1996: Starting as Executive Chef

Chen Zhihu, once a visionary master of modern fusion cuisine, finds himself reborn in 1996. He opens his eyes to a shabby rented room, a pile of unpaid IOUs on the table, and nothing to his name. Without hesitation, he sets out to find work. When he walks into a restaurant and asks, “Excuse me, are you hiring an executive chef?” the manager, Wen Lan, can barely hide her disbelief—this kid looks barely twenty. She tells him their standards for a head chef are extremely high. “How high?” he asks. “You’d need at least a working knowledge of the eight great culinary traditions of China.” Chen Zhihu replies with total seriousness: “Perfect—I’ve already mastered sixteen.” Later, at the cross-strait chefs’ exchange competition, Master Huang from Foshan spots Chen Zhihu standing beside him and tightens his jaw. “When did this brat even sign up?” One of his disciples mutters sourly, “Master, he’s already been certified as a Chinese Master Chef—he qualifies to compete.”