8 Chapter 8 New Skills
Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
Although Chen Duxiu was stingy with the experience points, Jiang Feng still cooked him two dishes.
Those who had seen Sir’s cooking skills naturally didn’t think Jiang Feng’s dishes were very good.
Throughout the cooking process, the delightful “Ding, gained 10 experience points.” from the system notifications was occasionally accompanied by a “Ding, gained 1 experience point.”
Those familiar with Sir’s cooking were only lukewarm towards his dishes, and Chen Xiuxiu, who had only ever eaten Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s cooking, only reluctantly accepted his culinary skills. The beasts in the dorm were as excited every time he made rib rice with that crappy little electric cooker as if they’d found girlfriends.
Without comparison, there is no harm.
Jiang Feng felt that it was better to cook for people who didn’t know anything about it in the future.
You get more experience points that way.
Over the next few days, Jiang Feng cooked all the common types of porridge he could find online.
Sometimes he cooked too much and gave it all to Mr. Jiang Jiankang as dinner, which Mr. Jiang Jiankang ate with evident relish.
However, the results were significant. After eating three normal meals a day for several days, Chen Xiuxiu’s complexion was no longer as waxy and pale and had partly regained its color.
After finishing relatively simple porridges, Jiang Feng started to tackle the more challenging shrimp porridge.
For this porridge, he didn’t need to look for a tutorial online, as Mr. Jiang Jiankang knew how to make it.
Following Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s half-hearted remote guidance, the porridge in the pot was beginning to take shape.
“Ding, achievement gained: Not Ashamed to Ask.”
Another achievement?
He opened the attribute panel and saw the achievements section.
Achievements: Diligent Learning (no attribute bonuses)
Not Ashamed to Ask (no attribute bonuses)
Jiang Feng: …
Thanks to Chen Xiuxiu, Jiang Feng had leveled up to level 3 in the past few days, yet he hadn’t unlocked anything new, and the attribute panel had not changed. Jiang Feng even began to suspect that when he completed the side quest, the reward would change from unknown to none.
Given how stingy the game was, it was capable of such shameless actions.
After the shrimp porridge was done, Jiang Feng tasted it first. The flavor was okay, but just okay.
[A pot of shrimp porridge with incorrect ingredient proportions]
Apart from the obviously problematic tasting ones, all the other porridges read as having incorrect ingredient proportions.
What’s the correct proportion?
As a Jiang Family member with dreams and aspirations, Jiang Feng was baffled.
“Ding, Skill acquired: Cooking Porridge (Beginner).”
A skill?
Jiang Feng was surprised, he had just been thinking about how to find the right ingredient proportions, and the game had generously given him a skill.
Skills: Appraisal (Beginner): You can only gain some basic information
Cooking Porridge (Beginner): You can only grasp some correct ingredient proportions
The game was indeed interesting, giving whatever you thought of, truly living up to the adage of exploring on one’s own.
Looking back at the pot of porridge, Jiang Feng subconsciously felt something was not quite right.
The shrimp seemed to be too much, a few grams short of salt, and before cooking, he should have added half a finger’s worth of water.
Is just a beginner skill this useful?
If the skill he had gained was not Cooking Porridge (Beginner) but (Advanced)…
Wouldn’t that mean he’d be making glowing porridge!
Jiang Feng even wanted to pour out this pot of porridge and cook a new one, but considering there wasn’t enough time, he had to give up. He had finally gotten Chen Xiuxiu used to drinking porridge every day at 5:30 pm. He couldn’t let all the effort go to waste.
He had to subject Mr. Jiang Jiankang to another meal of swill, but tomorrow he’d let him taste porridge cooked at a whole new level with Cooking Porridge (Beginner).
The next day, Jiang Feng decided to start with making the preserved egg and lean meat porridge he had made in the beginning.
Chop up the preserved eggs, marinate the lean meat…
The same steps, but a completely different feeling in the preparation.
It seemed as if an invisible pair of hands was helping him measure out each ingredient, and even lighting the fire was more adept than before.
Jiang Feng stayed in the kitchen, not daring to slack off for even a moment.
There were still a dozen minutes before the dish was ready when someone knocked on the door.
Upon opening it, it was Chen Xiuxiu.
“Jiang Feng, I… Oh, are you cooking preserved egg and pork congee today?” Chen Xiuxiu’s words reached her lips but were then swallowed back.
She had just weighed herself and hadn’t lost a single pound in the past few days. She initially wanted to tell Jiang Feng not to bother bringing over congee anymore, but the scent of the preserved egg and pork congee at the door caused her to change her mind on the spot.
The congee today… seemed a bit different.
Just the smell alone made it seem exceptionally delicious.
“Did Mr. Jiang cook the congee?” Chen Xiuxiu couldn’t believe Jiang Feng could be this skilled; after all, she knew his culinary abilities—or lack thereof—from growing up with him.
“I cooked it,” Jiang Feng said proudly. “It’ll be ready in another ten minutes, how about two bowls?”
“One bowl,” Chen Xiuxiu held her ground.
“What did you come to see me for?” asked Jiang Feng.
“I… I… I came because of the smell. I thought Mr. Chen was cooking porridge,” Chen Xiuxiu did not mention her intention to stop drinking the congee.
Jiang Feng: ?
Came because of the smell?
That was quite like Chen Xiuxiu’s style from the old days.
Soon, the congee was ready.
A bowl of steaming hot preserved egg and pork congee was served up, its aroma alone being incredibly tempting.
[A bowl of preserved egg and pork congee with improper fire control]
Jiang Feng: …
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him, chilling a somewhat smug Jiang Feng to the core, from the epidermis to the dermis to the subcutaneous tissue.
This game sure had high expectations.
Chen Xiuxiu scooped up a spoonful of congee, blew on it carefully a few times, and then tasted it.
“Ding, you have earned 37 experience points.”
Comrade Chen Xiuxiu is such a good comrade!
Jiang Feng couldn’t help but sigh.
The generosity of the experience points aside, she ate at a deliberate pace, making a small bowl of congee last for over twenty sips. In contrast, Mr. Jiang Jiankang granted experience points one by one, and when it came to eating congee, he had the demeanor of someone conquering mountains and rivers, powering through half a pot in just a few gulps.
Giving experience points based on the number of mouthfuls, Mr. Jiang Jiankang’s approach was nothing short of extravagant waste!
With a bowl of congee in her stomach, Chen Xiuxiu felt a warm sensation.
“How about…”
“How about making mushroom chicken congee tomorrow?” Jiang Feng asked, recalling that it was the mushroom chicken congee that gave the highest amount of experience points in the past.
“Okay.” Chen Xiuxiu once again swallowed the words “You don’t have to go through the trouble of making congee for me anymore.”
Just one more day of indulgence, she resolved. The day after tomorrow, she definitely wouldn’t eat as much.
Chen Xiuxiu made up her mind.
Jiang Feng, oblivious to Chen Xiuxiu’s dilemma, joyfully checked his attribute panel after she went home and levelled up to level 4.
Level: 4 (0/500)
Remaining experience points: 56
Still no noticeable change.
Jiang Feng went back to the kitchen, covered the pot, set it to keep warm, and left it for Mr. Jiang Jiankang.
Poor Mr. Jiang Jiankang had been eating terrible swill for days; it was about time to let him enjoy some decent swill.
At least the ratio of ingredients was finally correct, wasn’t it?
