Chapter 5

When the customer's order came in, everyone in the kitchen started bustling about.

The kitchen of the flagship A-Qing Tower was quite large, with 12 stoves and 6 master chefs. Master Tang, who was in charge of frying, was responsible for all the fried dishes, so the noise level in his area was always the highest.

Qin Feng stood obediently to the side, not watching Master Tang, but rather Xiao Zhao, who was assisting him. Xiao Zhao had graduated from a culinary vocational school and had been assisting Master Tang for some time, though he still lacked a bit of the experience needed to become a full-fledged chef. Even so, Qin Feng, who was working in a hotel kitchen for the first time in his life, was still impressed by Xiao Zhao's knife skills.

"This cucumber should be sliced like a straw raincoat. This way, it can absorb the flavors better and looks beautiful too." Xiao Zhao explained with great seriousness, placing the intricately sliced cucumber, which was hollowed out but still connected, into a plate, neatly arranging it around the inner edge of the plate.

Someone was waiting on the side, ready to pass the plate to Master Tang. The fried fish on Master Tang's side was just out of the pan. He placed the fish in the center of the plate, and the boiling sauce from another pot was also ready. Master Tang skillfully poured the sauce over the fish and cucumber, and with a sizzling sound, the aroma instantly filled the kitchen.

"Serve it," Master Tang said calmly, wiping his hands with a towel.

It wasn't the peak season for the hotel, and only one customer had ordered the sweet and sour fried fish that morning. Apart from this dish, which required Master Tang's personal attention, the rest were simple fried dishes that Xiao Zhao and the others could handle.

After finishing the work, Master Tang, who had nothing to do, walked over to Qin Feng and asked with a smile, "How much did you understand?"

Qin Feng, unsure of the "ecosystem" in the kitchen, thought for a moment and answered honestly, "About 70 to 80 percent."

"Oh?" Master Tang hadn't expected such an answer and couldn't help but let out a light exclamation. He then looked at Qin Feng with a rather playful expression and asked, "Why 70 to 80 percent?"

Qin Feng recalled and began explaining from the initial handling of the fish.

Thanks to his background in Chinese literature, Qin Feng's ability to express himself was much stronger than that of the average person. The steps of cooking the fish, as described by Qin Feng, sounded like a highly technical task, almost as complex as building a rocket.

After Qin Feng finished speaking, there was a full two seconds of silence by the stove before Master Tang broke it.

"Listen, all of you, listen! This is how you learn to cook! He just started today, and you should all learn from this young man!" Master Tang said with excitement, then turned to Qin Feng and said, "You're Qin Feng, right? Follow me and learn well from now on!"

Most young chefs would be overjoyed to hear such words from a master chef, as it clearly meant that he was taking them on as a disciple. Qin Feng naturally understood Master Tang's meaning but, feeling a bit surprised, chose to play it safe and smiled, saying, "Sure, I'll definitely learn well."

Master Tang glanced at Qin Feng, thinking he was young and hadn't fully grasped his meaning, and couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. He raised his hand and patted Qin Feng's shoulder affectionately, then instructed Xiao Zhao, "A-Yun, from today on, you're responsible for teaching Qin Feng knife skills. Make sure he practices the basics well!"

Xiao Zhao nodded awkwardly. He had stood next to Master Tang for a whole week after graduating from vocational school before he was allowed to hold a knife. But Qin Feng, who had only graduated from junior high and had just started today, was already receiving such treatment!

Xiao Zhao felt a bit jealous, but with Master Tang nearby, he couldn't show his frustration and had to force a smile, saying to Qin Feng, "Xiao Feng, you have a good memory. You remembered it after just one look."

Qin Feng smiled faintly at Xiao Zhao's insincere compliment. Just a few days ago, he had handled numerous documents, each containing nearly a hundred data points that he had to memorize and understand. Compared to that level of mental effort, the steps of this dish were trivial.

Following Master Tang's direct instructions, Xiao Zhao reluctantly brought Qin Feng a cutting board and a chef's knife. Master Tang placed a basket of potatoes on the stove and instructed Qin Feng, "Slice them all into strips. Finish by lunchtime."

Qin Feng hadn't expected to be a key focus on his first day. He picked up a round potato and started peeling it, feeling helpless. It took him nearly half an hour just to peel the potatoes, and by the time he started slicing, his hands were so tired he could barely hold the knife.

Naturally, the quality of the potato strips he cut was poor.

The unevenly sliced potato strips made Master Tang's eyebrows twitch. He muttered to himself, "This kid is smart, but his natural talent for cooking is really lacking."

Xiao Zhao, on the other hand, was delighted. He thought, "No matter how good your mouth is, cooking ultimately depends on your hands."

With this thought, Xiao Zhao's jealousy quickly dissipated.

Qin Feng himself felt a bit embarrassed by the mess he had made and said awkwardly, "Cooking is actually quite difficult."

Hearing this, the other kitchen helpers immediately chimed in, all agreeing that cooking was not as simple as he thought.

Master Tang held a potato strip and sighed, "We'll eat this for lunch. A-Yun, cut another batch."

"Sure thing!" Xiao Zhao agreed and brought another basket of potatoes.

Driven by a desire to show off, Xiao Zhao cut the entire basket of potatoes much faster. In about half an hour, he had sliced a whole basket of potato strips. Qin Feng watched, once again impressed by Xiao Zhao's knife skills. The mountain of potato strips in the plate looked uniformly thin, as if cut by a machine. Qin Feng couldn't help but exclaim, "Impressive."

"It's nothing, practice makes perfect. The key is to practice," Xiao Zhao said humbly, but his face was full of pride.

Master Tang nodded slightly, and a new hope ignited in his eyes as he looked at Qin Feng.

"A-Yun is right. The key is practice. It's your first day, and you did pretty well to get that far. Keep practicing seriously, and you'll get better eventually," Master Tang said earnestly to Qin Feng. Xiao Zhao, hearing this, felt a pang of jealousy in his stomach.