Chapter 2: No One Else Can Do It But Me

  The kitchen of Hei Hu Tang has more than 20 houses, including a soup room, a pastry room, a cold dish room, a meat dish room, and a raw material processing room. There are 17 master chefs and hundreds of servants working here to prepare meals for the 2,000 disciples of Hei Hu Tang.

  Yu Ze Cheng was one of the head chefs, and he had his own private kitchen and dining room. Returning to his dining room, Yu Ze Cheng waited silently, and when he arrived, many cooks and servants nodded in respect, but no one dared to speak to him.

  Yu Ze originally came to work as a miscellaneous worker, on the one hand, he knew that his mother needed to nourish her body, but the family was poor and had no money to buy supplements. On the other hand, he didn't want to be a miscellaneous worker for his whole life without any prospects. So he relied on reading extensively and found a recipe for a medicinal dish in "Guiyuan Travel Notes". After diligent research, he finally made a delicious medicinal soup with this recipe.

  After this soup was researched, taking the opportunity, Yu Ze Cheng presented the soup and immediately received everyone's praise. The flavor is delicious and also has a great nourishing effect, it can be said that the reviews are overwhelming.

  Where there are people, there is a river. In this way, his research results were peeped by Wang Xuesen, the chef of the kitchen. Relying on his own power, Wang Xuesen wanted to buy the formula for this soup.

  Yu Ze Cheng was sold to Wang Xue Sen for 10 taels of silver, but no matter how Wang Xue Sen brewed it according to the recipe, the soup he made was either too salty or too bland and not good to drink at all, and finally got scolded by Ma Lao Hei.

  Wang Xuesen found Yu Zecheng, and when Yu Zecheng demonstrated the process of making soup in front of him, and recorded the recipe, it was exactly the same as Wang Xuesen's. However, no matter how hard Wang Xuesen tried to follow the same process to make the soup, it just didn't taste good, and he couldn't replicate the delicious flavor that Yu Zecheng had achieved, even if he were to die trying.

  Under the proposal of Vice Hall Master Cui Renxiong, Yu Zecheng became the smallest chef, in charge of the soup room, making this nourishing soup for the dignitaries in the hall.

  Wang Xuesen knew that Yu Zecheng had left a trick, and he was very dissatisfied with the result. He started to suppress Yu Zecheng, and the two began their chef's duel. Wang Xuesen first tampered with the ingredients of the soup, using inferior ones to replace the good ones, wanting to ruin Yu Zecheng's reputation.

  Yu then deliberately invited Cui Renxiong to come and discover the problem with the ingredients, using this as an opportunity to start counterattacking, making Wang Xuesen's behavior public. As a result, Wang Xuesen was scolded by Ma Laohei, if not for his strong connections and actual strength, he would have been driven out of the kitchen by Cui Renxiong, and from then on, he did not dare to tamper with the ingredients again.

  Wang Xuesen came up with another plan, using the excuse that Yu Zecheng was too young to send a chef as his deputy, wanting to secretly learn how to make this soup. Yu Zecheng was very clear-headed and did things in an orderly manner, not showing any signs of being a child at all. The deputy stayed for a month, learning every step perfectly, but still couldn't manage to brew the delicious high-soup.

  Once in the hall, there was a grand celebration. Yu Ze Cheng took the opportunity to ask for three days off due to illness. During these three days, his deputy did not even manage to make a good soup once. In the end, everyone knew that except for Yu Ze Cheng, no one could make this soup, and his deputy had to leave in dismay.

  Yu Ze Cheng became the youngest chef of Hei Hu Tang, after months of struggling and King Xue Sen using every means to get the secret recipe for the soup, but ultimately had to accept reality and give up hope.

  From then on, Wang Xuesen would no longer have a good face for Yu Zecheng. Wang Xuesen had great power in the kitchen, so none of the other chefs or kitchen staff dared to greet Yu Zecheng in front of him. However, no one dared to bully Yu Zecheng either, because during these few months of their struggle, everyone knew that this young boy's methods were not ordinary and they were certain he would not be a mediocre person in the future.

