Chapter 794 - 713: Truly Somewhat Behind the Times

Liu Shaoxian and the others didn’t stay in the music restaurant’s kitchen for long. Once Fu Yu finished preparing all the herbal dishes, they left with Yao Shi accompanying them personally.

Before leaving, Liu Shaoxian specifically exchanged contact information with Fu Yu, chatted warmly for a while, and once again mentioned inviting him to join the National Herbal Cuisine Research Association.

Liu Shaoxian earnestly said to Fu Yu, "This herbal cuisine industry might look like it’s easy to make money and is trusted by customers, but that’s just the appearance."

"The main issue is that the foundation is too shallow, and it’s plagued with chaos. In today’s world, anyone with a little knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine dares to call themselves an expert."

"In this circle, the people with the most qualifications and seniority are them. Besides these true experts, the rest are mostly doctors sitting in herbal shops or those who have transitioned from public Traditional Chinese Medicine hospitals. These people lack depth."

"Currently, there are far too many herbal cuisine events with all sorts of names in the country, mostly unregulated, and the rampant behavior of beauty and wellness hospitals and clubs has further eroded the credibility of herbal treatments."

"After all, herbal cuisine works slowly, unlike cosmetic medicine where you pay and see results quickly."

"Customers want immediate results, almost no one cares about the so-called side effects or potential harm to their body."

Fu Yu nodded, as he was somewhat aware of this as well.

Liu Shaoxian sighed and said, "Actually, we have realized that if we don’t make efforts to expand the promotion channels for herbal cuisine, in the future, even herbal cuisine might become a relic of the past."

"Therefore, for years, we have focused on promoting traditional Chinese treatments, wanting to carry forward the national spirit, but it’s an arduous task."

"In the early years, major hospitals and pharmacies in the country focused on promoting high profit Western medicines, without valuing Chinese medicine treatments, causing backward development, with Chinese medicine even relegated to pharmacy backrooms for diagnosis and treatment."

"It was only in recent years, upon realizing that if the Chinese medicine industry doesn’t develop and gain attention, it might truly disappear from people’s sight, that they thought of giving it some support."

"But by this time, market resources had already been excessively tilted."

"Therefore, just as I said, due to the impact of promoting Chinese medicine, herbal cuisine has also been lagging in development, lacking depth and plagued with chaos."

Liu Shaoxian said this with much emotion, "So, Xiaofu, my invitation for you to join is in the hope that we can work together to truly develop the herbal cuisine industry, to stride with cultural confidence and national innovation!"

"After the new year, there will be a large exchange conference, let’s all be well-prepared!"

Liu Shaoxian finished speaking and shook Fu Yu’s hand solemnly, saying expectantly, "Xiaofu, let’s keep in touch regularly."

Fu Yu nodded, seeing Liu Shaoxian’s barely concealed excitement made him truly realize something.

The current state of domestic herbal cuisine... is indeed somewhat backward.

Before he could continue his reflection, an electronic notification suddenly sounded in his ear:

[Ding! Daily Task: Complete five herbal cuisine recipe customizations, successfully completed, reward: 30 RMB, task experience +10]

[Ding! Consecutive daily task sign-ins 30/30 days, successfully completed, reward: a spot-removal herbal cuisine recipe]

Taking advantage of no one being around, Fu Yu quickly took a look.

Good stuff!

It’s just that there’s no time to study it in detail now.

After seeing the guests off smoothly, Yao Shi couldn’t help but breathe a sincere sigh of relief.

Fu Yu was also quite emotional.

Was he really invited to join the National Herbal Cuisine Research Association?

Just thinking about it felt a bit unbelievable.

Yao Shi returned and called Fu Yu over to talk privately.

Looking at Yao Shi, Fu Yu said somewhat helplessly, "Chef Yao, didn’t you say Teacher Liu came to pick on us? It scared me!"

Yao Shi said sheepishly, "I misunderstood as well, mainly worried about someone causing trouble. After all, our herbal cuisine just launched, and the market hasn’t stabilized yet, so it’s inevitable some will nitpick, this serves as a reminder for us."

As the boss, Yao Shi always thought more about such things.

With no outsiders around, Yao Shi spoke to Fu Yu in a relaxed manner.

He smiled and patted Fu Yu on the shoulder, "You brat, your luck is really something!"

"Liu Shaoxian is quite remarkable. Do you know who his teacher is? He Chuanyun, our country’s most famous herbal cuisine expert, and after the country established the Herbal Cuisine Research Association, he held it up single-handedly in a time of crisis, and many of the backbone members now were trained by him."

Having said that, Yao Shi smiled at Fu Yu, "Xiaofu, I guess I’m benefiting by association with you this time."

Fu Yu curiously asked, "What do you mean?"

Yao Shi laughed, "You might not be aware, but our country’s Herbal Cuisine Research Association is a formal association, and generally doesn’t extend invitations to people outside, it’s worlds apart from the Provincial Gourmet Association in terms of level. I truly didn’t expect to have the opportunity to connect with Liu Shaoxian."

"To be honest, if it weren’t for you, such a big figure like Liu Shaoxian wouldn’t have come to observe our place. After today, once this news spreads, it will be a wave of very fair publicity for our restaurant’s herbal cuisine."

Fu Yu laughed heartily, "So looking at it this way, it was worth our anxiety?"

Yao Shi couldn’t help but pretend to slap Fu Yu, "You brat, your mouth is relentless! But we did gain something good from this mishap. I really didn’t expect Liu Shaoxian to genuinely come to exchange and learn."