Xu Le thought he was flattering him and ignored him.

It was another day with extremely good business. The shop was filled with customers and there was even a queue at the entrance. Every time it was meal time, the stall would be packed.

Xu Le and Zhang Tong were busy in the kitchen. When they were serving the stir-fried shredded pork, Zhang Tong couldn’t help but ask curiously, “They gave bonuses to every chef who participated in the competition and even organized the show overseas. What exactly do they want to do? How much fame does he have as a chef? Although many of the people outside are here because of your fame, those who come for your fame will only come once, the rest will be won over by the taste of your food.”

Zhang Tong skillfully adjusted the Buddha’s scroll that he had just fished out of the oil pot and continued, “Perhaps everything will be clear when the show ends.”

“Instead of talking about this, why don’t I summarize the Master Chef’s habits during competition? Only by knowing yourself and your enemy…”

Zhang Tong turned around to hand over the dishes. Halfway through his sentence, he looked behind Lu Yuxi.

Lu Yuxi noticed his gaze and turned her head behind.

The person standing behind her was dressed in casual white clothes. He looked up and smiled. “You’re working here now.”

Zhang Tong knew that this person had no intention of mocking him, so he did not feel disgusted. He said, “What are you doing here? Xu Le, did you call him over?”

Xu Le turned around and saw Chen Xian.

The two of them hadn’t crossed paths other than a few times during their last match.

“No.”

Chen Xian said, “I saw the official announcement. Xu Le is actually participating in the competition. I was afraid that the child will be tricked, so I came to take a look.”

Zhang Tong finished the dishes that he was preparing and wiped the water off his hands. As he walked out, he said, “The contract has been signed. It’s done deal. It’s useless even if you come.”

“Mmm.”

As his name suggested, Chen Xian looked very free. Other than occasionally participating in competitions, he was also said to be a specially hired chef at a certain Michelin restaurant. It was already very diligent of him to work two or three days a month.

He sat at the table, picked up a piece of West Lake Vinegar Fish, and put it in his mouth. He said with slight relief, “Not bad.”

Xu Le was about to come out of the kitchen to greet him when Chen Xian raised his hand and said, “Little Master Chef, since we’re all in the same industry, can I order some dishes?”

It was time for dinner. Xu Le had already soaked the glutinous rice in preparation for dinner.

Hearing this, he said, “What do you want to eat? I’ll see if it’s convenient to cook.”

He wouldn’t agree to it if Chen Xian ordered a dish like ‘Buddha jumps over the wall’ that required a lot of ingredients and time to make.

“Stewed knock.”

After Chen Xian finished speaking, Xu Le frowned slightly. Lu Yuxi noticed his expression and said, “You’re so busy during mealtime. If it’s difficult to do, just reject it and change to something simpler.”

“It’s not difficult and we have all the ingredients, but there’s a particular step that’s quite troublesome. Come in and help. Get someone to watch over the front desk.”

“Stewed knock is a traditional dish in Nanjing. It’s a Jinling dish with more than 300 years of history. It’s now one of the four famous dishes of Nanjing’s Jiangsu Restaurant.”

As Xu Le spoke, he took out the eel and said, “The traditional way of making it is to first slaughter the eel and remove the bones. Then, use a wooden stick to beat the meat to make it loose, that’s why the name of the dish is as such.”

After it was made, it was fragrant and mellow. The meat was soft and mushy, with the stewed egg taste fused inside, so it had a unique flavor.

The trouble was the side ingredient inside—stewed egg.

It takes a lot of patience and skill to replace the yolk in an egg with a meat filling.

The earliest stewed knock was made with pigeon eggs. After constant improvement in texture, they were finally replaced with eggs stuffed with meat stuffing.

“Make a small hole at both ends of the egg to ensure that the liquid egg doesn’t leak. Then, place it into cold water in a pot and let it boil over high heat.”

Lu Yuxi did as she was told.

Xu Le, on the other hand, was mixing the meat stuffing. He minced the fat and lean meat, added some onions and ginger water to remove the fishy smell. Then, he added salt, and some light soya sauce. Finally, he added some starch to lock the moisture and stirred in one direction.

“In about ten minutes, after the eggs are cooked, cut open the flat end, take out the egg yolk, and stuff the meat stuffing in.”

It was easy to say, but it was extremely troublesome and exhausting to do. If he was not careful, he might fail.

Lu Yuxi’s expression was focused and serious. She was already meticulous to begin with. After stuffing the eggs one by one, none of them were damaged.

A three kilogram eel had its head cut and the mucus on its surface washed away. Then, he used the back of the knife to knock the surface and fried the eel in the oil until it was slightly curled.

“Aren’t we going to stew it later? Why did you fry it first?”

“After frying, it can lock the moisture on the surface and make it even crisper.” After Xu Le finished explaining, he glanced at Lu Yuxi’s stuffed eggs and nodded. “Not bad, you’re quite talented in cooking.”

The two of them looked at each other and recalled the cooking game Xu Tian had played in the car that day. They turned their heads and held back their laughter.

After Xu Le fried the eel, he poured some oil into the bottom of the pot and fried the garlic slices until they were golden. Then, after producing the garlic oil, he scooped it out. After that, he added onions and ginger and fried it. Finally, he fried the pork belly slices until they were golden brown.

At this moment, the fragrance had already been released and was especially obvious in the kitchen.

He added dark soya sauce, huadiao wine, a small amount of salt, chicken essence and seasoning, then poured the pork bone stock that the kitchen always had in excess.

After the soup base was mixed, the fried eel and “Immortal Egg” were placed in the pot to boil over medium heat. Before covering with a lid, fragrant leaves and aniseed were added.

“Just wait for it now. It’ll be ready in 40 minutes.”

After Xu Le was done, Lu Yuxi had nothing else to do too. The two of them were the only ones standing in the huge kitchen. Lu Yuxi said, “Have you started making the fried chop rice cake for tonight?”

“We’ll talk about dinner in the evening.” Xu Le suggested, “Why must we eat that dessert? Isn’t it the same if we go to the supermarket to buy it? Or we can eat hotpot tonight.”

Lu Yuxi said, “How can the packaged food bought from the supermarket be as authentic as yours?”

The two of them chatted for a while before Xu Le suddenly said, “You’ve been here for so long. Why didn’t your lover come to look for you?”

Lu Yuxi looked embarrassed and frowned. “If you want to know, I’ll tell you later.”

Xu Le said against his will, “Forget it, I’m not interested.”

He became angry and embarrassed again. Fortunately, Zhang Tong and Chen Xian started arguing outside. Xu Le found an opportunity and immediately went out.

“You’re talking nonsense!”

“Why would I lie to you? Buddy.”

Chen Xian crossed his legs and looked relaxed. Zhang Tong, who was beside him, stood up angrily to argue with him.

“Where’s the evidence? You’re lying.”

“It’s up to you to believe it or not. In any case, it doesn’t matter if you lose the competition or not. After participating in the show, your old boss won’t want you anymore.” Chen Xian said mysteriously, “Their business ambitions is far more than this. Perhaps the next one will be this little Master Chef’s eight-year-old canteen.”

“Me?” Xu Le asked, “What do you mean?”