Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Night, in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.
“Little Yuan, I’m here with a guest. Are you fine with that?” Zhou Shijie said with a smile the moment he entered.
“No problem. Please take a seat,” Yuan Zhou gave a simple reply.
“Hi, Boss Yuan. I am this guy’s friend. I heard there was tofu pudding tonight so I invited myself. I hope you don’t mind me,” the one speaking was an old man with white hair and beard, looking about 70 years old. Despite his age, his face looked rosy and healthy.
“Not a problem at all,” Yuan Zhou said.
The old man nodded. No matter what, the confidence Yuan Zhou was carrying himself with was something good.
“Good to hear,” Zhou Shijie had long guessed that this was what Yuan Zhou would say. He then added, “I have only eaten Master Shi’s Spring Water Tofu Pudding twice. As for him, he’s the best friend of Master Shi and will frequently eat the Spring Water Tofu Pudding there. Therefore, he is very familiar with the taste of the Spring Water Tofu Pudding there.”
The old man was called Lu Xian. His past occupation was not important. Simply put, he was now in retirement, wandering here and there, enjoying life.
In truth, Zhou Shijie had an issue with having Lu Xian as a friend. Lu Xian was incredibly good at food hunting. There were many delicacies that Zhou Shijie had not eaten before yet Lu Xian had already eaten them many times.
Zhou Shijie spoke again, “Since we are here to eat Spring Water Tofu Pudding, we won’t bother ordering anything else then. Just Spring Water Tofu Pudding and rice will do.”
Yuan Zhou nodded, “Please be seated. Two bowls of Spring Water Tofu Pudding will be ready soon.” Then, Yuan Zhou started preparing his perfect Spring Water Tofu Pudding.
Lu Xian stroked his mustache while looking at Yuan Zhou preparing food in a skilled manner. He said, “So this is the Boss Yuan that is young yet excellent at cooking. I have heard of him long ago but this is my first time seeing him.”
“Since you know about him, I won’t bother introducing him to you. How good do you think this Spring Water Tofu Pudding will be compared to Master Shi’s version?” Zhou Shijie asked.
As an experienced foodie, how could Lu Xian not know Yuan Zhou? Although he had never entered this restaurant, his knowledge of Yuan Zhou actually surpassed many customers of this restaurant.
“Other places will probably be able to make tofu puddings that are about 30% or 40% as delicious as Master Shi’s tofu pudding. But Boss Yuan is a newly emerged genius chef. He will probably be able to make tofu pudding about 90% as delicious as Master Shi’s tofu pudding,” Lu Xian answered after thinking about it.
“This is the first time I have ever heard you giving someone such a high review. Even Little Qiu was rated 80% by you,” Zhou Shijie was astonished by the favorable review Lu Xian gave.
“Manchild, don’t you even try to trap me. I have been keeping up with the news. Boss Yuan has always been able to accomplish deeds that common sense can’t explain,” Lu Xian said, an “I won’t fall for this” expression on his face.
The so-called Master Shi they kept mentioning was, in fact, a leading figure in Sichuan Cuisine, while his culinary skills were something that had been passed down by an imperial chef during the ancient past. He was one of the top 10 chefs of China. His culinary skills were naturally excellent, yet at the same time, he was also an excellent teacher.
He had taught many outstanding students before, and the Little Qiu mentioned by Zhou Shijie earlier was one of them.
During the fourth World Chinese Cooking Tournament, he had used Spring Water Tofu Pudding to defeat many renowned dishes to obtain the special award gold medal. This was the only Sichuan Cuisine to have ever obtained a special award gold medal.
One ought to know that the World Chinese Cooking Tournament was not a small-scale tournament. It was the grandest tournament for Chinese food, and it would not only involve local chefs in China. The Chinese worldwide such as those in Mexico, Spain, USA, and many countries would participate in this competition. This was, in fact, a very authoritative tournament.
Compared with other dishes such as the Clear Soup Peony Steamed Vegetables, Dragon Crab, Dual-taste Grouper, Nantian Abalone, and so on, the Spring Water Tofu Pudding was truly quite crude a dish. Yet, Little Qiu was brave enough to participate in the tournament with this dish, and had even obtained an award with this dish. One could imagine how good his Spring Water Tofu Pudding was.
