Chapter 1: Become a disciple of Ju Xialou

"It's really Ju Xialou."

What appeared in front of Xu Qing was a three-story building with red walls, green tiles and golden splendor. For Xu Qing, who was used to seeing hundred-meter-high buildings in his previous life, this vermilion building was considered short, but in this era, a three-story building already stood out from the crowd.

What's more, there is a golden plaque bestowed by the emperor hanging right above the small building, adding a bit of majesty to this already magnificent small building.

On the golden plaque, three large golden characters were written in a flamboyant style - Juxialou.

It was only when Xu Qing saw Ju going downstairs that he was truly certain that he had indeed traveled through time, and had traveled to the world of the Chinese Cooking Master Boy.

In the world of Little Chef, chefs have a transcendent status. Everyone from royal relatives to the poor common people are deeply dependent on chefs.

Moreover, the chefs here are also quite amazing. Each of them is a martial arts master. A chef who doesn't know martial arts can't be a good chef at all. Their cooking skills are even more superb. The best of them can even control people's hearts with their superb cooking skills and make diners obey him.

Therefore, a dark culinary world emerged that tried to use cooking skills to control the lifeblood of the world.

Unfortunately, Xu Qing had only watched the animated version of Cooking Master Boy, and knew little about the world of dark cuisine. The ones that impressed him the most were the masked chefs Li Yan, Ryan, Xiang En, Shao An, and a guy with a mechanical arm.

If you want to survive in this world, you must become a top chef, otherwise you won’t be able to tell even if someone poisons your food.

If you want to be a chef, especially a top chef, the first thing you need is to have the corresponding talent, and the second is to find a good master.

Xu Qing was not worried about his talent. After traveling through time, his five senses became extremely sharp. Just by smelling the aroma of the food, he could tell what ingredients were used in the dish, and after taking a bite, he could tell whether the cooking time and temperature were appropriate.

Xu Qing compared his own talent with Liu Maoxing's performance in the animation. From the perspective of taste alone, they should be on par with each other, but the acuity of his other four senses is equal to that of taste. The combination of the five senses produces a wonderful perception.

When he eats the dishes, he can not only taste the ingredients used by the chef, the chef's knife skills, the cooking temperature and time, etc. are all clearly reproduced, he can even see the future evolution of the dishes, and know what techniques to use and what ingredients to add to elevate the taste to a new level.

It’s just that the future evolution of most dishes is vague, as if separated by a layer of gauze.

Xu Qing guessed that this situation should be related to his own strength. The more he understood and learned about cooking, the clearer the future evolution of the dishes would become.

But he is just a beginner now and has only a vague understanding of cooking. No matter how talented he is, he can't create something out of nothing.

The second step is to find a good master.

Xu Qing’s first choice is Chen Abei, also known as the “Sichuan Fairy”, Master Abei, who is also the contemporary chef of Juxialou.

Chef Abei is not only an excellent cook, but also beautiful. Most importantly, she has a very gentle personality, which is very rare among top chefs. Top chefs are either eccentric, serious and strict, or arrogant and conceited...

Master Abei can tolerate even a person like Shaoan, and he tries his best to teach him to become a successful person. This is no longer just a good temper, he is simply a saint.

Xu Qing felt that as a beginner it would be better for him to find a gentle master, and it was definitely not because Master Abei was good-looking.

Arriving at the door of Juxialou, Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked in.

At this time, the chefs downstairs were tiring after a whole day of hard work and were cleaning up the dishes, tables and chairs, preparing to close the shop.

Liu Keling was busy wiping the table when she heard footsteps at the door. Without even looking up, she said, "Sorry, sir, we are closed. Please come back tomorrow."

"I'm not here to eat."

Why come to the restaurant if you're not eating?
Liu Keling complained in her heart, raised her head and was about to talk to the other party, but suddenly she was stunned.

