Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Jing’an District, Wanda Mall.
“Mommy, I want to eat this!” The boy, who looked to be around 10-year-old, held his phone up to his mother.
The video playing on the phone was Qin Yun’s live-stream that was edited by someone.
The content was about eight-year-old Xu Le stir-frying a Kung Pao Chicken.
The video already had more than five million views and one million likes.
“It’s at Hongxing Food Street. It’s too far away from us, and there are so many people waiting in line. Let’s not go!” His mom glanced at the address and immediately refused.
“No, no, no. The video said that this restaurant’s Oil Doused Noodles is really delicious!”
“Chen Yu, why are you so disobedient? These videos are all lies.”
“I’m instistent on going. It’s my birthday today. Mom, you promised me that I can eat anything I want to eat!” The boy called Chen Yu said reluctantly.
“Aye…” His mom sighed.
Calmly, she said to Chen Yu, “Be good and listen to me. There are too many people queuing at these popullar stores. Let’s not go. Today is your birthday. Mom will bring you to eat your favorite McDonald’s, okay?”
“Oh no, I just want to eat this food in the video!”
As they spoke, the little boy was on the verge of crying and throwing tantrum on the ground.
In the end, his mother could not dissuade him and could only bring him to Hongxing Food Street.
Like him, similar scenes were playing out in many parts of Shanghai.
In front of Xu Le’s food stall, there were many rows of customers who were attracted to come because of the live-stream. They surrounded the place so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.
“Little kid, I want a serving of every dish!”
“Give me two servings of Oil Doused Noodles!”
“How old are you, kid?”
“Little Boss, your culinary skills are really good!”
“…”
Amidst all the noise and excitement, there were still people asking Xu Le how old he was.
“Stop asking. Stop asking.”
Xu Le’s mind was upset by this question.
He glanced at the signboard that read “Taste of China” beside him and suddenly had an idea.
Since everyone was asking about his age.
Should he change the name of the restaurant to “8-year-old cafeteria” the next time he moved?
At least these people wouldn’t keep asking him how old he was.
…
As time passed.
Night fell, but the crowd in front of Xu Le’s food stall did not reduce at all.
When it was almost reaching night, there were even more customers than in the afternoon.
However, the ingredients prepared by Xu Le wouldn’t last that long.
Moreover, Xu Tian could not rest too late.
Hence, Xu Le chose to stop business around 10 pm.
The surrounding customers gradually dispersed, leaving only a few scattered people taking videos.
In just one day, Xu Le’s food stall had become a hot topic on Weibo and was even known by the entire country.
This was the speed of the internet.
The American artist Andy Warhol once said this: “In the future, everyone would have 15 minutes to become famous.”
Xu Le knew that his 15 minutes were here now that he had become famous online.
As Xu Le was packing his things, a slightly plump man in a white chef’s uniform walked over.
Xu Le looked up and saw that the man was wearing a chef’s hat that was about 30 centimeters high.
This kind of hat was known as a chef’s hat. It was 29.5 centimeters long. Usually, only the head chef or the senior chef of a hotel would wear this kind of hat.
So… the man in front of him was most likely the head chef of a certain hotel?
Even though he did not know why the other party had come here.
However, this was Xu Le’s first time meeting someone in the same industry, so he looked at him with interest.
“Hello, little friend.” The chef smiled as he greeted, “My name is Zhang Tong. I am a chef.”
“Hello.” Xu Le nodded.
“I want to buy a bowl of oil doused noodles, a bowl of tomato egg soup, and a plate of Kung Pao chicken.”
“I can’t make it anymore. There are no more ingredients.” Xu Le shook his head and refused.
That was the truth. He had used up all the ingredients he had prepared that day.
“Hmm…” Zhang Tong fell into deep thought.
“Little kid, do you have any other ingredients here? Anything is fine. I want to try it.”
Zhang Tong asked sincerely.
He only saw the video online in the evening.
From the video, Zhang Tong could already tell that Xu Le’s culinary skills were definitely not simple. He immediately thought of coming over to try it.
But it was already 9 pm after work, and the traffic in Shanghai was very heavy.
Hence, Xu Le was already preparing to pack up by the time he arrived.
“Make anything?”
Xu Le scratched his head.
Since the other party was from the same industry, Xu Le wanted to satisfy him as much as possible.
But the ingredients… he did not have any here.
“Do you want me to get some rice from next door and cook some Egg Fried Rice for you?” Xu Le raised his eyebrows and asked tentatively.
Although Xu Le didn’t receive the recipe for Egg Fried Rice from the system,
However, culinary skills for one dish could be applied to other dishes. While he was mastering other dishes, his understanding of ingredients also deepened.
Moreover in his previous life, he had watched a video of a chef teaching how to cook Egg Fried Rice.
Xu Le had also practiced in the system space for a while. Probably… a few hundred times.
Therefore, Xu Le was confident that his Egg Fried Rice was still presentable.
“Egg Fried Rice, sounds good!”
Zhang Tong beamed.
Egg Fried Rice was considered a main dish.
The cooking method was very simple. It was so simple that even people who had never cooked before could succeed in one try.
However, it was precisely from this simple dish that one could see the high standard of a chef.
Senior chefs were able to make the ordinary Egg Fried Rice taste extraordinary and even innovate according to their own style.
Therefore, it was very suitable for Zhang Tong to let Xu Le cook a bowl of Egg Fried Rice.