97. Mu Qiu's Small Pack
Gu Bai's Three-Star exam ended very quickly. When he came out with his results, he was shocked to see a few old men around the door.
"Are you Gu Bai? How come you come out so soon? Did you muddle through your test just now?" Senior Bai asked in a bad mood, looking at Gu Bai up and down.
He could see Gu Bai was quite young and admired him for his courage.
However, if he lacked corresponding ability, he would only become a joke and have to pay for his arrogance.
Senior Bai had seen many young people like him, who wanted to amuse the public by doing unusual things. Even though they might look talented at the beginning, they would be ordinary people if they couldn't calm down and study patiently.
Gu Bai didn't understand the situation, but he didn't show his emotions. However, he could feel that the old man was being tricky toward himself.
Gu Bai didn't care, though. He would only take people who he didn't know and what these people said as air.
"Grandpa Zhou, I've finished the test," Gu Bai went straight to Zhou Xingchu and handed him the certificate.
The score was close to full points. Zhou Xingchu was more satisfied with Gu Bai's performance.
"Good job, man. Next, it will be the test for Four-Star Chef Certificate. Since we don't have many Four-Star and Five-Star chefs, for now, the test for Four-Star Chef Certificate has drawn many people's attention. We'll have four seniors from the Chef Guild to test you, and it will be broadcast nationwide. Can you accept it?" Zhou Xingchu asked nicely.
"That will do. But can you not show my face on the screen by then?" Gu Bai put forward his request.
First of all, he didn't want to be too high-profile in case there might be troubles following. Secondly, he had no intention of letting the Shen Bai be aware of his arrival. Although he had to face Shen Liangqing after he went to school, he had other things to do before that and didn't want anyone from the Shen family to stand in his way.
"No problem," Zhou Xingchu promised, thinking highly of Gu Bai's character. The two except for Senior Bai had also paid attention to Gu Bai.
Nowadays, young people always wished they could tell the rest of the world what they were capable of. Some even faked their achievements to draw people's attention.
Gu Bai had advantages on both his age and the No matter whether Gu Bai could pass the next two tests, he had got the first three tests and proved his talent. For that reason, more fans and big families would focus on him or even try to recruit him.
Under such temptation, he could still stay true himself and insist not to show his face on the screen, which meant he would give up the chance to be famous. The executives admired him.
No wonder Zhou Xingchu liked this young man so much.
How come Zhou Xingchu was so lucky to meet a talent like Gu Bai?
The young man who he had met on M95 Planet without hesitation was excellent and young. But today, he just met a more impressive person who had taken the consecutive examination directly and passed three tests within one day.
Senior Bai couldn't help sighing why he wasn't as lucky as Zhou Xingchu, feeling jealous at the same time.
"You should go home and have a rest. We need time to prepare for the test and the broadcast for the test process of the Four-Star Chef Certificate. The test will be held tomorrow," Zhou Xingchu explained.
The other seniors also wanted to talk to Gu Baim, but they restrained themselves in case they might disturb him for the preparation for tomorrow.
Regardless of the result of Gu Bai's assessment tomorrow, the fact that he passed three tests within one day had made him a valuable person in their eyes.
Zhou Xingchu enjoined him with more precautions before he let Gu Bai leave.
Not long after Gu Bai set off to attend the tests, Mu Qiu took the pack and left the hotel silently.
Mu Qiu walked along a certain route, seeming like it was not the first time it came to the Central Star. Also, Mu Qiu avoided crowds previously all the time.
Therefore, it ran all the way but no one noticed it. Otherwise, it would be funny to see a little wolfie running along the way.
Mu Qiu ran for a long time and finally stopped in front of an exquisite manor within the central part of the planet. It pulled the door open, keeping itself low, preparing to get in as it did before.
However, Mu Qiu had obviously forgotten that it had a pack bigger than its size on the back. When Mu Qiu finally got in, the pack was still outside the door.
Mu Qiu's front legs were in the air, waving wildly.
The guard heard the noise and came over immediately. He saw Mu Qiu with its claws waving at him. Only according to his knowledge, Mu Qiu was actually the companion animal of his marshal.
The guard couldn't help but wide-open his eyes.
He had been a guard in the manor for several years and had worked in the marshal's troop before his retirement. Therefore, he had chances to meet his companion animal several times.