  Yu Ze Cheng sat in the hot spring room, he was thinking, these few months of struggle made his mind mature and deep, far beyond that of ordinary people of the same age.

  Yu Ze Cheng thought to himself, "Why is Bai He Xi being so arrogant and then suddenly becoming humble? He's a natural-born genius, even Ma Tang Zhu has to look up to him. The infamous underworld boss Mo Tian Lang was killed by his own hands, why would he care about his own soup?"

  In thought, the unintentional yet enviable aura of him made Yu Ze Cheng extremely envious. The elegant white-clad young master, handsome youth, with a feather fan and a silk kerchief, young and wealthy, respected by all, unknowingly became Yu Ze Cheng's idol.

  As expected, Cui Renxiong arrived soon after and went to the kitchen to arrange for the chef's work, shouting at the servants to get busy, and finally walked into Yu Zecheng's dining room.

  Yu Zecheng saw Cui Renxiong and immediately paid his respects, saying:

  "Master, you've arrived. I'm ashamed to accept this reward, would you please help me return it?"

  This is just a figure of speech. Cui Renxiong was a petty and stingy person, who had been eyeing the two taels of gold that Bai Hezi had rewarded him with, and so he came here under the pretext of work, saw Yu Zecheng indeed being obedient, and handed over the gold to himself, couldn't help but take it, nodded his head and said:

  "Xiao Yuzi is really sensible, I'll help you return this gold."

  After some thought, he felt a bit excessive and then took out a piece of white silver from his bag and said:

  "Here's ten taels of silver for you; it's worth having had a good time."

  Yu Ze Cheng took over the white silver, and the yellow gold turned into white silver. Although it was a shocking devaluation, it could also be considered a gain. Yu Ze Cheng said steadily:

  "Thank you, Master."

  Choi In-ho continued:

  "Master Bai has decided to stay here for a few days, so you should prepare your soup in advance, lest there be no soup available when the time comes to entertain guests."

  Yu Ze Cheng replied:

  "Please rest assured, madam, I have prepared extra portions of this soup. I will absolutely not make any mistakes in what I do."

  Choi In-ho nodded and said:

  "You're a steady and astute person, I can rest assured with you handling things. How's your practice of the 'Mighty Tiger Roars to the Heavens' technique coming along? If you've reached the Great Completion realm, I'll recommend you to the main hall to learn the art. Being just a small chef is a complete waste of your talent."

  Meng Hu Bang disciples, by the age of six, will all choose one internal skill from Meng Hu Xiao Tian Jue, Hei Hu Jin, Jin Hu Gong, Bai Hu Qi, Zi Hu Jue and Lan Hu Jing to cultivate. Among them, Meng Hu Xiao Tian Jue is the most original version of these skills, while the other five internal skills are developed on this basis.

  The name "Meng Hu Xiao Tian Jue" sounds loud, but in fact it's similar to the street-fighting styles like Luo Han Quan and Tang Lang Quan. It's a very ordinary style of Gong Fa. Although it belongs to the orthodox Xing Fa, its characteristics are that the true Qi is calm and even, the foundation is stable, and it will never go astray. However, the growth of true Qi is slow, and the killing power is relatively weak, so it was modified by a master on this basis and developed into other five tiger inner forces. This style of Gong Fa, as long as you're not an idiot, will reach the level of Da Cheng in at most ten years of practice. Of course, even when this internal skill reaches its peak, it's still not that powerful.

  Nowadays, few disciples of the Miao Hu Bang have cultivated the Miao Hu Xiao Tian Jue. At that time, when Yu Ze Cheng chose this inner skill, his maternal grandfather Zhang Fu Shan was still alive and had planned to help him cultivate it to a high level at the age of ten, laying a good foundation for learning other inner skills. However, in the year Yu Ze Cheng turned ten, Zhang Fu Shan, known as the "Opening Mountain Axe", died in battle outside for the Hei Hu Tang, so no one was left to help him cultivate, and he had to rely on self-practice.

