Chaji smiled wryly, "What can an old man like me with broken hands and tendons do to you?"
Nian Bing looked at Chaji, the fear in his eyes weakened a little, and he asked tentatively: "Grandpa, you, why are your hands like this?"
Cha Ji pulled Nian Bing to sit down, sighed sadly, and said: "Listen to grandpa telling you a story. A story that happened to me. After listening, you will understand why when I am on you I will be so excited when I see magic appear." Speaking of this, he looked at the deep darkness outside the door, and the expression in his eyes had gradually become hazy.
"Our Yangon continent, after nearly 300 years of war, about 70 years ago, the entire continent entered a stable stage, and the five empires gradually formed, dividing the entire continent, except for some special places , all the land has been drawn into their territory by the five great empires. After three hundred years of war, people need to recuperate. In the past few decades, various industries and agriculture have been developed. Although the five great empires have occasional disputes, they are still at peace. nothing."
Nian Bing nodded and said: "The five great empires you mentioned are the Oran Empire in the east, the Qilu Empire in the southeast, the Huarong Empire in the southwest, the Langmu Empire in the northwest, and the Ice Moon Empire in the north."
Cha Ji nodded and said, "Yes, they are the five great empires. I was born in the Qilu Empire in the southeast. When I was young, my family was very poor and couldn't even eat fine grains. I remember, I once asked my mother when I could eat corn bread My mother hugged me and cried until now. At that time, my biggest wish was to be able to eat delicious food every day, and to be able to cook the best meals for my mother. Later, I have been working towards this goal The goal is constantly working hard, but unfortunately, my parents died in a plague before I was able to support them. Maybe God has mercy on me. When I was thirteen years old, I met my master At that time, because my family was poor, I was sent to a restaurant as an apprentice at a very young age. That was what I wanted most. My master was the chef of that restaurant. Yi, I am very diligent and please everyone in the whole restaurant. Our restaurant is called Qixiang, and it is one of the most famous restaurants in the Qilu Empire. The master saw that I was still diligent, so he began to teach me some simple I am not smart in cooking, but I am very hardworking. The so-called hard work can make up for one's weakness. After three years of unremitting efforts, I finally rose from the position of handyman to the position of side dish. One day, the master called me to the secluded He told me that if you want to learn to cook well, it is not enough to be diligent, you also need to have understanding, to perceive the dishes you cook with your heart. Cooking is not a simple job, but a profound knowledge. He taught My eight words, let me complete them, that is ten years of cooking, ten years of cooking. I still remember these eight words. After continuous hard work and comprehension, when I was 23 years old, I became a chef. Yi finally embarked on the road to great success, but the master passed away due to illness that year. I always kept in mind the master's eight-character instructions, so I gave up the opportunity to inherit the position of the master in Qixiang Hotel and resigned from all positions , holding my kitchen knife and my meager savings, I embarked on my own journey, I want to travel all over the Yangon mainland, to learn the culinary skills of every country and every region.”
Having said that, Chaji's eyes shined brightly, as if he had returned to his original glory. He sighed: "Ten years, another ten years, the ten years that really let me understand the true meaning of culinary arts. During these ten years, I have traveled to almost all famous restaurants and competed with the chefs in every restaurant. , and after my own comprehension, I finally created my own special skills. Later, because my culinary skills have reached the level of uncanny craftsmanship, people gave me the nickname Ghost Chef. I won five consecutive championships, and the dishes I made became a symbol of the time. The palaces of the five empires all offered me olive branches, hoping that I could serve as their chief chef, but I always I feel that my cooking skills are not exquisite enough, so I have been continuing to explore, hoping to improve my skills to a higher level. It is a wonderful feeling to make progress through continuous exploration, especially Every time I cook a peerless dish, the sense of accomplishment is incomparable. I have devoted my whole life to cooking, and I was still unmarried until the age of forty-seven."
At this point, Cha Ji paused, looked at Nian Bing who was listening to his story with concentration, smiled slightly, and said: "Unexpectedly, I, a bad old man, still have a brilliant side."
