Displaying Max-Level Chef Skills, Trapping Yi Zhonghai to Death

Silly Zhu chuckled when he heard Lin Zhen wanted to take Ma Hua on as an apprentice.

"Heh heh! You, Engineer Lin, are really something. What's up? Is the work in the workshop not challenging enough, so you want to spar with me?"

Lin Zhen smiled and asked, "Just tell me, did Ma Hua kowtow to you to become your apprentice?"

Silly Zhu shook his head. "No."

"Then that settles it! We people with skills don't miss out on promising talent. This young man Ma Hua is good, honest, and I appreciate him. I'm planning to take him as my apprentice and teach him divine chef skills. If you disagree, we can have a competition."

"Hahaha... Alright, alright, Lin Zhen, stop messing around. Divine chef skills? Go home and cook for your wife Lou Xiao'e. This is the cafeteria, don't cause trouble!"

Silly Zhu couldn't stop smiling.

He was one hundred percent confident in his cooking skills.

At the same time, he hadn't heard that Lin Zhen was a successor of any particular cuisine.

He figured Lin Zhen was just showing off his intelligence.

"Master Lin, can you really cook? Are you really going to poach a successor right here? We'd like to see the result."

The chefs in the back kitchen all wanted to watch the spectacle.

Although they knew Lin Zhen was a genius, it was all from workshop gossip. They had never heard he was a master chef.

Lin Zhen truly intended to take Ma Hua as his apprentice today.

If he were to enter the culinary world in the future, Ma Hua would definitely be his most loyal subordinate.

That was why he was prepared to reveal his max-level culinary skills for these people to see.

"Whether I can cook or not isn't decided by words. For the same dish, I can definitely beat Silly Zhu."

Silly Zhu scoffed, "Get real, Lin Zhen. Tell me, whose cuisine are you a successor of? I'm a successor of Sichuan cuisine and Jingpai Tan Family Cuisine. What about you?"

"Me? I'm sorry, I know a bit of all the Eight Great Cuisines."

"Oh, I... you, you're just bragging!"

"Are we competing or not? If not, I'm taking Ma Hua with me now."

"We'll compete! I'm not afraid of you! Right now, pick a dish from the back kitchen. We'll use the same ingredients."

Ma Hua was overjoyed. He never expected that just a few days after starting work, he'd have two master chefs vying for him.

Lin Zhen glanced at the ingredients stored in the back kitchen.

He smiled slightly. "Let's just use the most ordinary cabbage."

"Fine! It's settled. But I have an additional condition."

"Go ahead."

"If you lose, lend some money to Qin Huairu. She's quite pitiful."

"There's no need for your saintly pity. I'm taking Ma Hua for the Jia family's sake. But I also have an additional condition."

"What is it?"

"If I win, I'll have Ma Hua work in the workshop for a few months, and then he'll return to the cafeteria to continue working under you. You have to teach him all your best cooking skills."

"And what about you? So you won't teach, but you'll still claim the title of master?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Just say whether you agree or not."

"Hahaha... Alright, I agree on behalf of Silly Zhu!"

The person who spoke was the cafeteria director.

He had come to check on how the employees' lunch was being prepared and happened upon this scene.

Silly Zhu scratched his head, looking a bit awkward. "Well, let's get started then. Don't waste any more time."

Silly Zhu decided to make Hot and Sour Cabbage, a Sichuan dish.

He selected half a head of top-quality yellow cabbage.

Lin Zhen chose to make Golden Edge Cabbage from the northwestern region, picking only a few pieces of the cabbage core.

On the surface, Lin Zhen seemed at a disadvantage in his ingredient selection.

However, any knowledgeable chef would know that Lin Zhen had already won half the battle.

Using lower-quality ingredients to compete against superior ones gave him an initial advantage in terms of momentum.

Both of them worked quickly.

The knives flashed a few times, and the main dish and side ingredients were prepared.

Silly Zhu began stir-frying first.

His movements were orderly, and the heat was just right.

Without rushing, he presented a plate of Hot and Sour Cabbage to the cafeteria director.

The cafeteria director took a bite.

He nodded and said, "As expected of Silly Zhu. No matter where I travel for business, I can't eat food that tastes better than yours."