However, at that time, the handsome beast was a huge adult silver wolf who was as cold, dominating, and unapproachable as the marshal.
Ever since the marshal fell into a coma, the companion animal had become a cub and rarely appeared in front of people. Therefore, the guard was among the limited people who could recognize the companion animal.
The guard hurriedly opened the door so that Mu Qiu could get in. Then he found a pack on its back with something inside it.
When the guard tried to untie the pack, Mu Qiu avoided his touch skillfully and ran toward his master's bedroom.
Mu Qiu ran into the hall as if it was familiar with this place, seeing a beautiful woman sitting on the sofa worriedly.
Mu Qiu yelled to draw her back from her thoughts.
"Yin Feng, you are back!" the beautiful woman reached out to the wolfie, seeming like she wished to hug it.
Mu Qiu would lie there willingly so that she could hold it in her arms. But given the pack on its back, Mu Qiu barked and showed her the pack.
The woman was Fang Mengshu, who was actually Jun Molin's mother and the Empress of the ** Empire. Looking at Mu Qiu with the pack, she couldn't help smiling and feeling relieved to some extent.
"Yin Feng, where did you go? Why did you bring a pack back?" Fang Mengshu helped untie the pack and found food inside it.
Although some of them were no longer in good shape after "traveling" along the way, they still smelled good and tempting, and people would like to try them.
As the Empress of the ** Empire, Fang Mengshu had the best chefs in the world and tried all their dishes. Still, she was attracted to the simple dishes in front of her.
"Where did you get them, Yin Feng?" Fang Mengshu opened several Tupperwares and smelled the refreshing scents.
Fang Qianshu tried hard to resist the impulse to taste them and asked Mu Qiu.
Mu Qiu barked as its reply. It wanted to say that Baibai made these delicious dishes, so it took them back specially for its master.
Mu Qiu had one Tupperware on its head, heading upstairs so that Fang Mengshu could understand its intention.
"Did you... bring food to Lin?" Fang Mengshu's eyes turned moist. She even sobbed for a moment.
Ever since her youngest son fell into a coma, she had been worried all the time.
In the beginning, Jun Molin could only lie in the hospital. The doctors used all sorts of methods to stop his spirit from collapsing. Once his spirit completely collapsed, there was no way for him to recover.
Later, Fang Ruichen and Han Fang led his spirit to the Second World, which eased the speed of his collapse, but that wasn't a cure for him. If they wanted him to recover, they still had to find a way to repair his spirit.
Later, none of them knew what Jun Molin had encountered in the Second World. Luckily, his spirit didn't speed up collapsing but had a sign to recover.
During that period of time, Fang Ruichen and Han Fang spent days studying at the hospital and even searched for his spirit in the Second World for a long time. However, they had neither found his spirit nor the reason for his slight recovery.
The two of them were frustrated. They would do it longer if Fang Mengshu didn't force them to have some rest at home.
A few days later, Jun Molin's spirit shrunk on the verge of collapse. Although there were still chances that he might suffer another complete collapse, he had given them some time to study the treatment.
As the Empress of the empire, Fang Mengshu didn't have much time to stay in the hospital, so she couldn't see her little son frequently.
After Jun Molin's spirit collapsed slower and slower and his spirit even returned to his body without triggering further collapse, Fang Ruichen sent him back to the private manor for recovery.
First of all, the medical equipment here was no worse than those in the hospital, so Fang Ruichen and Han Fang often came here. Secondly, the manor was more private than the hospital and was more suitable for his health. Thirdly, the Empress could often visit her youngest son in this place.
Mu Qiu barked, saying that Baibai's dishes were delicious.
Although Mu Qiu couldn't communicate directly with humans, as a companion animal, it was as intelligent as humans.
Although Mu Qiu had become a cub and acted like a baby animal after what happened to Jun Molinfter, it was aware of the reality.
98. Average Restaurants
Mu Qiu loved all the dishes Gu Bai had made because it always felt comfortable as if its spirit had been massaged while eating.
Mu Qiu thought of its master as the delicious food was taken to it.
Fang Mengshu held Mu Qiu in her arms, rubbed its head, and praised it with a gentle smile, "You are awesome, Yin Feng. Let's take these dishes to Lin, okay?"
