I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

While busy washing vegetables, intern Xiao Zhao kept glancing at the food preparation station next to him.

This strange young man who suddenly appeared looked to be about the same age as him, and it was quite absurd that he could become the boss's mentor.

To be honest, like everyone else in the kitchen, he was somewhat resentful, even feeling that the boss had been deceived by the other person's face.

So what if he's a bit good-looking? He's not bad either.

Anyway, he didn't really believe that the other person's knife skills were much better than his own. After all, the head chef had said that knife skills require a long time to practice. Could the other person really be competent for this job?

It's really hard to say.

Just as Xiao Zhao was muttering to himself and reaching for the drain basket, something suddenly flashed in his peripheral vision.

He subconsciously turned his head to look, and then saw a scene that made him start to question the meaning of life.

The unfamiliar young man was seen using the chef's knife to process matsutake mushrooms.

Matsutake mushrooms have a soft yet chewy texture, making them a real test of knife skills when slicing. Slicing them too thinly will cause them to break easily, while slicing them too thickly will result in a poor texture. To slice them evenly, you need considerable knife skills.

Normally, experienced chefs in the kitchen handle the preparation of this ingredient.

Although intern Xiao Zhao tried to cut the slices a few times, the slices always looked like they had been chewed by a dog, so he was scolded by the head chef several times.

After all, this ingredient is not cheap, and there will be a lot of waste if it is not cut properly, so he usually cuts some cheaper vegetables.

Now, seeing Li Zhibai immediately start with matsutake mushrooms, I couldn't help but glance at him again.

However, just that one glance was enough to completely shock him.

Li Zhibai gently pressed the matsutake mushroom with his left hand, while holding the knife in his right hand, the blade almost touching the fingers of his left hand.

Tap tap tap tap tap...

The sound of the knife blade hitting the cutting board was very consistent and rhythmic, without a trace of chaos.

Xiao Zhao didn't even see clearly how Li Zhibai moved the knife before the other party stopped. The matsutake mushroom was still lying intact on the cutting board, as if it had never been touched at all.

Just as Xiao Zhao was wondering if this guy was faking it, the other person simply wiped it lightly with his hand, and the originally intact matsutake mushroom instantly turned from a whole mushroom into a row of thin slices of the same thickness, neatly laid out on the cutting board.

Xiao Zhao rubbed his eyes hard, staring at the scene in disbelief.

No way, what the hell is that swordsmanship? Is it some kind of magic trick?

Then he looked at the crooked, unevenly cut radish slices he had previously made and suddenly felt an urge to throw them all into the trash can.

The difference between people is just too big!

Another cook nearby also witnessed Li Zhibai processing the matsutake mushrooms.

???

No, what kind of swordsmanship is this?

It ended before he could even see it clearly?

Li Zhibai then processed a few more matsutake mushrooms as instructed, using the same technique as before: pressing down, cutting, and then retracting the knife after a blur. Finally, he gently pushed the mushrooms with his hand, and a row of even, thin slices appeared.

The two of them were completely dumbfounded.

"That knife skill... is pretty amazing!"

After processing the matsutake mushrooms, Li Zhibai cleaned the knife and then switched to a different cutting board to process the seafood that needed to be processed first.

He first picked up an abalone, then switched to a Santoku knife. He cut into the abalone from the side with the blade, and with a gentle twist, the complete abalone shell came off without leaving any meat on it.

Then, in no time at all, the internal organs were removed, the mouth was removed, and cross-shaped cuts were made... Each abalone was processed in about twenty seconds from the moment it was picked up. Cross-shaped cuts appeared evenly on the abalone meat, with consistent depth and very even spacing.

After quickly processing a certain number of abalone, he then cut the grouper into evenly thick slices as required.

I scooped the fish out of the ice water, patted it a couple of times on the cutting board, and then started cutting it.

With a gentle stroke of the knife along the fish bone, the fish meat quickly separates from the skeleton. Next comes skinning; the blade slides along the skin, and with a gentle push and press of the wrist, the fish meat and skin are cleanly separated.

After the separation process is completed, you can clearly see that the middle layer of silvery-gray fascia is still intact on the fish skin, with no residue left on the fish meat.

Finally, slice it.

Li Zhibai's slicing speed is not fast, but the rhythm is very steady, so steady that it makes people feel very relaxed and comfortable watching it.

In just a few minutes, the sliced ​​fish appeared on the plate. Each slice was so thin that it was translucent, and the size, thickness, and texture were almost identical.

