Chapter 46: Wind Dances in the Sky
“In time.”
Qi Huan was immediately excited by the opportunity to fleece the interstellar bully, the capitalists. He was about to jump up from the bed, but was pulled back by the pain in his legs.
"Hiss!" He gasped, his whole face wrinkled in pain.
Hearing his screams, Uncle Wan was a little anxious, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay, it's okay. I accidentally hit my knee." Qi Huan didn't want to admit that he was a weakling whose legs became weak after a few exercises, so he made up an excuse.
"You kid, you've already opened your own store and become the boss, why are you still so irritable?"
"Mainly because I was too excited to hear that I could make money from the Star Lord~" Uncle Wan was the typical representative of someone who had a black face but a kind heart. Now that they were familiar with each other, Qi Huan was not afraid of him at all.
"Speaking of money, I have to remind you," Uncle Wan was silent for two seconds, as if he was hesitating about how to word it, and finally said bluntly, "The salary given by the Star Lord is actually 700 silver coins per dish, but the chef will pay you 500, understand?"
"I understand." The chef deducted 200 silver coins from each dish as a kickback. It was the rules of the game. If he wanted to play, he had to accept it. He was not unfamiliar with this kind of game rules. In the past, some advertising agencies introduced by him would also negotiate the kickback points in advance, with a "clear price tag".
“But if your dishes are good and the star master or the guests give you a tip, the money is yours.” Uncle Wan added, fearing that he would feel uncomfortable.
"Well, I'll try my best."
Qi Huan had already memorized those recipes by heart, and he quickly made a list. In addition to the types and quantities of ingredients, he also carefully marked the key points for selection based on the needs of cooking, such as which part of the meat to use, the fat-to-lean ratio, whether the vegetables should have fat leaves or thick stems, etc. He even made important notes on the uncommon types of seasonings, which made Boss Wan feel relieved.
At 11 o'clock in the morning, Qi Huan, carrying his kitchen bag, took Boss Wan's food delivery airship and rushed to the command hall.
The chef could have arrived later, but the boiled cabbage takes a long time to prepare, and it was his first time to cook at Tianfeng Pavilion, so he thought of coming early to have more time to get familiar with the environment, and also help Boss Wan unload the goods, so he came here with the airship.
In fact, Tianfeng Pavilion has more than just a banquet hall. Half of the area is guest rooms, which are specially for the distinguished guests who come to the waste star. Their airship went around to the platform on the north side near the back kitchen before landing. Two red uniforms were guarding the door. After seeing the pass in Boss Wan's hand, they asked them to open the two fresh-keeping cabinets containing food and the set of kitchen utensils that Qi Huan brought, and checked them very carefully.
After entering the door, Boss Wan took Qi Huan and turned into the narrow passage on the left as if they were familiar with the place. Looking at the sign, it was the direction leading to the back kitchen.
The entire corridor was empty. The dome had a rounded arc and was shaped like an inverted goblet. The walls were snow-white and the floor made of large stones was polished to a shine. The sound of the refrigerator's axles rolling here was amplified several times as if it were connected to a loudspeaker, making people inexplicably nervous.
Fortunately, the road was not long and they soon reached the end.
Turning the corner were two channel-type security doors. There was a red one-eye lens similar to a camera on the upper right side of the door frame. It automatically adjusted the lens position as they approached. Qi Huan was worried that his set of kitchen utensils would be warned, but there was no reaction at all. He had no idea what it was scanning and checking.
The chef with a mustache who I met last time has come out, waiting at the end of the security gate with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. Behind him stand two young men in black shorts, holding a refrigerator with the word "天" written on it, with their eyebrows lowered and their eyes downcast, looking like servants.
As soon as they got out of the channel, the two servants were busy checking the ingredients and moving them to the refrigerator on their side.
"Xiao Qi is here too." After the chef exchanged greetings with Boss Wan, he greeted Qi Huan warmly, "We have distinguished guests coming tonight, so you must prepare those dishes carefully."
"I came early just to make a good soup." Qi Huan put on a polite business smile.
"That's thoughtful. Erzi, take Xiao Qi to the kitchen counter and take good care of him if he needs anything." The chef raised his hand and called the young man who was checking the ingredients behind him, motioning him to bring the ingredients in and take Qi Huan into the kitchen at the same time.