Although Mu Qiu had become a cub, it wouldn't hurt its master and had a sensitive sense of danger no matter what. Therefore, Fang Mengshu didn't bother to send her men to check the food Mu Qiu had taken back.
Mu Qiu agreed.
Holding Mu Qiu in her arms, Fang Mengshu went upstairs with the Tupperware and entered Jun Molin's bedroom.
The room was huge. The black and white decoration made the room simple and sharp, just like its owner.
There was a large bed placed near the bedside, surrounded by various medical equipment. A handsome man was lying on the bed.
His chiseled face was perfect and delicate. Anyone who saw his face would have a crush on him and even wanted to marry him.
However, the man's eyes were closed. If anyone could see his eyes, he wouldn't be able to take his off him.
At this moment, the man was with a red face as if he wasn't in a coma and suffered the torture of spirit collapse. On the contrary, he was more like a man who was enjoying his sweet dream too much to wake up.
Mu Qiu came over and shouted, "Master, I brought you some food made by Baibai. They are delicious. Wake up and taste some."
Mu Qiu jumped into the bed and gently rubbed against Jun Molin with its little head, its eyes full of attachment.
Only the most powerful people who were very rare in the interstellar era would have a companion animal as they were born.
They would grow up as the most intimate partners. Some powerful ones could even integrate their souls with the animals so that part of their spirits could attach to their companion animals and sense everything they had been through.
Therefore, the companion animals had a strong relationship with their masters.
Also, once their owner died, they would also die immediately.
Mu Qui was only willing to share its food with Jun Molin only because he was its master. Otherwise, there was no chance that it would do that for any other person.
After rubbing against Jun Molin, Mu Qiu turned its head to Fang Mengshu as if it was urging her to open the Tupperware.
As Fang Mengshu did so, the fragrance of food spread all over the bedroom. Fang Mengshu couldn't help feeling hungry.
Mu Qiu fixed its gaze on the Tupperware. Its swallowing sound was clear enough to show how hard Mu Qiu had tried not to rush over and finish them all.
Fang Mengshu couldn't help but smile when she saw Mu Qiu's expression, putting the Tupperware in front of Mu Qiu and saying, "Come on, eat them. Lin has smelt their fragrance."
At present, they could only inject nutrient fluid for Jun Molin because the latter couldn't open his mouth to eat real food. Fang Mengshu only took them upstairs to satisfy Mu Qiu's requirements.
Mu Qiu seemed to finally understand that Jun Molin wouldn't eat them, so it no longer controlled itself but ate wildly. Mu Qiu even out its head inside the Tupperware to eat them.
As one of them was eating happily and the other looked at it smilingly, neither of them had noticed that the one on the bed moved his finger slightly when the fragrance was all over the bedroom. However, it only lasted for a moment as if it didn't even happen just now.
...
After Gu Bai finished the Three-Star assessment, he left the Chef Guild with Mu Mu.
However, he did not return to the hotel immediately. Instead, he planned to check some restaurants so that he could make full preparations when he opened his restaurant.
Yu Da Pedestrian Street was the nearest street to the Chef Guild. Gu Bai saw many people on the busy street.
There were stalls and shopping malls on both sides of the pedestrian street. Apart from the road on the ground, there was a protruding platform outside each tall mall, where the flying cars could stop for a while. The guests could get off the vehicles where they headed for.
Gu Bai first walked on the ground street and observed the goods in the stores. However, he didn't see any restaurants.
He didn't know much about the Central Star, not to mention the restaurants on this planet. Therefore, he could only turn to Starnet for answers.
Opening the Starnet map, Gu Bai found the corresponding location of the restaurants and the surrounding stores. He didn't notice until now that most restaurants were on the top floors of the malls. Also, the number of restaurants was quite rare. Sometimes there was only a restaurant in the mall, which was quite different from the scene on earth where restaurants were everywhere.
Gu Bai located the nearest restaurant through the map and walked in.
"Welcome, sir. Are you here alone or with your friends?" As soon as he entered the restaurant, a person in a waiter's uniform walked over and smiled.
Along the way, he found that most of the shop attendants were robots, and only a small number of high-end restaurants employed real people.
In the interstellar era, robots were already quite common. They had full functions and weren't expensive. They could also replace humans to do a lot of work. Therefore, it was a better choice than humans. Many stores would choose robots as waiters, saving the cost.
