Youjia Inn

Ignoring those congratulations, compliments, and flattery, Xiaodao carefully guarded the fried rice and avoided those colleagues who wanted to get close with his deft movements.

Although the dodge was done in time and was not blocked by the wave of crazy spectators, it still took a lot of time to return to the players' resting place.

After a while at the resting place, before he could take a quick breath, Xiaodao went to the room prepared for the cook of Zhengxing Building.

"Dong dong dong!" Xiaodao knocked on the door three times.

"Come in." The master's voice came from inside the room.

Xiaodao pushed open the door and found that there was no one else in the room except the master.

"It's coming." The master's tone was flat, as if he had expected Xiao Dao to come looking for him, "I will let the other brothers go first, bring them here."

Xiaodao nodded, and put the cold bowl of fried rice in front of the master, "Master, try it, although it is a bit cold, it should still be edible."

"En." The master nodded, took out a spoon, and took a bite of the fried rice.The master ate this mouthful very slowly, as if he was remembering something.

One bite, one bite, every bite, until the small dish of fried rice was finished, the master chef didn't say a word.

"Master?" Xiaodao called out.

The master shook his head with a sigh, breaking away from the memory.

Xiaodao's eyebrows gathered into a ball, and he said puzzledly: "Why."

"It's not that yours is bad, but the taste of that bowl of fried rice is really impressive to me. It's a taste that I will never forget in my life." The master glanced at the knife and continued, "Speaking , you are the most talented chef I have ever seen. In terms of cooking skills, maybe you have really reached the pinnacle, enough to impress thousands of diners. But your dishes just lack something. "

"What's missing?" Xiaodao asked anxiously.

"It's hard for me to say, if I have to say it is the soul?"

The master smiled wryly, "It can only be understood, but it can't be expressed in words. Talent is not enough, work hard to make up, skill is something that practice makes perfect, ten years, 20 years, 30 years will always be good, the soul is very mysterious Yes, once a dish has a soul, it can be remembered for a lifetime.

Your control over cooking skills is really terrifying. Once you set a standard for your dishes, you will follow that standard every time you cook, exactly.

It's not that it's not good, it's just that the dish has no soul, and it tastes the same every time.Of course, except for me, the master, no one will eat the same dish for every meal for three consecutive days, just to see if you can make the taste exactly the same every time. "

Looking back at the serious face of the master, Xiao Dao seems to have remembered the fear of being ruled by pigs in the month when the assessment was approaching. What special hobby.

"Well, I don't let you become a teacher, not just because you didn't make fried rice that satisfies me, but also because I think you may reach that level, and I want to grind you for a few years." The master said regretfully.

Xiaodao was silent, and said for a while: "Master, can you tell me who is the person who can make that fried rice that you will never forget in your life."

"He." The master seemed to be dragged back by memories all of a sudden, his voice seemed to pass through a thick time, with an unresolved sadness, "He is the master who introduced me to the beginning, and he is also the most professional man I have ever met. Yi's cook, if you find him, go there, and go to the corner of Muhua Lane, Zhuzui Town, Nanling, Shanxi. There is a restaurant that only serves fried rice. If you find him, please say hello to the chef for me."

"Okay." Xiaodao nodded cautiously.

Just like last time, Xiaodao left as soon as he said it, simply very.It took nearly a month to rush from the capital to Zhuzui Town in the corner of Shanxi.

The town is quite large, with restaurants, wine shops, hotels and inns all available, and it is the busiest area in the nearby ten miles and eight towns.

Xiao Dao asked a passer-by on the street to inquire about it at will, and thought it would take more effort, but he didn't expect this restaurant to be quite famous, so he asked a passer-by at will, and he found out the way to go.

"It specializes in fried rice, oh, you mean Laifu Restaurant. It's this road, that's right, it's this one. When you get to the end, turn left and you'll see Muhua Lane. Walk along the corner of Muhua Lane."

"Okay, thank you." Xiao Dao quickly found Lai Fu Restaurant along the road pointed by passers-by.

It can be seen that the business of the restaurant is good, people come in and out one after another, and the storefront can also see signs of expansion and renovation.

After entering the store, Xiaodao randomly found a table and sat down. After sitting quietly for a while, a waiter came over and said, "Do you want something to drink, the guest officer? This store has the best highlight red."

"You don't need wine, bring me a piece of broken gold rice."

"What?" The waiter didn't understand.

"Egg fried rice." Xiaodao changed his words.

"Okay, sir, wait a moment."

When the fried rice came to the table, I tasted it with a knife, but it was mediocre, and the seasoning was acceptable, but the eggs were not evenly coated, and the rice was cooked too early, and the rice was still too sticky.After eating a big plate of rice, he dropped a few copper coins with the knife and left.

As the night deepened, the bustling town in the daytime quieted down, and Xiaodao came to Muhua Lane under the quiet moonlight, and once again stepped into that ordinary restaurant.

"Hey, guest officer, I'm sorry that the shop is closed." Xiao Er said while wiping the table.

