Under the watchful and astonished eyes of everyone, Chu Ge, although in a good mood, felt it necessary to change the topic. He unwrapped the plastic seal on two sets of utensils by his side, picked up the beer, and filled two glasses.

"Bro, come on, you've worked hard cooking for us, let's have a drink together?"

"Brother, I won't drink, I still have to keep working later." The chef rubbed his hands again, glanced at the plates of snake meat, and swallowed, "Well, can I have a couple of bites?"

After speaking, the chef actually took out his tool kit from the shelf under his dining cart, unzipped it, and retrieved a pair of chopsticks from the categorized tools.

Chu Ge broke into a sweat again, what a character this chef was, what was he up to exactly? In a place like this, does a chef really need to mix with customers for meals?

But since he said so, Chu Ge had to put down his glass, and made a "please" gesture, "No need to be so polite, of course it's okay."

The chef grinned bashfully, blushing a bit, picked up a small piece of meat and put it in his mouth, slowly and carefully chewing it.

Watching the chef's focused expression, although everyone was still astonished by the relationship between Chu Ge and Qin Ruojing, their attention somewhat shifted to him, feeling a bit amused inside.

This guy is truly an oddball, just for such a small piece of meat, does he really need to chew so meticulously, with such a focused expression?

At this moment, Chu Ge finally understood the chef's intentions. Of course, he wasn't after these bites of food, but rather wanted to assess his own work, to see how the dishes tasted after following Chu Ge's instructions.

Unconsciously, Chu Ge had a higher opinion of this chef. Honestly, chefs in restaurants could easily eat the food they prepared for customers, whether there's one more bite or not, customers wouldn't even notice.

In most cases, chefs do this not for those couple of bites, but mainly to ensure the quality of the dishes, so that if they find anything unsatisfactory with the taste, they can adjust immediately.

In other words, if this chef wanted to taste these dishes, he could have done so in the kitchen, without having to specially come here.

The fact that he didn't do so, and personally brought the dishes into Qiushi Hall, was a gesture of gratitude towards Chu Ge for guiding him in cooking, a form of respect for Chu Ge, which is truly commendable.

At this moment, all eyes were fixed on the chef's face, his chubby face showing a range of changing expressions.

Initially, he was very serious, then suddenly stunned, wrinkled his brow, looked at Chu Ge strangely, and after a few seconds, relaxed his brow and gave a smile hard to describe with words.

Then he seemed to swallow reluctantly, as his Adam's apple bobbed, smacked his lips, closed his eyes, slowly inhaled, and finally exhaled more gently. When he abruptly reopened his eyes, a nearly fanatical, even devout light shone in them.

Initially, everyone found the chef amusing, but as his expressions changed, everyone was left bewildered. This guy... how did he transform from an honest or perhaps cunning middle-aged man into a fervent follower of some cult?

Unconsciously, everyone grew curious about the plate of snake meat, just what kind of taste was it that could make a chef display such a series of rich expressions, like performing a face-changing act?

Chu Ge was also amused, scratching his head, "Bro, how does it taste?"

However, the chef seemed not to hear Chu Ge at all, raised his hand and reached for another plate, picked up another piece of meat, and ate it even more meticulously than before, with even richer expressions.

After trying each plate of snake meat, the chef's hands were actually trembling, his face showing a kind of intoxication similar to that of a drug addict, utterly in bliss.

"Master! Oh Master!" Finally, after remaining silent for a long time, the chef exclaimed suddenly, turning his head quickly to look at the increasingly exasperated Chu Ge.

Meanwhile, Hao Jun felt that he had calmed down enough, pushed open the bathroom door, and just then heard the booming voice, which startled him into a shiver. He couldn't understand what was going on, and silently cursed.

"What the hell, why is this annoying chef still here?"

Returning to the table, Hao Jun was once again treated like air, as everyone's attention was focused on Chu Ge and the chef. He didn't know whether he should be grateful or disappointed.

Chu Ge honestly didn't expect such a big reaction from the chef, laughed helplessly, "Bro, you this..."

Before Chu Ge could finish, the chef interrupted him, excitedly saying, "Master, please don't call me 'bro' anymore, I can't bear it. From now on, just call me Da Song, oh no, Xiao Song, and let me be your apprentice!"

Hearing the chef say this, everyone in the room couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment, this... what was going on?