Nian Bing froze for a moment, although what Cha Ji said was very plain, but with his keen senses, he could still detect that there was a trace of deep sadness in the tone of Grandpa Cha, "Grandpa, what happened later? What happened later?" How is it?"
Chaji smiled wryly and said, "Later, frankly speaking, I really didn't want to recall everything that happened at that time, but now I have to. When I was forty-seven years old, it was an important turning point in my life. It was also the year when I fell from the clouds. Perhaps because I have lived for more than 40 years without experiencing such a thing as feelings, that year, I fell in love with a woman crazily. She is so beautiful, so lively and cheerful, Every movement of her, every frown and smile made my heart tremble. At that time, she was only twenty-four years old, and I was twice her age, but I still fell in love with her without hesitation. She is also a chef, but she is a completely different chef from me. She only cooks some exquisite dim sum and works as a pastry chef in a restaurant at that time, and that restaurant is also the one where I stayed the longest After a long time of thinking, I decided to express my inner feelings to her. Although I didn't expect her to accept it, I still wanted to express my inner thoughts."
Nian Bing asked: "Did she accept it?"
Cha Ji shook his head and said, "She didn't say she would accept it, nor did she say she wouldn't accept it. After listening to my expression of feelings, she made a condition. She wants to compete with me in cooking. If I win, she will marry me." As a wife, if I lose, I have to quit the culinary world, and all the reputation I have belongs to her."
Nian Bing frowned, and there was a weird look on his handsome face, "Grandpa, I think you were used by her. She knows you are the strongest chef and dares to make such a request, she must be a little sure What's more, she obviously has no good intentions in making such a request, so how could she really marry you?"
Cha Ji smiled, "What a smart child. Yes, I was indeed used by her, but at that time, I was already dazzled by emotions, and I agreed without thinking too much. After all, Standing at the top of the culinary industry for many years, I already had inexplicable arrogance. At that time, I hadn’t competed with others in cooking for a long time, because no one would challenge me. Even in the MasterChef competition, I am only a judge. Since she wants to compete with me on what I am best at, I naturally have no reason not to agree. So, a competition that I will never forget even now began."
After a pause, Zha Jici continued: "In order to convince her, I decided to make six famous dishes that I am best at. We invited eighteen of the most famous chefs in the culinary world to judge us. I My culinary skills have reached the point of proficiency. It only took me an hour to complete the six complex famous dishes. Years of comprehension of cooking skills have made me very satisfied with the dishes I made. They are almost alive. But the strange thing is that she didn’t move in front of a pile of ingredients at that time. When I finished six dishes and looked at her, she said to me: You cook so much, I only cook one Dishes, high-quality goods, one is enough. While talking, she moved, without gorgeous movements, without skilled knife skills, she simply picked up a piece of meat, and quickly threw the meat into the air, using a strange Singing something in the tone, a blue flame shot up into the sky, engulfing the piece of meat, and the white knife light flashed in the air. When the meat strip fell on the plate, it had already become thirteen segments, flickering Only then did I know that she was a magician, and she was also an extremely powerful fire magician. Even so, I thought I had won, after all, her dishes were only One piece, but I have six pieces. Judging from the appearance of color and aroma, she is far behind. But, I soon realized that I was wrong. When I tasted the golden meat strips, a kind of An unprecedented feeling filled my taste. The meat strips had not been processed in advance, and no seasoning was added during the production process. However, she completely released the aroma in the meat strips. Thirteen meat strips, although There are no such familiar tastes as sour, sweet, bitter, hot, salty, but each strip of meat is divided into thirteen parts, with thirteen different levels of taste. The aroma brought by the combination of these thirteen flavors is more than any other. The dishes with condiments are too delicious. When I tasted it, I knew that I lost, and I lost badly. Although in terms of taste, my six dishes will never be better than her meat The standard is poor, but my culinary skills have fallen behind in front of her. Not only because of speed, but more importantly, because of innovation."