Chapter 349: Substandard Cooking Skills

After Wang Liuzhi left, Lin Dong lightly tapped his toes and floated down onto the wooden bed. He glanced at the branches of the Lingyun Tree beside him—unchanged from before—but upon closer inspection, he could see that the green hue of the branches had begun to fade slightly. Sitting cross-legged again, Lin Dong entered a meditative state once more.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Lin Dong, who had not left his room all that time, finally stepped out—and headed straight out of the inn. The news brought by Ma Chun was that Hua Wuyue would be cooking at Taohuawu Restaurant that day. Like Linji Inn, Taohuawu Restaurant was located in the east part of Lingnan City. Although Hua Wuyue started it just as a way to cook in her free time, the restaurant was top-notch in terms of scale, decoration, and the chefs’ skills. In terms of business volume, it was also one of the largest restaurants in Lingnan City.

Compared to Linji Inn, Taohuawu Restaurant was in a better location, situated on Heiliu Street, the busiest area in the east of the city. As Lin Dong walked there, the scorching sun was nearly at its highest point. It was the busiest time of day for the restaurant, and with Hua Wuyue cooking in person, the area outside was bustling with traffic. The large sign with blue background and gold letters, bearing the name “Taohuawu,” though not particularly elegant in design, exuded a casual and stylish vibe under the golden sunlight. At first glance, Lin Dong was convinced that the sign must have been written by Hua Wuyue herself.

Stepping into the lobby, he was greeted by loud chatter and vibrant activity. Scanning the room, there were over thirty tables, with only three empty ones. With the two major restaurant chains in Lingnan City competing fiercely to attract customers with various tactics, Lin Dong believed that Hua Wuyue cooking in person was the only reason for such good business. As the eldest son of a prominent family and the youngest top expert in Lingnan City, the fact that she cooked in person was enough to make wealthy families come in droves, filled with awe. As for whether her skills in appearance, taste, and aroma—especially her appeal in terms of appearance—were even more attractive than her status remained to be seen.

After standing at the entrance for a few seconds, a waiter quickly approached with a warm smile. After asking a few questions, he guided Lin Dong upstairs to the third floor.

Like other restaurants, Peach Blossom Tower also has three floors. The first floor serves ordinary customers, while the second floor is generally reserved for wealthy patrons. As for the third floor, it is entirely made up of private rooms. Although there are no rules regarding food or drink consumption or any room fees, if you don’t order for about ten or so taels of silver, the staff’s enthusiasm will still drive you crazy. Apart from extremely wealthy people or those who need to entertain important guests, almost no one goes there.

Following the staff member up to the third floor and entering an open private room, once Lin Dong sat down, the staff member immediately asked with a smile, “What would you like to eat, sir?”

“Bring me a plate of every dish that Young Master Hua can cook,” Lin Dong said. He hadn’t eaten in a day either, so he decided to have a big meal and take the chance to test Hua Wuyue’s skills.

“A plate of each?” The staff member was stunned for a moment before politely asking, “How many people are with you, sir?”

“Just me!” Lin Dong replied casually.

“Just you alone?” The staff member’s smile faltered slightly as he hesitated and said, “Sir, there are thirty-six dishes that our boss can cook.”

“It doesn’t matter. The dishes cooked by your boss can be used in other ways if I can’t finish them,” Lin Dong said with a smile.

The staff member nodded, looking hesitant. The dishes cooked by the boss could indeed be taken home as decorations, especially in the cold winter—more useful than eating them. But the problem was that for the thirty-six dishes, to avoid being overwhelmed by too many orders, the lowest price per dish was five taels of silver, while the most expensive ones cost over fifty taels. Apart from Maple Forest Restaurant and Hongfu Restaurant, if you wanted to try the most expensive dishes, you had to come to Peach Blossom Tower.

Although the staff member hadn’t calculated it, he knew that five hundred taels of silver would definitely not be enough for such a meal.

Lin Dong smiled and placed a silver note on the table.

The staff member took a quick look, apologized, and left the room.

After taking the silver note to the counter, Lin Dong waited for about half an hour in the private room before a staff member entered carrying a tray.

On the tray stood a golden money tree, about a foot tall, emitting warm mist. Lin Dong’s eyes widened immediately. With his discerning eye, he could easily tell that this money tree was made up of various ingredients—a large golden ingot as the base, branches winding upward, gently swaying golden leaves, and round, small golden fruits… If it weren’t for Lin Dong’s sharp eyes, even if it were right in front of him, one would surely mistake it for a money tree made entirely of gold.