And yet this Lu Xian’s tofu pudding was about 80% of Master Shi’s tofu pudding. As Master Shi’s best friend, Lu Xian felt like the review he gave Yuan Zhou was already unprecedentedly high.
“I feel like Little Yuan will be able to give you a surprise,” Zhou Shijie had a deeper understanding of Yuan Zhou.
“Oh? What do you mean?” Lu Xian curiously asked.
“Because Little Yuan has never done something that adheres to common sense. If he’s making a tofu pudding similar to Master Shi’s tofu pudding, he would not bother asking me to come,” Zhou Shijie said, his face confident.
“A new version of Spring Water Tofu Pudding?” Lu Xian guessed.
“Well, we will only know after we eat it,” Zhou Shijie answered with a smile.
“Eating without paying,” a voice suddenly sounded.
“You gluttonous brat,” Zhou Shijie scolded back without a second thought.
With this, the refined elder image he had on him vanished.
“Still better than you who eats without paying,” the person speaking was Wu Hai, currently waiting for Zhou Shijie’s retort with his eyebrows raised.
In truth, the two weren’t enemies or anything like that. Wu Hai was merely holding a grudge that he wasn’t allowed entry when he followed Yuan Zhou to the food exchange and it also just happened that Wu Hai had stumbled upon Zhou Shijie eating without paying once.
Of course, Wu Hai was aware that Yuan Zhou was treating the meal. But Wu Hai did not dare to say anything about Yuan Zhou. At most, he would complain for a bit. But because of this, Zhou Shijie who had stopped Wu Hai from entering each time became a thorn on Wu Hai’s side.
He remembered each of them, the exchange at Shanghai and Tokyo.
And thus, they started berating each other whenever they met.
“Old Lu, the Spring Water Tofu Pudding today is free. I have to be sure to eat more,” Zhou Shijie said with a smug look.
“At the very least, my portion will be free,” Zhou Shijie quickly added after he recalled the payment he made earlier.
“Zhou Jia, I want Egg Fried Rice, Egg Fried Rice Set Meal, Dongpo Pig Knuckle, Herbal Tea Eggs, Jinling Prawn, and Twice Cooked Pork,” Wu Hai started ordering with a loud voice.
“Ok. Please wait a moment,” Zhou Jia answered.
“The rich can do anything, including eating anything he wants,” Wu Hai smugly said while rubbing his mustache.
“Free food will definitely be good. Little Yuan’s cooking skill has always been splendid,” Zhou Shijie was not young, yet he still behaved like a child.
“Childish,” Wu Hai countered.
“Manchild, you are quite childish eh?” Lu Xian said in agreement. As the chairman of the China Chefs Alliance, he had to carry himself with honor.
“Don’t forget I am the one invited by Boss Yuan today,” Zhou Shijie narrowed his eyes and used his trump card.
“Fine, I will listen to you today,” Lu Xian surrendered.
“That has nothing to do with me,” Wu Hai snorted.
And thus, the three started berating each other. Of course, they weren’t truly angry. This was merely a rather unique banter.
At the very least, this was what Mu Xiaoyun thought they were doing. She silently prepared to serve the dishes.
“I’ll do it,” Yuan Zhou said.
“Ok boss,” Mu Xiaoyun nodded and went to serve other dishes instead.
“Dear customers, this is the Spring Water Tofu Pudding and plain white rice. Please enjoy your food,” Yuan Zhou said as he set the food down.
“Ok, I won’t hold back then,” Lu Xian was the first to speak. He was very curious about the surprise Zhou Shijie mentioned and couldn’t wait to try this Spring Water Tofu Pudding to see if that was indeed the case.
“Go on with your work, Little Yuan,” Zhou Shijie said with a nod.
“Please enjoy your food,” Yuan Zhou did not say much and gave a short reply.
“Oh? What taste is this?” While Yuan Zhou and Zhou Shijie were talking, Lu Xian already started eating. He stuffed the tofu pudding into his mouth without adding any sauce.
He immediately cried out in alarm.
As for Yuan Zhou, he merely calmly glanced over before turning and going back to the kitchen and continued cooking.
Lu Xian was left there staring at the bowl of tofu pudding in stupefaction.
