Chef Yu felt he was unable to accept the fact.
He was restlessly walking up and down in the changing room when the general manager of his restaurant came into the room.
“Chef Yu, you are so awesome and, as expected, won the contest. Congratulations!” dressed in decent andwell-fit suit, the general manager said cheerfully.
“Thanks.” Chef Yu, nevertheless, didn’t show much pleasure and only answered perfunctorily.
“What’s wrong with you, Chef Yu?” the general manager asked considerately.
“It’s nothing.” Chef Yu didn’t actually want to publicize this matter, as it would not seem to do him much good.
“Then why aren’t you happy being the champion?” the general manager still cared much about the head chef of his hotel.
Speaking of the champion, Chef Yu frowned more severely.
“You might as well say it out and see if I can help to solve it,” the general manager said mildly.
Having thought over this matter in his mind, Chef Yu finally decided to say it out; otherwise, it would have been quite uncomfortable to keep it in his heart. More importantly, the general manager was on his side.
Thinking of that, Chef Yu revealed the conversation between Wang Shuyuan and the other judge that he had heard, thoroughly. Of course, he also mentioned he wasn’t fully convinced of those words.
“I expected it to be more serious. Look, it’s such a simple problem.” After hearing all this, the general manager immediately indicated it wasn’t a big problem.
“Oh?” Chef Yu was a little suspicious. Could the general manager make the old man change his mind?
Naturally, the general manager wasn’t able to let people take back their words. But he had a plan that could shoot down three birds with only one stone.
That was how, finally, Chef Yu said all those words to the press.
After his statement was publicized, Wang Shuyuan would immediately know his words that were said behind the back of Chef Yu had been heard and would surely feel embarrassed and apologetic. Then he would definitely accept the invitation from the general manager to act as the judge again in the coming contest.
Chef Yu would also defeat Yuan Zhou face to face. After all, he had never thought of being defeated, at least based on this Phoenix-Tail Prawns dish.
The third bird was to advertise his hotel for free.
The plan of the general manager could be said to be quite successful. Except for the fact that Yuan Zhou had not said anything, his expectations were met in all other aspects.
Even Yuan Zhou now felt that he had to accept the challenge for the sake of his dignity.
Evening came soon and Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was once again opened for business.
“Boss Yuan, I heard you have been challenged.” Wu Hai was the first to gloat at Yuan Zhou.
“No.” Yuan Zhou denied it.
“Boss Yuan, it’s wrong to tell lies. I already knew about that.” While speaking, Wu Hai pointed to the several customers coming with him.
“It’s an exchange of pointers, rather than a challenge.” Yuan Zhou preferred this term for the unofficial contest.
“Eh...,” Wu Hai first choked a bit and then said, “Are you gonna accept that exchange of pointers contest?”
As soon as Wu Hai asked, customers that were entering the restaurant all curiously looked at Yuan Zhou. Even Mu Xiaoyun was also looking at him expectantly.
“Yes.” Yuan Zhou’s answer was as concise as usual.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t want to take part in the contest in the afternoon?” looking at the customers behind him, Wu Hai asked in puzzlement.
“It’s true. Boss Yuan didn’t seem to be willing to take part during the afternoon,” the round-faced girl stood out among the crowd and said that.
“Look, Boss Yuan, now many of us want to know why you have changed your mind and prepared to take part in the contest.” Wu Hai spread his two hands and indicated it was the common concern of every customer, not merely his own.
“He looked rather sincere,” thinking for a while, Yuan Zhou said that.
“Ho Ho, Boss Yuan, I’m not very knowledgeable, but can challenging you be called sincere?” Wu Hai implied Yuan Zhou was, again, talking nonsense.
“No, it’s an exchange of pointers,” Yuan Zhou corrected him again.
“Alright. Boss Yuan’s logic of thinking is really distinctive.” Wu Hai admitted defeat and decided to eat some nice dishes to comfort himself.
