Chapter 430: Chapter 342: Farm Inspection, Unexpected Ingredients

When he saw that incredibly familiar silhouette, he froze in place.

George scratched his cheek, suddenly at a loss for what to do.

"Darling, how about we just go play?"

Marian’s inquisitive gaze fell on her son.

Even though she often instilled a mindset of spiritual victory in her son, in reality, she didn’t think he had much chance.

The difficulty of dating entirely depends on how interested the girl is in the boy. If a girl is curious about a guy, you don’t even need to chase; just spend some time together naturally, and it can happen.

And if a girl isn’t interested, or has lost interest, in ninety percent of cases, you should just give up.

No need to waste time and energy.

The main reason she didn’t convince her son to give up is that she was afraid he’d get upset.

The original plan was to take him to the farm to clear his mind, because Helena works at the restaurant over there, and her daughter definitely would be there too. Theoretically, as long as they stay away from the restaurant area, they wouldn’t run into Lisa.

But as luck would have it, she also came to the farm to have fun, and got there even earlier than them.

Such a fateful entanglement!

Richard’s expression changed, hesitated for a moment, but then walked forward steadily as if he didn’t care about Lisa’s presence.

With each step, his figure became more upright.

After ten steps, he no longer appeared indecisive, and his entire demeanor radiated confidence.

"Huh?"

Lin Chen, who was preparing to fish out some meatballs, noticed someone approaching and looked up, a trace of astonishment flashing in his eyes.

"Wow, these two kids really have fate; they sit together in class and bump into each other during weekend outings?"

"If this were in Great Xia, it’d be considered destined by fate."

Lisa sensed something and turned back, her delicate face immediately darkening.

But before she could say anything, Richard walked straight past her and stood at the truck window, looking up at Lin Chen.

"Good morning, Chef Lin, long time no see. May I place an order now?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the menu beside him, then at the three large pots in front of Lin Chen and the piles of meatballs in several metal basins on the table next to them, his face lighting up with delight.

"Certainly, how much would you like?"

"Fifty of each kind of meatball? That should be enough."

"Uh..."

Nagishiro Sho had never seen such a scene before, sweat immediately breaking out on his forehead.

This is food from a food truck; who buys a hundred and fifty portions at once?

Is there something wrong?

Who knew Lin Chen would contemplate for a moment, then nod: "That’s about right, but since you’ve come to the farm, why not pick some fresh fruits and vegetables? My way of making meatballs is simple; no need to buy so many to take back. Have your mom come over and I’ll teach her how to make them."

"Alright, Ms. Marian! Come over here quickly!"

As Marian and her family left with boxes full of meatballs, Lisa was still in a daze.

Richard, that guy, didn’t say a word to her from start to finish?

Did he consider her air?

She usually found him a bit annoying and didn’t want to pay him any attention.

But after all this time, she had gotten used to having a pesky fly buzzing around.

Now the fly suddenly stopped buzzing, completely ignoring her existence, which made Lisa feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Hmm, this brat, playing tricks on me? Just wait and see who outlasts whom!"

She wasn’t a fool; she seriously suspected he did this on purpose, crinkling her little nose and secretly determined not to care about him either.

As familiar faces gradually disappeared into the depths of the farm, Lin Chen began to check the inventory.

Due to Marian’s family showing up, the originally very limited stock was almost entirely depleted.

The remaining stock roughly estimated could make about fifty more meatballs of each kind.

That’s roughly enough for one wave of customers, maybe not even sufficient.

"How about it, should we restock or not?"

"No restocking, sell out and close up."

Lin Chen shook his head, ultimately deciding that not extending the stall time was the safest option.

Later, he would take time to exchange culinary insights with Chef Raphael; if lucky, he might encounter guests who had reserved for dinner. If he could learn about their preferences in advance, he might even make dinner for them right here.

Should they need that.

Although recent income hadn’t been calculated yet, it was definitely way more than what he earned during the first week.

Anyway, he didn’t have much to spend money on; if everything was sent back to his home country, he could probably pay off most of his debts.

Not exaggerating, at least 80% for sure.

The rest could be covered by working for another week or so.

Everything was moving in a positive direction, and he had come to terms with it; there was no need to exhaust himself.

In life, besides work, there are many things to enjoy.

He is even considering, once the family’s medical debts are fully repaid, saving up a bit to perhaps travel around Europe, fulfilling the casual dream Lucas once mentioned.

As for the restaurant, well, just hire more people.

Haven’t you seen Nagishiro Shoh and Marchello, these two head chefs, running around frequently? Now even Chef Raphael has left the restaurant to come here.

