Chapter 439: Chapter 177: The Master Zhang Feng
"Is there a problem?"
The Daoist thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "Right, since he came near us, our senior brother’s aura changed!"
The moment the words fell.
The Daoist, without suspicion, quickly turned around, anxiously carried the corpse on his back, and started running.
"Hurry, hurry..." The corpse on his back encouraged him and even channeled Evil Qi onto the Daoist’s feet, providing some propulsion and reducing his effort.
Whoosh—
With the boost of Evil Qi, the Daoist was taking strides of three to four meters, followed by strides of seven to eight meters.
He ran faster and faster, reaching strides of about ten meters.
"Dao..."
The Shopkeeper kept an eye on the Daoist.
Upon seeing the Daoist leaving without eating or paying, and in such a hurry as if he were rushing to reincarnate, he dared not stop these ’masters who command gods and demons’.
Or rather, just as he uttered the word "Dao".
Within two breaths, the Daoist had run far away from the guesthouse’s entrance.
And in the next second.
As the Shopkeeper was about to tell the kitchen staff to stop cooking the Daoist’s order.
Ding—
A light sound came from the ground outside.
The Shopkeeper, who often worked with the abacus, heard it and immediately smiled.
He jogged around the counter and went to the door for a look.
Under the light of the old-fashioned kerosene lamp was a silver dollar.
’The Daoist is generous! Considerate!’
The Shopkeeper was delighted because the meal only cost seven hundred and twenty copper coins.
One silver dollar, in the current unstable situation, could be exchanged for fifteen hundred copper coins at the government bank.
Of course, things were chaotic, and prices were uncertain.
Because the local warlords were all vigorously minting money.
Before long, the copper coins would suffer a significant devaluation.
Silver dollars were the hard currency.
The Shopkeeper’s little nephew worked at the Money Factory and was quite familiar with this.
In short, convert copper coins to silver dollars as soon as possible.
’Tomorrow I’ll have Zhang Feng run to the city.’
With just one action of picking up the money, the Shopkeeper had already sorted out all his calculations in his head.
And he didn’t stop the kitchen from cooking the meal, considering that the money had already been paid. What if the Daoist came back and the meal wasn’t ready?
At the same time.
Clang clang clang...
In the kitchen.
Zhang Feng was stir-frying vigorously, one hand holding the wok and the other flipping the spatula skillfully.
Beside Zhang Feng, the head chef and his apprentice were wide-eyed, watching him cook.
The two had truly not realized that Zhang Feng, who usually ran errands honestly, had such cooking skills?
Never mind the taste of the dishes.
Just the exquisite flipping and tossing of the wok itself, after more than twenty years of cooking, the over-thirty head chef wasn’t as proficient.
"Done."
While they were secretly learning.
Zhang Feng scraped the bottom of the wok with his spatula, pouring a fragrant braised vegetable dish into a plate, the soy sauce’s aroma spreading gently from the bottom of the dish, enhancing the sweetness in the air.
"Gulp..." The head chef swallowed, feeling extremely hungry.
Yet, just twenty minutes ago, he had sampled food several times while cooking for other guests and was already full.
"Zhang... Zhang Little Brother..." The head chef, faced with such an appetizing dish, decreased his voice.
Like a martial arts novice meeting a grand master with an unyielding aura.
He hadn’t even sparred yet and was already intimidated.
"I..."
At this moment, when he looked at Zhang Feng, there was a meek request in his eyes, "Can... can I have a taste?"
"Please." Zhang Feng stepped away from the stove.
"Thank you..." The head chef took a deep breath of the aroma in the air, then picked up chopsticks, lifted a piece of vegetable, and savored it.
For a moment, the sweet soy sauce flavor exploded on his palate, mingling with the fresh aroma of the vegetable leaves.
A simple stir-fry, but he actually tasted ’braised pork’ flavor?
Especially this ’braised pork’ flavor was top-notch, without any greasy texture.
After all, it was made of vegetables and naturally wasn’t greasy.
"You..." The chef was stunned, not expecting such a top-notch chef to be at the guesthouse?
A dish of vegetables, deceivingly crafted into meat?
"Use our shop’s marinated meat for the Daoist’s order first."
Zhang Feng was almost becoming the head chef of the guesthouse, casually instructing the astonished head chef, "After clearing the large pot in these two days, I’ll marinate, and you assist.
Your marinated meat is too poor."
"Okay... okay..." The head chef nodded hastily, looking like a humble apprentice.
Suddenly, he felt like he was back to his apprenticeship days, kneeling and kowtowing for his master to teach his craft.
As for the apprentice beside the head chef, smelling the ’soul-stirring’ aroma and seeing his master conquered, he looked at Zhang Feng with full admiration, not expecting this busboy to be a hidden culinary master in the countryside guesthouse!
Zhang Feng naturally wanted to show off his skills. First, having an identity meant aligning with the guesthouse and the Shopkeeper as a hub, finding a task’s entry point.
Second, since the guesthouse was the center, he naturally needed to elevate his status.
Third, as previously planned, use delicious food to exchange information with the Daoist, so the first two steps were following the trend.
Thinking about this.
Zhang Feng refused the head chef’s request to carry the plate, then carried the marinated meat in one hand and a tray with a plate of vegetables and a jug of wine in the other.
He walked out of the kitchen.
"Why does it smell so good?" The Shopkeeper, who had returned to the counter, turned his gaze to Zhang Feng.
"What dish is that?" The only table of two guests, tipsy and bleary-eyed, also looked over.
"Vegetables." Zhang Feng casually replied, then looked towards the door.
Over there, the Daoist and the corpse were gone.
"Shopkeeper." Seeing that the person he was looking for was gone, Zhang Feng formally faced the curious Shopkeeper, "Where did that Daoist go?"
"How would I know." The Shopkeeper shook his head, continuing to work on his abacus, "Anyway, the money’s already paid, so keep the dish for a while."