Chapter 20 – I Have Just Sold a Recipe for $100,000
Translated by Prosperousfood.com
Rehosted by Gumihou at kitchennovel.com
Twenty minutes later, Ye Chui had finished cooking a fresh plate of La Zi Ji (Spicy Chicken). After placing it on the plate, he looked at the chefs surrounding him and said, “I’ve already demonstrated how to cook this dish for you. Are there any questions? As for whether you have mastered how to cook this dish, it depends on yourselves. This dish seems simple, but the knife skills and the control of fire are of the highest priority. Well, you can try cooking it by yourselves.”
The chefs immediately promised to do. They could not wait to try cooking this dish. They even discussed among themselves about the main points of this dish.
Tian Xiaoduo had just finished cooking the dish. Although he has good cooking skills, it is his first time cooking this dish and the taste of the food he made is slightly inferior to that of Ye Chui.
Tian Xiaoduo is very harsh on himself. He tasted the dish that he had made, and immediately dumped it into the rubbish bin. In his personal opinion, there was a huge difference between his cooking and Ye Chui’s cooking. Then he took out another chicken from the fridge continued to practice cooking it.
Everyone in the kitchen was busy practising their cooking skills. Ye Chui took off his apron and took the opportunity to sneak away with the plate of La Zi Ji that he had cooked.
This dish is specially prepared for Lin Wei. This is a good opportunity for him to get closer to Lin Wei and Ye Chui is not going to let go of this opportunity. He intends to personally serve the dish.
Although Wan Lai Fu Restaurant is very big, there are only a few VIP rooms. Right now, it is almost lunchtime, and the number of customers had increased significantly. The waitress and waiters were also busy serving these customers and no one noticed him.
In this way, he made his way to the second floor of this building, where the VIP rooms are located in. He glanced around and easily identified the room that Lin Wei is in. With Yu Yan, the massive bodyguard, standing outside the door, it is extremely difficult for him not to guess the correct room.
When he saw Ye Chui with a plate of food walking over towards him, Yu Yan was surprised. He had not expected to meet Ye Chui here. When Ye Chui was standing near him, he asked, “Are you here as a waiter?”
“No, I am here to buy soy sauce [1]”
“Buy soy sauce [1]?” Yu Yan did not understand this is a slang. Hence, he was confused.
Ye Chui just grinned and pointed at the plate of La Zi Ji. “I am here to deliver the food. This dish is specially ordered by Wei Wei!”
Yu Yan was a bit hesitant. Although he felt that Ye Chui is not a bad man, his instincts as a bodyguard told him that Ye Chui is quite suspicious. Just when he was about to question Ye Chui, the door to the VIP room opened, and Lin Wei’s head popped out, “Oh, what a pleasant scent! Have my special order arrived?”
Yu Yan：“……”
Ye Chui：“……”
Sometimes, you could not help but respect a foodie’s sense of smell.
“Ye Chui, it is so nice of you to specially deliver this dish to me.” Lin Wei looked at Ye Chui and grinned. But her gaze was focused on the plate of La Zi Ji. The golden colour chicken mixed with the red colour chilli, and the aroma is really attractive to spicy food lovers. Her appetite was instantly whetted, and she asked, “I have never seen this dish before. What is this dish called?”
“It is called La Zi Ji.” Ye Chui smiled, “Try and see if you like it. If you love it, I can cook it for you often.”
“En En.”
Lin Wei nodded her head, and used both hands to grab the plate.
At this time, Cao Kang surprised voice rang out from within the room, “Why are you here?”
When he heard Cao Kang’s voice, Ye Chui was also shocked. He looked into the VIP room and discovered that other than Lin Wei, there were 3 more people in the room. Two of them are middle-aged men. The man sitting in the middle looks very strict and has the air of an important person around him. This man and should be Lin Wei’s father,
The other middle age man was sitting beside Lin Zhengdao. He was bald, and looks as if he often drinks and indulge in sex. His smile somehow makes him feel more sinister. This man must be Cao Kang’s father, Cao Xiong.
Both of them were looking at the doorway in curiosity.
Cao Kang, who was sitting beside Cao Xiong, immediately leapt up from his seat, and sneered, “Oh, you are not only a night market stall owner, you are also working here as a waiter?”
Ye Chui did not expect to meet Cao Kang here. But he smiled as he replied to Cao Kang, “It is purely coincident that I am here. I am not working here.”
“Humph!” Cao Kang did not believe a word he said. Wan Lai Fu Restaurant is a five-star restaurant. This is not a place that anyone can meet here coincidentally.
“Cao Kang, what is the matter?” The bald middle age man asked.
Cao Kang whispered back, “Dad, this the kid that was selling mutton skewers in the night market.”
“Oh?”
At this time, not only Cao Xiong was curious. Lin Zhengdao was also curious about Ye Chui.