After following the two servants who pushed the refrigerator inside for five minutes, Qi Huan finally saw the real kitchen.
The first feeling is that it is big, big enough to accommodate several restaurants.
The second feeling is cleanliness, bright windows, clean floors, kitchen utensils, everything in sight is spotlessly clean, as new as a model room, the sunlight refracted several times, still shining on them. Of course, when you get closer, you can still smell the unique smell of light smoke.
There are eight symmetrical areas on the right side of the aisle. They are almost the same size and have very similar layouts. The three seats in the front row are already occupied, leaving only the innermost seat and the four seats in the back row empty.
The area on the left was relatively more open, the passage was twice as wide as the one on the right, and the things on display looked more expensive, many of the kitchen utensils Qi Huan had never seen before. There were no people there yet, only a man dressed similarly to Erzi, carefully and quietly wiping the knives one by one.
"These guys are the star chefs who will be cooking for the dinner today, just like you," Erzi pointed at the figures busy on the right and gave a brief introduction, indicating that Qi Huan could pick any of the remaining seats.
It's too exciting! Qi Huan took a deep breath. He thought he came early, but he didn't expect to be the last one.
"Ahuan?" The star chef standing in the second position heard the noise, turned around and saw his surprise expression.
"Rondo?" Qi Huan didn't expect to meet Rondo here, but on second thought it was actually normal, after all, Rondo was one of the few One-Knife Star Chefs in the base.
Seeing him pushing the refrigerator containing food, Rondo smiled and said, "Are you here to help Uncle Wan deliver the food?"
"By the way," Qi Huan patted the handle of the refrigerator, "I mainly came here to cook."
"You're going to cook for tonight's dinner too?" Rondo looked surprised.
"Yeah." Qi Huan nodded, the bright sunlight reflected by the kitchen utensils flashing in his eyes, "Come and try it."
Seeing that the entire back row was empty, he casually chose the seat closest to the aisle in the back row. Relatively speaking, that seat was the most convenient for serving food.
Hearing that he was also here to cook, the other two chefs stopped what they were doing and came over to greet him. The brown-haired one was a little surprised to see Qi Huan's empty chest, "Why aren't you wearing your Star Chef brooch?"
Qi Huan took a quick glance and found that the three of them were indeed wearing the mini kitchen knife brooch on their chests, which represented their identity as Yidao Star Chefs.
After hesitating for half a second, he said frankly, "I'm not a star chef yet."
"So you're just here to make up the numbers?" The red-haired man's expression immediately changed, revealing a look of contempt, as if he thought it was a waste of time talking to him, and turned back to work at his stove.
"You guys chat, I have to go prepare the food." The brown-haired guy was not much more polite than the red-haired guy. He said a perfunctory sentence and went back without interest.
Rondo sighed, glanced at the backs of the two, and lowered his voice, "You, next time just say you forgot to wear it."
"It's okay. The chef has tasted the dishes I cook and knows that I'm not a top-notch chef." Qi Huan signaled to Rondo not to worry.
"That's good," Rondo nodded and patted his shoulder encouragingly, "I have to go back and prepare as well. Call me if you need any help."
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Qi Huan pushed him back with a smile.
A man should be looked at with new eyes after three days of absence. It has been forty or fifty days now, so it is definitely surprising.
At 2:30 in the afternoon, noisy footsteps sounded at the entrance of the passage. Qi Huan, who was skimming the soup foam, turned around and saw a square-faced man with his hands behind his back, walking in arrogantly, followed by two black-clad servants. He was wearing a black uniform with silver edges, and a dazzling double-knife brooch on his chest. At first glance, it was obvious that he must be the legendary chef of the only two-knife star of Waste Star No. 7.
The red-haired girl was probably going to get some food from the refrigerator, but when she saw him, she took two steps back unconsciously to make way for him. The square-faced man glanced in their direction, snorted disdainfully, and turned to the right.
"Star Chef." The black-clad servant who had spent half the afternoon wiping knives and kitchen utensils came forward respectfully holding an apron.
The square-faced man raised his arm, and the servant quickly tied an apron on him. The other two, who seemed to be kitchen helpers, also tied their aprons.
