Chapter 54: Grandpa Cai’s Invitation to Beijing’s Gourmet Expo

“He’s the champion of the Shanghai Food Exhibition’s 12th season. He’s the genius Chef God who had beat Zhang Tong and Li Peng!”

Many people had watched the livestream that day, so they all looked at Xu Le with respect. However, among them, there were many people who were arrogant despite learning only for a few years.

The young man standing on the most left glanced at him with a mocking expression. How great could a child who was not even as tall as him be? There were many examples of marketing and insider connections in this world that made mediocre people into geniuses. He did not believe that Xu Le really had any capability! However, he could not flare up because of his superior.

Xu Le sensed that sharp gaze and raised his head to retort. He said, “Choose someone to learn the procedures from me first. All of you should have some culinary skills as foundation, so as long as you control the fire well, this dish is not difficult to learn.”

He had only practiced it a few hundred times in the system. The one on the left was unconvinced, so he took the lead and stood out. “I’ll learn from Teacher Xu.”

Zhang Heng could sense the rashness in his words and signaled him not to say anything dumb.

Xu Le was cracking an egg with one hand. When he heard that, he replied calmly, “It’s not appropriate for me to be your teacher based on my age, but when it comes to cooking later, there might be a possibility.”

Li Qing wasn’t convinced and introduced himself, “I’m the chef in charge of making ‘Jade King Crab with Ginseng’ in Giant Crab.”

“That dish is a famous dish. However, the main point is the freshness of the radish and the ingredients. At the end, the taste of the gravy is more important than the original taste of the ingredients. Although it’s a famous dish, it’s not a superb dish.”

Xu Le commented gently and sounded very neutral.

Li Qing choked with anger and widened his eyes.

That day’s focus was to teach him how to make crabs. Xu Le wouldn’t be childish enough to argue with him, so he used his capability to speak. “Just follow me. Watch carefully.”

It wasn’t as if Li Qing hadn’t cooked this dish before. Seeing the cold expression on his little face, he felt that he was being looked down upon even more. Hence, he gritted his teeth and insisted on being one step faster than Xu Le. He fried the sole fish, stir-fried egg yolks and egg white separately, added salted egg yolk to improve the taste, and finally used ginger and vinegar juice to stimulate the taste of crabs. Li Qing had seen every step and had even done it himself.

However, the ingredients were very obedient under Xu Le’s hands. When he cooked, the pot and spatula were like a part of his body, and he could control them freely.

With every step of stir-frying, his movements were nimble, and his expression was calm and composed. The ingredients in the pot repeatedly emitted alluring fragrance, and the color was beautiful.

Many of the chefs present were stunned. Watching an eight-year-old child cook was simply like watching a public movie. Besides feeling warm and healing, they sighed with emotion at how powerful his inner core was.

In the end, when Li Qing scooped out the egg, his expression displayed some timidness. He didn’t even dare to bring his plate to Xu Le’s side to compare. Zhang Heng took a bite, and the taste was indeed far worse. He took another bite of Xu Le’s meat, and after discovering that it was the indistinguishable taste of fresh and tender crab meat, his brows relaxed. He reminded Li Qing, “You should be a bit more modest and learn well. Not everyone has the chance to learn from a grandmaster. If you’re still indignant, then try it yourself.”

Unwilling to give up, Li Qing picked up his chopsticks and took a bite. Before he put it into his mouth, he was still thinking, “It’s a fool’s dream to turn an egg into the taste of crab meat. Many ingredients can only be close to the taste and can’t be completely replaced.”

These thoughts immediately shattered after he put the food into his mouth. He stood rooted to the ground for a long time before saying, “You’re not really deceiving me with real crab meat, are you?”

There was a burst of laughter around him. Xu Le didn’t say anything. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back like a little adult and began to point out the problems in Li Qing’s dish. He said, “In the beginning, the fire was too strong. The egg white also needed to be cooked. You took the sole fish out before the fragrance could be completely mixed in. Also, the ratio of ginger and vinegar is wrong and you forgot to add sugar.”

Soon after, the rest of the chefs began to work on the dishes. Under Xu Le’s guidance, they improved rapidly. However, they still needed to practice hard for a few more months to reach his level.

The eight-year-old cafeteria had always been the most popular place on Hongxing Street. Xu Le was busy from morning to night every day. Although the number of people eating did not decrease, he could clearly feel that its popularity would drop bit by bit.

After all, in an era of rapid development, it was possible to be popular for 15 minutes and lose popularity for another 15 minutes.

With the current human traffic, he had all sorts of opportunities if he wanted to cash out immediately or attract attention. However, Xu Le still wanted to focus on the restaurant.

If he wanted to make a name for himself, he had to gain the recognition of the industry and increase the reputation of the shop.

He had been thinking about this problem for several days. Finally, one morning, he received a call.

It was a kind and familiar voice. “Little kid, do you still remember me?”

Cai Lan!

Ever since the recording of Taste of China ended at his place, he and Cai Lan had exchanged their phone numbers, but they had never really contacted each other.

“Of course I remember. Grandpa Cai, why are you looking for me?”

Xu Le vaguely felt that this call was not simple.

Sure enough, Cai Lan smiled and said, “Our team has finished filming the last episode. Now that I’m back in Beijing, I’d like to invite you over to be the guide for this program.”

Xu Le said in disbelief, “For Taste of China?”

This national variety show with hundreds of millions of views! To actually invite him to be a guide, was he dreaming?

Cai Lan withdrew his smile and said earnestly, “Xu Le, I admire you very much. Talent is too important to a person. If you can come, you’ll definitely be able to learn and develop more.”

It was a mutually beneficial thing, and he could learn from Cai Lan, so why not?

Xu Le knew that he couldn’t refuse, so he nodded. “Okay, Grandpa Cai, but my shop is still open. I’m afraid I won’t be able to leave anytime soon. When the program is about to start editing, I’ll come over to see you.”

Cai Lan agreed immediately. “Sure.”

Then, they had some small talk. Just as they were about to hang up, Cai Lan suddenly thought of something and said, “Do you want to participate in a competition? It’s hard for you to participate through the ordinary procedure at your age, but with my recommendation letter, you can directly enter the competition with your restaurant.”

“Ding!” The system’s robotic voice sounded in his mind. “Congratulations on unlocking the new mission to raise the popularity of the shop.”

“Mission Details: Get into the top three in the competition.”

“Mission Reward: A rare and long-lost recipe book.”

With the system notification, Xu Le did not even think about it and immediately replied, “Alright, I’ll go. Thank you, Grandpa Cai.”

“Mmhm, the Beijing Food Expo will send you an invitation very soon. Remember to sign it.”

“Ding! Host has registered for the Beijing Food Expo.. Reward: 500 Gourmet points.”