In the 1970s, it started with contracting out communal dining.

Seeing Zhang Tieniu's expression change repeatedly, none of the people in the kitchen paid him any more attention.

"It's almost time, Xiaochun, Linjun, prepare the ingredients!" Chen Wei turned and walked towards the stove. At his command, Wu Xiaochun and Linjun immediately got to work.

Potatoes, carrots, and green peppers were washed, peeled, and neatly arranged on the cutting board.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

A continuous symphony of music filled the kitchen, and even the newly arrived Liu Dazhu and Wang Xiaoming quickly moved forward to find work to do.

Only Zhang Tieniu remained standing there, left to stand there like a statue.

It's quite a coincidence that the kitchen prepared two dishes today, including hot and sour shredded vegetables.

The other dish was shredded pork with green peppers.

It's not easy to cook for 500 people, especially considering how much time was wasted this morning, and look at Zhang Tieniu putting on a show here.

So today, Chenwei also joined the ranks of those preparing the dishes.

Zhang Tieniu's gaze fell on Chen Wei, scrutinizing him as he watched the younger-than-himself stand in front of the stove, roll up his sleeves, and pick up the dark-looking kitchen knife.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

The moment Chen Wei started chopping vegetables, Zhang Tieniu heard a rapid, rain-like sound of knives striking the ground.

With a flick of his wrist, Chen Wei sent the blade leaping across the ebony chopping board with lightning speed, so fast it was almost a blur.

The potato slices on the cutting board fluttered like snowflakes. Upon closer inspection, each slice was as thin as a cicada's wing, uniform in thickness, and almost transparent.

Once it was over, in the blink of an eye, the thin slice transformed back into distinct fine threads.

The potato shreds were as thin as hair, yet they were resilient and wouldn't break.

Zhang Tieniu's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but lean closer to take a look.

When he finally saw the shredded potatoes on the cutting board, he couldn't help but gasp.

Compared to the potato shreds I just cut, these potato shreds are more than half the thickness, and while maintaining the same thickness, almost every single one looks like a replica, with no difference whatsoever.

Damn! That knife skill is amazing!

Zhang Tieniu couldn't help but think to himself.

Then, they saw that Chen Wei showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he moved with lightning speed, reaching into the basin of water next to him and throwing all the shredded potatoes into the basin.

As soon as the shredded potatoes were put into the basin, they scattered like distinct silver fish, floating and sinking in the water.

Before long, the starch contained in the shredded potatoes settled in the large bowl.

"Wow—amazing!"

Zhang Tieniu couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Soaking the shredded potatoes in water beforehand to remove the starch will allow you to control the consistency of the sauce more easily in the final product!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Wu Xiaochun looking at him with a mocking expression.

That expression seemed to say, "Are you dumbfounded?! This is real skill from Brother Chen! You dare call that cooking?"

That kid's words are just asking for a beating!

If he hadn't spoken so harshly when the task was assigned, Zhang Tieniu wouldn't have argued with him on his first day of work.

After glaring angrily at Wu Xiaochun, Zhang Tieniu refocused his attention on Chen Wei.

But in the short time he had been distracted, Chen Wei had already finished processing the shredded potatoes, and a large pile of orange-yellow shredded carrots had accumulated on the cutting board.

"So fast! What kind of blade speed is that?!"

Zhang Tieniu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

He knew he didn't have the speed to cut the potato, and when he turned to look at the soaked potato shreds in the large basin, Zhang Tieniu immediately frowned.

Goodness, that knife speed is comparable to the Jamaican sprinter!

Moreover, his knife skills were impeccable; he couldn't find a single potato shred that was cut too thick in such a large bowl.

Unlike the ones I cut myself, tsk tsk tsk...

"Lin Jun! The shredded potatoes are almost soaked. You take over the rest of the shredded green peppers. I'm going to take them out of the pan!"

Just as I was thinking this, I heard Chen Wei suddenly speak up.

Lin Jun immediately responded, jogging over to take over the work from Chen Wei.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

The sound of the knife striking the cutting board paused briefly before resuming and echoing throughout the kitchen.

On the other side, Chen Wei steadily opened the air vent, and flames shot up from the stove with a roar.

Unlike Zhang Tieniu, he didn't rush to get the pot. Instead, he stood in front of the stove and waited for the temperature to rise.

A moment later, he reached down and took down his usual double-handled pot, placing it on the stove.

As usual, he waited. Zhang Tieniu knew that he was waiting for the pot to heat up before adding the oil.

He was indeed a bit hasty when he was cooking that hot and sour shredded vegetables, which was unusual for him when he was working in the mess hall.

This time it must be because he's not used to the environment—

Silently trying to justify himself, Zhang Tieniu quickly kept a close eye on Chen Wei's movements.

"Sizzle—" The oil temperature on Chenwei's side was just right. First, the peppercorns burst in the oil, releasing a strong numbing aroma.

The first step actually used Sichuan peppercorns!

Zhang Tieniu was somewhat surprised, but then he realized what was going on.

Shredded potatoes and shredded carrots are both rather bland and tasteless. If you want the finished product to have a richer flavor, then adding numbing and spicy ingredients is definitely a must.

That makes sense!

He sighed inwardly and quickly wrote down this little trick.

"Sizzle—"

The sound of oil splattering came from Chen Wei's stove again. Zhang Tieniu didn't dare to miss it and quickly looked up. He saw that the potato shreds in Chen Wei's hand had already been drained and were falling into the hot oil like a waterfall.

Next comes stir-frying, stir-frying!

Chen Wei tossed and turned the large double-handled wok in his hands, making the shredded potatoes seem to have grown legs, flipping them over and over in the wok until they were all coated with the aroma of vegetable oil. Only then did Chen Wei pour in the shredded carrots.

After putting the shredded carrots into the pot, he didn't rush to add the shredded kelp. Instead, he calmly turned up the heat and continued tossing the wok.

Just a few dozen seconds later, the shredded potatoes and carrots in the pot simultaneously released a wonderful aroma.

Just then, Chen Wei immediately turned around, picked up the kelp strips from the drain basket next to him, and poured them all into the pot.

The three shredded vegetables were finally gathered, and Chen Wei, holding a large ladle, calmly began to tossing the wok. Each shredded vegetable was heated evenly.

When the shredded potatoes turned golden and translucent, the shredded carrots were stir-fried to an enticing orange-red, and the shredded kelp was slightly curled up, Chen Wei immediately picked up a large ladle and quickly scooped several seasonings into the middle of the various seasoning bowls.

Zhang Tieniu stared wide-eyed, not daring to look away for a second, watching Chen Wei's movements, afraid of missing some rare key points.

But then the other person tossed the vinegar high into the pan, followed by salt, sugar, and soy sauce, and casually stirred it a couple of times. When a rich, sour aroma burst out, Chen Wei finally dripped the prepared chili oil onto the dish.

The moment the last drop of chili oil was added to the pot, a strong, sour and spicy aroma wafted up and entered Zhang Tieniu's nostrils.

"What a delicious taste!" Zhang Tieniu couldn't help but exclaim.