Only some high-end stores that did not lack money would hire real waiters and felt proud of it.
"Just me," said Gu Bai as he walked inside while observing the decorations of the restaurant.
The decoration style here was similar to the western restaurant on the ancient earth. The environment was elegant, and the beautiful waiters were all wearing uniforms. Their faces were pleasing to the eye.
The restaurant had indeed paid attention to the environment and atmosphere to fit its title as a high-end restaurant. Gu Bai wondered whether the dishes were tasty.
Considering how rich the owner was, Gu Bai assumed the chef must be an experienced chef, so the food was probably delicious.
Gu Bai peeked at the customers who were eating at other tables. From their enjoying expressions, he was looking forward to the food in this restaurant.
"Here is the menu. Whatever you like, just click it on the screen directly. The data will be uploaded directly to our chef," the waiter explained patiently. His service was really nice.
Gu Bai looked at the menu from the beginning to the end. The names sounded great. He saw the product pictures aside from the names as well. They looked tempting, but Gu Bai was astonished when he saw the price.
He finally understood why the fans were delighted when they learned the price he had set in his restaurant. They were so excited as if they had earned tens of thousands of XB.
Stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs were a simple dish, but it was sold 1,000 XB in this restaurant. Vinegar-Pepper Shredded Potatoes were about 1,500 XB. The rest was even more expensive. Some were even priced more than tens of thousands of XB. They were almost robbed by setting such prices.
Although the materials were not cheap in the interstellar era, would anyone accept the prices and feel glad to eat here?
However, all the people in this restaurant told him that there were people enjoying this and they were satisfied to have chances to eat these things.
The Central Star was indeed the capital planet of the empire. There were so many rich people here.
"Vinegar-Pepper Shredded Potatoes, Poached Spicy Slices of Pork, and a milk Cake." Gu Bai ordered two dishes and one dessert, which had cost him almost 4,000 XB.
He only did this to do market research. Otherwise, he wouldn't have spent money on this but prefer to cook himself.
"Alright, please wait a moment. We'll serve you soon," the waiter said with a smile.
Although the dishes were too expensive, the service was perfect. Considering its location, Gu Bai told himself that the prices were reasonable. If the taste was good, he would think the dishes were worth the prices.
However, it didn't take long for Gu Bai to realize that he was wrong.
The chef had added too much vinegar in Vinegar-Pepper Shredded Potatoes, and he even picked green peppers as the ingredients for this dish. It was not spicy enough. Despite the enjoyable plating, the taste was ordinary.
Poached Spicy Slices of Pork was funny. The chef boiled the sliced pork directly and then poured boiled oil on it directly. The product looked like the dish humans had made on earth, but it tasted differently. It was fair to say that the chef only learned superficial characteristics but had no idea what the dish was really about.
The Milk Cake tasted good, but the sugar inside it was too much. People who favored sweet food would love it, but Gu Bai could barely accept it.
The 4,000 XB was spent for nothing. Gu Bai wasn't in a good mood when he walked out of the place, but he didn't generalize all the restaurants as the same. Therefore, he went to several other restaurants to prove his assumption.
In the end, he had gone to five restaurants and tried ten different dishes, five different desserts, and spent almost 30,000 XB in total. He finished the dishes at the beginning, but he barely tasted each of the rest dishes in the end.
He finally came to a conclusion: opening the restaurants on the Central Star could help him earn a lot. But the existing restaurants were really scheming.
Every restaurant was decorated gorgeously, the waiters' service attitude was very good, and the geographical location was perfect. Even though the tastes were quite ordinary, the price was very expensive. Gu Bai still found it hard to accept it.
Did Gu Bai require too much or were other restaurants too tricky?
Recalling how pleased people were in the restaurants, Gu Bai thought it was his problem.
After everything he had known about ancient earth, he knew so much more than the interstellar people about delicacies.
In the interstellar era, cultural dislocation was very serious. With limited references and recipes, the chefs had done a good job after going this far.
If Gu Bai didn't transmigrate here but lived on this planet as a newborn, he didn't think he could do better than other chefs.
The experience taught Gu Bai how much culture had been buried in history. How pitiful it was that contemporary people had no idea how thriving the delicacies used to be.
Gu Bai didn't think he was competent enough to revive the food culture, but he was willing to contribute his knowledge to the reviving process.