Chapter 12: This is a bit awkward
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
"Ah… "
Wang Jian did not know what level of cooking skills Bei Feng possessed, but he did know one thing: this kid was extremely thick-skinned!
‘If I knew it was going to be like this, I wouldn’t even have come this time. How would there be a next time?!’ Wang Jian looked gloomily at the layer of dust covering his limited edition designer shoes which was growing thicker by the minute and made up his mind to never trust this brat again.
"My residence is right ahead!" Bei Feng pointed at an old Qing-style four-block mansion located at the foot of the mountain and said.
"Huuu…huu… hu… we’re finally here! God d*mn, it’s truly not an easy task to get a free meal from you, huh?"
Wang Jian was not the only one letting out a relieved sigh upon seeing the mansion. Bei Feng was similarly relieved. He was truly afraid that Wang Jian would turn around and leave before he’d even tasted anything!
"Hmm… this place is not too shabby… although it is a bit old, there’s a thick sense of history and the aura of ancient times can be felt here as well," Wang Jian stood before the mansion gate and nodded in approval.
‘When I become old, I’ll build a mansion just like this and enjoy my retirement, cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded by green trees and blue waters,’ Wang Jian thought to himself as he stepped into the mansion and surveyed the yard.
"Boss Wang, this way please," Bei Feng led the way and brought Wang Jian and Liu Ziyun to the specially furnished room he had spent so much effort on.
"Nice!"
Wang Jian was impressed by what he saw. The design and decoration of this dining room was superior to even those five-star hotels!
"Guys, please take a seat first, I will be in the kitchen," Bei Feng poured them a pot of tea made from the best local mountain tea leaves, asked for their patience and hurriedly left to cook the meal. Wang Jian and Liu Ziyun were left staring at each other in the wide dining room.
Bei Feng rushed into the kitchen, swift like a gust of wind. He was especially worried about the state of the soup he had left to boil and immediately raised the lid to check on it.
His luck was pretty good. There were no accidents with the chicken soup. The only problem was that some of the herbs and ingredients had turned soggy after being cooked for such a long time. However, it was not a big issue at all.
Even though he had already been eating the Giant Cock’s meat for a few days in a row, it still gave him a new feeling of enjoyment each time he tasted it.
As soon as the lid was lifted, a burst of fragrance emanated out of the kitchen, quickly flooding the compound.
"Sniff, sniff!"
"Oh! What a heavenly smell! This kid is pretty good at cooking eh?" Wang Jian could not help but to take a deep sniff. The fragrance was extremely dense, but it did not cause one to feel overwhelmed.
After making sure that the chicken soup was ready, Bei Feng started working on his other dishes. The most crucial merit of cooking with a big wok was speed!
Before long, all the dishes were ready. It was only a pity that their presentation was not the best.
Roasted chicken with carrots, boiled fish with pickled cabbage, fried fish fillet and a few other dishes were being placed on a set of exquisite plates.
"Ahh, why is it taking so long?!"
Bei Feng’s cooking speed was actually considered to be quite fast by normal standards. However, Wang Jian had already become quite impatient and his stomach was already growling with hunger.
It was especially so as he was already tired out by the arduous trek earlier, and coupled with the godly fragrance continuously emanating out of the kitchen, Wang Jian almost went to the kitchen to personally urge Bei Feng to hurry up.
"I say, doesn’t this kid know that he could serve the dishes that are ready first? Why must he try to serve everything together?!" Wang Jian asked Liu Ziyun with an incredulous expression on his face.
"Who knows? Maybe all of those with ability have weird personalities?" Liu Ziyun looked at the anxious Wang Jian and said with a chuckle. Then, he thought to himself, ‘but, seriously, this food seriously smells d*mn freaking amazing!’
"My apologies, honored guests. Sorry for the long wait!"
Bei Feng came into the dining room carrying the steaming plates and placed them on the table.
"Hahaha! Well then, I’ll be impolite and help myself to the food now!" Wang Jian’s appetite had long been roused by the fragrance while Bei Feng was cooking. Picking up his chopsticks with lightning speed, he grabbed a juicy white slice of fish from the boiled fish with pickled cabbage dish.
"Oh Lord! How can it be so delicious?!" Wang Jian felt the tender fish melting in his mouth and exclaimed.
The fish was tender, light and chewy. Not a single fish bone could be found within the flesh. The freshness of the fish was also perfectly enhanced by the sourness of the pickled cabbage.
After continuously stuffing four or five slices of fish into his mouth, Wang Jian finally turned his attention onto the roasted chicken with carrots.
He picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks and lightly bit on it. In an instant, a myriad of flavors burst forth in his mouth, rendering him speechless. The chicken had absorbed the flavors of all kinds of herbs and ingredients, and the taste of the carrots and the sauce had also seeped deep into the chicken meat!
With the original heaven-defying tenderness and flavor of the Giant Cock which had originated from an alien world, together with the sweetness of carrots and various other ingredients, the taste of this chicken dish had reached a point where words were not sufficient to do it justice!
As Bei Feng had invited Wang Jian and Liu Ziyun over as guests under the premise of a lunch treat, he too sat down with the duo and ate without any worries.
Not a single word was exchanged as the three men buried their heads in their rice bowls and ate ravenously.
