Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Lion’s Head Meatball

During the mission, all dishes receive an A-level seasoning bonus?

Chen Ran got a little excited.

She immediately opened the system panel and carefully checked the skill description.

Did that mean all dishes made during missions would have flavor? Then couldn’t she just casually take any job and also start a little food stall on the side?

With an A-level seasoning skill, even selling pancakes on the street could rake in money, right?

Unfortunately, the system clearly stated: “Effective only under current conditions: using ingredients and kitchenware provided at the employer’s designated workplace.”

Still, that was already more than enough.

Lin Dan looked at her daughter and sighed. “We can only go back to our hometown now. I’ll talk to your grandfather about selling the house and paying off the debt. You can try applying for a civil service position there…”

“Mama!”

Chen Ran got anxious. “Don’t rush—find a lawyer. This is fabricated debt!”

Lin Dan covered her face and couldn’t help but start crying. “It’s Mom’s fault for being so useless…”

“It’s okay, Mama, it’s okay.” Chen Ran went over to hug her mother and then called her grandfather. “You go home for a few days first. Don’t sell the house. Let me check things out on this end.”

After her grandfather comforted her mother and put her on the car back home, he turned to Chen Ran.

“Ranran, are you really going to be okay? If not, just come home with Mom.”

“It’s okay, Mama, don’t worry. I’ll try negotiating with him here. If that doesn’t work, I’ll come back to you and Grandpa.”

Unfortunately, Chen Ran’s job hunt didn’t go as smoothly as she had hoped.

As a longstanding culinary family, the Chen family had immense influence over nearly all the hotels and restaurants in the city.

What’s more, everyone knew that the former culinary genius had now lost her sense of taste. No one was willing to hire her.

Chen Ran wiped the sweat off her face and slowly walked along the street, hoping to find a small shop where she could take the initiative.

This small city didn’t have many positions to offer. The job board at the agency was already empty.

“Well well, look who it is—our Chen family’s rising star, huh?”

A mocking, sarcastic voice came from behind. Chen Ran turned her head—it really was Chen Yijin.

“Heard you can’t find a job at all?” He finally had his chance to ridicule her. “If things get that bad, come work in our place as a prep cook? I mean, you trained knife skills for eight years. Tch—at least you can julienne some potatoes.”

Chen Ran shot him a sidelong glance.

“Sure, I’ll come—do you dare?”

Chen Yijin’s face froze.

The old master had ordered that no hotel or restaurant was allowed to hire Chen Ran, or they’d be going against the Chen family.

Naturally, that included their own family’s restaurant.

He had spoken out on impulse just now, thinking only of mocking Chen Ran. But he was nothing more than an ordinary member of this generation of the Chen family. If he really hired her, he’d end up just like her.Seeing Chen Yijin deflate, Chen Ran couldn't be bothered to deal with him anymore.

She spotted a job notice ahead and quickly walked over.

It really was a cook position!

Chen Ran was pleasantly surprised. After reading it carefully, she saw it was a kindergarten’s job posting.

The original cook at the kindergarten had injured their hand, so they were looking for a temporary assistant chef to prepare meals. The employment term was one month, and the salary was negotiable.

She quietly asked the system in her mind, “Would this count toward completing the mission?”

The system replied with a single word: “Yes.”

Other than that time it asked whether she wanted to regain her sense of taste, the system had always been aloof—if it could answer in one word, it never used two.

For some of her unnecessary questions, the system outright refused to respond.

If she couldn’t still see the stats panel, she would’ve suspected that the system was just a dream.

Chen Ran carefully read over the kindergarten’s job notice. Behind her, Chen Yijin couldn’t take it anymore.

This was the Chen family’s once-brilliant rising star, now fallen to this point—yet how was she still so composed?

He loudly cleared his throat, strode over to Chen Ran’s side, and said smugly:

“I’m about to learn my dad’s best dish—Lion’s Head! My dad said if I can get even thirty percent of it right, he might even invite the old master to give me some pointers!”

His dad might be one of the less skilled cooks in the Chen family, but because their branch stayed at the ancestral home, he had managed to learn the Lion’s Head meatball dish.

Chen Yijin deliberately brought up the old master, watching Chen Ran’s reaction.

Unfortunately for him, he was disappointed. Chen Ran’s only response was to scan the QR code on the job notice.

“What a pity,” Chen Yijin glanced at the kindergarten’s posting—it was just behind their restaurant, and they were only hiring a temp cook. “Heard you haven’t officially taken the stove yet? Haven’t learned even one of the Chen family recipes, right?”

He watched Chen Ran turn her head toward him, then go blank and fall silent.

