Chapter 99 (099) Removed from shelves [Second update]

It's true what they say about netizens' food sense these days; Yao Qingqin never expected that she would be recognized by customers just because she went out to fry some shrimp balls.

These people searched for clues in the short videos posted by parents and quickly pieced together the truth behind Wenji's closure.

—She was poached by this kindergarten that looks very wealthy to work as a private chef!

The comment section was immediately filled with all sorts of tantrums and crying.

[Dodo bird: I don't care! I want to eat too! Isn't that red fried pork tenderloin? Why doesn't the restaurant serve it?]

[DouDou is a Pig: Haha! I even saw a picture taken by a parent showing soup! Gold! Soup! Abalone! Fish! I've never heard of these names before!]

[Eating meat without lighting: Why can't there be one more rich person in the world than me? If I were rich, I'd hire the whole family, and I'd eat one bowl and throw the rest away!]

[Ugly Duckling: Can a bunch of kids really understand how to eat boiled pork slices, shredded pork rolls, braised pork knuckle, or sweet and sour pine nut fish? Let me eat them!]

[Morning Like Green Silk: Everyone, I've investigated and found out that my neighbor's aunt's nephew's child attends this kindergarten, which is supposedly incredibly expensive. Although I don't know how they got involved with the business, they reportedly had an amazing buffet today!]

[Maple Forest Evening: ...I can't even make a reservation for the restaurant's private kitchen dishes, and everyone else is eating at the buffet?]

[Qiuqiu: Not only that! According to the most complete summary so far, this buffet should include cold dishes, hot stir-fries, soups, snacks, and so on. It's said that there will be as many as a hundred dishes that day!]

[Lady Luck: ...I wish I could go back to kindergarten and live it all over again.]

[Qiuqiu: Same here. But even if we went back in time, it would be very difficult to get into this kindergarten. It's said to be the most high-end kindergarten in our area, the kind where parents have to be interviewed to get their children in.]

[Maple Forest Evening: It's quite mysterious; I didn't even know that.]

[Eating meat without lighting: After all, they're rich... But I'm curious, a kindergarten this wealthy should have its own catering team, right? Or at the very least, hiring Jin Yu Lou would be more suitable, wouldn't it?]

[Ugly Monster: What else could it be? It's definitely because it's delicious! Actually, I've wanted to say this for a long time: the once-renowned Jin Yu Lou restaurant has really had poor quality control in recent years. That two-star rating from a certain pearl restaurant was a stroke of luck back then. Now, its food is not even worth one star, let alone two.]

[Azure Eagle on the Long Road: Forget about Jin Yu Lou for now, I just want to know when these dishes will be served at the restaurant!]

[Ninja: Me too! When are you coming, @WenjiRestaurant?]

[The matter was accomplished in secrecy: When will we go to @WenjiRestaurant?]

...

After Wen Fan and his group finished packing, it was already afternoon. Xie Qingxi readily paid the remaining balance and gave Wen Fan a separate large red envelope.

The gift was given to him in front of everyone. Wen Fan touched it and found it to be a thick stack. His evaluation of Xie Qingxi had reached its peak.

Xie Qingxi: "This event was a great success, and I hope we will have the opportunity to collaborate again next time."

These words sounded sincere, and Xie Qingxi felt that the day wouldn't be too late.

Wen Fan accepted the money readily and gave him a friendly look.

"No problem."

With plenty of money, few problems, and a sensible person, Wen Fan looked at Xie Qingxi as if she were a golden baby.

Father Wen loaded the goods onto the truck, but he couldn't finish in one trip, so he had to make three or four round trips.

With nothing else to do, Wen Fan became interested in giving Master Li some pointers.

She's actually quite interested in the kitchens of many companies, since her own business, though small, will eventually grow bigger. Once it grows, the kitchen will definitely need to be scaled up and staffed.

