Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – First time hearing that an undercover mission can generate revenue…

“Damn, did you guys hear that? Shepi even told them to send him pork knuckles tomorrow morning!”

“Go apply for surveillance gear from the bureau, hurry up! Aren’t we installing a wire on him?”

“Yeah, tell Xiao Li to scout out the layout of that shack tomorrow, see if there’s a basement.”

While still selling his jianbing, Xiao Li took time to message in the group chat: “How’s that? From now on, call me Brother Li! Had to be me, right?”

Even Director Gao, who had been silent, chimed in for once with a rare complaint: “That’s because our Ranran makes delicious pork knuckles, what chance do you have? I’m telling you, make sure you pull your weight—don’t wear Ranran out!”

“Yes, Director! Don’t worry, I’ll do all the dirty and heavy work!”

Still, even with Xiao Li running around like mad, Chen Ran’s arm was starting to feel sore from making all those pancakes.

There was nothing to be done—there were just too many people.

She glanced at the box of dough patties. The thousand or so she’d prepped this morning were already almost used up.

“Once we sell out, we’ll have to go back and restock.”

The tiger-skin green peppers were already gone, the marinated pork knuckles had long since been snapped up, and even the beef scraps were sold out.

Xiao Li looked surprised. “Didn’t we say this morning we had over 800 dough patties? They sold this fast?”

“Look at how many are in this one pan.”

Afraid that Chen Ran might not find it convenient to use, Director Gao had borrowed the newest model of food cart for her. The double-sided electric griddle inside had a diameter the length of Chen Ran’s arm and could cook more than a dozen pancakes at once.

The scariest part was the dense crowd of college students outside—however many pancakes she made, they would all sell.

The few fresh veggie options were also sold out. Xiao Li awkwardly explained to the students waiting outside: “We’re out of dishes, no more sausages either... marinated meat? That sold out an hour ago. Come back this afternoon.”

“But there’s still soup! I love this soup! Give me an egg-stuffed pancake so I can dip it in the soup!”

Chen Ran squinted—wasn’t this the tiger-skin green pepper fan who helped maintain order earlier?

Lu Bei’s eyes were fixed on the leftover green pepper broth. Just as Xiao Li was about to make it for him, Chen Ran stopped him.

“Hold on, if I’m not mistaken, didn’t he scarf down two pancakes two hours ago?”

Since she made the dough and cooked the pancakes herself, Chen Ran knew exactly how hefty her egg-stuffed pancakes were.

This green pepper guy didn’t look tall, but he better not end up with indigestion.

“I can eat! I can eat!”

Green Pepper Bro rolled up his sleeves, showing off his biceps enthusiastically. “I work out, too! These pancakes are perfect for bulking up!”

To be fair, he was indeed full earlier—but the more he thought about it after, the tastier it seemed.

“One more! Just one more!”

Chen Ran shook her head and continued cracking eggs into the pancake molds. While counting, she raised her voice and called out: “Stop lining up! No more queues! We’re sold out. Come back later!”

“Huh? Sold out already?”

“Can’t you set a limit? I saw someone buy four pancakes just now… what about those of us at the back?”Chen Ran also felt a little helpless. Xiao Li stood to the side, grinning apologetically: “Nothing we can do, they’re buying for an entire dorm—how could we refuse to sell it?”

There were more college students at the scene now, and many of the workers, seeing how long the line was, had gone off to buy boxed meals instead.

College students bringing food back for a whole dorm? That was totally normal! There was really no way to impose limits.

Passing students looked on curiously: “Is it really that good? Isn’t it just a pancake…”

Green Pepper Bro Lu Bei shook his head vigorously—it really was that good.

At first, he’d come for the tiger-skin green peppers, but after devouring one serving, what surprised him most was actually the outer pancake.

The egg had a double texture, and the dough was both chewy, elastic, and crispy at the same time.

This pancake—he had never eaten anything this delicious in his life!

“You don’t get it, this pancake is really delicious!”

Just as Chen Ran finished cooking the last pocket pancake, she happened to hear Green Pepper Bro’s exclamation and couldn’t help but open her system panel.

Of course it was delicious. This pancake might look ordinary, but it was from an S-rank recipe!

