Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Upon hearing Hu Yue say so, they instantly began to laugh, especially Lee Yanyi. He said, “Hey, learn to be intelligent. Don’t you want to eat snacks in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant later?”
Nevertheless, Wu Hai seemed to have just woken up from his dream and instantly asked, “Snacks? Where are the snacks?”
What snacks? Zhou Shijie was made quite speechless by Wu Hai. Yet, in the next breath, he asked, “Haven’t you ever eaten snacks over there since you are there every day?”
“Snacks. When has Yuan Zhou ever served snacks in his restaurant?” Wu Hai asked back.
“Isn’t there any tea water in Boss Yuan’s restaurant?” On hearing that, Hu Yue asked suspiciously.
Wu Hai thought for a while and then said, “Yes, sure. An old man often goes to Boss Yuan’s restaurant to ask for tea water to drink.”
While the conversation was going on, they sat at their own positions and Zhou Shijie sat at the center.
“That’s why I say young people do not know how to behave now,” Zhang Yan said immediately when he heard Wu Hai say that there was tea water.
“According to our rules, only three dishes are to be tasted for the appraisal and therefore, he didn’t prepare the tea water. Didn’t he tell you about that?” Lee Yanyi said.
“That’s just why I said young people don’t understand the etiquette.” The reason why Zhang Yan insisted on that was, in his eyes, Yuan Zhou’s tea leaves were definitely top-notch since his food ingredients were also good. He was someone that could be considered to love drinking tea, so it wasn’t strange for him to get angry since he couldn’t drink good tea. If you were him, you would also become angry.
“You guys are not his customers. You don’t even pay for the meal and actually have so many requirements,” Wu Hai said obviously, “Is it necessary for him to arrange two girls to wait upon you?”
“Ahem ahem ahem.” Hu Yue almost spit out the tea water he had just drunk.
Why did this person comment on them as if they were here to eat and drink without paying?
“Boss Yuan has a nickname of Compass. The rules are laid down by yourself, so is it really strange to not prepare that?” Wu Hai continued saying.
“The tea water today is good.” Zhou Shijie sipped some tea water and tried to change the subject.
“Yeah. The tea water and snacks were both sweet and salty. Good taste.” Hu Yue nodded his head and chimed in with him.
“Little Mustache, speak less.” Lee Yanyi glared at him, “Though you are telling the truth, how embarrassing it is to speak now.”
“What a sharp-tongued old man!” Wu Hai thought of Yu Chu’s instructions and instantly shut his mouth.
Lee Yanyi stroked his beard proudly when he found that he himself managed to stop a dispute. However, he didn’t realize that it would be more embarrassing for Zhang Yan.
The butch-haircut assistant, who was filming the scene, also let out a sigh of relief. After all, the filming was still on-going. It was inappropriate to record them quarreling. Luckily, Zhou Shijie stopped them from quarreling on.
After they chatted about the tea and snacks for a while, the first dish was served. It was the broth, Rose Jade Stewed With Peach Blossoms.
Actually, the several people all felt very fortunate. It was good that the dish was finally served. They were bored with tea water.
“Aren’t the snacks for whetting the appetite? Why do I feel a little full?” Zhang Yan knitted his brows and said inwardly.
“It seems to be better not to prepare snacks. I’m a little fed up with the taste.” While thinking so, Hu Yue drank a mouthful of the plain boiled water again to rinse the mouth.
Each of them was served with a small bowl of Rose Jade Stewed With Peach Blossoms. The fingernail-sized peach blossom petals were floating on the surface of the broth. They could even faintly see the jade white fish meat. The dark green vegetables that scattered on the surface of the broth were as lively as the water grass in the water.
This was an appetizer.
They all took the bowl up and began to taste it, but for quite a while, none of them said anything.
“The concentration of the broth is just right and it does not taste bad.” Seeing nobody speak, Hu Yue suppressed the slight dissatisfaction in his heart and complimented it in this regard.
“The sweetness and saltiness are not bad.” Zhang Yan frowned.
Why is it inferior to the one served yesterday or even the one the day before yesterday so much? Zhi Yuan is lowering the quality of its dishes. Zhang Yan thought about that discontentedly.
“It’s really torture for my tongue. After I ate that little brat’s cuisines yesterday, this dish served today taste so bad.” Lee Yanyi was more inexperienced. With the plain broth in his mouth, he became inured to the unusual.
That’s right. After he had a meal in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant at the beginning, Lee Yanyi felt all other chefs were inferior to Yuan Zhou on the aspect of culinary skills, anyway. After several such occasions, he gradually became accustomed to this kind of feeling.