The kindergarten provided Wen Fan with a model, which she found particularly insightful, highlighting the kindergarten's food safety regulations. This greatly inspired her, particularly regarding the meal sample retention system, procurement review, and detailed food storage guidelines.

It looks complicated, but it is very rigorous and responsible.

After praising the hygiene and food safety, Wen Fan began to criticize Chef Li for being too rigid in his cooking.

She noticed this while cooking today. It seems that Chef Li learned the skills of a Shandong cuisine chef. Shandong cuisine, as the head of the eight major cuisines, sits on the top spot with its long history and complex and varied techniques.

But that's the problem with Chef Li. The techniques of Shandong cuisine are rigorous, and without long-term practice and keen reflection, it is impossible to master them completely.

For the same dish, you not only need to know how to control the cooking time, but also be able to taste the subtle differences between cooking it for 30 seconds and 40 seconds.

But clearly, like Mr. Wen, Mr. Li didn't understand this concept.

They don't understand this principle, yet they still blindly follow the textbook.

If you can't learn the skills of an old Shandong cuisine chef, you can only imitate other people's movements, which results in dishes that look like craftsmen's work and are always a little off by a few points.

When Master Li heard Wen Fan complaining about him, he felt as if a thousand arrows had pierced his knees.

Wen Fan's description of him is almost identical to that of his former master!

The difference is that his master would always shake his head after speaking.

After Wen Fan finished speaking, he pointed out several solutions to him.

These few words, seemingly unremarkable, are all based on fundamental skills.

Wen Fan meant that reading a book a hundred times will reveal its meaning.

The same applies to basic skills; you need to hone them first, and once you've done that, you'll at least have a bit more flair for it.

Just like Wen's father, after a long period of honing his skills, the resulting demeanor becomes quite intimidating.

Master Li stood behind Wen Fan, and after listening, he quietly took a step back.

Even a teacher who teaches you a single word is still a teacher.

When it comes to cooking, you must treat your master with the same respect you would show them.

"Master Wen, may I ask about your lineage?"

Mr. Li's heart was pounding, and several names flashed through his mind.

Wen Fan: "Xiaomoushu, Douyin, and Bo."

Mr. Li: ……

I have such a sharp tongue.

Wen Fan didn't think there was anything wrong with what she said. She had learned the ways of the ancient court, and after arriving in modern times, she spent a lot of time figuring out how to match the seasonings one by one.

As for the dishes, I've seen them countless times.

She follows the most popular bloggers on these platforms. Of course, the internet is full of complicated information, and eight out of ten cooking videos are fake, either hiding steps or omitting key seasonings.

Wen Fan often draws inspiration from these people's videos, and she is deeply fascinated by all sorts of modern and innovative seasoning methods.

Master Li eagerly added Wen Fan's contact information, indicating that Wen Fan could contact him if she needed any ingredients in the future.

Not to mention that kindergartens have a wider range of supply channels, he also has many fellow apprentices who supply high-end ingredients to large hotels, such as Spanish ham and Chaoshan lion-head geese...

He can get it as long as it's not too much.

After hearing what Master Li said, Wen Fan looked at him with new respect and immediately said that he would contact him if he needed anything.

After saying goodbye to the kindergarten, on the way home, Wen's mother gave Yao Qingqin and Yu Fangfang red envelopes.

Yu Fangfang blushed and was too embarrassed to accept.

She felt like she hadn't done any work today.

Wen Fan directed everyone else throughout the process; aside from peeling garlic and preparing vegetables, she only contributed a little when cleaning up the dishes at the end.

Without saying a word, Wen's mother stuffed the money into her hand: "One thing at a time."

We agreed on this beforehand, how can we not get married?

Once inside the store, the group quickly put everything back in its place.

Yao Qingqin had just sat down to rest when she saw her phone was flooded with background message notifications.

When Yao Qingqin opened it, she was stunned.

"Boss, we've been found out about our trip to the kindergarten."