Even though she had no sense of taste right now and couldn’t sample it herself, during the cooking process, she could feel that the dough had a kind of soulful texture to it.

If she had to evaluate it, she actually felt that the S-rank pancake might even be better than the S-rank lion’s head meatball.

After all, the love of carbs was something deeply rooted in the genetic makeup of people from this agricultural nation.

She glanced at her progress bar—already at 928/10000. At this rate, completing the task with this street cart wouldn’t be difficult at all.

However…

“Give me one!”

Xiao Li awkwardly lifted the dish tray to show them: “We’re sold out—not even a scrap left! You’ll have to wait until we’re back this afternoon.”

They’d have to prepare a lot more for the afternoon!

Even though tomorrow they could openly deliver pork knuckles to Shepi, the current surveillance setup couldn’t be relaxed.

After all, the key was to confirm whether those few kids were being sent over to Shepi. That meant constant monitoring.

During the day, they had the food cart for surveillance, and at night, people were stationed nearby as well. Even when Xiao Li drove the cart back for restocking, Chen Shihan came over in disguise to loudly hawk drinks.

On the way back, Chen Ran was so tired she didn’t even want to open her mouth. In her mind, she kept pestering the system.

“How do I unlock the knife’s special effects? Why haven’t I gotten any hints yet?”

“How do I upgrade my B-rank knife skills to A-rank? The missions have progress bars, why don’t the ranks have experience points?”

“Shouldn’t there be some kind of XP gift pack or something?”

Ever since the system gave her that one-liner—“an unceasing desire to explore”—Chen Ran poked and clicked around the entire system interface every time she opened it, never missing a single spot that might contain a reward.

And this time, she really had found something!

Her finger had tapped on the reward for her first part-time job task, and a note popped up above the one-million yuan prize:

[Ill-gotten gains of vast sums will inevitably vanish through legitimate channels.]Wait, what?

“System, if you told me to buy a lottery ticket and I win, would that count as a legitimate way?”

[Task rewards are, by definition, legitimate.]

Chen Ran felt relieved, but immediately thought of another possibility!

If the rewards she earned from doing tasks counted as legitimate, then what about the pit her scumbag dad dug for her mom, making her take on all that debt?

“What if I give this one million back to him—would that count as legitimate?”

This time, the system’s reply came a bit slowly, and Chen Ran had a strange feeling… like the system was smugly grinning.

[It wouldn’t.]

Chen Ran was ecstatic!

She had been extremely reluctant to give that money back to her scumbag dad, but the debt was too well-prepared, and he even tricked her mom into signing. There was no way to escape it.

She reread the system message, her eyes lingering on the line “will inevitably vanish through legitimate channels.” She couldn’t help but praise the system.

“System, you’re really incredible!”

Along the way, she felt that compared to the later vicious face of Chen Yuncong, this Culinary God System was the one who truly resembled her shifu.

Each mission offered guidance. Each recipe led her forward. And there was that promise—it would help her regain her sense of taste.

Even this special effect of the one million in cash felt like an invisible master was backing her up the whole time.

The system didn’t respond to her compliment. Chen Ran let out a small breath and couldn’t help but ask curiously:

“System, your goal is to help me regain my sense of taste, maybe even become a culinary god. But… do you have a goal?”

It couldn’t just be doing all this out of sheer goodwill like Lei Feng.

The system seemed a bit surprised she would ask that question. After a moment, it responded.

The reply was a little awkward.

[Retrieve… the wok spatula from the Chen family ancestral hall.]

The spatula in the Chen family ancestral hall…

Chen Ran remembered now—when she first got the system, it was when she had touched that rusty old spatula. Looks like that spatula might really have been left behind by the original culinary master of the Chen clan.

Could it be that the spatula is actually the system’s true body?

She asked the system, “Back then, was our ancestor who became a culinary god also running around doing odd jobs like I am now?”

The system fell silent again.

Chen Ran didn’t care whether it answered or not. By now, she was long used to talking to the system like it was a person.

Her mother was emotionally fragile, and everyone else was basically a stranger. Chen Ran, who had spent most of her early years immersed in cooking, didn’t have many friends.

Instead, the system had long become something like a mix of mentor and companion to her.

Even if it rarely spoke."Tell me, how did the Chen family end up like this? I heard Uncle has already started using pre-made dishes in the family restaurant."