  Yu Ze Cheng replied:

  "Thank you for your concern, Master. I'm incompetent and don't know why there's always a slight obstacle, I've been unable to cultivate it to the Great Completion Realm."

  Choi In-ung nodded and said:

  "Cultivation is like this, it's just that the timing isn't right yet. If you persist, you will definitely succeed."

  Then he instructed a few more sentences and said:

  "You go home and rest, they've had enough to eat for today. Tomorrow afternoon you'll be given half a day off, they drank so much that tomorrow morning they definitely won't wake up, remember to make a good pot of soup for everyone tomorrow afternoon."

  After finishing speaking, Cui Renxiong left the kitchen. As the deputy hall master, he was in charge of all internal affairs of the hall master and was very busy. After arranging the work in the kitchen, he left.

  Yu Ze Cheng watched him leave, then started cleaning up the soup room. The mother soup for tomorrow was already prepared, and all that needed to be done tomorrow was to add some ingredients and simmer it for two hours before it could be drunk. Yu Ze Cheng tidied up the soup room, putting everything in order, before finally leaving the soup room.

  Before leaving, Yu Ze Cheng took out a leather pouch from his bosom and poured some high-quality soup into it. This was the special tonic he had brewed himself, which had a certain nourishing effect on his mother's body. Every time Yu Ze Cheng would secretly bring some back home.

  Walking out of the kitchen, it was already late at night. The drinking inside had almost come to an end. During his own wait, Chef Wang Xuesen had long since left.

  When Yu Ze Cheng was about to leave, Zhao Shifu, who was in charge of cleaning up the banquet, handed over a bag of leftover dishes. This is the kitchen's welfare, the leftover wine and dishes from the main hall, which these chefs and miscellaneous workers can take back home for their families to eat.

  Yu Ze Cheng took over and said:

  "Thank you, Uncle Zhao."

  Zhao Jun nodded and looked around, seeing no one was paying attention, said:

  "Hurry back."

  Seeing Zhao Jun's actions, Yu Ze Cheng knew that the remaining dishes must have some good things. The people in the kitchen would sometimes take some of the better ingredients and pass them off as leftovers to bring back home. This was the result of his own struggles with Wang Xue Sen, no one dared to underestimate him, so when it came time to divide things up, they naturally thought of themselves.

  Yu nodded slightly, indicating understanding and gratitude, then walked out of the kitchen, left Hei Hu Tang, and entered a small alley.

  After a while, I gradually returned home. Yu Ze Cheng's home was in the front door alley, and Grandpa left the yard even at the most difficult time without selling it. Although the courtyard of our house is not large, it is also an independent gate and yard.

  Back home, his mother was still waiting for him. His younger brother and sister had already fallen asleep, and the food his mother had prepared for him had gone cold. Seeing him return, his mother got up to heat up the food for him.

  Yu Ze Cheng stopped his mother's actions and entered the kitchen, re-boiling the high soup in the pot. Then he opened the leftover dishes and found that under the distributed leftovers, there was a three-catty pork knuckle.

  Yu Ze Cheng took out the pig's trotters and put the remaining dishes on a plate. These leftover dishes were also quite good, except for the braised pork belly and the sauce bones, which hadn't been touched much and could still be eaten.

  Yu then did a good job of all this, returned to the dinner table and handed the soup to his mother, then picked up his rice bowl and ate a few mouthfuls. In fact, he had already eaten his fill at Hei Hu Tang, as there was no way the chef would starve himself. At this point, eating a few mouthfuls was just to appease his mother, so she wouldn't think her efforts were in vain.

  Mother took over the high soup and slowly drank it, saying:

  "This time it's a complete victory, Ma Laohei is indeed more capable than the old master, the old master fought for twenty years and didn't win, but Ma Laohei eliminated the Wild Wolf Gang in just one year. It seems that we really underestimated him before."

  Yu nodded and said:

  "Yes, from now on Hei Hu Tang will become the largest gang in Lin Hai City. In fact, if it weren't for Shi family's backing and those masters not coming, I'm afraid it wouldn't be so easy."

