When Li Younan completed the check-in, he finally received the long-awaited system notification.
[Check-in completed, receive random reward.]
[Cooking skill 1]
Standing at the exit of the Jinling Museum, Li Younan quietly waited for twenty or thirty seconds to digest the acquired skill.
This experience was extrely familiar to him, with countless culinary knowledge flooding his brain.
Even the thods for signature dishes in internationally renowned cuisines like Italian and French were transmitted into his mind.
It wasn’t just dry knowledge since cooking also requires muscle mory and proficiency with various kitchen tools.
At this mont, Li Younan suddenly felt an inexplicable urge, hoping there was a kitchen counter in front of him, where he could easily grab a knife—that long-missed knife.
Li Younan chuckled wryly.
In fact, he could cook a little.
When he used to live with Yang Ting, he would often cook at ho.
Although he couldn’t make anything too complicated, he was still willing to give it a try.
But thinking about it, Li Younan heaved a sigh.
Cooking for Yang Ting wasn’t a pleasant experience; every ti he served the dishes, Yang Ting would point out the flaws in them.
Initially, Li Younan had so doubts about himself.
Because before living with Yang Ting, he also cooked for his mom at ho, and each ti she would happily eat everything and praise how delicious it was.
Yang Ting’s attitude led Li Younan to wonder if his mother had been lying to him all along.
Li Younan shook these unpleasant mories out of his head and focused back on reality.
Sweetness looked at Li Younan curiously: "What are you daydreaming about?"
Li Younan snapped back to his senses, smiled, and said, "Nothing, let’s get going."
When it’s alti, they could conveniently grab a bite to eat, and while eating, Younan could send Sweetness the photos he just took for her.
Li Younan planned to grab sothing casual from a street vendor. If they wanted sothing better, they could also split the bill.
Zhu Qingyue wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea of eating.
Ever since she was a child, she never ate als cooked by her parents because as far as she could rember, they were always busy with work and had no ti to cook.
She had always eaten in the school cafeteria with her parents.
In her mory, there wasn’t a "mom’s taste" or "dad’s taste," only the unchanging flavor of cafeteria bulk als.
Later, as she got older and slightly more independent, she rely ordered food in restaurants.
Many tis, she envied those who could eat als cooked by their mothers from a young age.
The best al in her mory was at a classmate’s ho, where her classmate’s father cooked braised pork.
To this day, Zhu Qingyue rembers that the uncle was chubby and always had a kind smile on his face.
She also rembers being very, very hungry that day—a kind of hunger she hadn’t felt in many years since then.
Li Younan asked, "What do you guys want to eat?"
Sweetness thought this al wasn’t important; she wanted to finish it quickly, just fine for Younan to send her the just-taken photos during the al.
Zhu Qingyue also didn’t want anything too complicated or expensive.
At that mont, she glanced around and spotted a street stall selling stir-fried flat noodles, smiled, and said, "Let’s have that."
Li Younan took a look, and it seed just right.
Zhu Qingyue said, "I’ve been craving stir-fried flat noodles, so let’s have that."
Sweetness nodded, "I’m fine with anything... whatever!"
Seeing this, Li Younan nodded, "Alright then."
At this ti, the noodle stall hadn’t yet attracted any custors.
A cart, with two folding tables set up by the owner on the nearby ground and so small chairs, completed the stall setup.
Li Younan went to order: "Boss, three portions of stir-fried flat noodles, please."
The owner, a lean-looking middle-aged man with dark skin and a sowhat honest and kind face, was on the phone.
He looked up and gave Li Younan a slightly apologetic smile, then said into the phone, "Let’s talk about this later, I have business now."
However, the person on the other end of the line was evidently upset, and their voice was loud enough for even Li Younan nearby to hear: "Fine, if you hang up, don’t call again."
By then, the owner had already started the fire, and the eggs were in the pan. He was sowhat caught in a dilemma, showing Li Younan an apologetic smile and gesturing for his help with flipping the food.
Li Younan naturally took over the large spatula, rolled up his sleeves effortlessly.
The prepared ingredients were easy to cook.
An expert reveals their competence in a glimpse.
Seeing Li Younan’s moves, the owner, while still on the call, realized instantly that he was dealing with a cook.
Li Younan glanced at the owner, who seed stuck on the phone, and continued on his accord, adding ingredients one by one, adjusting the heat with ease, proficiently tossing the wok, flipping the food inside.
The owner’s expression was montarily stunned.
anwhile, Zhu Qingyue and Sweetness, who had just sat down for a short while, were puzzled as to why ordering food was taking so long.
Looking over, they saw Li Younan wielding a big wok, constantly stir-frying the vegetables and beef inside.
Under his tossing and flipping, the ingredients danced and tumbled like acrobats; the two of them were stunned.
Sweetness chuckled and said, "I didn’t expect him to know how to cook."
Zhu Qingyue gazed intently at Li Younan, hesitated for a mont, then stood up and silently moved to the front of the stall to watch him cook up close.
The owner of the stall also finished his call, put down his phone, and similarly didn’t take his eyes off Li Younan cooking this classic Cantonese dish—stir-fried rice noodles with beef.
Li Younan, as if ticulously drilled, managed the heat with uncanny precision.
So operational details grabbed the owner’s attention.
Li Younan added light soy sauce for freshness and dark soy sauce for color, drizzling it along the edge of the wok to release fragrance.
After the rice noodles went in, he let them sear for a few seconds before sautéing, forming a slightly charred layer, then returned the ingredients to the wok in two batches—first stir-frying the noodles to seventy percent done, setting them aside, sautéing the aromatics, and then mixing everything back, double-locking the wok’s fragrance.
Executing it all in one go, when he turned off the heat, a white plu of steam rose up, emitting a rich aroma.
This technique impressed even the owner, who had been frying rice noodles for over a decade, prompting him to ask, "Buddy, are you a fellow colleague?"
Li Younan rely smiled faintly, "No, no, just ssing around at ho."
But the owner showed a suspicious expression at Li Younan’s explanation.
From Li Younan’s level of proficiency, it seed beyond just ho cooking abilities.
Zhu Qingyue’s gaze was completely glued to the stir-fried noodles in the wok, feeling her mouth watering.
She swallowed lightly and licked her lips.
She suddenly found herself very, very hungry.
User Comments
0 comments from readers