Jia Dequan didn't come back alone. By his side was a young man in his twenties.

This young man was named Jia Zhibin, a distant relative of Lao Jia's family. By generation, he had to call Jia Dequan "Grandpa."

According to Jia Dequan himself, this Xiaojia has quite a talent for cooking. He had previously trained for a few years in the kitchen of their family restaurant. Although his cooking is still slightly inexperienced, his basic culinary skills are very solid.

Jia Dequan's son initially disagreed with Lao Jia coming back to Jiangzhou again, but upon learning that Jia Dequan was willing to bring Xiaojia along, he hesitated for a while before agreeing.

Probably he knew he couldn't stop his father; since that's the case, having a young man around to look after him allowed him some peace of mind.

Moreover, the chefs at their family restaurant were indeed reaching a point of transition. If his father could bring Xiaojia out and let him learn more skills, it would be a win-win situation.

Thus, after the father and son had been at an impasse for such a long time, a mutual understanding was finally reached. Jia Dequan couldn't stay at home any longer and packed his things up that very day, bringing Xiaojia back to Jiangzhou.

"Xiaojiang, now that you've gone to Room 7 on the second floor, the staff in the kitchen on the first floor must be quite tight, right?"

Jia Dequan turned to look at Xiaojia and then smiled at Jiang Yu, saying,

"Let Xiaojia give it a try. Don't be fooled by his age, his cooking has some level to it.

It's hard to say about others, but give it another half a year or a year, and surpassing Xiaowu won't be a problem."

Jiang Yu hadn't had a chance to speak yet when Lu Shuwu happened to come over, carrying two steaming baskets of soup dumplings, and he heard everything Jia Dequan said.

Like a fighting rooster, he instantly flared up, saying with an indignant look:

"Lao Jia, aren't you looking down on people too much?

I have talent and work hard. Saying I can't match my boss, I accept that. But saying I'm no match for this young brat you brought?

What nonsense are you spouting?"

Ever since Jiang Yu had taught him some of the recipe formulas and unique cooking methods, Lu Shuwu had started to feel big-headed.

He's harboring a sort of mindset where Jiang Yu is the leader, and he's the second in command with great self-assurance.

At this point, what he couldn't stand the most was people saying he couldn't do it.

I've cooked such delicious food; if that's not enough, who can do it?

So, with Lao Jia saying this, he immediately retorted.

"Haha, Xiaowu, if you're so confident, then why not have you two each cook a full course meal and compare them in a year?"

Seeing Lu Shuwu anxious, Jia Dequan didn't argue with him, and said with a smile,

"Both of you can come and ask me if there's anything you don't understand. I will surely treat you both equally, with no bias.

After the competition next year, I'll offer my kitchen notebook, accumulated over the decades, as a reward to whoever wins. Whoever wins can take it!"

At this, even Jiang Yu was stunned.

Decades of kitchen notes—weren't those Lao Jia's chef insights?

Since Lu Shuwu's grandfather gave him the notes of his culinary insights, Jiang Yu found them profoundly beneficial every time he read them. This notebook is a summary of a master chef's experience over the decades.

Whichever chef receives them would store them as treasured possessions.

For anyone learning culinary arts, it practically is a family heirloom!

In strict terms, if an old chef is willing to give his recorded insights to someone, it's akin to considering them as their successor without reservation.

Of course, when Lu Shuwu's grandfather Lu Jinseng handed the notebook to Jiang Yu, he didn't have such intentions, as he considered his cooking not inferior to Jiang Yu's, thinking their skill levels were on par.

The notebook was not meant for Jiang Yu to keep but was passed to Lu Shuwu through Jiang Yu.

The reason it was given to Jiang Yu first was because Lu Jinseng couldn't stand Jiang Yu's knife skills and culinary basics back then, hoping he could improve quickly.

Lu Shuwu was also intimidated by what Lao Jia said and waved his hands repeatedly:

"This, this isn't appropriate, is it?"

"The way you say it sounds like you've already won."

Lao Jia chuckled and glanced at Lu Shuwu sideways,

"I'm just asking if you dare, if not, then let's just forget it, and I'll take back what I said."

"What's there not to dare? Do you think I'm a sick cat instead of a tiger?"

Being provoked by Lao Jia, Lu Shuwu became enthusiastic, and said with a stiff neck,

"Alright, let's compete. We don't need to wait for a year; how about the end of this year, so I can take the reward and go home for New Year after the competition!"

"Great, that's the spirit!"

Lao Jia laughed heartily and added,

"But having just the spirit isn't enough, you have to work hard too. If you lose, you won't have the face to meet people."

"Me lose? I don't even know how to write the word 'lose'!"

"Okay, okay, I'll remember your words then!"

Lao Jia nodded and considered the matter closed. He then turned to Jiang Yu and smiled, asking,

"Boss Xiao Jiang, do you want to consider what I just said?"

