Cao Zhishu was bald and slightly plump. He was tall and did not look like someone from Sichuan. Instead, he looked more like a burly man from Northeast China.
He wore a simple and elegant Tang suit. The clothes stretched on his body and did not give him any sense of elegance. Instead, he looked like a martial artist wearing a scholar's robe.
In short, Cao Zhishu looked more like a butcher than a chef.
Furthermore, even though the Shu Restaurant was one of the top restaurants in Sichuan Province, Cao Zhishu rarely appeared in front of people as a guest in cooking competitions. Therefore, even though he was on Taoxi Road, a street full of foodies, no one recognized him.
After all, he was a chef that stayed in the kitchen most of the time.
Although both Shu Restaurant and Yuan Zhou's restaurant were located in Chengdu, they were not in the same district. There was still some distance between them.
As the head chef of the eighth branch of Shu Restaurant, Cao Zhishu was usually responsible for sorting out the history of Sichuan Cuisine. There was definitely a reason for him to come here today. However, Cao Zhishu returned to Shu Restaurant before he even saw Cao Zhishu. It was because of the sign hung by Yuan Zhou.
"Teacher, why are you back so soon? Didn't you say you wanted to try the most expensive Sichuan Cuisine in Sichuan?" Little Zhao, one of Cao Zhishu's students, asked.
In truth, even though Yuanzhou shop was expensive, there were places in Sichuan that were even more expensive. For example, Shu Restaurant wasn't inferior in terms of price. One could imagine that apart from the food, the most important things about restaurants like this were the environment and service.
As for Yuanzhou shop, it could only be said that the environment was exquisite and the service was only passable. Therefore, in the circle of Sichuan Cuisine, Yuanzhou shop was known as the most expensive Sichuan Cuisine.
"I saw Head Chef Yuan helping someone sharpen a knife. Therefore, I came back to see if I could sharpen my knife," Cao Zhishu rubbed his bald head with a smile.
"Sharpen a knife?" Little Zhao immediately said, "Teacher, your knife was forged by Master Qian. How could Yuan Zhou have the ability to sharpen a knife?"
Little Zhao concluded, "In my opinion, Yuan Zhou is just not doing his job."
Cao Zhishu's expression immediately darkened.
"When a chef sharpens his knife, he can have better control over the kitchen. What do you mean by not doing proper work?" Cao Zhishu reprimanded, "Also, Head Chef Yuan's restaurant was nominated for this year's Exemplary Restaurant just like our Shu Restaurant. In other words, Head Chef Yuan is from the same generation as me. You are just an apprentice. Do you think you can casually call out Head Chef Yuan's name?"
"I'm sorry, teacher, I'm sorry." Little Zhao apologized profusely.
"A chef must first understand the history of a chef before understanding etiquette. Head Chef Yuan is not someone an apprentice like you can casually comment on. Don't do it again," Cao Zhishu said sternly, "Don't let others think that the people of Shu Restaurant don't know etiquette."
Xiao Zhao certainly didn't dare to refute this, so he could only lower his head and keep apologizing.
Since Cao Zhishu still had other matters to attend to, he didn't continue with his lecture. He carried the box of knives and headed to the Yuanzhou shop again.
Little Zhao stared at Cao Zhishu's back. It was only after Cao Zhishu's back completely disappeared that Little Zhao's unconvinced expression reappeared on his face.
In fact, if Yuan Zhou saw Little Zhao, he might be surprised and call him sous-chef. That's right. This Little Zhao was the sous-chef of the hotel where Yuan Zhou worked.
Although Cao Zhishu addressed him as Little Zhao, he was in fact already in his thirties. Going from a sous-chef to an apprentice might seem like a demotion, but that depended on the location.
Shu Restaurant had a long history and was known as the number one restaurant in Sichuan Cuisine. Even if one didn't learn any real skills from this restaurant, one's status would still be different from before. Speaking of which, if it wasn't for Little Zhao having some connections, he wouldn't have been able to join.
