Era: You're asked to cook a home-style dish, but you cook Wellington.

Inside the alleyway hotel, everyone stared at Gao Yang in disbelief.

Guo Yun slowly raised his head, a glimmer of light flashing in his dull eyes.

"Really? Really?"

His voice was hoarse, and his shattered life seemed to be pieced back together, with dawn just around the corner.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei's pupils dilated suddenly, and he panicked completely.

"Hey, no, Master Guo, don't listen to his nonsense."

He thought about it and subconsciously wanted to increase Guo Yun's salary to keep him, but after calculating how much double the salary would cost, he couldn't bear to spend that extra money.

Zhao Lei gritted his teeth.

"Master Guo, don't listen to his nonsense. Think about the income of the alley hotel. How could they possibly pay you double? They're just lying to you."

Lin Xiaoyu was so angry she gritted her teeth. She raised her hand, pointed at Zhao Lei's nose, and cursed, "Damn you! I've been fed up with you for a long time! Someone like you running a hotel? Go to hell! You skinflint! Someone like you might as well let your father continue being the boss; at least he wouldn't be doing such a terrible job!"

Her words were like a steel needle, piercing straight into Zhao Lei's heart.

Zhao Lei's face turned ashen, followed by intense anger.

"You, I'll teach you a lesson today!"

Zhao Lei raised his hand, his palm held high, ready to slap Lin Xiaoyu across the face in the next second.

Lin Xiaoyu's face paled, and she secretly regretted it. She had been too caught up in the moment and hadn't noticed the distance between her and this guy.

Seeing that she couldn't avoid the slap, she simply closed her eyes and quietly waited for it to fall.

However, the expected pain did not come.

She quietly opened her eyes.

Zhao Lei's face was flushed, his arms were firmly bound by Gao Yang, and his palm was suspended in mid-air, unable to fall for a long time.

"Zhao Lei, you're trying to beat up my men on my turf? Aren't you showing me a lot of disrespect?"

Gao Yang narrowed his eyes, exuding a dangerous aura.

Zhao Lei felt uneasy under Gao Yang's gaze, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

He looked at the VIPs who were having a meal.

The bigwigs all looked disgusted, as if they were looking at something grotesque.

"You won't be so lucky next time you try."

Gao Yang said coldly, and with a flick of his hand, he sent Zhao Lei staggering back several steps.

"Master Guo, what's your decision? I promise that if you come to Alley Hotel, the entire Alley Hotel will respect your decision, will not arbitrarily change the menu, and will not force you to use ingredients you don't like."

He paused, thought for a moment, and then continued.

"Besides, I heard that Zhao Lei said some unpleasant things to you; he probably threatened you."

As Gao Yang finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence. No one would have imagined that the boss would threaten his most capable employee.

"My goodness, has this boss lost his mind?"

"Oh yeah, I don't know what this boss was thinking, he actually threatened his own head chef, who would work for him?"

A barrage of mocking voices erupted, and Zhao Lei's face flushed red and then turned pale, standing there speechless for a long time.

Guo Yun was struck where it hurt most. He shuddered violently, and his previously dull eyes instantly turned bloodshot. The grievances and anger that had been building up for days could no longer be suppressed.

He slowly clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white, his nails digging deep into his palm, and even his breathing became rapid.

Seeing this, Zhao Lei's alarm bells went off. Fearing that Guo Yun would expose everything, he quickly went to Guo Yun's side, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "Think about your son. If you don't want to ruin everything, don't talk nonsense."

His menacing appearance chilled Guo Yun to the bone.

Guo Yun gave Zhao Lei a deep look, staring intently into his eyes.

"Do you dare say you didn't threaten me?"

His voice was extremely hoarse.

He raised his head and looked directly at Zhao Lei. The dullness in his eyes completely disappeared, replaced by overwhelming hatred and determination.

"You know, what I care about most is whether Yuncheng cuisine can be properly passed down. You've forced me to ruin these dishes."

"You know, my greatest pride in my life is building up Hongyun's reputation, and you're forcing me to cheat to ruin Hongyun's brand."

"You know, right now, the most important thing for me is my son's wedding. You still want to force me to keep working, or I'll be fired. Even after I win the championship, you want to kick me out."

"Zhao Lei, Zhao Lei, you should have a conscience. Do you really think I know nothing?"

Guo Yun spoke with a voice filled with anguish, each word like a heavy hammer blow to Zhao Lei's face and to the hearts of everyone present.

The dignitaries at the dinner all frowned, their eyes filled with disdain as they looked at Zhao Lei, and the discussions grew increasingly heated.

"So he really did threaten them! That boss is a real scoundrel!"

"Master Guo has such excellent skills, yet he's being treated like this. If it were me, I would have left long ago!"

"The Hongyun Hotel will be ruined by him sooner or later; I'm never going there again!"

Zhao Lei was both ashamed and angry, but he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal. He could only stand there, trembling all over, looking like a clown.

He never imagined that Guo Yun would reveal all these shameful things in public, completely cutting off his escape route.

"You, you, you're really something, how dare you do this."

Guo Yun ignored him completely and walked up to Gao Yang on his own.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and looked at Gao Yang.

This time, his eyes were no longer confused or tired; instead, they were filled with determination and longing.

He bowed deeply to Gao Yang, his waist bent extremely low, and his tone was extremely solemn.

"Master Gao, I promise you, I'll go with you!"

"Thank you for reminding me of my original intention to become a chef and for helping me solve my urgent problem."

Gao Yang looked at him, a hint of relief in his eyes.

He stepped forward, gently helped Guo Yun up, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Master Guo, welcome. As I said, Xiaoxiang Hotel will not force you to do anything against your conscience. We respect your skills and your rules. From now on, let's preserve this old flavor together."

Upon seeing this, Lin Xiaoyu instantly stopped crying and smiled, nodding vigorously at Guo Yun.

"Master Guo, that's great! With you here, we're sure to beat Zhao Lei and show him that truly delicious food isn't bought with money, it's made with skill!"

The guests present applauded enthusiastically, both to celebrate Guo Yun's awakening and to praise Gao Yang for valuing talent.

Zhao Lei looked at the scene before him, trembling with anger, his chest heaving violently, yet he was helpless.

He knew that with Guo Yun gone, Hongyun's reputation would collapse.

It's alright, the competition spot was provided by the hotel, not by Guo Yun.

Gao Yang did not make it to the finals and was therefore ineligible to participate, while Hong Yun was still eligible. If Hong Yun won the championship in the finals, the Alley Hotel would still be his.

"Great! Excellent!"

Zhao Lei gritted his teeth, glared fiercely at Gao Yang and Guo Yun, and said threateningly.

"You just wait! In the finals, I will make you pay the price. I will make sure the Alley Hotel disappears from Yuncheng forever!"

"And you, Guo Yun, do you really think you'll have a better future if you stay here? Don't come crying to me later."

After saying that, he was too ashamed to stay there any longer. He covered his face and rushed out of the alley hotel in a disheveled state, not daring to look back.

In an instant, the hall erupted in cheers.

With tears in her eyes, Guo Yun bowed to Gao Yang and the guests one by one.

Lin Xiaoyu suddenly felt troubled, as if something had occurred to her.

"This is bad. Gao Yang and Zhao Lei still need to qualify for the finals. If the judges cheat, won't they be guaranteed to win?"

Gao Yang remained completely calm.

"Don't be afraid, because I've been specially invited to participate in that competition. My role is that of a judge!"