As expected of a two-star chef, he is so stylish. Qi Huan shook his head, quickly stepped back and forth on his tiptoes to stretch his aching legs, and continued to focus on his pot of soup.
At 4:30 in the afternoon, Rondo was almost ready, so he came to see him, "How is it going? Is there anything I can help with?"
"No need, I'm almost done here." Qi Huan replied casually while he was busy cutting tofu cubes.
"Do you know who the distinguished guest is today?" Rondo picked up an egg beside the chopping board and fiddled with it, nudging Qi Huan's arm and gossiping in a low voice.
Qi Huan shook his head. He was so focused on making money that he didn't even ask Uncle Wan if he knew the customer's identity.
Lando put down the egg and lowered his voice to a whisper, "The Jiufang family sent us to take over the new star master of our waste star number seven."
New Star Master? Qi Huan suddenly remembered the news that Quan Hai had mentioned before. He had been so busy these days and hadn't heard any new news that he almost forgot about it.
"It's the same no matter who you replace me with." Qi Huan was bored and picked up a piece of tofu and cut it quickly. He didn't think that changing someone would change the current situation. Most of the people in the Jiufang family were the same kind of people.
"I heard that the new star master was the youngest S-level warrior of the Jiufang family. He had great military achievements and was young and promising. His future was limitless."
"'Young and promising', 'limitless future', do you think these two words can be applied to our useless star?" Qi Huan curled his lips. This news sounded fake and completely illogical.
"Oh, that's right. How could the Jiufang family be willing to send such a person to a waste planet?" Rondo scratched his head. After Qi Huan's words, he realized that the news he heard seemed to be wrong.
"I guess he's just a fake who's trying to flatter himself." He's the kind of person who exaggerates a little and isn't afraid of getting edema from the excessive amount of water he injects.
"But there is one thing that is definitely correct," Rondo drew a circle the size of a silver coin on the pads of his middle and index fingers. This is the gesture that people in the base are used to using to indicate money. "He is the new star master. If the dishes we cook today please him, we will have more opportunities to come to Tianfeng Pavilion in the future."
Being able to enter and exit Tianfeng Pavilion is the highest honor for a chef of Feixing. At that time, he will gain both fame and fortune.
"Yes, the money is unlimited." Qi Huan agreed with this point very much, picked up a fish and started to peel the skin. The dinner was a separate meal system, and each dish needed to be prepared according to the number of people. Dishes like gold bricks, white jade and boiled cabbage that needed to be plated and carved would take several times longer, so we could only advance the process as much as possible.
"How many dishes are you going to cook?" Rondo looked at the kitchen counter which was almost full of ingredients and showed a surprised look.
"Six Paths." Qi Huan sighed softly. Thinking of this, he felt a little sad. The spicy chicken was rejected because the distinguished guest that the Star Lord wanted to invite today didn't like spicy food. He lost 500 silver coins. If he had known earlier, he would have changed to another dish.
"Six dishes?" Lando's eyes widened. He and the brown-haired guy both had three dishes, the red-haired guy had two dishes and two desserts. Qi Huan, a chef without a chef's certificate, actually wanted to make six dishes.
"What's wrong?" Qi Huan was about to ask him how many dishes he had prepared when his personal terminal vibrated. The waiter named Erzi also brought over a pile of menus and gave one to each chef.
"It's okay, go ahead and get busy." Rondo took the list, took another look at the ingredients on Qi Huan's kitchen counter, and went back with a complicated expression.
I opened the terminal and saw a message from Fierce Beast Ding, [When will you get off work? ]
[Sorry, sorry, I went to Tianfeng Pavilion to cook today and forgot to tell you.] Qi Huan was full of apologies and was so busy that he forgot about the "bodyguard".
Tianfeng Pavilion? What a coincidence! Chen Ye on the other end immediately asked, "What time are you leaving?"
[Not sure yet, probably at least 7 or 8 o'clock, I can go back by myself then, no need to bother you.]
[It's ok, it should be on the way]
On the way? Did Shen also come to the Tongling Hall to do some work? Qi Huan was confused, but he didn't have time to ask in detail. The menu sent by Erzi listed the serving process and the serving time of each dish. At 5:50, there were six appetizers, and two of the next six appetizers were his crescent shrimp and gold brick white jade, which had to be prepared quickly.