"I'm not here to eat, I'm here to find your cooking master."

"Oh, you're here to find the boss, please come in, please come in." Xiao Er enthusiastically welcomed the knife into the door.

"Sit whatever you want, sit whatever you want, I'll call you to the boss." Xiao Er threw the rag on the table and went to the back kitchen to call someone.

From far away, Xiao Er's loud voice could be heard yelling.

"Oh, really, what are you in a hurry for? Why don't you just wait until I clean up the stove? Boss, hurry up, just look at the one from today who came from a big place, the food hasn't been touched much, but gave twice the money guest."

"Hey, it's coming, it's coming."

After a while, a man about the same age as the master came out.

"Hey, what's the matter, my guest?" The man walked up to Xiaodao with a silly smile, and rubbed his hands nervously on his clothes.

"Is that the person who cooks fried rice?" Xiaodao asked.

"Yes." The man replied with a hint of pride on his face.

"Do you know Ma Yuan?" Xiaodao continued to ask.

"Ma Yuan?" The man thought for a while, then suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I remembered, you mean Senior Brother Ma, although I don't recognize him, but I still heard from Master that Senior Brother Ma was told by Master. Brother Ma was his first apprentice, and originally wanted to pass on the shop to him, but Brother Ma was too arrogant, and after a quarrel, he left without saying goodbye. Otherwise, it would not be my turn to take over the shop."

The man suddenly realized something and stopped talking, lowered his voice and asked cautiously: "What's the matter, Brother Ma, he wants to come back?"

"No, he won't come back." Xiaodao replied lightly.

"Oh, that's good." The man patted his chest reassuringly, and even his voice became much stiffer, "By the way, guest officer, you haven't said what you want from me."

"It's nothing. I heard from the master that the fried rice here is delicious. I came here just because of the name."

"Yo, how do you feel then?" The man's tone rose, with a look of pride flying between his brows.

"It can be eaten." Seeing the man's complacent expression, Xiaodao gave his evaluation very pertinently.

"Look at what you said, I'm not bragging. This restaurant is in my hands, and the business is booming day by day. Those old diners who have been eating for more than [-] years say that I didn't smash the name of the master. I ate it once. I just want to eat it a second time, and I feel uncomfortable if I don’t eat it for a day." The man was beaming.Mouth started to run the train.

"Then, how is your master?" Xiaodao hurriedly stopped the man from bragging like a river, and questioned whether the man's skills were truly passed down by his master.

The man's expression suddenly fell, and he sighed.

"Can you ask your master to make me a fried rice?" Xiaodao asked with a bright eye, "I really want to try your master's fried rice. You can set the price as you like."

"Oh, you said Master." The man sighed, "If you want to ask him to cook for you, then you will be late. Master, he went there three years ago."

"Oh." Xiaodao nodded, the light in his eyes dimmed, and he sat at the table without saying a word.

"Guest officer? Guest officer?" The man bent down and waved his fat palms left and right in front of the knife.

"Oh." Xiaodao replied as if out of his wits, got up and left, and knocked down a stool when he left.

"Guest officer? Guest officer! Seriously, the people from this big place are so strange!" The man lifted up the stool a little unhappy.

It's a pity, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to mention the soul of food that Master Huidao said.

Without stopping, he rushed back to Donglai Building without stopping.This time I sneaked out is really unkind. Although I am used to leaving without saying goodbye, but this time, I have not completed the agreement with the shopkeeper, I have not finished writing the recipes, and Master Zhou still has something to learn. Alas, what a waste of time.

When I went there, it was still the spring when the grass was growing and the warbler was flying, but when I returned, it was already the early summer when the cicadas were singing. If Master Zhou and the shopkeeper knew the reason for my sneaking away, I was afraid that I would die of anger. explain.

For the first time, Xiaodao was troubled by the consequences of leaving without saying goodbye.

Hey, hey, before you leave next time, think carefully about whether you want to leave without saying goodbye. Hey, Xiaodao, you ran away and went back that time before, who is to blame?

At this moment in Donglai Building, the shopkeeper's worry is that his hair is falling down one by one, and he is bald. No matter how good the business of Donglai Building is, the shopkeeper can't show a smile.

Wow, can you not worry, how long has passed, this knife master, why hasn't he come back!

As soon as Xiaodao stepped into Donglai Building, the shopkeeper seemed to see a savior, and almost cried with joy, "My king of chefs! But I finally got you back. If you don't come back, my Donglai Building will be lost." .”

"what happened?"

"My ancestor, it's a good thing you're back. In a few days it will be King Ning's [-]th birthday. I want you to be the cook. I don't have to be in a hurry. Look, look, my hair is almost gone. I don’t know how many waves of people have been sent out to look for you, but where did you go?”

The shopkeeper firmly grasped the wrist of the knife, for fear that if one was inattentive, the ancestor would run away and disappear.

"Jinxi."

"My mother! What are you doing so far away?"

"Learn to make fried rice."