Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Flavor Special Effects of Guobaorou!……

Compared to yesterday’s stunning twice-cooked pork, the director was actually more satisfied with today’s egg-stuffed pancake.

He didn’t know it was an S-rank recipe—he just felt that such an ordinary, accessible street food, made with this much care and skill, was truly rare and valuable.

He wasn’t the only one who noticed—Auntie was also full of praise.

Her pancake was different from the regular staff meal—it was a deluxe super-sized version with an extra sausage and egg.

“With skills like yours, what are you doing here? You should just get a little food cart, park it outside some university or something…”

Auntie didn’t finish her sentence before someone else picked it up.

“Ah! It’s the pancake lady! What are you doing here?!”

Chen Ran looked up and saw a somewhat familiar face.

“I line up for your egg-stuffed pancake every day! I’m the one who always asks for extra shredded potato!”

Chen Ran remembered—this young woman had come on the first day she opened her stall, and had returned several times over the following days.

Otherwise, with so many college students who’d bought from the undercover food truck, she wouldn’t have remembered this face so clearly.

“Oh… it’s you…”

Potato lover Zhou Yingqiong didn’t mind Chen Ran’s moment of hesitation at all and excitedly recited the line etched in her memory: “Egg-stuffed pancake, extra shredded potato, no lettuce, swap the sausage for more shredded potato, extra spicy!”

“Hold on, this isn’t a pancake stall.”

Chen Ran helplessly pointed to the small sign overhead: “This is a small restaurant. We don’t sell egg-stuffed pancakes here.”

Only then did Zhou Yingqiong look up at the sign—it really was a little restaurant.

At the same time, her breathless companion finally caught up: “Zhou Yingqiong, why’d you run so fast?! I told you to wait!”

Lu Xiaoyu, panting from the chase, stepped into the restaurant and was also stunned.

“Chef Chen?”

Auntie, who had just finished her deluxe egg-stuffed pancake, was a bit surprised too. She hadn’t expected that Chen Ran was actually a famous chef?

Chen Ran was also a little surprised. She studied the girl twice and still didn’t recognize her.

“I went to the open house at Morningstar Kindergarten!” The girl who caught up clearly looked a bit older than Zhou Yingqiong. “I had the lion’s head meatballs you made! I’m high school classmates with Zhu Chenchen!”

Once Zhu Chenchen was mentioned, Chen Ran understood.

Zhou Yingqiong, on the side, had no idea what lion’s head meatballs were. Wasn’t this lady just good at making pancakes? How did lion’s head meatballs come into this?

And why was it served at a kindergarten?

But before she had time to think about it, now that she had finally caught up with Chen Ran, she had to eat a proper meal!

“Menu? Where’s the restaurant menu?”

Wait, she was really going to order?

To be honest, when Chen Ran first found out there was a little restaurant in the scenic area, she’d thought the place had lost its mind.Who would climb a mountain just to eat here?!

The prices here were no joke. And due to the limitations on ingredient storage—

Chen Ran hesitated a little as she pointed at the menu for the two young girls, trying to persuade them: “You’ve already hiked through the scenic area, why eat at a restaurant? There’s grilled sausages for sale over there…”

Zhou Yingqiong glanced at the menu and was visibly stunned.

A plate of stir-fried shredded potatoes actually cost 58 yuan! Meat dishes were mostly over 100, with even the cheapest twice-cooked pork priced at 128.

Lu Xiaoyu, feeling sorry for her wallet, scanned the menu in search of lion’s head meatballs—she was a little disappointed, but also a bit relieved.

If she had to spend over a hundred just to eat lion’s head meatballs here, her wallet wouldn’t survive.

“So expensive?”

The auntie nearby, seeing that someone was finally about to order, quickly explained, “There’s no choice, kids—just hauling the ingredients up the mountain already takes so much effort, right? A bottle of cola up here costs eight yuan, but down there it’s just a few!”

Zhou Yingqiong had originally wanted to order two dishes, but after seeing the prices and remembering her account balance—

She and Lu Xiaoyu ended up only ordering one dish of shredded potatoes.

“Then we’ll just take one plate of shredded potatoes, and two small bowls of rice.”

“Alrighty, coming right up. You two go on in and take a seat.”

Though this wasn’t Chen Ran’s first time working a job, it was her first time cooking directly for customers in a real restaurant-like setting—she couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

And just as excited was the system!

【Random Mission: It is a chef’s duty to satisfy every customer】

【Your loyal diners have followed you here. Please give it your all and perform at your highest level to make them happy】

【Mission Reward: SS-rank Clear-Stewed Pork Knuckle】

Double S-rank!

Chen Ran’s spirit surged!

This was her first time seeing a double S-rank recipe. But why was a clear-stewed pork knuckle rated so highly?

