Editor: malaysian_asian
After seeing XiaoBai escape from the insulated food jar, Cui QiChao hesitantly ate two mouthfuls of the food. His face suddenly changed and he almost spat it out, “Blergh–”
He didn’t recognize some of the ingredients used to make the dishes, and while he had a vague guess of what it would taste like based on its name, Cui QiChao found himself agreeing with the use of the term “exotic mix of ingredients” as described in the feedback.
This kind of blend was too unrestrained. The chefs completely tossed any thought of compatibility aside and even the seasoning seemed carelessly added. The only sensibility contained in these dishes was the extra meat stuffed in due to his status of being their boss, but even that couldn’t change the main issue.
It still tasted shockingly awful.
Due to his bloodline, Cui QiChao had a natural closeness to these plants. He held an understanding of their characteristics, and with deep knowledge of every part of them, he could only feel regretful of their fate.
“How could this be…” Cui QiChao murmured. How could his subordinates cook such an awful dish—let alone feed it to the poor students, who were forced to suppress their taste buds and consume these meals daily? They were in the 21st century, yet these children were so pitiful!
Cui QiChao pondered on his schedule and, between the times he spent observing his chili peppers’ growth, studying all kinds of foods and reading agricultural books, he determined that he had more than enough freedom to personally adjust the dishes.
First, he needed to make sure he had a basic understanding of the most commonly used food materials and cooking methods in this time period. Then, he could use his instincts to cook the foods in a way that suited them best, that way the dishes could be improved and his subordinates would start to consider these methods as standard.
There was no need to use fancy cooking techniques for mass produced canteen food—therefore, as long as Cui QiChao was able to devise the best way to unify the ingredients, the taste wouldn’t be that far off from an ordinary meal.
With a slightly reluctant look, Cui QiChao endured a few more mouthfuls to better understand the taste of the dishes.
XiaoBai wandered back to him, staring at Cui QiChao’s face. He lifted up a paw to jab against his arm.
Cui QiChao suddenly remembered that the cat hadn’t eaten yet. “Is XiaoBai hungry?” He got up and went into the kitchen, taking out some beef and adding an egg to it for supplement. As per his usual routine now, he conducted the training before he allowed the cat to eat.
For kittens that were still too young, teaching one trick a day was enough. If he tried to teach XiaoBai too many tricks in one go, the cat would get confused. At this stage, obedience training was also the main focus.
Cui QiChao took XiaoBai’s paw into his hand and moved it up and down. “Shake hands.”
XiaoBai was forced to place his paw onto Cui QiChao’s palm. Because he was still so young, his paw pads had not yet become calloused and remained so soft it seemed like water could be squeezed out just by using the slightest bit of force.
Who would think that such a fragile kitten would grow up to develop enough mental and physical strength to herd sheep on grasslands?
Cui QiChao fed it a piece of meat as a reward and repeated the trick many times. XiaoBai soon realized that obeying would mean being given treats. Cui QiChao absently commented, “Your reaction time is a bit slow. Usually, your breed should be able to learn after being taught around five times. Could it be that you’re one of the dumbest amongst the shepherd cats?”
XiaoBai gloomily eyed Cui QiChao, who took no notice.
He rubbed XiaoBai’s head affectionately. Even if the cat was a little stupid, it belonged to his canteen and he couldn’t just abandon it. With enough patience, the cat might change for the better. Cui QiChao decided to hold off on teaching new tricks until tomorrow.
Within a period of two days, Cui QiChao worked out the precise cooking process for two dishes after taking the time to taste and understand them. Thankfully, the main ingredients were ones that held the most stock inside the canteen’s storage. The dishes he improved were braised potatoes and sponge gourd with scrambled eggs.
“What is the most important thing to take into account if we want the students to eat well?” Cui QiChao asked the chefs.
The chefs answered, “Uh, fresh ingredients? Attention to detail? Love?”
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.
Cui QiChao shook his head and took out a weighing scale and electronic timer. “The most important thing above all is a precise recipe.”
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To those who prepared Chinese food, the amount added was a metaphorical requirement. Most of the time, it depended on the expertise of the one cooking. Cui QiChao, on the other hand, wanted to create the most precise measurement for the chefs or else he would have to end up cooking everything himself, and that was just not a plausible action.
The chefs now had the equipment, but they still weren’t able to get the approximate weight of the ingredients needed from them, but Cui QiChao had a solution for this. Based on the capacity from the large iron pot in the canteen, he could use it to standardize all data from it. He even accounted for the ingredients that had to be chopped.
If he made them regulate their process this way, it would end up costing more time and labor than usual, but in order to save the poor students and avenge the food that died with dissatisfaction, it would all be worth it.
.
As the start of the semester approached, C University students were returning to school one by one.
Because all of them were coming from their homes, they either brought home-cooked food or enough money to avoid the canteen. As long as they could avoid the canteen, they would do it at all costs.
