Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Wait, why is someone stealing the host…

“Lion’s Head Every Day,” as the name suggests, was a group formed by comrades who once racked their brains to sneak into the kindergarten to eat lion’s head meatballs together.

Wang Zhaoshan, Cooking Guy, Teacher Deng, and even Zhu Chencheng were all in it.

After the last lion’s head competition, Cooking Guy casually started a group chat and even pulled in Wang Qing’an.

Now that Chen Ran was no longer at the kindergarten, the group mostly shared gourmet content and regularly reminisced about the lion’s head meatballs.

Today, as soon as Ms. Wang posted the video, the group exploded!

“Huh? She just went out to set up a stall like that? Why didn’t she do it earlier? Was she afraid I’d get tired of eating lion’s head?”

“Where is this? Got the location? I’m not in Xinhua today, but I swear I’ll rush back tomorrow!”

Zhu Chencheng couldn’t go either. After her bold adventure at the police station last time, the Empress Dowager of the Zhu family directly exiled her—to her grandma’s place in the countryside to help with farm work.

She let out a wail and casually posted a photo of herself feeding pigs in the group: “I really want to eat too! My grandma’s already fed me green beans twice! I don’t want any more beans!”

Zhu Chencheng had wailed so many times in the past two days that the group had gotten used to it. Instead, they became curious about the pig.

“That pig looks plump. It’ll definitely be delicious. I can’t even imagine—if Little Ran-shifu used it to make sour plum pork ribs, I’d be drooling till my teeth fall out.”

“For real. Look at what Chencheng’s feeding it—cornmeal and cabbage. Pure free-range pig. It’s gotta taste amazing!”

Zhu Chencheng fled the group chat in tears to mourn her wounded heart.

Ms. Wang watched the group chat for a while. Though no one could help her buy the food, she was very satisfied that everyone now shared in her suffering.

She called over her personal assistant, Ji You. “Go find this place. It should be near the Qiaotou Road police station. No matter what they’re selling, buy ten portions for me, according to my taste.”

Ji You nodded, placed the coffee she’d just brought onto Ms. Wang’s desk, then backed out of the office.

Someone nearby caught her move and rolled their eyes. “Bootlicker.”

Ji You glanced over and recognized the speaker—an underperforming, average-looking, balding guy from the company. She slowly asked, “Say that again? I’m a bootlicker—so who am I flattering?”

If she’s a bootlicker, then what does that make President Wang?

The balding man was momentarily choked and fell silent, watching Ji You walk away in small, composed steps. Only once she was out of earshot from the president’s office did the sound of her heels hitting the floor start up again.

Ji You checked the video Ms. Wang had sent. The stall was clearly surrounded by university students. She checked the map—there were two colleges near the Qiaotou Road police station, so the stall must be near one of them.

She quickly scrolled through her folded list of group chats and found one called “Group 10: Local Uni Student Job Chat.” She dropped three red packets to wake up the group, then quickly typed:

“Anyone from Xinhua Vocational College or Xinhua Vocational University?”

A minute later, someone added her as a friend.

Ji You sent the video first, then typed: “Do you know where this stall is?”

“Oh, I know! Those wraps are amazing! I went yesterday! It’s right next to the east gate of the vocational college.”

Ji You immediately sent over ten yuan: “Go stand in line and share your live location. When I arrive, I’ll find you and pay the rest. I’ll cover your time too, okay?”

By then, she had already reached the basement parking lot and was driving toward Xinhua Vocational College.

Ji You knew all about Ms. Wang’s obsession with lion’s head meatballs. She had even taken time to try lion’s head dishes at some big restaurants in neighboring cities—but not a single one could compare to the ones from the Chen Family Restaurant.Afterward, when Ms. Wang contacted Wang Changhai to help arrange a job, Ji You was also aware of it—but she clearly hadn't paid enough attention.

For a personal assistant to find out later than Ms. Wang that a chef she admired so much had started a street stall—this was a disgrace to her professionalism.