Chen Yijin grew even more smug. “The old master still went easy on you. He didn’t say you couldn’t get any job at all. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even be able to get a temp cook gig at a kindergarten!”

“It’s a shame though. You used to be so proud… When I told you I’d started working the stove, you said ‘laying the foundation comes first, there’s no rush’... Well, are you in a rush now? Too late!”

Still, Chen Ran said nothing.

The reason she didn’t reply was because, at the moment, she couldn’t see Chen Yijin’s face or hear his voice.

The aloof system had suddenly popped up a new interface.

Temporary Mission: Gain 10,000 Gratitude Points at the kindergarten to receive an S-rank Lion’s Head meatball recipe.

The interface was massive and opaque, completely blocking Chen Ran’s vision. The sound effect had changed from a single “ding” to a cascade of “dings.”

Chen Ran suspected that if she didn’t accept the mission soon, it might turn into a mandatory one.

She used her mind to select “accept,” and the huge black interface finally disappeared.

Chen Yijin’s face was still waving around in front of her.

But the face that had been so annoying a moment ago now looked… quite adorable.Even the huge pimple on Chen Yijin’s nose looked a little festive in Chen Ran’s eyes.

She instinctively chose to provoke him a bit more—if this guy kept talking, wouldn’t that earn her a few more recipes?

“Your dad’s Lion’s Head meatballs are just so-so, right? Didn’t Uncle take one bite last time and immediately have it taken away?”

“Oh, and Third Uncle—he said your dad should switch to making fried meatballs instead. Might even carve out a niche for himself at the wet market.”

She stared at Chen Yijin with anticipation.

Chen Yijin was speechless.

He couldn’t refute a single word. Watching Chen Ran speak so quickly reminded him of when the younger generation of the Chen family took part in assessments—everyone had been completely crushed by her.

“You… he’s still better than you!”

Watching Chen Yijin flee in embarrassment, Chen Ran nearly wanted to chase him down and grab him!

Please, please brag a few more lines!

But just then, her friend request on WeChat from the job posting was accepted.

Chen Ran looked down and quickly sent a greeting.

“Hello, is the assistant cook position at the kindergarten still available?”

On the other end was the principal of Qiming Star Kindergarten.

The kindergarten was small, mainly serving children from the surrounding residential community, so naturally they couldn’t offer a high salary.

They originally had one cook, which was enough. Since the position was only for a temporary assistant, very few people had applied.

That morning, the principal had already turned down two candidates—one was an elderly woman nearly sixty, and the other made food that was simply inedible.

At lunch, they’d already fed the kids pre-cooked food and semi-finished dishes. There were still more than ten kids staying for the extended evening program, and with no one to make dinner, the principal was going to have to cook it herself!

Yuan Guozhong, the injured cook, was trying to comfort her: “Little Principal, it’s okay, we can just make something simple tonight. Fewer kids in the evening. Maybe someone will apply tomorrow.”

“How about slicing up more sausage? For vegetables, maybe just cabbage stewed with tofu—that’s not too hard, right?”

“Or maybe ask among the teachers, see if anyone can cook?”

“I can’t manage all this,” the principal, surnamed Xiao, had such a baby face that everyone just called her “Little Principal.” “Besides, who’d be willing to do that? Ask the teachers to cook too?”

Kindergarten teachers were famously underpaid and overworked. They made barely over two thousand yuan a month—and now they were expected to cook dinner?

Forget it. She couldn’t even bring herself to ask.

Just then, someone finally added her on WeChat again! Under the hopeful gaze of the two, the applicant sent a very normal message.

They even used an emoji!

Perfect. They knew how to use WeChat and emojis—probably not another elderly lady. The little principal quickly typed out a reply, her fingers practically leaving afterimages: “No! You can interview right now! Do you have a health certificate?”

When she saw the fast reply “Yes,” Principal Xiao and Yuan Guozhong were almost moved to tears.

“You can interview right now! Please come to the kindergarten!”

The job posting included the kindergarten’s address, and it didn’t seem far. But Chen Ran wasn’t very familiar with the area. She looked around, preparing to ask for directions—and unexpectedly spotted that Chen Yijin was still there.He was still standing at the entrance of his family’s “Chen Family Restaurant,” looking over with a complicated expression.

Chen Ran walked over to ask for directions: “Where is Qiming Star Kindergarten?”

She looked at Chen Yijin with a hint of anticipation.

If he told her, she could go apply and complete the task; if he didn’t, great—she’d get another recipe!

Chen Yijin was slightly intimidated by the look in Chen Ran’s eyes.

Who was the one kicked out of the family again?

He was clearly the one about to learn the Chen family’s recipe—shouldn’t he be the winner here? Why did Chen Ran look so eager?

