Chef at the University Canteen-Chapter 474 - 273: Is Jiang Yu’s Cooking Really This Magical?
Seventh Dining Hall, in a private room on the first floor.
I originally thought that after my thesis defense was over, I could easily defeat the robot, sending it running with its tail between its legs.
Who would have thought that after several games of chess, not only did I fail to win, but I was thoroughly defeated by the robot, left in a sorry state.
"I’m done! No more games!"
Jiang Yu turned off his phone in frustration, exited the game, downed the cold tea on the table in one gulp, and took several deep breaths before calming down.
If I can’t win at chess, I might as well go upstairs and cook. Creating a delicious dish feels much better than playing chess.
He checked his phone for the time; it was already 4:30 PM, and in half an hour, the afternoon thesis defense would be over. He had promised to take the whole class out for a meal, so his classmates would be arriving soon.
With that thought, Jiang Yu didn’t delay any further. He got up from the couch and left the private room straight away.
On the second floor, Yan Tongtong was busy with a few part-time students setting up the private room.
Since the restaurant was closed on weekends, after tidying up on Friday night, the tablecloths were not put back on. But since there was an impromptu gathering, everything needed to be set up again, including tableware and so on.
Yan Tongtong and a few other girls were supposed to have the day off, but Jiang Yu had called them in to help on short notice.
Yan Tongtong was already in the second half of her senior year, and she didn’t have many classes left. She had already started preparing for her grad school exams, aiming to get into the graduate program at her current university.
Because only if she got into the grad program at her school could she continue to stay at the Seventh Dining Hall, and more importantly, stay close to Senior Brother Jiang.
"Xiaoyan, since you’re here today, you can take tomorrow off again."
Jiang Yu glanced at her and said with a smile,
"From now on, let others handle cleaning the private room and serving dishes. You just need to stay at the reception desk and spend more time studying to ensure you pass the grad school exam in one go."
After a pause, he jokingly added,
"Just don’t follow Hu Zhihai’s example. He studied off and on last year and failed the initial exam. Now he’s embarrassed and has to take it again next year."
Yan Tongtong blushed and shyly asked, "But won’t that affect work?"
"No worries. You guys are also in your senior year. Some of your part-time classmates probably won’t be able to make it in the second half of the year. I’ll just hire a few more part-time workers then."
Jiang Yu waved it off and said, "Part-time work is just for experience, students should focus on their studies."
Yan Tongtong nodded vigorously, "Oh, I understand."
"Alright, go ahead and get busy then."
Jiang Yu smiled at her and continued heading towards the kitchen.
In the second-floor kitchen, the two apprentices, Xiaoma and Xiaodeng, were busy cutting vegetables, while Du Guangning worked as he lectured:
"If you two really want to pursue a career as chefs, you need to work harder and practice diligently. You can’t just keep dreaming about eating the boss’s dishes all day. Anyways, hasn’t the boss already fed you plenty?
I’m just saying, with your knife skills, you make people worry, even ghosts would cry!
Think about it, if the vegetables are cut like this, how can the plated dish ever look good? People might even think the chefs in our kitchen lack skills!"
Xiaoma and Xiaodeng blushed deeply, keeping their heads down as they cut vegetables, not daring to utter a word.
"Xiaodu, that’s enough, don’t be so harsh."
Jiang Yu stood outside listening for a bit, then walked in and said with a smile to Du Guangning,
"They’re cutting vegetables. What if you make them so nervous they accidentally cut themselves?"
Saying that, he turned to Xiaoma and Xiaodeng and said,
"Master Du is right. You’ve been here helping for several months now, and it’s fine to joke around usually, but you should still practice the basic skills well.
Of course, if you don’t plan on doing this in the future, then forget I said anything.
I want everyone in the kitchen to improve, and that includes you. Don’t wait until the second half of the year to still only know how to wash and pick vegetables without learning to cut them properly. Why do I need you then?
Think it over yourselves. If you don’t want to do this, you can tell me anytime."
These two apprentices were brought in by Ma Guoqiang, and Xiaoma was even his relative.
It was only because of Ma Guoqiang that Jiang Yu hadn’t let them go. Coincidentally, since Du Guangning pointed it out today, he took the opportunity to mention it.
The restaurant he ran on the second floor was proper, with only a few kitchen staff, so he couldn’t let two incompetent people take up space. If they lacked motivation and couldn’t improve their basic culinary skills, sooner or later, they would still be "asked" to leave.
"Bo-Boss, I- I’ll practice hard!"
"Right, right! Boss, I’ll also improve my knife skills!"
Upon hearing Jiang Yu’s remarks, the two became nervous and quickly turned around to assure him with trepidation.
"Alright, then we’ll see how you do from now on."
Jiang Yu nodded, didn’t keep a stern face, and said with a smile, "Now get to work."
What they said didn’t matter much to Jiang Yu; what he would watch was what they did next.
After saying that, he turned back to Du Guangning and asked:
