Chen Ze was aware that Betty, along with Alisa and Lindsay, had previously gone to watch Hastur’s Otherworld version of "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day," and they even revisited the animated version of "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day" afterward.
Therefore, Chen Ze did not plan on allowing Betty to spoil the story, such as revealing nma’s true wish, because it wasn’t in line with his thinking. Moreover, if he did let it slip, nma’s wish might never be fulfilled.
"Let Suki Umita cry when he feels like crying." This wish of Suki Umita’s mother beca nma’s wish as well. Even though nma also wanted to use this opportunity to reunite her childhood friends, Chen Ze felt that it would be better to wait and let nma reveal her wish on her own.
Shio ran with egg drops – Chen Ze had never heard of a custor ordering this dish before, but he knew how to make this unique dish from watching "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day."
In essence, it was just about boiling noodles in saltwater, sprinkling so green onions, and then adding an egg to make egg drops. It wasn’t anything too complicated.
"Let see...which kind of noodles would be best for this ran," Chen Ze mused. Although it was a simple ran dish, he still wanted to make it with care. However, that ant he had to think about how to enhance the flavor of the ran within its simplicity.
Because it was shio ran, there really was not much room for the broth to shine, even if Chen Ze used the world’s finest water and salt, the taste would still be just that.
Therefore, the noodles beca a crucial component.
"I’ll use egg noodles then, which should pair well with the egg drops and not be too jarring," Chen Ze made his decision quickly and got started on boiling the water.
He also needed to take care of the eggs.
In Japan, eggs are a staple ingredient, used in many dishes and even eaten raw, which was sothing Chen Ze initially didn’t understand. Wouldn’t eating raw eggs be very unhygienic?
He later learned that in order to safely consu raw eggs, the Japanese had invested ti in improving eggs, eventually breeding a type that could be safely eaten within its expiration date—a truly dedicated effort.
However, Chen Ze hadn’t managed to get eggs originally from Japan. Although the Japanese specialty store sold many items, they really didn’t sell raw eggs, so all the eggs Chen Ze had were locally sourced.
"I’ll use this one. Although I can’t improve the broth, maybe I can try sothing with the egg," Chen Ze encouraged himself and started working on the egg.
Egg drops are not that difficult, actually. Although they seem in the ani to be the kind that shouldn’t disperse into the broth, Chen Ze decided to make dispersed egg drops, as only in this way could he improve this shio ran.
Chen Ze worked quickly; improving the dish wasn’t very complicated. So, he placed the prepared egg bowl aside and started working on the noodles.
The noodles needed to go in quickly, and Chen Ze also had to pay attention to controlling the water temperature and volu, as too much water might dilute the taste of the salt.
But none of this was too challenging for Chen Ze; he quickly reached the step where he could add the egg.
Chen Ze added the previously prepared egg into the pot, let it cook briefly, checked the firmness of the noodles, and then served up the improved shio ran.
The System didn’t provide any prompts, indicating that this dish was so simple that the System didn’t even want to recognize it. But that was fine because Chen Ze could now create a great dish without relying on the System’s evaluation.
"Betty, co in and serve the dish," Chen Ze wiped his hands off. This shio ran didn’t have much of an aroma, nor flashy features, but thanks to Chen Ze’s growing culinary skills, it still looked quite appealing.
"Sure, Manager," Betty entered with red-rimd eyes, causing twitching at the corners of Chen Ze’s mouth.
One would wonder if Betty had caught conjunctivitis or so other odd illness.
"You could at least try to control your emotions." Chen Ze sighed, realizing that such a tear-jerking animation indeed made it easy for people to think of certain things, leading to emotional outbursts.
"It’s just... really hard for to hold back..." Betty wiped the corner of her eyes, already recalling that scene from the animation.
"Okay, just don’t let your tears drop into it." Chen Ze was sowhat speechless but could only let Betty serve it anyway.
Suki Umita hadn’t noticed anything amiss with Betty, as he sat there, staring blankly at the table in front of him.
"Umita..." nma sat anxiously by his side, and after Chen Ze had spoken those words and she had added her own, Suki Umita seed to have lost his soul suddenly.
"Please enjoy your al, sir." Betty placed the saltwater ran on the table.
The steam rose, snapping Suki Umita back to reality a bit.
... But that made no real difference; Suki Umita just pushed the bowl of ran toward nma and continued to sit there, dazed.
"Umita..." nma was very worried about Suki Umita, even ignoring her favorite saltwater ran with egg drop, which she usually loved.
Betty stood by, feeling she understood Suki Umita’s feelings, yet seeing nma not touching her chopsticks made Betty’s mood sink.
"If you’re a man, don’t make nma worry about you." Betty put down a glass of lemon water and said irritably.
Suki Umita looked up and finally noticed nma anxiously looking at him, and the bowl of steaming ran that had started to get a bit cold.
"nma, don’t worry about , go ahead and eat." Suki Umita managed to force a smile, looking at nma.
"I can’t help worrying..." Betty sighed to herself, watching the scene before her.
nma was truly gentle.
After a lot of persuading, nma finally agreed to eat her ran, which by then had cooled down a bit.
"It’s so delicious!" nma smilingly said with joy, the saltwater ran might have been slightly cool, but it tasted exceptionally great, especially with the explosively delicious egg drop that made it impossible for nma to stop eating.
"Hmm." Seeing nma so happy, Suki Umita clenched his fist tightly, having made up his mind. Now was the ti to fulfill nma’s wish, no matter what, Suki Umita was determined to make it happen.
"Aren’t you eating, Umita?" nma turned her head to look at Umita and asked.
"I’m not..." Suki Umita subconsciously shook his head, and then a bowl of ran was placed before him.
"This is on the house," Betty shrugged, which wasn’t actually what Chen Ze had said.
"Tell that kid to learn so cooking skills, he can’t even make egg drop." That was what Chen Ze had actually said.
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