His terrifying precision made one wonder if he was even human.

Based on his skill in slicing fish, it's hard to find anyone else in the entire Jiangcheng who can do it better.

Even nationwide, there are probably no more than one person who can cut at this level.

After processing the fish fillets, Li Zhibai continued to process other ingredients, maintaining his terrifying efficiency and his knife skills as precise as ever.

As time passed, a crowd gradually gathered around the food preparation station.

The chefs, who had been busy just moments before, all stopped what they were doing and gathered around the cutting and preparation station, staring in disbelief at Li Zhibai's hands.

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

"Is this knife skill for real? It's amazing!"

"He chopped that onion way too fast; I didn't even see how he made the cut."

"The carrot shreds were cut evenly better than when I used a grater."

"Especially the sashimi slices, they're amazing! I've been a chef for five years and I've never seen such insane knife skills."

"How did they develop such skill level?!"

"Honestly, I used to think that this kind of knife skill only existed in animation, and that no one in real life could do it. I never expected to learn this today, it's amazing!"

"Where did the boss find this miracle worker?!"

"..."

Li Zhibai had actually noticed them watching long ago, but he didn't care. He just wanted to finish his work quickly so he could wait for Su Su to cook the remaining dishes for him.

He hadn't eaten breakfast, and for lunch he only had three very small appetizers; he was still hungry.

When head chef Ma Yinming saw that these guys were actually slacking off during the busiest time to watch others chop vegetables, he sternly dismissed them all and sent them back to their workstations.

Just as he was about to get to work, he suddenly noticed Li Zhibai's hands, which were quickly processing the ingredients, and his brows furrowed slightly.

He showed this expression not because Li Zhibai's swordsmanship was bad, but because it was too good!

It was far better than he had imagined.

【Su Wei】has two head chefs: Su Su, who doesn't spend much time in the kitchen, and Ma Yinming.

Furthermore, he is a well-known figure in Jiangcheng's catering circle, having won several awards in local cooking competitions of decent scale. He also worked at [Su Wei] for three years, serving as the anchor of the restaurant.

Most of the people in the kitchen were trained or recruited by him.

It's fair to say that he was the real boss of the kitchen.

Su Su had informed him in advance that her master was coming to the restaurant to taste the dishes, and that he should just arrange the kitchen work as usual without making any special preparations.

Ma Yinming didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

The boss's mentor was none other than the chef she studied under in France, probably a foreigner.

To everyone's surprise, the person who showed up was a young man from China in his early twenties.

Honestly, after confirming that this young man was the master the boss had mentioned, he found it truly unbelievable.

How old is this kid? He's only been learning to cook for a few years! What makes him so special that he's qualified to be the master chef of Boss Su Su?

What particularly annoyed him was that the boss treated this young man with far more respect than he, the head chef, and even lent him his most prized custom-made knives.

Why should I?!

Is it just because of this good-looking face?

Li Zhibai quickly labeled him a liar in his mind. He felt that his boss was too young and inexperienced, otherwise how could he have been so easily fooled and ended up becoming someone's apprentice?

It wasn't until he witnessed Li Zhibai's superb swordsmanship with his own eyes that he understood.

He was shocked.

His knife skills, his speed, his precision—not to mention him, you probably can't find another chef in the entire Jiangcheng catering industry who can match him.

No, this guy probably isn't in the food preparation business at all.

Someone with this kind of knife skill would be at least a head chef or even a master chef in any top restaurant; they couldn't just be a simple cutler.

Who exactly is Su Su's master?

Could he really be the head chef of some restaurant? Or the last disciple of some master chef specializing in state banquets?

But after so many years in Jiangcheng's catering industry, he had never heard of such a powerful figure in Jiangcheng.

The more Ma Yinming looked at the young man, the more he felt that the other party was not simple, and a sense of crisis inexplicably welled up in his heart.

The boss, Su Su, suddenly found a master and even brought him to the kitchen to help out, letting him demonstrate his knife skills in front of everyone. What does this mean?

Could it be that he was specially invited to replace him?

That's very possible!

These days, restaurant owners prefer to hire young people, especially in trendy fusion restaurants like theirs, where the proportion of young chefs is indeed much higher than in other restaurants.

Young chefs tend to have more ideas, making them more suitable for this role.

Maybe that's what the boss, Su Su, was thinking, which is why he found someone to replace him.

Thinking of this, Ma Yinming's heart sank.

Damn, am I really going to suddenly lose my job?!