She could hardly imagine it—a family renowned for its culinary heritage, serving pre-made food in their own restaurant? Customers paying dozens or even hundreds for a dish—do they come just to eat your pre-packaged food?

"The Chen family used to pride themselves on being a culinary household, but now they’ve completely turned into businessmen."

The system still didn’t say anything, but the food truck had already returned to the police station.

Chen Ran touched the expanded system panel as if she could feel the system that way. After closing the panel, she happily jumped down from the truck.

Chief Gao was waiting for her at the entrance!

"Aiyo, our Ranran is back!"

Except for Wang Changhai and Liu Shihan, who were on surveillance duty, the entire station had come out to welcome her!

Brother Hao even chimed in, showing off: "I bought the groceries again according to your list—washed and chopped! But my skills are nowhere near yours, so we’ll have to wait for you to cook."

"Want help kneading the dough? Ranran, just tell me what to do—I’ve got more strength than you!"

"Yeah right, look at Ranran’s shoulders—who knows, maybe she’s stronger than you."

Brother Hao looked a bit worried: "But selling food for another afternoon—won’t that exhaust Ranran?"

Everyone wanted to let her rest, but they were also afraid of alarming the enemy and getting noticed by the snake-skin guy.

Chen Ran waved generously: "No worries! Let’s hustle!"

Although she didn’t say it out loud just now, she had already promised the system in her heart. She would help it retrieve that spatula!

The current Chen family no longer deserved to hold onto the Culinary God’s relic!

But… the Chen family was such a massive force. Even with the system, it wasn’t something she could easily overcome. Not to mention, that spatula was locked inside the ancestral shrine at the Chen family’s old residence.

Unless she brought the whole Chen family down, how would she ever get her hands on it?

With the system, she could already say she was starting on a new playing field. Whether for her own sake or for the system, she had to practice even harder going forward. A chef’s training… is cooking for more people!

Kneading dough, chopping vegetables, stir-frying dishes—

Even if the abilities from S-grade recipes couldn’t be granted out of thin air, she could clearly feel the gap between herself and that level while making them.

Even the A-grade seasoning skills had benefited her greatly, not to mention the S-grade ones.

With one swift turn of the spatula, she flipped several flatbreads cleanly. Suddenly, Chen Ran heard a ding! She quickly opened the system interface for a look.

Her fire control skill had reached grade B!

Chen Ran was overjoyed.

Sure enough, by fully engaging with the process of making system dishes, her skills could level up.

And what method could improve her control over heat better than baking flatbreads?

Currently, Chen Ran’s skill levels were: Knife Skills (B); Ingredient Handling (B); Fire Control (B); Seasoning (E); Wok Handling (C); Plating (B).

Aside from seasoning—which was lowered due to her lack of taste—everything else had leveled up remarkably!

Of course, compared to the majority of the Chen family’s Culinary Gods with 3S-level skills, she still had a long way to go.She couldn’t help but act cute with the system: “Give me another stir-fry S-grade recipe, please? I’m just one step away from getting my wok handling to B-level!”

The previous S-grade recipes the system gave—Lion’s Head meatballs, plum pork ribs, and now the rolled flatbread—weren’t really stir-fried dishes, so they hardly helped her train wok handling.

The system didn’t reply but automatically popped up the flatbread task panel.

“Okay, okay, I got it. I won’t bite off more than I can chew!”

Looking at the remaining task with over nine thousand flatbreads still to go, she took a deep breath and resumed kneading the dough with full force!

“You’re making this many?”

Chief Gao walked over for a look, concerned for Chen Ran: “Ranran, are you tired? Do your arms hurt?”

“I remember those flatbread stalls usually have all kinds of sausages and pickled veggies. I just went and bought a bunch—why don’t you skip stir-frying and just stick to making flatbreads?”

Chen Ran looked at the several large boxes of pickled side dishes on the ground—enoki mushrooms, spicy strips, pickled mustard stems, and corn sausages.

“These might not even be enough!”

Xiao Li estimated the quantity on the ground: “Let’s bring it all—sell more. Ranran’s already stir-fried quite a bit, probably enough to last until the evening.”

