Zhou Yan

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Zhou Yan (周砚)
Alias(es)	Little Zhou; Erwa; Comrade Zhou Yan
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Age	20 11
Affiliation	Zhou Erwa Restaurant; Zhou family
Occupation/Role	Chef, restaurateur, and owner of Zhou Erwa Restaurant
Status	Alive; transmigrated into Zhou Yan's body after the original Zhou Yan died following the Qingyi River incident 1 2
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “Reborn in 1984”

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Knife Skills — Intermediate; Heat Control and Seasoning — Beginner; Eloquence — Advanced	1	Initial chef-system profile. His knife work is already competent, but his heat control and seasoning are inadequate for a true chef.
Heat Control and Seasoning — Intermediate	8	Improved through sustained restaurant work and mastering noodle dishes; Knife Skills rise to 9604/10000 at the same time.
Food Appraisal — Master	7 8	Reward for restoring Xia Yao’s appetite with braised pork rib noodles. It is a fixed, non-upgradable special skill.
Restaurant Influence — 100/100	11	Completion of the restaurant-influence objective unlocks the Qiaojiao Beef recipe.
Conquer the Textile Factory — 380/1000	25	Progress toward his long-term system quest, earned through factory-worker patronage.
Knife Skills — Advanced	36	Achieves an advanced rank after continued cooking, recipe development, and restaurant service; Conquer the Textile Factory rises to 462/1000.

Background / History

Zhou Yan takes over the body of “Little Zhou” after the latter jumps into the Qingyi River during Xia Yao’s drowning incident. He inherits Zhou Yan’s memories and emotions, as well as a chef-training system from his previous life. Initially unsettled by transmigration, he accepts the Zhou family as his own after witnessing Zhao Tieying and Zhou Miao’s fear for his safety and Zhou Momo’s immediate affection. 1 2

Before the takeover, Little Zhou had left an apprenticeship at the Textile Factory canteen, opened Zhou Erwa Restaurant, accumulated more than 800 yuan in debt, and developed a poor reputation for cooking. His conflict with Factory Canteen director Wang Defa ultimately led to his dismissal and contributed to the despair surrounding the river incident. 1 14 46

With the restaurant close to failure, Zhou Yan begins rebuilding it through hand-pulled noodles, improved toppings, careful ingredient selection, and public endorsements from Lin Zhiqiang and Zhao Dong. His rescue of Xia Yao gives him an opening to overturn his reputation, while his cooking turns that goodwill into a sustainable customer base. 4 5 6 7

Appearance

Zhou Yan is a notably tall, clean-cut young man whose appearance frequently draws attention from workers, students, and customers. He is 1.82 meters tall and has the build of someone accustomed to physical kitchen work. 4 10

• Tall, straight-backed, and powerfully built. 4
• Sharp facial features, deep-set eyes, and distinctive peach blossom eyes that soften his expression. 10
• Keeps a neat crew cut and favors clean white cotton chef shirts, blue work pants, and a dark apron. 4 10
• Has rough, callused hands and fingertips from kitchen labor. 10
• Maintains exceptionally tidy clothing, clipped nails, and a professional appearance despite working in a busy kitchen. 47

Personality

Zhou Yan is confident, composed, and unusually quick to adapt. His former experience as a food-review blogger and his advanced Eloquence skill make him comfortable speaking publicly, negotiating with customers, and responding to praise without appearing overly deferential. 1 28

He is strategic rather than reckless in business. He tracks costs, adjusts portions, studies customer habits, uses public endorsements as promotion, and favors quality over price-cutting. He is willing to make generous gestures—such as giving away food or sharing recipes—when they build genuine relationships and long-term trust. 7 24 27 31

His attachment to the Zhou family becomes central to his decisions. He wants to repay their debts, improve their living conditions, support Zhou Miao’s fishing hobby without embarrassing him, and give Zhou Momo a secure childhood. 12 25 33

Although he recognizes Xia Yao’s importance to him, Zhou Yan initially treats romance as a distraction from financial security and career-building. His willingness to exchange letters with her nonetheless reveals a desire for companionship beyond the restaurant. 30 33

Abilities & Skills

Culinary Expertise

Zhou Yan is a rapidly developing chef whose specialties combine Sichuan flavors, careful knife work, and strong control of texture, broth, and seasoning.

