Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Is This Really S-Level Guobaorou?...

After making several more calls, Lv Jiayi found that whether the pancakes were tasty or not was unknown; the only certain thing was that right now, they really couldn’t be eaten.

She became more convinced that this was just a marketing stunt.

However, this natural hype only grew stronger across various video platforms.

The original source of the news was already unreliable, but the students lining up these days reacted more and more enthusiastically.

“When’s the next undercover operation? Can they let the young lady out again to sell us some pancakes?”

“Undercover or not, we’ve caught fugitives! Isn’t it appropriate to do some safety education for students? No need for flyers, just give everyone a pancake—I can memorize the safety rules!”

“This kind of chef probably isn’t a cop, right? If not, can they at least reveal who the chef is? Let us taste what kind of top chef it is!”

“Reveal the chef +1!”

However, many people like Lv Jiayi doubted the truth of this matter. After all, topics like “catching fugitives” and “undercover operations” were a bit too serious.

Many who saw the videos chose to report them.

Soon, it seemed that relevant authorities stepped in and took down all videos about fugitives getting caught because of craving pancakes!

“Could it really be fake?”

“Fake nothing! Didn’t you notice? Although the videos were taken down, there hasn’t been a single official debunking!”

Sometimes, official notices have to be read in reverse.

All related videos have been removed from the entire internet, but neither were the “rumor spreaders” arrested, nor was any debunking announcement made.

To those with some understanding of policy, this was basically a public statement.

Fugitives really were caught because of eating pancakes—this was true!

As a former journalism student, Lv Jiayi naturally understood this logic.

While feeling her face burning with embarrassment, she began more actively searching for ways to get those pancakes.

For others, interpreting these hidden meanings might be difficult, but for those in the public security system, the message was glaringly obvious.

Thus, Gao, the police chief who was close to retirement and only a small precinct chief—stationed in a newly established, marginal jurisdiction—became famous because of this incident.

“Chief Gao, I heard your facilities aren’t very complete. We just happen to be phasing out some equipment… Well, it’s only four or five years old, all good stuff. Interested?”

“Oh, what’s the catch? Just that when it gets to you, you owe us a few meals, right?”

“Hey, Old Gao! Old Gao! Why are you hanging up the phone like that?”

One pancake wouldn’t usually be enough to make people crave it this much, but once attached to a legend, it became different.

After repeated interrogations at the police station, Shepi (Snake Skin) had already confessed honestly to many years of child trafficking crimes.

After being transferred to the headquarters, some were curious—he had clearly escaped, so why did he purposely return to get caught?

Shepi almost cried; he swore he was telling the truth. Why did everyone keep not believing him and kept asking again and again?

“At the time, I really thought I was safe... then I remembered the big pork knuckle and those little pancakes I ate before...”After being detained, although Shepi wasn’t constantly starving, his treatment was very ordinary. The meals were always cold, sometimes just a steamed bun with a dish of pickled vegetables, which made Shepi miss those little pancakes even more.

When recalling, he couldn’t help but smack his lips, his expression tinged with nostalgia.

"Those little pancakes were really delicious... kind of like the ones I stole when I first came to the city as a kid—crispy and flaky, warming my stomach with every bite. If only I could eat those every day..."

"Confess the facts! Don’t change the subject!"

The interrogator interrupted Shepi’s happy reminiscence, but everyone started to wonder—were these pancakes really that magical?

So recently, Chief Gao’s phone calls increased!

He was overwhelmed, but showed no sign of giving in.

What a joke—he was over fifty and still a small precinct chief. Was it because he was a smooth operator? No, it was just his stubborn nature.

However, refusing requests from other precincts was easy; it was the steady stream of university students showing up that gave Chief Gao a headache.

“Oh, your club wants to visit the precinct for some safety education?”

Lu Bei, standing in front of Chief Gao, smiled innocently. Just looking at his face, anyone would think he was an eager young man ready for police education.

“Yes! There’ve been so many safety incidents lately. Didn’t the neighboring city recently find university students using drugs? Our club is a literature club! After the visit, we’ll definitely publish articles in the campus newspaper!”

Chief Gao smiled like the Laughing Buddha: “That’s great, but our precinct is pretty busy. We can only host you for a short while. How about that?”

Lu Bei nodded quickly like a little chick pecking rice: “That’s fine, just one or two hours is enough!”

It was just eating a pancake after all. He’d seen the young lady making pancakes before—her technique was really fast!

“How about this: from 9 to 11 in the morning, or 2 to 5 in the afternoon—you pick whichever works for you.”

