Since You're Here, Eat First

The next day, Fang Ming did indeed arrive very early.

By the time Chen An entered the Kitchen, he was already sitting by the door peeling scallions. A basin of washed ingredients sat beside him, and he had even wiped their usual dining table spotless.

"Didn't train today?"

"I already did. I came to see Uncle Zhou."

Uncle Zhou was coming out from the back. Hearing this, he set a basin of peanuts straight in front of him.

"Just the person I need. Pick out the bad ones."

Fang Ming offered no further explanation. He took the basin and started sorting. Who he had come to see didn't matter. A few bad peanuts couldn't be allowed to spoil the flavor of today's new dish.

Amused by the sight, Chen An kept busy too. He brought the chicken thighs Uncle Zhou had left him to the chopping board, removed the bones, trimmed away the sinew and membranes, then cut the meat into evenly sized cubes.

An ordinary kitchen knife was enough for these ordinary ingredients.

He put the diced meat in a basin, added a little salt and a splash of cooking wine, then added egg white and starch, gently mixing everything by hand in one direction. Once a thin coating covered the meat, he added a little oil to seal it in and set it aside to marinate briefly.

Chicken thigh meat was tender to begin with. If the coating was too thick, all one tasted was batter; too thin, and it wouldn't hold in the juices. Chen An mixed it through twice, then checked that no excess water remained at the bottom before preparing the next ingredient.

He cut the scallions into short lengths, sliced the ginger and garlic, snipped open the dried chilies, and shook out the excess seeds.

Meanwhile, Fang Ming had finished sorting the peanuts. Seeing that the oil on the stove wasn't hot yet, he was about to pass them over, but Chen An had him keep them close at hand.

"No hurry. They go into cold oil."

He poured the peanuts into the wok. As the oil slowly warmed, Chen An stirred them gently with his ladle. The moment their color began to change and faint crackles sounded in the wok, he scooped them out and spread them out to cool.

They would only become truly crisp once they cooled on their own.

Fang Ming stood beside him, merely watching at first. Then, noticing a peanut that had fallen outside the plate, he picked it up and tasted it.

"This is good too."

"It'll be even better mixed into the dish later."

"Then I won't eat any more."

Despite saying that, he still glanced at the plate of peanuts as he walked away. Chen An simply had him carry the plate farther off, lest half of them disappear before the stir-frying even began.

Next came the sauce.

He dissolved sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and a little salt in a bowl, then added a little starch slurry. It needed a sweet-and-sour taste without being sharply sour or cloyingly sweet. Chen An tasted it, added a little more vinegar with his spoon, then portioned out the ingredients for each batch.

The keys to Kung Pao Chicken were precisely that flavor and the final control of the heat.

As lunchtime approached, Uncle Zhou finished steaming the rice, and Chen An began cooking in earnest.

Once the oil heated up, the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns went in first.

After just two strokes of the ladle, the chilies deepened in color, and their aroma burst out with the fragrance of Sichuan peppercorns. They couldn't stay in the oil too long. The diced chicken followed immediately, and a dense burst of sizzling instantly quickened the footsteps of several people outside.

"Is that today's new dish?"

"Just the smell makes you want rice."

Someone poked his head inside to look, only for Uncle Zhou to send him to lay out bowls. Chen An had no time to respond. He stir-fried over high heat, swiftly separating the chicken with his ladle. The hot oil set the thin coating, and the cubes came apart one by one, turning a tender white.

The ginger and garlic went in next, followed by the scallion lengths.

Chen An tossed the wok with one hand and poured the sauce around its edge with the other. A sweet-and-sour aroma spread abruptly. The initially clear sauce reduced in the hot wok, coating every cube of chicken in moments.

The tender white meat took on a glossy red color, while the scallions retained their fresh green. He tipped in the completely cooled peanuts, tossed everything together quickly, and immediately plated it.

The peanuts couldn't soak in the sauce for long, or all the crispness he had taken such pains to fry into them would be lost.

Uncle Zhou took the plate outside. Chen An had already wiped the wok clean and started the next batch.

As agreed yesterday, he cooked it in several batches, sending each one out as soon as it was ready. The diners were impatient, but seeing that everyone else's food had come fresh from the wok, no one actually urged him to tip all the meat in at once.

Fang Ming, among the first to eat, picked up a cube of chicken. His eyes lit up the moment he put it in his mouth.

