Forget it, let's plant these two first. We'll worry about the rest when we get paid. Ma Hua felt a pang of pain in his heart thinking about how his previous salary, besides being handed over to the authorities, was spent on buying things for Sha Zhu. Damn it, it's infuriating! The original owner of this body was truly foolishly loyal. Sigh.

Time flew by, and the next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Ma Hua reluctantly crawled out of bed. He patted his face a few times to rouse himself, and spent almost the entire time yawning as he finished getting ready. As soon as he opened the door, he saw his mother, Chen Hongmei, preparing breakfast for the whole family.

Chen Hongmei was also taken aback when she saw Ma Hua, and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Hua, why are you up so early today? I haven't made breakfast yet. Why don't you sleep a little longer, I'll wake you up later."

"No, Mom, I have something to do today, so I'll have to go now," Ma Hua said hurriedly, glancing at the time.

"Hey, kid, you can't skip breakfast! Why don't you go out and buy whatever you want to eat?" Chen Hongmei walked quickly up to Ma Hua and started to pull out her food coupons and money from her pocket.

"Mom, I really don't need it. I have something to do, I..." Before Ma Hua could finish speaking, his mother, Chen Hongmei, stuffed the bill into Ma Hua's pocket.

"Well, okay, thank you, Mom. I'll be going now." Ma Hua felt a pang of sadness, her eyes slightly red. For so many years, she had never experienced this kind of family affection since leaving the orphanage in her previous life. Afraid of crying, Ma Hua ran out of the courtyard.

"Why has this child become so impulsive lately? Sigh," Chen Hongmei, the mother, shook her head and sighed as she watched Ma Hua's retreating figure.

After leaving the courtyard, Ma Hua headed straight for the bus stop. It was barely dawn, and the bus stop was already packed with people. Soon, a bus with a huge, imposing balloon on top slowly pulled up at the stop. Ma Hua stared in disbelief at the balloon. "Good heavens, won't this thing explode?" he thought. He glanced speechlessly at the people smoking on the bus.

Before Ma Hua could react, the bus doors opened, and the people waiting on the platform surged forward. Ma Hua squeezed on with the flow of people, and it wasn't until an hour later that Ma Hua finally arrived at his stop on the bus.

It was already past seven when Ma Hua got out of the car and found the place. He looked up at the signboard and thought, "Hmm, Fengzeyuan, we've arrived." Wasn't this where Sha Zhu apprenticed back then? Ma Hua walked in, somewhat surprised.

As soon as he entered, he saw a table with seven or eight people lined up. Ma Hua immediately asked the comrade next to him, "Comrade, may I ask you, is this the place for the chef's exam?"

Seeing the man nod, Ma Hua finally felt relieved.

At eight o'clock sharp, the people sitting at the table stood up and shouted, "Comrades, quiet down! Our exam is about to begin. Please take your letters of introduction and exam certificates and follow me."

Ma Hua followed the crowd to the examination hall, and soon saw several examiners appear before them. After the staff announced the examination procedures, they specifically said, "In our examination room, you must use the ingredients and seasonings already provided. You are not allowed to use your own. If you are caught doing so, it will be considered cheating."

After listening, the examiners nodded in satisfaction. That's more like a chef's exam! They remembered the last time someone brought their own large intestines and seasonings to make an authentic (Nine-Turned Intestines) dish for the examiners, but it made everyone vomit.

After seeing everyone nod, the staff continued, "The exam will last one hour and consist of two dishes. As for what to make, you are free to choose from the ingredients in front of you and be creative."

As the staff announced the start of the exam, MCA followed the crowd to the food storage area to select the ingredients and seasonings they needed.

After thinking for a moment, Ma Hua finally decided to make Mapo Tofu and Sweet and Sour Pork. He had originally wanted to make something more challenging, but was surprised to find he only had some very common ingredients.

Mapo tofu is one of the ten famous Sichuan dishes, known for its spicy and savory flavor. Sweet and sour pork, on the other hand, is one of the ten classic Shandong dishes, with a delightful sweet and sour taste. And since Fengzeyuan is a renowned Shandong restaurant in Beijing, ordering this is definitely the right choice.

After selecting the necessary ingredients and seasonings, Ma Hua quickly began preparing the side dishes. It took her more than ten minutes to chop all the side dishes. After composing herself briefly, Ma Hua started the next step: stir-frying the vegetables.

"Hmm, this grand hotel is great. And it even has gas! That's good," Ma Hua thought to himself with relief. "If it were a coal stove, it might malfunction. This is perfect." Although it couldn't compare to the power of natural gas in later generations...

MCA really exceeded expectations this time. After the two dishes were cooked and placed on the pre-prepared plates, arranged in a neat shape, MCA finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Ma Hua carried a tray containing two dishes to the examiner, took the dishes off the tray, gently placed them on the table where the examiner was, took a step back, and said, "Please try the Mapo Tofu and Sweet and Sour Pork!"

The examiner, who had been nonchalant just moments before, paused slightly after glancing at the dishes on the table. "The presentation and the sheen of these dishes are impressive," Ma Hua thought to himself with a secret chuckle. He knew this was a technique he'd learned in later generations; even setting aside everything else, the presentation of these dishes alone was enough to impress.

The examiners first nodded in satisfaction upon seeing that the tofu in the Mapo Tofu was cut into uniform sizes. Then, they picked up their chopsticks, tasted it, and exclaimed, "Hmm, not bad!"

Seeing the satisfied expressions on the faces of the examiners who had tasted the food, Ma Hua finally felt relieved. It seemed he had passed the test this time.

Just as Ma Hua was about to leave, one of the examiners asked him, "Young man, would you mind telling me who your mentor is?"

Ma Hua seemed a little surprised by the examiner's question, but after thinking for a moment, she slowly replied, "To be honest, I learned by watching others cook and gradually figuring it out."

"Impossible, I'm sorry, I was a bit out of line. But young comrade, I'd like to ask you something, have you ever had a master before?" The examiner seemed to sense the surprised looks from the crowd, and then adjusted his tone and continued to ask.

“I once studied under He Yuzhu, but perhaps I was too dull, and he didn’t teach me much. If I really have to say who I learned from, it would be my mother. Before cooking, my mother would often tell me how to cook,” Ma Hua said after thinking for a moment.

"Is your mother's surname Chen? Is her name Chen Hongmei?" The examiner saw Ma Hua nod and then stopped asking questions. No wonder the smell was so good.

Seeing that there were no other examiners present, Ma Hua decided to step aside and wait for the results. Unexpectedly, the examiner who had spoken earlier suddenly said, "Young man, as you know, we're testing level nine chefs here. We tasted your cooking earlier and it was quite good. Would you be interested in taking the test again?"