The dishes for dinner had been served one by one. Lu Jingming hadn't touched his chopsticks until Xu Yanxia was wheeled over by Manager Wei.
- This experience was really strange. She could clearly walk, albeit a bit slowly, but Manager Wei insisted on wheeling her in a wheelchair.
As they reached the dining table, she quickly sat down on the dining chair and said sorry to Lu Jingming, who had been waiting for her. "Have you been waiting for a long time?"
"No,"
Lu Jingming put away his phone and said with a smile, "I've been dealing with work all the time, and the dishes have just been served."
Then he started eating with her.
There were six dishes and a soup on the table tonight. After just a few mouthfuls, Lu Jingming clearly noticed the changes.
"The char siu has an obvious highlight, and the chrysanthemum fish is also different from before. It's much more delicious!"
"What is this dish made of? It tastes a bit like eggplant?"
Xu Yanxia nodded and smiled. "It is eggplant. Can you tell what the filling inside is made of?"
Lu Jingming tasted it carefully. "There should be shrimp and pork?"
"Good,"
Xu Yanxia said with a smile. "There's also a bit of chicken breast. This dish is called Three - Delicacy Stuffed Eggplant Rolls. It's an old - style imperial dish from the past. And that Eight - Treasures Yuanbao Tofu was also taught to the kitchen staff by me this afternoon. They learned quickly, and the flavors are well - adjusted."
"Really?"
Hearing her say this, Lu Jingming tasted the tofu beside him. The golden - yellow tofu was deep - fried into the shape of a yuanbao. After being steamed in high - quality soup and thickened with sauce, it presented an oily color. Taking a bite, he found that inside the tofu was a filling made of mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, shrimps, black fungus, and duck breast. The taste was not only wonderful but also rich.
He nodded sincerely. "The dishes in the kitchen used to be just passable, but now every dish has a highlight."
Manager Wei quickly echoed, "This is all the result of Miss Xu's guidance in the kitchen today. Miss Xu is really professional!"
- To be honest, originally he only thought this girl had won over Mr. Lu with her appearance, but he didn't expect that she really had skills.
She cooked in an orderly manner and explained things clearly. Even the staff meal made in the kitchen at noon today had become several levels better after her guidance.
She was definitely a cooking expert with both beauty and strength!
No wonder Madam Lu specifically asked her to be the head chef! If they could invite this expert to stay at the club for a few more days, maybe their club could also build a reputation in the catering industry in the future!
Just as he was daydreaming, he heard Xu Yanxia say to him, "By the way, Manager Wei, you took some videos of me in the kitchen today. Please send me a few later. I want to edit them and post them on Douyin."
"Also, please arrange someone to record for me tomorrow."
Manager Wei immediately nodded. "Okay, okay, no problem."
Lu Jingming asked her, "Are you going to save them and post the videos slowly?"
Xu Yanxia smiled. "I have this idea. Also, if tomorrow's dishes are well - received, we can also take this opportunity to launch them on our Jiushan platform. After all, tomorrow's guests are the main consumer group of Jiushan."
"Good,"
Lu Jingming nodded quickly. "I really didn't make a mistake in hiring you as the quality supervisor."
Then he joked, "It seems that your annual salary is a bit low?"
Xu Yanxia also joked, "Then you can give me a big red envelope at the end of the year. I don't mind."
"It's a deal."
Lu Jingming smiled. Immediately afterwards, his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw that it was a video call from his mother, Mrs. Shen. He quickly answered it.
The flight back was nearly twelve hours long. Mrs. Shen was on her way to the airport at this time. She said to him, "Son, we're about to board the plane soon. I heard from Aunt Zhang that Xiao Xia sprained her foot. How is she now?"
Lu Jingming said, "I'm having dinner with Xiao Xia. Let her tell you herself."
Then he handed the phone to Xu Yanxia.
Xu Yanxia took the phone and called out "Madam". She saw Mrs. Lu on the screen looking anxious and asking her, "Sorry, Xiao Xia. I just learned about your injury when I called Housekeeper Zhang. How is your foot now? Have you gone to see a doctor? Don't push yourself. If it's really not okay, we can replace you. It doesn't matter."
