vncnus Chapter 130 The Arrival of Song Ming
Chapter 130 The Arrival of Song Ming
A middle-aged man, around thirty years old, wearing a neatly pressed white chef's uniform and a pair of chef's leather shoes, strode in.
He had striking features, and although his face still bore the weariness of a traveler, his every move exuded an aura of authority that resonated with all the diners present.
This man was none other than Song Ming, a renowned chef from Beijing who had just rushed here by taxi from the airport.
Song Ming glanced at the somewhat stunned customers in the shop, finally fixing his gaze on Lu Feng and Lin Muyuan's table, and loudly praised them:
"Looks like someone who's into big business, your eye for detail is really sharp!! That bite you just had was more than just a return to simplicity!!"
As Song Ming spoke, he strode to the counter and slammed his hand heavily on the mahogany table. In that instant, the arrogance and authority of a chief chef of state banquets were revealed without reservation.
"You only noticed the cleanliness of the ingredients, but you have no idea what kind of astonishing 'culinary expertise' my senior brother used in the kitchen to make this dish!!"
Song Ming suddenly turned around, his eyes shining like two searchlights, and shouted loudly at the hundreds of diners in the restaurant who were somewhat dumbfounded.
"Debone the fragrant yellow meat, cut the meat in two seconds, and don't add more than one piece of cartilage, otherwise the power of the Shaoxing wine won't penetrate deep into the skin!"
When marinating, the old ginger cannot be cut with a knife; it must be crushed by hand, because the metallic taste of the knife blade will completely lock in the sweet aftertaste of the Changbai Mountain old ginger!
The most ingenious part is the calculation of the high heat and steam for a full eight minutes... If it goes on for too long, the cell walls of the chicken will rupture, and the precious meat juices inside will leak into the soup, making the chicken dry and tough.
If the cooking time is too short, the raw, fishy smell in the bones and blood won't dissipate, and the broth will never be as clear as it is now!
Song Ming became more and more excited as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands in front of him, his voice booming in the somewhat quiet shop.
"In this vast land of China, there is no one else who can calculate the original flavor of the finest ingredients and the chemical reaction of aged Shaoxing wine to such a level... except for my senior brother Chen Feng!!"
The meal you're getting today for fifty-eight yuan is an unparalleled delicacy that was once served at state banquets in Beijing, a dish that even foreign heads of state had to book three months in advance!
boom!!
These words left the hundreds of diners in the "Human Fireworks" restaurant, as well as Lin Xiaoyu and the others outside, all stunned.
"The head chef of the... state banquet hall?!"
"Boss Chen used to work in state banquets?! My goodness..."
"Fifty-eight yuan a bowl...we've gotten a fantastic deal today!!"
The diners stared at the figure in the gray vest behind the counter, their eyes instantly shifting from admiration to a godlike fervor and horror.
At that moment, Chen Feng, who was wearing an apron and walking out of the kitchen, looked at Song Ming, who was standing in the middle of the store, spitting as he talked, and praising himself to the skies. His usually calm face twitched a couple of times.
His brows finally stopped twitching the moment he saw Song Ming's lively yet familiar face.
Chen Feng let out a long sigh of helplessness.
He finally understood. All that had been twitching his eyebrows in the car was because his junior brother, who had always loved showing off and was even more mischievous than a monkey, had somehow managed to fight his way from the capital to this old street.
Seeing that Song Ming was about to continue to shout and brag, Chen Feng felt a chill run down his spine.
"Akiko."
Chen Feng suddenly spoke, his voice tinged with helplessness.
He strode up to Song Ming, placed his hands on Song Ming's shoulders, and with a slight squeeze, pinched the renowned chef who held sway over state banquets in the capital, causing him to gasp for breath.
"Shut up. Stop making a fool of yourself here," Chen Feng said in a low voice, his face dark.
The hundreds of diners around were listening with great enthusiasm, but when they saw this scene, their eyes almost popped out of their sockets—Chef Song, who had just been so imposing and like a god who ruled the catering industry, suddenly shrank back under Boss Chen's gentle pinch.
"Ouch... Senior brother! That hurts! That hurts! Let go! Give your junior brother some face!!"
