Free Web NovelAt 5:40 AM, there were no guests left in the Liao Zhai Tavern.
Lu Yibei had originally thought that the several waitstaff, including Ying Ningning, lived somewhere within the tavern.
But to her surprise, after cleaning the tavern and locking up, they actually left the tavern, disappearing to who knows where.
Watching the several waitstaff, each with distinct styles and more or less some non-human characteristics, walk away, Lu Yibei turned her gaze to Boss Hu and asked seriously, "Boss, I see that several of the Sisters have beast ears, tails, and things like that. Will my ordinary appearance seem a bit out of place?"
"How about I get something to wear later as well?"
Boss Hu was surprised that Lu Yibei was so "enthusiastic" about this job. After a moment of stunned, he smiled and said, "Actually, there's nothing wrong with it, but if you're willing, you can."
Before he could finish speaking, he heard Lu Yibei say, "What do you think about me getting some Magpie feathers and putting them on my head?" As she spoke, she gestured roughly with her hands above her head, indicating the shape of a Native American feather headdress.
After all the waitstaff had left, Boss Hu led Lu Yibei towards the back kitchen.
On the south side of the Liao Zhai Tavern, in the corner next to the serving area, there was a side door leading to the back kitchen. A sky-blue floral cloth curtain hung down, covering most of the door. From the part visible below, it was a wooden folding door, brown in color, with a shiny patina, looking quite old.
"Our Liao Zhai Tavern's back kitchen has two employees: one is the head chef, Black, and the other is Grandma Bai, who is responsible for cold dishes and plating. If I'm not free to teach you in the future, you can ask them for cooking advice."
"As for the other urban legend helping out, you don't need to pay attention to them," Boss Hu introduced to Lu Yibei as he walked. Lu Yibei listened attentively, nodding repeatedly.
"Oh, right, Black doesn't like others touching his kitchen utensils. Hmm, not even the stove. So when you're practicing, it's best to stay away from his kitchen utensils and stove."
Hearing this, Lu Yibei tilted her head, puzzled, and asked, "If I can't touch the stove, where will I cook? Is there another stove?"
"Yes!" Boss Hu nodded, while lifting the cloth curtain and taking out the key to the door, he explained with a smile, "My Liao Zhai Tavern has more than one stove. Back in the good old days, there were over three hundred chefs in the back kitchen!"
"Huh?" Lu Yibei was shocked. "Over three hundred? What kind of scale is that? And now there are only two?" "Is business really that bad these days?"
Boss Hu shrugged and said with a wry smile, "Business is okay, it's just that chefs are hard to find. Alright, come in with me?" Boss Hu said, lifting the cloth curtain and pushing the door open. Lu Yibei followed closely behind.
After stepping through the doorway, Lu Yibei was slightly stunned by the scene behind the door. What the heck? Inside the Liao Zhai Tavern, behind that broken wooden door,
there was actually an industrial heavy metal style elevator?!
This style is a bit off, isn't it? It's like a two-dimensional JK with a guitar mixed into a Dunhuang mural. Lu Yibei thought.
Boss Hu, standing beside her, noticed the change in her expression and patiently explained, "There's not enough space upstairs, so the kitchen had to be built downstairs."
"This elevator was only installed over fifty years ago." Only over fifty years ago?
Although she already knew the history of the Liao Zhai Tavern was very long, catching these details in Boss Hu's words, Lu Yibei couldn't help but secretly click her tongue.
In silence, the elevator door closed.
As Boss Hu pressed the downward control chain on the elevator, a slight sense of weightlessness came over them. Through the gaps in the rough, slightly rusted steel railings, the scenery began to change.
Suddenly, Black shadows flew past diagonally, like flocks of birds, and suddenly, faintly glowing ripples swayed, outlining indescribable shapes.
Everything became unpredictable, like a dream.
Is this somewhat like the feeling of entering a God Kingdom Prototype? This thought inexplicably popped into Lu Yibei's mind. The kitchen of the Liao Zhai Tavern. Could it be a God Kingdom Prototype, or even a complete God Kingdom?
Then, in addition to learning how to cook, wouldn't I have the opportunity to observe other people's God Kingdoms up close, preparing for the future fusion of the God Kingdom Prototype and Lingtai Pure Karma? Lu Yibei thought—
—-
The elevator descended for about three minutes, its speed began to slow down, and it finally stopped gradually.
Amidst a teeth-grinding "creak," the metal door on one side of the elevator slid open to reveal a dimly lit passage under the illumination of faint candlelight.
