How Are Beef Balls Made?

Clouds and mist billowed beneath his feet as Matchmaker Yue rode a cloud out of the palace and flew downward.

The Earthly Immortal Realm was also the realm of Loose Immortals. There were countless cultivators here, but the Four Great Continents had even more Demon Kings. With immortals and mortals separated, a portion of the Human Tribe had remained behind. After countless years of reproduction, they had rebuilt all manner of nations. They basically still retained an ancient appearance. Separated by the Heavenly Dao, this place had embarked on a path different from the Mortal Realm.

Yet it always seemed to be missing something. Matchmaker Yue could not quite put his finger on it. It seemed to lack a certain liveliness. The people here possessed a bit more sincerity, vastly different from before the separation.

After so many years, there did not seem to have been much change. It was just like the Heavenly Court. If the Buddhist demons had not pushed them so hard, the Heavenly Court would not have exhausted every means to seek change.

Thinking of Daoist Nature's hint, Matchmaker Yue set off on his journey. Yet the words, "It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black; as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat," kept echoing in his mind. The words were crude, but the logic was sound. It was clear that this fellow Daoist had profound mastery of the Dao, having exposed the essence of things in a single sentence: practicality.

With a tap of his finger, Matchmaker Yue broke through the clouds and descended, landing in a city within a nation.

After putting away his phone, Qin Fen had no interest in chatting with Matchmaker Yue all the way.

It was already noon, the restaurant's busiest time. Quite a few customers had drifted into the dining hall, most of them employees from the department store. This restaurant was not only suitable for group meals; its cheap fast food also provided convenience for the workers. It had to be said that Sun Yating, that little vixen, was actually very skilled at business.

Rushing into the kitchen, Qin Fen found everyone busy. Zhang Ye, the head chef, was especially occupied, nearly unable to stop for a moment. Seeing Qin Fen swaggering around with his feet turned outward, everyone felt a little unbalanced.

"Qin Fen, have you finished cutting those potatoes?" Zhang Ye felt a little annoyed.

"Finished."

Finished? It had only been a short while. You finished in the blink of an eye? There were five huge ones, and they would make quite a lot once sliced. Don't tell me you cut them into potato chips for me?

"Really?" Zhang Ye was doubtful.

"Yeah. See for yourself." Qin Fen pointed at the plate from earlier.

Huh, they really were done. Zhang Ye was a little surprised, but he quickly pointed at a basin nearby. "There's some minced beef over there, and shrimp paste I prepared beside it. Do you know how to make beef balls?"

"I've seen it in movies." Qin Fen was telling the truth.

Zhang Ye nearly choked. What the hell did "seen it in movies" mean? Wasn't he a chef hired by the boss? "Then try making a few. Watch how my apprentice does it, then help make some. Today's daily soup is this."

The daily soup was Bursting-Juice Piss Beef Balls? What a creative idea. Qin Fen immediately became interested. Even the Food God did not know how to make these. He could use them to fool that guy later.

After watching Zhang Ye's apprentice make a few, Qin Fen was eager to try. Drawing on the Food God's experience, he quickly grasped the trick of squeezing out the balls.

"Let me try."

"You? Can you even do it?" Zhang Ye's apprentice did not quite believe him. Your knife skills are damn impressive, but this isn't cutting meat.

"How can a man say he can't? Go do something else. I guarantee I'll handle it. It looks pretty simple."

Simple? What the hell? I practiced this for several months. This wasn't done with a mold, nor was it the frozen stuff bought from a supermarket. These were made fresh on the spot. Minced beef had some stickiness, but little elasticity. If your technique was poor, it was easy to make all sorts of misshapen lumps. A ball was a ball—you couldn't make it flat.

"Have you made these before? Where did you apprentice, or what school did you attend?" The apprentice was not going to be careless. He had to ask first. If something went wrong later, who would take responsibility? Whoever it was, he would still be in trouble. This was his job.

"I haven't made this before. I was a security guard at Clearwater Orchid Pavilion." Qin Fen was telling the absolute truth. Though he had wanted to say that he had graduated from New Oriental. But what if someone here had gone there too? Wouldn't that turn his bragging into a joke?

A security guard? Several apprentices nearby, along with Zhang Ye's apprentice, stared at him sharply. Did he think tricking them was fun? Was there some mistake here? Was he really here to be a chef?

Security guard and chef were quite a leap between professions. But since Sun Yating had brought him in, they could not say much.

"Then try making one." Zhang Ye's apprentice was sweating profusely. He had originally wanted to learn a few seasoning tricks from his master, but after hearing this, forget it—he had better stay and watch. It looked like he would be the one cleaning up in the end.

Qin Fen washed his hands, then dusted them with flour. With a scoop of his right hand, he grabbed a handful of meat filling. Clenching it into a fist, he squeezed, and a round ball quickly formed through the gap between his thumb and fingers. He poked a hole in it with his left index finger, stuffed in shrimp paste, then pinched and kneaded it with both hands until a plump, round meatball appeared.

He released it into the water, then expertly added a ladleful of stock. He watched as the beef ball rolled in the boiling water and gradually changed color.

"Pretty simple. It's about the same as making tangyuan," Qin Fen muttered.

Not even close! Zhang Ye's apprentice's eyes nearly popped out. Glutinous rice had excellent stickiness and was more elastic than minced beef. Once wrapped, it could still be rolled around. But with this beef, if you rolled it, it would likely fall apart and leave your hands covered in crumbs.

"See? Not bad, right?" Qin Fen made another one, his hands moving so fast that the apprentice's vision blurred.

Not bad? It was unbelievably good! Are you sure you're really a security guard? Zhang Ye's apprentice felt sick. Were you here just to mess with everyone? With those techniques and knife skills, there was no way you could develop them without years of practice.

The apprentice gave Qin Fen a speechless look. Forget it, you do it. I'll go handle something else. Two people doing this would just be wasteful.

Once the other man left, Qin Fen stood there alone and began making beef balls. Since he was taking this salary, he wanted to do the job well. Though he knew he probably would not be here long. With Heavenly Court Moments on WeChat, his opportunities had fundamentally changed. The future held limitless possibilities.

As he made the beef balls, light footsteps sounded behind him. A faint fragrance drifted from behind his neck to his nose. Hm? Smells good.

"Qin Fen, what are you doing?"

"Making beef balls." He did not need to turn around to know who had come. That scent, that voice that made his bones go weak—who else could it be but Sun Yating?

"So this is how you make beef balls? You use your fingers to dig into the meat, poke a hole in it, then add something inside?" Sun Yating wore a strange expression as she stepped closer, nearly pressing herself against Qin Fen's back.

"Qin Fen, you're really good at this. You filled it so full with that white shrimp paste, without leaving any gaps. You really know how to do it."

Please let a bolt of lightning strike this little vixen dead. Qin Fen's body trembled, his arm shook, and he realized he had bumped into something.

Bonus chapter! Votes, I want votes, everyone! Any support that doesn't include votes, clicks, or bookmarks means you want me to pick up soap! I picked it up, I really did—please support me!