Just a moment ago, Song Ming was full of the dignity and pride of a master chef, but the moment he felt Chen Feng's familiar strength, all his arrogance vanished in an instant.
He shrank back shamelessly, grabbed Chen Feng's wrists with both hands, and his handsome face instantly filled with an extremely fawning and shameless smile as he begged for mercy.
"I was so bored staying in the capital that when I heard someone dared to bully my senior brother in the old street, I even gave the banquet to my second brother and flew all the way here to support you."
"Senior brother, why did you pinch me the moment we met? All that effort I put into building this persona has been for nothing!!"
Seeing Song Ming's ridiculous and shameless face, Su Chen and Xing Ruo, who were originally a little tense, couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Uncle Song!!"
Mengmeng, who was sitting quietly on the small stool, suddenly lit up her big, dark eyes as if two stars had fallen into them when she saw Song Ming's somewhat "flattering" face.
The little girl scrambled off the stool, fiddled with her little sandals, and like a white butterfly, happily rushed towards the counter.
During the time when Song Ming was learning a craft with Chen Feng in the capital, he often went to Chen Feng's house for meals.
He was naturally a free spirit and a well-known "king of kids." He would either buy dolls for Mengmeng or secretly take her to Houhai to feed pigeons. The two of them had a very close friendship.
"Ouch! My little darling, slow down, don't fall!!"
Upon hearing Mengmeng's call, Song Ming's face, which had previously held a touch of chef's authority, melted completely in an instant.
He hurriedly pushed Chen Feng's large hand away, bent down, and with his hands expertly reached forward, he caught Mengmeng, who was rushing towards him, and held her firmly in his arms.
"Uncle Song! Did you fall from that big plane? Mengmeng misses you so much!!"
Mengmeng clung tightly to Song Ming's neck with her two chubby little arms, rubbing her head against his clean chef's uniform, her voice sweet and childlike, filled with the joy of a long-awaited reunion.
Song Ming held the soft little guy in his arms, and he was so happy that his big tail was practically sticking up to the sky.
He smugly lifted Mengmeng up, then gave Chen Feng, who had a dark expression on his face, a provocative look in the corner of his eye, and started shouting loudly and arrogantly.
"Of course!! I was in Beijing today, preparing a delicious broth, when I got the call from your dad, and I heard him muttering to himself..."
Oh dear, it's getting dark in the old town! We ran into some bad guys in the south area, and they stole all the big pieces of meat!!
As Song Ming spoke, he exaggeratedly flicked Mengmeng's little nose, his smile resembling that of a blooming wild chrysanthemum.
"Upon hearing this, the uncle exclaimed, 'This is outrageous!'"
In the heart of China, how dare anyone bully our Mengmeng and Senior Brother?
I threw my chef's hat aside on the spot and flew over in a big plane in a flash!
Little Mengmeng, don't worry, Uncle has brought over the biggest refrigerated truck in town this time. Anyone who dares to be that big bad guy and not give us big pieces of meat, Uncle will go over and slap him to death. I'll beat up that big bad guy for you!!
"Wow--!!"
Mengmeng's big eyes widened as she listened, her chubby little hands clapping excitedly in the air, her face full of admiration.
"Uncle Song is so amazing!! He fights the big bad guys like Ultraman!! Daddy, look, Uncle Song is here to help us fight the bad guys!!"
The childish conversation between the two, one big and one small, in the center of the shop, coupled with Song Ming's serious yet incongruous "carefree" demeanor, instantly turned the originally quiet "human touch" into a deafening burst of laughter.
"Hahaha!! This Chef Song is a real character!!"
"When he was talking about 'clear broth Shaoxing wine chicken' just now, I thought he was some high-class old master, but I never expected him to turn into a complete idiot the moment he saw the child!!"
"But... judging from this, the food supply blockade in the south of the city was really smashed by this Chef Song? That's truly terrifying..."
Su Chen sat on the bench, laughing so hard that tears were almost streaming down her face, and weakly rubbed her aching stomach.
Xingruo pursed her lips and hid behind the kitchen curtain, laughing non-stop. The gloom in the shop was completely washed away in an instant by the warm, chaotic laughter in the small restaurant.