However, now Lao Liu is actually putting braised pork into his own bowl...
Sighing, she picked up her chopsticks and first grabbed a piece of rib from her bowl. The dish emitted an enticing aroma, even more so than the dishes she cooked herself. But sometimes, dishes smell good but don’t taste as good.
This dish might be delicious, but is it really as good as Lao Liu claims?
Shaking her head, she decided not to think about it anymore. She was already a bit hungry, and regardless of how the food tasted, she couldn’t come with an empty stomach and leave with one.
She placed the rib into her mouth and took a bite, causing her spouse to freeze in astonishment. This taste...
The meat was tender and juicy; with just one small bite, her mouth was filled with rich, meaty aroma, a fresh taste mixed with spiciness that excited her taste buds instantly, making her mouth involuntarily start to salivate.
This, this is just too delicious!
After finishing one bite, she couldn’t help but take another, and then another...
The expression on her face transformed from initial puzzlement to shock, and then from shock to delight, as if she had been assimilated by the others in the private room, gradually becoming just like them...
Director Liu’s wife, under his lead, unknowingly became another "captive" of Jiang Family’s cuisine.
...
Room number seven.
Across from the "Winter" private room was the equally-sized "Chrysanthemum" private room.
Inside the "Chrysanthemum" private room, it wasn’t as lively as Director Liu’s side. Seated inside were all middle-aged men in their thirties and forties, sitting quietly around the large round table, sipping tea as they waited for the food to be served.
Their demeanor made it seem like they weren’t there to eat but to accomplish a task.
"Everyone, don’t be so serious, not even a smile on your faces. If someone sees us, they might think we’re plotting something bad!"
Sitting at the head of the table, a tall and muscular middle-aged man in his forties took a sip of water, making an intentionally light-hearted but not-so-funny joke. He turned to look at a crew-cut man sitting at the lower end, smiling and asking,
"Xiaosun, you’ll be in charge of filming later, right?"
The crew-cut man nodded and replied, "Yeah, I’ll use my phone to film when the time comes. Don’t worry, I brought a power bank just in case the battery runs out."
"Hmm, well done."
The tall middle-aged man nodded approvingly and glanced at the others, saying,
"Each of us has our specialty dishes, and the dishes we ordered this time are based on that standard.
When the food is served, whoever’s dish it is will comment on it. Remember to stay composed and use professional language because the video is going online; we can’t let knowledgeable folks ridicule us."
"Don’t worry, didn’t we already discuss this before we set off? We won’t forget!"
"This is a good opportunity to showcase our skills, surely no one is going to mess this up!"
"Right, we’ve been preparing for this for so long, all for today!"
"Hehe, whether it’s a horse or a mule, let’s take it out for a walk to see!"
"..."
A group of men nodded in agreement, drawing awkward smiles on their previously serious faces.
If Jia Dequan were here, he’d surely recognize at a glance that the man at the head was He Dazhuang, the head chef of the Jiangxia Wind and Cloud Tavern, and the short, stout man next to him was Qian Yunfan, the head chef of the Xiangchu Flavor Building.
This group was exactly the one his apprentice had called to inform him about, the chefs who came specifically from Jiangxia to Jiang University to "pick faults" with Jiang Yu’s dishes!
"Hmm, we didn’t come here to intentionally cause trouble for anyone. We are people with our own standing; how could we do such a trivial thing?"
He Dazhuang, seeing everyone had expressed their views, nodded with satisfaction and continued,
"The culinary world is indeed a mix of many kinds, with all sorts of people, leading to a rookie daring to put on airs!
Clearly lacking in skills, yet daring to sell things at such high prices, isn’t this deliberately deceiving diners and misleading them?
In this situation, as traditional chefs, we have the responsibility and obligation to maintain a good consumption environment, to stand up and expose him!
Of course, we’re not targeting the person, just this unhealthy phenomenon..."