‘Oh! Not bad! Truly not bad! This was really delicious! As long as this kid does not raise any overbearing requests, I’ll just give him my consent!’ Wang Jian thought to himself. He felt that Bei Feng would not call him out to such a god-forsaken place and treat him to such a delicious meal simply out of gratitude. Surely, he must have had something to request of him.
‘Eh? There’s still a piece of meat left!’
Wang Jian saw a lone piece of chicken meat lying amongst some scattered carrots. Without the slightest hesitation, he extended his chopsticks to pick it up.
‘The old man told me that if I stayed beside Boss Wang, I’d surely learn a lot of things from him. In the end, apart from getting an ever-increasing acquired taste for fine cuisine and becoming more and more picky with my food, I didn’t learn jack!’ [1]
Martial practitioners already had immense appetites. Liu Ziyun had also been enjoying himself, gorging on the delicious food. Furthermore, his skill in handling chopsticks had already been refined to perfection long ago, allowing his food-grabbing mechanics to be both fast and precise. Every time his chopsticks extended beyond the rice bowl, a few pieces of meat would accompany their journey back. The combined efforts of Bei Feng and Wang Jian could only barely measure up to the total amount that Liu Ziyun ate by himself!
Suddenly, an extremely awkward situation occurred as three pairs of chopsticks shot toward the last piece of meat in the center of the table.
The trio’s eyes met in that instant and time seemed to have suddenly slowed down. Sensing the atmosphere, Bei Feng hurriedly pulled his hand back in silence.
Liu Ziyun realized that he might have eaten a little too much, and hastily retreated with a hint of guilt.
Wang Jian felt even more awkward. Although the entire scene took quite long to describe, it had actually happened in the blink of an eye. [2] Three pairs of chopsticks had rushed toward the last piece of meat at the same time, but two had suddenly retreated. His was the only pair left hovering above the plate. It was too late to pull back now, but continuing on to pick up the meat seemed a little inappropriate as well.
"Cough! Mmh!"
"Ah, I suddenly remembered that there’s still a soup dish in the kitchen… I’ll go and bring it out now," Bei Feng said weakly, turned around and quickly exited the dining room.
"Whew!"
Wang Jian finally let out a sigh of relief. ‘Luckily, the heavens took pity on me. That was truly an awkward situation just now!’
Following that, his chopsticks swiftly continued their descent and latched onto the last piece of meat, bringing it into his mouth.
Bei Feng quickly returned with a huge bowl of soup. The trio wasted no time and immediately starting to gorge themselves silly once again. However, the chicken soup was extremely rich in quantity. Thus, ultimately, they were unable to finish all of the food.
"Huuu… it’s been a long time since I’d last stuffed myself like so! I didn't think your cooking skills were actually so good!" Wang Jian said heavily. A simple meal had reduced all three men into pigs, slumped against their chairs. Their breaths were heavy, and their brows were all densely covered with perspiration.
"Hey kid, you still haven’t told us your name yet!"
Wang Jian finally started to look at Bei Feng seriously.
"You can just call me Xiao Feng. I wonder if Boss Wang is satisfied with my reception today?" Bei Feng inquired.
‘This is the crucial part!’
Such a thought flashed through Bei Feng’s mind as he nervously awaited the other party’s answer.
"Very satisfied! I’ll be honest, your cooking tastes even better than those I’ve tasted from large five-star restaurant establishments!" Wang Jian replied sincerely.
"Great! Then, I’d like to trouble Boss Wang with a small request. My humble dinery will officially open for business tomorrow, and I’d like Boss Wang to help me generate some publicity," Bei Feng said with a tone full of anticipation.
"That’s all?"
Wang Jian looked strangely at Bei Feng. He was rather astonished by this simple request. He had thought that Bei Feng’s request would be much more complicated than that.
"That’s all," Bei Feng was also a little lost. If this was not all, what else was he expecting?
"With your outstanding culinary skills, you are wasting your talents by staying here! How about this, I happen to have three five-star hotels under my company’s banner. You can go and assume the position of a head chef at any restaurant of your choice," Wang Jian offered after thinking deeply for a moment.
"No need, but thank you for the kind offer. I still prefer my current lifestyle here," Bei Feng did not feel tempted at all. He knew exactly where his limits lay. The only reason he was able to produce such delicious food was because he had access to out-of-the-world ingredients! Otherwise, how possibly could a person like him, who had at most served as a waiter at a restaurant for a short period of time, have the experience or knowledge necessary to produce any good food?
The day he fails to catch any premier ingredients from the strange world would be the day he’d be found out!
"Why not? Being the head chef of a five-star restaurant will give you an exceedingly brilliant future! Why would you rather fiddle about doing nothing with your abilities?
Wang Jian was unable to comprehend it. A glamorous head chef position in a five-star hotel versus a tiny bar holed up in the countryside. Anybody would know what to choose between the two... right?
"I’m a person who had already died once… starting this private restaurant is just me finding something to occupy myself with. It doesn’t mean that I wish to lead a 9 a.m to 5 p.m working life and devote all my energy into work again," Bei Feng said softly, a look of recollection apparent on his face.
[1] TL/N: Old man likely refers to a grandfather/fatherly figure here.
[2] ED/N: The pet phrase of (all?) Chinese authors. Self-explanatory, they just have that urge to attach a hella long description which ends up destroying the sense of swiftness a short narration would give, so they use this expression to somehow solve the problem.