Having long been at the bottom of the Chen family hierarchy and used to getting beaten down, Chen Yijin chose to trust his sixth sense.

“Just turn that way, there’s a back entrance.”

Chen Ran reluctantly said thank you and quickly walked toward the back entrance.

Qiming Star Kindergarten was indeed small. She entered from the back of the residential compound and, after just a few steps, saw the kindergarten’s main gate.

That left Chen Ran a little disappointed—she thought Chen Yijin might give her a wrong address so the system would trigger another task.

As soon as she got to the entrance, the waiting Little Principal and Yuan Guozhong lit up.

A tall girl, healthy and strong, her high ponytail tied up neatly.

At least from appearance, she passed.

“Just need to cook two meals a day—lunch and dinner. Two dishes per meal, one meat, one veggie. Breakfast has someone else making noodles and pastries. Have you cooked large-batch meals before? Can you do it well?”

Yuan Guozhong quickly added, “The interview is just cooking tonight’s dinner. As long as it’s passable, you’re in. One-month term, two thousand yuan. As long as it doesn’t affect cooking, okay?”

The pay really was a bit low.

But from Chen Ran’s current perspective, as long as she had somewhere to work, even paying out of pocket was fine.

“No problem!”

She cheerfully followed Yuan Guozhong to the kindergarten’s back kitchen.

The entire back kitchen had three people—one dishwasher/helper in charge of washing vegetables and dishes.

An auntie specialized in making noodles and pastries, mainly for breakfast, who also lent a hand when needed. And finally, head chef Yuan Guozhong.

Since they hadn’t hired a new assistant yet, the kitchen had already prepared to just serve beef patties for dinner.

Maybe toss in a cucumber and egg drop soup—after all, there were only about ten kids in the evening program.

On the kitchen counter were the ingredients for beef patties—beef, onions, carrots—and about a dozen washed cucumbers.

Yuan Guozhong led Chen Ran in with a bit of nervousness, observing her closely.

There was only half an hour left until the kindergarten’s dinner time!

Chen Ran put on a chef’s hat, carefully tucked her hair away, picked up the kitchen knife, and examined the ingredients on the cutting board.

The beef was neck meat—lean, firm, and fresh-looking.This cut of meat isn’t quite suitable for braising or stewing, but it would be great for a quick stir-fried beef dish.

The kids would love it too.

As for the cucumbers, just stir-fry them with some eggs.

“Slice the cucumbers and marinate them with salt.”

“Beat fifty eggs evenly, add a spoonful of white vinegar.”

“Shred the onions.”

She hadn’t officially trained in the Chen family kitchen yet, but that didn’t mean Chen Ran had never cooked before.

On the contrary, she’d done it many times. Back then, Chen Yun had placed high hopes on this great-granddaughter and focused heavily on building her foundation.

Chen Ran directed the others in the kitchen efficiently while she swiftly sliced the beef thin, marinated it, and coated it with starch.

Yuan Guozhong watched her skillful movements, noticed the subtle layer of muscle on her shoulders and back, and felt reassured—this kitchen assistant was solid.

He stood behind her, watching as she confidently poured the beef slices into the large wok, then paused slightly.

“What’s wrong? Not used to cooking in a big wok?”

The hardest part about large wok cooking is the stir-fry. With such a big wok, the temperature difference between the center and the edges is significant—if the stir-fry isn't handled well, some of the meat will turn out tough, others undercooked.

But for Chen Ran, with a C-grade stir-fry skill, this was nothing.

The reason she had paused just now was because—she felt the power of a passive skill!

When marinating beef for stir-frying, you must not add salt—it draws out the moisture too early and ruins the tenderness.

Salt must be added right before serving.

Chen Ran had practiced this step countless times despite losing her sense of taste, but no matter how much she repeated it, the result was always just average. Without taste, she could make decent home cooking, but not truly delicious food.

Had she studied for years, maybe she could’ve relied on experience.

But all her training up to now had been focused on mastering fundamentals—she didn’t have enough experience to season purely by feel.

Yet just now, when she reached for the salt spoon, she had this inexplicable, almost mystical sense.

No need to measure, no need to taste—just a sprinkle from the salt jar—

The stir-fried beef was done!

The tender beef slices landed in the plate like fish falling into a net, glistening with a light sheen of oil.

From years of experience in the back kitchen, just by the sight and aroma, Chen Ran knew—this dish wasn’t just passable!

A huge sense of satisfaction filled her—not only because her anxiety about the future had eased, not only because the path of revenge now seemed brighter—

But because—she truly, deeply loved cooking.

Being able to cook again felt so wonderful!

She loved cooking!