“The ever-blooming money tree is here!” The waiter carefully removed the dishes from the tray and placed them on the table before saying, “Please enjoy, sir. The golden ingots below are made from roasted meat of the Thousand-Horse Beast, while the branches are peeled and steamed from the Lanhong Tree before being carved. The leaves are made from edible Wanshui Grass threaded with fine thread, and the fruits are pears unique to our Lingnan Prefecture. They appear golden because they’ve been coated with our special gold oil from Peach Blossom Tower. All of these are edible, and the medicinal properties of the spiritual beasts and materials don’t interfere with each other. Eating more not only strengthens the body but also helps nourish the spleen and stomach.”
“Mm!”
Lin Dong replied briefly.
After the waiter left, Lin Dong picked up the chopsticks on the table. He reached out several times but just couldn’t bring himself to use them.
The money tree was so finely detailed, with clear holes and lifelike precision—its quality was certainly on par with that of gold artifacts crafted by master sculptors. Picking it up with chopsticks would destroy its structure. Though Lin Dong didn’t understand art, he still felt reluctant to do it.
Unfortunately, given Hua Wuyue’s skills, if all thirty-six dishes could reach the level of this money tree, it would far exceed Lin Dong’s expectations. But for Hua Wuyue’s status, having him work as a chef solely responsible for arranging dishes at Linji Inn would be far more difficult than having him as the head chef who prepares all the dishes at once. After all, having Hua Wuyue as the head chef who prepares everything meant his love for cooking was a huge advantage. The challenges lay in convincing him and getting the Hua family to agree to let their heir work as a chef at their own inn.
Hua Wuyue loved cooking, not just arranging dishes. Whether it was his pride built over years or his self-respect, it would be extremely difficult to persuade him to agree. That would not only mean losing the advantage of his love for cooking but also adding the complication of dealing with his pride and self-respect.
Undoubtedly, Hua Wuyue’s cooking skills were also very important.
He had to eat this money tree.
With determination, Lin Dong plunged the chopsticks into the golden ingot.
The meat was soft, and the chopsticks sank in easily. With a slight movement of his fingers, he picked up a piece of meat colored golden and dark red.
Putting the piece of meat in his mouth, Lin Dong chewed slightly before frowning slightly.
Not bad!

The problem is that this is the meat of a spiritual beast—meat that can appear in restaurants must, as a basic requirement, be more delicious and tender than ordinary meat. Otherwise, such meat would only be valued for its medicinal properties and status; eating too much of it would surely become unpleasant, rendering it useless. Since it would eventually be discarded and not become a regular dish, no restaurant would include it in their standard menu. Merely being passable is undoubtedly not enough. As for Lin Dong himself, if he were to cook personally, even without the advantages of a kitchen system, his skills would definitely not be inferior to Hua Wuyue’s, and might even surpass them. With Lin Dong’s cooking skills, opening a small restaurant would be no problem, but compared to the chefs at the city’s major restaurants, he would be far behind—even with skill enhancements. At this level, even with enhancements, he could only compete with ordinary chefs at large restaurants, not those in charge of signature dishes and spiritual beast ingredients, let alone those at Hongfu Restaurant or Fenglin Restaurant. In short, Hua Wuyue’s cooking skills fall far short of Lin Dong’s standards, not even reaching the barely acceptable level. If it were only Hua Wuyue’s ability to prepare dishes, and he were given full responsibility at Lin’s Inn, the dishes served would indeed be quite attractive. But whether it’s worth it depends on the cost of bringing Hua Wuyue into the inn. If his skills met the standards, Lin Dong would be willing to bear any cost, but since they don’t, he must carefully consider whether it’s worthwhile. After all, getting Hua Wuyue to handle dishes is many times more difficult than teaching skills to other chefs. His benefits are limited to the main branch of Lin’s Inn. Unlike people like Cheng Bao and Yu Linglong, who can cook at the main branch while mentoring several apprentices with talents that may not reach the level of top chefs but are still excellent. These apprentices might not be as skilled as Cheng Bao or Yu Linglong, but upon completion of their training, they would be outstanding in the branch stores, significantly boosting Lin’s Inn’s overall strength.

If Hua Wuyue isn’t good at cooking, teaching apprentices to handle vegetables is already much more difficult due to limited talent. Moreover, even after these apprentices complete their training, they still need to spend several more years learning cooking skills, meaning twice as much or even more time is required. The training period is too long. It’s only worthwhile if they can reach Hua Wuyue’s level or at least a similar standard; just learning the basics of vegetable handling is not worth it at all.
If Hua Wuyue is decent at cooking, there are no such troubles. Apprentices can learn cooking and vegetable handling simultaneously. It may take a bit longer than learning cooking alone, but not by much. As long as they can learn some basics of vegetable handling, it’s already a good deal.
After tasting a few more pieces of the Money Tree’s branches and leaves, Lin Dong felt frustrated—it still didn’t meet his minimum standards. With no other choice, he had to try other dishes and figure out how much effort it would take to get Hua Wuyue to work at Lin Ji Inn.
Putting Hua Wuyue’s matter aside for now, Lin Dong focused on the gold ingots made of spirit beast meat and quickly reached for them with his chopsticks.
By the time the waiter pushed the door open, the trunk of the Money Tree had been laid aside, and the once gleaming golden ingots were now just meat balls the size of fists.