“Ahem ahem. Everybody, please just make comparisons between the former standard and current standard of Zhi Yuan,” Zhou Shijie immediately said when he found the others didn’t look good.
“Yeah, in that case, the broth is indeed cooked better than last year,” said Hu Yue.
On hearing Zhou Shijie say so, Zhang Yan felt better in his heart. Presumably, it wasn’t because Zhi Yuan was falling on the aspect of its culinary skills, but actually what they ate yesterday was too delicious.
Wu Hai looked at the small bowl fixedly and was reluctant to eat it. He even knitted his brows when he heard the other people’s comments.
“It is both gaudy and impractical. I shouldn’t have come here today and I definitely can’t go back in time to eat Yuan Zhou’s dishes.” Wu Hai had rarely eaten food served outside of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant nowadays. So, not until now did he realize the serious situation.
The instant Wu Hai realized that he couldn’t eat Yuan Zhou’s dishes since he was here for the appraisal, he felt that he had suffered a great loss.
“Will he agree to give me some more mulberry jam if I ask for it? I have eaten up half of that bottle.” Wu Hai thought while stirring the broth.
Wu Hai didn’t finish the first broth served up. He only had a taste of it. After all, he was able to control hunger like a camel did. He could skip meals for quite a few days when he couldn’t eat in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant. So, missing a meal really didn’t matter.
The second cuisine was a main course, Fermented Glutinous Rice Braised Pork With Soy Sauce.
The third cuisine was a steamed dish, Steamed Rice Powder and Pork, which was also one of the most characteristic dishes in Sichuan Province.
As usual, Wu Hai only ate a little of the two dishes. The sous-chef at the side was very happy.
It was not only because Wu Hai only ate a little of each dish, but also because he found other people of the appraisal team didn’t eat much, either.
This person seems to be dissatisfied with this place, too. In this way, I can find fault with the restaurant better. The sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine thought inwardly.
Every appraisal included only three cuisines. The appraisal team never did things sloppily, thus they left immediately once they finished eating. They straightforwardly took Wu Hai and the sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine to the conference hall.
When they arrived at the conference hall, the procedures went on as usual. Zhou Shijie first said to let everybody give their own opinions.
Usually, the four judges would comment first before the proposers added. And naturally, today was no exception.
“Of all cuisines of Zhi Yuan, the Braised Pork With Soy Sauce was soft and tender while the Fermented Glutinous Rice was so fragrant. On the whole, it tasted quite good. But for Sichuan Cuisine, I still insist that the peppery taste is a must,” Hu Yue thought for a while and said earnestly.
Especially when he spoke of the peppery taste, Hu Yue suddenly thought of the sense of spiciness from his mouth, his tastebuds, and his stomach yesterday. Instantly, he had a feeling that he wanted to eat it again.
What made Hu Yue feel more satisfied was that he needn’t worry about his stomach and the problem of constipation.
“It seems that the peppery taste of Boss Yuan’s dishes is a kind of enjoyment for the tastebuds, but a kind of suffering for the body,” Hu Yue said inwardly.
“The Palace Cuisine also belongs to Sichuan Cuisine. As a restaurant that serves Palace Cuisine, Zhi Yuan isn’t inferior to any other similar restaurant,” said Zhang Yan.
“Not bad,” Lee Yanyi said objectively.
After Hu Yue, Zhou Shijie, and Lee Yanyi gave their own opinions respectively, Zhou Shijie turned his head and looked at Wu Hai and the sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine.
“Leaving others aside, I think the dishes must fit with most people’s taste preferences. But it seems that Zhi Yuan doesn’t do well in this regard. As far as I can notice, Chairman Zhou, Chairman Zhang, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Hu all ate very little today. The gentleman beside me even ate only one mouthful of the dishes today,” the sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine commented confidently.
“So I think the dishes served in Zhi Yuan don’t really adapt to the requirements of the ordinary folk. The modern people like pursuing things of innovation and change,” the sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine looked at Wu Hai kindly and then said.
“Do you agree with me, Advisor Wu Hai?” The sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine was obviously looking for an alliance.
“I’m sorry, I don’t. I didn’t eat it just because it was not cooked by Boss Yuan. I don’t even like eating the dishes served in your restaurant.” Wu Hai straightforwardly slapped him in the face.
“…” The sous-chef was a little stupefied.
“What’s wrong with this guy? Shouldn’t he be in favor of me?” The sous-chef from Chengdu Cuisine looked at Wu Hai.
