Free Web NovelChapter 537: Chapter 449: Culinary Talent, Marchello’s Heart Stirred
"Lunch? At around ten o’clock?"
The woman suddenly froze and instinctively glanced at her phone.
It’s just past seven o’clock now, so there’s about three hours until ten.
That’s enough time to digest most of the dumplings just eaten.
Thinking of this, her eyes gradually brightened, as if she understood something.
"You mean, eat less for breakfast so by lunchtime you’ll be hungry and can eat more then?"
"Bingo! That’s right, my darling is so smart!"
The young man snapped his fingers, took the orange juice from the woman’s hand, had a few sips, and lay down comfortably.
"Delicious food shouldn’t be eaten too much. Eating just a little leaves you wanting more, but eating too much can make you feel sick and tired of it."
"Eating until you’re seventy percent full is the perfect state."
"If we eat too much for breakfast and can’t eat much for lunch, wouldn’t that make us fools?"
The woman laughed, nodding in agreement: "That’s right, lunch is definitely better than breakfast, so why don’t we go swimming later to burn some energy? Every time after swimming, I feel like I could eat a whole cow!"
"Swimming? Sure!"
The man scanned the azure coastline in front of him, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he pointed to the cliff on the left.
"Look, darling, why don’t we swim over there?"
The woman followed his finger and looked, at the area where the cliff meets the beach and the sea, there were many large and obvious stones.
She quickly understood something, a blush crept onto her cheeks, and she coquettishly rolled her eyes at him, licking her sensual red lips.
"Alright, but just swimming seems boring. How about a race? Whoever gets there first is the winner, and the loser has to agree to three requests unconditionally!"
"Deal!" The man sat up abruptly, his eyes flashing with excitement, the fiery, curvaceous figure of his girlfriend reflected in his pupils.
"Don’t say I’m bullying you; I’ll even let you start fifteen seconds ahead!"
Their conversation was overheard by a young couple passing by, and both faces simultaneously lit up with an ambiguous smile.
They glanced at each other, as if a hot aura quickly spread throughout their bodies through their tightly clasped fingers.
"Hurry up, let’s finish the dumplings and go play in the water too?"
"What’s the hurry? You can’t exercise right after eating; let’s find a place to rest first."
"Huh? Are you not... um?"
Just as the woman was about to say something more, a fried dumpling was suddenly stuffed into her mouth.
She instinctively took a bite.
"Crunch."
Feeling the fresh, hot juice burst in her mouth, the woman’s eyes lit up, her attention immediately shifting to the box of dumplings.
"Tasty, right?"
"Delicious!"
"They get unappetizing when cold; it’s a rare trip, and getting up early to line up, we can’t waste the food we worked hard to buy."
"Right, right, you’re right; let’s eat first, eating is the priority!"
To speed up, Nagishiro Sho and Marchello, who were helping to wrap dumplings in the back kitchen, started using the stove to make steamed and fried dumplings after accumulating nearly an hour’s worth of dumplings.
There were plenty of steamers, but not big frying pans, only the iron plate in the front hall.
However, that iron plate couldn’t hold much liquid and wasn’t suitable for frying dumplings, so they could only use regular non-stick pans on the stove, filling them up and cooking all at once.
The non-stick pans on the stoves could only hold about ten dumplings, even though larger pans were available, they would lower stove utilization because larger pans take up space over other stoves, disallowing the placement of other pans of the same size.
Medium-sized pans were better, enabling the use of all stoves.
As they busied themselves frying and steaming dumplings, Lin continued quietly wrapping dumplings, occasionally casting curious glances at the stove area, quickly shifting her gaze away, afraid to make eye contact with the others.
She never thought a whim to experience back kitchen work would end up with her sharing space with three head chefs, including one who was a Michelin three-star chef and a TV celebrity.
Even though the three chefs were busy with their tasks and didn’t speak to her, just being in the same space brought a silent pressure from all directions, making it a bit hard for her to breathe.
Her dear brother Daniel, since seeing her in her uniform and starting work, seemed to have vanished without a trace, never showing up again.
"Damn, did he go back to the car to sleep?"
Lin squeezed the dumpling edges fiercely, using her thumbs to firmly press them together, placing them neatly on the baking tray.
In just over an hour, not only had she mastered three dumpling-wrapping techniques, she had become adept enough at wrapping big dumplings without sealing the edges first, only needing to press the middle and using her thumbs to finish it.
