Maverick Chef - Chapter 25：Someone Came to Challenge

“And also, you are responsible for bringing Sha Sha to school and fetching her back.” Bai Lu thought for a while, and he took out $2k. “Get yourself a phone, to facilitate communication.” In his heart, he thought, “I owe it to you two.”

Bao Zi did not receive the money. He said, “I have money. My mum had given some to me. I will buy a phone this afternoon.”

“Was it that easy for your mum to earn that sum of money? Keep it for yourself, and report back home at least once per week. Get some tonic and supplements for your mum, put it on my tab.” For some reason, Bai Lu was extremely enraged. He expressed his kind but strange intentions by howling loudly with an extremely rough tone.

Bao Zi hesitated for a little. “Why are you treating me so nicely? I still owe you money.”

This few words enraged Bai Lu even further. He thought, “A few months ago, I was known as the Demon Lord of Chaos that terrorized the desert. How it is possible that I have transformed into this otherworldy saint in such a short amount of time after I have just arrived into the city? I have to take care of this and take care of that. How could this make any sense?”

Bai Lu threw down his chopsticks in a rage. “You guys can continue. Lunch will be at the restaurant today. Bao Zi will be in charge of purchasing the groceries and cleaning up the place.” Then he threw out another $300, and he left the house.

The other three people in the house were a little confused. Ding Ding asked, “Which one of you pissed him off?”

Bao Zi looked at the money on the table. He pondered for quite a while, and he said, “Was it because I was too lazy?”

Zhang Sha Sha said, “You are not lazy. You scrubbed the floors and cleaned all the utensils.”

Bao Zi let his random thoughts run wild. He thought, “If it’s not because I was too lazy, could it be that it was because I did not accept his money?”

Seeing how Bao Zi hesitated, Sha Sha thought, “It must be about the money.” She went into the bedroom and retrieved her diary. Then she flipped open the first page for him to see. “All the money that I owe, I recorded it down here, so that I can pay it back in the future. You could do the same.”

Bao Zi considered it. “Give me a book.”

Zhang Sha Sha looked at the living room. “Let’s record it together with mine. Since you do not have a room, what would happen if Bai Lu knows about it?” She flipped the book to the last page, and she placed it in front of him.

Bao ZI said, “The money that I owe can be recorded in your book. However, the cost of the groceries this afternoon should also be recorded down as well. We should not let him think that we are out to cheat his money.”

She said, “Right.” Then she went back into the room to get a book and a pen.

After the meal, Bao Zi and Sha Sha started cleaning up the rooms. When it was 9.30am, they went to the market to get some groceries. Then they went back to the restaurant, opened the gates, cleaned up the place, picked the edible parts of the vegetables…

Bao Zi was very meticulous, and he was also a hard worker. After he finished tidying up the interior of the restaurant, he also took the initiative to clean up the area outside of the door.

After a while, Bai Lu returned with a bunch of stuff in his hands and walked towards Bao Zi. “It’s yours.”

There was a set of knives, three cooking manuals, four white steel rods, and also a thick roll of red velvet rope.

Bao Zi received it and said thanks. However, in his mind, he thought, “I owe him even more money now.” He endured, and he endured, but finally, he couldn’t endure any longer. He asked, “Brother Bai, how much is my monthly salary?” He was afraid of owing him too much money and being unable to repay it completely.

“You will know once you received the monthly salary.” Bai Lu said that intentionally, as he thought, “I would not tell you so that you will keep worrying about it.”

Bao Zi was a little unsure, he thought, “Fine, at least the knives and cooking manuals could have some use; I will record it down in the books. But what’s the point of those few steel rods? There’s even a pedestal down at the bottom?”

Bao Lu said, “These few items are now your responsibility.” He lugged the steel rods and the red rope outside. Then he laid down each one of the rods one meter apart, and he hung the red rope across each of them to form a barricade. He asked Bao Zi, “Now do you understand? Take them back inside at the end of the day.”

That was the suggestion from He San Qing. As there were always people queueing outside of the restaurant, it would be much more convenient to create a barricade like the ones used in nightclubs. It would also prevent unnecessary conflict and disputes.

Bao Zi nodded his head. Bai Lu swept the dust off his hands, and he entered the restaurant to wash his clothes. Then he put on his uniform, and the Masterchef was now ready for work.

After the renovations, Bai Lu increased his expectations. As a chef he must follow the food safety and health requirements, so his hygiene has to be maintained. Even the shoes and the hat has to be cleaned appropriately.