Unlike the others, however, Meng Chang has no such alternatives of escape. His family wasn’t that well off—one could even consider him slightly poor. He depended on scholarships for his tuition and, along with attending school, he worked hard to pay for his own living expenses. Even if he did get extra money, he would send it back home to his younger sister.
Meng Chang looked at his roommates and asked them bitterly, “Are you really going to abandon me?”
His roommates shrugged and offered, “Come to ‘The Forest of Taste’ with us. Because of the school opening, the restaurant is offering a discount for those with a student card. It’s a great deal—let us treat you!”
Another roommate added, “Right! And the people next door are also going. There will be a lot of people aside from us splitting the bill and using discounts.”
Meng Chang felt reluctant. “I’m still not going.” Usually, everyone took very good care of him, but he still felt as though he was constantly taking advantage of their kindness.
The others looked at each other and frowned. It was the first meal of their school reopening, what kind of friends would they be if they left him?
Meng Chang picked up his lunch box and got ready to head to the canteen. As he started walking out, someone grabbed his shoulder. He looked back and his roommate said, “We told the neighbors we’re not going to ‘The Forest of Taste’ anymore. We’ll come with you to the canteen.”
Meng Chang was taken aback. “What? Brother, you really don’t have to—I was just joking. Besides, during the holidays, weren’t you all saying you wanted to eat at the restaurant?”
“Stop rambling. The discount lasts for two weeks, but how many times would you see the canteen’s pomegranate fried pork belly!”
“Damn, hahahahaha.” The group burst into laughter.
Meng Chang’s heart warmed up and he knew they were saying all of this for his comfort. “It’s a bit embarrassing to have you all come with me to the canteen… But, I wrote feedback to them two days ago—maybe they’ve improved? The first canteen also has a new boss, the handsome guy I told you guys about last time. The one who made a delicious stew out of leftovers for me.”
Once he brought up the topic again, everyone started playfully cursing and complaining.
“You’re telling lies with your eyes open. Was it not enough to take down Ol’Wang and O’Li? They accompanied you to the first canteen and nearly died of poisoning.”
“They were also to blame for their brains being rusty enough to believe in Meng Chang’s story. I would sooner accept pie falling from the sky than no more dark cuisine in the first canteen!”
Meng Chang felt especially wronged since he had personally eaten the stir-fried bamboo with chicken but was still called a liar.
It really wasn’t his fault. For so many years, people made fun of the first and fourth canteen.
The group of four went downstairs to the first canteen. While the first and fourth canteens have been competing with each other to be CU’s representative, all of them served dark cuisine and the first canteen was closer to the male dormitory, so the winner didn’t matter to them.
When they got to the entrance, the four of them were still joking around. “Look at the soil, what kind of plant is being grown here?”
“The first canteen is actually growing its own ingredients—why don’t they just do a good deed and place all their efforts into making a good stir fry?”
“It’s pepper seedlings.” Thinking of it made Meng Chang’s mouth water again. “They put millet pepper in the dish I was eating that day—it was fragrant and spicy, and very delicious.”
“Screw you, you’re still not done talking?”
However, when they stepped into the canteen, all of them were stunned.
The leftmost window on the first floor of the canteen had a very long queue, significantly more than the other windows.
“What kind of dish is it?” With suspicious expressions, they went over to take a look. Surprisingly, there were two platters of braised potatoes and sponge gourd with scrambled eggs. Next to the ordinary dishes, however, was the familiar sight of the canteen’s innovations—fried taro with fried dough sticks and pomegranate steamed meat.
There was a friend of theirs standing in the line. He waved them over and said, “Brothers, come queue here. Just now my classmates got those two dishes and, dayum, it tasted like takeaway from a restaurant—amazing!”
The group looked stunned. Is this really true?
Even Meng Chang felt a little suspicious. This group had always used the first canteen to play pranks on others, wouldn’t this mean they came to a consensus to scam the freshman? Or else why wouldn’t they have received this news as well?
Just then, they heard someone ask the staff from behind the window. “Auntie, why is the taste of these two dishes different?”
The auntie in the canteen smiled. “Our boss received feedback and decided to improve the dishes. These two are the first he’s improved.”
Everyone who heard this only had one thing in their minds. Fuck, who knew that while they were still alive, they were able to witness the first canteen wake up?
Meng Chang stood at the end of the line with his roommates and felt dizzy. The feedback I gave was actually effective?
Although these dishes were common and could be seen in any other canteen outside of CU, the people in Meng Chang’s dormitory still held the food preciously in their hands and walked to their table while holding their bowls with rice. So many people came after this improvement, and they had managed to get the last few portions.
When one looked carefully into their bowls, the difference between the dishes now and before were clear as day.
The braised potatoes no longer had a raw texture, but were stewed to such softness that one could poke through them with chopsticks. Even the color and seasoning were appealing. The edges of the potatoes were crisp and slightly burnt, and the savoury yellow sauce they were bathed in seeped into their rice, letting the strong, delicious scent waft into their noses.
