Peerless Martial Expert in the City
Chapter 325 - 328 He Really Can Barbecue!

Chapter 325: Chapter 328 He Really Can Barbecue!

(Thanks to the moon tickets from the vast ocean and the rewards from all things, you’re all old friends now, no need for many words, I sincerely thank you for your support and encouragement!)

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Li Ling watched for a moment and immediately confirmed that Xiao Yi was helping greet her customers, a wave of gratitude surged in her heart, and she also quickly walked over to him.

Xiao Yi was a guest from afar, and she felt embarrassed to have him help greet customers, and besides, Xiao Yi, just like Tang Feng, was pale and delicate, both high-achievers from Z University, true Prides of the Heavens, how could he endure such hardship? Although grilling wasn’t necessarily arduous or exhausting work, it involved dealing with greasy smoke and fire and easily getting stained with various spills.

Moreover, in her heart, she was somewhat unsure. Although Xiao Yi had good intentions, did he know how to grill?

If he, driven by curiosity and fun, goofed around here and then ended up ruining or burning the food, making it not tasty, she could handle the waste in cost and ingredients, but if the customers ate it and complained, that could negatively affect her business.

"Wow, it smells so good!"

However, just as Li Ling was about to approach Xiao Yi and start speaking, she suddenly caught a strong fragrance wafting over, followed by a voice, that of a female customer, who was looking at the grill with stars in her eyes, as if she was about to drool.

"Yeah, it really does smell amazing!"

Standing beside her, another female customer spoke at about the same time, also looking at Xiao Yi with shining eyes, as if she couldn’t wait for him to pass her the food he was grilling.

He can actually barbecue?

A look of surprise and disbelief couldn’t help but show on Li Ling’s face.

The words she had prepared to say were involuntarily brought to a halt, and her gaze, uncontrollably, turned towards the direction of the grill, watching Xiao Yi’s movements, her face showing an even stronger look of surprise. To an amateur the excitement is in the spectacle, but a professional sees the skill, and Xiao Yi’s movements did not seem like those of a novice. His skilled actions appeared as if they had been honed thousands of times, even more adept than hers, the owner!

"Ladies, please wait a moment, it’ll be ready soon, hehe."

Xiao Yi hadn’t noticed that Li Ling had already come out and was watching him. With a smile, he spoke to the two customers and then got back to focusing on the barbecue. Since leaving the old man, it had been a long time since he had used these skills. He wouldn’t bother with grilling when he was by himself. Just now, when he heard customers coming, his first instinct was to call Li Ling out to greet them.

But remembering how she had left just moments before, something didn’t seem right, and she had gone into the restroom. He felt somewhat embarrassed about calling her, and seeing the two girls in uniform, who seemed to be in a rush to get to work, it didn’t seem likely they could wait, nor did it feel right to let them just leave like that. Smiling, he went up to greet them, and after hearing they wanted barbecued food, he was struck by the idea to try out his own skills to see if they had declined.

As for the thought of turning customers away, it never even crossed his mind. He was quite confident in his skills, even if he had become a bit rusty and the operations not as smooth, handling a few customers would still be a breeze, certainly not much worse than Li Ling could do, at the very least.

Unexpectedly, once he got into it, his performance ended up even better than he had imagined, quickly getting a sense of the right feel and becoming fully engaged.

"Alright, there you go, ladies, enjoy!"

Finally, with a strong aroma surrounding them, Xiao Yi stopped his work and handed over several skewers of grilled vegetables, meat, and chicken wings to the two female customers.

"Wow, it smells so good! My mouth is watering!"

The two female customers eagerly took the skewers, with no semblance of ladylike manners, they bit into the food with gusto.

As they bit in, both faces froze at the same time.

Seeing their reactions, Li Ling’s heart instantly tightened. She had smelled the strong fragrance earlier and was utterly amazed at Xiao Yi’s skill, but now their expressions made her doubt. Could it be that Xiao Yi’s effort was all for show, creating something only for looking at, not eating?

This was indeed a possibility, as many cooks can make food that looks and smells great but tastes so bad that one might spit it out after a single bite, like, for instance, if too much salt or the wrong seasoning were used.

Although she had watched Xiao Yi cooking, she hadn’t been attentive enough to see exactly what seasonings he used.

