NOVEL NEXT Chapter 143
Chapter 143: Losing Out In The Same Industry
“Aren’t Tiantian’s parents your parents too?”
Lu Yuxi casually replied, “Do you want to call them to ask?”
Xu Le’s expression was a little awkward. To be honest, ever since he transmigrated, although he had the original owner’s memories, the system did not give him any contact information. Otherwise, he would not have worked so hard to repay the mortgage. These things should be the responsibility of the original owner’s parents.
Xu Le said, “When will the show start?”
“It will be a live broadcast in four days.” Lu Yuxi pouted and said, “They are really confident. Every time the live broadcast voting ends, they will edit it and upload it to the platform.”
“Mmm.”
Xu Le was even more puzzled. What was Chen Yeqi trying to do?
The suspicion reached its peak the moment Zhang Tong stepped into the restaurant.
At 8 pm, when the shop was about to close, Zhang Tong slowly found a corner and sat down. Once he came in, Xu Le recognized him.
Lu Yuxi rubbed her right shoulder with her left hand and was happy that business was exceptionally good that day. She stood in front of the counter and counted the cash. When she turned her head, she noticed that Xu Le’s expression was not right and said, “It’s him. He also participated in that competition previously. I heard that he lost terribly. The Heavenly Restaurant was probably afraid that it would affect business, so they fired him directly.”
Xu Le widened his eyes. “But he’s the head chef.”
“Shh.” Lu Yuxi lowered her voice and said, “Who knows? The head chef isn’t the boss. Besides, Zhang Tong has won so many awards in the competition. He’s too highly praised. If he reaches too high a level, he’ll fall even more miserably.”
Lu Yuxi shook her head and sighed. “That’s why I don’t approve of you participating in the competition either. It’s just that the show is attracting too much attention. The public’s opinion will definitely affect your future…”
At the end of her speech, she suddenly realized that something was wrong. “Of course I know your level of cooking skills and believe that you will win.”
“Mmm.”
Xu Le did not take it to heart. He placed the sliced Buddha’s Roll in the oil pan and said softly, “Let’s wait a little longer and see how my parents end up.”
When it was past 9 pm, there were only a few customers in the restaurant. They were those who wanted to find Xu Le to take a photo and he had agreed to it. After taking photos, they saw Zhang Tong sitting in the corner in a daze, looking haggard. Hence, he turned around and entered the kitchen.
Lu Yuxi asked, “What are we having for dinner?”
Xu Le teased, “Didn’t you say you wanted to lose weight?”
“I’m hungry. I have to have supper today. I’m exhausted.”
“Okay, what do you want to eat?”
“…I saw that you have fresh steak in the fridge. Why don’t you fry it with butter?”
Xu Le paused for a moment. He had been too busy just now. He had exchanged two more pieces of steak with the system. Just nice, he was also hungry.
Seeing his hesitation, Lu Yuxi rebuked, “Don’t tell me you’re so petty that you won’t even let me eat a piece of steak?”
“Of course not. There’s no butter or rosemary in the shop, let alone knives and forks.”
The dishes served on the menu were all authentic Chinese cuisine, so they didn’t require these condiments at all and weren’t prepared.
“Why don’t we just cut some and stir-fry it? We can even make some stir-fried beef.”
Lu Yuxi was slightly disappointed, but she was very confident in Xu Le’s culinary skills. She knew that no matter what ingredient was in his hands, he would be able to turn something rotten into something magical, so her disappointment was fleeting.
“I’ll make a Lotus steak.”
Traditional Chinese cooking methods could stimulate the tender juices of the beef steak to the greatest extent. The sauce was very appetising and served as the best choice for supper.
“Alright!”
Lu Yuxi’s eyes lit up. She changed into a clean rag and went out to wipe the table.
“Wait,” Xu Le called her. “Go ask Zhang Tong if he wants to have supper together.”
Xu Le could tell that Zhang Tong had been sitting there for a few hours. He must have something to talk to him about and was too embarrassed to ask. Hence, he got Lu Yuxi to lead the conversation.
“Sure.”
After Lu Yuxi left, he took out the steak. The meat was dark red and tender, and there was not a single drop of blood on the porcelain plate. The system had given him the best beef, and the meat was of the highest quality. It was perfect for steak.
He cracked three eggs, added salt, sweet potato flour and a little baking soda, put on gloves and then wrapped the sauce evenly around the steak.
In the pan, he poured oil and cut the onions and garlic into small piece. The black pepper was stir-fried in the pan. Then, he added yellow wine, oyster sauce, rock sugar, dark soya sauce and white pepper.
Finally, he poured a small amount of water into the pot to boil. Then, he used starch water to thicken the sauce. When a layer of oil appeared on the surface, the sauce would be ready and he placed the pot aside.
Xu Le placed the beef into the frying pan and slowly grilled it. As it sizzled, the color of the beef gradually turned white and the edges curled up. With the egg white wrapped around it, the beef wouldn’t become too hard even if it was fully cooked.
He flipped the meat over and waited for both sides to turn golden brown. Then, he immediately poured the sauce that he had mixed. Without placing the cover over, he let the sauce boil for five minutes.
Soon, the glossy brown and fragrant lotus steak was served. Xu Le cut it into strips that were two centimeters wide and used the dried lotus leaves as the base to serve.
They belonged to the same industry, so serving one dish might seem too stingy. Furthermore, Xu Le was also worried that with Lu Yuxi around, it might not be enough, so he planned to make another main dish.
Xu Le added water in the pot. Originally, he wanted to make tomato egg noodles, but when he was looking for the ingredients, he saw a box of clear and tender prawns. He suddenly changed his mind and grabbed a handful of tender green spinach.
“I’ll make clear prawn broth noodle soup.”
He could not help but swallow at the thought of the fragrant soup base and the sweet prawns.
Xu Le had cooked a lot of delicious dishes, and he had been busy the whole day. The customers were full of praises for him. Perhaps it was because he had been cooking “strong-flavored” food for the whole day, he suddenly wanted to eat a bowl of light noodles to change up the taste.
Xu Le immediately washed the spinach clean and gently pressed the prawns with a kitchen napkin to dry the moisture on the surface. He added salt, pepper powder, and a small amount of yellow wine to remove the fishy taste. Finally, he wrapped the prawn evenly in starch to ensure that the texture was fresh and tender.
He cut a cross on the surface of the tomatoes and put them in the boiling water. Then, he took it out to peel the skin and changed into another knife to cut the tomatoes into small pieces.
The spinach was blanched with boiling water for 30 seconds to remove the hydrochloric acid inside, then scooped out and cut into small sections.
The prawns were slipped into boiling oil and could be scooped out with just a few toss.
Xu Le had originally intended to boil the noodles with clear water, but he suddenly remembered that he had all kinds of soup broth in his kitchen. Hence, he scooped two spoonfuls of the warm chicken soup that was left over from making boiled cabbage. It was clear like water and looked no different from boiled water.
“Hey!”
Lu Yuxi suddenly popped out from behind him, startling him. He looked up at her. “What are you doing?”
“Haha, I have a very good idea! I must tell you now, not even for a minute later!”
Lu Yuxi grinned happily, but she didn’t dare to speak too loudly. She said mysteriously, “Chef Zhang said that his whole family is staying in the local area, but he hasn’t been able to find a suitable job recently. The pay offered to him was too low and he didn’t have the money to open a restaurant, so… you know.”