Everyone else hadn’t been idle either. Their cooking skills couldn’t compare to Chen Ran’s, but washing vegetables and frying chicken cutlets or sausages—they could handle that.

“Holy crap!”

Song Yifan, standing nearby, was curious: “How much did we make this morning?”

Xiao Li hadn’t thought about that. He pulled out his phone to check the transaction history tied to the payment code, and only then realized—

“F-Five thousand plus?”

Song Yifan and Brother Hao, who’d gone to buy the groceries, both stared wide-eyed: “But we spent over two thousand just on ingredients!”

“There’s still flour and seasoning, right?” Chen Ran was helping Chief Gao pack the dough as she calculated out loud. “We used up all the oil at the station, and even the large containers of seasoning. You haven’t counted those yet.”

“What do we do with the money?”

Xiao Li looked a little lost.

He’d only ever heard of undercover officers spending money—not making a profit!

Everyone looked over at Chief Gao.

They all knew, without Chen Ran’s skills, forget making money—it would’ve been a miracle if they hadn’t blown the station’s entire budget.

“Give it to Ranran. I’ve seen other stalls sell flatbreads with pre-made wrappers. Ranran made hers all by hand. Isn’t that where the profit came from?”

“Exactly. We can’t be taking money from Ranran, right?”

Everyone at the station knew about the situation between Ranran and the Chen family. Wang Changhai had already warned them: if anyone from the Chen family showed up, don’t ask questions—just throw them out!

Chief Gao saw everyone talking but keeping their eyes fixed on him. He couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

“You little punks, why’re you all staring at me? You think I’d fight Ranran for a few thousand bucks?”

He was a man who had 2,897.3 yuan stashed away in private savings!

Chen Ran looked a bit embarrassed: “This… doesn’t seem right…”The vehicle belonged to the station, the costs were covered by the station, and Xiao Li had been running around helping all morning, afraid she might get tired. Liu Shihan even found time earlier to buy her some milk tea.

“It’s settled then! You’re a temp worker—just do as the station says!”

Chief Gao waved his hand decisively, and everyone helped load the goods onto the food cart, watching as it rolled away once more.

He sighed a little, “Ranran, that girl, she’s really something… what’s wrong with the Chen family…”

Chief Gao was halfway through his sentence when he felt something was off—why wasn’t anyone responding?

Even if he was a mild-mannered station chief, he was still a man in his fifties. Out of basic respect for elders, those two brats should at least follow up with something, right?

He turned around—Song Yifan had already darted into the station’s kitchen!

Chief Gao slapped his forehead—only then did he remember.

Ranran had especially made a few extra flatbreads and saved some dishes at noon for them to eat for lunch! He’d been standing there reflecting, and those brats were about to snatch everything up!

With one big stride, Chief Gao rushed into the station: “Save me the one with glass noodles! Song Yifan, didn’t you hear me? Put that flatbread down!”

“Your superior is talking to you!”

Chaos erupted inside the station over lunch, while the scene around the food cart was even more spectacular.

“What are you all blocking the way for?! Hey, move aside from the car! Make way!”

Chen Ran poked her head out from the cart: “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

At a glance, she recognized some familiar faces, but most were strangers.

“How did they even block the road like this…”

Xiao Li had no choice but to stop the cart and get out to try and talk to them, only for a crowd of students to swarm up.

“Why are you only setting up over there!”

“Exactly! Our school’s environment is way better than that side—why don’t you move your cart here?”

“Boss, do you have a WeChat group? Can we pre-order?”

Zhao Chunguang had come back for more flatbreads too.

Even though the last one was a bit spicy, the taste was top-notch!

Not to mention—he’d managed to grab the only pork knuckle. Chen Ran, afraid he’d complain, had added extra chili, but didn’t skimp on the meat.

He’d gone into the city at noon, and on his way back he thought, wouldn’t it be perfect to grab a flatbread and head back to the dorm?

He casually posted in the group chat: “You guys heard about that flatbread cart behind the east gate? I’m going—anyone want me to bring one?”

“I want two! Add chicken cutlet, everything except cilantro!”

“Me too, two!”

Feeling smug, Zhao Chunguang typed “Call me godfather” into the group, but suddenly sensed something off...

Their school was kind of remote—after getting off the bus, you had to walk a bit to reach it. This place wasn’t even within the school’s range.

