A Miscalculation (First Update)

The dish was steaming hot, and looking at the cook serving it, Zhao Ke felt the plate was hot to the touch. Yet, when he tasted it, it was icy, hard, and even undercooked.

If it weren't for the aroma of the dish before him, which convinced Zhao Ke that it was an exceptionally delicious meal, he would have suspected the old man was deliberately messing with him.

"Young man, how does it taste!"

Zhao Ke turned his head and saw the old man looking at him with a sincere expression, waiting for his evaluation of this signature dish.

"Mmm... delicious!"

Zhao Ke, against his conscience, forced a smile and swallowed the sweet and sour pork in his mouth.

Upon hearing Zhao Ke's praise, the old man's face immediately lit up with pride. He smiled with satisfaction and said, "Of course! Let me tell you, I put a lot of effort into this dish..."

The old man then recounted the entire process of making his dish from beginning to end. Although Zhao Ke couldn't taste the flavor, listening to the process gave him a general idea of the dish's quality.

"Come, come, have some tea. Young man, you have discerning taste. Why haven't I seen you around before?"

The old man personally handed Zhao Ke a cup of tea, making the other cooks in the kitchen envious.

Their master had been with the Bai Family for at least three to four hundred years. While he was a cook, no one knew his true identity.

Some rumored he was an elder of the Bai Family, while others said he was the spirit medium of their first generation.

But his exact status was unclear to anyone but the old man himself, so even the Bai Family's stewards would greet him enthusiastically as "Teacher Father."

In short, in all the time they had worked with the old man in the kitchen, they had never seen him show such enthusiasm towards anyone except the young miss of the Bai Family.

Zhao Ke reached out and took the tea. He took a sip, smelling a faint fragrance, but the tea was cold and astringent in his mouth, like stale tea left out for days.

Seeing the old man sipping his tea with apparent satisfaction, Zhao Ke couldn't help but ponder, "Could it be... because I'm a living person?"

As Zhao Ke thought about it, he felt it was possible. Whether it was Cui Lan, the sweet and sour pork he had tasted earlier, or even this cup of tea in his hand, everything felt out of place for him.

Ultimately, it was because he was a living person. Everything in the Underworld felt cold to his touch.

With this realization, Zhao Ke couldn't help but glance at the flames on the stove. An idea popped into his head, and he turned to the old man, saying, "My master just joined the Bai Family today and hasn't been here for seven days yet, so you haven't seen me before."

"Oh, oh, oh! So the wedding banquet today is for your family." The old man nodded repeatedly, his eyes showing more kindness towards Zhao Ke.

"Please forgive me, old sir. Your sweet and sour pork is indeed excellent. It's my honor to taste such a dish. How about I make a dish for you to try?"

"You!"

The old man sized Zhao Ke up, a hint of curiosity in his eyes. He immediately agreed and followed Zhao Ke to the stove, standing by to observe.

"Young man, what ingredients do you need? I'll have them prepared for you."

Zhao Ke glanced at the basin of rice noodles on the table and raised an eyebrow. "This will do."

"Rice noodles?"

Seeing that Zhao Ke only chose rice noodles, the surrounding cooks looked somewhat disappointed, wondering what kind of dish could be made from a basin of rice noodles.

On the other hand, the old man narrowed his eyes and stood behind Zhao Ke, looking forward to Zhao Ke's next move.

Of course, some of them also intended to find fault. No matter how straightforward the old man's personality was, being upstaged like this would naturally be a blow to his pride, and they couldn't help but want to regain some face.

However, the old man's wish was quickly dashed. Zhao Ke picked up his cleaver, and with a series of swift and precise cuts, a peony carved from a radish quickly took shape.

This knife skill alone made the old man gasp in surprise. If the old man was this impressed, the other cooks were even more so.

A cook's skill could often be judged by their knife work. The initial dissatisfaction they felt towards Zhao Ke completely vanished as he began to work.

"Sizzle..."

The wok was heated with high flames, and a ladle of hot oil was added, causing flames to erupt in the pan. The heat wave that rushed towards them made the surrounding cooks instinctively step back.

"As expected!"

Zhao Ke's heart tightened. Facing the raging flames in the wok, he didn't feel the heat but rather a cold wind that sent shivers down his spine, raising goosebumps on his arms.

It wasn't just the fire; the oil in the pan had also ignited. Zhao Ke quickly flicked a drop of oil onto his hand with his spoon but felt no heat whatsoever.