She was determined to find a way to get Chen Ran’s contact info!

Racing through traffic, Ji You quickly arrived at the location, found the line-stander she had hired, and completed the payment. There were only three people left in front of her.

Ji You used the time to carefully examine every side dish.

Tiger skin green peppers… Ms. Wang would probably like that.

This minced pork with glass noodles wrapped in a flatbread looked novel, but carb-on-carb wasn’t great for Ms. Wang’s figure—pass.

Braised pig trotter looked good! She’d take that.

She filtered each item, factoring in the preferences of Ms. Wang and her two daughters, and rapidly created ten unique wrap combinations.

Just one person left in front of her.

Ji You observed what type of flatbreads others were choosing and noticed that egg-stuffed pancakes and pocket breads were the most popular.

But they wouldn’t be crispy by the time she got back.

Finally, it was her turn. Ji You quickly asked Chen Ran in one breath:

“I’m Ms. Wang’s assistant. I’m here to buy a few wraps for her, but the commute’s long and the wraps won’t stay crispy. Could you make the wraps half-finished and just pack the fillings separately so I can reheat them myself?”

She spoke so fast that Xiao Li next to her was briefly stunned.

A university student behind her helpfully chimed in:

“Hey, miss, her wraps are amazing! You won’t be able to replicate her flavor at home!”

“Yeah, look, look! The wrap’s flying in the air!”

Xiao Li finally came to and turned. Chen Ran, hearing Ms. Wang’s name, also looked over.

“If you take the wraps home half-done and reheat them, they still won’t taste good. How about I recommend you a different type of wrap—one that won’t get soggy?”

Chen Ran’s S-tier wrap recipe book had more than just these few wrapper types. It’s just that egg-stuffed and pocket-style wraps had better crowd appeal. Some other varieties were unfamiliar, and she hadn’t gotten the chance to make them yet.

Thinking of Ms. Wang’s love for lion’s head meatballs, Ji You made a swift decision and left the selection up to the expert.

“Then you decide! I’ll start picking the fillings!”

She turned to Xiao Li and launched into rapid-fire ordering.

“For the first wrap, one tiger skin green pepper, plus shredded potatoes. For the meat, use pig trotter. Add scallions but no cilantro, and include one leaf of lettuce.”

Hearing her organized rundown, Chen Ran couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy toward Ms. Wang.

What an amazing assistant!

Still, she took out the pre-prepped layered dough from the fridge and began cooking.

This type of wrap was more common in northern cities. Locals in Xinhua likely hadn’t had it before. Since her stall’s line was long and her spot was hard to come by, people usually stuck to their favorite flavors and were hesitant to try something new.

But now that they saw Chen Ran making something new, quite a few people in the line were craning their necks to watch.

“So thin!”

“Not just thin—look at that dough! So many layers and it’s shiny with oil. I’m getting that one too!”When Chen Ran made this batch of layered dough for the tendon pancakes, she folded it three times, creating eight layers.

This eight-layer dough was finally rolled out by Chen Ran into a thin large pancake.

Unlike the small pancakes before, only one tendon pancake could be cooked at a time in the pan. However, because the dough was soft and thin, the cooking time was very short.

As soon as the tendon pancake came out of the pan, it gave off a distinct aroma!

“This pancake smells amazing!”

“It even seems a bit salty... Why does it have a flavor just from the smell?”

After cooking egg-stuffed pancakes all day, Chen Ran was a bit bored. Before wrapping the pancakes, she gently tore open one edge to show the university students waiting ahead.

The outer pancake skin torn open revealed each layer inside was nearly translucent white!

Each layer looked so soft yet full of elasticity—no wonder it’s called tendon pancake.

And this eight-layer composite pancake was not even as thick as a coin!

“Wow, boss has such delicious pancakes, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Xiao Li finally finished assembling the ten dishes Ji You ordered and heated them on the griddle. He casually pointed at the menu: “It’s all written there. If no one orders it, how can we force it on you?”