Xiao Yi also showed a hint of doubt on his face, wondering if there was something wrong with his previous operations, like a seasoning mistake? He seriously recalled the process of seasoning, convinced he hadn’t made any mistakes. Even if his hand was a bit unsteady and the seasoning wasn’t perfectly portioned, it shouldn’t have resulted in these expressions.

"Wow!!!"

Just as Xiao Yi and Li Ling were filled with tension, trepidation, and confusion, two female customers finally spoke up. Almost in unison, they exclaimed with a "wow", revealing an irresistibly reminiscent expression on their faces. They looked at Xiao Yi with exaggeration, "Wow, little brother, your grilling skills are really fantastic, so delicious! Are you a new chef here? I want several more chicken wings grilled!"

"And me, I want two more chicken legs grilled!"

The other customer also quickly called out.

Seeing the exaggerated expressions on the two female customers’ faces, Li Ling, while relieved, couldn’t help but wonder, is it really that delicious?

"Hehe, I’m not a chef here, but a friend of the owner. To grill a few more skewers for you two, of course, is no problem. However, I’ll have to ask the owner if she agrees to let me continue borrowing her grill."

Watching the two female customers’ expressions, Xiao Yi didn’t feel too surprised; he had some confidence in his grilling skills. Yet, he didn’t directly agree to the customers’ requests but turned and smiled at Li Ling.

He had been focused on grilling chicken wings earlier and hadn’t paid much attention, but as he finished grilling them, he had already noticed Li Ling’s presence behind him. He had to first attend to the customers before turning around to greet her, "Li Ling, sorry about that, just when you were gone, two customers came by, and I couldn’t help but itch to take over. I hope you don’t mind."

"Don’t mind at all, how could I mind? I can’t thank you enough. I just really didn’t expect you to have such great skills. The barbecue is so good that it made me salivate watching from the side!!"

Li Ling quickly waved her hands and graciously said, while a sincere look of admiration appeared on her face.

She really hadn’t expected Xiao Yi, a student from Z University, to be so good at grilling.

"Hehe, then how about I grill a couple of skewers for you too? You’re always grilling for others; today, why not let yourself be the guest for a change, and try my grilling? Let me also have a taste of being an owner, how about it?"

Xiao Yi said with a smile.

"Yeah, little boss, let your friend grill a couple more skewers for us."

"Exactly, little boss, you should taste your friend’s skills too. I guarantee that once you try it, you will want to eat it a second time; it’s super delicious!"

The two customers also chimed in to persuade Li Ling.

As Li Ling appeared younger, the customers here usually called her "little boss," while the students called her "sister". Hardly anyone directly addressed her as the owner.

"Well, if you don’t mind the work, I certainly have no objection. However, I’m afraid if you grill too many times, no one would want to eat what I grill anymore."

Li Ling smiled at the two of them and then turned and smiled at Xiao Yi.

"You’re too modest; that won’t happen."

Xiao Yi said with a somewhat embarrassed smile. He had previously been too engrossed in showing off his skills to think about these concerns.

"How could it not? Just look at their expressions. Hehe, I’m guessing they won’t come to eat here anymore."

Li Ling laughed, looking at the two customers eagerly polishing off the food in their hands, savoring it as if it were some kind of exotic delicacy, relishing every bite.

"Not at all, not at all. Miss boss, rest assured, as long as you invite this handsome guy here more often, we guarantee we’ll come eat here every day, hehe."

Upon hearing Li Ling’s words, the two female customers, while enjoying their food, didn’t forget to laugh and respond.

Xiao Yi laughed, not saying anything more. After confirming with the customers what they wanted grilled again, he let Li Ling pick some food she wanted to eat, and then started grilling. With his previous experience, he quickly got the hang of it. Although he couldn’t reach the skill level of the days when he was forced to grill daily to satisfy the old man’s peculiar tastes, he wasn’t too far off either.

Watching Xiao Yi’s deft, dazzling movements and the perfectly coordinated, rapid actions of adjusting the fire and distributing the seasonings, Li Ling was shocked once more.

Xiao Yi’s movements seemed to open a door for her. She had never been professionally trained in this field; everything she knew came from watching others and figuring it out on her own after trying food from different places. After tasting several other grilled foods, she had always thought she was quite good at it and had never considered trying to improve her grilling technique, nor had she any idea how it could be further enhanced. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)