The conversation between Yuan Zhou and Wu Hai also ended the curiosity of the customers behind.
Subsequently, the customers began to order their dishes harmoniously. Of course, they also surfed the internet and conveniently made some comments of some sort.
The round-faced girl acted the most proactively. She went straightly to the official website of World Foodie Hotel and left a comment, [The chef you were challenging has just accepted it. You can just wait to lose the contest.]
The remark had no trace of politeness. After all, during the two days when Yuan Zhou didn’t respond to the challenge, the World Foodie Hotel had tasted the sweetness of free publicity and thus began to instigate the onlookers which resulted in a higher notability of the hotel.
The regular customers of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant were naturally quite indignant about the messages saying that Yuan Zhou did not dare accept the challenge. However, they were not even qualified to quarrel with them as they didn’t even know what Yuan Zhou’s attitude was on that matter.
Now that they had gotten Yuan Zhou’s confirmation concerning the contest, the customers all conveniently went onto the official website of the World Foodie Hotel and wandered around.
Afterward, the matter that Yuan Zhou would take part in the contest eventually passed to the ears of Chef Yu and the general manager. The two of them had different responses.
The general manager directly instructed his assistant. “Tell the kitchen to prepare top quality ingredients, two identical servings each; notify the Public Relations Department to get someone to record the contest and meanwhile arrange a Lucky Draw activity before choosing only ten devoted customers from it and sending them to closely watch the contest.”
The two orders were directly issued to the two departments and were carried out smoothly as requested.
Chef Yu was very glad that he could erase the former insult. Having heard the conversation of the two judges, he always felt that the former championship title was given to him charitably. Now that there was such a good chance for him to justly win that back, he was naturally delighted.
After closing the restaurant at night, Yuan Zhou first checked the official website of World Foodie Hotel on his phone and found that there appeared to be a Lucky Draw activity on the homepage. Whoever got the first ten numbers will be able to closely watch the two chefs cook.
At this, Yuan Zhou confirmed the World Foodie Hotel had known about his acceptance of their request for exchanging pointers.
Yes, Yuan Zhou intentionally didn’t tell them directly. Anyhow, he was the future Master Chef. He felt it troublesome and degrading to proactively go and tell them that he would take part in the contest, hence took this roundabout method to let his customers help to unintentionally notify the other party
Having known that, Yuan Zhou settled down to prepare dinner. It was again Clear Broth Noodle Soup, followed by an extra Herbal Tea Egg to supplement some additional nutrition for him.
As usual, after eating the noodles, Yuan Zhou carried the remaining broth out of the back door and went where the mixed fur Maltese stayed.
The Maltese was now a furry bundle, looking fairly smart and lovable. Besides, the fur appeared to be pretty clean. It was yet unknown how the dog cleaned itself so well.
Just like normal days, he poured the broth into the dog’s bowl. This time, Yuan Zhou didn’t turn around and walk away immediately. Instead of that, he stopped to have a look at the mixed fur Maltese.
“You drink up all the noodle broth every time, don’t you?” Yuan Zhou said fairly confidently.
The Maltese just lied on the ground and quietly looked at Yuan Zhou without any reaction.
“Speaking of which, I’ve prepared a name for you.” Yuan Zhou merely continued speaking alone.
“I’ll call you Broth, that’s it. Since I feel you love to drink it a lot.” While holding the bowl with one hand, Yuan Zhou touched his forehead with the other, revealing a resolute expression.
If the Maltese were able to understand and speak, it would probably drink up the broth and then turned the bowl upside down on Yuan Zhou’s head.
After all, it was Yuan Zhou who fed it with only the broth, rather than the Maltese itself that chose to drink it. However delicious the broth was, it was still broth.
“So if you don’t oppose, your name will be Broth.” Watching the Maltese not responding like always, Yuan Zhou made the decision quite happily.
Now that he had accepted the challenge, he would have to show them his genuine capabilities.
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