Chapter 1865: Culinary Showcase, Gods Clash

After finishing, he also used this multi-ring stove to make four dishes: Three-Not-Sticking, Glass Meat, deep-fried ice cream, and shredded potatoes with green peppers.

Once the four dishes were out of the pot, Zichen didn't let anyone else taste them, but instead had them brought to his office to invite the father and daughter of the Li family to eat and chat.

It must be said that this move by Zichen was quite brilliant.

If he hadn't shown off his skills, Lao Litou would have just looked at the stove, satisfied his curiosity, and left.

But watching the entire process of Sheng Zichen cooking, his eyes barely blinked; he watched with complete concentration.

Looking at the dishes, then looking at Sheng Zichen!

The young man in front of him was truly hiding his true depth; these few dishes were made in such an authentic way!

Three-Not-Sticking is something almost no young chefs make nowadays.

It takes time and effort yet cannot be sold for a high price; it is purely a thankless dish.

The other dishes were the same, especially the Glass Meat, which was Huo Zhenteng's signature dish, yet this young man made it even better than him.

Deep-fried ice cream is a dish that especially tests the control of heat; if it's too slow, the inside melts, and if it's too fast, the batter on the outside will burn, making it look not at all pretty.

Shredded potatoes with green peppers look easy, but in reality, it is not easy to achieve a top-tier standard.

Every strand of potato was cut to the same thickness, the green peppers were emerald green, and the potatoes were crunchy but not raw, cooked but not soft.

Lao Litou tasted each dish one by one and asked with a grave expression: "What is your relationship with the Gu Family?"

Zichen hesitated, but he did not lie; he chose to tell the truth.

"My master is Gu Zhihao, and I am a disciple of Gu Family cuisine."

"Let's go."

Upon hearing the three words "Gu Zhihao," Lao Litou's expression changed immediately, and he pulled his daughter away.

Everything was fine just a moment ago, but suddenly they wanted to leave, so Zichen had to ask for clarification.

"Do you have a misunderstanding with my master? If there is a misunderstanding, just talk it out; you are both at such an old age..."

No matter what Zichen said, Lao Litou ignored him and even coldly left these words: "Don't come to our house again in the future. If you come, I will chase you away with a kitchen knife. You are such a big boss, don't go looking for trouble for yourself..."

The old man turned hostile and refused to recognize anyone; no matter how Zichen tried to persuade him, it was useless.

Li Xue'er even wanted to say a few kind words, but she was silenced by a shout from the old man: "Do you acknowledge him or me? If you dare to say a single word for him, you won't have me as a father anymore."

The stubborn old man walked in front, and Li Xue'er quickly made a gesture to Zichen, meaning they would contact each other by phone.

Then she quickly chased after him: "Dad, don't be angry, of course I acknowledge you; you are my father..."

Zichen returned and sat in his office, unable to figure it out. What was the reason?

It was clearly fine just a moment ago, Lao Litou was praising his craftsmanship and his character... but the next moment he suddenly turned hostile and refused to recognize him!

Right, he remembered.

It was right when he said who his master was that the old man's face suddenly changed!

Zichen remembered his master telling him that he used to have a very good relationship with Lao Litou, so good that they talked about everything, but then they suddenly fell out.

The reason given by his master was that because he was getting married, Lao Litou thought he was climbing the social ladder and stopped paying attention to him.

But Zichen felt it wasn't like that; there must be more to it, but he couldn't think of what the specific reason was.

He didn't take the initiative to contact Li Xue'er. The father and daughter must be together now, and Lao Litou was still in a fit of anger. If Lao Litou discovered he was contacting Li Xue'er in private, it wouldn't be good. He could only wait for Li Xue'er to contact him.

Evening.

It was just the peak time for the restaurant, and Li Xue'er arrived.

Their family ran a breakfast shop, waking up early and going to bed early. Coming at this time, it was likely that Lao Litou had gone to sleep, and she had snuck out.

The first sentence Li Xue said to Zichen surprised him; it was completely unexpected: "Let's elope."

"What?"

He suspected something was wrong with his ears, or he hadn't heard clearly. How could Li Xue'er suddenly come out with something so senseless?

Li Xue'er said urgently: "My father will never agree to our relationship. I've thought about it for a long time; if you want to be with me, the only way is for us to elope..."

Zichen interrupted her: "Wait a minute, Li Xue'er, you've misunderstood. I never thought about eloping with you. You... forget it, let's change the subject. How about you come work for me?"

"I'll give you an annual salary of one million. This is the treatment only our head chef gets. You won't be under anyone's jurisdiction. Besides the annual salary, we provide employees with five social insurances and one housing fund, and there is annual leave. The benefits are very good..."

The better he made it sound, the uglier the expression on Li Xue's face became.

She wasn't stupid. Although Sheng Zichen didn't explicitly reject her, she could hear it: he didn't want to be with her, he didn't want to elope, and he didn't want anything!

Li Xue questioned: "You come to our family's breakfast shop every day to eat breakfast, not because you like me?"

Zichen:...

Of course not.

Although it wasn't, it wasn't easy to say it explicitly. After all, young girls have thin skin, and one should always leave them some dignity.

He said: "Your knife skills are very good; I was mesmerized watching them. Your father taught you, right? I know that even if someone teaches you, you need talent. If there is no talent, even the best master cannot teach an outstanding apprentice..."

Li Xue: "You mean, you don't like me, you just took a fancy to my knife skills? You don't want to be with me, you just want me to be an employee?"

The expression on her face was very hurt; she bit her lower lip tightly, trying very hard not to let her tears fall.

This look was exactly the same as someone suffering from a broken heart.

Zichen:...

This girl was stubborn and didn't know how to turn a corner at all.

He had no intention of hurting a young girl's feelings, but these things had to be made clear. The more ambiguous the beginning, the greater the hurt to the girl later.

He nodded and said: "Yes, I have always admired your knife skills, from beginning to end."

"You are a very good girl, but I don't want to consider personal matters right now, and I haven't thought in that direction."

Only then did Li Xue'er understand that he went to her family's breakfast shop every day to buy fried buns and seafood porridge just because he liked the fried buns and seafood porridge, and it had nothing to do with her as a person...

To say it had nothing to do with her wouldn't be accurate; there were still her knife skills.

She couldn't save face and spat out a hateful sentence: "Dream on, I wouldn't work for you even if you gave me an annual salary of ten million."

After she finished speaking, she ran out.

It was getting late, and the security in that area of theirs was not very good; Zichen was afraid that if something happened to a young girl out at night, what would he do, so he chased after her.

"Wait, let me see you home."

"No need, stay away from me."

Li Xueer ran out, and her tears could not be held back as they fell.

This was her first time experiencing the stirrings of love, and her confession to a boy had actually been rejected; if he didn't like her, he didn't like her, so why bother chasing after her to see her home?

Scumbag.

Li Xueer was very innocent; she had never been in a relationship before, so her definition of a scumbag was not accurate.