Chapter 843

Nine Dragon Sculpture? Yuan Zhou frowned . He had obviously heard of the Nine Dragon Sculpture when he learned ice sculpting before . After the establishment of the Republic of China, the numbers of sculpting masters that had completed a Nine Dragon Sculpture were less than five .

Yuan Zhou answered after a short silence, “Master Yang, although I have been sculpting ice for quite a while, it will still be a bit too hard for me to complete a Nine Dragon Sculpture . “

It had indeed been “quite a while” . Yuan Zhou had dabbled in ice sculpting for about three months . Of course, Yang Shuxin was unaware of this . He replied with a measured tone .

“You are not the only one not confident in completing it . I am the same as well . That was why I have decided to invite you to work together,” Yang Shuxin said . He then continued, “I hope we can reinforce each other’s skills during sculpting . “

That was understandable . Reinforcing each other might help reach a brand new level in sculpting .

As more and more masters from the 40s and 50s eras retired, apart from ice sculpting, many crafts were starting to vanish due to the passage of time .

At times, the failure in passing through the arts couldn’t be completely blamed on the fickleness and impatience of the people nowadays . After all, the progress of human technology had brought much convenience along with shallowness .

Ultimately, Yuan Zhou agreed after thinking about it . He wanted to find out if he could complete this challenge as well .

Yuan Zhou was not a competitive person by nature, but he enjoyed doing his best in anything related to cooking .

Zhou Shijie had not interrupted their conversation . Although he was on guard against having Yuan Zhou stolen, in such a serious discussion, Zhou Shijie still knew what was the proper thing to do .

They easily agreed to work together, but a different opinion had appeared on the technical aspect of ice sculpting .

The raw material of Nine Dragon Sculpture would not be any random block of ice . Yang Shuxin had extremely high requirement on the ice he used .

Chengdu did not have any ice blocks that met his requirement . Therefore, Yang Shuxin invited Yuan Zhou to Harbin .

However, Yuan Zhou insisted that he would not go on leave for the sake of ice sculpting . Finally, Yang Shuxin failed to convince Yuan Zhou and was forced to set the work location in Chengdu . The required block of ice would be transported from Harbin .

“You can go back first . I have something I need to discuss with Little Yuan,” Zhou Shijie waved his hand as he told Yang Shuxin to leave .

The moment Yang Shuxin finished his discussion with Yuan Zhou, Zhou Shijie waved him away like he was a housefly .

As Yang Shuxin was in a good mood having completed his mission here, he decided to not take offense on this . After taking his leave from Yuan Zhou, he left .

“Little Yuan, are you interested in the Confucious Feast?” Zhou Shijie asked . “Two days later, Master Kong Li will be holding one in Beijing . “

The name Confucious Feast greatly piqued Yuan Zhou’s interest as this was a feast with a prestige that was above the Manchu Han Imperial Feast, one of the four greatest national feasts .

It was also worth noting that the most widely known Manchu Han Imperial Feast was in truth in the fourth place of the four greatest national feasts .

“Beijing is too far . I can’t leave the restaurant,” Yuan Zhou said after he thought about it . “If possible, can you record a video of the feast for me, Chairman Zhou?”

Yuan Zhou was no idiot . He knew that something like Confucious Feast would not allow a live broadcast . Therefore, he could only ask for Zhou Shijie’s help .

Since he had just taken two days off when he got sick, it wouldn’t do for him to take another leave so soon after . This was the compromise Yuan Zhou could do .

Zhou Shijie did not try persuading Yuan Zhou . He nodded and agreed that if possible, he would video it . After all, although Zhou Shijie had a higher status than Kong Li, this was a matter of etiquette .

“How are you doing, cooking skills wise?” Zhou Shijie started talking about some casual topic after he was done with business .

“I am presently doing my research on Sichuan’s cooked wheaten foods,” Yuan Zhou answered .

Zhou Shijie nodded . He was aware that recently, Sichuan cooked wheaten foods had been added on the menu of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant . This was the reason why Zhou Shijie was not worried that Yang Shuxin would be able to successfully steal Yuan Zhou .

Yuan Zhou was still studying and improving his cooking skills .

