Australian Lobster, Alaskan King Crab, Japanese Wagyu, yellow-lip fish, Bluefin Tuna, Coral Grouper, Yangtze River Knife Fish, Spanish Palamos Red Shrimp, Iberian Ham, New Zealand Black Gold Abalone, French Foie Gras, caviar, Black Truffle, Edible Gold Leaf, saffron, Tahitian Vanilla, Matsutake Mushroom, Black Skin Watermelon, Blueberry Cheese, Mao Pa Sen Cheese, Italian Balsamic Vinegar, Persian Blue Salt, and more...
An Unpretentious Cookbook, where every dish called for the finest ingredients.
Not only had Li Xian never seen these ingredients, let alone tasted them—there were many he had never even heard of.
It was hard to imagine putting all these premium ingredients together to make a burger, a hot dog, or even a bowl of fried noodles or wontons.
Every recipe in the whole cookbook was so simple and straightforward that it completely overturned his understanding of food. So this was another way to use the phrase "unpretentious."
Was this really eating? Wasn't this just eating money?
Which immortal had written this cookbook? That was some next-level cooking.
All right, once again, poverty had limited his imagination.
Li Xian closed the cookbook and swallowed. He'd been looking at it for so long that he was genuinely hungry.
This was the first time he'd gotten hungry just from looking at recipes.
"Man, I'm still not a qualified rich guy..."
Li Xian muttered, then lit a 1916 cigarette to calm his nerves.
After that, he turned on his computer, planning to play a round and soothe his "tormented" nerves. But once he entered the game, he couldn't focus. His mind was full of those dishes, and his Lee Sin kept making all sorts of mistakes.
After two failed ganks and getting killed in return, he immediately typed GG in chat.
"Guys, I'm hungry and can't focus. Let's surrender at twenty."
"Why are you scared? Just fight!"
"Why surrender? Come mid and fight first!"
"You're not from Server Four, are you? Did you come from Jushen Pit?"
Li Xian stared at the screen, awkwardly. He was a bona fide fearless hothead—how could he possibly back down?
If it was time to fight, then he'd fight. Li Xian never lagged behind anyone. He brought his Lee Sin to mid, caught the enemy mid laner out of position, and landed a Sonic Wave. After hitting the enemy mid laner, he flew straight in and followed up with a roundhouse kick. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to hit Flash.
The enemy mid laner was kicked under the tower. As soon as he recovered, he unleashed one skill after another at Li Xian's Lee Sin, then teamed up with the enemy jungler, who had arrived just in time, to claim Li Xian's bounty.
Li Xian took his hands off the keyboard...
Mid instantly became a two-on-one. Li Xian's play left his own mid laner dumbfounded. Before he could retreat under the tower, the two enemies killed him together.
The mid laner took his hands off the keyboard...
The first mid tower fell in an instant. The top and bottom lanes couldn't get there in time, and the enemy had already pushed up to the second tower. They followed up and took that one, too.
At that point, the bottom-lane support and AD finally made it over. Unfortunately, the enemy bottom-lane duo ambushed them on the way and left them at critical health. The situation quickly went south.
Li Xian's Lee Sin respawned. He immediately blamed everyone else, typing a line into chat: "You said we'd fight mid. Where were you guys?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Damn it, I really *****."
Li Xian sighed at the screen. "Man, I'm a born teamfight starter, but it's a shame my teammates can't follow up. Had I not been born, Li the Jungler, the LPL jungle would have been lost in eternal night."
As he lamented, the game ended. No need to surrender at twenty—the enemy had pushed up to the high ground by the eighteenth minute.
"Time to eat, time to eat..."
He closed the game and eagerly flipped through the cookbook. After several pages, he really couldn't decide.
In the end, he chose Burger King over Grilled Cold Noodles.
"Burger King for dinner, Grilled Cold Noodles for a midnight snack... Heh, that's settled."
Li Xian was decisive. As soon as he'd made up his mind, he called his butler, Lin Yuan, into the room.
The refined short-haired woman was dressed much as she had been yesterday, but her makeup was more elaborate today, adding a point or two to her looks.
"Mr. Li, what can I do for you?" Lin Yuan asked respectfully. She sighed inwardly. Mr. Li finally had a request. If he kept needing nothing and wanting nothing, it would make her job of gathering information on him very difficult.
A private butler had to take care of a guest's daily needs, including meals, while also learning about the guest's preferences, habits, tastes, and so on.
That was the only way to provide better service.
For a distinguished guest like Li Xian, who was visiting the hotel for the first time, they had no information about him at all. So they had to be especially attentive in their daily interactions and gather information about him.
First, this was to provide Li Xian with better service in the future. Then, it was to create a personal profile for him.
Wherever he went from then on, Li Xian's personal profile would appear immediately in the hotel's client system. Even if he never visited the Grand Hyatt again, other hotels would provide this level of VIP with attentive, meticulous service.