Looking forward along the passage, at the end about fifty meters away, there was light.
"Come with me! From here, it's the kitchen of the Liao Zhai Tavern." Boss Hu said to Lu Yibei while leading the way towards the place with light.
Following Boss Hu out of the elevator and walking along the passage for about twenty to thirty meters, Lu Yibei suddenly smelled a peculiar odor. It smelled like the scent emitted when deep-frying seafood like shrimp and crabs, but it was mixed with an unpleasant odor of engine oil.
Lu Yibei, "
What the heck? Is it a kitchen or a factory ahead?
How can there be the smell of engine oil? They wouldn't use engine oil to fry things, would they?
Can something fried like that really be eaten? Is this place a base camp for the Dark Culinary World? Lu Yibei thought.
Anyone who loves cooking hates
one of the things they hate the most is probably wasting ingredients. Although she considered herself only a half-baked cook, she still felt offended by that strange smell.
The fifty-meter distance wasn't long. While Lu Yibei was thinking, she unconsciously followed Boss Hu through the passage and entered the kitchen, which was more than ten times larger than the Liao Zhai Tavern above ground.
Standing at the entrance of the passage and looking into the kitchen, two thoughts flashed through her mind.
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The first thought was: The kitchen is more than ten times larger than the storefront, and the number of chefs is much larger than [N O V E L I G H T] the waitstaff. It looks like Boss Hu is completely clueless about doing business! No wonder this business is being run like this, with hundreds of chefs reduced to just two!
The second thought was: Wait, that's not right! Are you telling me this is a kitchen? This is clearly a factory workshop combining urban legend and Black technology!
Standing at the entrance of the passage, as far as the eye could see were densely packed display shelves filled with various Alchemy materials used as ingredients. The height difference of the entire space exceeded ten meters. On the ceiling, large mice, each wearing a coarse cloth jacket, carrying a small bamboo basket, and as big as rabbits, were running rapidly head downwards and standing upright, organizing boxes of various sizes, skillfully transporting ingredients, condiments, or other things and placing them where they should be.
Further away, Lu Yibei found some urban legend with Spiritual Energy fluctuation levels ranging from C+ to A- busy in different areas.
In front of a large water tank with a diameter exceeding five meters, an old woman with white hair like a broom, short and hunched, and a neck like a swan, sat cross-legged on a stone platform as high as the water tank, opening her exaggeratedly large mouth and continuously spraying clear water into the water tank.
More than ten metal pipes were connected above the water tank, like lush branches, extending in different directions and then branching out again, sending clear water to every corner of the kitchen.
On one side of the water tank, a thick bamboo pole, as thick as a bowl's rim, drew out the nearly full clear water and poured it into a huge, translucent container nearby. In that container, several inch-long, crimson insects with human faces swam back and forth.
As they swam a few times, the clear water in the translucent container visibly turned into amber-colored yellow wine. Immediately after, a group of mountain monsters with floral patterns would swarm up, using wine scoops several times larger than their bodies, to scoop up the wine and pour it into ceramic jars.
In front of a stove two or three meters high, a giant with a completely Black body, broad shoulders and a round waist, and a cube-shaped head, was wearing an apron and a chef's hat in a proper manner, holding a spatula as big as a shovel in one hand and the handle of a huge iron pot in the other, skillfully stir-frying and tossing the wok.
The smell of engine oil fried seafood that Lu Yibei had smelled came from inside that huge iron pot.
With each toss of the giant's wok, the viscous substance in the pot, whatever it was, would tumble and fly up into the air, twisting and wriggling into various shapes in mid-air, with countless finger-sized small hands splitting from the surface, as if trying to grab something, clawing in all directions, and then heavily falling back into the pot, making a dull clang like metal colliding, and emitting an unpleasant peculiar odor.
In addition, Lu Yibei also saw some figures who were busy with who knows what, either giant roosters dressed like knights, or yellow weasels with two heads, or strange people whose upper bodies were like ancient scholars but whose lower bodies were thick sea snake tails...
And further away, there were several separately enclosed spaces. Through the huge glass windows, one could vaguely see complex machinery, gears and conveyor belts running rapidly, emitting bursts of noise. A massive steel furnace was burning red, occasionally spewing out pale steam, venting terrifying high temperatures.
Staring blankly at the scene inside the Liao Zhai Tavern kitchen for a moment, Lu Yibei turned around, looked at Boss Hu beside her, and tentatively asked, "Boss, you wouldn't happen to be the legendary Liuquan Jushi, would you?"