After he donned his uniform, he entered the kitchen and realized that all the vegetables were already washed and prepared. He secretly nodded his head in approval, and he thought, “This young lad is pretty commendable.” Right when he was about to compliment him, a chubby old man walked into the restaurant, with an imposing and confident aura. He strutted in with swagger and scanned the surroundings with his eyes; It had the hidden meaning of criticizing the restaurant right and left.

Bao Zi went up to greet him. “Sir, our restaurant is not opened for service yet.”

The old man hummed, and he took a look at Bao Zi. Then he snorted and turned his gaze towards Bai Lu. “So you are that Chef?”

He thought, “What the hell! The restaurant should never have re-opened for business. The moment it opened, trouble comes back again.” Bai Lu sighed, and he said, “Sir, what do you have in mind?”

“Nonsense, of course, I am here for a meal. Did you expect someone to come in here to hunt for food instead?”

“If that’s the case, the restaurant is not yet open for service. Please queue outside the restaurant. Bao Zi, carry out a chair outside for him.” As he saw the blazing sun outside, he thought, “Luckily the heat will be over in a few days. Otherwise, I would have to prepare a sunshade.”

“Queue outside? I do not even have to queue at the restaurants in the capital. Why should I wait in line for such a small restaurant?”

“We are sorry for the inconvenience. It is the rules of our restaurant. You could choose not to abide by them, and you could also choose not eat here. Our restaurant would not impose upon you, but if you want to eat here, then you have to queue.”

“Oh hey! You are even more demanding than me. Is there someone that does business like you? Was this how your teacher taught you?”

After he heard this, Bao Lu calmly smiled, and then he returned to the kitchen.

Looking at how disrespectful this kid from the younger generation was behaving, the chubby old man flared up his temper. “Do you have any idea who I am? Do you have the Chef Permit? How could you be so daring to open up a restaurant?”

Judging from Bai Lu’s age, if he could obtain the Chef Permit, then he was probably a student from the culinary school. These students usually obtained the permit directly after graduating from the school. And this bunch of students would probably know the identity of this old man if they were in school. The reason that he said those words was because he wanted to declare his status.

Unfortunately, Bai Lu did not enroll in the school. He just kept his head low and prepared the ingredients, without any regard for the old man.

Now the old man was enraged. He looked left and right. Suddenly, he saw something familiar on the table, and he went over to pick it up. He burst out into laughter.

Bai Lu had gone to the bookstore to purchase some cooking manuals. He let the people there recommend him the books, and this old man was the editor of one of the cooking manuals. The old man flipped open the book, and he found one of the colored pages. “Can you see it? Can you see it?”

Bao Zi turned around and looked. “Pumpkin?”

“What do you mean by a pumpkin? This dish is called ‘Autumn.’ ”

“The image looks pretty old.” Bao Zi extended his arm. “Why are you holding my book?”

“Look at the photo!”

Beside the image of the dish was a tiny photograph, and there was a middle-aged man wearing a chef hat that was smiling jubilantly. It had a slight resemblance to the chubby old man.

“That’s you?” Bao Zi paced back and forth.

In the kitchen, Bai Lu sighed. “I have been scammed. It was supposed to be a cooking manual, why would there be a photo of a man? How could the bookstore recommend blindly?”

The old man was annoyed. “Stop making blind conjectures. This book is an official teaching material!”

“Who are you kidding? Why would an official teaching material include your photo?”

The old man was aggravated. “Do you have any idea who I am? I was the editor in this book…”

“Now I have understood. You abused your public position to attain private interests.”

The old man was finally seething with rage. “Come out here! I want to challenge you to a competition!”

The old man was called Zhang Zheng Yi. A few years ago, there was a magazine that selected the ten best chefs in the country, and this old man was astonishingly in the rankings. In the 1980s, he won the first place for the National Skills Competition. Now he has accumulated a variety of accolades under his belt. In the past, he was also appointed the Head Chef in various famous restaurants, but in the end, he was transferred to the State Guesthouse. In the 1990s, he partnered with a group of people and compiled the materials for the cooking manual. At the same time, he was also teaching in the Northern City Culinary School.

To honor the significant contributions of the old man and the four other chefs, the cooking manual deliberately included their award-winning dishes and also their photographs. However, this matter was unrelated to the old man.

The old man was an outstanding expert in knife skills. The pumpkin that Bao Zi had mentioned was a goblet that the old man had carved. It resembled a majestic dragon soaring magically in the clouds. At the base of the pumpkin goblet, there were also carvings that represented the flourishing rapids in the mountainous creeks. It looked very appealing.

