A Bite of Douluo Continent

"Zhang Heng?" Qi Han frowned and pondered for a moment. Soon, the image of a middle-aged fat man appeared in his mind. He still had some impression of this vice president. The other party was also a regular customer of Hanshi Restaurant.

"Then I'll go talk to Vice President Zhang," Qi Han said. "Since he's in a meeting, I'll wait here for a bit."

"Okay, okay, please have a seat here." The receptionist kindly brought over a stool and poured Qi Han a cup of tea. "I'll go and inform Vice President Zhang first. Please wait a moment."

"Hey, hey, hey, no need, no need." Qi Han reached out to stop the other person. "Since Vice President Zhang is discussing things with other people, I'll just wait."

Since he needed the help of the Food Association, he was still very polite.

"That won't do." The receptionist chuckled. "Don't worry, Mr. Qi. The Cold Food Festival is the most important thing for the Food Association. Vice President Zhang certainly won't mind."

"Well..." Since the other party had gone this far, Qi Han couldn't stop them any longer. He smiled gratefully and said, "Then I'll trouble you."

"It's a trivial matter, not worth mentioning."

...

In Zhang Heng's private office at the Food Association, Zhang Heng and Mu Liufeng were having a pleasant conversation.

“Mr. Mu, although I’m in Shrek City, I still buy every issue of Food Review magazine.” Zhang Heng patted his round belly, a friendly smile on his face. “I really like this magazine, so I approve of your visit.”

"It is an honor for Food Review." Mu Liufeng smiled broadly. He hadn't expected the meeting with the Food Association in Shrek City to go so smoothly.

“Mr. Mu, there’s no need to be so polite. My wife’s hometown is Xingluo City. In a way, we’re practically from the same hometown…” Zhang Heng waved his hand. “Let’s not talk about that. Now we can confirm the specific details of the cooperation between Food Review magazine and the Food Association.”

“That’s no problem at all.” Mu Liufeng nodded, and was about to say something when there was a knock on the office door.

"Hmm?" Zhang Heng looked up at the wooden door of the office, a hint of doubt on his face.

The receptionist should know that we are having a meeting, so why would they knock on the door?

"Come in!"

"Squeak."

The door opened, and the receptionist walked in with a somewhat apologetic expression. "President Zhang, I'm sorry to bother you..."

"Let's not talk about that," Zhang Heng waved his hand. "Let's get straight to the point."

“Okay.” The receptionist was already familiar with Vice President Zhang Heng’s decisive and efficient personality, and quickly informed him of Qi Han’s visit.

"Huh?" Zhang Heng's face immediately showed a hint of surprise. "Boss Qi is here?"

Gu was a regular customer of the Cold Food Festival, and the Cold Food Festival was of utmost importance to the Shrek City Culinary Association. So when he heard that Qi Han was coming to visit, his first reaction was to go and see him.

However, when Zhang Heng turned his head and saw Mu Liufeng beside him, a look of unease immediately appeared on his face.

I haven't finished discussing things with Mr. Mu yet...

"President Zhang, please talk to Boss Qi first." Seeing Zhang Heng's predicament, Mu Liufeng chuckled and said, "I will come to discuss the details with President Zhang next time."

“That won’t do.” Zhang Heng shook his head. He always handled matters by finishing them on the same day. “Xiao Li, go and invite Boss Qi over.”

"Yes, Chairman Zhang." The receptionist, Xiao Li, nodded and left the office.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Heng turned back to look at Mu Liufeng with a slightly apologetic expression, "Mr. Mu, please sit here for a while. We'll continue our conversation after I finish talking with Boss Qi."

"No problem, no problem," Mu Liufeng said after a moment's hesitation. "May I listen in from the side?"

He was also curious about why Qi Han had come to the Food Association.

“Hmm…” Zhang Heng rubbed his chin. “I can ask Boss Qi for you. If he doesn’t mind, then there’s no problem.”

