Chapter 347: Chapter 347: Leading the Thread
“Are you still going to continue?!”
Chef Zhong’s voice seemed to tremble as he said these words.
He rubbed at the area around his heart. The root cause of his hospitalization was a recurrence of an old heart condition, and he now felt the signs of a deterioration.
This was simply too terrifying!
As he watched Qin Lang cutting the tofu into thin and even slices with the balloon beneath it remaining unharmed, the visual impact left him speechless.
He began to question, could he do the same?
The answer was no.
Chef Zhong was confident that he could cut the tofu into thin slices on a chopping board, but replacing the chopping board with a balloon significantly increased the challenge.
Having thought of this, his gaze towards Qin Lang became even more strange.
Where did the manager find such a freakish kid?
Seeing Qin Lang preparing to slice the tofu into slivers with the flat of the blade, Chef Zhong cried out in a hurry, “Enough, enough!”
Qin Lang’s knife paused.
“So, have I passed?” He looked up at Chef Zhong.
“Of course, you’ve passed!” Chef Zhong nodded without hesitation, “Your knifework is enough to bring out the soul of the dish ‘Sleeping Bull Silk’.”
“Alright then.” Qin Lang put down the knife, a hint of regret on his face.
He had only completed half of the slicing task. It was over already?
It seemed that ‘Sleeping Bull Silk’ didn’t require very high knife skills…
Seeing Qin Lang put down the knife, Su Henian breathed a sigh of relief and quickly put down the balloon.
Who knew how thrilling and exciting his experience had been?
The most frightening thing about a balloon bursting is not the force it generates, but its unpredictability.
Watching a balloon getting bigger and bigger, not knowing at what moment it would explode, was the most stimulating.
The thrilling feeling during Qin Lang’s tofu cutting process, not knowing which knife drop would cause the balloon to explode instantly, was even more intense than that of blowing up the balloon.
Seeing Qin Lang about to continue, Su Henian was already prepared to face that kind of torture again, but luckily, Chef Zhong directly called for a stop.
With this thought in mind, Su Henian cast a resentful look at Qin Lang.
If he had known it would be like this, he would have never helped Qin Lang steady the balloon!
Seeing Su Henian’s thoughts, Qin Lang scratched his head in embarrassment.
In his past life, chefs who showcased this skill usually used small buckets or round vessels to stabilize the balloon. If they pursued a higher difficulty level, they could put a steel nail beneath the balloon.
Holding it like he did was just a temporary solution. If Su Henian’s hand had shaken a little more, even he might have failed the challenge.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
“In that case, please instruct me on how to cook the ‘Sleeping Bull Silk’”, Qin Lang said.
When Qin Lang and Su Henian left the hospital, several hours had already passed.
As the head chef of Breeze Restaurant and the only spiritual chef capable of making ‘Sleeping Bull Silk’, Chef Zhong’s experience was quite rich.
Although he could not demonstrate the entire cooking process due to his personal condition and hospital environment, his detailed explanations of each point allowed Qin Lang to gradually understand the process.
After the exchange, Chef Zhong was confident enough to let the two leave when he was sure that Qin Lang truly understood the entire procedure.
“Qin Lang, are you planning to return to Breeze Restaurant with me, or…? Su Henian looked at Qin Lang.
“Uncle Su, could you please send me back to the hotel? I will practice in the kitchen there,” the image of Chef Zhong’s hopeful and pleading glance when he left appeared in Qin Lang’s mind, “I will arrive at the Tower of Food on time tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Su Henian nodded understandingly.
Although the kitchen of Breeze Restaurant is fully equipped, Qin Lang hadn’t used it before. Familiarizing himself with it would actually waste more time than training in an environment he already knew.
“Get in the car and I’ll drive you back to the hotel,” Su Henian smiled, his face full of confidence, “I look forward to your performance tomorrow.”
Soon, Su Henian’s car started up and disappeared at the front of the hospital.
By the time Qin Lang returned to the hotel, Shen Qian and Zhou Tianhao were there to greet him.
“Both of us went to the Spirit Chef Association of Ye Zhi City this afternoon, got to know more about Mr. Gao Yichen, and tasted a lot of local delicacies,” Shen Qian started cheerfully, “It’s a pity you weren’t there.”
“It looks like you had a great conversation with your senior,” Zhou Tianhao smiled, “It took longer than I expected.”
“No, it took so long because there were some small complications,” Qin Lang scratched his head as his expression turned a bit strange.
“Complications?”
Their curious gazes both landed on him simultaneously.
“Yeah.”
Qin Lang nodded, sharing the basic gist with them.
“Who would have expected that, after all the twists and turns, you will still have to head to the Tower of Food with the two of us tomorrow,” Shen Qian said with a giggle, “While Zhou and I will go visit Mr. Gao Yichen, you will be representing Breeze Restaurant in the Qualification Battle.”
“I believe with Qin Lang’s culinary skills, winning this battle will not be difficult,” Zhou Tianhao had great faith in Qin Lang and chuckled, “Being able to learn the ‘Sleeping Bull Silk’ is already a significant gain.”
“Uncle Su said that if I win in the end, he will also apply to Breeze Restaurant headquarters for a small additional reward for me,” Qin Lang scratched his head again, “So I need to work hard.”
“Alright, let’s leave it at that. I have to go to the kitchen to practice this dish right away, so you guys don’t need to worry about me tonight.” Qin Lang stood up and headed towards the kitchen. “I’m going into closed-door training!” Watching Qin Lang’s retreating figure, Shen Qian and Zhou Tianhao both had serious expressions on their faces.
“Qin Lang has started his efforts, and we can’t slack off either,” Zhou Tianhao spoke slowly, “Are you confident about the assessment from Mr. Gao Yichen?” “Hard to say.” Shen Qian sighed, “If the assessment content is really as those spiritual chefs we’ve heard from said, I’m afraid I might not pass this time.
“Don’t carry too much mental burden, after all, you only lack the last one, Zhou Tianhao comforted her, “We can only know what the specific assessment content is after our visit tomorrow.”
“Yes!” Shen Qian nodded heavily.
In the busy preparation of the three, the night swiftly passed.
Early the next morning, the trio took a taxi through half of Ye Zhi City and arrived early at the Tower of Food located on the other side of the city.
Unlike most towers that are smaller at the top and wider at the base, the Tower of Food is larger at both ends, with a smaller middle section, making it resemble an hourglass. The outer surface of the building is even decorated with a lot of food motifs.
By taking the cable car, the three of them directly reached the top of the tower, which was also the entrance to the Tower of Food.