A Horde of Diners Approaches

The next morning, a pair of small hands stretched out from under the quilt. Xue Xi stretched her entire body, let out a strange cry, and then hopped out of bed, feeling refreshed.

She put on a camisole nightdress to wash up in the bathroom, then picked out a beige short-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans from the closet. After changing out of her pajamas, she tied her hair into a simple bun and went downstairs to open the door.

After breathing in the fresh air for a while, Xue Xi found a sign and wrote down the only dish available, Cat Ear Noodles, along with its price and culinary effects to save herself the trouble of repeating it. She washed her hands again, picked fresh ingredients from the freezer, and began to practice her basic culinary skills once more.

The old man had taught her for three years, and half of that time was spent practicing the basics. He said that cooking was like building a skyscraper; the foundation had to be stable.

A chef must master three basic skills: Knife Skills, Spoon Skills, and Fire Skills.

Spoon Skills refer to the art of tossing the wok—flipping it forward, backward, left, right, and performing the grand toss. As long as one could stir-fry for fifteen or sixteen tables and toss over twenty pounds of food, the Spoon Skills were considered basically qualified. Due to Xue Xi's weak physical strength, she had only barely managed a little in her past life, far from the passing mark.

Knife Skills require clean, precise cuts. Beginners start by killing fish and frogs, chopping chickens and ducks; advanced levels require mastery of various shreds, dices, slices, and blocks, as well as decorative cuts like phoenix tails and lychee patterns; a qualified chef must also know how to garnish and prepare cold-cut platters. As for higher-level carvings like dragons, that depends on one's own talent.

Xue Xi's Knife Skills were the one thing the old man was most proud of. Ever since she used a bone-chopping knife to carve a peacock with its tail spread out of a block of tofu, there was no need to worry about her Knife Skills anymore.

Fire Skills involve the mastery of heat, which determines how far a chef can go and how high they can rise.

There are twenty or thirty cooking techniques, with a focus on mastering common ones like steaming, boiling, stir-frying, roasting, braising, stewing, and simmering. As long as the heat is precise, the flavor is right, and the oil and starch glaze are consistent in color, it is considered qualified.

Xue Xi mainly practiced her Fire Skills, while also training her arm strength to improve her Spoon Skills.

For a time, the kitchen was filled with cooking fumes. Stir-frying, boiling, and deep-frying, Xue Xi used the practice ingredients to make various toppings. These could all be paired with the Cat Ear Noodles, so as not to waste the good ingredients.

Just as Xue Xi was diligently practicing her basic skills, in the base where the army was stationed in this Wilderness Zone, War God Lu Gang received orders from his superiors to investigate a Wilderness Zone restaurant that had become a hot topic online.

Following satellite intelligence, Lu Gang utilized the Perfect-level movement technique, Streamer, to glide through the air, quickly approaching the target of his mission.

Xue Xi's restaurant was not located deep within the Wilderness Zone; it was in the buffer zone between the Base City and the wilderness, where only monsters up to the Beast General Rank roamed.

However, Lu Gang soon discovered something strange. He saw a pile of Beast Soldier monsters surrounding an area, forming a large circle with a diameter of 1,000 meters, yet they didn't dare to step inside even half a step, as if they would be wiped out if they crossed this forbidden line.

This situation actually left Lu Gang stunned, and for a moment, he didn't know whether to go in or return to report the situation. At this moment, a breeze blew by, and the cooking fumes from Xue Xi's kitchen, accompanied by a rich aroma, drifted toward Lu Gang.

Lu Gang's eyes lit up. It seemed he hadn't found the wrong place, and since there was cooking smoke, he figured there wouldn't be any danger. Relying on his strength as a War God, he quickly approached the restaurant, causing the herd of monsters on the "monster circle" to become restless.

Xue Xi put a basin of freshly stir-fried topping sauce into the freezer, picked up a handkerchief to wipe the fine beads of sweat from her forehead, and planned to take a short break.

Just as she stepped out of the kitchen, she sensed a figure intruding into the thousand-meter warning line. She walked out quickly and saw a Martial Artist wrapped tightly in black-red battle armor flying over from the sky, landing steadily at the restaurant entrance a few seconds later.

Lu Gang's faceplate retracted, revealing a resolute face with a crew cut. He and Xue Xi looked at each other with curiosity. He extended his armored right hand and introduced himself first: "Hello, young lady. My name is Lu Gang, and I belong to Huaxia Huashan."

Xue Xi didn't expect that the person in front of her was actually the War God Lu Gang, who had heroically sacrificed himself during the rat tide in the original story. She immediately felt a sense of respect, reached out her small hand, and shook his armored hand: "Hello, hello. I am the owner of this restaurant. May I ask what you need?"

It shouldn't be illegal for her to occupy an abandoned hotel from decades ago in the Wilderness Zone, right? Surely he wasn't here to check her business license? She couldn't help but let her mind wander.

Looking at the young girl who was about the same age as his own daughter in high school, Lu Gang tried his best to appear amiable: "It's nothing much. We just discovered you were alone in the Wilderness Zone and came to ask if you needed help. By the way, I wanted to check if what they say online—that the food you make can help Martial Artists quickly comprehend movement techniques—is true or false?"

Xue Xi nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "Yes, yes, my food is just that magical! Uncle, would you like a bowl? The menu is right there; there is only one type of noodle for now."