• Pulls even, springy hand-pulled noodles despite initially having no practical experience with the technique. 3
• Produces advanced-quality Double-Pepper Beef Tossed Noodles, Braised Beef Noodles, Braised Pork Rib Noodles, Pickled Mustard Greens, Qiaojiao Beef, Steamed Basket Rice, and Agastache Carp. 8 20 36
• Develops dishes including Suihua Beef, Beef Braised with Dried Bamboo Shoots, Braised Spare Ribs, Qiaojiao Beef, and Agastache Carp into restaurant signatures. 48 49
• Learns from traditional cooks, particularly the old lady’s braising methods, rather than relying solely on system rewards. 39
• Began with weak Heat Control and Seasoning; early system evaluations considered Little Zhou closer to a prep cook than a true chef. 1

Food Appraisal

A Master-level system skill gained after Xia Yao recovers her appetite.

• Instantly assesses an ingredient’s freshness, origin, seasonality, quality, and condition. 8
• Helps Zhou reject diseased pork, identify inferior goods, and maintain ingredient standards. 8 9 15
• Is explicitly non-upgradable. 8

Restaurant Management and Branding

Zhou Yan applies practical marketing knowledge to make a small private restaurant competitive against established stalls and the Textile Factory canteen.

• Uses the outdoor earthen stove, the aroma of simmering Qiaojiao Beef, and painted origin stories as a low-cost signboard and brand identity. 27 28
• Enlarges Qiaojiao Beef portions to reinforce value and build customer loyalty before competitors can copy his model. 27
• Plans service by time of day: noodles in the morning, then Qiaojiao Beef, braised dishes, and stir-fries during lunch and dinner. 23 46
• Uses surplus food to cultivate local goodwill, including supplying factory security personnel and night-shift workers rather than allowing prepared dishes to go to waste. 24
• Cannot expand too quickly because he is initially the restaurant’s only chef and prioritizes consistency over an oversized menu. 47

Chef-Training System

Zhou Yan possesses a sarcastic chef-training game system that records his skills, wealth, dishes, quests, and restaurant influence.

• Main objective: become a world-famous God of Cooking. 1
• Rewards successful quests with recipes and special skills, including Food Appraisal and Agastache Carp. 7 33
• Tracks negative and positive Wealth Value separately from cash on hand. 1 36
• Keeps the Wealth Marketplace locked until his Wealth reaches 1000. 1 20

Equipment & Assets

• Zhou Erwa Restaurant — A roughly 200-square-meter restaurant with a large kitchen, a dining hall that fits twenty tables, an outdoor yard extending toward the riverbank, and space for future expansion. 2
• Three-burner earthen stove — Holds two iron woks and a soup pot; later becomes part of Zhou Yan’s visual branding for Qiaojiao Beef. 2 27
• 28-inch bicycle — Given by Lin Zhiqiang in gratitude for Xia Yao’s rescue; used for shopping, deliveries, and transporting family members. 5 7
• Parker fountain pen — An imported pen given by Xia Yao as a personal token of gratitude. 10
• Chef-training system — His primary source of quest objectives, recipes, skill records, and appraisal functions. 1 8