So why was the food cart already here? Did they move spots?Also… something seemed off. The students surrounding the food cart looked like they were from Xinhua Vocational University?

As two neighboring schools, Xinhua Vocational University and Xinhua Vocational and Technical College had always had a bit of friction.

Both were the same level of junior colleges—so why did Xinhua get to call itself a university?

Initially, the environments of both schools were about the same, but recently the city launched some kind of development project, and a bunch of construction sites popped up near Xinhua College. Meanwhile, the area around Xinhua Vocational University remained nice and quiet.

The students from both schools had always been quietly competing with each other. And it was usually the university side that won.

But who would've thought—they were even trying to intercept a food cart?

“Why does the cart have to go over there? We’ve got just as much spending power!”

Sweat began beading again on Xiao Li’s forehead.

If he were just a regular vendor, he’d be thrilled by now.

Problem was—he still needed to go set up surveillance. That little open area near the Snake Skin gate was pretty hotly contested. If he got there late, someone else might have already taken it.

While Xiao Li was stressing out, Zhao Chunguang arrived!

The same Zhao Chunguang who had annoyed both Xiao Li and Chen Ran in the morning was now suddenly their savior.

“Who dares snatch our school’s food cart?!”

Didn’t matter if it technically belonged to their school or not—if it sold first at Xinhua College, then it was Xinhua College’s food cart!

First they grabbed the name “Xinhua Vocational University,” then they snagged the quieter spot, and now they even wanted to take the food cart?

No way.

Before charging in, Zhao Chunguang had already posted videos in several group chats. Many students nearby rushed over.

There happened to be a few sports students nearby. They hadn’t tried the flatbreads, didn’t know about the food cart, but that didn’t stop them from coming over to help.

Seeing people helping clear a path, Xiao Li quickly got back into the vehicle, apologizing to the students as he went: “Sorry about that, there's a shady spot over there by the open area—it’s hot out, lining up under the sun’s a pain, right?”

This excuse he came up with on the fly actually sounded quite reasonable. With all the construction going on, shaded areas were hard to come by.

The little food cart made its way toward the makeshift Snake Skin shelter, and even before they got there, they saw another crowd of students already blocking the path.

Xiao Li sighed: “No way—what college is it this time?”

But this time it wasn’t like before!

As his little cart slowly approached, the crowd of students dispersed in a wave, leaving him the perfect spot for surveillance.

“Park it here!”

“A guy selling steamed buns came earlier—we sent him across the street!”

“Yeah, look—I even dragged a trash bin over here so the young lady doesn’t have to walk far to toss anything!”

The students crowded around, but lined up in a very orderly fashion.

Chen Ran recognized the girl at the front of the line—she especially liked shredded potato.

“Did you bring enough today? I want to come back and buy more tonight.”“Enough!”

Skilled and efficient, Chen Ran opened the griddle and poured in oil, then took out a dough piece and rolled it into a flatbread in just a few moves.

The snowy white dough hit the pan and immediately firmed up under the high heat, turning golden and crispy. She tapped it with a spatula and realized she no longer needed to turn it by hand to sense its state—it had become second nature.

Sure enough, higher skill levels really made a difference.

Looking at the long line forming, Chen Ran glanced at her task progress and felt confident she could finish it within a few days.

Even though she had only stayed at the police station for two days, watching everyone work so hard—she truly liked the atmosphere.

She wondered what the flavor effect of this flatbread would be? Liu Shihan had mentioned before that many of the older officers at the station had stomach issues from years of overwork.

She hoped this flatbread’s special effect could ease their suffering.

Wang Changhai, watching from another food truck, couldn’t help but record a video and send it to Ms. Wang.

“This young girl is really something.”

Ms. Wang was in a meeting at the time. With a standard expression on her face, she opened the video from Wang Changhai.

In the video, Chen Ran was deftly preparing food, while a long line had formed in front of the cart.

Wait a minute?

She used to have to fight tooth and nail to get a bite at the kindergarten, and now you could just line up and buy it?

What was the point of her sleepless cravings and loss of appetite these past two days?

Ms. Wang immediately forwarded the video to a group chat named “Lion’s Head Every Day.”

“Who’s free to go over there? Bring me ten!”