That was why wealthy people favored high-end hotels.
At that moment, Li Xian had no idea how things worked. He didn't know that every move he made was being recorded.
For example, his modest manner, casual dress, preference for higher floors with good views, liking for spacious courtesy cars, interest in red wine, and love of barbecue and beer were all being noted one by one.
Oh, and one rather unusual preference: he liked getting scrubbed and preferred female masseuses...
If Li Xian knew his private butler was writing down a bunch of nonsense, he wouldn't know what to think.
I clearly prefer male masseuses...
That time... was totally an accident. The system screwed me over.
Well, there was no way to explain that one.
Anyway, enough of that. Li Xian held up the cookbook and said to Lin Yuan, "I need some ingredients. Take this down."
"Of course, Mr. Li."
"One king crab weighing at least three kilograms, five hundred grams of 5A Wagyu, one hundred grams of Sturgeon Caviar, two hundred grams of Iberian Ham, one hundred grams each of Matsutake Mushroom and Black Truffle, some saffron, five sheets of Edible Gold Leaf, five burger buns, and a bottle of Kobe water... Hmm..." Li Xian thought for a moment. These ingredients should be enough to make five burgers. "That's it. Get them ready quickly."
"No problem, Mr. Li," Lin Yuan replied. Then she asked, "Pardon me for asking, but are you planning to prepare dinner yourself? Would you like me to arrange for a chef?"
He had completely forgotten about the chef. "Get me a chef, and have them bring everything up."
At home, the most Li Xian ever made was egg fried rice or instant noodles. Having him handle such fine ingredients would be a waste of food.
Lin Yuan left the room and immediately arranged for a server to bring a chef and prepare the ingredients. She also wrote down Li Xian's requests one by one.
Now that was a normal rich person's taste. Maybe the grilled kidneys earlier had just been a whim, Lin Yuan thought.
Five-star hotels were efficient. In about ten minutes, all the ingredients Li Xian needed were ready.
Along with the food cart and Lin Yuan came a middle-aged man in a white chef's uniform.
"Hello, Mr. Li. It's an honor to serve you. I'm Li Zeguang, head chef at the Star Bay No. 1 restaurant. You can also call me Kevin." The middle-aged man introduced himself with a confident smile.
Li Xian shook his hand. "Hello. Sorry for the trouble."
"It's my pleasure." Li Zeguang smiled and glanced at the ingredients. "Mr. Li, I'm skilled in all kinds of cooking. I'm just not sure what you prefer.
"Looking at the ingredients you've prepared, I can make a small suggestion. For example, this 5A Wagyu could be the main course. It can be pan-fried, deep-fried, or charcoal-grilled. If you'd like Wagyu sushi, I can make that, too.
"This king crab is quite large. Steaming it whole would be a bit of a waste. It'd be best to use the legs for appetizers, perhaps with cheese or Salt Baked. The rest could be used to make soup. Miso Soup is one of my specialties, Mr. Li. Would you like to try some...?"
Chef Li chatted away, his confidence and enthusiasm so plain to see that Li Xian couldn't bring himself to interrupt.
But Li Xian wasn't interested in steak, Miso Soup, cheese, or any of that. So, when the other man paused, he cut him off.
"Hold on a second..."
"Mr. Li, have you made up your mind?"
"Mm... I want..."
The corners of Li Zeguang's mouth lifted slightly. He said eagerly, "You have excellent taste. My Miso Soup is absolutely superb. I guarantee you'll be savoring it for a long time..."
"No, no. I want a burger!"
"Huh?" Li Zeguang froze, unable to believe his ears. What on earth was a burger?
"Mr. Li, did you say a burger? Did I hear you wrong?"
"That's right, a burger." Li Xian nodded. "What, can't you make one?"
"Well..." Li Zeguang's smile stiffened, and his throat felt as if something had gotten stuck in it.
Wagyu, Iberian Ham, king crab, caviar, Black Truffle, and Matsutake Mushroom—all put into a burger.
Good heavens, what on earth was this guest thinking?
Li Zeguang felt the beliefs he'd spent more than a decade building begin to crumble. He was a little dazed.
"If you don't know how to make it..." Li Xian ventured.
"No, I can do it." Who didn't know how to make a burger? Li Zeguang laughed bitterly to himself.
"Good, good. Get started. Make a Triple Beef Burger." Li Xian nodded and pointed to the ingredients on the food cart. "Pan-fry the Wagyu into a patty and put it on the bottom layer. Pick all the meat out of the king crab, fry it, and put it on the second layer. Put the ham on the third layer. Use lettuce, Black Truffle, and Matsutake Mushroom as the layers in between. Add some saffron and caviar too—just talking about it is making my mouth water. Oh, and lay the gold leaf on top of the bun."
"Uh... You really know how to enjoy yourself," Li Zeguang said with difficulty.
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