After making a round, Lin Zhe had picked up a total of 68 eggs from the ground!
He sorted the eggs into three grades.
The first and lowest grade consisted of those without any +2 attributes.
Any egg with at least one +2 attribute went into the second grade.
The third and highest grade required at least one +3 attribute.
"Forty-three first-grade eggs, twenty-two second-grade eggs, and three third-grade eggs..."
There were egg trays in the kitchen left over from eggs his parents had bought, so Lin Zhe could just reuse those.
The 43 first-grade eggs filled a little over one tray, while the second- and third-grade eggs together didn't even fill one.
While sorting the eggs, Lin Zhe also used the check-in panel to learn about the characteristics of the chickens he had received from checking in.
These chickens could lay eggs only once a day, and only one egg each time.
Once he finished collecting the eggs, Lin Zhe took them all into the kitchen and started by trying the first-grade ones.
He cracked four first-grade eggs into a large bowl.
First, Lin Zhe noticed that the eggs laid by these check-in chickens were golden yellow, distinctly different from ordinary eggs.
What was more, even without any preparation, the raw egg mixture had no eggy smell at all. Instead, it gave off a faint, fresh fragrance.
Generally, ordinary raw eggs had only an eggy smell, not an appetizing aroma.
The aroma of eggs came from chemical reactions during cooking between the cooking oil and the proteins, fats, acid esters, and carbohydrates in the eggs.
These eggs with attributes gave off a faint, fresh fragrance even when raw. On that point alone, they completely outclassed ordinary eggs!
"They look pretty good."
Looking at the golden egg mixture in the bowl and breathing in its faint fragrance, Lin Zhe swallowed and kept going.
He added a little salt to the bowl and beat the eggs thoroughly with a pair of chopsticks.
He turned on the stove, heated some oil in a pan, poured in the egg mixture, and scrambled it thoroughly.
Lin Zhe's cooking skills were only average. He couldn't make complicated dishes, but scrambled eggs were well within his grasp.
After about a minute of stirring, the eggs were cooked and ready to serve!
"Smells amazing!"
Looking at the steaming, golden scrambled eggs in front of him and smelling their distinctive aroma, Lin Zhe nearly drooled.
He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and tasted it. It was silky, tender, and richly fragrant-both the texture and flavor were exceptional!
Lin Zhe had eaten plenty of scrambled eggs in his life, but this was the first time he had tasted any that were this insanely delicious!
"This is... way too good!"
He swallowed the mouthful of egg, his face lighting up with delight!
These weren't just eggs he'd picked up. He'd found treasure!
After that word of praise, Lin Zhe demolished the whole plate of scrambled eggs without leaving a scrap. He practically licked the plate clean!
"If eggs with +1 attributes are already this delicious, how good must the +2 ones be?"
Lin Zhe glanced at the nearby tray, which was more than half full of eggs with deliciousness +2. Without much hesitation, he got straight back to work!
Crack, crack, crack, crack-!
He cracked another four eggs with deliciousness +2 into the bowl and repeated the same steps.
This time, the eggs with deliciousness +2 and nutrition +2 came out even brighter in color and richer in aroma.
If appearance and aroma were scored out of 100, Lin Zhe would have given them full marks without hesitation!
Unable to wait, he picked up a large piece with his chopsticks and stuffed it straight into his mouth. His eyes lit up.
Then Lin Zhe wolfed down another small plate of egg pancake!
He hadn't eaten breakfast before heading out that morning, and his stomach had already been growling while he waited to check in at Fox Nibbling Chicken.
Now, eating an egg pancake made with six eggs had just filled him up.
"No seasonings, no complicated techniques, and I still made scrambled eggs this delicious. I'm freaking amazing!"
"If I paired eggs this good with rice, the egg fried rice would definitely be incredible!"
Egg fried rice was one of Lin Zhe's favorite foods.
