National Tide 1980.

"Brother Li, Brother Li, can you hurry up?! Help! The customers at my table are getting impatient, they're going to complain if we go any slower!"

"Brother Li, you have to help me out. I still have a hot and sour cuttlefish egg soup to serve! The customers have been waiting for ages."

"Brother Li, another order has come in. Ten people for the Pearl Hall, they're old overseas Chinese from our area. Be careful, don't embarrass them..."

The kitchen at Jin Yu Man Tang was still bustling with activity. Not only were the waiters pleading outside the kitchen, but the chefs inside were also working feverishly and were extremely busy.

As for Jiang Dachun, the chef in charge today, he wasn't just calling out, he was yelling.

"Someone come here to help with the cold dishes! The barbecue team is almost out of candied orange peel and plum sauce, and we're also running out of shredded scallions and cucumber strips. Can someone lend a hand?"

"Yanzi, make twenty more sugar flower baskets. This number definitely won't be enough to sell tonight."

"And you, Xiao Zhou, go to the warehouse and quickly bring over a case of Shaoxing wine. Also, fry those three bowls of spare ribs from the cold storage until they're medium-rare, don't overcook them!"

"Soup team, soup team, we're running low on vegetable broth, bring us another bucket. Also, how much of that chicken broth with imperial yellow broth do we have left? Is it almost gone? Let us know if it's running low!"

It can be said that in this space, everyone's senses are working hard to receive the signals transmitted by the surrounding environment, and the frequency is extremely fast and constantly changing.

It feels like this is a battlefield where there's no time for you to explain yourself.

If anyone is even a second slower or half a beat slower in their reaction, not only will the entire kitchen system freeze and become stuck, but Jiang Dachun will definitely throw a big ladle at the person who is holding everyone back.

Even so, unexpected situations can still occur.

Even when things are good, they can still test the chefs' endurance, driving the head chef crazy and making him increasingly irritable.

For example, right now, the Japanese head waiter in charge of the private rooms rushed into the kitchen, his eyes practically brimming with joy.

But the good news he brought was enough to increase the pressure on the chefs, making Jiang Dachun curse instantly.

It turns out that the president of Toshiba is hosting a dinner party in the Coral Hall and Tortoiseshell Hall today, with nearly forty people seated at four tables.

They served a lot of delicacies, spending over three million yuan, which was quite a treat for the Japanese.

We ate as much of the food as was served, and there was almost nothing left.

In particular, their president was quite satisfied with the roast duck, boiled cabbage in clear broth, and braised sea cucumber with scallions.

The steamed rice made from Imperial Rouge Rice and the large platter of cold dishes carved with the motif of "Blooming Flowers and Wealth" were even more stunning to everyone.

Therefore, after the meal, the president of Toshiba requested to meet and take a photo with the chefs who cooked the dishes.

Needless to say, this requirement is considered a supreme honor by the Japanese supervisor.

He decided to have the kitchen staff assign one person each to prepare hot dishes, cold dishes, barbecue, and pasta dishes, according to the guests' requests.

But for the busy kitchen staff, it's a different story.

This is so busy, it's like fighting a war. We're already overwhelmed and can barely breathe.

If we really do everything according to the customer's request, then we'll have to send several people to entertain the Japanese, and the kitchen will be completely delayed.
No wonder the chefs are so happy.

Therefore, Jiang Dachun refused to comply and insisted on the request. He was too lazy to attend the social event and would only agree to send a chef to make do.

But the Japanese are all stubborn and lack flexibility.

The Japanese supervisor was naturally unhappy, and so Jiang Dachun and the Japanese supervisor got into a dispute, with neither willing to back down.

After a while, the Japanese supervisor had no choice but to call the duty manager, Zheng Qiang.

Zheng Gang's background is with a special department in China.

Besides helping Ning Weimin, he also had a special mission while working here.

His primary characteristic is his businesslike attitude. So, adhering to the principles of prioritizing justice over personal relationships and treating customers as king, he sided with the Japanese supervisor this time and tried his best to persuade Jiang Dachun to cooperate.

"Hey Dachun, can't you have a little sense of the bigger picture? The customer's request to see our chef is a sign of their appreciation for our skills. Isn't that a good thing? But if you don't give the customer this face, you'll offend them. What will happen to our business in the future?"

"Do you think customers will still come to a store that doesn't treat its customers like this? If this store goes out of business, what will we all eat and drink? The Japanese economy is so bad right now, it's not easy to run a store like ours so successfully. We have to cherish it."

