Ling Zhenfei sat in his seat and said apologetically to the woman in front of him, "I'm sorry, I don't watch TV often, so I forgot your name."

The woman across from him laughed, "Divine Doctor Ling is really too polite. I'm not very famous for my TV work, so it's normal that you can't remember my name. I'm Ji Mei."

"Oh, Miss Ji Mei, hello." In fact, even after Ji Mei revealed her name, Ling Zhenfei still didn't remember her at all; he simply couldn't match people to their names.

"Mr. Ling, let's not stand on ceremony. I'm an old friend of Chu Bingqing, so let's be informal. You have just stood me up for several hours."

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ling Zhenfei said, "I'm really sorry, I was truly helpless. Suddenly, there was a very urgent surgery; we doctors are like that, we can't just stand by and watch someone die. I didn't expect to lose track of time like that."

Ji Mei said, "No need to explain, I know Mr. Ling is a very busy man. I've been waiting here such a long time without eating or drinking anything. I wonder, Divine Doctor Ling, how you plan to make it up to me."

Ling Zhenfei was taken aback, "You haven't eaten yet?"

"I was waiting to have dinner with you; how could I dare to eat?"

Feeling even more embarrassed, Ling Zhenfei said, "I am so sorry. What would you like to eat now? It's my treat."

Ji Mei said with a smile, "How could I expect Divine Doctor Ling to go to such expense? Only now the restaurant's main chef has finished for the day, and I guess it's too late to eat anything now."

Ling Zhenfei glanced over at the open-style restaurant and indeed, the fires were out, even the chefs had left, leaving only a young chef who was cleaning up.

"How about this, I'll personally cook something for Miss Ji, how does that sound?"

Ji Mei looked at Ling Zhenfei in surprise: "You can cook?"

"I've dabbled a little, as long as Miss Ji doesn't mind." Ling Zhenfei said very modestly.

Ji Mei laughed, "Having the chance to eat something made by Divine Doctor Ling must be harder than getting medicine prepared by Divine Doctor Ling himself. I'm actually looking forward to it."

Hearing Ji Mei's words, Ling Zhenfei smiled, "Then please wait a moment, I'll go and make a few dishes and come back."

After speaking, Ling Zhenfei headed toward the restaurant's kitchen.

The kitchen of the Sheldon Hotel was very interesting. The restaurant was an open-style setup, located right on the edge of the entire dining area.

Patrons dining around could see the cooking inside and appreciate the chefs' plating style, which was a feature of the Hilton Hotel.

Ling Zhenfei walked straight in and said to the young man cleaning up, "Hello, I'd like to ask if I can cook something for myself?"

The young man looked up at Ling Zhenfei, "I'm sorry, the chefs have finished for the day, and the kitchen has been closed down."

It was evident that the young man was very reluctant, and of course, Ling Zhenfei understood why.

The young man was left to clean up, and if Ling Zhenfei continued to use the kitchen, dirtying things again, he would have to clean up one more time.

Ling Zhenfei quietly took out several hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the young man, saying, "I will make something myself, and I promise I won't cause you any trouble. If anyone asks, just say it was my request."

The young man put the money in his pocket with a trace of joy on his face; actually, customers were allowed to prepare their own food in the Hilton Hotel's restaurant, so naturally, he was very happy to pocket several hundred yuan for nothing.

"Then hurry up and don't waste the restaurant's ingredients. You'll still need to pay for what you use later."

"Don't worry, I am just going to cook a few dishes, I definitely won't waste anything," Ling Zhenfei reassured him.

Ling Zhenfei went to the restaurant's refrigerator to check the contents. The ingredients in Western cuisine were quite simple, not as varied as in Chinese cuisine.

He saw there was plenty of beef in the fridge, so Ling Zhenfei chose a piece of beef and also took a pheasant.

The pheasant wasn't very large, but it was clearly an authentic wild one. The meat of this pheasant was good, though it had a strong gamey taste, so Ling Zhenfei decided to cook it in a red wine sauce, using the flavor of the wine to remove the gamey taste, which would also make it more delicious.

After cutting the pheasant into small pieces, he first sautéed it, then stewed it in red wine. This dish was very simple, but when sautéing the pheasant, Ling Zhenfei added his own secret ingredients, which was the key to this dish.

The pheasant would still need to stew for a while, so Ling Zhenfei then took out the beef.

The beef was top-quality marbled meat, commonly thought best for making beefsteak, but Ling Zhenfei didn't agree.

The culture of Chinese cuisine is profound and broad. In his opinion, cooking beef using Chinese methods was actually more suitable than eating steak, so Ling Zhenfei prepared a stir-fried beef dish with onions.

Control of the heat was extremely important for this dish. The timing and strength of the stir-frying were key, and achieving a crispy exterior with a tender and juicy interior was the essence of this dish.

When he finally plated the dish, it was an alluring combination of color, aroma, and flavor, which immediately filled the entire restaurant.

Even people who had already finished eating suddenly felt very hungry again and couldn't help but look over in the direction of the fragrance, including Miss Ji Mei, who had been sitting at the table looking curious, and now couldn't help but walk over.

Standing at the entrance to the kitchen, Miss Ji Mei couldn't help but peer inside and stare at the stir-fried beef on the table. This dish was simply incredible.

She really couldn't understand how she had eaten beef for so many years, whether in Chinese or Western cuisine, whether it was Shandong or Sichuan cuisine or any other style, yet she had never encountered such an aroma.

Many people have tasted stir-fried beef, but because it requires precise temperature control in the pan—too low and it won't cook properly, too high and it is easy to burn—the beef is usually cut into small pieces.

But Ling Zhenfei's stir-fried beef was different: the pieces were definitely large, the portion was generous, and the flavor was unique, as if he had added a certain spice, making it very fragrant.

"Is this dish for me?" pondered Miss Ji Mei, hardly able to resist walking in and trying to taste a plateful of the stir-fried beef with her chopsticks.

"Don't touch it just yet. The temperature of the dish hasn't reached its best yet. If you eat it now, you'll ruin the taste of the dish," Ling Zhenfei stopped Miss Ji Mei's actions.

All Miss Ji Mei could do was to hold back and say, "Then I'll wait a bit longer."

At that moment, Ling Zhenfei began preparing the next dish, a vegetable salad. It was the simplest dish, made with consideration for Miss Ji Mei's figure.

As soon as the vegetable salad was ready, the red wine pheasant also came out of the pot just in time. The moment the pot lid was lifted, an amazing fragrance spread, and the unique aroma of the red wine permeated and lingered around the entire restaurant.

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