Yan Yincheng was dissatisfied and aggrieved. "Zixi, you haven't cooked for me yourself since I got injured..."
Xie Shi also said, "Zixi, I was just joking about the special guest chef. You don't have to take it seriously. I'll take care of Mr. Zhong."
Only Zhong Guobiao retracted the leg he had already stepped out with a beaming face. Happily, he turned around and went back to the front desk.
"Is what Miss Xu said true?"
"Deal. It's 55 million for a meal," Xu Zixi said with a smile.
Zhong Guobiao: "..." What? Did he say that? Well... it seemed so when he boasted about the price just now. This was indeed too expensive. Xie Shi's dinner only cost 500,000... This little girl was really tactless. Couldn't she just treat it as a joke?
Should he just ask Xie Shi to take care of him? Xie Shi had just agreed...
Noticing the hesitation on Zhong Guobiao's face, Xu Zixi said, "Mr. Zhong can pay after the meal. If the dishes I cook don't suit your taste, I won't charge you a single cent for tonight's dinner. How about that?"
Zhong Guobiao looked at Xu Zixi, who was calm and exuded a proud confidence. Her words sparked his competitive spirit.
"Fine! I'd like to see how good the cooking skills of this mysterious chef who can rival Xie Shi are!"
Yan Yincheng was still unhappy. He was like a child whose toy had been snatched away. He shuffled over to Xu Zixi, reached out and tugged at the corner of her clothes. "Zixi..."
Xu Zixi gently held his hand, hooked his neck, and coaxed him in his ear, "Brother Cheng, a fool never turns down easy money. 55 million is no small amount. Let me bleed him dry. After that, I'll cook your favorite dishes for you. Okay?"
After saying that, she gave him a peck on the cheek. Then, Yan Yincheng was in a daze and happily agreed.
Right, a fool never turns down easy money. Humph, he just wanted to see how this fool would obediently hand over 55 million.
Wait... Why did it feel like he was scolding himself too?
Finally realizing that he was also a "fool" who had obediently offered up his money, Yan Yincheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But... compared to this guy surnamed Zhong, he was still the winner. Zhong was only paying 55 million for a single meal, while he could enjoy her cooking for a lifetime!
After washing her hands, Xu Zixi sat down opposite Zhong Guobiao. Zhong Guobiao was a bit puzzled. Why was she sitting down instead of preparing the ingredients?
"Mr. Zhong, you know that every chef has their own cooking habits, and mine are different from other chefs. I like to listen to stories before cooking. I'd like to ask you, what's the most unforgettable food in your memory? What did it taste like, and what kind of story does it have?"
Zhong Guobiao was a food lover. He especially enjoyed tasting delicacies from all over the country, so he naturally knew that every chef had their own habits and quirks.
Take Xie Shi for example. She would meditate for half an hour before cooking every time, so that she could reach her best state of perception. The food she made was not only extremely delicious but also gave people a sense of peace.
Therefore, he didn't feel offended and began to think along with Xu Zixi's words.
The most unforgettable food in his memory?
He couldn't help but recall the events thirty years ago. At that time, he wasn't the president of Huading Chamber of Commerce yet. He was just a young man who had come to Shenzhen with 10,000 yuan to start a business. There, he founded his first electronics factory.
Zhong Guobiao had caught the wave when he started his electronics factory. He made a fortune from this factory.
But later, due to his poor ability to choose employees and mismanagement, his electronics factory went bankrupt in less than half a year. He suddenly became a penniless debtor. How poor was he? He had to fight with stray dogs for buns.
Having failed in his business and being in debt, he didn't dare to return home. He didn't dare to face his wife, who had just given birth to a chubby baby boy, and his worried family. By then, he hadn't had a full meal for five days. Desperate and hungry, he walked into a fast-food restaurant, planning to eat a free meal and then commit suicide.
I don't know if the expression on his face was too obvious. It caught the attention of the fast-food restaurant owner. The owner filled a large box of food for him and sat in front of him to chat.
The fast-food restaurant owner told him about all the difficulties he had encountered since opening the restaurant, such as not being able to afford ingredients and being maliciously competed against by peers who threw cockroaches into his dishes, which made him lose a lot of money. As he talked, Zhong Guobiao was touched by the owner. He finally gave up the idea of suicide and gained the confidence to make a comeback.
After knowing that he had thought it through, the fast-food restaurant owner fished out a big drumstick from the pot and put it in his bowl. He said that the food didn't cost much, but life was priceless, so this meal was free. He could eat as much as he wanted.
This meal left a lifelong impression on Zhong Guobiao.
After telling this story, Zhong Guobiao felt a bit ashamed. What he missed wasn't some rare delicacy in the world but the most ordinary fast food. For top chefs like them, this might be an insult, right?
But then he heard Xu Zixi say, "Could you please describe the taste of that fast food again, Mr. Zhong?"
Zhong Guobiao was stunned for a moment and then described it to her in detail.
After listening, Xu Zixi said with a faint smile, "Okay, thank you for your story, Mr. Zhong. Please sit back and relax for a while. I'll prepare dinner for you right away."
Zhong Guobiao's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't help but clench his fists. That fast-food restaurant had silently closed down in the torrent of time, and the owner had returned to his hometown. He hadn't tasted that flavor for decades.
Could it be... that he could relive that memory today?
Actually, compared to chefs who cook high - end private - dining cuisine, fast - food restaurant chefs are the most difficult ones.
Different from the delicate and beautiful high - end cuisine, fast food means cooking quickly over high heat. The large number of customers leaves no time for chefs to do delicate plating or calculate the proportion of seasonings. This results in the fact that in the same restaurant, even by the same chef, the taste of the dishes cooked ten minutes apart can be completely different.
Yan Yincheng and Xie Shi were sitting together. Both of them were watching to see how Xu Zixi would cook the fast food in Zhong Guobiao's memory.
Xie Shi had never tasted Xu Zixi's cooking, so there was a bit of worry on her face. But Yan Yincheng wasn't worried at all. Zixi could even make a simple scallion oil noodles so delicious that it became his fond memory. Obviously, this challenge wouldn't be a problem for her.
The ingredients were quickly prepared. The fire was lit, and the stove was heated. When the iron pan reached a certain temperature, clear oil was poured into it. The oil temperature rose rapidly. Seizing the right moment, the ingredients were put into the pan. There was a "hiss" sound, and the aroma of the food began to be released.
If other food lovers who had been to "Poetic Flavor" were here, hearing the sound of the spatula rubbing against the pan, they would think they had suddenly stepped into a roadside fast - food restaurant.
Although these sounds were a bit out of place in the elegant and even a bit Zen - like "Poetic Flavor", the aroma wafting from the stove unconsciously made people salivate. Zhong Guobiao craned his neck towards the kitchen countless times, wishing he could rush in immediately to taste the food.