19: Chapter 19: Heart of Cooking 19: Chapter 19: Heart of Cooking Editor: Dragon Boat Translation After seeing off the two nearly exhausted local ladies, Xia Yu returned to the kitchen, picked up the gleaming chef’s knife, and pondered deeply.
It could be said that he was very confident in the two dishes he had freshly prepared, “Sweet and Sour Pork” and “Squirrel Sea Bass,” especially since the system had given them a passing score of 60.
However, these two dishes, according to the round-faced lady, who was a well-known food blogger with 600,000 followers on Weibo, had a significant gap compared to the “Couple’s Lung Slices” made by the old man.
She comnted:
“Your dishes are also delicious, but how should I put it, they’re just delicious.
Such delicious traditional Chinese cuisine is very, very rare even dostically…”
“But the ‘Couple’s Lung Slices’ does more than satisfy my stomach and tongue.
Even my heart is filled with a strange emotion.
It sounds unbelievable, but that’s how it is.
The difference between them is like normal cooking and magical cooking.
One can be found in reality; the other depends on chance.
So people may never taste it in their lifeti!”
The sparkle in the lady’s eyes at that mont left Xia Yu utterly baffled.
He didn’t ntion that the “Couple’s Lung Slices” were made by his own old man, and the lady kept complaining that his next two dishes lacked heart.
When she settled the bill and left, her eyes were full of resentnt.
Xia Yu had a stomachful of grievances but couldn’t express them.
“Feeling discouraged?”
A rough voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
“How could I—”
Xia Yu, recognizing the voice, imdiately raised his voice and rolled up his sleeve to reveal a strong arm, “I will not concede!”
But then he slumped his shoulders and said troubledly, “Old man, tell , in terms of cooking, what’s the difference between us?
You know, I’ve diligently studied your manual for the cooking processes.”
The old man didn’t give a lengthy speech.
He spent a few minutes mixing up a “Couple’s Lung Slices” with marinade, bean oil, and Sichuan pepper powder, placing it on the counter, “Try it.”
“In the past, you were practicing basic knife skills, and now you’re considered an apprentice chef.
The confusion you encounter can be resolved in the dishes…”
Hearing the old man’s words, Xia Yu couldn’t help but pat his forehead.
Speaking of improving his culinary skills, he hadn’t truly tasted the old man’s cooking.
Previously, as a layman, his impression of the old man’s cooking was forever just ‘delicious,’ rely watching for fun, not discerning any profound secrets in the dishes themselves.
But now, with his culinary skills advancing every day, one could say that he should now be able to appreciate other nuances, right?
Thinking this way, Xia Yu picked up a pair of chopsticks with anticipation, and a bit of apprehension, slowly reaching to pick up a piece of beef offal, putting it in his mouth to savor slowly.
The flavors of the spices, chilies, and Sichuan pepper exploded on his tongue.
His expression went through shock and disbelief, finally settling into a state of satisfaction as his appetite was fulfilled.
It was just one bite, too soon to say it filled his belly, yet that one bite completely satisfied his desire to ‘eat.’
Snapping back to reality, a look of realization flashed in Xia Yu’s eyes.
No wonder those two ladies said the old man’s “Couple’s Lung Slices” tasted so good.
It couldn’t just be called good; it ascended to a level of spiritual enjoynt.
Even having just a small bite of the “Couple’s Lung Slices,” whether it’s beef or offal, tasters might find anything else they eat throughout the day bland and their spirit empty.
Overbearing!
Xia Yu inexplicably comprehended the chef’s spirit contained in this “Couple’s Lung Slices.”
What the heck was going on in this world?
That culinary skill on the spiritual level, referred to as “magic” by the round-faced lady, would have been dismissed by Xia Yu if he’d heard it on the old Earth.
But in this world, the old man, through a traditional Chinese cuisine dish, vividly presented his chef’s spirit right before Xia Yu’s eyes, making it hard for him not to be convinced.
Having tasted the “Couple’s Lung Slices,” Xia Yu suddenly turned back, realizing the ignorance of his forr self.
Eating the old man’s cooking for over ten years, still stubbornly practicing the most basic knife skills, without any sign of enlightennt, it was no wonder the old man didn’t show a friendly face to him.
For a successor, the old man surely had high hopes, but the forr self was a blockhead, which was likely why the old man hadn’t taught him more about cooking.
“System, unlocking the advanced talent ‘Heart of Cooking.’ After the host advances to Lv10 One-star Chef, talent points can be allocated to enhance the level of advanced talents.”
Hmm.
The sudden system prompt made Xia Yu open his mouth.
Heart of Cooking?
Opening the system panel, on the personal talent tree diagram, a high-position talent icon was very conspicuous against a backdrop of black.
The talent tree diagram’s lowest level featured several fundantals, including knife skills, fire control, seasoning, and ingredient identification.
Then there were several physical attributes, like strength, dexterity, spirit, and nerve reflexes, which surprisingly were also considered fundantal in the chef talent diagram.
“[Heart of Cooking] (Advanced Talent): Chefs are like artists, conductors, they can control diners’ appetites, make ‘spicy’ domineering, make ‘sweet’ truly heartwarming, and make ‘bitterness’ for tasters resemble a difficult pilgrimage…
Flavors beco emotional catalysts in the hands of such chefs, controlling the laughter and tears of diners.”
Having read the system’s description, Xia Yu couldn’t say much more.
Advancing to Lv10 One-star Chef, this talent had to be leveled up!
It’s simply too overpowered!
The old man ca and went like a breeze.
Late at night, Xia Yu opened the learning section, asking inwardly, “System, what’s the learning progress of the old man’s cooking manual?”
“96%, with 4% remaining…”
“Good, let’s digest this 4% progress tonight!”
So the system compiled the necessary materials for him to study and practice, acting as either a ntor or a prompter.
Whenever Xia Yu didn’t perform well enough, the system would use its uniquely chanical synthesized voice to coldly say, “Not qualified.”
Imrsed in the culinary world, Xia Yu was unaware of the tall figure standing with him until the wee hours outside the kitchen corner, a pair of keen eyes in the darkness betraying a hint of gratification and contentnt.
The next day.
Xia Yu was awakened by the sound of a car engine.
He muttered quietly, rubbing his ssy dium-length hair, and opened the window of the attic to look out onto the street, imdiately pausing.
The black stretch limo seed a bit familiar.
Glancing over the license plate, Xia Yu slapped his forehead and chuckled, “That tsundere girl is here again, huh?
What ti is it?”
Covering his sowhat groggy head, he turned back to glance at the alarm clock by his bedside—it was a quarter past nine in the morning.
“Mr.
Xia Qing…”
Far Moon Commander, Tiqie Xianzuowen also ca, still in traditional samurai attire, wearing wooden geta, standing at the store’s entrance.
Xia Yu craned his neck out the window only to see half of the old man’s body and a bulging black luggage bag at his feet.
Luggage bag?
Abruptly wide awake, all drowsiness dissipated, Xia Yu didn’t even bother with washing up.
He put on his slippers, pulled open the bedroom door, and rushed downstairs with a thundering stride.
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