The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 347 Xu Chen's Memories

"Shhh-"

Xu Zhe quickly signed his name on the new food supply contract, his excitement growing stronger.

Even though Liu Tong fled in panic amidst the scorn of the crowd, under the supervision of the Royal Chef Association and the catering industry, what was bound to happen would still happen.

With the cooking duel over, the bets between the two sides naturally took effect.

Being able to reliably purchase ingredients at 80% of the original price is a huge benefit for "Fish Flavor" restaurant, as the larger profit margin will give "Fish Flavor" restaurant more strength to grow and expand.

All of this was brought about by Qin Lang.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Qin Lang, who was talking to Zheng Chuan not far away, with a grateful gaze.

Qin Lang, on the other hand, received an unexpected invitation.

"Want to participate in your food recommender assessment?"

“Not bad.” Zheng Chuan smiled. “With the Golden Chrysanthemum Fish you made today, you are fully qualified to receive my token.”

"This is also a little selfish of mine," Zheng Chuan smiled. "I want to see more of your potential in fish dishes."

"Of course, if you don't have time..."

"Yes!" Qin Lang nodded quickly.

He naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to be personally invited by the Food Recommender for the assessment, as he was still five levels short of the Level 1 Food Recommender badge in Mingjing Prefecture!

"I will definitely visit you as soon as I finish what I'm doing."

"Great!" Upon hearing this, Zheng Chuan looked expectant. "I'm free these days, and you're welcome to come anytime."

After exchanging a few words, Zheng Chuan turned and left.

As Qin Lang watched the other person walk away, he turned around and saw Xu Zhe with a smile on his face. The latter gently patted Qin Lang's shoulder and spoke softly.

"I really don't know how to thank you for what happened today."

“If you have time now, please come home with me.” Xu Zhe said with a smile, “My father would be very happy if he knew about this.”

How to thank Qin Lang later is up to Father to decide.

“No problem!” Qin Lang’s eyes lit up.

After many twists and turns, I was finally able to meet Mr. Xu Chen.

As one of Mr. Gu Cong's four disciples, Mr. Xu Chen was a witness to what happened back then and must know more inside information.

Perhaps we can find the remaining two jade pendant fragments through the other party.

Led by Xu Zhe, Qin Lang and his group of five arrived at a detached villa not far from the "Fish Flavor" restaurant.

“This is my home.” Xu Zhe opened the villa door and casually explained, “My father has been recuperating at home for the past few days.”

"Please wait for me in the living room for a moment, I'll go check on him first."

"Okay." Qin Lang and the others quietly put away the fruit basket and other gifts they had bought on their way there, and then sat in the living room to wait.

Watching Xu Zhe disappear into the passageway leading to the second floor, Zhao Qian stretched and said, "Now, we should be able to find the third jade pendant fragment."

“But this fourth one might not be so easy.” Cao Dongdong stroked his chin. “According to Chairman Su, Mr. Yue Shan has already left Yuehu City and his whereabouts are unknown.”

“Mr. Xu Chen should know about Mr. Yue Shan’s situation, right? After all, they are fellow disciples,” Zhao Qian speculated. “So… am I the only one curious about the taste of the Golden Broth Chrysanthemum Fish?” Zuo Ge asked weakly, causing the entire living room to fall silent.

Now, Zhao Qian and Cao Dongdong no longer cared about the jade pendant and both turned their eyes to Qin Lang, "Golden Broth Chrysanthemum Fish!"

“If you’re going to make Golden Chrysanthemum Fish Soup again, I want some too,” Fatima said suddenly, adjusting her glasses.

"Alright, alright." Qin Lang looked at the four of them with a wry smile. "I'll make it for you when we get back to the hotel later."

As they were talking, footsteps echoed down the hallway, causing them to fall silent and look towards the stairwell.

Xu Zhe carefully helped an elderly man with white hair down from the ground. The man's features were seven or eight parts similar to Xu Zhe's.

"Mr. Xu Chen!" Qin Lang couldn't help but stand up and quickly walked to the other man. "Why did you come down? Are you feeling alright?"

"You must be Qin Lang, young friend?" Xu Chen looked at Qin Lang with a smile, his slightly cloudy eyes full of admiration. "Xiao Zhe already told me about what happened before. This time, thanks to you, otherwise 'Fish Flavor'..."

He shook his head and sighed softly, saying nothing more. "This is an old ailment of mine; as people get older, there are always many inconveniences."

As he spoke, he walked to the living room sofa with Xu Zhe's help and sat down. "I heard from Xiao Zhe that you were looking for me."

"Is there something wrong?"

“It’s like this…” Qin Lang sat down next to Xu Chen, thought for a moment, then took out a hand-drawn sketch from his pocket and unfolded it. “We’re looking for it.”

“This…” Xu Chen’s gaze fell on the hand-drawn picture, and his cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light. He looked at Qin Lang, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly spoke.

"Xiao Zhe, go and take down the thing wrapped in cloth on the innermost part of the second shelf of my bedside table."

"Okay." Xu Zhe nodded and turned to go upstairs.

While Xu Zhe was getting something, Xu Chen picked up the hand-drawn picture and looked at it again and again, a hint of melancholy creeping onto his face.

"I haven't seen this complete jade pendant in decades."

"I never imagined I'd be able to see it in its complete form again in this way." Xu Chen then looked at Qin Lang, "How did you find my place?"

Qin Lang organized his thoughts and recounted how they found Mr. Gu Cong's tombstone, then the jade pendant fragments from the Ren and Zhang families, and finally, following the clues, they found Xu Chen.

"I see." Xu Chen nodded in understanding, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. "Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother still haven't forgiven each other."

He took a cloth-wrapped item from Xu Zhe, who had returned, placed it on the table, and carefully unwrapped it.

Inside was another fragment of the jade pendant.

"This jade pendant was the most treasured possession of my teacher, Mr. Gu Cong, who had no children of his own and treated the four of us disciples as his own children."

"So, on his deathbed, he divided the jade pendant into four pieces and gave them to us as keepsakes." As he said this, Xu Chen's eyes dimmed slightly. "The broken jade pendant is difficult to mend."

"Perhaps the teacher had foreseen that things would turn out this way."

"Mr. Xu Chen, what exactly happened back then?" Qin Lang couldn't help but ask. "Could you tell me about it?"

“There’s nothing I can’t say.” Xu Chen sighed. “As you probably already know, my teacher is a highly skilled but very low-key person.”

"He accepted us four disciples in the hope that we could inherit his recipes and carry them forward."

"However, we didn't do that."

(End of this chapter)