In the West City house, Chen Ye, who was originally in a low mood, closed his personal terminal and immediately became energetic. He hummed a little tune and knocked on the door to urge Si Han, "Boss, it's almost time, you should change your clothes quickly."
Si Han behind the table glanced at him suspiciously, "Didn't you say that you were no longer interested in the skills of the second-rate chef at Tianfeng Pavilion after you had Qi Huan? Why are you so enthusiastic all of a sudden?"
"Secret." Shen Ye blinked mysteriously, of course, because there would be not only delicious food in the evening, but also a good show to watch.
If Huan Huan knew the true identity of his boss, he would definitely be shocked. Would he be surprised or shocked? Would he scold his boss like Jiu Fang Kuang?
Sihan:? ? ?
Something is wrong. It's absolutely wrong.
When the dinner started, the busiest place was naturally the kitchen, where dishes were served out one after another and tips were also sent back.
"The Star Lord rewards Leng Xing Xiaodian with 200 silver coins." The black-clothed servant ran back with the bounty plate, announcing the reward loudly, and the silver coins made a cheerful sound as they tapped on the plate.
The red-haired chef Yidaoxing accepted the reward happily.
"The Star Lord rewards you with 200 silver coins for the four seasons of good fortune." The black-clothed servant ran towards the red-haired man for the second time.
After receiving two rewards in a row, the red-haired man raised his chin two points higher.
"The Star Lord rewards Yu Linglong with 500 silver coins, and the distinguished guest rewards Yu Linglong with 300 silver coins." The third servant rushed to the left with the bounty plate.
The highest reward so far was the double reward from the Star Master and the distinguished guest. The Second Star Chef glanced at the red-haired man with a smug look, and the assistant behind him hurriedly stepped forward to take the reward.
Red Hair: ...
Three out of the six desserts received tips, which is a very high ratio. This means that his six dishes will get tips at least two or three times. Qi Huan turned the boning knife in his hand, silently calculating, secretly full of anticipation.
As he was thinking, a servant came running towards him with a bounty plate, "Star Lord's reward is 300 silver coins for gold bricks and white jade, and the distinguished guest's reward is 300 silver coins for gold bricks and white jade."
Everyone in the kitchen looked over, surprised and jealous. Wasn't this chef, who didn't even have a chef certificate, just brought in to make up the numbers? How could he get the double reward from the Star Lord and the distinguished guest?
The brown-haired man laughed dryly, "I guess it just happened to be a coincidence that we used ingredients that the Star Lord and the distinguished guest liked."
The red-haired man said coldly, loudly and deliberately embarrassing Qi Huan, "A blind cat meets a dead mouse."
Qi Huan shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't mind being a mouse, but I don't know if the Star Master and the distinguished guests mind being a blind cat."
The red-haired man's face turned grim, and he realized he had said something wrong, so he looked away awkwardly.
The boning knife in Qi Huan's hand spun around the back of his hand and he continued to shave the cabbage calmly.
Another servant ran towards him, "Star Lord, you will be rewarded with 800 silver coins for the New Moon Shrimp, and the distinguished guest, you will be rewarded with 900 silver coins for the New Moon Shrimp."
This amount has broken the record that the Star Lord just awarded to the two-knife star chef. It is definitely not achieved by luck. Everyone in the kitchen was stunned and looked at Qi Huan with complicated eyes. Could it be that this person who didn't even pass the star chef certificate was really better than them in cooking?
Qi Huan was busy preparing the next dish and had no time to care about their feelings.
"The Star Lord rewards Dongpo Pork with 800 silver coins, and the distinguished guest rewards Dongpo Pork with 1,000 silver coins."
"The Star Lord rewards the squirrel and black fish with 1,000 silver coins, and the distinguished guest rewards the Dongpo pork with 2,000 silver coins!"
"The Star Lord will reward Qingshui Furong with 5,000 silver coins, and the distinguished guest will reward Qingshui Furong with 10,000 silver coins!"
The amount of the reward soared all the way, and the tone of the servant's voice announcing the reward became higher and higher. Because it was too heavy, the silver coins in the tray had been replaced with star coins.
Rondo and the others were already dumbfounded. Ever since Qi Huan's dish came on stage, almost all the rewards were taken by him alone! Only the flower soup of the second star chef received 500 silver coins.