He hadn’t made this wrap before and hurriedly watched Chen Ran’s technique to learn.

This wrap was a genuine rolled wrap, unlike pocket pancakes or egg-stuffed pancakes folded in half with fillings. After placing the various side dishes, it was rolled three full turns, and through the thin yet chewy and oily pancake skin, the color of the tiger skin green pepper inside was visible.

But this thin pancake, combined with the sauce-rich tiger skin green pepper, surprisingly didn’t leak any oil or sauce!

“This wrap only needs to be reheated at home, best baked or microwaved at medium power with a lid. Don’t heat too long to avoid drying it out. Since it’s not crispy by nature, no need to worry about it tasting bad later.”

Seeing Xiao Li had learned, Chen Ran continued cooking tendon pancakes while Xiao Li imitated her technique to start rolling wraps. Once finished, he handed one to Ji You.

Ji You carried the heavy load while marking the flavor on the packaging with a marker, hesitating in her heart.

Should she... get one for herself?

As a career-driven and perfect assistant, Ji You was always very restrained in personal indulgence.

For clothing, she dressed according to Ms. Wang’s taste, aiming to please without overshadowing. For meals, she always ate low oil, low salt, low carbs, and took daily supplements of VB, VD, magnesium, and fish oil to maximize her energy.

But now, seeing the tendon pancake freshly cooked by Chen Ran, her appetite unusually stirred...

She persuaded herself internally: this is also to build a good relationship with Chef Chen Ran and match Ms. Wang’s taste!

“Give me two more tendon pancake wraps: one with shredded potatoes and chicken strips, and another with bean sprouts, tofu skin, and pig trotter.”

“No scallions or cilantro? Add some—it tastes better.”

Ji You struggled but thought of her portable mouthwash and toothpaste in the car and grit her teeth to nod: “Both onion and scallions, please!”

In the end, she took twelve tendon pancake wraps and quickly left from the front of the line, apologizing to the university students behind her.

“Sorry, I drove in from downtown, so I bought a few extra.”

“No worries! I’m bringing these for the whole dorm. Give me six of those tendon pancake wraps.”

“You think we should eat these tendon pancakes too? They look really good!”They were all food lovers, so the university students waiting behind didn’t care at all that Ji You had bought twelve wraps in one go.

Ji You relaxed, took out her usual insulated box from the trunk, put ten tendon pancakes inside, and quickly messaged Ms. Wang.

“Ms. Wang, I’ve already bought them. This time the pancake wraps are specially recommended by Chef Chen Ran. Should I send them to the office or to your home?”

Ms. Wang received the message and smiled contentedly.

Her assistant never messed up! Pancake wraps specially recommended by Chen Ran—how could they not be delicious? They absolutely had to be!

She replied, “Send them to my home, and pick Xiao You up on the way.”

Ji You always responded very quickly, but after sending the message, Ms. Wang paused, habitually waiting for her all-around assistant’s reply.

But… she waited a full thirty seconds, and still no reply?

Ms. Wang hesitated.

If it was just a receipt message, no reply was fine. But since it involved picking up the child, she had to ask.

She called Ji You.

The call was answered immediately, but in Ji You’s tone there was an unusual trace of confusion… and slurring?

Ji You was desperately swallowing food in her mouth, looking at Ms. Wang’s message from two minutes ago with a faint blush on her face.

It was all because this wrap was too delicious!

She had only meant to take one bite, thinking she could eat while looking at her phone, but after one bite, all her attention was stolen by the wrap!

The tendon pancake wrap was both chewy and elastic; every bite felt like tearing—so fitting to its name!

If this pancake was just a single layer, the texture would surely be no different from an ordinary fried pancake, but this thin pancake was actually eight layers thick!

The eight layers were separated by layers of oil paste. Normally, a pancake with this many layers of oil paste would be greasy. But this pancake was so thin it was almost transparent, so the oil in each bite was actually very little, just a hint of fragrant oil flavor with no greasiness at all.

