on the sly.”
“Back then, my idea was simple. Our shop wasn’t very big, but the business was always good, all thanks to Master Peng’s cooking skills. I thought since I was going to learn secretly, I might as well learn from the best; so, recklessly day after day, I curried favor with Master Peng, acted as his assistant, hung around him trying to watch and learn as much as I could. As a result, I really did pick up a few things.”
Tao Shu was so astounded that he couldn’t speak; he had not expected Zhou Shi to have begun his journey as a chef in this way.
“Because this matter wasn’t sothing to be proud of, I never dared to tell anyone. Later, when Master Peng caught learning secretly, he was quite angry, but surprisingly, he didn’t lose his temper. Instead, he even taught two dishes and a lot of basic skills, helping lay a good foundation and teaching a lot,” Zhou Shi continued, “Master Peng is really a good person.”
“Yeah, Master Peng is really a good person,” Tao Shu echoed, “You were silly; you should have just directly beco Master Peng’s disciple from the start.”
“Don’t laugh at , you know who I wanted to take as my master at that ti?”
“Who?” Tao Shu asked curiously.
“Didn’t Master Peng say that you can only formally acknowledge one master, and once you’ve recognized one, you can’t change because it would be betraying the master and disrespecting the ancestors? Back then, whatever I did, I wanted to do the best. When secretly learning, I wanted to learn from the best so I targeted Master Peng, and when thinking of becoming a disciple, I also wanted to…,” halfway through, Zhou Shi started laughing at himself, leaving Tao Shu utterly puzzled.
“Do you rember, didn’t Master Peng always tell us his father was a chef at Yonghe House?” Zhou Shi asked.
“Rember? Of course, I rember. Master Peng always brought it up, as if he couldn’t say it enough three tis a day. He’d say his father was a chef at Yonghe House and just because of bad luck and being too old, he missed the chance to beco Master Peng Changping’s disciple. If his father had managed to beco Master Peng’s disciple, his life would’ve been completely different by now. Master Peng always boasted about Master Peng Changping, practically idolizing him as if he had t him,” Tao Shu beca animated as he talked but suddenly realized sothing and turned to look at Zhou Shi with disbelief plastered on his face, pointing his hand towards him, still hanging mid-air.
“You… you couldn’t have…”
Zhou Shi helplessly nodded.
“Wow, you… you…” Tao Shu stuttered for a long ti without managing to say another word, “You sure have got so ideas. No wonder you told you wanted to go to Arica; I thought you just wanted to play.”
“Back then, I just wanted to go simply to have a look. Later I gave up because I didn’t know where Master Peng lived, right? Plus, how old was I back then? I was only 20, okay? 10 years ago!”
“But now Master Peng has returned to the country, why don’t you give it a try?” a voice that didn’t belong to Zhou Shi or Tao Shu ca from behind Zhou Shi.
Zhou Shi turned his head and saw a smiling Peng Changping and Lu Sheng, who was staring at the ground as if the tiles of the Taifeng Building were incredibly beautiful, very unique, and extrely attractive.
“Why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to go to Yonghe House for tea this afternoon?” Zhou Shi asked in surprise.
“I had so things to take care of today, so I didn’t go. Just accompanying a junior for a simple al at Taifeng Building; I didn’t expect to run into you. My reserved table is right next to yours,” Peng Changping said with a smile, gesturing towards the vacant table next to them.
Lu Sheng continued to stare at the ground.
“You still haven’t answered , now that Master Peng Changping has returned to the country, right? I think you have a chance. Weren’t you a chef at Taifeng Building before? Now Taifeng Building is truly unrivaled, standing out on its own. I think you could give it a try, maybe Master Peng will say you’ll be his… final disciple.”
Lu Sheng kept staring at the ground, wishing he could stare a hole into it and jump down.
“Stop joking with . I’m just an ordinary chef, I’ve never even been ntioned in the famous chefs’ list. How could I possibly be good enough for Master Peng to take as a disciple? Didn’t I tell you before? Master Peng is already a hundred years old, how could he still take disciples. Besides, I’m already 30, who would take on a disciple this old these days!” Zhou Shi took Peng Changping’s words as a joke.
Lu Sheng had sothing to say, but he knew he couldn’t say it, at least not now.
“How do you know if you don’t try? Maybe that Master Peng you’re talking about just wants to take a final disciple, maybe he even likes them over 30.” Peng Changping had a look that scread ‘I’m a troll’ written all over his face.
“Please, stop joking.”
Peng Changping stopped talking, sat down at a dining spot next to Zhou Shi, and said to Lu Sheng, “Send a ssage to get them to serve the dishes.”
Lu Sheng imdiately took out his phone to send a ssage.
In the kitchen, Jiang Feng had been clutching his phone waiting for Lu Sheng’s ssage since he was told they were almost arriving. Seeing that Lu Sheng finally sent a ssage saying they could serve the dishes, Jiang Feng hurriedly carried the cold sea cucumber salad to the serving window, instructing the responsible waiter to rember to be steady, not to spill or splash.
The waiter solemnly carried the cold sea cucumber salad, walking extra slow, extra careful.
Tao Shu, with his sharp eyes, spotted from a distance that the waiter was heading to serve Peng Changping’s table and sighed, “It’s good to make a reservation in advance, you can have your dishes served as soon as you arrive without waiting.”
Zhou Shi glanced subconsciously at the waiter and imdiately recognized the cold sea cucumber salad she was carrying.
Very familiar.
It was precisely the dish he had just made!
And one that hadn’t been touched at all.
Zhou Shi watched in disbelief as the waiter served the cold sea cucumber salad he had previously prepared to Peng Changping’s table, looked at Peng Changping, and saw Peng Changping smiling at him and picking up his chopsticks.
Zhou Shi: ?
Suddenly, he felt that sothing was a bit off.
Not a bit off, but very off.
Just who is this old gentleman?
Reviews
All reviews (0)