Chapter 104: Master
Translator: _Min_
Feng Fei’s eyes lit up with excitement as soon as he saw Gu Dai. He eagerly greeted her, “Master, you’ve finally come! Over the years, I’ve been diligently practicing my culinary skills, waiting for you to assess them.”
“Master?” Zhou Ye and Zhou Ci were taken aback by Feng Fei’s address for Gu Dai, standing rooted to the spot in shock.
Zhou Ci had known that Gu Dai’s cooking was excellent, but Feng Fei was a world-class chef who had won numerous first prizes in international culinary competitions. Moreover, from media interviews, it was clear that Feng Fei was a proud individual. Yet, he willingly acknowledged Gu Dai as his master.
Moreover, Gu Dai was only 23 years old, while Feng Fei was already 55!
Feng Fei understood the confusion of Zhou Ye and Zhou Ci but had no intention of explaining. After all, the immense gratitude he held for his master should be kept in his heart; he didn’t want to share it with irrelevant people.
Gu Dai looked at Feng Fei somewhat helplessly and said, “You don’t need to call me ‘Master,’ I haven’t taught you anything.”
Feng Fei shook his head, looking at Gu Dai with determination. “No, you taught me a lot. You are my master for life. If Master doesn’t want me as a disciple, then my life would have no meaning!”
Feng Fei didn’t think he was devaluing his own life because if it hadn’t been for Gu Dai, he would have committed suicide six years ago.
Ten years ago, Feng Fei became a disciple to another master, who also had a biological son as a fellow disciple. Because of their blood relationship, the master was extremely biased in his teaching, only giving Feng Fei a book about ingredients while personally instructing his son, even repeatedly checking windows and doors in fear of Feng Fei eavesdropping and stealing his teachings.
However, this wasn’t a problem for Feng Fei. With his exceptional talent, he was able to master and even innovate on the contents of the book, creating more delicious dishes.
What drove Feng Fei to despair was a competition.
During the competition, everything went smoothly until the judging phase when the positions of the dishes he and his fellow disciple had prepared were switched. The first prize that belonged to him was awarded to his fellow disciple.
Feng Fei immediately spoke up, but all the judges insisted he was lying and even permanently disqualified him from the competition.
Feng Fei went to his master for justice but heard his fellow disciple asking, “Father, you had someone switch my dish with Feng Fei’s. What if someone finds out?”
The master replied, “Don’t worry, my son, I’ve bribed everyone involved. They will not reveal the truth, they will only drive Feng Fei away when they see him. And I have thought of a way to get rid of this trouble once and for all.”
“What?” asked the disciple, confused.
Feng Fei, standing outside the door, held his breath, focusing intently on what the method could be. He was chilled to the bone when he heard the master say.
“Kill him!”
At that moment, Feng Fei thought that it was better to kill himself than to die at their hands. As he was about to drown himself in the river and his consciousness was fading, he was rescued by Gu Dai.
After learning of his ordeal, Gu Dai encouraged him to persevere. Whenever he encountered a problem he didn’t understand, her simple words could enlighten him. She used her connections to help him overturn the permanent competition ban.
That’s why Feng Fei believed that without Gu Dai, there would be no Feng Fei today.
Feng Fei had his dishes brought out and looked at Gu Dai with anticipation. “Master, please have a taste and see if 1 have improved over the years.”
Gu Dai picked up a dish and tasted it carefully. She smiled and praised, “Not bad, your skills have indeed improved greatly over the years.”
Hearing Gu Dai’s comments, Feng Fei was so emotional and touched that his eyes filled with tears. He choked up and said, “Master, I will continue to work hard!”
Gu Dai turned to Zhou Ye and said, “Grandpa Zhou, try this dish of braised abalone with tangerine peel and duck. 1 find it particularly delicious.”
Zhou Ye immediately smiled and replied, “Great.”
Zhou Ci was closely watching Zhou Ye, who took a piece of the dish and put it in his mouth. Then, he froze.
Seeing this, Zhou Ci asked anxiously, “Grandpa, what’s wrong?”
Zhou Ye didn’t answer.. After a few dozen seconds, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and exclaimed, “Delicious! The duck is tender and flavorful, an absolute pinnacle of culinary excellence!”