Plus, the various side dishes wrapped inside…

She hadn’t even finished the first bite before she wanted to take the second!

At first, her attention was on the flavor of the pancake; by the second bite, she noticed the chewiness.

Different from the chewiness of spring pancakes she had eaten before, which relied on the strength of a single layer of dough, this tendon pancake’s chewiness was pulled out by eight layers working together—such a wonderful layered sensation…

When Ms. Wang called, Ji You suddenly realized she had unknowingly finished one wrap, completely forgetting the phone in her other hand!

“Ms. Wang, I’ll go pick up Xiao You now, then deliver the wraps to your home!”

Ms. Wang couldn’t help but laugh on the other end of the call.

She had seen her assistant eat before!

As a workaholic who even she admired, Ji You never cared about taste when eating—only health.

Oh, and low carbs too, absolutely no affecting her work efficiency.

So usually Ji You’s diet was basically all kinds of plain food and fitness meals, plus three meals a day of supplements.

And yet, here she was, eating a wrap?Ms. Wang didn’t dare say it out loud; even her light laugh was covered by her hand. Such an excellent assistant surely cared about face—she wouldn’t say much.

“Alright, I trust you to handle things. No need to worry about Xiao You; it’s fine if you’re a bit late.” Before hanging up, she casually added, “Oh right, I once caught someone named Zhao Lai smoking in the elevator. Go tell his team leader later and remind him about company discipline.”

That balding man who called her a suck-up today was named Zhao Lai! Ji You guessed the boss must have seen that scene!

Otherwise, why would an assistant specifically be told to remind a balding man about discipline? It was probably the boss giving her a reasonable outlet.

After hanging up, Ji You bit into the wrap again, eyes moist with emotion.

Delicious! The work from Ms. Wang is awesome, and the chef Ms. Wang likes is also amazing!

Not only Ji You, but the others in line today were all conquered by the wonderful texture of the tendon pancake!

Others eagerly eyed the other pancake varieties on the sign.

This small stall was incredible!

The side dishes were outstanding, and the fact that you could freely choose any pancake type—each one excellent.

Normally, any boss with just one good pancake type would be enough to run a small stall comfortably, but she actually made all kinds!

“I’ll try this egg pancake…”

“Ah? Scallion pancake can also be made into a wrap?”

“There’s corn pancakes too! Seems healthy! Should be good for dieting, right?”

All afternoon, Chen Ran watched the various pancake bases, calculating the popularity of each kind.

Pocket pancakes still had many fans—after all, their shape was perfect for stuffing with fillings.

Egg-filled pancakes also had many loyal fans; they were best eaten fresh and hot, with almost everyone choosing to eat right after purchase, and even an old lady selling drinks moved her stand closer.

Corn pancakes sold well too—being whole grain, they felt especially healthy.

But the clear favorite was the tendon pancake. With several layers and visible fillings inside, its visual appeal was unmatched.

Some students even tore off a small piece of pancake to compare with their textbooks.

One layer of pancake: the writing was clearly visible; two layers, still clear.

Even after stacking five layers, the main text in the textbook blurred a bit, but the chapter titles were still readable!

“This pancake…”

As she was taking a photo to post on social media, she suddenly noticed a deeply lined face pressed close by, watching.

“This craftsmanship is quite excellent!”

The student didn’t recognize him—this was Chen Tingwei, the head of the school’s culinary department, and also a very skilled pastry chef with a top-level certification.

But not recognizing him didn’t stop the conversation.

“Yes! Look, this pancake is almost transparent!”

Chen Tingwei nodded, “The thinness itself is rare, but even rarer is how uniform the pancake is—no uneven thickness anywhere.”

“This pancake… student, where did you buy it?”The woman turned and pointed at a food cart nearby: "Right there! Teacher, you better hurry, they're almost sold out!"

Chen Tingwei said thank you and quickly headed toward the cart.

Wow, what a long line!

He looked at the long queue stretching in front of him, with the tail of the line winding around four times.