Lin Wei had grabbed the plate of La Zi Ji into the room, and placed the dish on the table, and turned to her father, “Dad, the mutton skewers made by Ye Chui is super yummy! You must definitely try the food that he made. Oh, and this dish is made by him. Does it smells wonderful?”
“Hehe, you and your mother are two of a kind. Each night you like to buy the mutton skewers to snack on them. Beware of getting fat!” Lin Zhengdao teased his daughter.
Looking at the dish, he was quite interested in it. He called out to Ye Chui and said, “Young man, since you are Wei Wei’s friend, come here and sit with us. Let me try the food you made.”
Lin Zhengdao was inviting Ye Chui to sit with them at the table.
Cao Kang and Cao Xiong were surprised at this invitation. Today they are treating the Lin family to a meal here to apologise for the rash acts of Cao Kang. And Ye Chui was involved in this matter as well. Who would have thought that Ye Chui would be here today as well?
Cao Xiong is a cunning man, and immediately sneered in his heart. ‘Since my son had lost some face because of you, then today is a good opportunity to regain the face that he had lost [2].’
‘Let’s see if this kid dares to sit at the same table as us!’
Cao Xiong thought that since he and Lin Zhengdao are highly successful people, how dare the poor commoners sit at the same table as them?
Cao Kang also thought of the same thing. Although he was surprised when Lin Zhengdao invited Ye Chui, but he thought that Ye Chui would not dare to sit at the same table as them.
But to their astonishment and dismay, when Ye Chui heard Lin Zhengdao’s invitation, he did not hesitate at all and immediately walked into the room. In his past life, he had sat at the same table with the more distinguished guests such as the president of the United States.
Therefore, he did not think too much about sitting at the same table as rich men like Lin Zhengdao.
“Since Uncle Lin had graciously invited me, it would be rude to decline the invitation,” saying this, Ye Chui walked toward Lin Wei and sat down beside her. The VIP room had a large round table that could seat 10 people. Even Cao Kang dared not to sit next to Lin Wei. But Ye Chui did not give a damn and just grabbed that spot.
Ye Chui’s actions surprised Lin Zhengdao and Cao Xiong. They thought that this young man is calm and composed, and have a confidence that most people did not have.
But Cao Xiong was intended on recovering the face of his son. Therefore he tried to embarrass Ye Chui by harping on his perceived weakness, “I heard from Cao Kang that you are operating a stall in the night market? It is must be very tiring and difficult. Since my son had offended you, I will let him apologise to you and make it up to you. I am on good terms with the manager here. I could help you to get a job here. Although you could not be a great chef, but you can work here as a kitchen hand.”
“Thank you for your kindness, but I am not interested in working at Wan Lai Fu Restaurant.” Ye Chui smiled as he replied.
This old man says he wants to help to recommend a job, but actually, he was looking down on Ye Chui by asking him to work as a mere kitchen hand.
Ye Chui continued, “Just now Manager Yang invited me to join Wan Lai Fu restaurant, and offered me the position of Great Chef, but I declined him.”
“What?” Cao Xiong was shocked.
Cao Kang could not resist snickering, “You said that the manager of Wan Lai Fu Restaurant invited you to work here, and you rejected the job offer? Oh, you are very capable…”
Ye Chui did not get angry, and smiled, “I just do not want to work for someone else. I intent save some monies to open my own restaurant.”
“Open your own restaurant?” Cao Kang continued to smirk, “You want to open a restaurant using the monies you made from the mutton stall in the night market? You probably need to work for several more years. How about letting me help you? My pocket money for a month is already a few thousand.”
“That is not necessary.”
Ye Chui smile on his face also grew wider. He pointed at the dish of La Zi Ji in front of Lin Wei and said, “About 30 minutes ago, I just sold the recipe of this dish to Wan Lai Fu Restaurant for $100,000. I think I should have enough money to open my own restaurant very quickly. As for the few thousands you have as pocket money, you better keep it for yourself.”
“What? You claimed that you have sold a recipe for $100,000. You think we are idiots?” Cao Kang jeered.
“Oh, I can vouch for him. Ye Chui was here to sell this recipe. Just now, he had sold it for $100,000.” Lin Wei interrupted. This foodie could not wait and have eaten a piece of the chicken.
Because this dish is very spicy, she was sweating heavily. But she seemed to love the taste of this dish as she smiled and continued, “This dish is really delicious! It is definitely worth $100,000!”
Cao Kang：“……”
Notes:
[1] 打酱油 – the literal translation is ‘buy soy sauce’. But it is also a slang for ‘passing by’ and ‘none of your business’. I really hate translating slangs because often they have double meaning and it is hard to explain the double meanings of slangs in text[2] The concept of face in China is a unique culture and hard for me to put into words. See https://www.internations.org/china-expats/guide/29464-culture-shopping-recreation/understanding-the-chinese-culture-17526
^_^
Translated by Prosperous Food dot Com
Rehosted by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.
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