I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 758 - 336: Two Different Ways to Make Ginger Duck! All Efforts for a Coincidental Encounter! [Seeking Monthly Ticket]_2
Shu Yun laughed and said, "Seeing how eager you are, if they don’t match your taste, are you going to change your aesthetic?"
As she spoke, she took a shoe box out of the cabinet.
As soon as it was placed on the service counter, Chen Yan couldn’t wait to open it.
Inside, there was no note or love letter, just a pair of knit casual shoes with a hint of pink. The shoes were a flat style, giving off a very capable vibe.
Picking them up, they felt light, and the soles were soft.
"These shoes are..."
The Master’s student from the Chinese department was so overjoyed she was momentarily speechless before finally saying, "These shoes would look a bit childish on an eighteen or nineteen-year-old, but they’re perfect for me... It’s like they were bought specifically for my taste."
Shen Baobao, who had come downstairs to join the fun, chimed in playfully, "You two should get married on the spot!"
Hmph, hmph. Whatever you said about me back then, I’m giving it right back to you now.
After looking, Chen Yan didn’t immediately try on the shoes. Instead, she gently placed them back in the box and closed the lid.
"Why not try them on? What, afraid your smelly feet will knock us out if you take off your shoes?"
Chen Yan, ignoring her cousin’s teasing, said, "I’m planning to go back, take a shower, and change into new socks before I try them."
"Tch, so dramatic!"
After putting the shoe box back into the cabinet, Chen Yan turned around and scooped Dundun into her arms. "Little Dundun, did you miss your Auntie? Auntie brought you a special gift this time, you know!"
Dundun, who had been struggling, immediately calmed down upon hearing about a gift.
Holding Dundun, Chen Yan reached into her bag and fished around, finally pulling out a small animal woven from straw. However, the animal was rather abstract, and no one could tell what it was.
"Ta-da! Look! This is a little kitty Auntie spent two days learning to make with a grass-weaving master. See how much it looks like you?"
Everyone: ??????
That master who taught you grass weaving... was he a descendant of Picasso?
Dundun, who had been full of anticipation, immediately wriggled out of Chen Yan’s arms and darted into his little house after seeing the straw-woven "cat."
You can insult my feline dignity, but you can’t insult my intelligence!
You’d have to be blind to see this as a cat!
Shu Yun curiously asked, "Manager Chen, did the master who taught you make them like this too?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Just as she was speaking, Wu Kexin walked over holding a small, straw-woven cat. This one was exquisitely crafted, looking remarkably lifelike and even a little chubby.
"Dundun, look what a great gift I brought you! I bought this from a grass-weaving master. It cost me several hundred yuan!"
Everyone looked at the little cat in Wu Kexin’s hands, then at the "Slime" in Chen Yan’s.
It seemed the master’s skills were not the issue.
The issue lay with a certain thirty-year-old auntie.
Dundun peeked his head out of his little house and licked the back of Wu Kexin’s hand.
Clearly, Lord Dundun was very satisfied with this gift, especially when contrasted with the other similar ’gift’, which made this one seem all the more precious.
Zeng Xiaoqi looked at Chen Yan with a perplexed expression and asked, "Did you prepare this kind of gift for your police officer too?"
"No, I got him a shaver from the airport duty-free shop... What kind of aesthetic sense do you all have anyway? I think it’s quite pretty. Forget it, I won’t discuss these things with you art novices."
Manager Chen sheepishly put her woven "Slime" back into her bag and said to Shen Baobao, "Hurry up and tell your man to bring out the food. This young lady is starving!"
Zeng Xiaoqi quietly reminded her, "Eat a little less. We’re having Drunken Crab and Ginger Duck this afternoon."
"Drunken Crab? That’s my absolute favorite! When I was studying at Fudan, I craved this dish the most, especially the way the local aunties in Shanghai make it. Theirs tastes simply divine! Thanks for the reminder. I definitely need to eat less for lunch; I can’t miss out on tonight’s feast."
At a nearby dining table, Panda and Yue Liyue were tasting the roasted chicken and other marinated dishes that had just been served.
The dishes from the main kitchen still needed preparation, so for now, they could only serve some marinated appetizers to tide everyone over.
Yue Liyue said, "When I heard ’roasted chicken,’ I thought it was the crispy kind made using the roasted duck and Roasted Goose method from the Lingnan Region. I didn’t expect it to be marinated fried chicken..."
One drawback of such a vast and resource-rich country is the lack of uniformity in dish names.
The same name for a dish can mean different tastes and flavors in different places.
Cantonese roasted meats are a prime example.
They differ significantly from Northern roasted chicken and roast duck.
And in various parts of the South, cured meats and sausages, though often sharing the same name, are prepared differently from region to region.
Some are smoked, some are air-dried, and some are sun-dried. Some are only salted, while others include Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers. The same name can refer to vastly different preparation methods.
Yue Liyue’s roommate asked, "Enough about the name, just tell us: is it good or not?"
"It’s delicious, very tasty."
"Then hurry up and eat. We have to get back and catch up on work later. After a week off, escaping singledom feels like an unrealistic fantasy. Making money is much more practical."
"Same here. I’m not interested in romance right now; I just want to make money."
"The main thing is, the second half of the year is terrible for dating—too many holidays! National Day just ended, Christmas is right around the corner, then New Year’s Day, then Spring Festival, followed by the Lantern Festival and Valentine’s Day... Think of all the gifts you’d have to buy!"
During their trip, while lounging on haystacks on the Hulunbuir grasslands, they’d calculated the cost of dating.
They realized that even though they earned tens of thousands a month, dating wasn’t easy for them.
