Free Web NovelChapter 558: Chapter 470: Cult Leader, Master of Manipulation
Since you’re going to learn, it’s definitely best to learn from Lin Chen, after all, he’s the head chef.
Zhao Shun took a few steps forward to get closer to Lin Chen, so he could carefully observe the specific operational procedures from a close distance.
Lucas’s gaze followed his back, looking past the gap between the two shoulders, just enough to see the chefs and waiters gathered on the other side of the table.
The chefs all had focused expressions, occasionally nodding, clearly concentrating on their learning.
Handling meat is a compulsory skill for every Western cuisine chef, and it’s even taught in culinary schools and further honed in restaurant kitchens.
And the steps Lin Chen is demonstrating now are a deepening of the fish fillet process, adding two steps: scaling and slicing.
The chefs need to learn these two steps, while the process in between doesn’t require learning, as they’ve already fully mastered it; it’s just a matter of how fast they can do it.
Every cut Lin Chen made produced a translucent, thin-as-cicada-wing slice of fish, which was neatly arranged on the plate, resembling a high-end piece of art.
When the second fish was processed, the chefs turned around, found a spot at a nearby table, and each grabbed a blackfish to start practicing.
As they walked away, the vacant spots were filled by the servers.
The girls, who rarely saw the food preparation process in the kitchen, appeared enthusiastic but were also very afraid of the bloody scenes that might occur during the fish cleaning process.
Although the fish were already in a half-dead state, they still weren’t completely dead, and they inevitably flailed a bit due to the pain during the scaling process.
Lin Chen didn’t look at them at all, focused entirely on his work.
Seeing the chefs already practicing slicing blackfish, he no longer dawdled and grabbed another large blackfish, his eyes focused as he began to speed up the process at a pace visible to the naked eye.
The blade swung, leaving behind remnants, with fish scales flying like rain, piling up in a thick layer on both sides of the cutting board.
He intentionally told John not to handle them. Although having the farm process them first would facilitate subsequent preparation work, it would take time, and the farm staff was limited. Processing all these fish would take who knows how long, possibly until it’s dark.
Besides, the chefs had nothing on their schedule for the rest of the day, and they couldn’t let them just idle around and get paid for doing nothing.
Since they’re idle anyway, they might as well learn how to clean fish from scratch.
If they want to stay and work, they can’t afford to be lazy; everyone has to learn!
Once Lin Chen sped up, the servers quickly watched in astonishment.
He swung the large kitchen knife casually, effortlessly detaching a complete fish fillet, followed by the other side.
He adjusted the position of the fillet, with the fish tail facing left and the neck facing right, gently brushing his left forefinger and middle finger over the surface of the fish meat.
With each pause, his right hand tweezers swiftly moved forward, precisely extracting a thick fish bone.
His actions were like a well-oiled, high-precision instrument, continuously repeating the bone extraction process, incredibly smooth, providing a highly pleasing visual experience.
The number of servers gathered around Lin Chen was the most, with ten out of sixteen squeezing in, while Dais and Elsa, the two senior employees, gave way and didn’t crowd in with the newcomers.
They had seen similar scenes many times before and knew it by heart. They just needed to solidify their understanding by watching Old Chen’s process.
After removing all the bones swiftly, Lin Chen put down the tweezers, picked up the kitchen knife again, tilted the blade at a sixty-degree angle, gently resting his forefinger and middle finger on the surface of the fish meat, and made a downward diagonal cut.
The sharp blade showed no sign of obstruction at any point, slicing through the fish seamlessly like a hot knife through butter, cutting right through.
As he finished the first cut, the fish meat started taking shape, and his movements became increasingly faster thereafter.
With each slice and push, a piece of translucent fish meat was tossed to his left side.
As he continued, his speed became so fast it was almost hard to follow, reaching nearly one slice per second, with the knife, wrist, and fingers all creating remnant shadows.
Although Lucas couldn’t see his complete actions from behind, he could infer from the angle of his elbows moving what he was doing.
Combined with the sight of the ladies in front of the table forming O-shaped mouths and their unabashed admiration for Lin Chen, Lucas helplessly covered his eyes.
"It’s over, all over."
"Old Zhao, you deserve to be single!"
"You missed your chance, useless!!"
After grumbling inwardly, he didn’t give up and quickly adjusted his mindset.
"It seems my information gathering was inadequate. That’s my fault."
"Since Old Zhao is good at pastries, and we’ll need to make retail cabinets in the future, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills."
