The steamer pot was below, hidden by the steamer basket. The only way to control the heat was by observing the steam escaping from the lid.

If the heat was too high, the fish would get tough, losing its delicate, smooth texture. If the heat was too low, the fish would turn out mushy and lack a satisfying firmness.

What truly amazed Lu Yongliang was that Su Chen had mastered the technique of steaming to such perfection at his young age.

"The heat control, you mean?" Su Chen said, leaning against the counter behind him. "Sir, why don’t you have a few more bites."

’To Su Chen, the two of them were in the same predicament he’d once been in back at the Gourmet Practice Room.’

’They clearly tasted the same, yet the system had given them different ratings.’

"There’s more to it?" Lu Yongliang was skeptical.

"Just try it again," Su Chen said, still wearing that look of absolute certainty.

Lu Yongliang dubiously picked up his chopsticks again. This time, he took a bite from his own fish.

"Hm?"

With just one bite, Lu Yongliang immediately noticed a subtle difference.

"This is..."

His expression turned serious as he eagerly took another bite of Su Chen’s fish.

"Eh?"

Then he tried his own again.

"Tsk!"

Then Su Chen’s again!

After going back and forth seven or eight times, Lu Yongliang put down his chopsticks and closed his eyes, his mouth making occasional smacking sounds.

With his discerning palate, he could clearly tell there was a difference between the two fish after a few bites. But the feeling—faint and elusive, yet right on the tip of his tongue—was as slippery as an eel, impossible to grasp.

Every time he thought he’d finally identified it, the sensation would simply vanish.

’This is so frustrating!’

’It’s driving me nuts!’

"Uncle Lu, is there really more to it?" Seeing his uncle practically tearing his hair out, Shang Mingke was starting to feel the same vexation. "Let me try again!"

’I refuse to believe it.’

’Even if the Capital City is a culinary wasteland, there are plenty of restaurants from other regions. How could my palate have become so unrefined?’

Taking a bite from each fish, Shang Mingke copied his uncle, smacking his lips thoughtfully before tasting them again.

After the two men went back and forth like this several times, less than half of the two whole fish remained.

"You know, Uncle Lu, I think I’m actually tasting something!" Shang Mingke said with conviction after several bites.

"What did you taste?"

"Yours has that classic flavor, absolutely!" Shang Mingke gave a thumbs-up. "But Boss Su’s... his is a little different."

"How is it different?" Lu Yongliang was practically dying of impatience.

’When did this kid learn to draw things out like this?’

"Well, how should I put this?" Shang Mingke was a well-educated man with a rich vocabulary. He mulled it over for a moment before speaking slowly. "In terms of deliciousness, both of your fish are excellent. They’re practically on the same level of deliciousness!"

’No kidding...’

"But Uncle Lu, your fish is missing something compared to Boss Su’s."

"What is it!"

Shang Mingke thought for another moment before saying with certainty, "It’s missing a certain flair."

"What the hell?" Lu Yongliang was dumbfounded.

’Flair? What’s that got to do with anything?’

’We’re eating fish, not visiting a brothel. What ’flair’ is there to talk about?’

"Well..." Shang Mingke also felt his choice of words was a bit off, but it was honestly how he felt. "When I eat your fish, I feel like I’m eating a very delicious fish. But when I eat Boss Su’s, I feel like I’m sitting by the riverside eating a very delicious fish!"

It sounded a bit whimsical, but that was genuinely the feeling Shang Mingke got.

Su Chen’s dish gave him a more complete sensation. The first time he’d tasted it, he wasn’t paying close attention and just thought it was delicious.

Only on the second tasting did he truly feel it.

It was the feeling of a river breeze whistling past—a beautiful sensation.

Seeing the old man’s look of utter frustration, Su Chen finally spoke up.

"Flavor. Is that the word?"

The two men looked over at him in unison. With those two words from Su Chen, that nagging, vexing feeling they’d been experiencing seemed to dissolve completely!

"Yes, yes! That’s the word! Flavor. The fish Uncle Lu made is missing a touch of that flavor," Shang Mingke said, clapping his hands in approval.

Lu Yongliang mused to himself, ’He’s right. That seems to be it. Flavor... Tsk. So intangible.’

It was one of those things that was hard to put into words.

It’s like how people use the phrase "mom’s cooking" to describe a certain dish. That "taste" is, in essence, its flavor.

Even with the exact same ingredients and cooking methods, a dish made by your mom always tastes just that little bit better than anyone else’s.

With the exception of Ling Shuyu’s mother, of course.

This time, Lu Yongliang cast aside all airs of seniority. "Boss Su, tell me, how did you achieve this kind of flavor?"

It wasn’t some grand secret, just the result of a little extra thought, so Su Chen didn’t hide it.

"The reason I used two fish was to ensure the sauce could be poured over it the very instant it finished steaming."

"You’re saying that while I was stir-frying the sauce, the fish I’d set aside was already starting to lose its flavor?" As expected of the foremost expert in Hubei Cuisine, Lu Yongliang instantly understood Su Chen’s point.

"That’s the first reason. The second is that while my knife work might have been ugly, it was to keep the fish from resting directly on the plate."

The old master had a sudden epiphany. "You mean it needs to be elevated from the liquid that collects on the plate during steaming? Otherwise, in those last few minutes, the fish ends up steeping in that water, and the flavor leaches out of the meat?"

Su Chen nodded silently.

’Just who is this old man?’ Su Chen thought. ’I just made a casual remark, and he immediately grasped the deeper reasoning behind it!’

’He had to know, it took me more than six hours of racking my brain in the Gourmet Practice Room, cooking and tasting over and over, just to figure that one detail out!’