"It seems everything in the Underworld is the opposite of the living world."

Zhao Ke steadied himself. Although he couldn't feel the heat or temperature, it didn't hinder his cooking. Instead, it gave Zhao Ke a new experience.

He deliberately turned the heat to maximum, added the prepared ingredients, and began stir-frying rapidly in the wok. Relying on the aroma emanating from the pan, Zhao Ke could still accurately judge the heat.

Salt, vinegar, sesame oil, stir-fried ingredients – it looked like ordinary stir-fried rice noodles. But soon, Zhao Ke reduced the heat and continued adding auxiliary ingredients, mixing in the beef from the side plate and stir-frying again.

Then, with a flick of his chopsticks, he stirred, and the rice noodles wrapped around the beef, forming a roll, which Zhao Ke placed on the plate.

"This beef seems a bit raw!"

Before the old man could speak, the other cooks couldn't help but point out. Although the beef was supposedly cooked, Zhao Ke had only stir-fried it once, likely to only three-tenths done.

Zhao Ke ignored the reminders from the other cooks. He took out a bottle of Maotai from his storage ring and sprinkled it over the rice noodles. He then lit the Maotai with his hand, and a pure blue flame ignited on the plate.

As the flame burned, the rice noodles on the plate began to tighten rapidly. The beef, rolled inside the rice noodles, was immediately squeezed out, revealing golden-brown oil. The aroma of beef filled the air as it roasted.

"Volcanic Beef Ho Fun, please advise."

Zhao Ke bowed slightly, gesturing for the old man to taste it.

"Not bad! Using wine for the final heating not only brought out the aroma of the meat but also preserved the texture of the beef and rice noodles. A formidable young man."

Although the old man didn't taste it himself, he could roughly gauge the quality from Zhao Ke's technique and couldn't help but praise him.

"I'm short a helper here. I wonder if you'd be willing to lend a hand, young man. Of course, I won't have you working for free. You can be my assistant chef, and I'll give you a monthly offering."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Zhao Ke's ears immediately received a prompt.

[You have received an extended mission: Kitchen Helper]

[Prompt: Working as a helper under the Ghost Chef King will grant you good treatment, as well as a certain status and position within the Bai Family.]

[Mission Conditions: One main dish must be prepared daily and must gain the Ghost Chef King's approval, otherwise the mission will fail.]

Receiving the mission prompt, Zhao Ke's eyebrows shot up. He narrowed his eyes, sizing up the old man before him. It was clear that this short, stout fellow was the Ghost Chef King mentioned in the mission.

Zhao Ke didn't rush to agree. Instead, he held up a finger and said, "I can do it, but my offering must be settled daily!"

This main quest only had seven days. Although he didn't know what a monthly offering entailed, he clearly couldn't wait that long.

If that were the case, Zhao Ke would rather abandon this mission and look elsewhere.

"Alright!"

To Zhao Ke's surprise, the old man agreed without even thinking. He casually handed a bag to Zhao Ke and said, "Then let's start today. This is your offering for today."

Zhao Ke took the bag and looked inside. It contained a stack of hell money and some gold ingots. Seeing this, Zhao Ke's mouth twitched, and he immediately regretted his decision. It was a miscalculation.

Not only could he not use any of these items himself, but even if he took them back, they would just be a pile of spirit money. What good would that be?

However, since he had already agreed, Zhao Ke couldn't go back on his word openly. He could only accept the job.

"I just arrived today and still have things to pack up. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Good, good, good. Here's the back kitchen's waist token. Take it."

The old man handed Zhao Ke a waist token. Zhao Ke took it and examined it. The token appeared to be cast from gold, but it felt very light in his hand.

Putting the waist token away, Zhao Ke got up to leave.

"Master Dian, this person's cooking skills are decent, but he uses too much oil. Look... more than half the oil is gone."

A cook walked up to the old man, holding the oil basin Zhao Ke had used earlier, and complained.

"It's not that he uses too much oil when he cooks; it's that this dish is very oil-intensive. Bring it here."

The old man had the cook bring the oil basin closer. He grabbed the braid on the back of his head and gave it a hard tug. "Sss..." A slit opened on the old man's forehead. He lowered his head and poured the contents of his skull into the oil basin. A stream of yellowish-green oil flowed from his scalp into the basin.

There will be two more updates tonight. I'm going to take off my makeup and will be back to write soon.