His mother's egg fried rice, in particular, was outstanding. He had eaten it since childhood and never gotten tired of it.
The moment he thought of egg fried rice, his cravings flared up again.
Even though the egg pancakes had nearly filled him up, he still couldn't help wanting another big bowl of egg fried rice!
Lin Xiaomeng made pretty good egg fried rice too. Hers was the best Lin Zhe had tasted aside from his mother's, and he had always treated it as a substitute for his mother's version.
"I'll let Xiaomeng show off her cooking skills at lunch today!"
With that thought, Lin Zhe immediately went to the kitchen and put the rice on to steam. Two scoops of rice and three scoops of water would be enough for two people.
Rice for egg fried rice tasted better when steamed a little firmer, so he added half a scoop less water than usual.
After steaming the rice, Lin Zhe filled a large stainless-steel basin with uncooked rice and went out to the courtyard to feed the chickens.
Cluck, cluck, cluck...
Coo, coo, coo...
More than a hundred chickens chased one another and played in the little bamboo grove. They seemed to love their new surroundings.
But...
"With this many chickens here, will they disturb the guests staying out front?"
Lin Zhe felt that this was an issue he needed to take seriously.
Guests liked peace and quiet when staying at an inn. With so many chickens clucking here, they were bound to disturb the guests resting out front.
Should he build a small chicken coop and keep them all penned up?
That would solve the noise problem, but for the chickens, it definitely wouldn't be as good as playing freely in the bamboo grove.
Lin Zhe thought for a moment, then shouted at the flock in the grove, "Keep it down! No loud conversations!"
Surprisingly, his shout actually worked!
The chickens with the "intelligence" attribute immediately quieted down when they heard Lin Zhe's instruction!
However, the chickens without the "intelligence" attribute kept doing whatever they pleased, flapping and squawking as loudly as ever.
"In that case, I'll pen up the twenty-odd chickens that won't listen. The obedient ones can keep roaming free."
Lin Zhe rubbed his chin and quickly made up his mind. He would have to take some measures with the uncooperative chickens.
Although these chickens obtained through check-ins were special and valuable, he couldn't let raising them interfere with the normal operation of the Fortunate Inn.
He raised his wrist to check his Garmin sports watch. Before he knew it, it was already past eleven thirty.
Lin Zhe and Lin Xiaomeng usually ate lunch around noon, so it was nearly mealtime.
Lin Zhe went to the kitchen and washed his hands with dish soap. By the time he returned to the front hall, Lin Xiaomeng had just finished checking in two guests.
"Zhe, what have you been busy doing out back? I haven't seen you all morning."
Lin Xiaomeng smiled as she asked him.
Lin Zhe smiled back. "Nothing much. I'm raising some chickens in the backyard."
"Huh? Raising... some chickens?"
A whole bunch of question marks popped into Lin Xiaomeng's head when she heard his answer.
Why had Zhe suddenly decided to raise chickens?
These chickens... were they legit?
Lin Zhe added with a smile, "The ones I bought are all hens that can already lay eggs.
"From now on, we'll have eggs to eat every day. No need to buy them at the supermarket anymore."
"Huh? Oh..."
Although the chickens really were ordinary chickens, Lin Xiaomeng still had trouble understanding why her Zhe had suddenly started raising them!
These days, even the elderly villagers rarely kept chickens. They were dirty, troublesome, and noisy.
The villagers all bought their eggs at the supermarket. A tray cost a little over ten yuan and lasted more than a week.
Around fifty yuan was enough for a month's worth of eggs. Why go to all that trouble?
"Oh, right, Xiaomeng. Let's have egg fried rice for lunch today and see how the eggs from our own chickens taste."
"I've already steamed the rice, and I left the other ingredients and eggs on the cutting board for you. Let's see what you can do."
As he spoke, Lin Zhe had already stepped behind the reception desk. He patted Lin Xiaomeng on the shoulder, signaling that she could go make lunch.
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