At 4:30 the next morning, Jiang Yu was once again woken up by the alarm clock. He opened his eyes and glanced around; it was still pitch black outside, and the distant dim street lights struggled to emit a faint glow, illuminating only a small area around them, looking lonely and helpless.

After staring for a moment, Jiang Yu let out a long sigh, turned around, got dressed and put on his shoes, and went out to freshen up.

Jiang Yu didn't know when he fell asleep; he only remembered that before the Gourmet System upgrade, he had exchanged over 250,000 wealth points for various dishes, approximately more than thirty dishes.

Shortly after he finished the exchange, an upgrade progress bar appeared on the virtual panel, and the system started upgrading.

Jiang Yu originally thought that the system upgrade wouldn't take long, but to his surprise, even after he fell asleep, there was still no sign of movement.

This means that before he went to sleep, the system upgrade progress bar was stuck at 0%!

He almost went crazy. What a lousy system!

Other systems finish upgrading in minutes, but his Gourmet System, after half a day, hadn't even reached 1%. At this rate, who knows when it will be finished upgrading!

"Luckily, luckily, I went ahead and exchanged for more than thirty dishes before the system upgrade."

Jiang Yu thought to himself while brushing his teeth,

"Plus the ten or so dishes I already have, I've mastered almost fifty dishes, and I myself have advanced culinary skills. Even without a recipe, the dishes I make are better than those from other dining halls. It's more than enough to meet the daily needs of the Seventh Dining Hall."

Though he said this, Jiang Yu still had some expectations in his heart, wondering what changes would happen after the system function panel upgrade.

After brushing his teeth, Jiang Yu dampened a towel and washed his face with cold water. His somewhat groggy mind instantly became clear.

Coming out of the bathroom, there was still no movement from Lu Shuwu's room. It was obvious that he was exhausted from yesterday's work, probably still asleep.

It made sense. Lu Shuwu was originally a rich young master, living a leisurely life. Now, he was in the kitchen every day, chopping and frying, busy without a moment's rest.

Had he not been eager to taste the dishes Jiang Yu made, he probably would've left already.

Just to satisfy his culinary cravings, he really had a hard time.

Jiang Yu chuckled and didn't disturb his rest. He turned around and went downstairs to continue working in the kitchen.

He had just taken out the braised dishes he prepared the night before when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Lu Shuwu looking sleepy, yawning, and dragging his feet into the kitchen.

Seeing Lu Shuwu's listless appearance, Jiang Yu couldn't help but say:

"If you're not well-rested, go back and sleep some more. Uncle Ma and Sister He will be here soon. The three of us can manage."

Lu Shuwu, eyes fixed on the tray of braised dishes, shook his head and said, "No problem, I'll have some duck feet and wings, and I'll feel energetic."

"..."

Jiang Yu was speechless, "Eat as much as you want."

You shouldn't be called Lu Shuwu; you should be called Lu 'Will Do Anything for Food' Shuwu.

"Oh, thanks, Boss."

Lu Shuwu didn't hold back; he turned around, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and started piling duck feet and wings into a bowl. Then he sat down at the side and began to gnaw on them by hand.

While gnawing, he didn't forget to say, "Boss, you go ahead and get busy. I'll start cooking porridge after I finish eating; it won't delay things."

Jiang Yu shook his head, filtered the marinade, sealed it, and put it in the fridge. He then moved the braised dishes to the prep room and started to prepare them.

Just as he finished with the braised dishes, Ma Guoqiang and He Chunxiao arrived, followed by a young man about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He looked ordinary and somewhat nervous.

"Boss Xiao Jiang, this is the young man I introduced to you yesterday, Qian Liwei."

As soon as Ma Guoqiang entered the kitchen, he found Jiang Yu, who was about to prepare the dumpling stuffing, and introduced the young man,

"I went back yesterday and found him at the store. It turned out he'd just canceled his business license and was planning to find work elsewhere. When he heard that our dining hall needed a chef, he agreed to come over today to take a look."

As soon as Ma Guoqiang finished the introduction, Qian Liwei bent slightly to Jiang Yu, smiled, and greeted:

"Hello, Boss Jiang!"

"Hi, nice to meet you."

Jiang Yu smiled and nodded at him, calmly saying,

"I heard from Uncle Ma that you're quite skilled in cooking. It's a bit busy in the kitchen right now, so you can take a rest for a while. After breakfast rush, maybe you could show us a dish."

"Boss Jiang, I can help with breakfast too."

Seeing Jiang Yu's slight hesitation, he quickly explained,

"My parents owned a small restaurant where they sold steamed buns and such in the morning. I learned mostly from them. I can make steamed buns, cold dishes, stir-fries—pretty much a bit of everything."

"Ah, a family trade!"

Jiang Yu laughed after hearing this, thought for a moment, and nodded,

"Alright, there are lots of ingredients in the prep room. Go pick some, make a cold dish for everyone to try."

"Okay."

Qian Liwei responded, quickly scanned the contents of the fridge, then picked up a small basket, selected some pre-soaked kelp, along with garlic, dried chili, coriander, and other seasonings, and turned to Jiang Yu, saying,

"Boss Jiang, I've made my selection."

"Alright, go ahead."

Jiang Yu, holding two knives to chop stuffing, glanced over and nodded,

"If you need any materials and don't know where they are, just ask Uncle Ma."