  Mother said:

  "It seems that Ma Laohei marrying Shi Sanmei was a wise decision. Have the Chen, Tie and Yu families from within the city sent anyone over?"

  Yu Ze Cheng said:

  "He didn't come today, but I think he'll definitely come tomorrow. The power of the Black Tiger Hall has increased greatly now, whether they like it or not, from now on the Black Tiger Hall can also be considered one of the six major aristocratic families in Linhai City."

  Her mother continued:

  "It's a pity that your grandfather didn't get to see this day. Is that demonic wolf dead? I heard he has already become a pre-heavenly expert?"

  Yu Ze Cheng replied:

  "The child saw his head, it was the master of the Red Water Gate White Shaomen, who was invited by Ma Laohei and killed."

  The mother heard this news and couldn't help but shed tears, saying:

  "Your grandfather died at the hands of Mo Tian Lang back then. Although it's normal for Jianghu children to die in battle, this is also a major revenge. Tomorrow I'll go sweep his grave and tell him the good news. If you see Bai Shao Men's master, thank him properly."

  Yu Ze Cheng said:

  "Today I saw him, he praised the child's soup as delicious and rewarded ten taels of silver, mother, you take this to supplement our family expenses."

  After finishing speaking, he handed over the silver ingot to his mother. His mother took it and said:

  I'll put it away for you, originally I was going to save it for your wedding. But Old Xue's family in the front yard had their third child break his leg in this big war, and Old Li from East Street also died in battle. It just so happens that I can use this money to visit them as a gift. When your grandfather passed away, they helped us out, people can't be heartless, now we should help them too.

  "This great victory came at the cost of many lives, but it was worth it. The prestige of Hei Hu Dang has risen, and its disciples can now walk with their heads held high. Even we are benefiting from the reflected glory, as today someone came to propose a marriage alliance. It was Xu Erlai from Xu's Restaurant by the front gate, who sent someone over to propose a union between his daughter and our family. His daughter is fair-skinned and delicate, clearly a child of good breeding. What do you think? If it's acceptable, we can arrange the engagement first."

  Yu shook his head and said:

  "Mom, I'm still young now, it's too early to talk about this, let's talk about it in two years."

  Mother said:

  "If you like it, then take action, still waiting for two years? Good girls are all booked by others."

  Yu Zecheng remained silent, his mother knew that once he said something, he would never take it back. She also knew that saying anything more would be useless, so she stopped talking and cleaned up the dishes to leave.

  Yu Ze Cheng returned to his own room, lit the oil lamp, picked up the book on the desk and started reading. These books were all left by his father. After his father lost his official position, he joined a merchant group of a gang and traveled all over the country, although it was very hard work and he couldn't always be at home, but Yu Ze Cheng could feel his father's inner excitement. In fact, his father liked this kind of wandering business life, which allowed him to travel all over the world.

  Every time his father came back, he would bring Yu Zecheng a book, most of which were travel notes and miscellaneous writings by great sages. When he saw these books and the words on them, Yu Zecheng felt as if he had personally visited those places and was roaming around in them.

  Yu Ze Cheng especially loved to read the books left by his father, which recorded all the distant regions of Tian Nan Jiu Zhou, Mo Bei, Sui Yuan, Chu Xi and Gu Qin. He was fascinated by these records and his greatest dream was to travel to these places and take a look around. Yu Ze Cheng's greatest wish was to follow in the footsteps of Ming Transmitting Jade and travel all over the world, leaving behind his own travel notes for later generations to admire and envy.

  In this vast world, traveling through all six realms. This can only be a dream, let alone an ordinary mortal, even an immortal wouldn't be able to travel through all six realms.

  Under the kerosene lamp, Yu Ze Cheng flipped through a book for a while. The books left by his father at home had been read by Yu Ze Cheng many times and could be recited fluently. Suddenly, Yu Ze Cheng had an idea: why not go to the street tomorrow to buy two more books to take a look?