Xu Yanxia quickly smiled and said, "Don't worry, my foot is mostly better. There's just some bruising now. It won't affect tomorrow."
"Okay then."
Mrs. Lu then told her, "By the way, a friend contacted me temporarily today, and that girl Jingxi is also coming back to eat the food you cook. So there may be a few more people for dinner tomorrow night."
Xu Yanxia quickly said, "No problem. I'm prepared. I'll make a few more servings tomorrow."
"That's good."
Mrs. Lu was relieved and then poured out her troubles to her. "You don't know, Xiao Xia. I'm really eager to go home now. I've been eating out for a week, and I really can't stand it anymore. Now I just want to eat the food you cook!"
"Me too,"
Mr. Lu could be heard echoing beside her. "I've really had enough of these foreign meals. Even a bowl of noodles when I get home would be better than those French and Italian meals."
Xu Yanxia smiled and said, "I'll be waiting for you two at home."
As she saw that Mrs. Lu had no more instructions, she returned the phone to Lu Jingming.
After Lu Jingming finished chatting with his parents and hung up the phone, he asked her, "Is it okay to add people temporarily?"
Xu Yanxia shook her head. "Of course. We have enough ingredients. Even if we double the number of people, it's no problem."
Lu Jingming nodded. "That's good."
However, in the past, there were rarely any temporary additions to this kind of family dinner. He wondered which friend of his mother had suddenly come.
After a while, the two finished their dinner, and the night had gotten a bit deeper.
Xu Yanxia said to Lu Jingming, "I still have to go back to the kitchen to do some preparatory work. If you still have work to do, go ahead and do it."
Unexpectedly, Lu Jingming said, "I've almost finished my work today. I'll go to the kitchen with you."
Then he added, "I'll help you out."
Xu Yanxia thought he was joking and couldn't help smiling. "You'll help me out?"
"Yes."
Lu Jingming tried to prove himself. "Apart from mixing up sugar and salt when making sandwiches last time, I'm okay at other times. I used to cook for myself when I was in the UK."
"I've just gotten a bit rusty since I got back to work in China."
Really or not...
Xu Yanxia still had doubts about it.
But out of politeness, she still nodded and said, "If you're really interested, you can go with me and help me take some videos."
"Okay."
The two hit it off and immediately went to the kitchen.
Of course, Xu Yanxia was still wheeled there by Lu Jingming in a wheelchair.
"..."
After this day's experience, she really felt how happy it was to be a normal person with all four limbs intact.
What they were going to make tonight was Cherry Foie Gras.
The fresh foie gras had been marinated in seasonings for a whole day. At this time, it was put into a pot and slowly simmered in milk over low heat until it boiled.
As she was cooking, she explained the process to Lu Jingming.
"You must use warm water when washing the foie gras, otherwise it will affect the taste."
"Also use warm milk when making the puree, or it will have the same impact on the taste."
"When inserting the cherry stalks into the foie gras puree in the mold, insert them shallowly."
"Okay. Is it like this?"
President Lu was also very modest, intelligent, and highly efficient in execution.
"Yes, you're doing a great job."
Teacher Xu also promptly gave positive encouragement.
"Thank you for the compliment."
...
Apart from the cumbersome steps, there were no particularly difficult technical points in this dish.
In the quiet kitchen late at night, the two of them were cooking while having a soft - spoken conversation.
Seeing that the delicate foie gras puree had frozen and was coated with a bright red outer layer, they put it back into the refrigerator for further chilling.
Finally, tonight's work was over.
Looking at the time, it was already past ten o'clock at night.
Both of them had their own work to do the next day, so they went back to their guest rooms and bid each other farewell.
After Xu Yanxia finished washing up, she found that Manager Wei had sent her videos and photos of today's cooking via WeChat.
She downloaded them one by one, and then casually sent Lu Jingming a few photos she had taken of him squeezing the foie gras puree in the kitchen just now.
With a vibration, President Lu next door saw himself concentrating on cooking tonight.
He sent Xu Yanxia a "received" emoji, then downloaded the photos and posted a WeChat Moment with the caption:
"A day of learning to cook from my idol."