“Hey kid, stop messing around, okay? You’re not just an ordinary employee, you’re the head chef. You can’t just do whatever you want just to please yourself. You have to be responsible for everyone and for the restaurant. At the very least, you should think about President Ning…”

Zheng Gang believed that his logic was clear and sound, and that these words would surely make Jiang Dachun submit, admit his mistakes, and correct them.

However, he was a bit too subjective, and more importantly, he didn't understand Jiang Dachun's temperament at all.

Jiang Dachun was different from him. Although he came from a state-owned restaurant like "Beihai Fangshan", he was a troublemaker in his workplace and never respected anyone except Ning Weimin.

When he first came to Tangong Restaurant, he dared to swear to Zhang Dashao on his first day. Later, in order to stay at Tangong Restaurant, he even rebelled against his former boss.

A person like him, with a strong sense of chivalry, is most disgusted by high-sounding rhetoric and would never accept moral blackmail.

To put it bluntly, talking to him about brotherhood might be useful, but if you try to label him or preach grand principles, he won't listen.

So his answer practically choked Zheng Qiang half to death, like eating a huge piece of roast chicken neck.

“Hey Lao Zheng, don’t try to scare me. Oh, if we don’t send a few chefs to take photos with the customers, this restaurant will go out of business? You’re kidding me. This is a place to eat, not a place to take pictures. Our chefs sell their skills, not their smiles. If customers really don’t want to come anymore, there’s only one reason: our food is no longer good.”

"And don't think I don't know. Our business is so booming, and who's to blame? It's President Ning and the hostesses in Ginza. If it weren't for President Ning having so many friends and finding the right people to bring us customers, in this day and age, our place would probably be as deserted as other restaurants. Breaking even would be good enough, let alone making big money. So don't mention the president of Toshiba to me, he's nothing! To me, he's not even as good as a Japanese woman in Ginza."

"Finally, stop making things up about me. How did I act recklessly? The Japanese just open their mouths, and my men have to go. I just didn't want to be a burden to the Japanese. If President Ning were here, he would have to support me. Putting everything else aside, that French Michelin star is always trying to give us stars. But what did President Ning do? He politely declined. That's called backbone. But you guys, damn, you're really something, becoming more and more like collaborators..."

Zheng Qiang never expected that Jiang Dachun would have such eloquence.

Whether it was sophistry or affectation, they spoke eloquently and persuasively, leaving him speechless for a moment.

Especially the insults, which made him feel ashamed.

He was stunned for a long time, but he was at a loss. He couldn't argue with them, he couldn't afford to drag things out, and the customer's patience was limited.

No matter how hard he racked his brains, given the urgency of the situation, it seemed that he had no choice but to resort to a solution that was not really a solution.

"Fine, Jiang Dachun, I give up! Since you're only willing to send one person, then send one. I'll just arrange for two people to put on a show. But you'd better hurry up and get me two sets of clothes! We need to get dressed up quickly; the guests have been waiting for quite a while."

This time, Jiang Dachun didn't make excuses. He called over a chef, took out his office key, and gave it to him, telling him to quickly get two sets of chef's uniforms.

He was saying, "Hey, that's why I say you're a manager, Lao Zheng. You're pretty good at adapting. Your idea is pretty good. Let's do it this way from now on."

As for Zheng Qiang, besides silently thanking Jiang Dachun's ancestors, all he could do was harbor resentment towards Ning Weimin.

He thought to himself, "What kind of nonsense is this? To have to impersonate someone else for such a prestigious opportunity is truly bizarre."

And also, my dear CEO Ning, you've become a negative example! You're such a troublemaker. What kind of leader are you? Why did you have to refuse Michelin stars?

What kind of general leads what kind of soldiers? If everyone follows suit from now on, what am I supposed to do?
…………

Zheng Qiang was deeply hurt.

In truth, the fact that this matter was ultimately resolved this way is quite embarrassing for him and has significantly damaged his prestige.

However, everything is said from both sides.

Regardless, Zheng Qiang had to admit that Jiang Dachun's words made some sense from a certain perspective.

First of all, the truly wealthy customers were indeed mostly hostesses from Ginza.

In the glamorous world of Ginza, every hostess looks like a TV or movie star.

The men who come to have fun are mostly married men over thirty years old who are successful in their careers.

In other words, both parties involved in this game understand from the beginning what they need to exchange, and naturally, these men are aware of the need to make a purchase.

Therefore, the customers brought by hostesses usually have extremely high spending power, at least two or three times that of ordinary people.

They order whatever dishes are expensive and drink whatever wines are good.

Even under such dire economic circumstances, these men are still willing to spend lavishly on women.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, these Ginza hostesses can bring in two customers a day, including dinner and late-night snacks.