Before eating the potatoes, they first scooped up a mouthful of rice soaked in sauce. Their taste buds had been awakened from the piercing smell of flour and gluten, and they licked up the sauce that had accidentally escaped from their mouths.
But the sponge gourd with scrambled eggs was not inferior to the braised potato at all. The sponge gourd had been washed with cold water and still maintained its fresh green coloring after being scooped out. The flesh melted into a soft pool, held together by the eggs and mixing in each other’s flavors.
It didn’t even need too much seasoning. The fragrance of the sponge gourd did not lose out at all. Cooked at the right temperature, the soft melon meat almost flowed into everyone’s mouth. There was no need to chew with effort, it slid down smoothly and the warmth spread inside their stomachs, making them sigh in satisfaction.
Meng Chang let out a contented noise, and his entire body felt extremely comfortable.
“How come the chef’s cooking improved so much? These dishes wouldn’t be worse than the ones I eat at a hotel—in fact, it might even be better than that!”
Meng Chang blurted out, finally feeling victorious, “I told you a long time ago already! There really is delicious food in this canteen!”
Although it was not as amazing as what he ate that day, these two dishes were definitely the shining light during all his student life. For others, the appearance of these dishes in the first canteen made others want to cry even more from both relief and jealousy.
.
And so, a post appeared on the campus forum of CU.
Title: There’s a new dish in the first canteen! Come and have a taste!!
Content: Braised potatoes and sponge gourd with scrambled eggs, it’s fucking delicious!!
1F: For someone to support the first canteen, I almost thought I got the name wrong.
2F: Is this dish considered new? It appeared more than 800 years ago—besides, the fourth canteen is better. Today we had squid stewed with tomatoes.
3F: No, no, I ate them in the first canteen today. These two dishes really are good. It seems that the chef has changed. I strongly recommend you to try them.
4F: It’s not due to the change of chefs, but an improvement of the dishes themselves. I hope it will continue in the future. I believe in the first canteen.
5F: I’m offended. The first canteen has actually changed their dishes? The original is excellent enough.
6F: I show my unhappiness on behalf of the fourth canteen. Today I ate at the fourth canteen, and I fortunately grabbed the squid stewed tomatoes. It’s really delicious, really delicious!
7F: Wow, our junior sisters and brothers are so lucky. As soon as they entered the school, the first canteen changed the dishes. Let’s hurry to the first canteen.
50F: Are you all demons? Why’s there another post out there to scam freshmen??
The author has something to say:
I’ll explain two points that have not been said clearly. The water content of pepper in the previous chapter refers to the relative water content in the soil, so 70% or 80% is fine. The MC bought so many seeds because there is still so much land to plant it…
I’m very unprofessional. After checking some materials, it’s hard to avoid bugs, omissions, exaggerations and nonstandard places when I start writing. Everyone just has to look past it and be happy.
This part of the author’s note may be a spoiler. Click if you want to be spoiled :]
XiaoBai’s identity will be explained in later chapters. Regardless, he is the gong. I hope everyone agrees with this marriage.
Editor’s note: To be honest, some of the ‘dark’ cuisines don’t sound too bad. Ch. 4’s beef with cherry tomatoes and this chapter’s fried taro with fried dough sticks, squid stewed with tomatoes…… I also have the urge to try the pomegranate fried pork belly as well…… Send me into this virtual plane (ﾟ ∀ﾟ人)……
It would really depend on how those dishes were cooked.
+1
Indeed, it’s not only about ingredients, but how much you mess up the steps orz
Mine looked fine, but then got a stomachache after eating the dishes I cooked
Yeah the ingredient combos sound quite good but it’s definitely the preparation and cooking that makes a big difference.
Thanks for the chapter! 💕
Plus there’s a huge difference between cooking meals in a restaurant or at home and cooking for a bunch of people in a cafeteria. Some dishes are terrible if you eat them too long after they’re cooked no matter how well they were made. Others won’t cook properly if you make them in large quantities.
+5
I agree to marry , I agree !!!
I mean I agree with the marriage 🤭
Thanks for the update 💕💕
thanks for the chapter! ♡
To the Author’s words… I agree
And send me too uwu
i would also be willing to try them…
thanks for the chapter! <3
Never heard of a shepherd cat… virtual pet?
Thank you
Yes, you have fresh veggies on campus, how great
Я не могу понять одного. Кошка Сяобай или собака? Если он кошка, то какое отношение имеет к ней овчарка (пастух) и зачем дрессировать кошку?
💜💜💜
I’m getting hungry 😢
Jumping down for a quick Comment.
I also feel regretful of the plants fate hahahahaha!
Sadly canteen food CAN BE as bad in real life, overly cooked and tasteless most of the time… so its not so fantastical the chefs just cook large quantities and it sucks so much even if they are trained to cook.