Feeling the sincerity and fervor in Master Song's eyes, Chu Ge couldn't help but sweat nervously, quickly waving his hand, "Master Song, this is not appropriate, really not appropriate."

"Master, are you looking down on me?" Master Song got anxious as soon as he heard Chu Ge refuse.

"No, that's not what I mean. It's just that I have to work, and cooking is just a hobby of mine."

If Chu Ge hadn't explained, it would have been fine, but hearing his explanation, Master Song felt both disappointed and extremely shocked.

Cooking is just a hobby, and he's already so talented. Just by casually mentioning a few things, he improved Master Song's cooking skills immensely. Compared to him, Master Song's years of diligent study and practice were just a joke! The gap was just too big!

"Master, is it really... really impossible?" Master Song looked at Chu Ge with mournful eyes, like an abandoned wife, looking utterly pitiful.

Chu Ge smiled bitterly inside. He was just worried that the chefs here might ruin the good ingredients, so he gave them some instructions when delivering the snake to the kitchen. If he'd known it would turn out like this, he wouldn't have said anything. What was the point?

Smiling bitterly as he might, there was no way Chu Ge could agree. He could only shake his head apologetically, "Master Song, I'm sorry, it really can't be done."

Seeing Chu Ge's resolute refusal, Master Song sighed, "Master, it was reckless of me. Then... I won't disturb you all during your meal. I'm leaving, sorry."

With that, Master Song stood up like a soul lost, his face filled with visible regret, and left Chu Ge's side.

Seeing Master Song in such a dazed state, Hao Jun grumbled to himself with discontent, "He's absolutely a plant that Chu Ge arranged, damn it, what's with this fake 'Master' stuff, talking like it's real."

Not only Hao Jun thought this way; many in the room had their suspicions.

Qin Ruojing didn't think like this, though. After all, she often ate the meals Chu Ge cooked and was quite familiar with his skills. However, she was also baffled; weren't these dishes made by Master Song? Why was he getting so agitated with Chu Ge?

"Master Song, please wait a moment." As Master Song was about to step away, Qin Ruojing called him back.

Qin Ruojing was genuinely curious, but she knew if she asked Chu Ge, he'd probably brush it off with a few words. It would be better to hear what Master Song had to say.

Master Song paused, his heart suddenly filled with hope again. Could it be that this master's wife was going to show kindness and let the master take him under his wing?

"Sister-in-law, oh no, Mistress... uh, Big Sis, what's up?"

Master Song looked at Qin Ruojing with hopeful yet pitiful eyes, struggling with what to call her, and after several corrections, settled on calling her Big Sis. Even though he wasn't a young man, at least older than Chu Ge, he didn't feel the least bit embarrassed calling her that.

Qin Ruojing instantly had black lines filling her forehead, feeling rather speechless at Master Song's address of "Big Sis", but it clearly wasn't the time to care about such things. Besides, even if she corrected Master Song, who knew what even more outrageous title he might invent.

"Master Song, weren't these dishes made by you? Why are you calling him 'Master'?"

As soon as Qin Ruojing said this, everyone's interest piqued, all eyes turning toward Master Song, truly curious about this question.

"It's true I made them, but without this master's guidance, I could never have achieved this flavor."

Qin Ruojing blinked and glanced at Chu Ge, while Hao Jun couldn't help but grumble again, a bit sourly, "Just because he can talk doesn't mean he can cook. What's the big deal?"

Though Hao Jun's voice was very low and he was essentially muttering to himself to vent, he never expected that his words would actually reach Master Song's ears.

"What do you know, babbling nonsense? Just because someone can say it doesn't mean they can do it? Do you think this master just recited a recipe to me? Let me tell you, when this master taught me, he detailed every step, every tiny detail! If he hadn't done it who knows how many times, how could he have such skills?"

Master Song's voice boomed like thunder, his eyes suddenly glaring, as if he had transformed into another person, exuding a fierce aura. Hao Jun was startled and immediately fell silent.

Even though Hao Jun was cowed, Master Song was still fuming, raising his hand to point at Hao Jun's nose with a cold snort.

"Let me also tell you, the snake dish I made once won first place in a provincial culinary contest. But compared to what I achieved after this master's guidance, it's not even on the same level, worlds apart!"

Hearing Master Song's words, everyone in the room looked at Chu Ge with increasing amazement. Did this guy really have such cooking skills?

Not only were the others stunned, but even Chu Ge was momentarily taken aback, frowning slightly, with a hint of surprise and caution in his eyes.

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