Chapter 742 - Lucky Day

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The guy with the slickback felt that he was covering it well enough, but Tom had still seen through his resentment.

Tom looked at the unhappy guy with the slickback and started explaining thinking that he was probably confused, “You don’t know Li Li? Each year, a Western food exchange meeting would be held in Singapore. The scale of this exchange is quite large, and Li Li is the person who had obtained three gold medals from the exchange. More importantly, he is a person with a strict requirement when it comes to food ingredients. It’s your lucky day today.”

If the guy with the slickback wasn’t such a calm person, he would have started cursing by now. Although he had never eaten Yuan Zhou’s food before, based on his beast-like instincts, he could feel that Yuan Zhou’s food was definitely better than Li Li’s.

Of course, he was also aware that he would never be able to change Tom’s mind. Therefore, he merely had his head lowered as he gave one-word replies every now and then to what Tom said.

They entered the restaurant and sat down at a table near a window. Next, the waitress came and gave them their hand towels before giving them the menu. In a friendly manner, the waitress asked, “Sir, what would you like to have today?”

Tom closed the menu. As a person who had been eating Western food for many years, he had plenty of experience ordering Western food.

“Do you have any dish of the day or the chef’s recommendation today?” Tom asked.

There were definitely no problems with the environment and employees of Li Li’s restaurant. This was clear from their neat black uniform and the friendly smile on their face.

“Dish of the day,” Tom reiterated his question.

The waitress opened the menu and after locating the page she was looking for, she replied, “The chef’s recommendation for the day is Confit de Canard, a dish personally prepared by the chef.”

Tom replied, “Confit de Canard? It has indeed been quite a while since I last ate this dish. Ok, one Confit de Canard and two Sirloin steaks. And also…”

“Oh, right. Are you craving for anything in particular?” Tom finally remembered the guy with the slickback.

“Just order as you see fit, Mr. Tom. Don’t worry about me. I can eat anything,” replied the guy with the slickback.

“Ok. Two Bisques and one Baguette.” After completing the order, Tom gave some additional requests for his streak before asking the guy with the slickback if he had any requirements for his steak.

The guy with the slickback shook his head. He was not familiar with steaks and did not have any specific preferences on it. As far as he was concerned, eating one of those steak buffets where he could have four or five steaks in one sitting was still the best.

And thus, the sight of one person anxiously waiting while the other waited with an obvious lack of interest appeared in the restaurant.

After over 10 minutes, the dishes started arriving and they started eating.

“Don’t eat only the bread. Eat the steak first. When it comes to steaks, you have to eat while it’s hot. There are existing oil and blood in steaks and if you eat after it gets cold, the flavor and texture won’t feel as good,” Tom explained seriously while working with his knife and fork.

“This steak is medium done?” The guy with the slickback said when he saw that blood and oil flowing out after he sliced a piece off the steak.

“That’s right. Steaks will only taste better if it’s somewhat raw. With the blood and oil mixed within, the texture will feel excellent. Give it a try,” Tom explained.

The guy with the slickback was conflicted inwardly. After all, the beef looked raw and only the outer layer of it was actually cooked. Unfortunately, the person sitting opposite him was not his friend. Rather, this person was his superior. He had no choice but to start eating.

“Correct. Taking small bites like this is the correct way of eating steaks,” Tom looked at the guy with the slickback approvingly.

Yet, that person was cursing inwardly, “Shit, I nearly choked myself. This meat is quite springy.”

Although he was not happy at all, he still had a smile on his face, “Yes, it is indeed quite nice and chewy.”

“Of course. When ordering, I requested for the ribeye. Look at the layer of white on this steak. With this, it will be chewier, and is very suitable for the teeth of young people like us,” Tom said.

“Of course, it’s good,” the guy with the slickback agreed.

“Of course it’s good. The meat is tender, chewy, and oily. And it also has the blood mixed within so when chewing on it, everything will immediately be mixed together. Your mouth will be flooded with the flavor of the beef. This is the true taste of beef,” Tom lamented in satisfaction with his eyes closed after he ate the first piece.

“Ohh, so nice. It has been a while since I last ate an authentic steak like this. Worthy of being a steak cooked by Master Chef Li Li. It’s really good,” Tom praised repeatedly.

“It’s just slightly raw and fresh, right? He’s exaggerating.” The guy with the slickback could not understand why was Tom reacting this way.

One ought to know that when eating, the mood was very important as well. If a person was eating with someone he disliked, no matter how good the food was, it would not taste as good. This was what’s going on with the guy with the slickback now.

In this situation, if this steak could be rated 8/10, it had now dropped to 5/10 instead due to who he was eating with.

With the flavor of the Confit de Canard still filling their mouths, they left the restaurant and prepared to deal with business.

“How’s the meal? It’s not bad, right? The environment of the restaurant is good, the service is good, and the food tastes excellent. Before getting onto business, it’s best to first get into a good mood,” Tom said as they walked.

“You’re right. I’m very full. Mr. Tom, that Boss Yuan is not a talkative person. I have already prepared all the documents. Everything is in it.” The guy with the slickback nimbly took out a folder from his briefcase.

“It’s good that he’s not a talkative person. He only needs to look good in front of the camera.” Tom was very pleased to hear that Yuan Zhou was a person of few words.

“But Chinese restaurants are always so messy as they aren’t really strict with the environment. I’m afraid the restaurant won’t look good in front of the camera,” Tom suddenly said with a frown while flipping through the document.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Tom. This Boss Yuan has excellent cooking skills and is also good in sculpting. He has also been on the Folk Talent show before. He is quite popular,” the guy with the slickback said confidently.

Although the guy with the slickback had never personally witnessed Yuan Zhou sculpting, he had watched the Folk Talent show before. After all, he had to first do some research on Yuan Zhou before looking for him.

“They are just hyping it for the show. All Chinese cuisines are the same. If you want to see some really good sculptures, you have to look at Western cuisines. Chinese cuisines have too little emphasis on the authenticity of the ingredients,” Tom countered with a frown. He had already forgotten his roots after being overseas for a few years.

“But if even that show can make his cooking look good, we can do the same. And adding that with some amusing lines here and there, we can maintain the quality of our show,” Tom continued.

“Sure,” the guys with the slickback nodded with a smile, not bothering to argue with him.

“Why are there still so many people here?” Tom was confused when he saw that there was still a huge crowd in front of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant.

“All these people are here for Boss Yuan’s cooking skills. The crowd will always be huge,” the guy with the slickback explained.

“Well, I guess the Chinese do enjoy gathering where there are a lot of people,” Tom remarked with a frown.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Tom. Lunchtime is ending in five minutes. The crowd would disperse then,” the guy with the slickback responded.

“Um. That’s good to hear. We’ll stand here and wait a bit,” Tom stood there and started waiting.

“Ok.” The guy with the slickback nodded.

At this point, the guy with the slickback was already astonished at how professional he was being. After all, his personality was the complete opposite of this person here.