Family Banquet

Jia Shengnan had not yet arrived in Ning City, but he had already sent over a team of kitchen assistants. More than twenty people came in a great procession, including buyers, plating assistants, and cooks for both the meat and pastry stations, led by Chef Wang from the Food Flavor Pavilion's food street branch.

Did he think everyone lived in a huge villa like him?! Lu Yuan's home was only a little over eighty square meters. There wasn't even standing room for that many people.

In the end, only Chef Wang, one kitchen assistant, one buyer, and one cameraman stayed.

The buyer went out to get ingredients while Lu Yuan and Chef Wang did the prep work. The two had met before, so they weren't complete strangers when it came to working together.

Jia Shengnan took this very seriously. He worried that Lu Yuan's cooking techniques would be too complicated for his chefs to remember, so the cameraman filmed the entire process from the side.

Lu Yuan thought it was a good idea. He really didn't have time to teach them a second time. While the cameraman filmed, Lu Yuan explained every step in detail, as though he were hosting a cooking show called "A Master Chef Teaches You to Cook."

The buyer soon returned with an assortment of ingredients that filled the living room. The world of the Divine Land lacked neither ingredients nor seasonings; what it lacked was the right way to combine them. Given time, the chefs here could develop all sorts of delicacies too. Lu Yuan was merely speeding up the process.

Four cold dishes

Zucchini in seasoned sauce, sea cucumber aspic, Sichuan pepper walnuts, and braised pig's trotters

Seven main dishes

Seven-treasure gourd duck, pagoda pork, white-cut chicken, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, mapo tofu, nine-turn large intestine, and crab roe lion's head meatballs

Three vegetable dishes

Cabbage in clear broth, oil-braised lily bulbs, and three treasures of the earth

Two soups

Peony bird's nest soup and Wensi tofu

Three desserts

Crab-stuffed oranges, plum blossom cakes, and red beans with fermented glutinous rice

Two staple dishes

Noodles with fried soybean paste and coconut rice

Throughout the process, Lu Yuan was the lead cook, while Chef Wang could only assist. The dishes he had never heard of, along with Lu Yuan's exceptionally meticulous cooking techniques, left Chef Wang dazzled and enthralled.

Jia Shengnan arrived in Ning City that afternoon and headed straight for Lu Yuan's home.

When he entered, he saw Lu Yuan cutting something and wanted to exchange a few pleasantries, only for Chef Wang to stop him.

"Shh!" Chef Wang gestured for the big boss to be quiet. "The master is cutting tofu."

"Cutting tofu?"

Jia Shengnan craned his neck to look. Why make such a serious affair out of cutting a block of tofu?

Then he saw Lu Yuan working with both hands in clear water, cutting an entire block of soft tofu into strands as thin as toothpicks. Jia Shengnan immediately shut his mouth.

Lu Yuan made the final cut and gently placed the tofu at the bottom of the pot. When he moved his hands away, the whole block of tofu turned into fine strands that bloomed in the water like a chrysanthemum.

Letting out a long breath, Lu Yuan explained to the camera, "The hard part of Wensi tofu is the knife work. The thinner the strands, the better. But none of them can be broken, or the presentation will be much worse."

After explaining, Lu Yuan got back to work. Jia Shengnan asked quietly from the side, "Old Wang, is this cultivation or cooking?"

Chef Wang shook his head and whispered back, "I don't know."

After a busy afternoon, they finally finished the family banquet. Without help, Lu Yuan really wouldn't have managed it.

The table used to serve the meal was also brought over from the Food Flavor Pavilion. Lu Yuan's home had only one small square table.

His parents and younger sister arrived home one after another.

Lu Wenkai had been at work, Xiao Bing had just finished school, and Xu Yongmei, who had only recently recovered from a serious illness, had paid a visit to her family.

When they left home that morning, Lu Yuan had said he would make a few "home-cooked dishes" for a family reunion meal. Each of them was stunned when they walked through the door.

"Bro, you call this home cooking?!"

Xiao Bing happily clutched her chest. She had been looking forward to Lu Yuan cooking for days, but for the past few days, Lu Yuan had been pestering their mother to cook every day.

Lu Yuan said modestly:

"The kitchen was too small for me to really show what I could do. Besides, some things needed to be prepared well in advance, and there wasn't enough time. Everyone, just make do with these few little dishes."

"Looks like I'm really going to be out of a job," Xu Yongmei said with a sigh. Xiao Bing talked all day about how Lu Yuan's cooking was second to none, and she had thought it wasn't true. But looking at the presentation of the dishes on the table, she could never have made them in her lifetime.

"Let's eat while it's hot."

