Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle-Chapter 912 - 450: Pei Shenghua
Qin Huai wasn't quite sure what a normal exchange meeting was like, but he had his own plans.
The next morning at 8:50, Qin Huai and Zhao Cheng'an headed to Babaozhai together. As an old brand of Beiping, Babaozhai was also a two-story independent restaurant building. It appeared ancient from the outside, but the interior was very modern, clearly renovated in the past couple of years.
For this exchange meeting, Babaozhai specifically closed for a day, which showed a lot of importance.
"Qin Huai, why do you think Babaozhai is making such a big deal about this exchange meeting? They actually closed for a day; when Zhiwei Restaurant holds exchange meetings, we just launch new snacks and see better revenue than usual," Zhao Cheng'an whispered his complaint.
Qin Huai: When Zhiwei Restaurant holds exchange meetings, we focus on pulling snack masters from all corners into our kitchen to make snacks, so how could the revenue not be good?
"No idea," Qin Huai said, "I'm only concerned whether they will provide snacks and tea at the banquet hall during the exchange meeting."
It turned out, Boss Ling, who wasn't short on cash, did provide them.
Not only were snacks and tea provided, but also a variety of drinks: Coke, Sprite, sparkling water, various juices, coffee — all were available, with a drinks list even more complete than on an airplane.
Participants from each restaurant had assigned seats, generally with meat cooks at one table and pastry chefs at another. Typically, at such exchange meetings, either the boss would come, or the second or third chefs who aren't the main chef would attend. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Since Babaozhai is an old brand of Beiping, and has been quite popular these past couple of years, they were lavish in spending. As it was the first time hosting such a large-scale exchange meeting, many restaurants showed Boss Ling respect by sending their head chefs.
Sitting next to Qin Huai was the renowned chef of Chengfang Inn, the Melon King, Pei Shenghua.
Qin Huai curiously and discreetly observed Pei Shenghua.
Pei Shenghua was now at the peak age for meat chefs, among the top Huaiyang cuisine masters currently active in the country, second only to Xia Mubing and Sun Mao Cai. In contrast to Xia Mubing, whose old age left everyone amazed at his continued service, Pei Shenghua and Sun Mao Cai, who were possibly not yet at their peak, clearly had promising futures and were very hopeful contenders for moving up the ranks in the Chef Record, potentially breaking into the top ten as a beacon of Chinese cuisine.
Logically, such an esteemed master should first be associated with peerless culinary skills, stunning signature dishes, intriguing mentorships, and jaw-dropping heritage.
But in reality…
Mention Pei Shenghua, and the first thing everyone thinks of is his gossip prowess, surpassing even his culinary skills. Compared to newcomers like Tan Wei'an who collect hearsay and concoct gossip, or Dong Shi who chatters endlessly without hitting the point, or Zhao Cheng'an who insists on factual accuracy and only shares corroborated gossip, Pei Shenghua is undoubtedly the Gossip King.
In the chef circle, whether meat chefs or pastry chefs, real gossip, fake gossip, diluted gossip, or secondhand gossip — there's no melon that Melon King Pei Shenghua doesn't know. While other masters secure their positions in the culinary community with their reputations, Pei Shenghua leverages his status in this community to indulge in gossip.
Being a master ranked 24th in the Chef Record, if Pei Shenghua wants to hear gossip, people generally oblige to save face.
Take last night's video for example: it's said that the boss and head chef of Weixian Building issued strict orders and even offered hush money to avoid the video's circulation, and indeed it didn't really spread. But Pei Shenghua somehow still got hold of it.
That's the gold standard of a Melon King.
Noticing Qin Huai discreetly watching him, Pei Shenghua was very approachable and smiled kindly, asking, "Master Qin from Huang Ji?"
Qin Huai was surprised that Pei Shenghua recognized him, knowing that the actual participant from Huang Ji this time was Huang An Yao, and Qin Huai was a last-minute replacement.
Pei Shenghua continued, "I heard Huang An Yao was hospitalized with gastroenteritis, and you were a last-minute replacement. Is Xiao Huang okay?"
At this point, Qin Huai was really seeing the prowess of the Melon King, and he marveled, "He's fine, but Master Pei, how did you find out?"
"Last night, Xiao Zhao sent me a message."
Qin Huai: …I knew Tan Wei'an had a loose tongue, but I didn't expect Zhao Cheng'an too, spreading the word as early as last night.
Pei Shenghua smiled kindly: "Xiao Zhao mentioned that you're quite introverted and unfamiliar with people, and asked me to guide you around. I've already guessed — everyone at Huang Ji tends to be like this, except Huang Jia is slightly more outgoing."
Thinking about what Pei Shenghua said, Qin Huai realized it was true. Nonetheless, there was one exception: Dong Shi, who was terrifyingly outgoing. Even the chatterbox Huang Shengli wouldn't dare send him out for socializing due to his noisiness.
"Xiao Qin, let me introduce you. That guy up front, who seems a bit unkempt, is Li Ming from Shendu Rongji. He's a marvel at cooking beef and mutton, but has a severe bias and dislikes marketing, hence why his name isn't on the Chef Record. Don't be fooled by his appearance now; back in his youth, he was a renowned handsome guy, even had girls fighting over him. After he got married, he neglected his figure and gained weight to this size."
"Hey, Xiao Qin, I vaguely remember you're quite young. Are you in a relationship? If not, what's your preferred type of girl? You might want to get Xiao Zhao to inquire for you once you get back. I'm a famed matchmaker around Jiangnan, helping several couples a year. I know quite a few nice girls; take a look…"
