The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Fu Yu prepared Qianlima’s signature dish, salt-baked crab.

Three cooked crabs were arranged on an oval-shaped shallow plate.

After being tossed and stirred just now, not a single crab claw had fallen off. They were neatly placed under the shell, with only the top segment of the crab leg exposed.

On one side of the plate were three small flowers carved from carrots, surrounded by three fresh green cilantro leaves.

An otherwise ordinary dish, with this arrangement, suddenly looked high-end.

Liu Yuqing had formally studied cooking, so she immediately recognized that Fu Yu’s plating skills were outstanding!

This level of skill must have taken years to achieve, right?

Fu Yu followed Liu Yuqing to the front hall.

The old lady saw Fu Yu and quickly asked, "What ingredients are used in your turtle soup? The doctor told my husband to avoid certain foods; many things he can’t eat."

Having dealt with the old lady again, Fu Yu understood.

Due to her age, the old lady had become somewhat obstinate.

To persuade her, one must present facts and reason, while also not giving her a chance to think of a rebuttal. Otherwise, if you really get into a conversation, it will be never-ending.

Thus, Fu Yu explained carefully, "This turtle soup contains mushrooms, chicken, winter bamboo shoots, and ham. The seasoning includes salt..."

"Generally, patients need to avoid certain foods that induce reactions, but this soup does not contain any such ingredients, nor any stimulating seasonings."

The old lady nodded in understanding.

Fu Yu continued before she could speak, "There are indeed a few foods that can’t be eaten with turtle, such as peaches, amaranth, eggs... eel, crab."

"Moreover, there’s another method to cook this soup, using bone fracture supplement, dried yam, and wolfberry for a clear stew."

"However, considering your husband just got out of the hospital, it’s best to avoid bone fracture supplement, as it conflicts with lamb meat, lamb blood, and mustard, and should not be used with wind-drying medicines."

"Also, yam reacts unfavorably with kansui, da ji, and should not be taken with alkaline medications."

"And wolfberry is generally not recommended to be consumed with too many warm-natured supplements like longan, red ginseng, red dates, and such."

"That’s why I chose the most reliable, mild, and safe cooking method for this turtle soup."

The old lady listened, surprised, and finally nodded in belief. "That’s good to hear."

Fu Yu kindly bid farewell to the old lady, and watched as she left the dining area satisfied, breathing a genuine sigh of relief.

Just then, Jiang Mo, who had finished ordering, curiously asked, "Chef Fu, didn’t you always say that over-focusing on food incompatibility affects our dietary diversity, and that the rumors about food incompatibility are baseless? Why the sudden change of heart?"

Fu Yu shook his head, "No, I’ve always thought that way, I haven’t changed my mind."

Jiang Mo was surprised, "Then just now you..."

Fu Yu explained, "It was just an improvised, kind reassurance. Otherwise, the old lady would surely be worried."

Jiang Mo nodded in agreement, "True."

Fu Yu gave a charming smile, "Alright, no big deal, I’ll get back to work now."

Watching Fu Yu’s back, Jiang Mo sincerely said, "Chef Fu really has a way with things!"

Silently, Liu Yuqing agreed in her heart: That’s right! It’s simply achieving victory without a fight, truly impressive!

...

Monday morning, after the morning meeting with the leadership team.

Yao Shi returned to the kitchen with good news for everyone.

The Dayu Mall, acquired by the boss, is undergoing internal renovations, and once completed, the entire back kitchen will be relocated there.

By then, not only will the space be more than doubled, but the boss is also investing in a brand new grilling area.

"The store will also gradually start promoting and accepting orders for seafood and various barbecues."

"I’ve already contacted a professional barbecue chef who will come to the store to provide guidance. Xiaofu, since you’re quite skilled in barbecue, you should cooperate well with the chef and aim to get the barbecue section up and running as soon as possible."

Fu Yu was a little surprised.

As for barbecue, besides learning to make roast duck with Yao Shi at the music restaurant, he hadn’t really done much else!

But in front of everyone, he quickly nodded in agreement.

Anyway, with his skills at controlling heat, he could look through his two recipe books if needed, or just learn on the spot and adapt.

The other kitchen staff couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

When did Fu Yu learn barbecuing?

Unaware of the curious glances from others, Fu Yu listened, surprised yet delighted, to the electronic prompt that suddenly sounded in his ear:

[Ding! NPC Stepfather Zhao Meng’s long-term chain mission: Complete all the set goals, surpass Che Yuhang, and individually overcome all his achievements. Set Mission (1) Complete 500 barbecue sessions, with a mission reward of: one recipe vocabulary dictionary.]

Fu Yu looked at the long-term mission, noticing the expand option [more...], and chose to view it.

Instantly, the content on the interface changed.

When the long-term mission options expanded, he saw the first task, completing 500 table settings, which would fulfill a small achievement target.

It was part of the system’s plan, a series of achievements they needed to strive to complete, surpassing Che Yuhang.

Fu Yu was initially stunned, then genuinely smiled.

He truly felt that the system was quite responsible and considerate; it seemed very demanding, yet was thoroughly considerate of him.

At first, he needed to meet specific cooking requirements to earn cash and various rewards.

But those were all based on improving his various personal skills, which were tasked as missions.

Now, as his personal skills were steadily improving, the missions had clearly begun to change.

This discovery made Fu Yu quite expectant.

What exactly did the system intend for him to become before considering the game completely cleared?

He reviewed the 500 barbecue sessions task again.

Completing it would reward him with a [recipe vocabulary dictionary].

Was this dictionary what he thought it was?

While studying recipes, he often encountered many professional culinary terms and measurement words.

Getting detailed explanations would be very helpful for self-learning those two secret recipe manuals.

Fu Yu thought blissfully; this reward was very practical!

Looking at the page filled with so many incomplete tasks.

How many rewards could he earn if he completed all those tasks?

Fu Yu felt instantly empowered!

Little did he expect that because he impulsively stood up for Zhao Meng, he’d end up with so many tasks to complete.

Upon reflection, it really was thanks to Zhao Meng!

Fu Yu looked gratefully at Zhao Meng: Chef Zhao is truly his benefactor!

Zhao Meng, turning his head inadvertently, just saw Fu Yu staring at him, grinning foolishly.

Zhao Meng: "..."