The old man worked as the Head Chef for a long time in the State Guesthouse. Coincidentally, he met Gao Yuan’s grandpa there, and the two formed an acquaintance.

Grandpa Gao has gastric problems, so he could not eat oily food. Therefore, he was a very picky eater.

The old man, Zhang Zheng Yi, was a chef who serviced the leaders and emissaries. Naturally, he would think of all ways to provide good food for Grandpa Gao.

Now, the two of them have aged significantly, so it was no longer a kind of service relationship. However, since the two of them have forged a friendship, even though Zhang Zheng Yi has retired, he would still visit Grandpa Gao occasionally and cook for him some new dishes that he has created.

It was the National Holidays yesterday, and Zhang Zheng Yi wanted to visit Grandpa Gao. But when they talked on the phone, Grandpa Gao told him that he was going to the Great 5-Star Restaurant for a meal. He even wanted him to visit the small shop when he is free, claiming that it had very delicious food.

Since the old man was a famous chef, he was naturally unconvinced. He asked for the exact location, and he prepared meticulously at home. Today, he came over early in the morning, with a burning desire to compete for superiority.

Zhang Zheng Yi was well-known in the culinary world, but Bai Lu was unaware. After he heard that someone wanted to compete with him again, he shook his head in helplessness. “You are the winner now.” He instructed Bao Zi. “Please send this gentleman on his way, and call him a cab.”

“I want to challenge you in knife skills!” The old man patted his lower back, his thumb exerted some power, and his wrist flickered lightly. Suddenly, a flash of silver light appeared in front of him. When the light dissipated, the old man held a knife in his wrinkled hands with veins appearing.

Bai Lu thought, “How depressing. Are we making a movie here? Already an old man and still trying to be cool.”

He walked out of the kitchen. “Sir, please go back home. I have already conceded defeat, isn’t that enough already?”

“No way! Senior Officer said that you were a better chef than me, so how could we not compete?”

“Who is your senior officer? I have no idea who he is.” He recalled about his times in the desert. “Whenever there was someone from the military, Dad would always have to address them as Senior Officer. Even though sometimes the other person was only 40 years old, which was younger than my dad.”

“It doesn’t matter who he is. Today, you have to compete whether you like it or not. Otherwise, I would not leave.”

After hearing such words, the first reaction from Bai Lu was to take a look at Bao Zi. He thought, “How does everybody know such a cheap trick? Can’t they spare my life?”

He shifted his attention back to the old man. He thought, “If this guy were younger by about 20-30 years old, I would call the cops to take him away. But now? Why should I be obstinate against this old man? Fine, you guys are awesome! I surrender.”

Bai Lu heaved a giant black cleaver that was used to chop bones and walked over. “Let’s compete in something else. You are already so old…”

He did not finish his sentence, but his underlying intentions were clear. He thought that that old man was not a decent opponent, as his old age would probably cause his hands to be less steady and his knife skills to decline.

The old man was stubborn. “Let’s compete in knife skills.” With his left hand, he retrieved two walnuts from his pocket. “One for each of us. We will use the knife to carve a dragon.”

“Carving a dragon on a walnut?” The outer skin of the walnut was filled with grooves and ridges, which made it extremely bumpy. He thought, “This old man is so thoughtful.”

Zhang Zheng Yi passed one of the walnuts to him. With a loud voice, he shouted, “We shall begin!” He slanted his knife and started the dragon carving endeavor.

“Sir, you are using the wrong knife. Even a metal file would be much more efficient than a kitchen knife.” Bai Lu suggested.

Zhang Zheng Yi completely ignored what he said, and he used the tip of the knife to scrape the walnut.

“Fine, I will entertain this old man for once.” Bai Lu grudgingly examined the walnut. He flipped it around a couple of times, and he created a rough image in his mind. Then he rested the back end of the knife edge onto the walnut. He followed the grains on the walnut and lightly moved the knife.

Two main lines on the left and right encompassed the walnut. On the rest of the surface, if one looked carefully, the finer vein lines would still be apparent, which looked like protruding horns. However, Bai Lu was lazy to create something too complicated. He focused on the two main lines and carved a Twin Dragons Vying for the Jewel. On the rest of the surface, he has decided to carve floating clouds from the rest of the finer grains. He tried to keep the cloud layer as thin as possible to prominently display the majestic grandeur of the two dragons.

In twenty minutes, and only twenty minutes, Bai Lu was finished, and he placed the walnut on the table. Then he sighed and returned to the kitchen. “I have to polish the knife again.”