The next morning, a pair of small hands emerged from beneath the covers. Xue Xi stretched her whole body, let out a strange cry, then sprang out of bed, feeling refreshed.
Wearing a slip nightgown, she went to the bathroom to wash up. Then she picked out a pale yellow short-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans from her wardrobe, changed out of her pajamas, 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 item on her menu: Cat Ear Noodles. She added the price and its benefits to save herself the trouble of explaining them. Then she washed her hands again, picked fresh ingredients from the freezer, and got back to practicing the basics of cooking.
The old man had taught her for three years, half of which she had spent practicing the fundamentals. He said cooking was like building a skyscraper: the foundation had to be solid.
A chef had to master three basic skills: Knife Skills, Spoon Skills, and Fire Skills.
Spoon Skills meant mastering the wok toss: flipping the wok forward, backward, and from side to side, as well as tossing it high. If you could cook fifteen or sixteen tables' worth of dishes and toss over twenty jin of food, your Spoon Skills were basically up to standard. Given Xue Xi's weak physique, even in her previous life she'd only just managed to learn a little, nowhere near the passing mark.
Knife Skills demanded even, decisive cuts. Beginners learned by gutting fish and frogs, and chopping chicken and duck. At a more advanced level, they had to master cutting ingredients into various strips, cubes, slices, and chunks, as well as decorative phoenix-tail and lychee cuts. To qualify, they had to know how to arrange garnishes and make platters of braised food. As for more advanced skills, like carving flowers and dragons, that depended on one's talent.
Knife Skills were what the old man was most proud of in Xue Xi. Ever since she had carved a peacock with its tail spread from a block of tofu using a cleaver, he hadn't needed to worry about her Knife Skills.
Fire Skills were all about controlling the heat, and they determined how far a chef could go and how high they could rise.
There were twenty or thirty cooking techniques. The key was to master the common ones, such as steaming, boiling, stir-frying, braising, stewing, simmering, and slow-cooking. As long as the heat was right, the flavor suited the dish, and the oil-thickened sauce had a consistent color, you were up to standard.
Xue Xi focused mainly on practicing her Fire Skills, while also building her arm strength and improving her wok-tossing.
Soon the kitchen was filled with smoke and the sounds of food being stir-fried, boiled, and deep-fried. Using the ingredients she'd set aside for practice, Xue Xi made all kinds of toppings to go with Cat Ear Noodles, so none of the good ingredients would go to waste.
While Xue Xi diligently practiced her fundamentals, Lu Gang, a War God stationed at a military base in this Wilderness Zone, received orders from his superiors to investigate a wilderness restaurant that had become the talk of the internet.
Following the satellite intelligence, Lu Gang used his Perfect-level movement technique, Streamer, to glide through the air and quickly approach his target.
Xue Xi's restaurant wasn't too deep in the Wilderness Zone. It stood in the buffer zone between the Base City and the wilderness, where only Monster Beasts up to Beast General Rank roamed.
But Lu Gang soon realized something was wrong. A group of Beast Soldier monsters had formed a huge circle with a diameter of a thousand meters, yet not one of them dared to step inside. It was as if they would be reduced to ash if they crossed that line.
The sight left Lu Gang utterly bewildered. For a while, he couldn't decide whether to go in or head back and report what he had found. Just then, a gentle breeze carried the smoke from Xue Xi's kitchen, along with its enticing aroma, toward him.
Lu Gang's eyes lit up. He'd found the right place, and there was smoke rising from the kitchen, so it probably wasn't dangerous. Relying on his War God Level strength, he quickly approached the restaurant, setting off a commotion among the monsters gathered around the "Monster Circle."
Xue Xi put another pot of stir-fried topping sauce in the freezer, then wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, planning to take a short break.
As soon as she stepped out of the kitchen, she sensed someone crossing the thousand-meter security perimeter. She hurried outside and saw a Martial Artist, completely encased in black-and-red armor, flying toward her. A few seconds later, he came to a steady stop in front of the restaurant.
Lu Gang's faceplate retracted, revealing a determined face and a crew cut. He and Xue Xi looked each other over curiously. Then he extended his right hand, still covered in armor, and introduced himself first. "Hello, young lady. My name is Lu Gang. I'm with Huaxia Huashan."
Xue Xi hadn't expected the person before her to be Lu Gang, the War God who had heroically died in the rat tide in the original story. She immediately felt a surge of respect. She held out her small hand and shook his armored one. "Hello, hello. I'm the owner of this restaurant. May I ask what brings you here?"
It couldn't be illegal to occupy an abandoned hotel from decades ago in the Wilderness Zone, could it? Were they going to check her business license? Her thoughts began to run wild.
Seeing that the young girl before him was about the same age as his high-school-aged daughter, Lu Gang did his best to look kind and approachable. "It's nothing serious. We noticed you were alone in the Wilderness Zone, so we came to ask if you needed help. We also wanted to find out whether what people online are saying is true—that your food can help Martial Artists quickly grasp movement techniques."
Xue Xi nodded eagerly. "That's right, that's right! My food really is that amazing! Would you like a bowl, Uncle? The menu's over there. Right now, there's only one kind of noodle."
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