The growth system comes at the age of 30

Chapter 270 My First Close Encounter with a Top Chef! (5.3K)

"Huh? We've been reported? They suspect we're adding illegal plant shells to our food?"

Chen Jingle was quite surprised when he received the call from his father.

He anticipated that his business being too successful might attract jealousy from his competitors, leading to various forms of sabotage, and he formulated corresponding countermeasures.

I just didn't expect this day to come so soon.

However, hearing his father's slightly nervous and uneasy tone, he immediately said, "Wait a minute, I'll be right there. I'll tell the inspectors that they can inspect as they please, we're fine, what's there to be afraid of!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhenwei on the other end of the phone realized, "Oh right, we haven't done anything illegal or disorderly, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Is it wrong for business to be too good?

I felt much more at ease immediately.

The main problem was that the incident happened suddenly, and the two of them were law-abiding ordinary citizens who had no opportunity to deal with law enforcement officers in their daily lives and had no experience with such interactions.

Furthermore, some of their ideas are still stuck in the early 21st century, and they subconsciously feel a bit nervous when facing these comrades.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Jingle quickly grabbed his keys and set off.

Fortunately, the studio is not far from the teachers' college; it's just a short drive away.

When he arrived, he saw several uniformed officers conducting inspections in the store. Two of them were tasting his braised pork rice, and it was highly likely that they would be tested later to see if they tested negative or positive. The other two packed two portions to take back for testing.

Several others were observing and recording the kitchen and indoor environment.

These are all standard procedures.

The inspection was conducted by two separate groups of people from different organizations. One was from the Industrial Safety Bureau, and the other from the Market Supervision Bureau.

It looks like the whistleblower made quite a few phone calls.

The store's business was definitely affected. It was almost lunchtime, and some students were already preparing to line up for a meal. But when they saw so many uniformed police officers rushing in, they thought the store owner had done something wrong and hesitated, stopping outside the door, afraid to go in.

Many people chose to stand aside and watch, which made Chen Zhenwei and his wife anxious.

As business gets better and better, students line up to buy meals every day, and they have now increased the sales volume of each meal to about 210-220 servings.

If this pot doesn't sell by noon today, how much will we lose?
My mother was so anxious she almost cried.

Seeing their son appear, the two breathed a sigh of relief and felt they had someone to rely on.

To Chen Jingle's surprise, he saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

"Liangcheng?!"

Chen Jingle asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Liang Cheng was also stunned, then chuckled, "That's what I should be asking you."

Chen Jingle grinned, pointed his thumb inward, and said, "This is my family's shop."

"what?"

Liang Cheng was taken aback and looked at Chen Zhenwei and his wife beside him: "Are these your uncle and aunt?"

"Yes, my parents." Chen Jingle nodded with a smile.

Liang Cheng quickly said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, uncle and aunt, I didn't know you were Jing Le's parents."

Fortunately, they enforced the law in a civilized manner; otherwise, it would have been embarrassing.

Some people with dark minds were immediately disturbed by this scene.

Holy crap, they actually know each other!
They even openly colluded!
Looks like they're in cahoots!

Now, even if there are problems, they will definitely be swept under the rug.

Damn it, in the end, they were defeated by capital!
Chen Zhenwei and Liu Yuehua secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly responded with smiles. Their thinking was still stuck in the era of close-knit relationships; since their son's friends were among the people who came, everything must be fine.

Liang Cheng turned to Chen Jingle and smiled, saying, "I'm from the Market Supervision Bureau. It's normal for us to come and investigate after receiving a report, isn't it?"

As mentioned before, a certain bureau chief in his unit values ​​him highly. Although this report is most likely unfounded, if something is actually found out, it would be a great achievement.

So they arranged for him to come along.

"Don't you work in an office?" Chen Jingle asked curiously.

"We're preparing for an inspection soon, and the unit is short-staffed and extremely busy. Women are being used like men, and men are being used like animals. They don't care if you're in the office or not."

Liang Cheng sighed.

"Brother Cheng, is this your friend?" his colleague asked with a smile.

Liang Cheng laughed and said to his colleagues, "Yes, my classmate and good brother Chen Jingle has been with me for over ten years. He's an amazing cook, a top chef. If it's his restaurant, it's no surprise that the food is delicious. We've probably just wasted our time."

