America: Starting from collecting corpses, leveling up to godhood

Chen Ming went inside and quickly searched through the desks, but found nothing but some miscellaneous items and strange recipes. There was only a password-protected electronic safe and a memo on the desk.

"All the tickets are locked in a safe deposit box and will be deposited into the bank along with the cash on Monday."

Hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

"Who's inside?!"

The tattooed manager rushed in, and his face contorted instantly when he saw the broken lock.

"What happened? Who smashed my door open with a hammer?!"

Without changing his expression, Chen Ming picked up a box of A4 paper from the corner.

"The front desk staff are swearing, the bill printer is out of paper, and someone said the paper is in your office... I didn't put this lock on, I don't even have the tools, do you think I'm strong enough to kick the door open?"

Upon hearing the front-of-house staff swearing, the manager's attention was immediately diverted.

"Screw the lock." The manager irritably tugged at his tie.

"Fine... Listen, can you work non-stop tomorrow and the day after?"

"If it's a day shift plus a night shift, I'll charge eighteen dollars an hour." Chen Ming skillfully started raising the price on the spot.

"Eighteen cuts..." The manager's eyes widened, but he quickly gave in.

"How about sixteen dollars? ICE just raided undocumented immigrants, and a few of my dishwashers in the kitchen were so scared that they bought bus tickets and ran away overnight."

"But what does this have to do with me?"

"The restaurant is booked for the next two days. A vegetarian influencer from Beverly Hills with millions of followers is holding her engagement party here... If you can come to prepare the food at six o'clock tomorrow morning, I'll give you two hundred dollars in cash for the day!"

"Two hundred and fifty, including two meals," Chen Ming bargained.

"...Deal! Now get out there and wash that pile of dead shrimp!"

Chen Ming responded and left, then hurriedly took out his phone and typed with one hand.

Chen Ming: "Bad news. The purchase order is locked in the manager's office electronic safe. I won't have a chance to get it until Monday morning when he opens it to take the cash to the bank. I'll have to stay here undercover for another two days."

Michelle: "My God, can you hold on?"

Chen Ming: "Just pay my salary... By the way, we have a big client here tomorrow, a vegetarian influencer with millions of followers is having her engagement party. The manager said they need to prepare an exorbitantly priced, high-end vegan meal. Is this news of any value to you?"

Michelle: "Yes, absolutely! People in the Los Angeles vegan community are extremely particular about the source of their ingredients. If they could expose that they're using near-expiry garbage to fool top influencers, it would definitely cause a huge uproar..."

Chen Ming: "Deal. Also, regarding the signature truffle soup you asked about, I just saw a recipe for it... I'm sorry, it doesn't contain truffles."

Michelle: "What exactly is in there? It smelled really good when I drank it!"

Chen Ming: "The canned mushroom paste that costs 8.99 yuan a gallon in cheap chain supermarkets is made with MSG and industrially synthesized truffle flavoring. Your taste buds are really easy to fool... I can make this stuff too."

Michelle: "I'm not talking to you anymore, I feel a bit nauseous... See you later."

Putting away his phone, Chen Ming slowly rolled up his sleeves and returned to the cold storage to begin processing the dead shrimp.

Bleach, baking soda, industrial deodorizer, mixed with ice water... He can control the proportions with extreme precision—after all, the requirements are much stricter when dealing with the stubborn putrid smell emanating from certain corpses.

Ten minutes later, the originally dark and smelly dead shrimp miraculously became crystal clear, with firm flesh, and even looked like they had the unique luster of fresh seafood.

Heck pushed his cart in to collect shrimp, and his eyes lit up instantly at the sight of them.

"God, did you used to work in a chemical plant, bro?" Heck grabbed a shrimp and brought it to his nose to smell it.

"Not only is there no rotten smell, but even the fishy smell of cheap seafood is gone!"

"I've only studied a little chemistry," Chen Ming said, shaking the water off his hands.

"A little too much and it'll burn your hands; a little too little and the stench won't be masked."

"Haha, I bet the customers outside will give you a good review. This is no easy job... From now on, you'll be in charge of handling all the seafood." Heck gave Chen Ming a thumbs up.

The work in the kitchen finally ended at 11 p.m.

The manager kept his promise and brought over two large bowls of staff meals. Heck and the others skillfully filled a large bowl with the signature vegetarian stew and handed it to Chen Ming, while they themselves took a bowl and leaned against the stove to enjoy their meal.

Chen Ming was somewhat surprised to see Hek eating with his mouth full of oil.

"Aren't you Mexicans supposed to love meat? Why are you eating these vegetarian scraps so deliciously?"

"Vegetarian?" Heck almost laughed out loud, wiping his mouth with his greasy sleeve.

"Dude, do you really think those skinny socialites can survive on grass?"

Chen Ming lowered his head and took a sip of the so-called vegetarian soup, then raised an eyebrow.

Others might not be able to tell the difference, but as a chef who also uses technology, he could sense that this soup was not simple.

"Butter...and bone broth?"

"Pure pork bone broth with plenty of butter for aroma, plus minced meat ground into a paste using a high-speed blender... it's so finely blended into the soup that you can't even see it." Heck chuckled and tapped the rim of the bowl with his spoon.

"This is the secret organic essence that our chef is so proud of."

"No wonder this restaurant has such a high rating." Chen Ming sneered and took another sip; the taste was indeed quite good.

"You bet!" Heck took a big bite of bread, his face full of sarcasm.

"Vegetarian influencers always post long articles praising our vegan drinks, saying they're full of energy and give you a healthy glow... Of course they're energized! Their starved bodies finally get some proper animal fat and protein, how could they not have energy?"

"It sounds like this store cured their malnutrition."

"That's so true! If they really ate only boiled, rotten vegetable leaves every day, they would have turned into skeletons long ago." Heck whispered in Chen Ming's ear.

"At the engagement party of that vegetarian influencer with millions of followers tomorrow, the chef plans to add double the amount of tripe and butter to the main course, grilled vegetarian steak, to ensure they are moved to tears."

Chen Ming looked at the rich meat broth in the bowl and nodded in deep agreement.

"That makes sense... Los Angeles really is a place full of miracles."

……

At six o'clock the next morning, it was just getting light in Los Angeles.

Chen Ming clocked in on time, and the kitchen was already operating like a biochemical laboratory.

"Go to the corner and bring over two buckets of 'organic soy protein'!"

Chef Julian, sporting a greasy topknot, was frantically stirring something in front of a huge stainless steel wok.

Chen Ming pushed over two large buckets of grayish-white powder as instructed.

"Watch closely, this is a magical moment. I'll only teach you once; from now on, you'll have to do it yourself."

Julian then took out a large, unlabeled plastic container and poured a thick, dark brown liquid into the pot like he was pouring tap water.

The pungent, complex fragrance instantly burst forth.

"What kind of technology is this?" Chen Ming asked expressionlessly.

"Smoked beef flavoring, it can bring out the flavor of top-quality Texas barbecue..." Julian grabbed another handful of white crystals and sprinkled them in.

"Those grass-eating creatures have long since lost their sense of taste; you have to use the strongest ingredients to stimulate the dopamine in their brains."

Chen Ming's eyes twitched as he watched the pot of bubbling chemicals.