Chapter 1507: Sinister Hearts

"I've said it a hundred times, haven't I? Ingredients must be fresh, the freshest possible. Only with fresh ingredients can you make the best food. Can you not remember, or are you just treating my words as wind past your ears?"

"The brain is a good thing, but if someone can't use it, can they just donate it to be stir-fried? That would at least be putting waste to good use..." Li Dashao had a loud voice and a bad temper, scaring the kitchen staff so much they didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Zichen stood outside listening for a while and discovered that he was just scolding people and not giving any specific instructions for kitchen work.

Since that was the case, it didn't matter if he interrupted.

So he walked in and said with a smile, "Li Dage, your voice is still as booming as ever. I heard you giving the staff training from far away!"

Zichen was very skilled at speaking; what was clearly a scolding was turned into training by his words.

"Oh, Zichen is here. When did you arrive?"

Seeing Zichen, Li Dashao immediately put away his angry expression, his face blooming into a smile like a peony.

"I just arrived." He didn't mention that he had already been standing outside for quite a while.

He heartily patted Zichen on the shoulder and said domineeringly, "You came specifically to see me, right? Say it, yes!"

Zichen smiled and said truthfully, "I'm really sorry, I didn't come specifically to see you. I came specifically to see my master, and dropped by to see you."

"Hahahaha... Good! Brother, do you know what I appreciate most about you? It's this point! You are smart enough, yet you don't engage in that pretentious, phony stuff that smart people do." Li Dashao wasn't angry at all; instead, he laughed heartily.

"Very good, this is what my brother should be like. I just don't like those phony people who say one thing to your face and another behind your back, whose mouths are sweeter than sugar but who want to stab you in the heart. If you were that kind of person, I wouldn't be friends with you..."

It wasn't that Zichen didn't know how to say nice things.

It was just that he felt it wasn't necessary. You have to use the right method when talking to different kinds of people; with someone like Li Dashao, you have to be direct.

Li Dashao asked, "Brother, have you eaten?"

"No, I came on an empty stomach."

"Coming on an empty stomach is exactly right. Your big brother here is in a kitchen; could I possibly let my brother go hungry?"

He instructed a slightly younger chef beside him: "Xiao Zhang, go make a few of your signature dishes and send them to the office."

"You got it!"

No longer needing to be scolded, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and busied themselves.

With Li Dashao's greasy hand resting on Zichen's shoulder, the two went to the office. The so-called office was actually the kitchen's warehouse.

The items on the warehouse shelves were arranged neatly, and in the center of the warehouse was a small table that served as both a desk and a place to rest at noon.

Inside, there was also a small room, which was where Li Dashao usually rested.

Unlike the outside, it was a mess inside, with not even a place to step.

Li Dashao struggled to pull a box out from under the bed, opened it, took out some treasured Moutai, and brought it outside to show off.

"Look, I have good liquor here. I usually can't bear to drink it, just waiting for good friends to come over. I don't take it out for anyone else; only you, Sheng Zichen, are worthy of the best liquor."

"Oh, Li Dage, look, isn't this a coincidence?"

Zichen also took two bottles of Moutai out of his bag. They weren't identical; they were even better than the ones Li Dashao had brought out.

The liquor was taken from his master's house; in fact, it was all liquor that Shi Youxuan had sent over during past holidays.

Li Dashao liked to have a drink, so his master had told him to bring two bottles over.

"Drink mine. I'll put away the ones you brought to drink later." Li Dashao didn't stand on ceremony and put them away.

Soon, the chef brought over four dishes: shredded pork with garlic sauce, mixed vegetable salad, pan-seared tofu, and stir-fried shredded potatoes.

Looking at them, they were just ordinary home-cooked dishes, but in reality, they weren't easy to make well.

Shredded pork with garlic sauce requires the meat to be soft and tender, and the wood ear mushrooms to be crisp. It should be spicy yet sweet, with just the right amount of saltiness and freshness.

If too much sugar is added, the sweetness will overpower the fragrance of the dish; if there is too much chili, the freshness of the dish will be greatly compromised!

Mixed vegetable salad is a dish very suitable for drinking, named for being mixed with bean curd skin, cilantro stems, shredded carrots, peanuts, and cucumber.

It is sweet and sour, the best for drinking.

Pan-seared tofu tests a chef's knife skills and mastery of heat; it is savory.

Stir-fried shredded potatoes look simple, but they actually test a chef's knife skills immensely.

The shredded potatoes in the plate were all the same thickness and length, as thin as hair yet crisp to the bite, with an exceptionally good texture!

Zichen tasted each dish and then gave a thumbs up, praising: "Dage, impressive! Truly, a strong general has no weak soldiers under his command!"

"That's right."

Li Dashao said proudly, "A strict teacher produces brilliant students. You have to be strict with this bunch of subordinates; the harder you scold them, the faster they improve."

He was a rough man without much education, so he did things in a simple and crude way.

But everyone has their own code of conduct. Although Zichen didn't approve of the scolding style of education, he also knew that one must adapt to the individual. The method wasn't important; the result was. Seek common ground while reserving differences.

After two glasses of liquor, Li Dashao's face was slightly flushed.

He asked Zichen, "Has that old thing Huo Zhenteng looked for you?"

"Not recently, but he did a while ago."

Li Dashao warned, "That old guy looks like a Buddha, but he's actually very wicked. Be careful."

Zichen nodded and said, "Hmm, I don't have much contact with him, but he did come to the university to find me once. It wasn't specifically to find me, though; he was looking for his former teacher, Professor Zhang, and asked me to accompany them for a meal..."

"That's not right."

Li Dashao interrupted him: "He never went to university. How could he have a teacher of his at your school?"

Zichen felt strange: "He didn't go to university? But he said he was my alumnus!"

Li Dashao said categorically, "Impossible. We're all in the same circle; who doesn't know who? He was an apprentice at a restaurant when he was in his teens, and it seems he even spent time in Prison..."

The things he mentioned were not in the information Sheng Hanyu had originally investigated.

The reason was very simple: the information investigated only covered events from the last ten years or so.

Events from further back were not easy to check because too much time had passed, and at the time, it was felt there was no need.

"So, in that case, he didn't go to Jiang University to see Professor Zhang at all; he went mainly for me?"

Zichen recalled and remembered.

Although Huo Zhenteng was very enthusiastic toward Professor Zhang, the professor remained very polite throughout the entire time and did not seem to mention anything that happened back when he was in school.

After all, he never taught him, so what was there to say?

Li Dashao said with certainty: "He must have been going after you. Did he ask you for the Gu Family Cookbook?"

Zichen's heart skipped a beat—he did!

But he did not tell the truth.

The matter of the cookbook was of great importance; even though Li Dashao was a person of good character, he still could not tell him everything.

Zichen: "He did ask..."

"You didn't give it to him, did you?"

"What would I have to give him? I don't have the Gu Family Cookbook, but I do have quite a lot of cookbooks at home. I've been buying them since I was little, just afraid that others wouldn't value them."