So as the head chef of this restaurant, after training a qualified team, it would be only reasonable for me to go out and explore too, right?

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. If I don’t take the opportunity while I’m young, do I really have to wait until I’m old, my legs are weak, and I’m full of ailments to go out and have fun?

You can never make all the money, but with each day you age, you should enjoy life as soon as possible!

"How about after we finish selling, we go find Raphael and check out the farm together, maybe exchange some ideas?"

"Sure, if you see something on the way that you haven’t tried but is a specialty of Great Xia, we can bring it back, and you guys can decide what to have for lunch."

With the schedule decided, Lin Chen felt a lot lighter.

He no longer had that constant feeling of a burden weighing on his shoulders, feeling lighter all over.

"No wonder everyone likes to slack off, turns out it really helps relieve stress and maintain mental and physical health!"

Half an hour later.

The two found Raphael and John wandering at the junction of the orchard and the farmland.

"Over here!"

Raphael waved at them, "Closed up shop so quickly? You wouldn’t be slacking off, would you?"

"Shall I leave then?"

"Hahaha, just kidding, don’t go, don’t go."

Even though it’s not the first time interacting with Chef Raphael outside of work, I’ve never seen him so completely relaxed.

Especially now that their statuses are almost equal, any psychological barriers have long vanished when they speak.

Learning twenty minutes in advance that Lin Chen and Nagishiro Sho were coming, Raphael decided to stop whatever he was doing and passed the time by climbing a tree and picking an apple to eat.

Instead of wandering aimlessly with John, it was better to follow Lin Chen; he’s the one who knows what unique items from Chinese cuisine are not present in Western cuisine.

Raphael enthusiastically put his arm around Lin Chen’s shoulder and pointed around.

"Shall we start with the orchard or the farmland?"

"Let’s head to the fields, there’s nothing much edible in the orchard, just leaves and bark. The only use for fruit trees is for charcoal, which adds a bit of fruit aroma to the food."

"For example, Great Xia’s most famous Beijing Roast Duck uses fruitwood, as do some restaurants in the Chaoshan area for roasted chicken, duck, and goose, and many barbecue places..."

Talking about this, Nagishiro Sho nodded in agreement and chimed in.

Their Yakitori in Japanese cuisine also uses charcoal, and they also opt for fruitwood.

Not just the two Asians, Raphael also thought of American barbecue, where sometimes fruitwood is added to the grill for its pleasant aroma.

"Alright, let’s go to the fields. I’m curious to see how peculiar Great Xia people’s food really is."

It was Raphael’s first time visiting Lin Chen here, so he wasn’t aware of what he usually made for Nagishiro Sho and Marchello in private.

The food featured in online videos was what he sold during regular stalls, which, while novel, still seemed too ordinary in terms of ingredients, just with different marinating or cooking methods.

As Lin Chen walked, he kept glancing at the crops on either side.

Although he’s been in this field for years, he could only identify some common crops; the majority of the plants in the fields he couldn’t recognize at all.

In fact, you could say that besides the farmers and agricultural researchers, most people couldn’t tell them apart.

"John!"

"Hey!"

John, leading the way up front, quickly turned his head: "What’s up?"

"What crops are around here? To avoid wandering aimlessly, you’re the most familiar with this place."

"The tall ones around us here are sesame, the shorter ones are peanuts. On the left is fruit corn, the kind you use in your shrimp balls, on the right are sweet potatoes, and ahead there’s a cucumber patch and a pumpkin patch."

This thing is actually sesame??

As Lin Chen gazed at the green plants almost as tall as himself, his interest was piqued. He reached out to pull one closer to examine it carefully.

Raphael and Nagishiro Sho also leaned in close to inspect a sesame plant, clearly having never seen fresh sesame before.

The shape of the sesame fruit was quite unique, tightly surrounding the stalk like a pagoda, while the leaves extended outward, looking almost like spindle-shaped little umbrellas.

If memory serves, sesame leaves can be eaten?

Lin Chen remembered occasionally eating this when he was a child; the aroma was quite unique, though now he had only faint recollections of it.

He casually picked a few of the more tender leaves to show the others.

"You guys can pick some too, just pick from the top, and don’t pick too many from one plant to avoid affecting their growth. Just pick a few for us to taste."

"Huh?"

Raphael and John were dumbfounded.

Sesame leaves are edible? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

In contrast, Nagishiro Sho seemed unfazed as if he already knew, quickly picking seven or eight tender leaves from nearby sesame plants.