Lu Yibei had read urban legend from a Chinese Studio.
Although she had only read it once and couldn't say she knew the content by heart, with her extraordinary memory, she still had a general impression of the main content of most chapters.
After looking around, she found several urban legend recorded in urban legend from a Chinese Studio.
For example, the old woman who sprayed water was highly similar to the Strange Tale recorded in "urban legend from a Chinese Studio: Spraying Water," and the insects in the transparent containers were like a Strange Tale called "Wine Worm" that appeared in urban legend from a Chinese Studio.
"Me?" Boss Hu raised his finger to his nose and said to Lu Yibei with a smile, "What are you thinking? Of course I'm not! That guy's surname is Pu, and my surname is Hu, completely different! But..." frёeωebɳovel.com
That guy did work here for a long time before."
"Speaking of which, he's one of only three apprentices who successfully learned all the cooking skills of the Liao Zhai Tavern! Oh, and he's the only human who learned all the cooking skills!"
So Liuquan Jushi can make Human Fireworks? Lu Yibei's eyes widened, and she asked, "What about now? Where is he now?"
"Of course he's passed away!" Boss Hu shrugged and said, "He's just a human after all, with a lifespan of only a hundred years. Learning cooking couldn't help him extend his life."
"Alright, let's talk about idle matters later. You should first make a signature dish!"
"Come, this way. I'll take you to see your stove. Although it's been idle for a long time, it should be usable after a little cleaning. I've already asked the staff to help clean it before we came."
As he spoke, Boss Hu led the way, taking Lu Yibei through the rows of display shelves, and soon arrived in front of a normal-sized stove.
The stove, built with bluestone, was about one and a half meters wide and two meters long, with a stove on it. The large iron pot on top was covered in dark red rust, and the countertop was also covered with a thick layer of dust, as well as a clump of dried, dark green stains of unknown origin. Next to it was an oven piled with Black ash.
The entire stove looked a bit dilapidated, but as Boss Hu said, it could be used after a little cleaning. It's worth mentioning that on the wall on the side of the stove, there were several strings of garlic, several strings of dried chili peppers that were clearly of good quality, and more than ten flower pots.
In the flower pots, green onions, cilantro, galangal, perilla, and other herbs were planted. Compared to the dilapidated stove, these herbs were growing well and were exceptionally fresh.
When Lu Yibei arrived in front of the stove, several mountain monsters were already busy in front of the stove with rags, steel wool, and various cleaning supplies.
After waiting for a moment, the mountain monsters cleaned the dilapidated stove, making it look brand new. They scurried away with strange "yee-yee-yah-yah" calls, leaving behind only a large mouse with cream-colored fur, carrying a small basket on its back, standing quietly on the countertop, waiting silently.
Boss Hu, who had sat down on a bamboo stool at some point, saw Lu Yibei standing still like a wooden chicken and reminded her, "Shall we start? Just tell the helper mouse what ingredients and tools you need, and it will get them for you." freewebnovёl.ƈom
Hearing the sound from behind, Lu Yibei finally came back to her senses, walked forward, and stood in front of the stove. Looking at the large mouse on the countertop, she frowned.
Seeing a mouse in a kitchen is like seeing someone shout "I love Leon Lai!" at Jacky Cheung's concert, which is quite annoying.
And what exactly should I do? Lu Yibei thought.
Originally, she was quite confident in her cooking skills, thinking that with her skills, although it was impossible to conquer Boss Hu's taste buds, she could at least barely pass.
But now, after seeing the kitchen of the Liao Zhai Tavern, she suddenly felt a lack of confidence.
That feeling was like practicing Sanda for three years and then being sent to the Si Ye Hui Headquarters to participate in the Spell level assessment. I only know how to fight hand-to-hand, and you're telling me to use spells?
As if he saw through Lu Yibei's thoughts, Boss Hu, dangling the teacup he had gotten at some point, reminded her again, "Don't worry, ordinary home-style dishes are fine, as long as they can fully demonstrate your cooking level."
"If you want to learn cooking here with me, I at least need to know what level you are at now to know where to start teaching, right?"
Since that's the case, Lu Yibei glanced at Boss Hu out of the corner of her eye, then looked at the large mouse on the countertop, and her thin lips parted, "Hello, please help me get a fresh fish, two ounces of millet peppers, a piece of pickled ginger, and cooking wine, and doubanjiang..."
She planned to make stir-fried galangal fish, which was the "taste" of old ginger that she had wanted to eat at the Liao Zhai Tavern but couldn't.
