Editor: ASplashOfMusic
Huang WeiHe wasn’t like Cui QiChao who knew about the various types of water spinach. In his mind, water spinach grown using hydroponics and water spinach grown on dry land tasted quite different from one another. Other than that, water spinach could be categorized based on their place of production.
However, Huang WeiHe had never tasted such a flavour, whether it was abroad or within the country. This included the places whose climate was said to be very suitable for cultivating water spinach.
Driven by hunger and influenced by the students next to him, he didn’t even take the time to greet his other familiar classmates before picking up a big chopstick-full of food and stuffing it into his mouth.
This tasted much better than he had imagined!
To get to taste such natural freshness was too rare. The spinach’s branches were crisp, its leaves were tender and delicious, the fermented bean curd tasted just about right, and the overall flavor wasn’t too salty. Never had he thought that a vegetable dish could be this tempting to him. After all, he normally preferred to eat meat.
Cooking water spinach was extremely simple. This dish filled with southern flair was also simple. But if one observed the vegetables carefully, one could see that the leaves still kept their vibrant green hue. The vegetables were bright but not greasy, which was a rare sight in such dishes.
What was even rarer was the taste of the water spinach. After all, this simple cooking method could preserve the ingredients’ original flavors to the greatest extent. It only used a small amount of other ingredients to improve the taste. Even though Huang WeiHe had been working in the media industry for many years, even he found it difficult to find a suitable sentence to describe the delicate flavor at that instant.
As he chewed the spinach between his teeth, he could feel the crispness of the stem, the tenderness of the leaves, the special salty aroma of fermented bean curd, and the strong aroma of minced garlic. Such deliciousness filled one with vitality.
Huang WeiHe basically followed one mouthful with another in quick succession. It was only until he finished all the water spinach that he began to taste the other dishes, after his appetite had greatly improved.
Without exception, the dish his other classmates wiped out first was the water spinach. After they also tasted the dish, they began picking up chopsticks after chopsticks of the vegetable.
When Xiao He saw this, he grew a little proud and said, “Well, hasn’t it really changed? This water spinach was planted on the hill at the back. The first canteen’s Boss Cui personally supervised and even planted it. I heard that he studied finance when he was studying abroad and that he was a top student.”
Everyone froze for a moment. “Are the two related?”
“…Maybe not.” Xiao He scratched his head. “I just heard the people in the canteen say that. It’s probably just to say that he takes everything seriously. I heard that Boss Cui determines the daily amount of water used for the crops after he’s observed the situation.”
“Now that you put it that way, I suddenly understand why it’s so delicious and delicately taken care of.”
And it wasn’t just a gimmick at all. The careful manner in which the vegetables were cultivated matched its taste.
Huang WeiHe also tried out the other dishes. He ate the stir-fried meat with green peppers and the towel gourd and eggs. They were also very tasty. Even if he had only eaten one of the dishes before him, he would still be shocked by today’s trip to the canteen. However, compared with water spinach, the other dishes had its shortcomings.
If Xiao He was right, then President Cui’s nephew was really an expert. The difference between these dishes was likely the quality of the raw ingredients. Assuming that the dishes were cooked with similar levels of expertise, the water spinach dish was able to achieve an overwhelming success because of its excellent ingredients.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
At first, when everyone observed the areas situated near the canteen, they all just thought that someone started to grow vegetables within the campus for fun. But now, everything had changed. If all those planted vegetables were of this quality, it would be enough to supply first-class restaurants!
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Was President Cui’s nephew really here just for the sake of having fun?
Huang WeiHe was so surprised that he asked Xiao He to scoop another portion of water spinach for him. He had been so hungry just now that he forgot to take photos. Besides, who knew when President Cui’s nephew would stop fooling around? When that time did come, where would he head to for such delicious food?
It was only until he felt bloated that Huang WeiHe was finally done eating.
That evening, while they were having dinner with their teachers, they were all obsessed with the canteen and couldn’t help but talk about it. “We ate lunch earlier in the first canteen. I heard it was opened by President Cui’s nephew?”
Several old professors immediately joined in the discussion.
“No, I heard that XiaoCui faced too much pressure when he had been studying abroad that he ended up having some psychological problems. So, he came to the school to relax.”
“He does things seriously and reliably. When he came, he immediately improved the quality of the food served in the canteen. Their business is so good that they forced several of the other canteens to improve too.”