"Thank you very much." Mu Liufeng nodded with a smile.

...

"This way, Mr. Qi." Xiao Li walked beside Qi Han, guiding him toward Zhang Heng's office.

"Okay." Walking up the stairs, Qi Han still felt a little confused.

Before I could even have a few sips of tea, the receptionist came running down to tell me that Chairman Zhang Heng had put aside what he was currently discussing and wanted to talk to me first.

The food association is really enthusiastic about itself.

Soon, Qi Han entered Zhang Heng's office.

Upon entering, a look of surprise appeared on his face. "Editor-in-Chief Mu?"

The person I was just discussing matters with Vice President Zhang Heng was actually him?

Mu Liufeng didn't speak, but just smiled and nodded. Zhang Heng, who was standing next to him, took the initiative to speak, "Mr. Qi, would you mind if Mr. Mu listened in? If it's not convenient, we can go to the office next door to talk."

"Uh...no need." After thinking for a moment, Qi Han felt that there was nothing inconvenient about what he was about to discuss, so he readily agreed, "Perhaps Mr. Mu can also help with this matter?"

"Oh?" Mu Liufeng, who was quietly sipping his tea, immediately put down his teacup upon hearing this. "What do you mean?"

"It's like this." Qi Han organized his thoughts for a moment before speaking, "I plan to give a public lesson on how to cook fried rice."

An eerie silence suddenly fell over the office.

After a long while, Zhang Heng shook his head violently, as if waking up from a dream. "Boss Qi, I might have had tinnitus just now. I didn't hear what you said clearly. Could you... say it again?"

On the other side, Mu Liufeng silently picked up his teacup, wanting to take a sip of tea to calm his nerves, but as soon as he raised it, he found that his hand, along with the teacup, began to tremble uncontrollably.

I must have had tinnitus just now, right?

"I said," Qi Han emphasized, "I want to give a public lesson on how to cook fried rice."

Okay, no tinnitus.

Chapter 417 Pot and Ladle (Seeking monthly tickets and recommendation votes)

If it weren't for the fact that such a question was so rude, Zhang Heng would really like to pat Qi Han on the head and ask him if he had gotten his head caught in a door when the business closed at noon.

"Boss Qi, you..." Zhang Heng asked, clinging to the last shred of hope, "Are you planning to make money by collecting tuition fees?"

"No, I intend to teach for free." Qi Han's serious words completely shattered Zhang Heng's last shred of hope.

Sure enough, Boss Qi must have gotten his head stuck in a door.

"Alright, Mr. Qi, may I ask... why did you do this?" Zhang Heng was genuinely curious.

It's worth noting that Hanshi's dishes have a dominant advantage among all the restaurants in Shrek City. Although fried rice isn't the most delicious, it's one of Hanshi's most classic dishes, and it's no exaggeration to call it their signature dish.

Zhang Heng simply couldn't understand why Qi Han would offer to teach such delicious food to others for free.

"Well..." Qi Han pondered for a moment before slowly speaking, "...to promote innovation in Shrek City's food industry?"

Zhang Heng: "???"

Mu Liufeng, who was listening in: "???"

Isn't your goal a little too lofty?

Seeing the blank and disbelieving looks on the two people in front of him, Qi Han didn't explain anything further.

Before witnessing the cooking of fried rice firsthand, they wouldn't realize the importance of stir-frying as a cooking method.

It's no exaggeration to say that it has promoted innovation in the food and beverage industry.

Zhang Heng rubbed his temples and reluctantly accepted Qi Han's statement. "Alright then, Boss Qi is willing to publicly teach how to cook fried rice. This is a good thing for all the residents of Shrek City who love cooking. The Food Association will naturally give its full support. If there is anything you need help with, please feel free to ask."

"Um... I'd like to use the plaza in front of the Culinary Association for our teaching space..."

“No problem.” Zhang Heng readily agreed. “We can also arrange for people to help maintain order.”

