Chapter 705: Chapter 704: Food Tyrant’s Stomach 3

Property documents in exchange for a satisfying dinner?

Lei Zhe spoke, and Zhonghua Building fell silent.

In the past, Principal Mars and Xia Yu had made similar bets, but those were within the confines of a small shop, known only to a few people, without the presence of many diners or the watchful eyes of the media.

Therefore, the price of this dinner was astonishing.

But this price came with a precondition: satisfaction of the so-called “Food Tyrant’s Stomach.”

Ordinary people might not quite understand the appetite of a Food Tyrant Chef, but any guest who had contact with one, upon thinking of this condition, would turn pale.

They looked again at the document envelope on the table, relief in their eyes.

No wonder!

This thing was hot to handle.

Hadn’t Lei Zhe said it? This was a wager, where he alone offered a stake worth a fortune, and Xia Yu, as the master chef of the restaurant, only needed to put his personally cooked food on the betting table.

If Lei Zhe was satisfied, all was well.

If it failed, not only would the stake not be won, but he’d also face Lei Zhe’s ridicule, getting ground into the dirt with no chance of fighting back.

The silence lasted a moment.

“How interesting!”

Xia Yu chuckled inwardly, looking at Lei Zhe; this guy was definitely emulating Principal Mars.

Speaking of which, Principal Mars had also been generously adorable, flying from the United States to Japan to visit Xia’s Restaurant as soon as he landed, presenting the shopping street property as a gift, like the actual “thousand-li head delivery.”

Principal Mars had integrity; he kept his word.

And now, with so many people present, Xia Yu wasn’t worried about Lei Zhe reneging on the deal, otherwise Lei Zhe’s status as a Lin Chef would truly be shattered beyond recovery.

“Alright, a set of tofu dishes!” Xia Yu called out, turning his head to instruct the assistants in the nearby open-air kitchen, “Start preparing the ingredients!”

Without needing further explanation, the assistants he had appointed, Yuchuan Ayaka and Hozoi Midori, got busy.

Yuchuan Meisha stood by as a substitute, assisting.

“Wait!”

“Andrea of the ‘Burning Purple Rose’ raised her hand high: “I want a set of tofu dishes as well!”

“Two sets, then!”

Xia Yu nodded his head and immediately turned to Catherine, who was not very talkative.

“The ‘Blood Sausage of Cattle, Pig, and Bird,’ ‘Golden Smile,’ and ‘Four Gods Seafood Eight Treasures Soul Suppressing Bun!'” she emphasized, “These three classic dishes are what I want, nothing else!”

“No problem!”

Xia Yu turned and left.

Qian Rixiangzi, temporarily in charge as the supervisor, saw this, and her eyes twinkled. She dashed toward the kitchen in short, quick steps and returned with a tray, placing soup bowls in front of the three Lin Giants, “Enjoy!”

“What is this?!” Lei Zhe snorted.

“Complimentary appetizer soup! Seafood soup!” Qian Rixiangzi softly whispered, a strange expectancy in her eyes.

Hmm?

The three Lin Giants sniffed the air.

Lei Zhe’s eyes flashed with scorn, “A freebie? Let’s see, the main ingredients include shrimp, clams, mussels…”

His speech suddenly stopped.

“Ah!” Andrea exclaimed in surprise, her delicate nose sniffing continuously, “There’s seaweed, this ocean flavor is so unusual, it must be Fantasy Ingredients!”

“Imperial Seaweed!” Catherine added.

“That’s right, that’s right!”

Now, even the Lin Giants couldn’t hide their surprise.

Fantasy Ingredients in a complimentary soup? This was truly generous hospitality!

“And there’s ‘Four-finned Flagfish’!” Lei Zhe looked down at the tomato-red soup with sparkles of light dancing in his eyes, the glow of ideal ingredients.

Ideal ingredients!

Unable to contain his astonishment, Lei Zhe no longer cared if the reporters and diners were watching, he raised the bowl, despite the soup being freshly boiled and very hot, drank down most of it in one go, and fell silent for a long time.

“As expected!” His spirit shook as he confirmed his suspicions, Lei Zhe inwardly gasped, “This, this is an ideal recipe!”

“How could he serve a dish from his own life menu as a complimentary offering on the table?”

Lei Zhe was dumbfounded.

A “life menu” represented the career of a high-level chef!

“Delicious!”

“Wow, I’ve seen the deep sea. Besides deep-sea ingredients, the butter, onions, tomato sauce, and white wine mixed in my mouth are performing a symphony, utterly fantastic!”