“My ol’ partner now always brings back some chili oil every night from the first canteen’s dependents’ area. It stimulates our appetite.”
“My daughter took my card to swipe earlier today. She got a portion of the water spinach at noon and brought it back. Don’t even mention how it tasted.” The professor pointed at the water spinach on the table and said, “This dish is grass compared with the one from the first canteen. I think this one’s a little smellier.”
They normally wouldn’t notice anything when they ate such a dish. But with comparison, the people who ate it and carefully mulled over it would realize that this might be true. The standard between ordinary vegetables and the first canteen’s was too big.
Huang WeiHe laughed. “So all the teachers also like it very much. If we had known about this earlier, we would have rendezvoused at the first canteen for dinner.”
“Hahahahaha!” The professor gave serious thought to it. “If we head there at this time, the dishes would have all been sold out.”
After the professor was done speaking, the group grew silent for about two seconds, feeling the matter to be such a pity.
After returning home, Huang WeiHe turned on his computer and wrote a long Wechat post regarding his visit to his alma mater to meet with his teachers. He introduced the first canteen, recounted its past, and then boasted about it.
He didn’t have to write his own articles nowadays. However, he was greatly inspired today. He described the taste of the fermented bean curd and the water spinach in detail and compared them with the water spinach he ate in the evening. He also vaguely revealed that the self-grown delicious vegetables were delicious because the boss was a talented, rich, and idle man who took good care of them and that that was why every praise he gave was absolutely not hollow.
Huang WeiHe had graduated from C University and had worked in the We-media industry for such a long time. His writing style could be considered quite good. He also had a group of fans, including peers, who paid close attention to his account. In the middle of the night, the people reading the post first started off in laughter. But by the end of it, they were howling in hunger.
“Why write in such detail?!”
“Is this just an exaggeration? I suddenly want to rush to Nanhai city to eat the best water spinach…”
“We can’t go there. Didn’t you read that Teacher Huang said we have to swipe a campus card to buy in the canteen?”
“Is it better than the water spinach in Xihe city? We’ve had a lot of food variety shows reporting about our garlic and water spinach.”
“I’m hungry, so hungry after reading it. It was because of a post written about CU’s canteen dishes that year that I began following Teacher Huang. I didn’t expect that notorious canteen food that was deemed the absolute worst to make such a big change. Is it now charging toward the other opposite end of the spectrum?”
“Ol’ Huang’s taste should be absolutely trusted. I’m near Nanhai city. I’ll find a chance to go!”
“It’s really the first canteen. My classmate shared a video with me. The number of people queuing up in the first canteen was more than in the Forest of Taste. At that time, I thought I had remembered it incorrectly, that it’s definitely not that first canteen.”
Of course, Huang WeiHe’s boasting post that he wrote as a drunk wouldn’t cause much of a buzz. He only received a strong response from his followers because the descriptions he wrote were really vivid. On second thought, many people would think that this might simply be the top dishes a canteen could produce and that much of it was just exaggeration by the media personnel.
However, some of Huang WeiHe’s peers, especially those who created We-media gourmet content, grew a little curious. After all, they were familiar with Huang WeiHe’s commentary style.
That was to say, this article written that night had laid the foundation for the first canteen’s future rise to fame.
.
Standing on the balcony, Cui QiChao watered the pepper, onion, and garlic he had planted there. When he finished watering them, he called out, “XiaoBai!”
After waiting for a while and getting no response, Cui QiChao called out, “XiaoBai.”
This time, there was a slight sense of threat in his tone.
About three seconds later, XiaoBai ran from the other end of the house and squatted in front of Cui QiChao.
“Put the kettle away.” Cui QiChao handed the kettle to XiaoBai. XiaoBai opened his jaw and held the handle of the kettle in his mouth, eyes drooping and looking depressed. It ran off to put the kettle back to its original position.
It was evident that Cui QiChao could do it himself. It was just that he wanted to hand the task over to XiaoBai. The reason for this was:
“Don’t shepherd cats like interaction? If I don’t regularly hand XiaoBai some tasks, what if XiaoBai gets psychological problems?”
XiaoBai looked at Cui QiChao’s good-looking and cold face. Then with psychological problems, it let out a meow.