The comments under the account are full of calls to enrich the restaurant's menu and condemnations of not opening the restaurant to provide special meals for kindergartens.

Occasionally, a few people would ask if the store would be open tonight.

Wen Fan read a few comments and said it didn't matter.

"So what if they found it?"

Who told Xie Qingxi to give so much money?

This event provided the store with a week's worth of money. Even the red envelopes contained 5,000 yuan, greatly enriching Wen Fan's savings.

Yao Qingqin looked at it for a while, but really didn't know how to reply, so she simply did as Wen Fan said and left it at that.

...

Meanwhile, Xie Qingxi finally returned home and was about to get some rest when her boss's call came like a death knell. As soon as she answered, she heard a cacophony of noise on the other end.

"Xie Qingxi, you did a great job organizing this event!"

These words seemed to come out of nowhere, and Xie Qingxi, a seasoned worker, was taken aback for a moment before quickly trying to recall what she had done wrong.

Fortunately, the boss on the other end wasn't being sarcastic today; he genuinely praised her. He mentioned that after today's event, many parents posted videos, unintentionally giving the kindergarten free advertising.

People may not all know about Xingyun Kindergarten, but everyone knows how good Wenji's business is.

The fact that they gave up their business to provide self-help services for Nebula is enough to make Nebula's parents extremely happy.

Relatives and friends kept asking which kindergarten was so amazing that it could invite such a popular online store to work there; they must be really powerful.

The parents burst into laughter, then the secluded Versailles.

"It was all organized by the kindergarten; I didn't know about it beforehand."

"Oh my, I didn't know that if you hadn't told me. I only know that this place makes really good food, and my child likes it."

"Home-style cooking? I'll ask about it later."

Besides the two legendary items, shrimp balls and persimmon cakes, Wenji's most prominent online presence is its mysterious private dishes served on weekends.

When the parents heard this, they exclaimed, "Wow, a private kitchen! How can we not join in the fun?"

They called the kindergartens one by one, relentlessly asking for Wenji's contact information.

Wen's mother was puzzled; it was almost evening, yet the shop's phone kept ringing.

The calls came in full of orders for private kitchen dishes.

"Hello, we only do this on weekends, with a minimum of three people, and preferably no more than six."

"Dress code? There is none."

"You asked about the price? Three hundred."

"It's not 300 per dish... nor 300 per person... it's 300 for three people, and 400 for four people..."

"It's a pity we can't book the whole place."

"There are no plans to raise prices for the time being."

...

After rejecting all the applicants in one go, Wen's mother took a sip of water and said that she would not take this kind of job again next time.

So tired!

It's not the work itself that's tiring, but the aftermath!

Xie Qingxi's call was the last one to come in, and the first thing she asked was whether Wen Fan was interested in becoming the group's food consultant.

"Annual salary of one hundred."

Xie Qingxi sounded somewhat envious when she spoke.

She has been working her way up to the top, and now she has only just barely reached the threshold of an annual salary of one million, while Wen Fan is not even eighteen years old yet!

After Wen Fan flatly refused, Xie Qingxi sighed and said that since that was the case, let's talk about future cooperation.

"Regarding fried shrimp balls, we would prefer to obtain a secret recipe, and we are willing to provide a certain technical guidance fee after teaching you how to make them."

Although there are countless tutorials online, Xie Qingxi's boss believes in getting what you pay for. Since Wen Fan's skills are so highly praised, they'll learn from him exactly, without missing a beat!

Faced with Xie Qingxi's generous offer, Wen Fan declared that there was no need for discussion: "Come on!"

Why not make money if you have it?

Anyway, the shrimp balls will be taken off the shelves soon, so she has to come up with some new products.

Winter is just around the corner, what could be more appealing than a hot and spicy dish?

Wen Fan discussed with his mother that they would buy two more large cooking pots tomorrow.

"It's getting cold, time to sell maocai (a type of Sichuan hot pot)."