A Roadside Stall? A Five-Star Chef Back on the Job?

With the wrappers ready, it was time to prepare the filling. Shen Chuan first cracked some eggs, beat them, and scrambled them into fine, fluffy bits.

Eggs cooked this way were tender but held together. When mixed into the filling, they would neither crumble into tiny scraps nor spoil the texture by being too chunky.

He lined up the fresh Chinese chives neatly on the cutting board. Lu Xiaotao seemed to have gotten into character already, handing him the knife without being asked and teasing, "God of cooking, if you please!"

Shen Chuan said, "Good that you know. No need to stand on ceremony."

Lu Xiaotao had not expected that response from the owner. His expression froze, and once again, he felt the man had pulled off a successful flex.

[Ding! Show-off points +20!]

The corners of Shen Chuan's mouth curved slightly. Very pleased with that particular show-off line, he took the cleaver and started chopping.

The kitchen tools from the beginner's gift pack really delivered. The cleaver felt perfectly weighted in his hand. In the sunlight, its cold gleam remained subdued, its edge thin and sharp, the entire blade a seamless whole. It made no sound as it fell, as though it had been custom-made for him.

In his hands, the bunch of chives seemed to have a fast-forward effect applied to it. There was not the slightest pause in his chopping, and in the blink of an eye, the whole bunch had become evenly sized pieces.

Jiang Wenyan, the college student selling hand-pounded lemon tea next door, had been watching curiously ever since Shen Chuan parked his tricycle.

The delivery guy helping him set up the stall earlier had been nothing unusual. Young people of their generation were all about avoiding needless mental strain and doing whatever felt comfortable.

If he had not been broke, he would have liked to hire someone to help, too.

They were all young people starting their first businesses, and this guy had drawn so much attention right from his arrival. Jiang Wenyan had even been thinking of striking up a conversation later to pick up some tips.

Only when he saw Shen Chuan deftly chopping chives in that impractical suit did his eyes widen in shock.

"Holy crap, those knife skills are insane!"

He would bet that every piece of chive was exactly the same length, as if they had been fed into a machine, set to a specific length, and cut.

Looking at those chives, then at his own lemon slices-some thick, some thin-Jiang Wenyan suddenly felt an urge to hide them.

The contrast was so brutal that he somehow felt ashamed. What was that about?

He had thought they were both newcomers starting their first businesses, still struggling to find their way on this food street, and that they could chat and look out for each other. Instead, a chef had shown up to deliver a dimensionality-reduction strike!

I'm dead, I'm dead. Even street stalls have gotten this competitive?

How was a little noob like him, who had come out to start a stall after just learning a lemonade recipe online, supposed to handle this?

Lu Xiaotao noticed it too and exclaimed, "Boss, are your hands measuring tools or something?"

Seeing Shen Chuan start on a second bunch of chives, Jiang Wenyan whipped out his phone and hit record.

It was his first time seeing such incredible knife skills in real life. Not recording it would have done his overwhelming urge to share a disservice.

Soon, the video was ready, and he could not wait to send it to his roommates' group chat.

"Sons, Daddy's here to show you what real knife skills look like!"

His roommates, who were playing a team game on their computers, glanced over when their phones chimed. Seeing that the message was from Jiang Wenyan, they assumed he had forgotten to bring something for his stall.

The fat guy, who was closest to him, checked his phone first. Seeing the message, he muttered, "What's this? What's so interesting about knife skills?"

Even so, he tapped on the video. Seeing someone chopping chives, he immediately lost interest. But after watching a few more seconds, he, too, was drawn in by Shen Chuan's knife skills.

There was no noisy clack-clack-clack. Shen Chuan chopped quickly, steadily, and quietly, his movements flowing smoothly and looking extremely satisfying.

He chopped the white bases first, then the green leaves. The white bases had more moisture and a firmer texture, while the green leaves were tender and released water easily. Even the angle of his knife differed.

He used a pushing cut for the bases and a pulling cut for the leaves. College students like them, who could not cook, naturally could not spot such subtle changes. But when Shen Chuan gathered the chives together and tipped them into a food storage container, the contrast immediately became clear. Every single piece was exactly the same length.

His roommates' initial reaction upon opening the video had been: What's so interesting about chopping chives?

Now it was: Holy shit!

"Where did this god of cooking come from? Are these really the knife skills you'd expect at a roadside stall?"

"Wenyan, how are you supposed to compete? This level blows the whole street out of the water!"

"A roadside stall? A five-star chef back on the job?"

Watching messages pop up one after another, all of them shocked by the neighboring stall owner's knife skills, Jiang Wenyan felt relieved and satisfied.

He simply pretended not to see the messages putting him down by comparison.

There was just no comparison, all right!

Out loud, however, he refused to concede. "What's so hard about that? It's just practice makes perfect. I've studied electrical engineering for two years now. Whether a high-voltage wire is live or not, I can tell with one touch."

His roommates all scoffed, then watched the video several more times, marveling that hidden masters really did exist among ordinary people, while they themselves were useless.

Having shared it, Jiang Wenyan felt satisfied and turned his attention back to Shen Chuan's stall.

By now, Shen Chuan had all the ingredients ready. He placed the filling on a wrapper and folded it shut in one natural motion, pressing down the middle first and slowly working toward both sides. His movements were silky smooth and fluid.

Soon, a beautiful chive pocket was finished and set on a plate, white and plump, shaped like a crescent moon.

Before anyone could admire it for long, the chive pocket went into the hot oil. It immediately began to sizzle, surrounded by tiny bubbles.

Soon, a rich, deep, toasted aroma spread out, threaded with the pungent fragrance of chives steeped in hot oil. Even wrapped in dough, the aroma of the eggs could not be concealed.

That savory fragrance drifted into the air little by little.

The fried chive pocket had a mottled, tiger-striped golden crust. Its wrapper had contracted slightly during frying, making it look even plumper. It was almost possible to imagine the feeling of biting into it and getting a mouthful of filling.

As he lifted the chive pocket from the oil and let it drain, Shen Chuan gave his customer a slight signal to pick up a paper bag from the counter and catch it.

Lu Xiaotao had waited ages for this chive pocket himself and had done plenty to help. He instantly understood Shen Chuan's meaning and picked up a bag to receive it.

"Hold it steady. Made by the god of cooking, worth every penny and more."

Lu Xiaotao paid no attention to the owner's words. His eyes were fixed on the chive pocket as he eagerly took it, examining it from above and below, left and right.

Honestly, this was the best-looking chive pocket he had ever seen. Its wrapper had been fried almost translucent, golden and crisp, with dark green chives and pale yellow eggs faintly visible inside. The colors were so tempting that simply displaying it on the stall would have been enough to draw passersby.

"Ten yuan each. I'd better give this a proper taste. If it's no good, I..."

With the chive pocket in his hand, its fragrance kept wafting into his nose. Before he could finish speaking, his mouth had already begun to water.

That instantly dashed his hopes of clawing back a little dignity in front of the owner.

After speaking, Lu Xiaotao took a hard bite out of one corner of the chive pocket.