The person who appeared in front of her was a boy of about thirteen years old. He was dressed simply, but his handsome appearance could not be concealed. What was even more eye-catching was his hands, which were as white as jade, with distinct joints, and his skin was translucent and shiny, even more beautiful than the luxurious jade.

Being stared at by the young man, Liu Keling's cheeks instantly turned red, her mind went blank, and she couldn't even speak.

The chef who was busy nearby joked, "Oh, Miss Ke Ling is shy."

"His face is as red as a tomato."

"It seems like next time I don't need to put tomatoes in the tomato scrambled eggs, I can just borrow some color from Miss Ke Ling's face." "You guys!"

Liu Keling was anxious and ashamed. She became angry and picked up a broom and chased after everyone to beat them.

The other chefs also laughed and pretended to dodge left and right and run away.

They spent a long time at Juxialou, and could be said to have watched Liu Keling and Liu Maoxing grow up, treating them almost like their own children.

"Little brother, what's the matter with you coming downstairs?"

A chef strolled up to Xu Qing and asked.

"I want to become Master Abei's disciple." Xu Qing said directly.

"Apprenticeship?"

Upon hearing this, the people who were chasing and playing stopped immediately and looked at each other.

Liu Keling stepped forward and said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have made you come here for nothing. My mother no longer accepts apprentices."

"why?"

Xu Qing asked in surprise, it stands to reason that Shaoan should have already become a disciple by now, so it wouldn't take much effort for Master Abei to teach one or two.

Besides, Master Abei taught Shaoan in the hope that Shaoan would help the store after he became successful. Juxialou is very famous and has a large number of customers. All the chefs are very busy. Wouldn't it be better to have one more person to help?
One person sighed and said, "It's all because of Shaoan. Master Abei has put a lot of effort into teaching him, but Shaoan is arrogant and always thinks he is great. He doesn't listen to Master Abei's teachings. It took twice as much effort to teach him something that could have been easily accomplished. In addition, the business at Juxialou is too busy, and Master Abei is already a little exhausted. I'm afraid he doesn't have the energy to teach a second apprentice."

"I hope to meet Master Abei and explain the situation to her in person." Xu Qing thought about it and decided to try again.

He had come here with great difficulty, and he was unwilling to leave just like that.

Besides, he had already spent all his savings, and he would have to starve if he left Ju downstairs.

Liu Keling nodded and said, "Okay, then come with me. Mom should be in the kitchen teaching Shaoan how to cook."

Xu Qing followed the girl and just as he approached the kitchen, he heard Shaoan shouting.

"Old woman, I don't need you to keep nagging me. It's so annoying! You don't need to repeat this simple thing over and over again. I can do it myself. I know how to do it!"

Another voice sighed and said gently, "But Shaoan, you are doing this wrong. You are holding the pot at the wrong angle. Not only will the food in the pot not be heated evenly, but it will also increase the burden on your arms and cause muscle injuries."

"I know!"

"Shaoan, we still need to raise it a little higher."

There was a loud noise from the kitchen, and Shaoan threw the pot to the ground. "Old woman, you have taught me so little. I have already learned how to flip the pot. Why do you have to correct me three or four times? There is no need to learn this kind of thing!"

Xu Qing smacked his lips secretly. Shaoan in real life was indeed more disgusting than in the animation.

Only Master Abei could tolerate him. If it were Xu Qing, he would give Shaoan two big slaps on the spot to see if he would still go crazy.

At this time, Shaoan suddenly pushed the door open and happened to see Xu Qing and the other person standing at the door. He shouted angrily: "What are you looking at? Get out of here!"

As he said that, he grabbed Liu Keling's clothes with one hand and pushed her away.

Liu Keling was only eleven or twelve years old and had a petite figure. She could not resist Shaoan's strength at all. In addition, the incident happened suddenly and she was caught off guard, so the back of her head hit the ground directly.

Xu Qing quickly supported her, for if she fell hard enough she would probably get a concussion.

(End of this chapter)