Chapter 983: Chapter 410: It’s Getting Cold, Time to Eat More Collagen-Rich Dishes!

This isn’t her fearmongering for nothing; she’s just seen too many people who’ll do anything for fame, so she has to stay on guard.

She picked up a meat roll, brought it to her mouth and took a bite. The crispy texture and the meat filling inside made the pan-fried meat roll much tastier than a regular one.

Especially that charred crust on the bottom—eating it for no reason just puts you in a great mood.

And if there happens to be some filling right next to that char, then the flavor is even more incredible, giving you the illusion that you’re eating grilled meat.

Two bites of meat roll, then a handful of corn grits soup—one sip, and the rich aroma mixed with corn’s unique sweetness. Swallow it down piping hot, and the early winter chill is driven clean away.

Shen Baobao used her chopsticks to pick up a bit of fermented watermelon and soybeans and smear it on the meat roll, then chomped down hard.

The sauce fragrance made the meat roll taste even better. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"I’ve realized the fermented watermelon and soybeans Mom brought are so versatile. No matter how you eat it, it goes great with rice."

Lin Xu said with a smile:

"When we finish it, we’ll have Mom mail some more over."

"Mhm, that’s exactly what I was planning."

After the meal, Shen Baobao went upstairs to put on her skincare. When she changed clothes and came back down, she pointed at her own cheek and said:

"Xu-bao, I feel like my skin’s gotten a tiny bit rougher..."

"Where? Looks the same to me as before."

"You can’t see it, but I can feel it’s just a little rough... Can you make some dishes rich in collagen to fix me up? Must be I didn’t protect against the cold properly lately."

It’s because you’ve been staying up late watching anime for months, isn’t it?

Lin Xu didn’t have the heart to expose her and just nodded.

"Sure. I’ll go back to the shop today and do some research. Tonight I’ll make you something that replenishes collagen."

"Thanks, hubby. Make more, okay? Yan Bao and Mom will definitely fight me for it. You gotta make their share too... No, you gotta make some for Director Zeng, Sister Yuanyuan, and Sister Shu Yun and Sister Jing... Wow, just so no one fights with me over it, we actually have to help that many people repair their skin together."

Lin Xu smiled:

"No problem, I can do a whole pot in one go."

For collagen, Pork Skin will do; that’s standard stock at the shop.

Happens to be that his father-in-law wanted pork, sauerkraut, and glass noodles stew today anyway; he could toss some Pork Skin in while he was at it—best of both worlds.

After tidying up the kitchen, Lin Xu got changed, picked up Dundun, and went out with Shen Baobao. They took the elevator downstairs—one drove to the restaurant, the other went straight to the stadium hosting the car show.

A little after ten in the morning.

The prep work at the restaurant was basically done. Just as everyone was getting ready for lunch, Old Huang came upstairs carrying a bag.

"Brother Lin, I’ve got something good here. You want it or not?"

Something good?

Lin Xu asked curiously:

"What is it? Don’t tell me you got your hands on some kind of protected wildlife."

"I wouldn’t dare. I’ve got some ready-soaked dried sea cucumber here, you want it?"

Ready-soaked dried sea cucumber?

Lin Xu opened the bag and took a look. Inside were a bunch of sea cucumbers already plumped up, very full—even a bit overly full.

If he wasn’t mistaken, these sea cucumbers were over-soaked.

Dried sea cucumber needs to be soaked and revived for four or five days before use.

You rehydrate it so the sea cucumber returns to its pre-drying state.

Compared to fresh sea cucumber, dried sea cucumber that’s been revived has a softer, denser texture with a stronger gelatinous feel.

But the quality of pre-soaked sea cucumbers nowadays is all over the place. If you’re not an insider, it’s easy to get scammed.

Looking at these sea cucumbers, Lin Xu asked curiously:

"Where’d you pick these up?"

"Ah, don’t even mention it. A restaurant ordered them from me, said they were hosting an overseas tour group. Then the guests postponed, and the dishes they’d prepared to rip off the foreign tourists at high prices went to waste, so they sold them to me cheap. You want them? If you do, I won’t charge anything—just let me eat with you once."

Then Old Huang leaned in mysteriously to Lin Xu’s ear and added in a whisper:

"I heard this stuff is pretty good for, you know, that aspect."

After he finished, Old Huang patted Lin Xu’s shoulder lightly.

Looking exactly like a fellow patient discussing conditions with another patient.

Lin Xu wanted to argue, but the more he thought about it, the weaker it sounded, so he could only say helplessly:

"In that case, I’ll make something with it. The shop just made some abalone sauce yesterday, hasn’t been used yet. Tonight let’s do Braised Abalone with Sea Cucumber."

"Great! Then these sea cucumbers count as tonight’s meal money for me... Oh, by the way, is there free food at the car show today? I missed it yesterday and regretted it half the night."

It was just a Western meal. Was it really that serious?

Lin Xu chuckled:

"I don’t think they’ve got it today. If you want to eat something, just say it. I’ll have the shop make it for you; it’s no trouble."

Old Huang leaned in to his ear again and lowered his voice:

"I want to try that Beef Tartare. When Old Xie mentioned it in the group yesterday, it hit me—foreigners like eating raw meat, so they’re tough. We can also learn from the foreigners’ strong points to beat them, right?"

Beat the foreigners?

You planning to take down some foreign babes too?

That said, eating raw meat is relatively good for your health.

Lin Xu was just about to say he couldn’t when the system notification suddenly sounded in his head:

"Host has first contact with Western cuisine, triggering side quest [Beef Tartare]: Please create a Beef Tartare within ten days with a rating of no lower than Superior. Upon completion, you will receive one Perfect Level Western Cuisine lottery draw."

Western cuisine?

I haven’t even fully figured out Chinese food yet.

You sure think highly of me, huh?

Why did the system suddenly give me this kind of quest?

Because it sympathizes with Old Huang’s kidney deficiency?

That can’t be right. There’s no reason for Old Huang to get special treatment from the system.

He thought carefully about what Old Huang had just said.

Suddenly, a useful clue popped into his mind:

[Foreign tour group]

Found the root.

It must be that postponed foreign tour group.

In that case, might as well give it a try.

Lin Xu took the bag of sea cucumbers back into the kitchen, poured them out and examined them carefully. The quality really was pretty average—the go-to ingredient for domestic restaurants to fleece foreigners.

But average quality doesn’t mean inedible.

Braise them in abalone sauce and it’s still a top-class dish!

With that thought, he picked up a pair of scissors and started cleaning the sea cucumbers...

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Last month’s Monthly Ticket count actually didn’t reach 5,000, it was around 4,760. But if I don’t say it and you don’t say it, outsiders won’t know. It just happens to give new authors some encouragement—if this flop of a book can get five thousand Monthly Tickets, won’t that give them more confidence? This Chapter is 5,100 words, asking for Monthly Tickets, brothers!