Chapter 725 - Eating Without Paying (1/2)

Night, in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.

“Little Yuan, I’m here with a guest. Are you fine with that?” Zhou Shijie said with a smile the moment he entered.

“No problem. Please take a seat,” Yuan Zhou gave a simple reply.

“Hi, Boss Yuan. I am this guy’s friend. I heard there was tofu pudding tonight so I invited myself. I hope you don’t mind me,” the one speaking was an old man with white hair and beard, looking about 70 years old. Despite his age, his face looked rosy and healthy.

“Not a problem at all,” Yuan Zhou said.

The old man nodded. No matter what, the confidence Yuan Zhou was carrying himself with was something good.

“Good to hear,” Zhou Shijie had long guessed that this was what Yuan Zhou would say. He then added, “I have only eaten Master Shi’s Spring Water Tofu Pudding twice. As for him, he’s the best friend of Master Shi and will frequently eat the Spring Water Tofu Pudding there. Therefore, he is very familiar with the taste of the Spring Water Tofu Pudding there.”

The old man was called Lu Xian. His past occupation was not important. Simply put, he was now in retirement, wandering here and there, enjoying life.

In truth, Zhou Shijie had an issue with having Lu Xian as a friend. Lu Xian was incredibly good at food hunting. There were many delicacies that Zhou Shijie had not eaten before yet Lu Xian had already eaten them many times.

Zhou Shijie spoke again, “Since we are here to eat Spring Water Tofu Pudding, we won’t bother ordering anything else then. Just Spring Water Tofu Pudding and rice will do.”

Yuan Zhou nodded, “Please be seated. Two bowls of Spring Water Tofu Pudding will be ready soon.” Then, Yuan Zhou started preparing his perfect Spring Water Tofu Pudding.

Lu Xian stroked his mustache while looking at Yuan Zhou preparing food in a skilled manner. He said, “So this is the Boss Yuan that is young yet excellent at cooking. I have heard of him long ago but this is my first time seeing him.”

“Since you know about him, I won’t bother introducing him to you. How good do you think this Spring Water Tofu Pudding will be compared to Master Shi’s version?” Zhou Shijie asked.

As an experienced foodie, how could Lu Xian not know Yuan Zhou? Although he had never entered this restaurant, his knowledge of Yuan Zhou actually surpassed many customers of this restaurant.

“Other places will probably be able to make tofu puddings that are about 30% or 40% as delicious as Master Shi’s tofu pudding. But Boss Yuan is a newly emerged genius chef. He will probably be able to make tofu pudding about 90% as delicious as Master Shi’s tofu pudding,” Lu Xian answered after thinking about it.

“This is the first time I have ever heard you giving someone such a high review. Even Little Qiu was rated 80% by you,” Zhou Shijie was astonished by the favorable review Lu Xian gave.

“Manchild, don’t you even try to trap me. I have been keeping up with the news. Boss Yuan has always been able to accomplish deeds that common sense can’t explain,” Lu Xian said, an “I won’t fall for this” expression on his face.

The so-called Master Shi they kept mentioning was, in fact, a leading figure in Sichuan Cuisine, while his culinary skills were something that had been passed down by an imperial chef during the ancient past. He was one of the top 10 chefs of China. His culinary skills were naturally excellent, yet at the same time, he was also an excellent teacher.

He had taught many outstanding students before, and the Little Qiu mentioned by Zhou Shijie earlier was one of them.

During the fourth World Chinese Cooking Tournament, he had used Spring Water Tofu Pudding to defeat many renowned dishes to obtain the special award gold medal. This was the only Sichuan Cuisine to have ever obtained a special award gold medal.

One ought to know that the World Chinese Cooking Tournament was not a small-scale tournament. It was the grandest tournament for Chinese food, and it would not only involve local chefs in China. The Chinese worldwide such as those in Mexico, Spain, USA, and many countries would participate in this competition. This was, in fact, a very authoritative tournament.

Compared with other dishes such as the Clear Soup Peony Steamed Vegetables, Dragon Crab, Dual-taste Grouper, Nantian Abalone, and so on, the Spring Water Tofu Pudding was truly quite crude a dish. Yet, Little Qiu was brave enough to participate in the tournament with this dish, and had even obtained an award with this dish. One could imagine how good his Spring Water Tofu Pudding was.

And yet this Lu Xian’s tofu pudding was about 80% of Master Shi’s tofu pudding. As Master Shi’s best friend, Lu Xian felt like the review he gave Yuan Zhou was already unprecedentedly high.

“I feel like Little Yuan will be able to give you a surprise,” Zhou Shijie had a deeper understanding of Yuan Zhou.

“Oh? What do you mean?” Lu Xian curiously asked.

“Because Little Yuan has never done something that adheres to common sense. If he’s making a tofu pudding similar to Master Shi’s tofu pudding, he would not bother asking me to come,” Zhou Shijie said, his face confident.

“A new version of Spring Water Tofu Pudding?” Lu Xian guessed.

“Well, we will only know after we eat it,” Zhou Shijie answered with a smile.

“Eating without paying,” a voice suddenly sounded.

“You gluttonous brat,” Zhou Shijie scolded back without a second thought.