Chief Gao’s smile grew craftier as he looked at the university students he was hosting for the third time these days: “So, have you decided?”

Lu Bei’s face fell.

The reception times sounded long enough, but there was a fatal problem: none of those times overlapped with meal times!

Did he really want to attend safety education? Or was he just trying to snag a bite of those pancakes?

His egg-stuffed pancake, his tiger-skin green peppers—was this really goodbye?

Watching the disappointed university student sulk out, Chief Gao curled his lip and said to Song Yifan nearby, “Be careful these days when university students come, especially those who show up right at meal times!”

He recalled the low-blood-sugar female university student Chen Ran met on her first day and added, “Oh right, watch out for those who faint or have low blood sugar! For low blood sugar, feed them a couple of candies. We just bought plenty of candies at the precinct!”

“Got it!”

Hearing Song Yifan’s clear reply, Chief Gao praised him a bit: “Good job, Xiao Song, you’re fitting in more and more these days. It’s good you’ve figured it out. Who here isn’t a university student? Work steadily—when you get promoted, grassroots experience is very important!”

Watching Song Yifan nod and leave, Chief Gao couldn’t help but think that Xiao Song’s better integration started when Chen Ran arrived.

He was still wondering when this constantly running errand guy would finally settle down, but unknowingly, Song Yifan had already become one of the comrades in the precinct.

Of course, it’d be even better if this kid didn’t compete with him for food.

Everything at the precinct was getting better and better!

Even his private stash had broken through the 3,000-yuan mark, slowly moving toward 3,100!—Since Ranran arrived, eating at the precinct every day no longer meant the chief had to pay out of pocket for bread and sausages for everyone.

What used to be long, tedious days were now broken into small moments full of anticipation.

What would they eat for lunch? What delicious dishes would Ranran make for everyone tonight?

Chief Gao glanced at his watch—it was almost lunchtime. He wondered what Ranran would cook today.

Not just him; these past few days, whenever they had free time, everyone would run to the kitchen to see if they could help.

And maybe snag a bite to eat.

Liu Shihan had just finished handling a police case and returned to the station. She habitually glanced toward the small kitchen, where Song Yifan was helping pick vegetables.

“Ranran, what’s for lunch today? Is there anything I can help with?”

“Today we’re making a hearty dish!”

Pancakes were delicious and suitable for all ages.

But no matter how good, you can’t eat them every day, right?

It had been many days since the undercover mission; finally, Ranran began making the next dish.

Guobaorou (crispy sweet and sour pork)!

That morning at the market, she had the rare luck to find a pig over 300 jin and grabbed a perfectly flawless loin.

The loin, slapped down on the chopping board, was bright red, with extremely firm meat. When it bounced off the board, it sprang up once and then fell heavily back down.

“This loin looks great! What hearty dish are you making? Crispy fried loin? Sweet and sour pork?”

Ranran explained to Liu Shihan, “This isn’t loin; it’s the whole tenderloin with fascia outside. Loin is more tender, but this whole tenderloin is firmer.”

“Today it’s guobaorou!”

Picking up the mysterious iron kitchen knife from the system, Ranran weighed the blade. The snow-white gleam was like a sharp ribbon. In a few strokes, she shaved off the fascia from the tenderloin.

The removed fascia was pale white, without a shred of meat.

First, she cut diagonally through the center to avoid overly large slices, then sliced the meat into even thick pieces. The thick pork slices bounced on the cutting board as if alive the moment they left the blade.

A pig that size, over 300 jin, was something she might not see again for years!

Ranran was very satisfied with the meat quality; this pork was perfect for making S-grade guobaorou.

The cut slices were first salted lightly for base flavor, then soaked in potato starch and drained of excess water, drizzled with some oil, and began coating the meat with batter.

The soaked potato starch clumped almost into chunks, relying on hand strength to evenly coat the meat.

The oil was ready—the frying would start!

First fry: put meat in and take out immediately to set the shape.

Second fry: slow fry on low heat to cook through without losing too much moisture.

Third fry: high heat double-fry to make the batter outside crisp and fiery red.

In just a few minutes, a big bowl of meat slices had gone through the oil three times. Liu Shihan watched nervously, seeing the fragrant meat turn from snowy white to golden yellow, and finally to an irresistibly mottled golden-red.

She couldn’t resist any longer: “Can I have a piece?”

“Eat!”Liu Shihan didn’t bother picking up chopsticks; she grabbed a piece of fried meat with her bare hands, blowing on the hot piece as she eagerly took a bite.

Fearing she might burn herself, she deliberately curled her tongue while biting.

Crispy!