Relationships

• Zhou Miao — Father. A highly skilled cattle butcher who supplies beef and bones, supports the restaurant, and teaches Zhou Yan practical skills such as cleaning eels. 13 33
• Zhao Tieying — Mother. Fiercely protective, frugal, outspoken, and increasingly Zhou Yan’s principal partner in the restaurant kitchen. 2 6 25
• Zhou Momo — Much younger sister. Zhou Yan is deeply protective of her and indulges her with candy, noodles, bicycle rides, and praise; her charm also becomes an accidental draw for customers. 2 8 14
• Xia Yao — The woman Zhou Yan rescues from the Qingyi River. She becomes a loyal customer, promotes his restaurant, gives gifts to his family, and later asks to exchange letters with him. 5 15 33
• Lin Zhiqiang — Xia Yao’s uncle and deputy factory director. A grateful patron and influential ally who gives Zhou Yan a bicycle, publicly endorses his food, and introduces him to Wang Hongliang. 5 6 46
• Meng Anhe — Lin Zhiqiang’s wife and Xia Yao’s aunt. She respects Zhou Yan’s manners, cooking, handwriting, and business sense, while remaining alert to his growing connection with Xia Yao. 10 11 46
• Zhou Jie and Zhou Hai — Cousins and beef-soup vendors. They support his business, teach him soup-pot techniques, and later become recipients of his Qiaojiao Beef instruction. 13 16 31
• Zhou Lihui — Cousin and prospective apprentice. Inspired by Zhou Yan’s cooking, he chooses to pursue a chef’s path and begins learning under him on a trial basis. 35 36
• Xiao Lei — Former master from the Factory Canteen. Zhou Yan remains loyal to him and wants to challenge the canteen partly because Wang Defa unfairly demoted Xiao Lei. 23 34
• Wang Defa — Director of the Factory Canteen and a major antagonist. His prior mistreatment of Little Zhou and Xiao Lei makes him both a business rival and a personal enemy. 14 23 46
• Wang Laowu — Rival noodle-stall owner. He tries to buy Zhou Yan’s restaurant cheaply, launches a price war, and later resorts to unsafe ingredients. 4 14 15
• Wang Hongliang — Textile Factory director and experienced cook. Initially skeptical of Zhou Yan’s youth, he becomes a strong admirer after tasting the restaurant’s full menu. 47 48 49

Story Role / Major Arcs

Restaurant Rebirth

After accepting his new family and system, Zhou Yan refuses to transfer the failing Zhou Erwa Restaurant. He opens noodle service with Double-Pepper Beef Tossed Noodles, Braised Beef Noodles, and Braised Pork Rib Noodles, determined to restore the restaurant without asking his parents for further money. 2 4

Rescue and Reputation Recovery

Zhou Yan’s rescue of Xia Yao earns Lin Zhiqiang’s gratitude, a bicycle, and public recognition. He immediately turns Lin and Zhao Dong’s visit into a public tasting, using their honest praise to overcome factory workers’ distrust of his former cooking. 5 6 7

Qiaojiao Beef Expansion

After reaching 100 restaurant influence, Zhou Yan unlocks Qiaojiao Beef and turns it into a signature product through medicinal herbs, family beef supplies, a traditional origin story, and careful pricing. Its success allows the restaurant to move beyond noodles and operate more effectively during afternoon and evening hours. 11 12 23

Branding and the Academy Visit

The Sichuan Fine Arts Academy delegation identifies Zhou Yan’s stove, signage, aroma, and Qiaojiao Beef story as a practical example of brand building. Their repeated meals provide major publicity, establish him as more than an ordinary noodle vendor, and deepen his connection with Xia Yao. 26 27 28 33

Recognition by Factory Leadership

Lin Zhiqiang brings Director Wang Hongliang to Zhou Erwa Restaurant despite Wang Defa’s hostility. Wang’s praise of Zhou Yan’s Suihua Beef, Qiaojiao Beef, and Agastache Carp elevates Zhou from a promising young restaurateur to a chef recognized as capable of rivaling elite Chengdu cooks. 46 48 49

Notable Quotes

“Your new battlefield could be serving the people in the township government or serving workers in a factory.” 39

“What was love? It would only slow down his money-making.” 30

Trivia

• Zhou Yan dropped out during his second year of middle school, yet his handwriting, visual arrangement, and marketing instincts impress Professor Su Jun. 11 28
• He previously spent four years as a food-review blogger, an experience that contributes to his confidence in public settings and food-related knowledge. 28
• Despite rescuing Xia Yao from dangerous water, Zhou Yan initially could not swim. 5
• Zhou Momo’s affectionately exaggerated praise and appeal to customers lead to her being associated with a “Sales Champion Physique.” 14