Chapter 84: Chapter 84 [100 PS]
After a moment, Xiangling came out of the kitchen carrying a clay pot and placed it on the table.
Yaoyao looked at her and asked: "Senior, what happened just now?"
Xiangling's expression was somewhat helpless as she said: "It was Guoba again. I put the food box by the stove, and when I wasn't paying attention while cooking, he ate all the mooncakes inside. I'm sorry, Mr. Xia..."
Xia Zhi shook his head and said with a smile: "It's fine. For a chef, having someone unable to resist stealing your food is actually a high form of praise. I'm happy to see that Guoba liked my mooncakes so much."
"Those mooncakes... were made by you personally, Mr. Xia?"
"Yes, basically, though everyone helped."
"Ah, if I had known, I would have tried them first! I've always wanted to taste Mr. Xia's cooking!"
"Yaoyao reminded Senior, but Senior didn't listen to Yaoyao!"
"Yaoyao didn't explain clearly, how was I supposed to know..."
Xia Zhi waved his hand and said: "It's alright, Miss Xiangling. We made many mooncakes this morning. When you come for dinner tonight, we'll bring another box for you. They're just pastries, no need to worry about it... Is this the new dish you created today?"
"Yes!"
As she spoke, Xiangling lifted the lid of the clay pot, and steam rose from within.
"The aroma is very fresh. Shrimp, perhaps?"
"Yes, it's braised shrimp. To match the 'Food and Mountains' theme, I also added some mountain delicacies. Please try it, Mr. Xia, and give me your feedback!"
"Alright."
Xia Zhi picked up his chopsticks and tasted it. Compared to yesterday's "Mushroom Stewed Fish," today's "Mushroom Stewed Shrimp" had a more harmonious flavor.
He could also taste a hint of mint's coolness in the shrimp meat, showing that Xiangling had applied the spice knowledge he taught her yesterday.
Xia Zhi put down his chopsticks and nodded: "The taste is quite good. The clay pot has blended all the ingredients' flavors together, and the soup is rich—it would be delicious over rice."
"Are there any areas for improvement?"
"Yes, there are. Compared to fish, shrimp meat is more tender and elastic. If stewed too long, it becomes tough and loses its original characteristics. You could shorten the cooking time a bit and add the shrimp later. For the umami flavor, you can use shrimp shells and heads to make the base, or add some fish balls."
"That's right!"
"As for the mountain delicacies, some modifications could be made..."
With [Culinary Mastery], Xia Zhi's advice today was much more detailed, covering not just spices but also ingredient selection, processing techniques, and even cooking timing.
Xia Zhi wasn't just giving pointers anymore—he was creating a completely new recipe based on Xiangling's ideas.
The more Xiangling listened, the brighter her eyes became, and her gaze toward Xia Zhi grew more admiring.
As for the other three girls at the table who weren't very good at cooking, they didn't share Xiangling's deep appreciation.
After all, since the boss could casually make such delicious mooncakes, creating a new dish would be simple for him—nothing surprising about that.
"That's basically everything. Miss Xiangling, is there anything else you don't understand?"
"No, thank you for your guidance, Mr. Xia! I'll go try again right away!"
"Mm."
Xia Zhi "watched" as Xiangling eagerly ran back to the kitchen, feeling a bit of anticipation.
The dish he had just taught Xiangling wasn't an ordinary recipe, but a glowing recipe.
Treasure Mountain Flying Dragon Pot.
This glowing recipe came from a manga in his original world, with mountain delicacies and lobster as the main ingredients, very similar to the ingredients in the clay pot on the table.
Although Xia Zhi only remembered the general plot, with his [Culinary Mastery] knowledge, he easily derived a similar recipe.
If he cooked it himself, it would definitely glow like the mooncakes from this morning.
Teaching it to Xiangling was partly to help her—he had seen how hard this cooking-loving girl worked.
On the other hand, he also wanted to see if others could make glowing dishes with a glowing recipe.
Xia Zhi picked up his chopsticks and said: "Let's eat together. The clay pot won't taste good when it's cold."
Zhu Zi looked troubled: "Boss, I can't eat anymore."
Shenhe shook her head: "Me neither."
Yaoyao picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of white shrimp meat, forced herself to swallow it, then put down her chopsticks, saying embarrassedly: "How strange, even though it's delicious, I feel like I can't eat anymore."
"Yaoyao, how many mooncakes did you eat this morning?"
"Two pieces, one that Yaoyao made herself, and one that big brother made."
"Two pieces isn't much, but Yaoyao, you're a child with a small appetite. It's okay, don't force yourself if you can't eat."
"Yaoyao thinks it's because big brother's mooncakes were too delicious, that's why Yaoyao has no appetite now."
"Yes, I think so too."
"Zhu Zi, you're just too full—you were hiccupping earlier."
"Ugh..."
"Since none of you are eating, I'll eat by myself."
"Boss, let me serve you!"
Zhu Zi immediately stood up and thoughtfully scooped a small bowl for him with a spoon, placing it in front of him.
"Thank you."
Look at that! Miss Zhu Zi is so gentle! This is what it means to take care of someone! Miss Shenhe only knows how to talk—she still needs to learn about actual care!
Xia Zhi nodded, feeling that giving Zhu Zi two free massages had paid off, and lowered his head to eat slowly.
The three girls at the table didn't speak, just sat there quietly watching him eat.
It felt strange.
Fortunately, he was blind and couldn't see them.
Xia Zhi maintained a natural expression as he finished the small bowl of braised shrimp and put down his chopsticks.
"Boss, shall I serve you another bowl?"
"Not now, I still need to taste Miss Xiangling's dish later."
"Oh."
After chatting idly for a while, Xiangling excitedly came out of the kitchen carrying another clay pot.
"It's done! It's done! Mr. Xia!"
"Careful, take it slow."
Xiangling put the clay pot on the table and lifted the lid.
Xia Zhi "stared" at the clay pot.
Steam rose from the pot, the aroma more fragrant than the previous pot, but there was no sign of glowing.
It seemed only he could make glowing dishes.
Even if others perfectly copied his steps without the slightest deviation, they couldn't make glowing dishes.
This should be a characteristic of [Culinary Mastery].
No, characteristics only appeared in golden-quality items.
Like [Blazing Incense Burner], its characteristic was "fusion," which could forcibly fuse ingredients together in a certain way, making them more powerful.
[Culinary Mastery] was only silver quality, so this "glowing" effect probably couldn't be considered a characteristic yet—only a semi-characteristic.
Just like the "keen sense of smell" provided by [Spice Mastery].
As Xia Zhi thought about this, he suddenly remembered another mastery skill he had.
[Massage Mastery].
He had acquired this skill at the same time as [Spice Mastery], but had used it only a handful of times.
Apart from massaging himself a few times, he had only massaged Zhu Zi twice.
He wondered what semi-characteristic [Massage Mastery] would bring?
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