Two female Lin Chefs exclaimed in surprise.

“Gurgle—”

A clear, drum-like protest from a belly.

Huh?

Everyone turned their gaze towards the source of the sound, Lei Zhe, expressionless, with one hand pressed on his stomach, as if communicating with his own stomach, “Stop it!”

He said.

“Tonight, your satisfaction will not be met.”

In the eyes of the ordinary person, this scene couldn’t help but convey a sense of the supernatural and thrilling.

“Lei Zhe, I don’t think so!” Andrea put down her soup bowl, her little tongue following the contour of her glistening lips, carefully licking around to clean every last aftertaste, before she said with a crazed smile, “My stomach is telling me, it’s very likely to burst today!”

Then the two of them looked at Catherine.

This female giant, whose style and demeanor resembled a mysterious witch, with her glossy black hair and possibly mixed-heritage facial features, simply commented, “A very aggressive appetizer soup.”

“This ideal recipe seems to have been further refined, with many brilliant alterations not found in the original framework… For example, the fish fins have been pan-seared, which, while reducing its freshness, has intensified the flavor. Then, adding squid to the ingredients creates a plus, replenishing the lost freshness…”

Subtraction, addition, complementing ingredients.

The female giant needed only one bowl to uncover the mysteries behind the thick soup.

Watching the three giants discuss the appetizer soup, Qian Rixiangzi turned her back, waving her small fists at Shigong Xiaoci Lang, who was paying attention to this place—

Humph, this is just an appetizer, wait and see what’s coming!

Chef Qian smiled again with squinted eyes, and his eyes curved upward with delight, as if the surprise of the Lin Chefs at his dish brought him immense joy.

Shigong couldn’t help but laugh upon seeing this.

But from the curvature of his smile, this graduate seemed to be in a pretty good mood too.

Here was just a tiny part of the Zhonghua Building.

Apart from the three Lin Chefs, Skywell’s open-air kitchen was another focal point.

Xia Yu returned to his kitchen station.

“The tofu is prepared!”

Yuchuan Ayaka said, dressed in white from top to bottom, her model-like figures were well-highlighted by the modern chef’s uniform she wore.

Behind her were two large slabs of “Shuangjiang Tofu,” freshly retrieved from a mobile refrigeration unit.

The so-called 3-course tofu meal, for the first dish, no tricks were played; Xia Yu personally refined his maiden masterpiece—

“Shuangjiang Magical Mapo Tofu.”

These ingredients, provided by IGO, were naturally not of the same quality as those purchased from the system, but according to Xia Yu’s design for the impromptu tofu set meal, the first tofu dish didn’t need to be astonishing and could just be ordinary enough to leave a memory of tofu on the tongues and in the mouths of the three Lin Giants.

The deeper the memory, the more shocking the overturn at that time.

Having cooked this dish countless times, Xia Yu was skilled in preparing it.

He made the minced soy meat.

Starting another stove and pot, he heated up the oil, and in just a few minutes, the rich aroma of Mapo tofu swept through the entire Zhonghua Building like a wild wind.

“Serve the dish—”

With two large plates of Mapo tofu ready, Xia Yu spoke without looking up, then proceeded to wash the pots.

Don’t forget, the restaurant was still open for business, with too many orders queued. He took advantage of this lull to serve as many customers as possible, not wanting to keep them waiting too long and filled with complaints.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

This time, at the kitchen station and on the rack, ten pots were set—it was time for the “Silver Chopsticks and Ten-Pot Flip” to shine!

Meanwhile, Qian Rixiangzi, the temporary assistant, was personally carrying the tray with a sweaty face, placing two piping hot plates of perfect Mapo tofu in front of Lei Zhe and Andrea.

As for the “Beef, Pork, Bird Blood Sausage” Catherine had ordered, it was even simpler to prepare. Throughout the day, aside from simmering pot after pot of seafood broth to give away, many dishes followed the restaurant kitchen’s normal process, precooked to the step before plating, then sealed and stored, waiting to be taken out and completed at the last cooking step when ordered by customers, ready to be served hot.

“Is this the perfect Mapo tofu that ‘Taste Weekly’ once reported on extensively?” Andrea asked, “It seems to be called…”

“Shuangjiang Magical Mapo Tofu!”

Shigong Xiaoci Lang answered, his eyes faintly recalling the food battle he faced during the residential training period in April.

He added in his mind: This was the very dish that defeated me back then.

Now, although it was the same dish, the chef’s culinary level could not be compared to that time.

“Beyond perfection…”

“Is the ultimate!”