"I should edit and upload the baking pastry and dessert videos from the past two days, then have all of them watch it, any bit of regained attention counts."
"Yes, let’s do that!"
Having edited so many videos, Lucas has now honed his ability to focus on key points to a fine art and quickly found a crucial breakthrough.
In the culinary field, as long as Lin Chen is around, Zhao Shun has no chance of standing out.
Pursuing this path is nothing short of seeking one’s own downfall.
If we switch directions and go for baking or desserts, then Zhao Shun is definitely a top-tier player.
It’s just right that women love bread and desserts, this wave is truly betting on the right treasure!
Thinking about when Zhao Shun makes desserts, these beauties will look at him with the same admiration, Lucas couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.
Hearing a sinister chuckle coming from behind him, Zhao Shun shivered and turned back, puzzled.
"What’s wrong with you, feeling unwell? Don’t forget your meds!"
"Cut the crap!"
Lucas rolled his eyes and pulled him over, wrapping his right arm around his shoulder and softly explained his plan, then pointed to the row of beauties.
Zhao Shun was initially confused, but as he listened, his eyes started to shine, and he kept nodding.
Following Lucas’s pointing direction, he finally realized those girls were all staring at Lin Chen with obsessed expressions.
Not saying much, he was at least already burning with curiosity about this guy.
Adding on his position, reputation, and his astonishing sword skills, it shouldn’t be a problem to charm any lady with just a wink, right?
"Don’t worry!"
Lucas patted his shoulder and comforted, "This guy isn’t interested in Western girls; when Nicole first arrived, she tried to chase him, but look at her now, just a regular waitress."
"This guy likes Asian girls, preferably Great Xia people, you get it?"
"No one’s competing with you here!"
Zhao Shun nodded ambiguously, withdrew his gaze, his face was already full of anticipation, clearly having fantasized plenty about being surrounded by beauties.
"What about you? Aren’t you also single?"
"Me?"
Lucas waved his hand, "No worries, I like Great Xia girls too!"
"I am a pure-blooded spiritual Great Xia person, don’t question my loyalty!"
"We’ll swap resources and help each other, and since Great Xia girls tend to have a filter for foreign men, plus me being an internet celebrity, it’s not hard to date."
"But my focus right now is on managing my account; romance isn’t urgent, especially since high-quality Great Xia girls abroad are rare and hard to meet."
"Aren’t there two Great Xia girls among the waitstaff? Not sure if Lin Chen will be interested; I suggest you don’t target them for now, plus they seem to have pretty good backgrounds, tough to crack."
"You just need to charm these Western girls, with your skills, serving a few exquisite desserts and cakes, it’s a piece of cake, right?"
Lucas got more excited as he spoke, gripping Zhao Shun’s arm tighter, like a cult leader preaching.
"Let me tell you, most Western girls are enthusiastic and open, even the shy ones are way more outgoing than our panda girls back home, you know?"
"First, spark their curiosity about you, then secretly make something delicious for those you’re interested in and deliver it privately, chat a little, even if it’s just gestures or single words, it’s fine!"
"In short, if you spark a woman’s curiosity, you’ve won!"
"I’ll analyze the situation in more detail when the time comes, OK?"
Zhao Shun licked his dry lips and nodded vigorously.
"Ok!"
After being egged on by Lucas, he suddenly felt full of anticipation for the future.
He’s even started planning which day to make desserts, what desserts to make, and how many kinds, etc.
If tomorrow’s menu weren’t already set, he’d want to start the fishing plan right away.
Lin Chen seemed completely unaware of the situation over there, focusing on slicing the fish fillets but had heard every word of their conversation.
It wasn’t that he wanted to eavesdrop, but mainly his enhanced physical condition and senses were too useful; once he heard whispering behind him, he instinctively wanted to listen to what they were discussing.
Once his attention was focused, the chatter became clearer, and he heard Lucas’s whole process of advising Zhao Shun.
In terms of this situation, he personally had no objections.
With Zhao Shun’s ability, if this plan were to be executed, it would likely succeed.
For national pride, he himself wouldn’t go for it but wouldn’t stop others either.
The only concern he had was, if this guy really got involved with someone, could differences in lifestyle or culture leading to a breakup affect the daily work?
Moreover, he was unsure if Zhao Shun was actually a flirt, only wanting to explore because Western girls are pretty, or truly seeking a genuine relationship.
But despite his concerns, as a boss, he was still willing to lend a hand.
After tossing all the fish fillets into the basin, he didn’t continue slicing but instead put down the knife, washed his hands, and started patrolling the venue.
