Chapter 74 : Cooking a meal can give me an extra set of cotton clothes? Why not?

“I’m telling you, Director , she’s definitely a liar! Don’t be fooled by her. Sea cucumbers and abalone? How could a country bumpkin like her get her hands on those? She’s just trying to scam you out of your money!”  

As she spoke, she pointed at Song Shiwei with disdain.  

“I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as you! Do you even know how much five cotton-padded jackets cost? And you want five at once? How can you be so thick-skinned?”  

Song Shiwei was furious. People always said that formal workers in this era looked down on others, and today, she had witnessed it firsthand!  

“Are you out of your mind? Seeing you today, I finally understand what people mean when they say ‘God is merciful’! What makes you so sure that what I’m selling isn’t real sea cucumber and abalone? If you don’t know what you’re talking about, then shut up! How can someone like you even work in a state-owned restaurant? I think pigs would do a better job than you!”  

As she spoke, she reached into her bucket and pulled out a sea cucumber, holding it up in her hand.  

“Open your dog eyes and take a good look! If this isn’t a sea cucumber, then what is it? A giant sweet potato from your fields? Did you stuff your eyeballs in your trouser pocket? Or do you have crap in your eyes?”  

As soon as she finished speaking, not only was the woman shocked, but even Sun Zeyan found it hard to believe. He hadn’t expected this seemingly gentle girl to be so sharp-tongued in a confrontation!  

She hadn’t even used a single curse word, yet everything she said hit the mark.  

Honestly, he agreed with her! What kind of people were these state-owned restaurants hiring? Looking down on others like that.  

Just now, he had almost wanted to scold someone himself!  

This woman couldn’t even recognize sea cucumber and abalone, what a joke for someone working in a restaurant!  

At that moment, the restaurant manager, Manager Zhou, was the first to react.  

He was a seasoned man, experienced in handling all sorts of situations.  

Seeing that Song Shiwei wasn’t someone easy to mess with, he immediately smiled, trying to smooth things over.  

“Alright, comrade, Zhenzhu made a mistake. Don’t take it to heart. This is indeed a sea cucumber, I can see that clearly! But our restaurant doesn’t accept ingredients from outside. You’d better leave. Go on now, I won’t see you off!”  

Song Shiwei hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place. Even if she had money, she wouldn’t want to eat in a restaurant like this! It wasn’t about the food, it was the people.  

Being treated like this, who would still have the appetite to eat?  

She was about to leave with her bucket when Sun Zeyan quickly stopped her.  

“Wait! Young lady, I want your sea cucumber, abalone, and that sea fish! Don’t go just yet!”  

That reminded Song Shiwei of their deal, so she put the bucket back down.  

Sun Zeyan gave her an apologetic smile. “Wait a moment, I need to talk to Old Zhou first, the factory is waiting for lunch.”  

Song Shiwei nodded and quietly stood aside.  

When Manager Zhou heard that Sun Zeyan had bought everything in the bucket, he frowned.  

“Old Sun, why did you buy all this? Our restaurant already has plenty of delicious dishes!”  

Sun Zeyan waved a hand dismissively. “The factory director specifically instructed us to prepare some rare and high-quality ‘hard dishes.’ Look at your restaurant’s menu, it’s all common fare. The big leaders have eaten these dishes a thousand times before! If we’re going to make something, it has to be something special!”  

“I’ve already bought all the ingredients. Just have your chefs cook them up for me, and I’ll take them back to the factory!”  

Manager Zhou frowned even more as he looked at the two buckets.  

“The sea cucumbers and abalone are fine, but… what is this fish? I’ve never seen anything like it. How are we supposed to cook it?”  

That was when Sun Zeyan remembered what Song Shiwei had mentioned earlier one fish, five ways.  

“Just do that one fish, five ways!”  

“What do you mean, one fish, five ways?”  

Not only was Manager Zhou confused, but even the middle-aged woman next to him sneered.  

“Director Sun, have you been tricked by her? One fish, five ways? We’ve been running this restaurant for years, and we’ve never heard of that!”

Sun Zeyan wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to look at Song Shiwei.  

Could I really have been tricked?  

Song Shiwei was truly speechless at these two people from the restaurant.  

“Just because you’ve never seen it before doesn’t mean others can’t do it. Don’t underestimate people, alright? ‘One fish, five ways’ means cooking five different parts of the fish in five different ways, bringing out the best flavor in each part. For example, the fish liver, fish bones, fish body, fish tail, and fish belly…”  

Hearing her explanation, Sun Zeyan and the others subconsciously swallowed their saliva. It sounded impressive and delicious.  

The woman still looked unconvinced.  

“Anyone can talk big! You must be making this up, right? Even our chef can’t do it, how could you?”  

Manager Zhou wasn’t completely convinced either, but since she could explain it in such detail, he figured she must know something. Whether it would taste good or not was another matter!  

Meanwhile, Sun Zeyan was getting excited.  

“So you really can cook this fish five ways?”  

Song Shiwei nodded confidently. “Of course I can!”  

In her past life, she had been a food content creator. She was well-versed in all kinds of cuisines and even knew many ancient, lesser-known recipes!  

She had released multiple food-themed albums, including dishes like “Zhuang Zhou’s Dream” made from puffer fish, “Four Seasons Like Spring” using radish, and “Beautiful Mountains and Rivers” made with elm seeds.  

Every dish she made was guaranteed to amaze!  

Hearing this, Sun Zeyan was thrilled.  

“In that case, could you cook this fish for me? I’ll give you an extra set of cotton clothes as a reward. What do you think?”  

Song Shiwei thought to herself, cooking one meal for an extra set of cotton clothes? Why not?  

That would make it seven sets in total!  

She immediately nodded. “Deal!”  

Seeing her agree, Sun Zeyan finally felt relieved.  

“Then, Old Zhou, let this young comrade use your kitchen to cook. I’ll even give you two extra kilograms of national food coupons! How about that?”  

How could Manager Zhou refuse? Aside from the fact that Sun Zeyan was the director of the garment factory, their factory frequently hosted guests at his restaurant, bringing in plenty of business.  

There was no reason to say no! And on top of that, he was getting two extra kilograms of national food coupons, far more valuable than local ones!  

“Alright, let her use it!”  

Since even the manager had agreed, the woman standing beside them could do nothing but sulk.  

She muttered just loud enough for Song Shiwei to hear, “Do you even know how to cook? Don’t go burning down our kitchen…”  

Manager Zhou shot her a glare and quickly pushed her aside.  

“What nonsense are you talking about? Move, move, move! Get to work!”  

Then he turned to Sun Zeyan and asked, “What time will the leaders be arriving?”  

Sun Zeyan glanced at his watch. “It’s almost eleven now, they’ll be here soon! You’ll need to hurry!”  

He had already ordered seven or eight dishes from the restaurant. Adding in Song Shiwei’s sea cucumber, abalone, and her ‘one fish, five ways,’ that made exactly ten dishes.  

Hearing this, Song Shiwei kindly reminded him, “Director Sun, this fish cooked five ways is actually five separate dishes, not just one.”  

Sun Zeyan looked at the fish again, it was indeed quite large.  

“Then let’s order five more dishes. That, plus the sea cucumber and abalone, makes twelve dishes!”  

Manager Zhou glanced at her but didn’t say anything else.  

The woman, Wang Zhenzhu, curled her lips in disdain.  

“Just don’t mess up and embarrass Director Sun and Director Zheng in front of the big boss. If you do, you’ll be the one suffering the consequences!”