Based on their inspection of the kitchen, the ingredients in the pot, and the surrounding environment, they have preliminarily ruled out the possibility of adding illegal plant shells.

Taking it back for food testing is simply to give the whistleblower and the public a reassuring explanation.

Although the other comrades in hats didn't know Liang Cheng, they were all from the same affiliated units within the system, and Jiangbei was a small place, so they must all know each other. Hearing this, they felt relieved.

Chen Jingle waved his hand with a smile: "Hey, inspections are still necessary, don't worry, we'll cooperate fully to avoid anyone questioning our food safety. On the other hand, if something really was added, it shouldn't taste very good, but you should still want to eat it. I just like it because it tastes good, how could it be that something was added? I just wanted my parents to make some money, it's not worth risking my life."

Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively laughed, for it was indeed true.

Shops that need to add illegal plant shells are usually struggling businesses. On the other hand, looking at Chen Jingle's shop with all the students outside, they can't possibly make enough to meet the demand.

Do they need to add it?

Chen Jingle looked at Liang Cheng and chuckled, "Since you're already here, I can't let you come for nothing. It's been a while since we last met, so I'll cook a meal for you and your comrades. Consider it as me providing evidence to prove your innocence. Although our country's law emphasizes the presumption of innocence."

Without a doubt, Liang Cheng was very hungry, after all, it had been a while since he had eaten Chen Jingle's cooking, and not everyone had the opportunity to do so.

But she held back and shook her head, saying, "Let's skip the meal; it's inconvenient while I'm at work."

Chen Jingle thought for a moment and said, "Then I'd like you all to be my witnesses, and then I'll invite everyone here to try my cooking to prove that my family's fast food tastes good. Is that alright?"

Seeing that his colleagues were all looking at him, Liang Cheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "If it's not a long time, it's fine."

Chen Jingle clapped his hands: "I'll take up half an hour of your time."

Liang Cheng nodded: "Half an hour is still possible."

Seeing this, Chen Jingle whispered a few words to his parents, asking them to go to the nearby vegetable market and buy some vegetables quickly.

I stayed behind to assist the colleagues from the two departments with the inspection.

At this time, more and more students were watching outside the store.

Many newcomers were unaware of what was going on. They had come to queue up for braised pork rice, but when they heard their classmates say that the shop might be adding illegal plant shells and that uniformed officers were involved, they were a bit confused.

"Seriously? I finally found a restaurant with decent food, and you're telling me it might have something added to it?"

The naive and foolish college students had never seen anything like this before and were frightened.

Is it really this dangerous to even eat a meal these days?

Someone nearby retorted, "Hey, hey, what nonsense are you talking about? They just came for a routine inspection after receiving a report. They didn't ask if there really was anything inside. Didn't they just check? They didn't find anything."

"Exactly! Didn't you hear what Running Bro just said? Usually, only restaurants with bad food add this stuff. Restaurants with good food don't need it! It's addictive, not makes the food taste better!"

However, not everyone believes in Chen Jingle.

That's normal, after all, it's illegal plant shells, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Well, I'm not really sure I'll eat it until the results come out."

"Me too, I'll wait and see."

"The school cafeteria food may be a bit bad, but it shouldn't warrant doing something like this."

"It's hard to say, anything is possible."

"..."

……

Amidst the murmurs of the onlookers, Mom and Dad quickly bought all the vegetables and various seasonings.

Chen Jingle smiled and addressed Liang Cheng and the students and passersby gathered at the shop entrance, saying loudly, "Next, I'm going to demonstrate my culinary skills. Please bear witness so that no malicious people can tarnish our reputation. Our food is delicious simply because we use high-quality ingredients and have excellent skills. Other restaurants don't taste good because their cooking is bad—it's that simple!"

After saying that, he turned around and walked to the kitchen stove.

The restaurant doesn't use the planetary engine stoves typical of restaurant kitchens; instead, it uses ordinary household stoves.

My parents use a coal stove to stew meat because coal is cheap, which further reduces costs. They add a small gas stove just for convenience, as they might need it sometimes, just in case.

Fortunately, the family-style cooking was enough for Chen Jingle.

The moment he tied on his apron, he took a deep breath and his eyes narrowed.

Today's situation is special, and time is limited, so we must go all out!

His parents helped him wash and prepare the vegetables, while he did the chopping and cooking himself.

Everything went smoothly and in perfect order.