When it was Lin Zhen's turn, he immediately turned the heat to maximum.

With a flick of the wok, the thick-cut cabbage stalks tumbled in the flames.

This scene stunned the onlookers in the kitchen.

"That's the Four Gates Flower Strike! You can't flip it that evenly without over a decade of practical experience!"

"My master is from the Northwest, and he knows this, but I haven't learned it!"

"A true master indeed. I didn't expect Master Lin to be a successor of the Northwest cuisine!"

"Whoa! That's not right! This is even more amazing than the Four Gates Flower Strike. His wok tossing is masterful!"

"Hiss~"

Silly Zhu also gasped.

Lin Zhen tossed the wok with one hand, allowing the flames and ingredients to collide completely.

With his other hand, he added the seasonings at the most opportune moment.

Dried chili, scallions, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Not only was the timing perfect, but he also precisely controlled the proportions.

Silly Zhu's cooking was an extreme pursuit of deliciousness.

Lin Zhen's cooking, however, was a perfect harmony of timing, opportunity, flavors, and senses.

It had reached a state of unity between man and nature.

Lin Zhen stopped the heat and plated the dish.

The aroma filled the kitchen. Every edge of every cabbage stalk had been seared to a golden yellow.

The Workshop Director tasted a bite and couldn't help but close his eyes to savor it.

"Director, how is it? Say something! You're the judge, hey! Why are you just eating and not saying anything?"

Silly Zhu was anxious and quickly grabbed a piece himself.

The next second, he too fell silent.

The simpler the ingredients, the more they test a person's culinary skills.

And the Golden Edge Cabbage made by Lin Zhen was enough to make Silly Zhu recall the time his father, He Daqing, forced him to learn cooking when he was a child.

"Flip it! Toss the wok! What are you spacing out for, you idiot? Once you learn to cook, you'll never starve in this life..."

Silly Zhu wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Lin Zhen, I'm convinced. Ma Hua, you can take him!"

Looking up, Lin Zhen and Ma Hua were no longer in the kitchen.

All the chefs in the kitchen were closing their eyes, savoring the Golden Edge Cabbage.

Silly Zhu's worldview was shattering.

He realized that a dish could influence the emotions and memories of the diner.

"Master, who did you learn such amazing culinary skills from?"

Ma Hua asked Lin Zhen like a devoted fan as he ran alongside him.

"Haha, from my heart, from my passion. As long as you focus and love it, you can also create amazing food that makes diners freeze in their tracks."

"Yes! I love cooking, and I can endure hardship!"

"Good. First, go to the production workshop and fill in for Jia Dongxu for a few months. Besides your monthly salary of eight yuan, I'll give you an extra nine yuan for your hard work."

As an apprentice in the canteen kitchen, Ma Hua only earned eight yuan a month.

His master was giving him an extra nine yuan, which almost brought Ma Hua to tears.

"Thank you, Master. Um... will the Workshop Director agree to this?"

"Yes, I've already spoken to him. Work hard, and I'm very optimistic about you!"

"Okay!"

"Oh, and be careful of the eighth-level fitter Yi Zhonghai in the workshop. He's Jia Dongxu's master. Don't be fooled by his amiable appearance; he's an old fox."

"Don't worry, Master. In the steel rolling mill, I only recognize you!"

When the First Elder, Yi Zhonghai, saw Lin Zhen leading a young man to Jia Dongxu's post, he immediately became uneasy.

He hurried over and asked in a low voice, "Lin Zhen, what are you doing? Why did you find an outsider to replace him?"

"Ah~ First Elder, why are you so nervous? This is my apprentice learning culinary skills. I borrowed him from the canteen kitchen. I've already spoken to the Workshop Director, and he can definitely fill in for three months. Besides, he's not interested in the fitter position."

"Oh, you scared me. Then will he get my monthly 99 yuan?"

"How could that be? He's still a cutting apprentice. We can't mess up the system. Besides his usual 8 yuan salary, I'll give him an extra 9 yuan?"

"Ah? So, in just a few words, you're pocketing 90 yuan from me every month? You... you... sigh!"

Yi Zhonghai felt like he had been tricked, in a way he couldn't even complain about.