Chapter 389: Advanced Culinary Advancement Manual
Chapter 389: Chapter 389: Advanced Culinary Advancement Manual
Everyone tried the pastries Sang Yue made. They weren’t just good; they were excellent.
Shen Lu’s favorite was the matcha checkerboard cookie. None of the ingredients’ flavors were overpowered; instead, they blended together in perfect harmony.
Paired with a cup of hot tea, it would make for a perfect afternoon treat.
"This is delicious. It’ll definitely sell like hotcakes," Shen Lu said, giving her sincere opinion.
The others all nodded in agreement.
"The cake is soft, moist, and has a rich aroma."
"The palmier is so flaky and crisp. I love it."
"This mango cream cheese-filled bread is amazing! Can I have two?"
Hearing their praise, Sang Yue was overjoyed. She waved her hand generously. "You can eat as many as you want."
Sang Yue had made many different kinds of cakes, so even after the group ate their fill, only half were gone.
Shen Lu put the rest in the refrigerated display case so everyone could help themselves whenever they wanted.
"So, we’re skipping dinner then?" Shen Lu asked, patting her stomach, which was full of cake.
"No way! Make dinner, Boss Shen! I can still eat," Wu Jun said.
"You can still eat right now?"
"...How about we eat in two hours?" Wu Jun was unwilling to miss a single staff meal.
"Alright, forget it. Let’s have a late-night snack at ten. We’ll do barbecue. I’ll go marinate the meat now."
Pastries aren’t very filling, and Shen Lu figured she’d be hungry again by ten o’clock anyway. She decided they might as well all have a barbecue together.
"Barbecue!" Xiao Lang clapped his little hands. "Barbecue is my favorite! I want grilled chicken wings!"
"Okay, I’ll marinate extra chicken wings so you can eat your fill."
At ten o’clock that night, the group set up a grill in the fast-food section, grilling meat and drinking beverages while watching a movie.
Shen Lu took several pictures and sent them to Fu Cheng.
Shen Lu: Having a little barbecue again. Too bad someone can’t have any.
Fu Cheng chuckled to himself. ’She’s deliberately trying to make me jealous.’
Well, he might as well play along.
Fu Cheng: That looks delicious. Can you save some for me?
Shen Lu: Hmph~ Nope. We’re eating it all.
Fu Cheng: (ㄒoㄒ)
Shen Lu: ...
Shen Lu: Barbecue doesn’t keep well; you have to eat it right off the grill. When you’re out of the hospital and can eat it, I’ll make some just for you.
’Sigh, why am I picking a fight with a patient?’
Shen Lu mentally chided herself. Poor Fu Cheng was in such a pitiful state. He’d lost his limbs, and even though he now had prosthetics, he still had to overcome post-surgery rejection, rehabilitation, and other difficult hurdles.
And that wasn’t all. The price for getting those prosthetics was participating in an extremely dangerous mission after the start of spring.
Shen Lu didn’t know how much unimaginable suffering Fu Cheng had gone through in the original story to reach such a level of power and status.
But seeing him like this now, her heart already went out to him.
Fu Cheng: Thank you.
Shen Lu stared at the "Thank you" Fu Cheng sent for a few extra seconds. ’Am I just overthinking things, or does that have a hint of triumph to it?’
Before bed that night, Shen Lu gave her employees a little heads-up.
"If you wake up tomorrow morning and notice something’s off, don’t panic. It’s all normal."
They all looked utterly confused.
"Boss, what’s that supposed to mean?"
"It doesn’t mean anything. Ahem, you’ll find out tomorrow."
At twelve o’clock midnight, the system’s chime rang out.
[Ding! Host has been detected completing the weekly mission at the specified time and place. Reward granted: Advanced Culinary Arts Manual.]
Shen Lu jumped. For a second, she thought the shop’s upgrade had finished early.
But it was just the weekly mission she had almost forgotten about.
The reward was finally something other than reputation value—it was a manual.
[Advanced Culinary Arts Manual: Upon use, user’s overall culinary skill will drastically improve, making a qualitative leap to reach the realm of a Kitchen God.]
Reading the item description, Shen Lu suddenly smiled.
’Talk about a timely blessing. If I still can’t win first place in the Kitchen King tournament after using this manual, then I’m truly a hopeless case.’
Shen Lu immediately chose to use it.
In that instant, a cool sensation drilled into her mind, melting and merging with her being.
And then... then it was gone.
Shen Lu looked down at her hands. Yep, they were still the same old pair, no different than before.
But now, whenever she thought of a dish, several different cooking methods would flood her mind. If she were to start cooking right now, Shen Lu could complete the dish flawlessly.
This completely natural feeling was different from before. It was as if her culinary skills were now etched into her very bones. She didn’t need to think deliberately; cooking was as natural as breathing.
This unprecedented sense of mastery was hard to contain. Heedless of the late hour, she went downstairs to the kitchen and decided to make stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
She had made this dish no less than a hundred times and knew every step by heart, but this time, she had a new understanding.
Unlike before, when she would hastily chop the meat and vegetables, Shen Lu started by sharpening her knife.
The kitchen knives were sharpened daily. Previously, Shen Lu had no special requirements for them; as long as they were sharp, it was fine.
That was why she had left the task to Wang Daguo.
But now, as she carefully inspected the kitchen knife in her hand, she discovered the blade wasn’t a straight line. It was warped and twisted, with nicks in some places.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Lu put the knife down and bought a slicing knife from the Mysterious Mall.
The new knife was edged, but it still needed further honing.
So Shen Lu also bought a ruby oilstone.
A ruby oilstone could create an extremely sharp edge with fine, durable blade patterns, but it required great technical skill. The user’s hand had to be incredibly steady, and the angle had to be perfectly consistent.
Shen Lu had never even heard of this kind of knowledge before, but after using the manual, it was as if it had been planted in her brain. The information would be triggered naturally whenever she touched a related item.
Shen Lu spent an hour sharpening the knife and finally produced a blade that was barely satisfactory.
She selected a prime cut of three-layered pork belly. With a single touch, Shen Lu knew exactly how many slices to cut, and with what speed and force. It was all clear in her mind.
Her knifework was as if guided by a divine hand. Slice after slice fell without the slightest pause, each piece of meat identical in thickness, lying neatly on the cutting board, awaiting the next step.
The green peppers needed to be lightly crushed, then cut on a bias. Then came the ginger, garlic, and other seasonings, all prepped and ready.
She lit the stove and heated the wok. The first step was to stir-fry the green peppers to cook off some of their moisture. Then she removed them and added oil to stir-fry the pork slices.
Ten minutes later, a dish of stir-fried pork with green peppers, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, was plated.
Gazing at the dish before her, Shen Lu smiled with a look of understanding.
"So this is what it feels like to be a Kitchen God?"
Shen Lu took a bite, and her eyes instantly went wide as saucers.
She was a college-educated woman, after all, and had even been a part-time food blogger for a while. Her vocabulary for describing delicious food should have been quite rich.
But at this very moment, only four words remained in her mind: ’Holy shit, so good!’
This stir-fried pork with green peppers was just too damn good.
Could anyone tell her why a simple, common home-style dish could bring such a fiery sense of pleasure?
It was like a smoking hot girl with a killer body pulling you in for a deep, passionate kiss.