Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 569: Genius

"Do you really have no interest in cooking at all?" Qiu Lele asked.

"No," Sun Mei's response was definite, "I hate cooking."

Qiu Lele bit her lip, "What if you lose? There are quite a few very skilled chefs competing this time."

"I've seen the official list of contestants," Sun Mei said.

"Seoul Magician Cui Junxian, Vegetarian Buddha Longpo Sen, Chuan Ye Zhengming from Isolated Island Restaurant, Luo Junkang inheritor of Huaiyang cuisine, Brunei prodigy Geoffrey...

"These people are some of the stronger competitors, but I'm confident I can beat them."

"Also, Ma Lu from Universe Infinite Canteen."

"What?"

"You missed someone, there's also Boss Ma from Universe Infinite Canteen."

"I haven't heard of him, who did he learn his cooking skills from?"

"Universe Infinite Canteen has only recently become popular. Initially, everyone thought it was just a trendy restaurant, but then food critics went to try their food and gave it a historically high score of 4.6.

"The reviewers included Chef Wang and Chef Wei, who both couldn't stop praising the restaurant's dishes.

"In fact, Universe Infinite Canteen scored full marks in all the categories related to dishes. They lost points mainly on service and decoration, and the chef of the restaurant is very mysterious.

"Nobody can find any information about him; all they know is his surname is Wang."

"Wait, didn't you say his name was Ma Lu? Shouldn't his surname be 'Ma' then?" Sun Mei spotted an inconsistency.

"No, the chef of Universe Infinite Canteen really is surnamed Wang, it's their boss who's coming this time."

Sun Mei was surprised, "Someone other than the chef competes?"

"In theory, it's not allowed, but since he's the boss, he's exploiting a loophole in the rules. The provisions will probably be updated next time."

"How cunning to send the boss to compete. Are they worried that having the chef compete might affect the restaurant's reputation?"

"At first, I thought the same, but then it didn't seem so, and Mr. Sun insisted on sending him an invitation. Oh, by the way, he and Chuan Ye Zhengming are waiting for us in the car. We should hurry over."

"Okay." Sun Mei followed Qiu Lele with his travel bag.

Qiu Lele had dealt with Chuan Ye Zhengming before and knew of his reserved nature, and being a foreigner, he didn't speak Chinese.

She was worried the atmosphere in the car would be awkward, hence her rush to get back.

But, to her surprise, as they exited the terminal building, she saw Ma Lu and Chuan Ye Zhengming coming down the escalator from the second floor.

Each had a hamburger in hand, conversing about something while eating.

"...It involves swiftly driving a spike through the fish's brain. If successful, the fish will open its mouth, then you cut off its gills, empty the spinal cord and finally bleed it in ice water.

"Fish killed this way experience no stress before death," Chuan Ye Zhengming gestured, "If fish sense death as a threat, they become anxious and struggle, which burns through ATP massively.

"ATP is the source of umami, and preserving as much of it as possible is key to maintaining freshness. Once the ATP is used up, the fish goes into rigor, significantly diminishing its flavor until it decays and becomes inedible."

"Ah, I see," Ma Lu said. "I had a friend who was also very skilled in preparing ingredients, though not seafood but game, and the steps were similar."

"Mm-hm, the slaughtering techniques are indeed the same, indeed, when dealing with game meat, bleeding and removing the spinal cord are necessary," Chuan Ye Zhengming nodded.

At that moment, Ma Lu saw Qiu Lele and Sun Mei and waved at them.

Qiu Lele widened her mouth, "What, what are you guys doing?"

"Oh, I asked Chuan Ye Zhengming if he wanted something to eat, and since he was hungry too, we went to McDonald's and bought some burgers," said Ma Lu, raising the hamburger in his hand.

"No, what I mean is, how can you guys communicate? Do you speak Japanese?"

"No."

"Ah?"

"It might be that kind of tacit understanding between top chefs that inspired our soul resonance," Ma Lu bluffed.

Chuan Ye Zhengming also said in Japanese, "I've heard that Eskimos' shamans can communicate through the soul, too."

"..."

Qiu Lele didn't know what to say anymore and finally just said, "It's my negligence, I forgot to ask if you guys had eaten."

"It's fine; it's nice to try McDonald's once in a while," Ma Lu said.

Chuan Ye Zhengming said, "I'm considering adding a type of burger to the restaurant's menu."

"Can you guys stop chatting with me about the same thing in Chinese and Japanese one after the other? It feels really weird," Qiu Lele felt like she was going insane.

"Okay, this is…" Ma Lu turned his gaze toward the woman in jeans with a backpack standing beside Qiu Lele.

"Sun Mei, the chief chef of Songxiang Inn," Sun Mei said, extending her hand to shake with both of them.

"Ah, you are that Sun Mei, President Sun's, that…"

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"That rebellious granddaughter? Yes, that's me," Sun Mei finished his sentence for Ma Lu.

"I actually wanted to say the talented granddaughter."

"It's fine; just be blunt about it. So, you are Boss Ma of Universe Infinite Canteen, right? I've heard that Brother Wang and Senior Brother Wei think very highly of your restaurant."

"It's a pity the real cook, Chef Wang, didn't come; otherwise, he might have made it more difficult for me to win the God of Cooking title."

Ma Lu arched his eyebrows, "Oh, it seems like Chef Sun, you are quite confident."

"Of course," Sun Mei said without hesitation, "If it wasn't for aiming for first place, I wouldn't have come back to compete."

Chuan Ye Zhengming, despite not understanding what Sun Mei was saying, might have sensed a kindred spirit as fellow top chefs, or maybe he really had practiced with Eskimo shamans.

In response, he nodded earnestly, "I want to defeat all opponents and reach the pinnacle."

"Just eat your burger. With me here, all of you are only competing for second place," Ma Lu scoffed at their victorious claims.

"We'll see about that," said Sun Mei.

After she spoke, she walked proudly toward the parking lot.

"Has she always been so arrogant?" Ma Lu asked Qiu Lele.

Qiu Lele shook her head, "She used to be even more disdainful. After coming back from studying abroad in France, where she supposedly learned painting but didn't do so well, she's toned it down a lot."

"Ha, no wonder she came back planning to be a chef."

"She didn't come back planning to be a chef," said Qiu Lele, "But never mind, that's not important. Do me a favor, teach her a hard lesson."

"Hmm, I thought you were friends, or is it just those on-the-surface kind of friends?" Ma Lu caught a whiff of gossip, "Don't tell me, in high school, did you both have a crush on the same guy? You hold a grudge against her."

"No, actually Mr. Sun wanted her to experience setbacks on the culinary path too," replied Qiu Lele.