The word “crispy” couldn’t fully describe the texture—it had to be “crispy”!

Where her teeth sank in, the batter shattered immediately. The extreme crispness made her forget this was freshly fried meat, and she couldn’t help but swallow it down.

“Ah, it’s really hot!”

“Ouch, spit it out if it’s hot!”

Ranran had just finished preparing the sauce for the guobaorou. She thought, seeing how careful Liu Shihan usually was, there was no way she’d get burned by a piece of meat.

But without a single warning, Liu Shihan swallowed it straight down!

Seeing the trash bin Song Yifan handed her, Liu Shihan firmly shook her head. While continuously blowing on her tongue, she forced herself to swallow the hot piece of meat. Such delicious food absolutely couldn’t be wasted!

“So delicious!”

This was only a semi-finished product; she couldn’t imagine how amazing the finished guobaorou would be.

“Eat as much as you want later; we made a lot today—enough for everyone.”

After adjusting the sauce, Ranran poured base oil into the wok and added sliced green onions, ginger, carrot strips, and a little garlic.

With a flick of her wrist, the oil in the wok swirled with the brightly colored vegetables. As soon as the aroma of green onion, ginger, and garlic was just released by the oil, she quickly poured in the freshly fried meat slices.

Next came constant tossing!

This was the exclusive method for S-grade guobaorou: “cooking the sauce”!

It wasn’t about frying the sweet and sour sauce first then coating the meat, but tossing the wok continuously so all the meat pieces rolled nonstop. At the same time, the prepared sweet and sour sauce was evenly drizzled into the wok.

Every drop of sauce hitting the wok met the highest-grade oil temperature; every drop of vinegar meeting the meat maximized the vinegar’s aroma!

Only this way could the authentic flavor of S-grade guobaorou be faithfully restored.

Eating it gave the standard sweet and sour taste, but smelling it revealed only a pure sour fragrance!

Any guobaorou that smelled sweet wasn’t authentic. The secret to authenticity was this “cooking the sauce” technique.

Over the past month, Ranran had been training her wrist strength by chopping vegetables with a suspended sandbag. This ensured that during the whole tossing process, every flick of the wok maintained consistent strength.

With this tossing technique, every piece of guobaorou could be heated evenly and fully meet the maximized sauce, merging to create the ultimate texture.

At the same time, this “cooking the sauce” method allowed the triple-fried ultra-crispy guobaorou to keep its perfect crispness without becoming soggy from the sauce.

“Incredible…”

Chief Gao had no idea when he had come over, but he arrived just as Ranran started cooking the sauce.

From an outsider’s view, this technique was truly stunning.

Golden-red crispy meat pieces flew up and down nonstop in the wok.

In this sauce-cooking technique, not only was tossing the wok fundamental, but the hand drizzling the sauce also had to stay steady.A spoonful of golden-brown sauce was slowly and evenly drizzled, coating every piece of meat.

From the initial aroma of meat to the gradually filling room with sour fragrance... Chen Ran’s tossing never stopped for a moment.

Every crispy meat slice rolled nonstop from the moment it entered the wok.

Until it was done!

The whole wok of golden-red meat slices eagerly poured into the plate. The aroma aside, there was even a smaller piece that split neatly in half upon falling, with only the white meat fibers in the middle still connected.

Just by looking, one could imagine how incredibly crispy it must be!

The entire room fell a bit quiet until someone swallowed audibly, which seemed to trigger everyone to speak up.

“Oh my god, is this how people make guobaorou, tossing it from start to finish like this?”

“No way... I always see people simmer the sugar first, then pour in the meat...”

“Is this Ranran’s secret? Let’s just watch then...”

Liu Shihan glanced behind Chief Gao: “Who is this...?”

Chen Ran was watching another wok. Though guobaorou was an S-grade dish, it wasn’t the only dish she made. Hearing Liu Shihan’s voice, she looked up and couldn’t help but say, “Ms. Wang!”

Ms. Wang smiled gracefully and raised her hand in greeting.

She first responded modestly to Liu Shihan’s earlier comment: “I had only heard about Chef Chen Ran’s sauce-cooking technique, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. However, I think even seeing it, ordinary people would find it difficult to replicate.”

Not to mention the skillful steady hand in drizzling the sauce, just tossing a whole wok of meat slices continuously for so long — what level of skill must that take?

A chef with such deep skills probably wouldn’t need to secretly learn from others most of the time.

Liu Shihan reached out to lift the large plate of guobaorou and was surprised to find... she couldn’t lift it!