Tender meat, sweet-and-sour sauce, and a hint of fragrant dried-chili heat at the end. When he bit into it, the juices were still inside, without the slightest dryness. A bite of the peanuts beside it brought a sharp crunch, pairing perfectly with the tender chicken.

What more was there to say? A mouthful of rice first.

Shao Heng sat beside him. He had intended to ask about the past few days' Soul Hunting, but after one bite, he swallowed his words for the moment too.

Chen An was right inside. Couldn't he ask him anytime?

Once this plate of chicken cooled, it wouldn't taste as good as it did fresh from the wok.

As the hot rice went down, the fatigue from their morning training gradually eased a little. The benefits of ordinary dishes remained gentle, but coming here after every training session meant both a satisfying meal and a little relief. Who wouldn't want that?

Just then, Qin Ming and Cheng Yu also arrived at the sect.

The two first explained their purpose to the gatekeepers. Qin Ming had already sent word of his intended visit and received Ning Fengzhi's reply. Now that someone had come out to guide them, they followed him inside.

Cheng Yu carried a parcel of ordinary dried fruit. His left arm was still bandaged, but he no longer frowned constantly as he had on the road. An examination after returning to the city had confirmed that the residual poison had not flared up again, and his wound had been treated anew. Today, he had simply come with his teacher to offer his thanks.

Ning Fengzhi met them and listened to Qin Ming explain his student's condition, then smiled and had someone put away the gift they had brought.

"Chen An is in the Kitchen, and it's just lunchtime. Since you're here, eat first."

Qin Ming had intended to finish expressing his thanks first, but at those words, he followed him to the small kitchen.

Before they even stepped inside, a waft of fragrance reached them.

Closer to the door, they saw several disciples voluntarily shift aside, making room at a freshly cleaned table. One brought stools for them, while another carried an empty basin beside the table back to the rear courtyard. They moved even faster than those receiving the guests.

Qin Ming glanced over, somewhat surprised.

Back on the road, he had only seen Chen An make a pot of Soul Skill porridge. Judging by how practiced everyone was now, the boy had clearly cooked here more than once or twice.

Chen An finished the last batch, looked up, and smiled at the visitors.

"Teacher Qin, Cheng Yu."

"My arm is much better," Cheng Yu said first. "My teacher said I could go out, so I came along."

Chen An examined his bandaging. Seeing that he was no longer uncomfortable, he asked Uncle Zhou to add two sets of bowls and chopsticks. Some prepared ingredients remained, and the stove was still lit, so he simply cooked another small batch, bringing it to the table along with Ning Fengzhi's and Rongrong's portions.

Rongrong had been waiting nearby all along. Chen An had told her about it before, and seeing Cheng Yu hold his bowl naturally now, she knew that the person in the story really was much better.

As for Rainbow Porridge, there was none today, but the new dish was right in front of her.

She took a bite of chicken, then picked up a peanut, and no longer had time to ask anything else first.

Qin Ming tasted it too.

It tasted completely different from that bowl of Rainbow Porridge, yet one bite made him want another just the same. He had been puzzled by how eager those disciples were to help, but now he wasn't puzzled at all.

If he could come here to eat every day, he would probably be happy to lend a hand too.

Cheng Yu devoted himself even more fully to eating, holding his rice bowl and barely speaking. Seeing others pick peanuts from the plate, he followed suit. Yet rather than the simple oily fragrance he had expected, they were sweet, sour, and crisp, growing more fragrant with every chew.

"So peanuts can be cooked into a dish like this."

"They can." Chen An sat down at the table. "But they have to go in last. They aren't good once they soften."

Hearing this, Qin Ming glanced toward the stove again. Only after Chen An had eaten a few mouthfuls of rice did he explain why he had come.

Besides expressing his gratitude, he did indeed want to speak with Ning Fengzhi about this boy.

A three-ring food-type Soul Master whose cooking was already so practiced-if he could later fill the gaps in his knowledge of Soul Beasts and the use of Soul Skills, his growth wouldn't be confined to this wok.

"The academy has some basic courses he could attend," Qin Ming said. "There's no need to rush into enrolling. If you're willing, I can first find suitable classes and make the arrangements."

Chen An was placing a piece of chicken in Rongrong's bowl. At those words, he looked up.

Classes on Soul Beasts?

He really had been thinking about the things he had failed to recognize on this trip into the forest.