Chapter 199: Is There Anything You Can’t Do?
The children all knew that Teacher Zhang didn’t know how to cook many dishes.
Braised pork with potatoes was one of her signature dishes, and they had it about once or twice a week.
And in their memory, Teacher Zhang’s braised pork with potatoes wasn’t bad, but it was nowhere near delicious.
The pork belly, which hadn’t been seared, was very greasy, and the undercooked potatoes were still a bit raw.
Luckily, it wasn’t too salty, so at least it wasn’t hard to swallow.
It was only because the children cherished Teacher Zhang’s kindness and the precious food that they cleaned their plates every time, leaving not even a drop of sauce.
But today…
Why did this braised pork with potatoes look different?
The pork belly, cut into small pieces, was seared to a golden brown, glistening with oil.
You could tell just by looking at the potatoes that they were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, having soaked up all the sauce until their edges had melted away.
Even the sauce was thick and fragrant. One could only imagine how delicious it would be mixed with rice!
The children gulped hard!
They asked Teacher Zhang curiously:
“Is this really braised pork with potatoes? Why does it look different?”
Teacher Zhang explained with a smile:
“The new teacher, Teacher Nan, made this.”
The children let out a collective “Wow!”
Just then, Nan Zhi walked out carrying a bucket of stir-fried napa cabbage.
The bucket was filled to the brim with the stir-fried cabbage, and Nan Zhi struggled a bit with the weight. Teacher Zhang hurried over to help her lift it.
Seeing how hard Nan Zhi was working, Teacher Zhang couldn’t help but say:
“Why didn’t you wait for me to help carry it?”
Nan Zhi just smiled and shook her head without answering. Instead, she addressed Teacher Zhang’s previous comment:
“I didn’t make this braised pork. I just gave a little guidance. In reality, your Teacher Zhang cooked it with her own two hands.”
Hearing this, the children grew eager to try it.
Teacher Zhang grew anxious.
“How can you give me the credit for this?”
Nan Zhi asked calmly:
“Wasn’t Teacher Zhang the one who cut the vegetables? Wasn’t Teacher Zhang the one who seared the meat? Wasn’t Teacher Zhang the one watching over the pot?”
Teacher Zhang couldn’t refute a single point.
Besides, Nan Zhi was already calling the children over to get their food.
The children spontaneously started lining up, hopping with excitement to eat Teacher Zhang’s new braised pork with potatoes. The scene was bustling with energy.
This left Teacher Zhang no chance to explain.
With no other choice, Teacher Zhang had to go back to the kitchen to get the soup and the rice.
This was when Qi Pei’er walked over.
Before coming to the cafeteria, two of her colleagues had just warned her that Teacher Zhang cooked the food. They said her sense of taste wasn’t great, so the dishes might be a bit lacking, and asked her to be understanding.
Although Qi Pei’er was touched by her colleagues’ consideration for Teacher Zhang.
The problem was…
During the half-month she’d spent at Nan Family’s Small Restaurant, Qi Pei’er had eaten staff meals personally cooked by Nan Zhi every day. Her palate had long since been spoiled!
As a result, during the break after filming was paused, everything she ate tasted like cardboard.
The plump, rosy face she had developed at Nan Family’s Small Restaurant had thinned out into a sharp, oval shape.
Even when she attended events, fans in the audience would ask if she was on a diet.
‘Losing weight?’
‘Hah! If I could eat Nan Zhi’s cooking every day, I’d gladly gain 200 pounds, okay?’
‘The only reason I’ve lost weight is because I literally can’t stomach anything else!’
‘This is a hundred times more agonizing than any diet!’
Now, Qi Pei’er had been looking forward to the start of filming, her greatest wish being to snag a little bit of food.
Her demands weren’t high; just a bite every few days would be enough.
Her luck had been good this morning. She got to eat Nan Zhi’s millet porridge and egg crepes.
Although there were too many people, she only got a small half-bowl of porridge and a meager half of an egg crepe.
But for Qi Pei’er, who hadn’t enjoyed anything she ate for half a month, it was practically heaven!
And now she was being told that the cafeteria food might not be very good?
Qi Pei’er’s mood plummeted instantly.
Her back, which had been straight and relaxed after a successful music class, immediately slumped upon hearing the news.
From a distance, you could read a thousand words of melancholy, sadness, and disappointment in her silhouette…
“Zhizhi!”
The moment the familiar figure entered her sight, Qi Pei’er’s eyes lit up!
She rushed excitedly in front of Nan Zhi.
“Did you make the food?”
A student in the line happened to have just been in Qi Pei’er’s music class.
Out of affection for Teacher Qi, she kindly explained:
“Nope, Teacher Zhang made the food.”
CRACK. CRACK.
That was the sound of Qi Pei’er’s little heart breaking.
Nan Zhi reached out a hand to steady Qi Pei’er.
“Are you okay?”
Qi Pei’er forced a smile.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
A completely soulless smile and reply.
Nan Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly, seeming to have guessed what Qi Pei’er was disappointed about.
She didn’t reveal the truth directly, but said meaningfully:
“Today’s lunch should be pretty good.”
“Of course, of course.”
Still a soulless smile and reply.
However, Qi Pei’er knew how to keep things in perspective.
Her moodiness only lasted a moment. She quickly pulled herself together and asked Nan Zhi:
“Do you need any help?”
Nan Zhi said no.
There were only about fifty people in the whole school, including the teachers. Serving the food wouldn’t take long; Nan Zhi and Teacher Zhang were enough.
Qi Pei’er nodded obediently, then took her utensils and went to the back of the line to wait patiently.
Just then, Teacher Zhang came out with a small cart, pulling the rice and a huge tub of soup.
If you looked closely, you could see a sheen of oil on the corners of Teacher Zhang’s mouth and a slightly intoxicated look in her eyes.
Nan Zhi couldn’t help but laugh.
“Teacher Zhang, how does the radish soup taste?”
“It’s absolutely divine! Ah… ah, I didn’t sneak a taste.”
Realizing belatedly that she had exposed herself, Teacher Zhang quickly tried to diffuse her embarrassment with work, burying her head and saying no more.
Nan Zhi deliberately teased her with a straight face:
“That’s not right, Teacher Zhang. For a chef, it’s not called ‘sneaking a taste,’ it’s called ‘testing the dish’.”
Teacher Zhang’s spirits lifted.
“Ah, right! Testing the dish! Testing the dish!”
Next, Nan Zhi was in charge of serving the dishes, while Teacher Zhang handled the rice and soup.
Teacher Zhang’s cooking skills weren’t great, but her movements were quick and efficient. Not a single grain of rice or drop of soup was spilled during the entire process.
But practice makes perfect. It wasn’t surprising, given that Teacher Zhang had been the part-time cafeteria chef for so many years.
What was surprising was Nan Zhi. Her movements were so skillful that they made you question her profession.
[I’m really curious, do you guys who study to be chefs also have to learn how to serve food in a cafeteria line?]
[What are you thinking? We learn to be chefs, not the 100 different applications of being a chef!]
[Ever since the first episode, I’ve been curious about Nan Zhi’s past… How can someone be so proficient at running a street stall, opening a restaurant, AND working in a cafeteria?!]
[If it were anyone else, I’d be suspicious. But with Nan Zhi, hmm, this is completely reasonable!]
[I’ve been saying it all along, Nan Zhi was born with the sacred body of a chef. All cooking-related skills are automatically unlocked! So stop wasting your time in the boring entertainment industry! Go shine in the culinary world!]
[I finally get why people say Nan Zhi is like a max-level character steamrolling everything.]