When Little Zhao was a sous-chef, Yuan Zhou was just an odd-job worker. Although he didn't look down on Yuan Zhou, he was still on a higher level than Yuan Zhou. Now that Little Zhao had finally become an apprentice of Shu Restaurant, he thought he was about to reach the peak of his life.
But in the end, he found out that Yuan Zhou had already reached the peak of his life, becoming someone on the same level as Cao Zhishu.
How could Little Zhao accept this?
"We'll know when the time comes," Little Zhao muttered to himself.
He knew the main reason why Cao Zhishu went to the Yuanzhou shop.
It was to invite Yuan Zhou to have an exchange between the two restaurants. In other words, they would go to each other's restaurant to taste the food.
When Yuan Zhou arrived at Shu Restaurant, he would be able to see it clearly.
One had to admit that Zhou Shijie's nomination had indeed pushed Yuanzhou shop to the forefront. The annual Sichuan Cuisine Exemplary Restaurant selection was an internal selection. As the chairman of China Chefs' Alliance, Zhou Shijie had the right to make a recommendation.
The chairman of Sichuan Cuisine Chefs' Alliance had one vote, the chief editor of the largest gourmet magazine in Sichuan, "Gourmet Discovery Dog", the producer of the event, and so on. All in all, only ten restaurants could be nominated.
Most of them were old faces. Since a new face suddenly appeared in Yuanzhou shop, it was normal for someone to invite them to have an exchange.
Cao Zhishu was very particular about etiquette. Therefore, he personally came over to say this invitation.
His gaze followed Cao Zhishu to the Yuanzhou shop. Due to his robust body, he was able to squeeze his way to the front.
Yuan Zhou was about to finish sharpening his ten knives.
"Head Chef Yuan, take a look and see if this knife needs sharpening," said Cao Zhishu.
Yuan Zhou stretched his body slightly. Sharpening a knife required one to maintain a certain posture. After a long time, it would still be a little sore. Yuan Zhou raised his head when he heard Cao Zhishu.
The box that Cao Zhishu placed his knives in instantly attracted Yuan Zhou's attention.
In terms of the quality of the knife box, just this box alone was worth a lot of money. The knife inside was definitely a good knife worthy of this box.
"Okay. Open it and let me see," Yuan Zhou fixed his gaze on the box without raising his head.
Cao Zhishu didn't mind. After all, not many chefs would be able to look away after seeing his knife box.
"Hua." Cao Zhishu opened the box and saw all the knives neatly arranged inside. The beam of each knife had a unique pattern engraved on it. The beam of the knife was also very special, a dragon-shaped pattern engraved on it.
"Good knife," said Yuan Zhou.
"Indeed. Of course it's a good knife," Cao Zhishu nodded with a smile. His bald head looked very shiny.
"But it doesn't need sharpening. It's in good condition now. It's the best time to sharpen it," said Yuan Zhou before raising his head to look at Cao Zhishu.
Yuan Zhou wasn't an idiot. Since he brought such a good knife to him and said he wanted to sharpen it, there had to be a reason. He definitely didn't want Yuan Zhou to sharpen it.
"Haha, Head Chef Yuan, you have a good eye. I'm Cao Zhishu from Shu Restaurant," Cao Zhishu laughed and introduced himself.
"Hello. What's the matter?" asked Yuan Zhou flatly.
At the same time, Yuan Zhou saw from the corner of his eyes that Master Cheng was distributing the knives to the neighbors who came to get the knives and was also collecting the new knives.
"Indeed. I'm here to invite Head Chef Yuan to participate in a friendly competition. After all, we are both on the exemplary restaurant list. It's good for us to have an exchange," said Cao Zhishu straightforwardly as he handed over a document.
"Sure," when Yuan Zhou heard it was Shu Restaurant, he thought of the main mission issued by the system and agreed without hesitation.
"Sure, Head Chef Yuan. We'll talk about the details later. I won't disturb you for now," Cao Zhishu smiled and left.
After Cao Zhishu left, Yuan Zhou didn't say anything and continued sharpening the knives for others.
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