Chapter 304: Let You Open a Food Shop, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

Watching Fang Shiming weep as he missed his mother, Fang Yuan stood up and walked behind him, gently patting his back.

Her gaze fell on Fang Shiming's left hand, where a ring was worn on his ring finger.

The ring looked very plain, a style from several decades ago.

After her mother passed away, Fang Yuan had never seen her father take off this ring.

Another one had always been placed behind her mother's photo frame.

When Fang Yuan was young and immature, she once secretly put the ring on her finger and went out to play.

After Fang Shiming discovered it, he scolded her harshly.

It was not until Fang Yuan turned eighteen that Fang Shiming gave her that ring as a gift.

Now it hung around her neck.

Fang Yuan gently touched the ring around her neck, as if she could still feel the warmth of her mother's fingers on it.

She recalled the scene of her mother holding her hand to go to school when she was young, and her eyes also became moist.

"Dad, I miss Mom."

Fang Yuan's voice was choked with sobs, her head lightly resting on Fang Shiming's arm, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Fang Shiming held his daughter's cold hand, sighed softly, his voice low: "Dad misses her too."

At this moment, a sound of footsteps came from the kitchen side.

Cheng Fan carried a plate over, with the dish he had just made on it, still steaming with heat fresh from the pot.

He had just walked to the restaurant door when his footsteps suddenly stopped.

The scene before his eyes left him a bit dazed.

The father and daughter who were fine just now, how did they end up crying while eating Red Braised Pork?

What was going on?

Could it be that the Red Braised Pork he made tasted too good, moving this father and daughter?

Cheng Fan subconsciously glanced at the dining table, his gaze falling on that plate of Red Braised Pork he had made.

The four pieces of Red Braised Pork in the plate were still neatly arranged, and the plating was still exquisite.

That's not right?

It clearly looked like no one had touched it!

Looking at Lu Feng's portion next to it, the Red Braised Pork in his plate was clearly much less.

Impossible?

Cheng Fan's brows instantly knotted together, and his heartbeat quickened by several points.

Could it be that Lu Feng's Red Braised Pork was really that delicious?

Could it make people cry from eating it?

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Cheng Fan would never believe it no matter what.

After all, he was the disciple of State Banquet Chef Qi Yunfeng.

After tasting the Red Braised Pork he made this time, he felt it was more perfect than any time he had made before.

But the scene before his eyes forced him to believe it.

Fang Shiming and his daughter were clearly like this because they had eaten the Red Braised Pork made by Lu Feng.

And his own portion had not been touched at all by now.

Cheng Fan only felt a surge of insecurity rising in his heart, as if a basin of cold water had been poured from the top of his head.

He put the plate in his hand on the dining table, then quickly returned to the kitchen.

Lu Feng had made a large portion of Red Braised Pork just now; after serving out one portion, the rest was put by him into an insulated box and placed on the chopping board.

Cheng Fan looked at that insulated box, feeling inexplicably a bit guilty in his heart.

He reached out to take a pair of chopsticks, lifted the lid of the insulated box, picked up a piece of Red Braised Pork and put it into his mouth to savor carefully.

The next second, Cheng Fan's eyes suddenly widened.

After the Red Braised Pork entered his mouth, various fragrances complemented each other in his mouth, distinct in layers and extremely harmonious.

"This taste... perfect!"

Cheng Fan was a bit absent-minded and subconsciously praised it.

Recalling again the taste of the Red Braised Pork he made himself...

To be fair, the Red Braised Pork Cheng Fan made today could be considered quite excellent.

As the disciple of a State Banquet Chef, he was very careful when learning his craft.

Now his culinary skill had already surpassed most chefs of his age.

His best Red Braised Pork even made several of his senior brothers and sisters feel self-deprecating.

But compared with the one Lu Feng made, it simply could not compare.

Cheng Fan stood blankly in place, not even noticing that the chopsticks in his hand had fallen to the ground.

The aftertaste of the Red Braised Pork made by Lu Feng still lingered in his mouth; this taste completely overturned his understanding of his own culinary skill.

The Red Braised Pork he made used the old recipe personally taught by his master.

He had always thought that his culinary skill had already reached seventy percent of his master's level, and among young chefs in the country, he was already considered top-tier.

But now he realized that compared to Lu Feng, the difference wasn't just a little—it was worlds apart.

Cheng Fan even felt that the flavor of Lu Feng's Red Braised Pork might not even be something his master could reproduce.

He had tasted his master's Red Braised Pork before; it emphasized rich oil and red sauce, crisp but not falling apart.

But Lu Feng's version, on top of the original flavor, added a touch of freshness.

As if every single flavor of the ingredients themselves had been fully drawn out.

This couldn't be achieved by technique alone; it required an extreme understanding of the ingredients.

Cheng Fan recalled his arrogant and overbearing appearance in Lu Feng's shop before.

He also recalled the time he met Lu Feng at Hong'an Restaurant, when he had flushed red in the face chasing after Lu Feng to compare culinary skills.

And then he thought about how he had forced Li Hong'an to arrange a match with Lu Feng, slapping his chest and saying he would make this Xiao Can Guan owner know the gap between him and a State Banquet Chef Disciple.

Those scenes played back in his mind at this moment, every detail seeming to slap Cheng Fan's face, making him feel somewhat ashamed.

Wasn't he just like a jumping beam clown?

Cheng Fan smiled somewhat self-mockingly.

He had always felt that as a State Banquet Chef Disciple, he was superior to Lu Feng, this Xiao Can Guan owner.

Every time he saw Lu Feng, his eyes carried contempt.

But now he finally understood that Lu Feng hadn't put him in his eyes at all.

He hadn't even regarded him as an opponent.

Lu Feng refusing to compare culinary skills with him wasn't out of guilt, but because he disdained to compare.

That feeling was like how an adult wouldn't compare with a child who fights better.

Cheng Fan suddenly realized that the reason Lu Feng had left so decisively just now was that he hadn't taken his provocation to heart at all.

If Lu Feng had truly accepted his challenge, and the two of them had actually competed in culinary skills in public.

The result would definitely be obvious.

By then, his title as a State Banquet Chef Disciple would probably become a joke.

After that, in the chef circles of Jiangcheng, or even the whole country, he feared he would never be able to hold his head up again.

Thinking of this, Cheng Fan suddenly felt a chill, and a layer of cold sweat seeped out from his back.

He panted heavily, and only then did his mood calm down a little.

If he could also make such Red Braised Pork...

After calming down, this thought suddenly popped into Cheng Fan's mind, and his eyes lit up.

If his Red Braised Pork could reach Lu Feng's level.

Not to mention the current Head Chef of Hong'an Restaurant, even any Michelin Three-Star Restaurant in the country would probably scramble to hire him.

By then he wouldn't need to rely on the title of State Banquet Chef Disciple to prop himself up; relying solely on his own culinary skill, he could stand firm in the chef world.