"Okay."

"Boss Xiao Jiang, we'll head over now. There's not much time. I need to start kneading dough for the buns."

Seeing this, Ma Guoqiang also called out with a smile, then took Qian Liwei to the workstation.

After preparing the dumpling filling in the prep room, Jiang Yu arrived at the workstation to find Qian Liwei had already made cold tossed kelp. Holding a pair of chopsticks, he mixed the kelp and brought the bowl to Jiang Yu, looking a bit expectant, smiling as he said:

"Boss Jiang, would you like to try?"

Jiang Yu took the chopsticks, picked around in the bowl, grabbed a few strands of seaweed and tried them in his mouth, then nodded slightly and said,

"The taste is not bad, but it's a bit too sour. Use less vinegar next time."

When Jiang Yu first saw the seaweed, he more or less had an idea in mind. Although Qian Liwei claimed to have inherited his family's culinary skills, his talent in cooking was still quite decent.

Let's not talk about how his cooking tastes; just looking at how he sliced the seaweed, the thickness was uniform and neat, which showed that his knife skills were quite good. Even if the dishes he cooked didn't taste great, he was definitely qualified to be a prep cook.

"Yeah, not bad. This cold seaweed salad is soft, crisp, and spicy, delicious!"

"Indeed, it's alright, just a bit too much vinegar. It would be even tastier with less."

"It's quite decent; this level is good enough to sell."

"It's okay, but compared to what Lao Jiang makes, there's still quite a gap..."

"..."

Lu Shuwu, Ma Guoqiang, He Chunxiao, and others also came up to taste the cold seaweed salad made by Qian Liwei and, as industry insiders, they all showed their approval.

The only outsider, Hu Zhihai, also tried a bite and expressed disdain.

Of course, his opinion didn't matter.

Jiang Yu laughed and said, "Since everyone thinks it's good, why don't we trouble Brother Qian to make some more, and we'll also put it up for sale later."

"Sure, I'll go make it right away. Besides, boss, you can just call me Ah Wei, all my friends call me that."

Upon hearing this, Qian Liwei knew he had a shot at the job, nodded quickly, and happily went to work.

"..."

As Qian Liwei left, everyone went back to their tasks, leaving only Hu Zhihai standing there, completely bewildered.

Wait, what did Lao Jiang mean by that just now?

His cooking really isn't as good as Lao Jiang's, did I say something wrong?

So angry, I'm shaking!

Busy times always pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, breakfast time was over, and the large bowl of cold seaweed salad made by Qian Liwei sold pretty well; it sold out in the end.

This made Qian Liwei so happy that his face blushed with excitement.

After everyone had a quick breakfast in the kitchen, they took a short break. Jiang Yu finally looked at Qian Liwei and asked,

"Ah Wei, what kind of dishes do you usually make?"

"I'm a local from Jiangzhou, so most of what I make is Jiangzhou cuisine."

Qian Liwei thought for a moment and said,

"Like eggplant with beans, braised octopus, vegetable stalks with pork lard, braised old duck with pig stomach, and spicy bullfrog, these are all home-style dishes that locals love."

"Our Jiangzhou people love fried pork with peppers the most; you must make it often too, right?"

"Of course, it's my parents' specialty."

"Alright, could you please fry a portion of pork with peppers, and let everyone taste your cooking skills?"

"Sure, boss, just a moment."

Before long, Qian Liwei brought over a steaming plate of pork with peppers. The aroma of meat mixed with a pungent spiciness hit everyone's noses, making them feel an itch in their nostrils.

The others were okay, but Lu Shuwu couldn't hold back and sneezed several times in a row.

This smell, it's just too spicy!

After Jiang Yu saw him place the pork with peppers on the table, he first took a few glances.

This dish, the green peppers and soy-colored slices of meat complemented each other perfectly.

Of course, fried pork with peppers is the most common home-cooked dish. Anyone who can cook can basically make it, but doing it well isn't easy. If it's not done right, the peppers aren't cooked fully, or the meat is too tough and dry, making it hard to swallow.

Picking up chopsticks, Jiang Yu first tried a piece of pepper, then a slice of meat, finally nodding slightly and saying,

"Not bad, the meat is tender and not dry, balanced in salt. The peppers are savory and flavorful, very spicy, quite good."

Smiling, he turned to Lu Shuwu and the others,

"If you're not full, you can use this dish to go with some steamed buns or rolls; it's quite appetizing."

"Really? Let me try!"

Hu Zhihai, not believing it, went up, picked a chopstick-full of meat and peppers, started chewing, nodded, and said,

"Not bad, almost like what restaurants outside make..."

"Give it here!"

Before he finished, Lu Shuwu stepped up, grabbed the entire plate, and placed it in front of Yan Tongtong and the others,

"Come on, everyone worked so hard just now, have some meat to replenish your energy!"

Hu Zhihai: "..."

Damn, what's wrong with letting me have a few more bites?!

Unfortunately, no one paid him any attention...

At this point, Jiang Yu stood up from his chair, waved at Qian Liwei, and said with a smile,

"Ah Wei, it's a bit noisy here, let's go aside to discuss the terms of work division. Feel free to mention any conditions you might have..."

Saying this, he walked towards the outside of the kitchen.

Seeing this, Qian Liwei hurriedly followed along.

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