With such a large plate of meat plus the weight of the iron wok, tossing with one hand until done — even an athlete like her who works out all year couldn’t do it. She found it hard to imagine how much training Chen Ran had put into her basic skills.

Chen Ran smiled: “Practiced since I was young, just familiarity with the hands.”

She swiftly took the tofu out of the wok, then quickly tossed a small cold dish and curiously asked, “Ms. Wang, what brings you here?”

Others also looked over with curiosity.

Wasn’t Chief Wang very firm about not letting anyone outside the police station disturb Chen Ran?

Perhaps sensing the intense curiosity in everyone’s eyes, Chief Wang cleared her throat twice: “Our station’s surveillance equipment needs upgrading. After all, such a large construction site, plus so many students nearby, we can’t manage with just a few officers.”

“A week ago, we finalized talks with Mr. Wang’s Hengchang company. Today is to discuss intentions.”

Ms. Wang accepted everyone’s focused attention with a smile.

Last-minute rushes weren’t her style — if she was going to do something, she preferred to plan early.

However, she hadn’t expected that because of a fugitive, Chen Ran’s fame would have grown this much.

She had already decided: today she would enjoy a private meal, and tomorrow when they officially finalize the installation contract, she could bring two people along.

At that time, who to bring and under what conditions would be entirely her decision!

The last time she took Zhu Nan out for Lion’s Head meatballs, she successfully signed Zhu Nan, a major livestreamer. As for this time, she seemed ready to expand her business scope toward the entertainment industry!The naming rights for that lifestyle variety show she had wanted for a long time...

Of course, at the same time, she would try her best to secure better conditions for Chen Ran.

After all, this was a chef she believed in!

When Ms. Wang struggled to climb out of that small mountain village that favored sons over daughters, she vowed to use all her strength to help every girl fighting for her career.

Look at those cooking competitions on TV — a glance at the judges and they’re all men, a lineup of greasy, balding, dad-bod uncles… is that reasonable?

She would definitely do her best to get Chen Ran into the “Famous Chefs” show!

Right now she couldn’t yet compete with the Chen family, but she would help Chen Ran bit by bit in her own way.

For example, the connections at the police station this time, and also the diners she was going to bring next...

Chen Shihan’s words broke Ms. Wang’s trance.

“Come, come, time to eat! Ms. Wang, do you want rice?”

“Yes!”

Ms. Wang sat down without hesitation and ordered a hearty bowl of rice.

How could you eat Chen Ran’s dishes without rice?

The tofu in clear savory sauce was deliciously salty and fresh; the fried peanuts sprinkled with salt smelled fragrant; the seemingly simple tomato egg soup had egg flowers perfect like a painting; the oyster sauce lettuce looked perfectly cooked.

In the center of these dishes was a plate of guobaorou that firmly attracted everyone’s attention.

Made with the sauce-cooking technique, every piece of guobaorou was perfectly coated with sweet and sour sauce, but at the bottom of the plate, there wasn’t a drop of excess sauce.

After a moment of silence, everyone seemed to wake up as if from frozen time, and all chopsticks targeted that plate of guobaorou in the center of the table!

Today Ms. Wang wasn’t wearing a suit, but a knitted short-sleeved dress.

Ji You praised her for being especially approachable today, but only she knew — this dress was good because it didn’t get in the way of picking up food!

She quickly picked two large pieces of guobaorou into her bowl, then took another piece, ready to eat it!

Before it even reached her mouth, that fragrant vinegary smell had already won.

Authentic guobaorou demands that sharp vinegar scent hit you before you even bite!

That vinegar aroma was inhaled, and the anticipation in her stomach felt like a little hand wanting to grab the guobaorou in front of her.

Ms. Wang hesitated no more and bit in.

The texture... was wonderful.

Crispiness is sometimes not just a texture, but a sound.

This bite felt like stepping on endless red maple leaves in a dense forest, or the first hard snow after a heavy snowfall. The table was filled with rustling sounds, deepening the layers of crispy texture.

While the crispiness entered the mouth, the meat inside was both chewy and tender. Although fried, it never felt dry, only endless meat fragrance lingering.

At this moment, the sweet and sour flavor of the guobaorou surfaced.

Because of the sauce-cooking technique used, every drop of sauce had perfectly blended inside, with no excess sweet and sour sauce in the mouth. The overall taste was perfectly harmonious, and the only thought in the mind was wanting to eat more!This flavor is nothing short of perfect!

Ms. Wang once again praised herself for investing in a security equipment company; she couldn’t help but glance at Chen Ran sitting across the table.

This kid will definitely rank among the top on Famous Chefs!