In the end, the chef actually came over in person, walked up to Qi Huan with a smile, and said, "Xiao Qi, you can serve the last seafood rice yourself."
The second-rate chef's face darkened when he heard this. The other chefs in the kitchen didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence, but he was very familiar with it. Letting the chef serve the dishes himself meant that the star master wanted to see the chef and reward him in person. For the chefs of Tianfeng Pavilion, this was already the highest honor.
After hesitating for a moment, he waved to a servant behind him and whispered an order to him. The man then lowered his head and slipped out of the kitchen.
The chef personally led Qi Huan to the banquet hall. He was the one who recommended Qi Huan in the first place, so he was naturally proud to be appreciated by the Star Lord and the guests.
The road leading to the main hall door is a wide single-sided empty corridor. On the side facing the street, a long and thin gauze curtain hangs from the top of the corridor. The bottom of the curtain is nailed with tortoise shells and decorated with neat and fine tassels. It is exquisite and gorgeous. When the night wind blows, the gauze curtain flutters like light smoke, and the tassels rustle.
The floor was covered with a snow-white long-haired carpet, which made almost no sound when walked on. Qi Huan carried seven servings of first-class seafood rice and followed the chef, carefully avoiding the fluttering gauze curtains.
Every tableware in Tianfeng Pavilion was extremely luxurious. The seafood rice was served in seven white jade bowls with wide mouths and ring feet. Although they were plain and elegant without any carvings, the jade was transparent and lustrous, and it was very valuable. If this thing was smashed, his reward money tonight would probably not be enough to compensate for it.
"Is there anything I should pay attention to when meeting the Star Lord and the others?" Seeing that there was no one around, Qi Huan asked the chef quietly.
The chef still had that smiling face, "Don't be nervous, just put the food on the table in front of the guests and wait for your reward."
Qi Huan nodded, feeling relieved that there wasn’t any complicated process.
From a distance, you can see the towering white jade door at the entrance of the banquet hall. On the door is an embossed carving of a huge Qilin beast, which is vivid and lifelike, and the visual effect is extremely shocking.
In comparison, the row of red-uniformed Star Lord Guards standing below were so small that they were almost invisible.
When you get near the door, you can already smell the fragrance and hear melodious music. There should be some musical performance or dance going on inside to liven up the atmosphere.
The chef stopped at the entrance of the white jade door which was over a meter wide, turned around and glanced at Qi Huan, asking him with his eyes whether he was ready.
Seeing him nod, the chef turned around and walked in, announcing the name of the dish, "First-class seafood rice."
Qi Huan took a deep breath, straightened his back, tightened his lips, held the tray steadily, and followed.
The sound of music filled the air. The hall before him was magnificent with carved beams and painted buildings, and was draped with layer upon layer of gorgeous pearl curtains and silk drapes, as intricate as a phoenix coronet and bridal robe, layer upon layer, shining brightly and dazzlingly, which was a real eye-opener.
In the middle stands a round white jade platform that is large enough for horses to run on. The sides of the platform are convex like drums and are carved with exquisite patterns of birds flying through flowers.
On the slowly rotating table, twelve spiritual birds with gorgeous phoenix-like tail feathers are flying in the air to the music.
The bird's head is held high, its crown feathers are as bright as rubies, dazzling and eye-catching, its slender neck has smooth feathers and graceful curves, sparkling with colorful rays of light, and its wings and tail feathers are as brilliant as brocade, full of brilliance.
These spirit birds soared up and down in the air, shuttled back and forth, with graceful postures and swaying feathers, just like dancing. Every breath and movement would bring up several gorgeous lights and shadows, as if a lucky star was shining high, and the auspicious aura was everywhere, which made people dazzled. It was probably no less than the legendary phoenix dancing in the sky.
Or maybe I, a former Earthling, am too narrow-minded, Qi Huan sighed silently in his heart. He never expected that in the interstellar era, the one dancing under the pearl curtain is not a beauty, but a beautiful bird.
Just when he was about to turn through the huge jade door and step into the banquet hall, something strange happened.
The carpet under his feet bulged for no apparent reason, and Qi Huan tripped and his feet went soft, stumbling forward.
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