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Lin Yuan noticed it too; it wasn’t just the plum blossom petals that were included, but also specially treated plum blossom petals.

If they were just the original plum blossoms, they would have tasted as bitter and astringent as Liang Shiyou’s plum juice.

However, the plum blossoms in Sun Qian’s dish didn’t have that taste; instead, they carried a subtle, lingering sweetness.

Upon closer inspection, they found that there wasn’t just a single layer of plum blossom petals sandwiched between the two slices of radish but rather two neatly placed layers, without which one would have had difficulty experiencing such a pronounced plum blossom flavor.

"Besides the plum blossoms in the middle, I also added some stamens when pouring the soup, so the flavor is even richer," Sun Qian explained joyfully, noting the two people’s appreciation and pointing at the clear soup in the dish.

The fragrance of the plum blossoms mostly comes from the pistils, and Sun Qian’s decision to add the pistils to the soup was an intentional touch.

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but take another bite of the white radish, nodding repeatedly. It wasn’t just the meticulous craftsmanship of layering petal upon petal in the radish, but having such an idea was rare in itself. Sun Qian indeed had some skills!

After Sun Qian’s explanation, everyone else, apart from being impressed, no longer second-guessed whether he had resorted to nepotism or other connections.

Although Liang Shiyou was quite surprised by Sun Qian’s ingenious thoughts, he had always disdained Sun Qian, who often opposed him, and naturally, he wasn’t sincerely convinced.

After looking at Sun Qian’s dishes, Lin Yuan turned her attention to the dishes of the other helpers, most of which were standard fare without anything particularly memorable. However, even such dishes were far better than Liang Shiyou’s bitter and astringent "essence."

After tasting everyone’s dishes, Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng took their seats again and quietly discussed for a moment.

In fact, the answer was already quite clear: among the masters, except for Liang Shiyou, the others were all good. Even if their skills weren’t superb, they were skilled and dexterous with their hands.

The helpers’ skills were obviously lacking and needed more practice.

Of course, there was one exception, and that was Sun Qian. Thus, Lin Yuan began to consider the idea of letting Sun Qian replace Liang Shiyou.

After discussing with Xia Zheng, Lin Yuan nodded her head, stood up, and announced loudly, "Everyone, I have just tasted everyone’s dishes, and in one word, they were good! I’m not just flattering you, Lin Yuan, they truly were excellent."

She turned her smiling face towards the masters standing at the front and said, "Especially the masters here, each and every one of you has talented and skillful hands, showing remarkable craftsmanship, which is truly commendable."

Being praised, the masters all beamed with happiness, looking invigorated. Only Liang Shiyou, somewhat gracelessly, repeated "Boss is overpraising us" twice, which was truly disconcerting to hear.

Lin Yuan did not even spare him a glance, skipping over him and continuing to speak. Liang Shiyou’s attempt at flattery landed flat, leaving him with a flushed and embarrassed face.

"Besides the masters, our young guys all did well, especially Sun Qian. Describing him as dexterous wouldn’t be an exaggeration," Lin Yuan said with a nod and continued, "The rest of you did well too. It’s just that you still lack some of your own thoughts and creativity.

I hope that in the future you can integrate your ideas about the ingredients while mastering the basics, so you can create more dishes that are uniquely your own. "

The young guys nodded in agreement.

Although he was praised, Sun Qian showed no signs of pride and was eager to keep up the hard work; Lin Yuan was very pleased with this attitude.

As Lin Yuan would be assigning tasks to the masters later, she decided to announce the results of the assessment right away.

She straightened her expression and said, "The master chefs have performed exceedingly well, and I am very satisfied. From now on, please continue to stay and contribute to Dong Tian."

After finishing, she turned to Sun Qian and said, "Although Sun Qian is just a helper, he does have ability and intelligence. What he lacks now is guidance from others. Therefore, Sun Qian should study various recipes more over the next month. I have compiled a book summarizing my years of cooking experience. I’ll give it to you another day; you must study it well.

In a month, I will call on you to cook. If you pass the assessment, you will be promoted to master chef. If not..."

"There’s no way I won’t pass!" Sun Qian interrupted Lin Yuan before she could finish, immediately thumping his chest and promising excitedly.

Previously, his cooking was purely by imitating the master chefs, figuring out which seasonings and how much to use all by himself, without anyone teaching him.

But now it was different. If he could truly get his hands on the secret manual that Lin Yuan had compiled, he would no longer have to contemplate alone until late at night, nor would he need to sneak peeks at the processes of the master chefs cooking.

It was just too wonderful!

"Thank you, Boss, thank you, Boss!" Sun Qian thanked him repeatedly, his face flushed with excitement.

Lin Yuan nodded in satisfaction, turned to the other helpers, and encouraged, "You are also capable; it’s just that your fundamental skills still need some work. You must study hard and practice diligently in the future, striving to become the next Sun Qian!"

"Yes!"

"Boss, rest assured! We will definitely not slack off."

Revitalized by Lin Yuan’s encouragement, everyone else was also pumped up, aiming to become master chefs as soon as possible.

Having praised those who were promoted, it was now time to address those who would be demoted.

Lin Yuan looked toward Liang Shiyou, who was preparing to sneer at Sun Qian with a disdainful look, her lips curled slightly, her tone slightly chilly, "Master Liang, I am sorry to tell you that we can no longer reserve the position of master chef for you, given your recent performance."

Liang Shiyou, who was just exchanging glances with Sun Qian, was suddenly caught off guard, his eyes bulging in disbelief as he stuttered, "What, what? Boss, what did you just say? Did you misspeak? What do you mean the position of master chef can no longer be reserved for me?"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, "What you heard is exactly what I meant. That is to say, you can no longer be Dong Tian’s master chef. If you do not wish to leave, you may stay as a helper. If you don’t want to be a helper, you are entirely free to..."

"Wait a minute!"

Before Lin Yuan could finish, Liang Shiyou had already raised his voice and bared his teeth, his words sounding as if he was ready to confront Lin Yuan. Xia Zheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, his fists clenched secretly, just waiting for this guy to spout insolence and teach him a lesson.

Shopkeeper Xiao evidently had more sense than Liang Shiyou, as he quickly tugged at Liang Shiyou’s clothes, not letting him speak any further, and then assured with an apologetic smile, "Boss is right, Master Liang, he will... he will work as a helper."

"Who wants to be a helper? I certainly won’t be a helper!

" Liang Shiyou completely ignored Shopkeeper Xiao’s well-intentioned reminder, violently shaking off his hand, arrogantly swept his sleeve, and asked with a stern face, "Boss, you’re asking me to leave just like that, out of the blue.

You ought to give me a reason at least!"

A reason?