Chapter 205

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

"CAO! Who the hell do you think you are! Telling me to get lost?"

The middle-aged master's anger flared straight to the top of his head; he rolled up his sleeves and was about to step forward.

He had known Li Hong'an for many years and was an old employee of the shop; usually even Li Hong'an spoke to him politely.

Yet now he was being lectured with a finger pointed at his nose by a wet-behind-the-ears kid who had been here less than a week.

How could he swallow that?

The surrounding chefs saw the atmosphere was wrong and hurriedly stopped their work, stepping forward to hold the middle-aged chef back.

"What are you doing, what are you doing!"

Li Hong'an's furious voice came from the doorway.

Li Hong'an walked in from the door, his face dark as he looked at the scene: "Customers are still outside waiting for dishes, what are you making a ruckus for! Do you all not want to work anymore!"

Seeing Li Hong'an lose his temper, the middle-aged master's tense body relaxed a few degrees.

But when his gaze swept over Cheng Fan's couldn't-care-less expression, he still felt some resentment: "Boss Li, this kid is deliberately picking a fight, right? The back kitchen is already busy to death, and he's still nitpicking this fault and that fault, I really..."

Li Hong'an suppressed his anger a little and walked quickly between the two.

He secretly tugged the middle-aged master's sleeve, using his eyes to signal him to calm down: "Alright alright, I've said it, for back kitchen matters you have to listen to Head Chef Cheng, however he says to do it, you do it."

Seeing the middle-aged chef still standing there with an unconvinced face, unwilling to move, Li Hong'an glared at him: "Why aren't you hurrying to the storeroom to swap a batch of eggs? If the delay holds up serving dishes and a customer complains, this month's bonus is gone!"

The anger on the middle-aged master's face turned to reluctance; he glared at Cheng Fan and said through gritted teeth: "Got it, I'm going now."

He picked up the basket holding the eggs and smashed it down hard; several eggs inside shattered.

"Alright alright, everyone get back to work!"

After the middle-aged chef left, Li Hong'an sighed and said loudly.

The chefs resumed their busyness; a conflict passed just like that.

This was already the third time.

Looking at Cheng Fan, who was continuing to stir-fry at the stove with an appearance of not caring at all.

Li Hong'an helplessly rubbed his somewhat throbbing temples; his fat face wrinkled into a steamed bun.

Ever since Cheng Fan took charge of the back kitchen, his arrogant personality had made the back kitchen chefs very displeased with him.

Cheng Fan's way of doing things was strict to the point of being outrageous; not only did he constantly pick at their various faults in the back kitchen.

But he also made them go out from time to time to ask those customers about the texture after eating, whether they had any opinions on the food.

These chefs originally only needed to cook well, get off work on time, and wait for their salary at month's end.

Now they were like the waiters in the hall, having to put on smiling faces to face criticism from customers.

Every day after getting off work, they still had to summarize one by one the opinions collected that day and report to Cheng Fan.

Although Cheng Fan's cooking skill was good, his personality was really impossible to get along with properly.

Like just now. conflicts had already occurred in the back kitchen more than once or twice.

Regarding this Li Hong'an was also very helpless; Cheng Fan had only been here a few days and had already driven away two original chefs.

But he also had no way to criticize Cheng Fan.

Have to admit, ever since Cheng Fan took charge of the back kitchen, the shop's dish quality had indeed improved.

Complaints about dishes received at the front desk became fewer and fewer, good reviews more and more.

Therefore Li Hong'an also let Cheng Fan do as he pleased regarding his behavior in the back kitchen.

He knew, Cheng Fan was the back kitchen's destabilizing factor.

But as long as the dishes he made could retain customers, nothing else mattered.

After all, compared to those chefs' dissatisfaction, the restaurant's business was the most important.

"Head Chef Cheng, busy?"

Li Hong'an walked up behind Cheng Fan with a beaming smile and lightly patted his shoulder.

"Boss Li, I don't like being disturbed when I'm cooking."

Cheng Fan's face showed some displeasure, his tone carrying some impatience.

But compared to his usual attitude of scolding people, this was already restrained quite a lot.

After all Li Hong'an was the boss; surface respect still had to be given.

"There's a matter to tell you."

Li Hong'an didn't mind either, leaning in close and saying quietly: "Lu Feng came; he ordered your specialty Red Braised Pork, you make it well for him in a bit."

"Lu Feng?"

Cheng Fan's stir-frying motion suddenly paused; he abruptly lifted his head, his face revealing a few points of excited expression.

"Is it that Lu Family Restaurant boss from yesterday? He came to compete in cooking skill with me?"

Without waiting for Li Hong'an to respond, he directly turned off the stove fire, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to walk outside.

"Where are you going?"

Li Hong'an was quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbing his arm in one grip.

"I said yesterday I'd compete with him in cooking skill; him coming now, isn't it to answer the challenge?"

Cheng Fan frowned and looked back at Li Hong'an, his voice raised a notch.

Yesterday in Lu Feng's shop, under everyone's watchful eyes, being announced as put on the blacklist by him, Cheng Fan still felt stifled about it right now.

Now that Lu Feng had come knocking on his own door, how could he let this opportunity slip?

"My Chef Cheng, pull yourself together, will you?"

Li Hong'an sighed helplessly, his tone carrying a hint of sternness: "Do you think this is a cooking competition venue? The restaurant is open for business! Aren't you attending to the customers?"

Seeing that Cheng Fan looked like he wasn't listening, Li Hong'an's smile faded: "I asked just now—he's just here to eat, he didn't mention competing with you at all, so don't cause trouble for me!"

"Eating? Who believes that!"

Cheng Fan sneered, his eyes full of hostility: "He said he'd blacklist me in front of so many people yesterday, and today he comes to eat at my place? Even if he's not here to compete in cooking with me, he's definitely here to find fault!"

"Settle down!"

Li Hong'an's face completely darkened, and the hand gripping Cheng Fan's arm tightened: "He didn't mention yesterday's matter at all. Cook properly for me, don't go out and cause trouble! If it affects business in the shop, don't blame me for turning against you!"

Cheng Fan glared at Li Hong'an, fell silent for a while, but the arrogance on his face did not diminish in the slightest.

He shook off Li Hong'an's hand with one jerk, turned around, and yanked open the refrigerator cabinet door.

Among a pile of fresh pork belly, he picked out the best piece.

These pork bellies were premium black pork airlifted from Jingcheng.

He had gotten them from his senior brother in Jingcheng yesterday.

These meats had a moderate fat-to-lean ratio and top-notch quality, costing several times more than the pork he usually used.

"Fine, I won't go out."

Cheng Fan placed the meat on the chopping board and scraped the knife across it a few times.

Who knew if he was treating this pork belly as Lu Feng in the hall.

"I'll let him see what a State Banquet Chef's skill really is, and let him know just how far the culinary skill of his street-side small shop falls short of mine!"

Li Hong'an finally breathed a sigh of relief and patted Cheng Fan's shoulder: "Fine, cook well, call me anytime if there's anything."

Cheng Fan ignored him, and the kitchen knife in his hand began to dance.

He wanted to make a perfect Red Braised Pork, to make Lu Feng's jaw drop in shock after eating it.

Lu Feng, sitting in the front hall, was completely unaware of what was happening in the back kitchen.

The several signature dishes he had ordered had been served one after another, and at this moment he was carefully tasting every dish.