Although he wasn't deliberately showing off, his skills had already reached their peak, so his knife work naturally drew wide-eyed stares from the onlookers.

Many students even subconsciously exclaimed "Holy crap!"

Because it's really cool, really awesome!

This running guy has such amazing skills?!

Leaving a big spectrum!
It's really hard for people to associate that incredibly handsome face with the word "chef".

Shouldn't chefs all be fat, big-eared, broad-shouldered, and thick-waisted?
Chen Jingle was oblivious to what others thought; at that moment, he was completely absorbed in his work. His hands moved almost non-stop, the knife gliding smoothly and skillfully. Even the sound of the knife chopping the cutting board was rhythmic, a rhythmic "clack-clack-clack," suggesting decades of dedicated practice were required to reach such a level. The onlookers had never witnessed anything like this before, seeing firsthand what true knife skills were like.

This isn't just cooking, it's practically art!

I suddenly feel that some scenes in the anime "Cooking Master Boy" and "Master Chef Fu Gui" might not be intentionally exaggerated, but rather based on real events.

Even the uniformed officers who came to investigate couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

No wonder Liang Cheng said his friend was a top chef; with this skill alone, he truly deserves the title of a master chef.

Most people are lucky if they can cut vegetables without cutting their fingers. Even chefs in many high-end restaurants may not be able to cut them so smoothly.

That's incredibly impressive!
The key is that he's still so young; his talent is truly enviable.

……

When the first dish was cooked and served, its aroma even overpowered the already rich aroma of braised meat in the restaurant.

hiss~!

Liang Cheng and the others couldn't help but swallow hard, not to mention the college students at the door who were craving pigs.

Everyone stared wide-eyed.

The first dish was stir-fried pork with chili peppers.

This is a very typical Hunan dish that goes well with rice. The pork belly with alternating layers of fat and lean meat develops a charred aroma after being stir-fried, which combines with the spiciness of the chili peppers. Through high-heat stir-frying, a magical chemical reaction is created. Combined with the umami flavor of fermented black beans, it perfectly embodies the saying "great flavor is simple"!
That looks so tempting!
Before anyone could think about it further, Chen Jingle started cooking the next dish.

The same silky smoothness and the same enticing aroma made everyone inside and outside the store secretly swallow their saliva and stare wide-eyed.

Now I understand what Chen Jingle meant by "showcasing culinary skills" and "purely due to high skill level."

That's really impressive!
It's at least three or four stories high!
Unfortunately, time was limited, and in the end Chen Jingle only made four simple and quick home-style dishes.

Braised tofu, stir-fried beef, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, a delicious bowl of country-style food.

However, when these dishes were served, everyone stared at them intently, unable to look away.

"Come on, give it a try!"

Chen Jingle chuckled as he handed out tableware to Liang Cheng, his colleagues, a few other people wearing hats, and some students watching from the front row.

Liang Cheng was the least polite; after getting the chopsticks, he smiled and started eating.

First, I picked up a slice of beef and put it in my mouth. Mmm, delicious!
Seeing this, the other colleagues couldn't wait to start eating, and everyone rushed to take their food.

Liang Cheng was alright, having eaten Chen Jingle's cooking before, so he wasn't too shocked. But for everyone else, it was their first time eating it, and they all widened their eyes or exclaimed in surprise.

No other reason than it's so delicious!
This taste completely overturned their perception of food flavors.

These dishes look very ordinary, but they tasted like something they'd never experienced even when eating the most exquisite delicacies—they were incredibly delicious!

It's really unimaginable.

This isn't some top-tier ingredient; it's something you can buy at any regular farmers' market or supermarket.

But the taste is absolutely amazing!

Really amazing!

Is this the skill of a top chef?
Those students who had eaten Chen Jingle's braised pork rice thought that braised pork rice was already a rare delicacy, but who would have thought that the truly amazing one hadn't even made a move.

Not to mention the students, even Liang Cheng's colleagues and several comrades from other units were completely convinced at this moment.

This is much better than any of those tire companies' stars.

Making top-notch flavors from ordinary ingredients is truly a magical feat.

If it weren't for the fact that Chen Jingle was cooking it, everyone would have suspected that he had added something to it.

It's not a plant husk, it's an aphrodisiac!

With every bite, I felt every cell in my body rejoice with joy.

