New Skill

Although Chen Duxiu was rather stingy with experience points, Jiang Feng still stir-fried two dishes for him.

Anyone who had seen the old man's cooking naturally would not think Jiang Feng's dishes were particularly tasty.

Throughout the cooking process, the delightful system notification, "Ding, obtained 10 experience points," was occasionally mixed with a line or two of "Ding, obtained 1 experience point."

Those who had seen the old man's cooking had only lukewarm reactions to his dishes. Chen Xiuxiu, who had only eaten Comrade Jiang Jiankang's cooking, barely approved of his skills. As for the animals in Jiang Feng's dorm, every time he made rib rice in that tiny broken rice cooker, they got as excited as if they had found girlfriends.

Without comparison, there could be no harm.

Jiang Feng felt that in the future, it would be better to cook for people who did not know good food.

He could mooch more experience points that way.

Over the next few days, Jiang Feng cooked every common type of congee he could find online.

Sometimes he made too much and gave it all to Comrade Jiang Jiankang for dinner, leaving Comrade Jiang Jiankang looking downright green around the gills.

Still, the results were obvious. After several days of eating three proper meals a day, Chen Xiuxiu's complexion was no longer so waxy yellow and had regained a little color.

After finishing the relatively simple congees, Jiang Feng began challenging high-difficulty congee like Shrimp Congee.

He did not need to look up a tutorial online for this one. Comrade Jiang Jiankang knew how to make it.

After some less-than-dedicated remote guidance from Comrade Jiang Jiankang, the congee in the pot had begun to take shape.

"Ding, achievement obtained: Not Ashamed to Ask."

Another achievement?

He opened the attributes panel and looked at the achievements section.

Achievement: Diligent and Inquisitive (no attribute bonuses)

Not Ashamed to Ask (no attribute bonuses)

Jiang Feng: ...

Thanks to Chen Xiuxiu graciously eating his food these past few days, Jiang Feng had raised his level to 3. Yet he had not unlocked anything new, and the attributes panel had not changed at all. Jiang Feng was beginning to suspect that when he completed the side quest, its reward would change from unknown to nothing.

Given how stingy the game was, it was entirely capable of doing something so shameless.

Once the Shrimp Congee was done, Jiang Feng took a taste. It was all right, but only all right.

A pot of Shrimp Congee with incorrect ingredient proportions

Other than the congees with obvious flavor problems, every congee he had made these past few days had displayed incorrect ingredient proportions.

What were the correct proportions?

As a Jiang Family member with ideals and aspirations, Jiang Feng could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought.

"Ding, skill obtained: Congee Cooking (Beginner)."

A skill?

Jiang Feng was startled. He had merely thought a little about how to find the correct ingredient proportions, yet the game had generously given him a skill.

Appraisal (Beginner): You can only obtain some basic information.

Congee Cooking (Beginner): You can only grasp the correct proportions of some ingredients.

This game was really interesting. Whatever he thought of, it gave him. It really did live up to that line: players, please explore on your own.

When he looked at the pot of congee again, Jiang Feng subconsciously felt that something was off.

There seemed to be too much shrimp, several grams too little salt, and before cooking, he should have added another half finger's height of water.

Was even a beginner skill this useful?

If what he had obtained was not beginner Congee Cooking but advanced...

Wouldn't he be making glowing congee?

Jiang Feng even wanted to dump out this pot and cook a new one, but there was not enough time, so he had no choice but to give up. It had taken great effort to get Chen Xiuxiu used to drinking congee at five-thirty every evening; he could not let all that effort go to waste.

Comrade Jiang Jiankang would just have to suffer through another meal of pig slop. Tomorrow, Jiang Feng would let him taste congee made with his transformed beginner Congee Cooking skill.

The next day, Jiang Feng decided to make the Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee he had made at the beginning.

He diced the preserved eggs and marinated the lean pork...

The steps were the same, but making it felt completely different.

It was as though an invisible giant hand was helping him control the amount of every ingredient. Even when he lit the stove, he felt far more at ease than before.

Jiang Feng stayed in the kitchen, not daring to relax for even a moment.

With just over ten minutes left before it was ready, someone knocked on the door.

When he opened it, Chen Xiuxiu was standing outside.

"Jiang Feng, I... Huh, you're making Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee today?" Chen Xiuxiu swallowed the words that had reached her lips.

She had just weighed herself and discovered that she had not lost even a pound over the past few days. She had originally wanted to tell Jiang Feng not to make and bring her congee anymore, but after smelling the fragrance of Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee at the door, she changed her mind.

Today's congee... seemed a little different.

Just the smell alone made it seem especially delicious.

"Did Uncle Jiang make congee?" Chen Xiuxiu did not believe Jiang Feng could reach this level. They had grown up together, so how could she not know exactly how good his cooking was?

"I made it." Jiang Feng felt smug. "It'll be ready in ten minutes. Want two bowls?"

"One bowl." Chen Xiuxiu held firm to her bottom line.

"What did you come to see me for?" Jiang Feng asked.

"I... I... I followed the smell here. I thought Uncle Chen was making congee." Chen Xiuxiu refused to mention that she had planned to stop drinking congee.

Jiang Feng:?

She had followed the smell here?

That really was just like Chen Xiuxiu back then.

Very soon, the congee was ready.

A steaming bowl of Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee was ladled out, and the fragrance alone was incredibly tempting.

A bowl of Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Congee with improper heat control

Jiang Feng: ...

It was like a basin of cold water had been poured over him, soaking Jiang Feng, who had been feeling rather pleased with himself, to the bone—from his skin to his dermis to his subcutaneous tissue.

This game had pretty high standards.

Chen Xiuxiu scooped up a spoonful of congee, carefully blew on it a few times, and put it into her mouth.

"Ding, obtained 37 experience points."

Comrade Chen Xiuxiu was a good comrade!

Jiang Feng could not help sighing.

Not only was she generous with experience points, but she ate slowly and delicately. She could take more than twenty sips to finish one small bowl of congee. Unlike Comrade Jiang Jiankang, who only gave him 1 experience point at a time and drank congee with the momentum of swallowing rivers and mountains, gulping down half a pot in a few mouthfuls.

Experience points were awarded by the mouthful! What Comrade Jiang Jiankang did was nothing short of outrageous wastefulness!

After finishing the bowl, Chen Xiuxiu felt warm in her stomach.

"Well..."

"How about Mushroom Chicken Congee tomorrow?" Jiang Feng asked. Mushroom Chicken Congee had given him the most experience points a while ago.

"Okay." Chen Xiuxiu swallowed the words, "You won't have to trouble yourself making congee for me anymore," for the second time.

Just one more day. Only one day. The day after tomorrow, she absolutely would not eat so much again.

Chen Xiuxiu made up her mind.

Jiang Feng did not notice Chen Xiuxiu's inner conflict. After she went home, he happily opened the attributes panel and raised his level to 4.

Level: 4 (0/500)

Remaining experience points: 56

There was still no change at all.

Jiang Feng went into the kitchen, put the lid on the pot, and switched it to keep warm for Comrade Jiang Jiankang.

Poor Comrade Jiang Jiankang had eaten several days' worth of awful pig slop in a row. It was time to let him eat some good pig slop.

At least the ingredient proportions were finally correct, weren't they?