Although that square was nominally assigned to the Food Association, they didn't actually need it on a regular basis, so there was no problem with temporarily renting it to Qi Han.

Seeing that Zhang Heng readily agreed to rent the venue, Qi Han breathed a sigh of relief. "My second request is that we can use the Food Association's channels to promote this as soon as possible, so that more people who want to learn how to cook fried rice will know about it."

"Hmm?" Zhang Heng raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Qi, let me ask you first, how many people do you plan to teach?"

“At least a thousand.” Without hesitating for long, Qi Han quickly gave his answer, “And if possible, it would be best if the students came from all over the mainland.”

In this way, the influence of stir-frying can be spread to a greater extent.

"At least a thousand? And they have to come from all over the mainland?" Zhang Heng's expression became serious.

This is no small matter.

Moreover, judging from Qi Han's well-organized arrangements, it was clear that the other party was not acting on impulse, but had planned it in advance.

“Then it might take about ten days.” After a moment of contemplation and a mental estimate, Zhang Heng quickly said, “The Food Association can use its publicity channels to help you promote it, but it will take some time for residents from all over to arrive.”

"Food Review can also be of help!" Mu Liufeng, who had been listening quietly from the side, spoke up. "With Star Luo City as the center, Food Review magazine still has certain channels within the Star Luo Empire."

The more Mu Liufeng listened, the more shocked he became.

Although he didn't take Qi Han's so-called promotion of reform in the food industry to heart, such a large-scale public teaching of cooking skills was something he had never seen before, and it was clear that this would be a grand event.

Even getting involved can be beneficial to expanding the influence of "Food Review".

"Thank you both," Gu said, a hint of gratitude on Qi Han's face. "Thank you for your trouble."

"No, no, no!" Zhang Heng waved his hand. "Boss Qi is sharing his cooking skills with everyone. Everyone will thank you for it. We only helped with a small matter, it's nothing."

Mu Liufeng nodded in agreement. Compared to Qi Han's efforts, what they had to do was just a small favor.

The three discussed the matter in detail and quickly set the time for the open class for the afternoon of ten days later, during the break between the lunch and dinner hours of the Cold Food Festival.

Before leaving, Qi Han took out two blueprints from his pocket and handed them to Mu Liufeng and Zhang Heng, saying, "Gentlemen, please help promote these as well."

"What is this?" Zhang Heng took the drawing and examined it for a moment. He was first surprised by the exquisite and accurate drawing on the drawing, and then his attention quickly focused on the two objects drawn on the drawing.

One of them was a pot, which was different from the stove pot used for cooking porridge and rice in the Douluo Continent. This pot was thinner and smaller, and seemed to be able to be lifted by one person. There was also a wooden handle on the edge of the pot for gripping.

The other thing drawn on the drawing was a large spoon, which was even larger than the largest soup spoon, with a long handle that was as long as a forearm. Apart from that, it was not noticeably different.

"These are the cooking utensils used to make fried rice. Because they are somewhat special, please inform the people who want to learn when you send out the message to prepare these two utensils in advance. There is also a list next to it that lists all the ingredients for fried rice. They will need to prepare those in advance as well."

Since the lessons are free, Qi Han naturally can't prepare ingredients and cooking utensils for everyone. They have to prepare them themselves. However, finding a blacksmith to make a pot and a ladle, and buying some ingredients themselves, won't cost much.

"I see." Zhang Heng and Mu Liufeng suddenly realized. "No problem."

It's not uncommon for kitchen utensils to be slightly modified for cooking, and since they hadn't seen the two types of utensils on Boss Qi's drawings before, they were somewhat similar to them, so they weren't too surprised.

They hadn't yet realized what it meant to transform the large, immovable pot connected to the stove into a relatively smaller, flippable iron pot.

However, the ingredient list on the side aroused their curiosity.

They were also curious about what ingredients were used in the fried rice served on Cold Food Festival.

However, upon closer inspection, a strange expression immediately appeared on their faces.