The Gourmet Customizer

But... what old lady doesn’t care about saving a little face?

"Boss Su, I am thoroughly convinced by this dish, from the bottom of my heart." Cui Yufen wasn’t the type to be unreasonably difficult. "But there is one last point I must bring up."

"Please, go on," Su Chen said, maintaining a perfectly composed attitude.

"The reason Nine-Turned Pork Intestines is called that, aside from historical reasons, also has to do with its appearance. While it’s difficult to nest nine layers of intestine, your version doesn’t have a single layer. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to still call it Nine-Turned Pork Intestines?"

Oh... so that was it.

Su Chen understood. The old lady acknowledged his culinary skill, but she also needed a way to back down gracefully.

’She can’t just come here, fail to find fault, and end up being humiliated, can she?’

Su Chen was tactful enough to play along. He had to give her the out she needed. "If we’re judging purely by appearance, then this dish is indeed different from the traditional Nine-Turned Pork Intestines."

Su Chen first affirmed the old lady’s point, which made Cui Yufen nod in satisfaction.

"However, Teacher Cui, the name ’Nine-Turned Pork Intestines’ isn’t just about appearance. It’s also closely related to the cooking techniques and the flavor profile. From those two perspectives, there’s nothing really wrong with calling this dish Nine-Turned Pork Intestines."

"Hmm... what you say isn’t without reason." Cui Yufen straightened her jacket. "I arrived a bit early today, which was rather presumptuous of me. I was wondering, Boss Su, how many more dishes do you have left to cook? If you’re short on time, you could have my disciples here lend a hand."

"That’s not necess—" Su Chen began to instinctively refuse, but his voice was cut off by a shout from Zhang Heping.

"That’s right! It was indeed a bit presumptuous of us to arrive so early and take so long tasting. All of you, get out! Just let me stay and lend Boss Su a hand. Everyone else can just wait to eat!"

Wow! Liu Fu looked at Zhang the Second’s self-righteous expression and thought, ’This guy has traveled all over, but instead of learning anything good, he’s just picked up these shameless tricks?’

’If we really let you stay and ’help’ in the kitchen, will there be anything left for the rest of us to eat?’

"As the eldest among you, I must set an example. All of my junior brothers should go out and rest for a bit. It’s enough for me to stay here and help."

Shi Qi and Wang Peixing were among the younger ones, and they just looked at each other in dismay.

"The Eldest and Old Er are so shameless!"

"Seriously. He clearly just wants to be the first to eat, but he insists on calling it ’setting an example.’ If that’s what setting an example means, then I can do it too!"

"I didn’t even get a single bite of the Nine-Turned Pork Intestines, and now they don’t want us to eat the rest of the food either? I pitched in two thousand yuan for this meal today. What’s the big idea?"

"That’s right! I’m staying to help too! The rest of you, get out!"

In an instant, the kitchen erupted into chaos. No one was willing to let anyone else stay behind. After all, as the old saying goes, a chef won’t starve even in a famine.

’It’s perfectly normal to taste for flavor while you’re cooking, right?’

’And it’s fine to sample the food for the guests once it’s done, isn’t it?’

’If you find you’ve made too much while plating, it’s only natural to eat the leftovers yourself, right?’

At a time like this, everyone wanted to stay. Helping was secondary; the main thing was that they would definitely be the first to taste Boss Su’s cooking.

That was enough!

Seeing her disciples being so disappointing, a flustered and exasperated Cui Yufen stamped her foot. "Boss Su, let’s go! We’ll go sit outside and let this bunch of disciples of mine cook for us!"

Good heavens.

Su Chen touched his forehead, afraid he had misheard her.

Lu Yongliang, however, tugged on his arm. "Just do as Teacher Cui says."

The three of them left the kitchen together, ignoring the noisy disciples.

After they sat down, Lu Yongliang took a seat between the other two. "Yufen, there are two other guests today that I forgot to introduce you to."

"Oh? Who are they?"

Lu Yongliang stood up and led the Jiang Brothers over. "This is Jiang Wusheng, the founder of the Huaiyang Cuisine Museum. And this is his brother, Jiang Wensheng, the owner and head chef of Yangzhou Flavor Residence."

"The Jiang Brothers?" Cui Yufen shook hands with each of them. "I saw you at the National Guest House before. You were so young back then. Have you stopped cooking now?"

Jiang Wusheng smiled and said, "I wanted to leave something behind for our predecessors, and also give the younger generation something to aspire to. That’s why I started the Huaiyang Cuisine Museum."

Jiang Wensheng added, "Teacher Cui, we were originally here for my son’s engagement party. We never expected to run into you holding your birthday banquet. We came in such a hurry that we didn’t bring a gift, so please forgive us."

Cui Yufen waved her hand. "Don’t be so formal."

After the exchange of pleasantries, the group began to chat idly.

Su Chen noticed something very interesting.

Cui Yufen wasn’t actually the unreasonable and overbearing person Lu Yongliang had described. In reality, the old lady was just fiercely protective of her own.

When she saw her own disciple being challenged by some nobody, she naturally wanted to get even and defend their honor.

Now that she and her disciples had witnessed Su Chen’s true skill, there was no longer a trace of prejudice against him in anything Cui Yufen said. She even started discussing issues related to the preparation of Lu Cuisine with him from time to time.

This also significantly improved Su Chen’s impression of Teacher Cui.

There was nothing wrong with being protective of one’s own—Su Chen was the same way. If anyone dared to bully an employee from Delicious, he would definitely be the first to stand up for them.

But if your own people were truly in the wrong, you had to admit it!

That was Su Chen’s principle for how he conducted himself.

With the misunderstanding cleared up, the group chatted merrily in the dining room. Su Chen listened with great interest, especially when Cui Yufen and Lu Yongliang began discussing the upcoming chefs’ competition.

This, however, was driving the twenty disciples in the kitchen crazy with impatience.