Chen Tingwei estimated that if he went to the back of the line now, it would take at least an hour before he could buy anything.

The old man was anxious!

He hurried straight to the cart and leaned by the window, ready to take a closer look.

Brother Green Pepper came to buy tiger-skin green peppers again today. Although this time he bought tendon pancakes instead of egg-filled pancakes, he couldn’t help but start eating immediately after getting it.

Meanwhile... he was also maintaining some order.

"Sir, you can’t just openly cut in line like this," he didn’t know Professor Chen Tingwei, but this old man looked like a teacher for sure. "The line is over there! Everyone here is carrying the stomach of a dormitory; it’s not good to cut in line."

Chen Tingwei apologized repeatedly: "Sorry, student, I’m not buying pancakes. I just wanted to watch how the vendor makes them."

Someone nearby recognized him. Isn’t this their department head?

"Professor Chen!"

"Professor Chen, look at how beautifully the young lady flips the pancake!"

"Yeah, this pancake smells amazing!"

Chen Tingwei didn’t bother responding to these students who missed the point entirely.

These students didn’t catch the important part!

He couldn’t help but ask Chen Ran, "Is the dough for these tendon pancakes mixed with room temperature water?"

Chen Ran looked back and saw an old man asking about the recipe, but she didn’t take it seriously.

"Yes, dough mixed with room temperature water."

"Four liang of water, three grams of salt, eight liang of flour?"

"Yes, that’s the ratio."

"Hot oil pastry? 40-60 ratio of thin oil pastry?"

Chen Ran nodded.

A student nearby, who didn’t know Professor Chen, couldn’t help but comment, "Why is this old man asking about the recipe here?"

"Yeah... the young lady is so honest, she just told him everything?"

Chen Tingwei watched Chen Ran roll out a tendon pancake and couldn’t help but ask again, "Folded three layers?"

Seeing Chen Ran nod, he sighed and explained to the students beside him, "This recipe can be easily found on any website; there’s nothing special about it."

He paused, took a deep breath, and repeated, "Completely ordinary."

Brother Green Pepper, Lu Bei, couldn’t help but say, "No, teacher, you haven’t even tasted it yet and you say it’s ordinary? Whose ordinary pancake makes so many people line up like this?"Chen Tingwei then realized that his words might have caused some misunderstanding.

He explained seriously, "No, what I meant is that this recipe is quite ordinary. The flour used is just regular high-gluten flour."

"The excellence of this pancake’s dough entirely depends on the skill of this young chef’s hands!"

The tendon pancake recipe is something you can find everywhere online. The thin, evenly rolled dough Chen Tingwei saw in the student’s hands was not due to any special dough-making method.

The recipe is ordinary; it’s all about technique!

Brother Green Pepper didn’t understand how powerful Chen Ran’s S-level skills from the system were, but he did understand the taste.

"That’s for sure! So many people buy this rolled pancake because it tastes absolutely amazing!"

"Yeah, these side dishes would sell like crazy in a cafeteria! But to me, nothing tastes better than the pancakes the young lady makes!"

Chen Tingwei didn’t join the students in their praise. He watched Chen Ran’s method of rolling and cooking the pancakes and couldn’t help but step forward and ask:

"Young lady... I see you running a stall here, so you probably don’t have a fixed job for now. I’m a national-level master chef and the department head at this school. I want to take you as my apprentice... what do you think?"

Ah?

Xiao Li was stunned, and the cooking students in line were also stunned.

Chen Ran hadn’t yet reacted much; she had just finished making a batch of egg-filled pancakes and was busy with her hands.

However, her Chef God system reacted even before she did.

[Random Task: The True Heart of a Pastry Chef]

[Task Reward: S-level recipe Guobaorou (flavor special effect to be unlocked)]

[Task Requirement: Stay true to the heart of a pastry chef, advance courageously on this path, focused and undistracted]

If the system could speak, it probably would have already blasted Chen Tingwei face-to-face.

No way, how dare you compete with the system to take my apprentice?