Chapter 901: 901

Zhao Xin’s heart was reaffirmed after hearing his master’s words, but he had mixed feelings of both happiness and worry at the same time .

“Master, Saliva Chicken and Boiled Meat Slices are both signatures of the Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine . Can he win cooking such spicy dishes?” Zhao Xin asked with some hesitation .

“Boss Yuan is sufficiently capable . In terms of taste alone, his food is definitely good enough for him to become the exemplary restaurant . But how the judges will decide is still unknown,” Cao Zhishu said after thinking about it .

“But for the sake of promoting to the masses, excessive spiciness will be unsuitable, right?” Zhao Xin said .

“Yes, for the sake of promoting to the masses,” Cao Zhishu rubbed his bald head and muttered to himself .

Chefs focusing on Sichuan Cuisine like him was aware that if the spiciness factor was removed, the dishes would no longer be authentic Sichuan Cuisine . But in life, one had to learn to compromise . However, the taste of compromise had always been something they were unwilling to accept .

“I wonder if Yuan Zhou is capable of defeating this vicious circle,” Cao Zhishu wondered .

That’s right . Cao Zhishu was of the opinion that those that insisted to promote to the masses had entered a vicious circle . During the previous competition, there was an iron-headed chef trying to bring order out of chaos, but unfortunately, that chef ended up losing the competition . Now, yet another iron-headed chef had appeared . This new iron-headed chef was one that was very stubborn .

Because of that, Cao Zhishu looked forward to Yuan Zhou’s performance yet at the same time, he worried for him as well .

The reason for his expectation was clear, and the reason for his worry was due to Yuan Zhou being too young . If Yuan Zhou was truly able to smash this vicious circle apart, all his years of learning would have been wasted on nothing .

Cao Zhishu was very conflicted within .

“I don’t think Head Chef Yuan will succeed,” Zhao Xin said . “The unspoken rule established after three competitions will not be so easily changed . ”

“It’s hard to say . ”

This time, Cao Zhishu did not criticize Zhao Xin . Instead, he gave an equivocal reply . As the head chef of Shu Restaurant, he naturally had better insight than Zhao Xin . Recently, Sichuan Cuisine, Cantonese Cuisine, and Shandong Cuisine were all challenging each other, and one could not forget that both the other cuisines were non-spicy cuisines .

“Alright . Return to your work,” Cao Zhishu waved his hand when he saw that Zhao Xin still wanted to say something .

“Yes, master,” Zhao Xin nodded and left the office .

Looking at Zhao Xin leaving his office, Cao Zhishu shifted his gaze to the menu on his screen . He sighed, “I hope it works . ”

As for Yuan Zhou who had provoked a sense of hope in Cao Zhishu, he was busy preparing the ingredients for lunch . Lunchtime was coming soon .

During lunch today, Yuan Zhou was very spirited and had a gentle expression on his face . The moment lunchtime ended and the customers left, Yuan Zhou immediately took off his apron .

“Zhou Jia, be careful on your way,” Yuan Zhou said as he washed his hands .

“You’re going out again, boss?” Zhou Jia asked curiously .

“Um, something to do,” Yuan Zhou nodded .

“You be careful on the way as well, boss,” Zhou Jia said .

“Okay . ” Yuan Zhou nodded .

“Let me stay behind to lock the doors,” Zhou Jia volunteered .

“Sure . You may leave after that,” Yuan Zhou nodded and left without even changing his clothes .

“Boss seems busy recently,” Zhou Jia lamented as she looked at Yuan Zhou’s hastily departing back .

During the past two days, both she and Shen Min had frequently seen Yuan Zhou leaving without even changing .

“I have never expected that I would need to personally leave to buy the beans . But that idea might work,” Yuan Zhou thought to himself while on the taxi .

That’s right . During the lunch hour, he had a sudden spark of inspiration and a clear image of the Three Fragrance to the Ocean he wanted to make appeared in his mind . He was now rushing to the market to buy some beans and try out his new idea .

Yuan Zhou was preparing to buy some peas, soybeans, and red beans . All three were beans that could only be cooked after they were dried under the sun .

The taxi stopped at the largest market near Yuan Zhou’s restaurant .

“Young man, we have arrived,” said the driver .

“Ok . Thank you,” Yuan Zhou made the payment and left .

The moment Yuan Zhou got off the taxi, he attracted some gazes .

“What is that person wearing? Some ancient costume?”

“He’s dressed weirdly . ”

“Is he an actor? Or an opera singer?”

As usual, Yuan Zhou was wearing his outfit with gorgeous markings and narrow sleeves . This outfit would not impede in his movements yet able to show off his figure . However, since this market was frequented by people on the older age spectrum, thus, these people could not understand Yuan Zhou’s choice of style .

Yuan Zhou was already used to such stares . He would only say that he was wearing a traditional Han outfit and not some ancient costume when someone asked .

Fortunately, although there were indeed some people staring at him, even more people were turning a blind eye to him .

And the moment Yuan Zhou stepped foot into the market, his ears were assaulted by the clamoring noise within the market .

This market resembled a food market, and the driver had stopped right in front of the entrance . Therefore, Yuan Zhou only needed to take a few steps to enter and right after entering, he saw numerous stores within .

The stores circled around the market and in the middle of the market was a space that resembled a food market with brick flooring and numerous stalls, selling numerous grains, beans included .

To be precise, the grains section occupied half the space while the other half was occupied by oil sellers . A certain smell wafted about in the air, making the oil section rather conspicuous in this market .

“I’ll check the stores first,” Yuan Zhou decided and headed towards the stores .

Yuan Zhou reached the first store at the left . He raised his head and looked at the signboard . “Wang Ji’s Grains and Oils” were written on it . This was a simple and easily remembered name . Within the store was a middle-aged woman, leaning against the wall watching a TV show on her phone .

“I’m buying beans,” Yuan Zhou said .

“Sure . Feel free to look around . The prices are all there as well . Let me know when you are done choosing,” said the middle-aged woman without even raising her head as she tossed a red basket to Yuan Zhou .

“Ok,” Yuan Zhou answered and started observing the beans in the store .

Yuan Zhou did not use the basket . Instead, he took out a shopping bag . This was a bag he had received as a gift when he attended a wedding in the past . Normally, people would receive candies or towels as wedding gifts . That was the first time Yuan Zhou saw someone giving shopping bags as a wedding gift . He wondered if the married couple was saving cost or they were simply trying to be different .

In any case, Yuan Zhou decided to make full use of what he had . Thus, he used it for the beans .

The beans of the store were stored in numerous transparent cabinets . The cabinet Yuan Zhou was looking at currently was a cabinet filled with red beans .

The cabinet wasn’t too high up . Yuan Zhou lifted the plastic lid, crouched down, and started picking at them .

The reason Yuan Zhou had came here was because there were a lot of beans here, making it easier for him to pick and choose . After all, he required beans with similar size .

And if he wasn’t using system-issued beans, it was quite hard to find sellers selling beans of similar size . The only way he could go about it was to manually pick the beans .

Yuan Zhou had good eyes and quick hands . In a short while, the bottom of his bag was already filled with beans .

The middle-aged woman suddenly raised her head after not hearing from Yuan Zhou in a while .