The family prepared to sit down. At that point, Jia Shengnan couldn't very well keep standing there, so he prepared to take the helpers and say goodbye.

Lu Wenkai was a very traditional man. How could he not understand that a visitor was a guest? When he heard that Jia Shengnan was the father of Lu Yuan's classmate, he insisted that he stay and eat with them.

The couple didn't know that Jia Shengnan was the one who had paid the 1.5 million in medical expenses. Otherwise, they would have been even more courteous.

"There are so many dishes, and the table is so big. It would be a waste for just the four of us to eat."

Jia Shengnan shamelessly stayed. Of course he wanted to taste the food for himself.

Chef Wang and the cameraman sat down as well.

There was one seat left. Jia Shengnan's eyes darted around, and he called his daughter over.

Jia Xuanxuan came over looking thoroughly unhappy. He sat down and began to sulk. Facing Lu Yuan was painfully awkward for him now, but his dad just wouldn't let him off.

Once the meal began, everyone ate in silence. The food was so delicious that no one spoke; they were all eating with all their might.

They were all dishes they had never seen before, flavors they had never tasted before!

Heaven knew where Lu Yuan had learned these skills.

But no matter how delicious the food was, there was only so much a person's stomach could hold. When the staple dishes were served, the fragrance of coconut rice made everyone's mouths water, but unfortunately, they really couldn't stuff down another bite.

Everyone at the table except Lu Yuan was holding their stomachs and letting out satisfied burps.

Jia Shengnan knew it was time to take action.

At first, he had been somewhat skeptical of Lu Yuan's claim. Had he really mastered so many dishes no one had ever heard of?

But after this meal, Jia Shengnan no longer doubted him. It wouldn't take much. If the Food Flavor Pavilion could reproduce the dishes on this table, it could pin the entire Divine Land's culinary world to the ground and beat it senseless.

The most urgent thing now was to hold on to Lu Yuan tightly. Besides, although Lu Yuan said he didn't want anything, Jia Shengnan couldn't possibly offer nothing at all.

Jia Shengnan was a clever man. He knew there was no use currying favor with Lu Yuan. Someone who could share these dishes free of charge would be hard to buy off with money. But he knew Lu Yuan cared deeply about his parents.

So Jia Shengnan kept chatting with Lu Wenkai and his wife about everyday family matters.

He was a billionaire, while Lu Wenkai and his wife were only ordinary workers. His friendliness left the couple somewhat flattered and surprised. Lu Yuan's parents were honest, ordinary people to begin with.

"Brother, you got home so late. Where do you work?" Jia Shengnan was a businessman, all right; he was already calling him brother.

"Mr. Jia, please don't. I'm not older than you."

Lu Yuan's father spent a while protesting before answering, "I'm a welder at an equipment factory in the west of the city. I make four or five thousand a month. I'm just an ordinary person, nothing like a successful man such as you, Mr. Jia."

Jia Shengnan chuckled. "Brother, you've raised an outstanding son like Lu Yuan. You're already very successful."

Those words were very pleasing to the couple. They sat a little straighter and spoke a little louder. They might only be ordinary people, but Lu Yuan was bound to have a bright future. Thinking of it that way, Jia Shengnan no longer seemed like some wealthy man far beyond their reach.

Jia Shengnan's eyes darted around, and he said with a troubled look:

"Brother, speaking of welding, I've been quite worried lately."

"Several of my shops weren't properly fitted out, and now the exhaust systems keep cracking."

"I've hired welders to deal with them, but a few days after they weld them, they crack again. I don't know what to do. I can't very well tear everything out and redo the whole fit-out, can I?"

The honest and good-natured Chef Wang had spent the meal eating with his head down. Hearing this, he looked up at his boss and thought, How come I've never heard about this?

Lu Wenkai suspected nothing and said with a smile:

"Exhaust ducts carry a lot of greasy fumes, which corrode the welds. The welders you hired, Mr. Jia, weren't experienced and didn't know how to deal with it.

"How about this? I'll come take a look when I have time tomorrow and help you fix it, Mr. Jia."

"That would be wonderful! I'll await your arrival tomorrow!"

Jia Shengnan put on an expression of great relief.

Lu Yuan lowered his head to drink his tea, hiding the smile at the corners of his mouth.

An honest man like his father really was no match for a businessman like Jia Shengnan. Once his father went there, Jia Shengnan would probably use all sorts of methods to make him stay and become the Food Flavor Pavilion's "exclusive welder," sitting in an office and drinking tea every day.

Then his salary would shoot up.

Lu Yuan knew Jia Shengnan was trying to curry favor with him, but he didn't object. His father's job was hard, and it would be nice for him to switch to an easier one.