The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

The brand of vinegar had identical packaging for both the 9-degree and 5-degree options. The only difference was the acidity level, and there was no distinctive marking to signal them.

Fu Yu himself usually distinguishes between them because of frequent use, knowing which bottle had more left based on usage.

The acidity of 9-degree vinegar is too high, and generally, for everyday stir-frying, the 5-degree vinegar is used.

But since Fu Yu was absent yesterday, Zhao Meng instructed Sun Qingning to take the vinegar.

Because Sun Qingning was nervous and frequently couldn’t keep up with Zhao Meng’s pace, his mind was overwhelmed, so he didn’t carefully distinguish and handed the 5-degree vinegar to Zhao Meng.

However, Zhao Meng, being overly confident in himself, did not taste the flavor while marinating and just sealed the jar.

If you truly reason it out, both of them were at fault.

But the head chef is the leader, has already sacrificed, giving away 500 yuan, and his most treasured reputation suffered damage.

Therefore, Sun Qingning was scolded badly.

After rebuking, Zhao Meng continued his work.

Finally, the busiest dining rush was over.

The kitchen staff all went to eat.

Zhao Meng didn’t go; he was ready to make another batch of lemon chicken claws.

Sun Qingning awkwardly approached, nervously clutching his phone. After taking a deep breath, he said: ”Chef Zhao, I, I just transferred 500 yuan to you—I’ll pay for the wine.”

After saying this, Sun Qingning fell silent.

He feared Zhao Meng would scold him again.

He also feared Zhao Meng would refuse to take the money.

He hadn’t expected a momentary oversight would lead to today’s outcome.

At their restaurant, at least since he’d been hired, no customer had ever approached a chef to argue over flavor issues.

Now, he’s dared not even think about his permanent status at work.

Because of today’s incident, whether he can continue working here is a question.

”Never mind, take today’s matter as a lesson, and do things more carefully in the future.”

Zhao Meng impatiently waved his hand: ”Go eat.”

Sun Qingning’s heart skipped a beat upon seeing Zhao Meng’s somber face, hesitated briefly, and ultimately didn’t dare stay.

Fu Yu returned from the storeroom with chicken claws to see Sun Qingning leaving the kitchen, looking dejected.

Zhao Meng was soaking ginger slices and Sichuan peppercorns in hot water.

Fu Yu came over, concerned: ”Chef Zhao, still mad?”

Zhao Meng saw him bringing back the ingredients and waved his hand: ”Alright, go and eat.”

Fu Yu didn’t leave, carrying the chicken claws to clean, and then skillfully began trimming their nails.

Zhao Meng tried twice to dismiss him, but having failed, let it be.

Fu Yu brought over the processed chicken claws.

Zhao Meng took one look, sighed, and said nothing more.

He then completed the final marinating process for the chicken claws.

The entire afternoon passed as usual.

After work in the evening, Zhao Meng unexpectedly called Fu Yu and asked him to divide the marinated lemon chicken claws into four small jars and pack them in the restaurant’s takeaway bags.

Besides that, two jars of the restaurant’s specialty side dishes were also packed in each bag.

Fu Yu was puzzled at the time, not knowing what Zhao Meng intended to do.

Once they drove to the place and accompanied Zhao Meng to the customer’s house to apologize and deliver the gifts, completing the process.

Fu Yu admiringly said: ”Chef Zhao, you’re really responsible.”

Even though he already compensated with wine, he went out of his way to personally deliver a gift.

As a result, not only would the customer not hold this against him, but they would likely think Zhao Meng is a good person and have an even better opinion of him.

Zhao Meng, however, said: ”For us chefs, the only thing that makes customers recognize us is our cooking skills. We can jeopardize anything but not our reputation.”

Fu Yu nodded.

He thought those words were very true.

Fu Yu followed Zhao Meng to the homes of three more customers.

Fortunately, they were regular patrons with reservation calls, making Zhao Meng’s contact relatively smooth.

They finished delivering to the last family.

On the way back, Zhao Meng let out a long sigh of relief and solemnly said: ”These three customers also ordered this dish in the morning. Though they didn’t complain to us, we can’t be complacent just because the customers were generous.”