Think about it, the Crimson Clouds Group already has five clubs and hundreds of female escorts.

If half of them bring in fifty or sixty tables of customers every day, it's equivalent to multiplying the revenue of ordinary customers by six or even eight. How could "Jin Yu Man Tang" not make money?

Moreover, besides that, "Jin Yu Man Tang" truly excels in both its exclusive, specially sourced ingredients and the chef's culinary skills.

The pink Oden Rouge Rice and the Imperial Oil Chicken with five toes like a phoenix.

These are all rare ingredients with clear historical origins and easily identifiable characteristics.

They are certainly delicious, but the key lies in the stories behind these two items, which make them a status symbol for entertaining guests.

Whether it's someone who wants to appear wealthy in front of women or someone who wants to show sincerity when entertaining clients, ordering such specialty dishes makes it easy to achieve their goal.

As for the chefs at Jin Yu Man Tang, they are the guarantee of the high quality of all the dishes.

This group of people were all elites carefully selected from the main branch of the Beijing Tanggong Restaurant.

Half of them had worked for Ning Weimin since the opening of the Datangong Restaurant.

In Japan, there are simply no peers of comparable skill who can compare to them.

They are practically the living ancestors of authentic Chinese cuisine, the supreme beings who crush all their peers.

If you don't believe me, just go to the dining area and see the reactions of the customers, and how much food is left on each table.

To be honest, Toshiba's request to meet the chef today is not an isolated case. There are actually many customers who praise the food and finish their dishes completely.

Despite having many unfamiliar guests who are dining here for the first time every day.

They came because of media coverage or because of its reputation.

Or perhaps they were invited by those female public relations officers in Ginza, to exchange wealth for emotional value.

But it must be said that the vast majority of them will not only visit this time.

On the contrary, many people became loyal customers of this restaurant from then on.

In conclusion, Jin Yu Man Tang not only possesses its own exclusive channels for high-quality customers, but also has culinary skills that can satisfy these distinguished guests.

They are able to both welcome and retain guests, which is the real reason why they have become a bright spot in the high-end catering industry during Japan's economic downturn.

Just like the two company presidents who are currently being held in their seats by Chiemi and Yoko Mochizuki.

Before their own dishes were even served, just seeing the food being served around them and the way other guests were enjoying their meals, they were already somewhat impressed.

“I’ve never heard of any of these dishes before! ‘Peach Blossom’ and ‘Jade Soup’—just hearing the names makes me want to eat them! Is this the charm of imperial cuisine? I’ve really learned something new,” said Kenichi Kobayashi.

"Yes, and besides the food, the restaurant's ambiance is incredibly comfortable and luxurious, even better than the Michelin-starred restaurants I've been to. The service is impeccable."

Hashimoto Masao couldn't help but praise, "To be honest, as a businessman, I really admire the owner of this restaurant. It's truly remarkable to run a restaurant like this. I hope I can meet him someday."

At the corner of the next table, a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses was holding a laptop, looking expectantly at the dishes that had just been served, his eyes shining like stars.

The Kung Pao Chicken that had just been served in front of him was still steaming hot, with bright red chilies, golden peanuts, and tender white chicken pieces neatly arranged, and the aroma filled his nostrils.

The person couldn't wait to pick up a piece and put it in their mouth, instantly letting out a soft "wow" sound. They almost dropped their pen on the table, and then picked up their notebook to start writing down their feelings.

This is amazing! How can the chicken be so tender? It's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the sauce is just the right balance of sweet and sour, and the numbing aroma of Sichuan peppercorns explodes in your mouth without overpowering the flavor at all!
As someone who eats with a notebook in hand and takes notes all the time, he stands out somewhat from the crowd.

Some people might mistake him for a media reporter or a food critic.

But in reality, he is a manga artist named Etsushi Ogawa.

He came here to dine today to gather creative material, and the work he is preparing to create is the future anime "Cooking Master Boy," which is themed around Chinese cuisine.

He made a reservation a week in advance, filled with anticipation.

He found that he was indeed not disappointed.

Just one dish today has completely immersed him in his comic book world, creating countless plot highlights.

The second dish, golden pork, made him so excited he almost stood up, his mind filled with flashes of inspiration.

There's no way around it, the taste is just too amazing.

Thinly sliced ​​pork tenderloin is coated in egg and fried until golden brown and crispy.

Drizzled with amber-colored sweet and sour sauce and garnished with a few bright red peach petals, it resembles peach blossoms in full bloom in spring.

Chinese cuisine is so exquisite; even the plating is so poetic.

This dish's concept could totally be used in a "Master Chef Exam" segment of a manga! (End of Chapter)