Chapter 384 - 198: My Own Senior Brother, You’d Pull This on Me?

Chapter 384: Chapter 198: My Own Senior Brother, You’d Pull This on Me?

For example, the Special Level Chef assessment required applicants to have twenty years of experience, a certain level of fame, and a history as a head chef in a major restaurant.

Those who ultimately passed the assessment and earned a Special Level Chef certificate were of the highest caliber. They were typically the star chefs of major restaurants, grandmasters who were already famous.

The test was said to be incredibly broad, requiring mastery of both the hot kitchen and the pastry kitchen, truly testing a chef’s all-around skill.

The certificate was recognized by all major restaurants. With it, your salary would be raised to a corresponding level.

Zhou Yan wasn’t in a rush, though. He knew he still had much to learn and needed more time to let his skills mature.

Besides, he only had two and a half years of experience as an apprentice in a factory cafeteria. Now, as a private business owner, he was afraid he wouldn’t even qualify to register for the Third-level Chef exam.

He would most likely have to pull some strings through his connections and find a solution via the Kong Sect.

After all, the Kong Sect was teeming with talent. His grand martial uncle, Kong Qingfeng, was a Special Level Chef, and his eldest martial uncle, Xu Yunliang, was a First-level Chef. His other two martial uncles, Fang Yifei and Song Bo, were even more famous than Xu Yunliang, but one was far off in the Capital, while the other was constantly abroad with a high-ranking official and had yet to return to take the certification exams.

If he could just demonstrate a level of skill that satisfied the members of the Kong Sect, he might be able to resolve the issue of his eligibility later.

’To forge iron, one must first be strong.’ He knew he had to hone his own fundamental skills to perfection.

Zheng had been staring at the pans of braised dishes, swallowing hard several times. Zhou Yan packed a bag of the food for him, then smilingly saw them to the door.

"No wonder your master calls you a glutton. He’s absolutely right," Xiao Lei said, watching as Zheng Qiang eagerly started eating the braised food.

"WOW! This hot braised tofu skin is amazing! It’s soaked up all the rich marinade and just explodes with juices when you bite into it. The aroma is incredible." Zheng Qiang looked at Xiao Lei with a grin and asked, "Want to give it a try, Uncle?"

Xiao Lei’s adam’s apple bobbed. He cleared his throat. "Well... I suppose I can ’critique’ a piece."

"Go on, there’s no one else around," Zheng Qiang said with a smile, spearing a piece with a bamboo skewer and handing it over.

"Mmm! It really is even better hot!"

...

"We’re not opening again tomorrow?" Mrs. Zhao said, looking at Zhou Yan with a serious expression. "Why don’t we just close every Sunday from now on? We can have a proper day off, and our customers will stop thinking about coming here for their weekend meals. It’ll save them the trouble of getting their hopes up. If you think about it, we’ve only been open for two of them and bailed on our customers for three."

"If nothing comes up next week, I’ll definitely be open," Zhou Yan said with a smile. "You all just take it easy and have fun tomorrow. I have to deliver the meat, and I probably won’t be back until late at night.

The budget for tomorrow’s wedding reception is quite high. Fifty tables, and they want braised dishes for both lunch and dinner. That alone is over a hundred pounds of braised meat, which comes out to over three hundred yuan. We can make more than a hundred in profit from it."

"That’s a big boss for you! What a budget!" Mrs. Zhao’s face lit up with joy. She smiled and said, "That’s wonderful. Have your dad help you deliver the meat tomorrow. Piling over a hundred pounds of it together will crush it. Two cars would be just right."

"Linjiang isn’t close, it’s over ten miles away," Comrade Zhou chimed in. "I’ll go with you. You should save your energy for chopping and cooking."

"Alright, it’s settled then." Zhou Yan nodded. He could treat it as taking Old Zhou to a banquet. Besides, his dad could help with killing the chickens tomorrow, which was better than asking his grand martial uncle to do it.

"Brother, can I go to the feast?" Zhou Momo, who had been quietly drawing nearby, had apparently heard everything. She ran over, her eyes filled with anticipation as she looked up at him.

"Well..." Zhou Yan looked at the little girl’s hopeful expression. He couldn’t bear to refuse, but he couldn’t very well agree either.

"You’re staying home tomorrow, and Mommy will make you egg pancakes. It’s someone else’s party, and we’re not relatives, so we can’t just show up uninvited." Mrs. Zhao bent down and scooped her up, saying with a warm smile, "I’ll make you an egg crepe with braised meat, even tastier than the one your brother made at Laoxiaoding last time."

"Really?!" Zhou Momo’s eyes instantly lit up. She nodded eagerly. "Okay! Momo wants to eat that!"

"Brother, what yummy things are you going to eat at the feast tomorrow?" Zhou Momo asked, turning to look at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan answered without a second thought, "At the feast? There’s Steamed Pork with Rice Flour, Salted Burnt White, Dongpo Pork Knuckle..."

"What? Brother, you get to eat all that good food without me! You’re mean!" Zhou Momo’s lower lip trembled, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes. Her big, misty eyes looked utterly heartbroken.

’Suddenly, the thought of an egg crepe with braised meat didn’t seem so appealing anymore.’

"You know perfectly well she’s a little glutton. For her, the topic of delicious food is a soft spot—you’re not supposed to poke it. And you just kept talking. Great. Now you can be the one to calm her down," Mrs. Zhao said, rolling her eyes.

"Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll bring some back for you tomorrow, okay?" Zhou Yan quickly said, trying to placate her with a smile.

Zhou Momo started counting on her fingers. "Then I want Steamed Pork with Rice Flour, Salted Burnt White, and Dongpo Pork Knuckle..."

’Great. She’d ordered a whole banquet, not missing a single dish.’

’If she could only use that memory for her studies later, her grades would definitely be fantastic.’

"Alright, I’ll bring back a big portion of everything for you," Zhou Yan agreed with a smile. He’d just have to bring a multi-tiered food container tomorrow and ask Zheng to help him pack a little of each dish.

’There’s an old saying among chefs, after all: "A chef who doesn’t skim is a farmer who doesn’t reap."’

’Zhou Momo didn’t eat much; a single bite of each dish would be enough for her. He’d just have to mention it to Mr. Qian beforehand. It shouldn’t be a problem.’

Just then, a sedan pulled to a slow stop in front of the restaurant.

Secretary Wang stepped out of the passenger seat, entered with a smile, and said, "Boss Zhou, for the family recognition and appreciation banquet tomorrow, President Qian would like to invite your entire family to attend as a token of his gratitude for your help. This is the invitation. He sincerely hopes you will be able to join him."