Starting from a Bankrupt Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant

Chapter 263: Chapter 162: Inheritance

Kong Rui nodded slightly, his gaze returning to Kong Qingjie. His brow furrowed. "Hand higher! Use your wrist to cut. There’s a natural recoil when the blade hits the block. First, find that feeling!"

Zhou Yan watched intently from the side, his mind flashing with memories of his own time practicing Knife Skills as Zhou. The countless overlapping images were strikingly similar—even his master’s words had been the same.

’Is this... also a kind of legacy?’

The courtyard gate was pushed open, and Kong Huafeng walked in, shouldering two massive winter melons, each weighing over twenty pounds. He said with a smile, "Dad, the winter melons were cheap today. I haggled a bit and got two for the price of what one and a half usually cost."

"My boy knows how to haggle now, huh? Nicely done." Kong Rui came over and helped him with the melons, setting them down in a cool corner of the kitchen. He smiled and patted the white dust from his son’s shoulder. "Go watch them, since you’re the senior apprentice brother. Especially Qing Jie. He hasn’t made any progress in three months."

Kong Huafeng said gently, "Dad, Qing Jie is still young. He can barely hold the cleaver steady, so it’s understandable if his cutting is a bit off. I’ll work with him for a while, help him build up his strength first."

Kong Rui shook his head, his expression serious. "Twelve isn’t that young. Since he’s apprenticing with me, he needs to have the right attitude. Qingfeng’s talent is less than his, but he cuts at least twice as many winter melons every day. Now he’s already on the verge of mastering the fundamentals of the Straight Blade Technique."

Kong Huafeng couldn’t help but shake his head with a laugh. "Qingfeng is too diligent. He practices eight or nine hours a day. Our chickens are scared at the very sight of winter melons and pumpkins. Maybe we should get a big goose to raise instead?"

"Stop changing the subject. I told you to go watch them, so go watch them!" Kong Rui reached out and tapped him on the head, laughing. "Starting today, you’ll learn how to make Braised Yellow Perch from me."

"Really?!" Kong Huafeng’s eyes lit up. "Awesome! It wasn’t for nothing that I’ve killed thousands of yellow perch over the last three years. It’s finally my turn to cook them!"

Kong Rui smiled, shook his head, and turned to walk towards the main hall.

Kong Huafeng peeked in the direction of the main hall, went into the kitchen, and came out with two bowls of herbal tea. He whispered, "Shh, drink up. Drink up and then get back to cutting!"

The two youths gently set down their cleavers, took the large bowls with both hands, and GULP GULP GULP. In an instant, they’d drained the herbal tea, letting out a simultaneous sigh of relief before grinning at Kong Huafeng.

"Alright, back to practice. No slacking." Kong Huafeng took the bowls back and looked at the two with a serious expression. "Master said that once you’ve mastered the Straight Blade Technique, he’ll take you into the back kitchen of Le Ming Restaurant. That’s where the real training for your Knife Skills begins."

"Senior Brother, won’t that be even harder than it is now?" Kong Qingjie said, a little distressed.

Kong Qingfeng’s eyes, however, lit up. "Senior Brother, if we go to the back kitchen, does that mean we can cut things other than pumpkins and winter melons?"

"That’s right. Le Ming Restaurant’s menu has over a hundred dishes. As long as you’re willing to cut, there are plenty of ingredients for you to practice on," Kong Huafeng said with a nod and a smile.

"That’s great! From today on, I’ll practice an extra two hours every day to master the Straight Blade Technique sooner!" Kong Qingfeng said excitedly, clenching his fist.

"Bro, please have mercy!" Kong Qingjie looked up, his eyes welling with tears. "I’m your own flesh-and-blood brother..."

"Oh, my foolish little brother, only through hard work can a person change their destiny!" Kong Qingfeng reached out and patted his shoulder. "That goes for you, too."

...

The scene fades to black, and when it brightens again, we are in a spacious back kitchen.

「Time: 1918.8.13」

In front of a long cutting board, Kong Qingfeng held a cleaver, his gaze firm as he chopped potatoes. Beside him, two wooden buckets were already filled with soaking, chopped potatoes.

After the potatoes came cucumbers, then bitter melons...

Dicing, slicing, julienning, shredding...

The days flew by on the calendar on the wall. His Straight Blade Technique grew more proficient, his cutting faster and cleaner.

The figures of Kong Rui and Kong Huafeng would appear from time to time to correct and guide his movements, sometimes even stepping in to teach him directly.

By the time Kong Qingfeng started learning the push-cut and pull-cut techniques, three months had passed.

Kong Qingjie, who hadn’t been seen for a long time, finally appeared in the back kitchen.

He was half a head taller and had put on some weight. Setting up his cutting block next to Kong Qingfeng’s, he watched his brother julienne pork with a look of envy. "Bro, you really know how to julienne pork now? Master just let me touch a cucumber for the first time yesterday."

"This is a workplace. Call me Senior Brother." Kong Qingfeng didn’t even look up. "Hurry up and get to your own cutting. You barely passed Master’s test. Finish this bucket of potatoes today. If you do it well, you stay. If not, it’s back to practicing for another three months."

"Oh!" Kong Qingjie replied, picking up his cleaver and diligently cutting potatoes. His movements weren’t fast, but his form was quite good, and the potato cubes he produced were neat and uniform in size.

"Bro, aren’t you going to take a break?"

"Senior Brother, those are my potatoes, aren’t they?"

"Second Senior Brother, those are Eldest Senior Brother’s yellow perch. Are you going to fight him to prepare them too?"

"Kong Qingfeng, stop! You’re scaring me..."

Kong Qingjie stood in the corner, watching Kong Qingfeng flit around the kitchen like a busy butterfly, snatching up every chore he could. He was bewildered, with a touch of melancholy.

"Qing Jie, what are you doing just standing here?" Kong Huafeng, carrying a plate of Braised Yellow Perch and ready to serve it, looked at the dazed Kong Qingjie and asked with a smile.

"Eldest Senior Brother, isn’t Second Senior Brother a prep cook? Why is he doing everything?" Qing Jie asked, confused.

Hearing this, Kong Huafeng glanced at Kong Qingfeng, who was currently wiping down the master’s stove. He smiled and said, "Being a Chef is all about diligence. Only the diligent can learn more skills from the master. Look how much progress Qingfeng has made recently—and it’s not just the improvement in his Knife Skills."

Kong Qingjie scratched his head. "But aren’t we just starting to learn Knife Skills and Knife Technique?"

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