Each dish was perfectly seasoned. With every bite, your tongue would leap with joy, yet your stomach would only feel a little hungrier. Before you knew it, you'd devoured everything on the table!
Even the millet congee was thick and fragrant, leaving you suffused with a sense of contentment.
"Not bad, not bad at all," the leader sitting in the middle said with a rare smile and a word of praise. "This meal was very satisfying. If the kitchen was always at this level, who would bother cooking at home? Wouldn't everyone just come here to eat?"
The others nodded in agreement. Even the handsome young man, who Zhu Yun thought always looked so expressionless, had a lazy, satisfied look on his face, the kind that comes from a good meal.
A chef's greatest sense of achievement comes from the diners' enthusiastic approval!
'Great,' Zhu Yun thought as she felt the sharp glares shooting at her from the side. 'I haven't even officially started, and I'm already public enemy number one.'
Unsurprisingly, she received the highest score.
Director Wang announced the names of the selected chefs and then called the top two upstairs to cook small-pot dishes. Even now, he couldn't quite get over it, his eyes constantly drifting toward Zhu Yun.
'Maybe her face is dark because she's spent years by the stove, blackened by the smoke?'
But to him, as long as her cooking skills were up to par, she was one of his elite generals!
So, as everyone was leaving, Director Wang made a point of telling Zhu Yun, "Xiao Zhu, keep up the good work. I have high hopes for you. The future development of our Cafeteria Number One rests on your ladles!"
Zhu Yun smiled and nodded.
In the following days, as one of the head chefs on the second floor, she became busy. First, she had to recruit her own kitchen assistant and vegetable washers. Then she had to get acquainted with the procurement staff to see what else needed to be purchased.
She also needed to familiarize herself with all the new kitchen equipment. During this time, she ran into the handsome young man again.
He still had that serious, unsmiling expression. His voice was clear and crisp, and he was incredibly easy on the eyes. Zhu Yun thought that if she could eat while looking at a face like that, her appetite would definitely improve.
He was tall and slender, but when he bent over to inspect the machine, his work uniform clung to his body, outlining the explosive power of his muscles. He was a perfect example of someone who looks slim in clothes but is muscular underneath.
His fingers were long and strong, and he deftly demonstrated how to use the oven. "Classmate Zhu, did you get that?"
Zhu Yun snapped back to reality, blinked, and looked at the machine with a slightly dazed expression before nodding. "Mhm, I got it. Thank you."
Then she turned to busy herself with other things. To make new pots and knives last long and feel comfortable to use, one had to patiently go through all the proper preparation procedures.
She was also thinking about making some of her own seasonings, like chicken bouillon powder, chili sauce, Sichuan peppercorn water, and broad bean paste, as well as pickling some vegetables.
Chu Shenyu paused, slightly taken aback. Whether it was his looks, work ability, education, or age, he was second to none in the entire factory complex. You could say he'd been attracting unwanted romantic attention his whole life.
This annoyed him to no end, causing his expression to grow increasingly stoic. His Cultivation of a cold aura had reached perfection, and very few female comrades could withstand the pressure and still try to get close to him.
Zhu Yun used to always try to get close to him, and her skin was so thick it was impenetrable. Most of the time, he didn't even dare to go home, opting to live in the bachelor dorms instead.
He hadn't expected that after all the commotion, she would become so clear-headed. Apart from a lingering infatuation when she saw him, she didn't make any excessive moves.
Chu Shenyu turned and left, his face still expressionless.
Zhu Yun's kitchen assistant was an auntie from the family residential compound. Her husband's surname was Qian, and he was a section chief.
Sister-in-law Qian was a quick worker and a neat freak. Now that she had become Zhu Yun's right-hand woman, she was naturally completely devoted to her.
"Chef Zhu, that's the right attitude! A three-legged toad is hard to find, but there are plenty of two-legged men out there. Whether a man is handsome or ugly, you can't eat his looks. A woman needs to find someone who's attentive and cares for her."
"You're a head chef on the second floor now. A lot of people are definitely going to pull strings to set you up with someone. When that time comes, you can take your pick. I'll help you look them over, and I guarantee you'll find someone who'll give you a much better life than that last guy!"
Zhu Yun raised an eyebrow. 'Who said I was giving up on the handsome young man?'
'My mission is to do whatever my heart desires. Just a moment ago, I was secretly plotting to whiten and soften my skin, get my figure in shape, and then launch a full-on assault on the handsome young man when I'm at my very best.'
'Right now, though, all I'm thinking about is how to lower my profile.'
She wouldn't say this to anyone else, of course, so she just smiled and gave a vague, noncommittal response.
Soon, the cafeteria officially opened. A bright red banner was stretched across the entrance hall outside. Director Wang had even solemnly invited a few leaders for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and set off a string of firecrackers to announce the grand opening of Kyoto Bright Machinery Factory's Cafeteria Number One.
Moreover, the news had been announced intermittently over the loudspeakers since yesterday.
Many employees headed straight here, lunch boxes in hand.
The first floor served dishes cooked in large vats. Each master chef prepared a few of their signature dishes, then sat to the side, wiping away sweat with a towel and sipping tea, feeling delighted as they watched the kitchen assistants serve the food.
Zhu Yun, on the other hand, was in charge of the small-pot dishes. Before mealtime, she also had to prepare three to five trays of ready-made dishes. The other available made-to-order dishes were written on a small blackboard.
She wore a pristine white work uniform, fully kitted out with a hat, sleeve protectors, and a black apron trimmed with red. Though small and slender, she was particularly eye-catching.
There was a simple reason for this. The news that she had silently clinched first place in the chef competition that day had already spread throughout the entire machinery factory. Many people came specifically for this reason, wanting to taste what the first-place winner's cooking was like.
The large-tray dishes were braised beef with potatoes, braised carp in soy sauce, sweet and sour cabbage, and mapo tofu. The staple food was rice steamed in a wooden bucket, and the soup was a corn-flour porridge.
The selection was quite generous, with a good mix of meat and vegetable dishes. Since everyone had a short lunch break, most people's stomachs were already rumbling just from the smell. They usually got one meat dish, one vegetable dish, rice, and soup; few people placed separate orders.
Wang Xianbing was also thinking about it.
After Lin Jin became pregnant, she could barely keep anything down, and she threw up most of what she ate.
He thought Zhu Yun's cooking was delicious and figured that his wife might be able to eat a little of it.
So, he braced himself and dragged Chu Shenyu along to line up for food right after work.
Zhu Yun was eating an orange, planning to take a short break before her own meal, when she spotted the two of them in line. An idea sparked in her mind, and she turned to Sister-in-law Qian with a smile. "Sister-in-law, you go eat first. I'll take over serving. You can come back and switch with me later."
After a few days of working together, the two had become quite familiar with each other. Sister-in-law Qian didn't stand on ceremony and smilingly handed over the serving spoon.
Zhu Yun was quick-witted and deft. She placed the wooden box for money and meal tickets on the counter and focused only on scooping dishes, ladling soup, and serving rice, letting the customers calculate their own costs and make change.
The bills were only for a yuan or eighty cents or so, so everyone calculated quickly. With so many people around, there was no fear of mistakes.
The line moved quickly. When it was the handsome young man's turn, Zhu Yun pulled her hat and mask down, hiding herself even more thoroughly.
"One serving of braised beef with potatoes, one serving of mapo tofu, plus two bowls of rice and one bowl of soup," Chu Shenyu said, holding a rather rare, multi-layered lunch box.
Zhu Yun didn't say a word. She scooped a generous amount of meat into the container and packed the rice down firmly.