Zhang Wuli decided to put the matter of the Sunset Basalt plates aside for the moment. There were only a few of them, and he could get to them when he was done.
“Li Bo. Are there any other special plates I need to look out for?” Wuli asked innocently.
The bald-headed man hummed as he focused on his work, completing the plate he was working on before answering.
“Hmm, not today I think. It’s the first day of the week so the menu should only have neutral, earth, and fire aligned meals, and of those only the Pebble Back Boar needs to be served on anything special.”
“You need special plates to serve Pebble Back Boar?”
Zhang Wuli had heard of Pebble Back Boar before. It was a relatively common Yin Earth aligned Spirit Beast that was found in the countryside. He had never eaten one himself as his family was far too poor to eat meat regularly much less the meat of a Spirit Beast, but even so he knew people who knew people who had eaten Spirit Beast meat and none of them had mentioned anything like this.
Li Bo favoured him with a wry grin and a raised eyebrow.
“What, did you think being a Spirit Chef was as simple as boiling rice? A real Spirit Chef has to think about the meal from the start to finish!”
The clatter of plates alerted Wuli to another stack of dirty dishes being added to his station. There were three more Sunset Basalt plates in the stack. Zhang Wuli quickly resumed washing.
“Is it really so complicated? I’ve never cooked a Spirit Meal but isn’t it just cooking with Spirit Arts?” Zhang Wuli asked
Wen Ai laughed uproariously behind them, briefly stopping his washing as he clutched his stomach.
“Ah, you’re definitely a novice. Its good that you’ve never cooked a Spirit Meal with that kind of attitude, or you definitely would have wasted the ingredients.”
“Its not like I don’t know how to cook,” Zhang Wuli protested, “I prepare all the meals for my family and none of them complain. My roast pork receives high praise every month!”
Wen Ai only laughed louder, earning a glare from Li Bo before the bearded man turned back to Zhang Wuli “Young Wuli, since you are my station partner now I’ll give you some advice. Don’t let any of the Chefs hear you compare their Spirit Cooking to preparing some roast pork. You’ll only earn yourself a good beating.”
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“Li Bo, save your breath” Wen Ai chuckled, “Can’t you see you’re denying this young buck some good fortune? Not everyone can be blessed enough to get a beating from Fairy Meilin.”
“Ignore the fatty over there,” Li Bo continued
“Hey...”
“If you mess up and insult the profession, not even the Head Chef will save you.”
Zhang Wuli turned this over in his mind. He didn’t understand, but he didn’t need to. Right now his job was washing plates. Wuli reached for a new plate in his pile. It was Sunset Basalt. He hadn’t noticed while they were talking, but over time all the other plates in his stack had been washed and sent away, leaving only a stack of Sunset Basalt plates almost as tall as himself.
A quick look around showed that he was the only one of the washers with any of the black plates left…did he have all of them?
“Young Wuli, why have you stopped?”
“Ah, I’m just preparing to clean the special plates…”
Li Bo looked at the stack and gave an appreciative nod. “Looking to do the whole thing at once? I didn’t know you were that skilled in fire arts.”
“N-no I…”
“Of course! With fire arts that good you would have no problem getting the job even without other supporting arts. You must be a specialist.”
Zhang Wuli hurried to correct Li Bo, but the older man had set down his plates and turned to face him directly. He had a serious look on his face as he continued to speak.
“People with your talent don’t come through here too often, normally they get snapped up by industrial fields or get noticed by the sect. If you don’t mind I’d like to see if I can pick up anything while you work, my fire arts have been stagnating lately…”
Zhang Wuli broke out in sweat as Li Bo watched him intently. Specialist? Talent? Wuli couldn’t even match the casual demonstration Li Bo had done earlier! Normally he would have said that immediately, but Li Bo’s words gave him pause.
Zhang Wuli was not skilled in fire arts. Even though he could produce a spirit flame and so could grudgingly be said to be able to use them, his skills were below those that even a ten-year-old could be expected to show. This job was simply due to the sincere pleading of his uncle with the Head Chef.
The Head Chef was also the owner of the restaurant and as far as Zhang Wuli knew he could hire anyone he wanted. But if one of his more skilled workers took offence would Head Chef Ma Cheng keep him around?
“H-ha ha, Li Bo, don’t look at me with that face,” Zhang Wuli stammered out, “The truth is that my control is a bit poor. I’m afraid that if I released my arts in his small space it would be too much of a shock.” It would be a shock, certainly, and his control was indeed poor.
Li Bo frowned at him and glanced around the space.
“The space is indeed small but…”
“How about this. You take my Sunset Basalt plates and clean them. In exchange I’ll do double the amount of the other plates and give you some pointers on your flame arts. Agreed?”
The older man stared at him in silence for a moment then took a step forward.
“Zhang Wuli…”
Sweat poured down the young man’s brow as he answered “Y-yes?”
Li Bo clapped his hand down on Wuli’s shoulder and stared him in the eyes.
“Forgive me. You are truly a good man. I won’t call you young Wuli anymore.”
Zhang Wuli released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Don’t mention it. Without you I would not have a way to complete my work.”
Li Bo broke out in laughter and a smile split his bushy beard in two.
“Let switch sides, its easier to deal with that way. We have to work quickly to pass Wen Ai and the others.”
The two switched sides amicably. Even while they spoke new plates had been arriving from the front and the piles had grown slightly larger. Zhang Wuli swapped the Basalt plates in his new pile for two each of another type from Li Bo’s as agreed and the two washers returned to work.