Though she couldn’t match the chefs’ speed at a dumpling every few seconds, making one every ten seconds wasn’t an issue, with most time spent spreading the filling.
She didn’t think she had any culinary talent; it didn’t seem very difficult, and any chef should be able to do better.
Simply put, wrapping dumplings and folding paper are a bit similar; just align the edges and keep folding.
What’s so difficult about that?
Though being with the chefs in the kitchen was pressuring, she got accustomed to it in time.
As long as she focused on wrapping dumplings, no one paid attention to her.
If Chef Lin and Zhao were around, the psychological pressure might have been even greater.
Not out of fear, but their care and kindness would make her want to do better, unconsciously putting pressure on herself to avoid disappointing them.
"Hey!"
Lost in her world, she suddenly heard a shout.
Ignoring it, she continued her work.
"Young lady, wake up!"
"Huh?" She jolted, turning around abruptly, "Are you calling me?"
"Is there any other ladies present here?"
Marchello pointed somewhat helplessly at the tray on the table next to her, filled with neatly arranged dumplings.
"Could you pass me those dumpling trays? My hands are covered in flour."
"Oh, oh, okay."
Lin took a deep breath, instinctively picking up a tray of dumplings and walking towards the stove.
After she moved two trays of each flavor over to the stove and returned to her spot, she finally realized.
She spread her hands out and, indeed, they were covered in white powder.
"?"
"You finally realized it, you can’t keep doing this."
Marchello winked at her with a smile, "Are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before."
"No, no," Lin quickly shook her head, mumbling quietly, "I’m here for a trial, sort of... an interview?"
"I see, no worries, don’t be nervous. I noticed your dumplings are pretty well made. How long have you been working in a kitchen?"
A faint blush appeared on Lin’s dark face, as she shook her head.
"Never... never worked in one."
"What??"
Marchello was dumbfounded, his eyes widened, "You mean you’ve never worked in a kitchen? Today’s your first time??"
"Yes."
"What?"
Nagishiro Sho, standing nearby, was also stunned. He turned suddenly, stared at the trays of dumplings, his face full of disbelief.
A person who has never entered a kitchen can shape dumplings to perfection in just over an hour?
This is a bit absurd, right?
"Do you often cook at home?"
"Not... not very often? Maybe two or three times a week?"
Lin couldn’t quite gauge their attitude, her tone full of uncertainty.
"I’ve only started learning to cook in the last six months, but I’ll work hard to learn!"
Marchello and Nagishiro Sho exchanged a glance, seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes.
"Where on earth did Lin find such a talent??"
"I have no idea. Even though I recruit online like everyone else, why can’t I find talented prospects like this?"
Marchello hesitated for a moment, then showed Lin a gentle smile: "What’s your name?"
"Lin."
"You’re here looking for work, right?"
"Yes, I am."
"Would you like to experience how professional chef teams work in a Michelin three-star restaurant kitchen?"
"I do!!"
Lin blurted out without hesitation, but she quickly realized the situation seemed a bit off.
"Can I... really go?"
"Of course you can!"
Marchello shook the pan in his hand a few times, glanced at the color on the bottom of the dumplings, then looked at her again.
"You have a great talent for cooking, you just need systematic training..."
Before he finished, Lin refused directly.
"Sorry, chef, even though I would love to visit the back kitchen of a high-end restaurant, I don’t want to work in that environment. It’s not quite suitable for me."
"I can’t adapt to high-pressure settings. I prefer a more relaxed environment, and I really want to learn Great Xia cuisine."
"..."
Marchello opened his mouth, suddenly unsure of what to say.
"Alright, no rush. If she decides to stay and work here, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
His thoughts were simple. Since this young lady has no kitchen experience, it meant she doesn’t have any foundational skills.
Even if she learns quickly, skills like sword skills, cooking level, and other abilities aren’t something that can be mastered in a short time; it requires extensive practice.
He’s also taken the time recently to learn that the basic skills required for Chinese chefs are much stricter than those for Western cuisine.
Training her here for a period might yield even better results.
As for future plans, they can be addressed later. After all, his team doesn’t urgently need new members; he was merely excited by spotting a talented prospect, that’s all.
Moreover, if he really recruited her, he wouldn’t know how to explain it to Lin.
This thought suddenly made him grateful.
Luckily, she didn’t agree to go with him!
