God of Cookery!

Chapter 30: God of Cookery!

Landing that blow, Yuan Hong attacked again.

Jiang Hao lifted his leg in a straight kick, putting distance between them, and the two began to fight.

Everyone could see that Jiang Hao was being completely suppressed by Yuan Hong. In terms of strength, there was a considerable gap between them—Jiang Hao mostly defended and rarely counterattacked. Yuan Hong's thick fists slammed into Jiang Hao's body with a thudding sound that looked painful just to watch.

Yet Jiang Hao stubbornly kept fighting, feeling nothing but exhilaration in his heart, pure exhilaration.

"Dong!"

"Alright, first round over."

Both sides stepped back to rest. Jiang Hao was panting heavily. Cheng Bo crouched beside him and said, "No good. The gap's too big. You can't beat Yuan Hong. I think you should call it quits."

"Heh, I know I can't win. I just want to fight."

"Aren't you just asking to get beaten up?"

"How else do you improve without practice?" Jiang Hao said.

"Then watch your defense, especially your chest, stomach, and head. Don't get hurt." Cheng Bo added another reminder.

Jiang Hao nodded.

"Dong~"

The second round began, and they clashed again. Once more, Yuan Hong dominated. A whip kick landed on Jiang Hao's upper thigh, sending a cramping sensation through him—it really hurt.

"Thud!"

Jiang Hao seized an opening and punched Yuan Hong in the head. Yuan Hong just shook his head, showing little reaction.

"Slap slap slap slap~"

Jiang Hao faced a retaliatory flurry of combos. "Thud!" His defense broke apart. Yuan Hong landed a heavy punch on Jiang Hao's face, the glove smashing hard against his cheek. Jiang Hao's head spun, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Huff~ huff~ huff~"

He was exhausted, his head dizzy, only able to gasp for air—just like the opponent he'd knocked down earlier.

The coach came over to check. Yuan Hong also crouched down and asked, "You alright?"

Jiang Hao shook his head. "Not a big deal."

Luckily, the thick gloves and his protective gear absorbed most of the damage.

"Can you keep going?" the coach asked.

"Yeah, just give me a moment." This wasn't an official match; if it were, Jiang Hao would have already been ruled out.

After half a minute of recovery, Jiang Hao and Yuan Hong fought again. But within a dozen seconds, Jiang Hao was knocked down once more—harder than before. He really couldn't get up. The coach, afraid he'd get hurt, immediately stopped the practice.

Jiang Hao sat in the rest area, still breathing a little heavily, drenched in sweat.

His actual skill was only enough to handle a few ordinary people. Against a professional boxer, he was far too weak.

In strength, endurance, resilience, awareness, technique—none of it measured up. The truth was, professional sports demanded natural talent. In combat, Jiang Hao's talent wasn't great. He was tall, but for fighting, his build was a bit too lean. Without power, even skill couldn't compensate.

Cheng Bo brought a bottle of water and handed it to Jiang Hao. "You don't need to go down this path. Why push yourself so hard? Getting hurt wouldn't be worth it."

"Aren't you the one who told me to become a fitness coach?" Jiang Hao wouldn't explain why he really wanted to fight, so he deflected.

"A fitness coach isn't a boxing coach—two different things. Honestly, your physique is good for fitness training. But making big strides in combat? Tough," Cheng Bo said.

Jiang Hao knew it himself. But today, he just wanted to fight. Losing didn't matter. Now, he felt a lot better inside.

Release. That was important.

That very day, Jiang Hao signed up for a fitness coach training course, paid the fee, and received a stack of books: Sports Nutrition, Sports Anatomy, Sports Physiology, Exercise Program Principles, Health-Related Fitness. Jiang Hao entered study mode once again.

He never imagined he'd end up on this path.

From insurance salesman to fitness coach.

Abrupt. A huge leap.

But in this society, plenty of people turned hobbies or skills into a livelihood. One of Jiang Hao's college classmates, for example, didn't pursue a career in economics after graduation but switched to becoming a golf coach.

Crazy, right?

That classmate used to work summer jobs at a golf course during breaks, playing around in his free time. Eventually, he developed solid golf skills. After graduation, unable to find an ideal job, he went back to work at the golf course and ended up as a full-time coach, teaching complete beginners. He made over ten thousand a month, living easy and carefree.

So in this world, if one road doesn't work, try another. Who knows—it might just lead to success.

Just as Jiang Hao was studying to become a fitness coach, the system suddenly issued a new mission.

"System notification: A client has watched the movie 'God of Cookery' and wishes to experience Earth's cuisine through the collector's firsthand experience, gathering the taste of gourmet food."

"Requirement: It must be true gourmet food."

"Mission: Enter the world of the movie 'God of Cookery' and collect 'Taste of Gourmet Food.' Does the collector accept the assignment?"

God of Cookery!

He'd seen that movie before—an old Stephen Chow film. So long ago, he could barely remember the plot.

His previous two missions—the movie 'The Mermaid' collecting roast chicken, and 'Red Sorghum' collecting sorghum wine—had both involved collecting physical items. This was the first mission to collect a sensation.

Collecting "Taste of Gourmet Food" through his own mouth?

That meant he could sample delicacies from all over the world. Heh, this mission wasn't bad at all.

But Jiang Hao suddenly thought of something else—several missions now, either collecting food or drink, and now another one about gathering the taste of gourmet food. Were those aliens all a bunch of foodies?

Without accepting the mission immediately, he exited the system, opened the Video Player Software, and started watching Stephen Chow's movie God of Cookery.

It was a 1996 film, over twenty years old now.

Stephen Chow, the God of Cookery renowned across Hong Kong, was a top name in the culinary world. But as his commercial success grew, he transformed from a master chef into a businessman.

He became overly focused on food packaging and marketing, neglecting quality and flavor. With a foul temper and a venomous tongue, he was set up by his wealthy partner and publicly defeated by his own apprentice, Tang Niu, who then became the new God of Cookery.

Banned from the culinary scene, Stephen Chow ended up in Temple Street, where he met a streetwise girl. With her help, he pulled himself together and invented "Urine Beef Balls." With the aid of Temple Street's gangsters, the Urine Beef Balls quickly became popular.

Reigniting his ambition, Stephen Chow went to the Food Forest Temple to improve his skills, accidentally stumbling into the kitchen—one of the thirty-six chambers of Shaolin Temple. There, he mastered extraordinary culinary arts and reclaimed his title as the God of Cookery.

After watching the movie, Jiang Hao had only one feeling: Stephen Chow's downfall was inevitable. With his foul temper, sharp tongue, arrogance, disrespect for employees, and disregard for food quality, even Jiang Hao thought he deserved to fail.