After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

"you!!"

Executive Chef Li was so angry that his face turned ashen and his chest heaved violently.

"Young Master Qin! I respect you as the eldest son of the Qin family, but what you're saying is too much! I, Old Li, entered this industry at fifteen and have been working my way up in the kitchen for thirty years!"

"We've won national culinary gold medals and hosted foreign guests! Every single one of our hundreds of kitchen staff at the Grand Hyatt Hotel is a seasoned elite, honed through countless trials and tribulations."

Old Li became increasingly agitated as he spoke, suddenly pointing his finger at Lin Fan, who remained silent to the side, his eyes filled with contempt and anger:

"You're just going to bring in some random outsider and put them in charge of preparing the final dessert for the Chamber of Commerce banquet?!"

"If this goes wrong, who will take responsibility? Can he afford to? Or can you, Young Master Qin, bear the loss of this century-old brand that's been ruined?!"

"Responsibility? The brothers I brought, of course I..." Qin Lang stiffened his neck, his temper flared, and he rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight head-on.

Looking at the scene before him, Zhao Tianyi felt dizzy.

He never expected things to turn out this way.

On one side is Qin Lang, his best friend who grew up with him; on the other side is Lao Li, the highly respected executive chef who controls the kitchen of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and his team of hundreds of chefs who share the same hatred for the enemy.

"Old Li, Qin Lang, calm down and talk things out..." Zhao Tianyi quickly stepped between the two, trying to act as a peacemaker.

Just as tensions were about to rise...

"Are you done arguing?"

An extremely calm voice rang out in the noisy kitchen.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads.

Lin Fan had somehow walked to an empty metal workbench.

"I only have one question for you: should we prepare a frying pan or not?"

Looking at Lin Fan's calm and composed demeanor, as if Mount Tai had collapsed before him, Zhao Tianyi felt a sudden, miraculous calming of his own anxiety.

He remembered Qin Lang's solemn promise.

I was reminded of Grandpa Ye Weiguo's almost fanatical admiration for Lin Fan!

Someone like Elder Ye, who has attended state banquets and seen the world, could never be mistaken!

"Prepare! Prepare immediately!"

Zhao Tianyi gritted his teeth and turned to stare intently at Old Li:

"Old Li! From this moment on, Boss Lin is in charge of this kitchen!"

"Anyone who's unhappy and wants to leave, I, Zhao Tianyi, won't stop them. They can go to the finance department tomorrow, collect three months' severance pay, and get out of here! But let me make this clear: anyone who dares to back out or cause trouble at this crucial moment tonight, I guarantee they'll never be able to stay in the Jiangcheng catering industry again!"

Upon hearing this, Old Li and the other chefs all froze.

No one expected that the young master, who was usually so shrewd and courteous to these old masters, would resort to such a ruthless and desperate act against them for the sake of an outsider!

Old Li's face turned pale and then flushed, and his chest heaved violently a few times.

Finally, gritting his teeth, he took two steps back, sneering repeatedly.

"Alright, Mr. Zhao! Since you've put it this way, we have nothing more to say!"

The executive chef's face turned pale, then red. Faced with the raging young master, he dared not say anything more, and could only turn around angrily and yell at the kitchen helper next to him, "Didn't you hear me? Go get the plates!"

"This kid better not mess up the banquet, or I'll see how President Zhao handles it," the executive chef cursed inwardly.

The atmosphere in the kitchen instantly plummeted to freezing point. Everyone stared at the arrogant young man with eyes that seemed ready to watch a good show.

At this point, there were only forty minutes left before the grand finale dessert of the dinner was served.

……

Lin Fan returned to the control panel.

"clatter."

Lin Fan opened the first compartment of the refrigerated box.

The moment he took out the ingredients, the executive chef, who had been inwardly sneering, suddenly froze.

"What...what kind of water is that?"

Lin Fan took out a crystal-clear jade bottle containing a transparent liquid that was a very pale pink color.

The cork was gently pulled off.

Even from three or four meters away, an extremely elegant and refined floral fragrance instantly pierced through the heavy mixture of cooking fumes, truffles, and foie gras in the kitchen!

That's a taste that absolutely cannot be replicated by any kind of food flavoring on the market!

It was a truly natural fragrance, carrying the morning dew, the coolness of the lake bottom, and the aroma of lotus leaves.

One whiff of it and you're instantly transported to West Lake in the height of summer, with a gentle breeze on your face and endless green lotus leaves stretching to the sky.

That's the system-exclusive [Nine-Grade Fragrant Lotus Juice].

Immediately afterwards, Lin Fan took out [Spirit Snowflake Lard] and [Premium Red Bean Paste].

If floral juice is a powerful sensory experience, then these two are a visual feast.

That piece of lard was as white as top-grade mutton fat jade, without the slightest fishy or rancid smell. Instead, it exuded a pure and rich aroma of milk fat.

The red bean paste in that bowl was a deep red, like blood jade, with a silky sheen on the surface, so delicate that not a single grain or impurity could be seen.

Although these five-star chefs couldn't name the ingredients, as experts, they unconsciously suppressed most of their disdain just by observing them with their naked eyes.

"Whoosh—"

Lin Fan picked up the high-gluten flour with one hand and gently shook it in the air. The flour, like a thin layer of fresh snow, landed evenly on the stainless steel cutting board.

He placed the water-oil dough with the added "Nine-Grade Fragrant Lotus Juice" and the dry oil-shortening dough made with "Spirit Snowflake Lard" at opposite ends of the work surface.

The executive chef, standing five meters away from the cordon, crossed his arms and coldly observed Lin Fan's actions.

As the food and beverage director of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, who was hired at great expense and was proficient in both Chinese and Western cuisine, he admitted that the aroma of the lotus juice was indeed amazing and the quality of the lard was exceptional.

But good ingredients don't necessarily mean good cooking skills.

"Old Li, look at him, is he preparing to make traditional pastries?"

A sous chef in charge of Western desserts lowered his voice, his tone slightly mocking.

"It looks like the technique used for making small pastries."

Executive Chef Li snorted and commented in a low voice:

"The technique is quite skillful, but it's very amateurish. Chinese-style puff pastry uses lard, which has an extremely low melting point."

"Human hands have warmth. He kneads the dough directly with his hands without refrigerating it beforehand to relax it. He might roll it out a couple of times at most, but the oil in the dough will definitely melt."

"Once the oil melts and mixes with the water-oil dough, it becomes a 'mixed pastry.' When fried, it just turns into a dense, flat lump of dough, without any layers. How dare they call it the grand finale?"

Several knowledgeable chefs around nodded in agreement, their initial awe at the top-quality ingredients replaced by a sense of professional superiority.

This kid is still a self-taught individual after all.