"The kitchen on the first floor is indeed short-staffed. I was worried about where to find a suitable chef, but then you returned, Lao Jia."

Jiang Yu thought for a moment, smiled, and said,

"I'm not worried about his cooking skills. With you advising him by his side, there's no way it could be too lacking.

I'm mostly worried about whether he'll be able to adapt to the cafeteria kitchen's work environment and pace.

How about this, let's have Xiaojia try it out for a day or two to see if he can handle the large-batch cooking?

Sure, you have the final say on this.

Lao Jia pulled out a chair and sat down for breakfast, smiling as he said,

Anyway, since he came with me, we've got to find something for him to do. If he can't cook, he'll just have to wash and chop vegetables diligently.

...

Jiang Yu was chatting comfortably with Jia Dequan in the first-floor kitchen, totally unaware that the reservation phone upstairs was about to explode from all the calls!

Luckily, Yan Tongtong was already used to such a bustling scene, otherwise the continuous ringing might really have scared her.

To prevent losing her voice before the reservation period even ended, like yesterday,

this time, she filled a large glass and steeped some fat sea herbs in water from a pharmacy, placing it beside her.

The most important thing was that while speaking to customers, she spoke softly and didn't strain her voice.

And you know what? This trick worked quite well. She had already answered over ten calls and her voice was still crisp and pleasant.

Yesterday was the first day of accepting private room reservations, and within just two hours, all private rooms for the week were booked out.

Most people who reserved the rooms were locals from Jiangzhou, with only a few from the surrounding areas.

But today, the callers booking rooms spanned a much wider geographic area.

Probably because someone filmed and shared videos of the dishes from Room Seven yesterday, the first caller today even spoke with a Sichuan accent.

Yan Tongtong initially thought it was just someone from Sichuan working in or around Jiangzhou. After all, with today's developed transportation, Sichuan people are everywhere, which is not unusual.

What she didn't expect was that she guessed wrong this time.

On the other end, a cheerful voice laughed and said:

Miss, you've got it wrong! I'm from Sichuan, and I'm actually in Rongcheng right now.

Huh? You're in Rongcheng? But our Room Seven is in Jiangzhou. Isn't that too far?

Yan Tongtong could hardly believe her ears. Rongcheng to Jiangzhou is nearly 1500 kilometers, and a round trip would cost over a thousand bucks!

With that money, you could eat anywhere. Why go all the way to Jiangzhou?

Moreover, Rongcheng has always been a food haven, attracting many food-loving tourists every year. You're really unique, wanting to travel for a meal...

Not far, not far. It's just a two-hour flight. I can have lunch in Jiangzhou and still make it back in time for a midnight snack.

Hearing the optimistic tone of the caller, you could tell he was a cheerful person.

I saw Boss Xiao Jiang cooked a lot of Sichuan dishes, and everyone says they are extremely delicious, so I wanted to give them a try.

As a Sichuan native who's eaten local cuisine all my life, I don't even know what extremely delicious Sichuan food is supposed to taste like!

I've got to try it!

Yan Tongtong wasn't a fool; a fool couldn't get into Jiang University.

This guy spoke cheerfully, but something felt off about his words, like he was coming to 'challenge' the place.

Otherwise, as a Sichuan person, if you eat Sichuan cuisine every day, even if you want something delicious, it'd make sense to try something different, not travel a thousand miles to Jiangzhou for it.

Saying he doesn't know what 'extremely delicious Sichuan food' tastes like is just being disgruntled about Room Seven's dishes getting that evaluation, isn't it?

Wow!

We just opened a small restaurant in a campus cafeteria, and there are people who aren't convinced and want to 'stir things up'...

That 'extremely delicious' is not something we claimed ourselves, it's what the customers said. If you've got a problem, take it up with those customers, not us running the place!

The more Yan Tongtong thought about it, the more frustrated she felt, but her good manners prevented her from hanging up, so she dutifully recorded his reservation.

After registering, Yan Tongtong thought for a bit and made a note beside it.

She quietly reminded herself: I should mention this to Senior Brother Jiang later; some people can't stand others doing well, and they might resort to petty tricks.

We need to be vigilant and not fall into their traps!

Just after hanging up, before Yan Tongtong could catch her breath, the phone rang again like it had caught fire.

Before answering, she thought to herself, "This time it can't possibly be another call from such a faraway place, right?"

The guy from Sichuan was probably just an anomaly; most people are much more reasonable than that.

Traveling a thousand kilometers just for a meal, what's the point?

Do they have money to burn?

There's no way she'd ever do something like that.

So, she couldn't wrap her head around their choices at all.

With these thoughts in mind, she picked up the receiver. Before she could speak, a rough voice came through:

Hello, I'd like to reserve a private room!

Yan Tongtong was taken aback upon hearing this; the voice had a Northeastern accent. Could he actually be calling from Northeast China?

Oh, my God!

How are there so many people with money to burn in this world?!

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