Yuan Zhou had one thing he needed Zhou Shijie’s help with, “Chairman Zhou, you know a lot of people . Can you help getting the material for the Nine Dragon Sculpture?”

This greatly confused Zhou Shijie . Although he had not interrupted Yuan Zhou’s conversation with Yang Shuxin, he had still clearly heard that the ice block was going to be transported from Harbin by Yang Shuxin .

“Master Yang is a master in ice sculpting and will be able to transport the ice block from Harbin . I don’t know anyone from Harbin and will not be able to get an ice block suited for sculpting Nine Dragon Sculpture from Harbin . Therefore, I need your help . “

Zhou Shijie started doubting if he could actually understand Chinese . He could not figure out what Yuan Zhou was trying to say . With his eyes opened wide, he stared at Yuan Zhou .

“I am definitely not as experienced as Master Yang in ice sculpting . Therefore, in our battle of Nine Dragon Sculpture two days later, I hope that I won’t lose out in terms of material as well,” Yuan Zhou said .

The battle of Nine Dragon Sculpture… Zhou Shijie felt like Yuan Zhou had misunderstood something . After some thought, he spoke tactfully, “Old Yang is actually inviting you to complete a Nine Dragon Sculpture with him . “

“I know . I have also heard that regardless of whether it was the Northern School or Southern School of Ice Sculpting, a large part of the craft had been lost to the passage of time . In the past thousand years, not a single person had managed to complete this sculpture alone,” Yuan Zhou said . He continued, “But to improve, pressure is required . I greatly admire Master Yang’s zeal in seeking for improvement . “

Indeed, if there were two people competing against each other, if the two were sufficiently skilled, that would be a great avenue of improvement .

“I also hope that my ice sculpting skills can improve during this competition,” Yuan Zhou said . In any case, he would require ice sculpting and ice plates for food decoration . It would help him greatly in cooking .

One reason Yuan Zhou had neglected to mention was that since a master ice sculptor was looking for him, it signified that he was very good in ice sculpting as well . And thus, Yuan Zhou was feeling rather smug inwardly . Of course, this was not reflected on his face .

Zhou Shijie finally understood that Yuan Zhou had completely misunderstood Yang Shuxin . But after thinking about it, he still decided to not clear it up . He had even agreed to Yuan Zhou’s request .

Things would be interesting in two days time . One could see that Zhou Shijie was definitely a troublemaker in his younger days .

After a little bit of casual chat, Zhou Shijie took his leave .

After Yuan Zhou was done cleaning up, he started heading to the second floor . But before he could even step on the stairs, he heard someone urgently calling for him outside .

Fortunately, the system had not decided to soundproof the restaurant after business hours . Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter how loud that person was shouting .

Apart from Wu Hai, who else would be looking for Yuan Zhou this late at night?

Then again, it was clear that this was not the voice of Wu Hai . Yuan Zhou went to his bedroom upstairs and looked down from his window . He saw an unfamiliar man with a medium body build .

Just as Yuan Zhou was about to speak, the shutter door of the store across the street was opened . Next, a young man walked out of the store .

When the medium built man talked to the young man, Yuan Zhou found out that the young man’s name was Yuan Leban . Therefore, Yuan Zhou had misunderstood that the medium built man was looking for him when he heard someone yelling “Boss Yuan” .

“Has the store changed its boss again?” Yuan Zhou muttered .

Before Chinese New Year, that store was selling noodles . Next, it started selling duck necks instead . And now, yet another new boss had appeared .

Perhaps it was because that store had a bad Fengshui . With Yuan Zhou’s restaurant making this street popular, all stores here survived fine . Even Li Li was making big bucks from his restaurant . But this store across the street was the one that kept changing its boss .

Yuan Zhou thought about it and reached a conclusion that regardless of the changes of the other stores, his Master Chef Restaurant would forever remain .

Next, Yuan Zhou started drafting a blueprint . To complete the Nine Dragon Sculpture, one did not only need to sculpt . Making the blueprint in itself was a huge trial .

After all, the nine dragons would not be standing side by side . Rather, each of the dragons would have a different posture . In a serious manner, Yuan Zhou started making his preparation .