Cui QiChao sat on the sofa. XiaoBai, who was done placing the kettle down, walked over and looked up to smell the strawberries on the short table, all of which were big and sweet. Cui QiChao had individually picked them. The little white cat’s eyes darted around, and its tongue rolled up to lick its pink nose from time to time, as if it was drooling for the food.
“What should you do if you want to eat strawberries?” asked Cui QiChao coldly.
XiaoBai turned its head and placed its hand on Cui QiChao’s calf. “Meow, meow, meow.”
Cui QiChao said, “Wrong. What should you do?”
Bearing the humiliation, XiaoBai sat up and shakily clasped its two hands together.
“Good cat. I’ll reward you with one.” Cui QiChao fed the strawberry to XiaoBai. XiaoBai was slightly arrogant and unwilling to eat them on the ground. It used Cui QiChao’s hand as support to nibble the entirety of the strawberry. Strawberry juice dripped all over his hand.
Cui QiChao shot a glance at XiaoBai and said nothing. He wiped his hand clean with a paper towel.
As soon as XiaoBai finished eating, it would jump away. After all, if it stayed by Cui QiChao’s side, it wouldn’t know when Cui QiChao would start training the cat again on a whim.
At this time, Cui QiChao’s mobile phone, which was normally silent, rang. A message came from the animal hospital he visited last time. As he looked at it, Cui QiChao read it out loud, “Hello, it is our hospital’s 20-year anniversary. We recently began offering some discounts and activities. After discount, the cat sterilization package only costs XXX (male) / xxx (female) RMB, and you will be given a free high-class Elizabethan collar as a gift. This is the first time we’ve offered such a large promotion, and it will remain effective for one year. Parents can consider participating…”
An unreadable smile appeared on Cui QiChao’s face. “This discount is quite significant. Should we take up on it?”
The author has something to say:
Good news, good news, the animal hospital sterilization package is on sale…
PS: This chapter was accidentally released yesterday. It’s now unlocked.
I have to go out today, so I posted a chapter earlier. Usually, I post it at about eight o’clock. Muah, muah.
T/N: I feel like I’m translating porn every time I’m translating ILF… but in a way, it’s true because I’m translating food porn.
Thanks for the update (≧▽≦)
I wonder how XiaoBai will avoid sterilization 🤣🤣
Save XiaoBai!
Thanks for the chapter! 💕
Thanks for the chapter
dang isn’t he like raising a kid than a cat?
big strawberries are overrated.
actually, scrap that. those strawberries that companies grow specifically to look big and appealing are overrated. perhaps the good strawberries that have a taste can grow big with cui qichao’s bloodline. but big strawberries at the grocery store are overrated. i say this because one summer, the stars aligned and the whole family went strawberry picking. it was amazing.
thanks for the chapter! ♡
even if xiaobai gets sterilized this life, he can still get revenge later… (∕•∕ω∕•∕ ∕) unless it doesn’t work like that? idk
When the t/n had the word porn my heart skipped a beat but then food porn popped up my mind went, ‘oh thank god’ cause I am into a lot of shit but bestiality is not one of them.
Little white, I shiver for you
silently lights a candle for our cute cat ml
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
Thanks for the chapter! <3
I really really really want to get discount on quality sterilization for cats _(:3」∠)
💜💜
Xiao Bai: …resentfully looks at Cui QiChao… Meow.
Cui QiChao: flicks Xiao Bai’s forehead and smiles coldly… Come now, Xiao Bai, you can do these tricks easily, right?
Many chapters later….
(Human) Xiao Bai: smiles gently… Who said you’re going to sleep tonight?
Cui QiChao: raises an eyebrow… Heeeh…
I love farming
Rip gong XiaoBai
The treatment of the cat… is a bit too much ‘sigh~’ even for a none cat lover like me. Cats are sweet graceful and elegant little felines, not loud and boorish dogs that should be trained to behave properly all the time and yet… the MC ‘sighs’ I really want to break open the author’s head and see what’s inside.. 👀🤔
😂🤤😂🤤😂😄 I’m pretty sure I’m here for the food and the cat’s internal monologue at this point
+1 😂
I’m actually feeling pity for XiaoBai 😂
XiaoBai’s life is pitiful 😅😅
Cui qichao and xiaobai interaction make me a little bit depressed :'(
Is there a need to be so harsh to a little furry baby?
i think this cat is human or like an alive ai ??? so it’s probably gonna freak out