Ahhh, that feels so good!

You see, many people can actually make a simple dish like braised tofu, but who can make it taste this delicious?
But others can!
It can only be attributed to the difference in talent between people; he was a genius.

The students who couldn't get any food became anxious.

"Hey buddy, let me have a bite, let me have a bite too."

"Hey, don't grab it! It'll fall on the ground and I'll regret it!"

"The three-second rule: pick it up quickly!"

"Get out of here!"

"Wow~ This is so delicious! This is definitely the best dish I've had in 20 years! Unbeatable!"

"I hereby declare that I will be a loyal customer of Chen's from now on!"

"You're so loyal, my foot! You were just saying you were worried there might be plant husks inside!"

"Just now, now is now."

"..."

The four dishes were devoured in less than half a minute, and even Liang Cheng didn't get to eat much.

Ultimately, his reserve got him into trouble; he was too slow.

Those who got to eat were still hungry, while those who didn't were kicking themselves and complaining that Chen Jingle had made too little, not enough to go around.

The problem is that time is limited, so even if he wanted to do more, it's impossible.

Liang Cheng, holding his chopsticks, smiled at Chen Jingle and said, "It's highly likely that the whistleblower has some misunderstanding. If the test results are fine, we will try our best to help clarify and prove it."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you." Chen Jingle nodded.

"You're too kind. Even if an ordinary person encountered this situation, we would follow the same procedure." Liang Cheng winked and replied with a smile.

The other individuals, including those wearing hats, also stated that they would release the results as soon as possible to provide an explanation to everyone.

One of the women was staring blankly at the empty plate. She wanted to eat more, but she couldn't compete with the college students and was too embarrassed to fight them. In the end, the plate was completely snatched up, and she had no choice but to leave reluctantly.

Before leaving, they didn't forget to pack a serving of braised pork rice for each of them.

Since we can't afford stir-fry, surely we can have a fast food box?

The rich aroma of the braised meat is genuine; it shouldn't be too bad.

Even Liangcheng is the same.

Please, nobody puts plant shells in there, and Chen Jingle would never put them in there either!

Although the food in government agency canteens is cheap, it's not necessarily delicious; at best, it's just enough to fill you up.

Compared to those wealthy state-owned enterprises, they are far inferior!

Seeing that the uniformed students had all packed their food, the other students who had been watching finally dared to step forward and queue up to buy their meals.

If we can't have the top-notch delicious food Chen Jingle made earlier, we can at least have some braised pork rice, right?

Seeing the student group reassemble, the parents snapped out of their daze and happily began serving everyone food.

Chen Jingle breathed a sigh of relief; the crisis was over.

Just then, the phone rang; it was Li Beixing calling.

She asked curiously, "Where are you now? I haven't seen you at the studio."

Chen Jingle replied, "I'm at the fast food restaurant. I just had a small problem that I need to come over and handle. I'll talk to you when I get back later."

"Okay, then I'll go straight home and wait for you."

"Okay~"

He didn't tell Li Beixing the specifics of what happened, so as not to worry her.

Besides, the problems have been largely resolved.

It could be a customer who reported it, or it could be a jealous competitor.

If there is only suspicion, without certainty or the spread of rumors, it is impossible to hold the other party accountable.

We won't do anything illegal or disorderly, but that doesn't mean Chen Jingle has no way to deal with it.

If it's the former, you can at most accept your bad luck; if handled properly, it might even improve your reputation. If it's the latter, then the best revenge is for your own shop to thrive!

There are only so many students at this branch campus of the Teachers' College. Apart from those who eat at the school canteen, not many students eat at restaurants outside the school. The more students eat at his place, the fewer students will eat at other restaurants.

In the long run, while it may not monopolize the catering industry around the Teachers' College, it will definitely have a customer base that far surpasses other shops and stalls.

Other shops with better taste might be able to survive, but those with bad taste will most likely have to close down.

Go ahead and report him. He's not afraid of anything anyway; he's already prepared all sorts of crisis response plans!

Let's do a targeted analysis later to see if we can figure out who reported it, and then use their own methods against them.

Let the fire department and other security personnel come and check it out, and see who's afraid of whom!

Chen Jingle helped out at the store for a while to relieve his parents' work pressure, and only went home after the student crowd had mostly dispersed.

Teacher Li is still waiting for him at home.

(End of this chapter)