【Every recipe has different tiers. Previously, the host’s cooking level hadn’t even reached entry level, so only S-rank recipes were accessible】

【With all skills now at B-rank, the host can handle ordinary recipes up to SS-rank. Higher ranks have a failure rate of over 90%】

【3S-rank recipes require all skills to be above S-rank to be learnable】

So even after all her effort to raise every skill to B-rank, the system still considered that just “entry level”?

But Chen Ran had experienced the boost from an S-rank recipe—being forcibly elevated in skill had shown her just how lacking she still was.

Now that she had the system, she could train at her own pace. As long as she completed this mission and earned the SS-rank recipe, she’d gain access to a whole new level.

But when it came time to actually cook, Chen Ran felt a kind of “the closer to home, the more nervous” unease.

The system had never given her a recipe for shredded potatoes.

The dishes she’d made before that were most well-received were all S-rank recipes. The small dishes she made on her own were always just served on the side.Could she really make shredded potatoes that would satisfy the customer?

After washing the potatoes clean, Chen Ran picked up the black iron kitchen knife she had received from the mission. She thought of Zhu Chenchen’s smiling face when she gave her that knife.

Zhu Chenchen… she truly liked the food she made, right?

The only S-rank recipes she had cooked at the kindergarten were lion’s head meatballs and plum-sauce ribs. All the other dishes she made during that time were ones she had crafted with care and thought.

And the mission the system gave her today—its requirement wasn’t to make an “A-rank” or “S-rank” dish. It was simply to make a plate of shredded potatoes that satisfied the customer.

Chen Ran lifted the knife, recalling the first time she met Zhou Yingqiong.

What had she said back then…

Right, she had said that the shredded potatoes in the school cafeteria were always soggy and not at all crispy. She also said the egg-stuffed pancake had to be slathered with chili sauce, and no scallions…

Gripping the black iron knife, Chen Ran sliced like snow falling in training drills.

She remembered how she first learned knife work.

When cutting shredded potatoes, the knife should be pushed gently forward—pulling back was a major taboo. Standard shredded potatoes should be 3mm square, evenly thick, with each strand cleanly separated.

All her practice chopping with sandbags strapped to her arms was now paying off. This black iron knife felt especially handy in her grip—the potato slices fell cleanly as they were cut, without sticking to the blade or clumping together.

Chen Ran was surprised to find that she was slicing shredded potatoes even better than when she had first lost her sense of taste!

If the customer liked crispy potatoes, then they needed to be rinsed in water several more times. If the customer liked it spicy, then she had to increase the amount of chili. If she didn’t eat scallions, then the scallions would go in early to infuse aroma and then be removed before plating. Within just a few minutes, a plate of stir-fried shredded potatoes was done.

Chen Ran glanced at it. The system gave a short appraisal:

【A plate of stir-fried shredded potatoes meticulously made for Zhou Yingqiong】

There was no grade given, but in Chen Ran’s eyes, this “dedication label” was a more fitting affirmation than any rank.

The auntie had already served the rice, and Chen Ran personally brought the plate of shredded potatoes to the table.

The thoroughly rinsed potato shreds were pure white, stir-fried over high heat until each strand stood crisply apart. Even before taking a bite, one could already tell how crunchy they would be.

Green and red chili peppers dotted the dish, adding a bright touch. The spicy aroma hit the nose, making one crave a big mouthful of rice just from the smell alone.

Zhou Yingqiong picked up a huge bite with her chopsticks!

Potatoes were the best food in the world!

Whenever she ate out, she always ordered stir-fried shredded potatoes. Her most annoying uncle often mocked her as “narrow-minded” or “uncultured.”

But to Zhou Yingqiong, making good shredded potatoes was truly hard!

Most average eateries either force flavor with lard or overload the dish with MSG. Or, to prevent sticking and control the heat, they would blanch the potatoes before stir-frying.

Shredded potatoes that were blanched before stir-frying had no soul, okay?

She carefully put a mouthful of potatoes into her mouth, her expression devout. Lu Xiaoyu even paused her Douyin video, waiting seriously for her friend’s review.

“How is it?”

“This is the taste… no, wait,” Zhou Yingqiong forced down the huge bite of potatoes, “it’s even better than what I had from the food truck before!”

Back when Chen Ran was cooking at the food truck, her wok-tossing skill hadn’t reached B-rank yet. It was only after refining her saucing technique during the sweet and sour pork that her wok-tossing skill finally caught up with her other abilities.And this seemingly ordinary stir-fried shredded potatoes dish mainly tested the control of heat and wok-tossing skills.

Lu Xiaoyu, seeing her best friend’s high praise, couldn’t help but pick up a bite.

She was a meat lover, but today, pressed by a thin wallet, she didn’t dare to order meat dishes, so she was just accompanying her best friend to satisfy her craving.

However, these shredded potatoes tasted much better than she had expected!

“Really delicious, and it tastes like… there’s no animal fat in it?”

Level-10 shredded potato connoisseur Zhou Yingqiong talked at length: “It was supposed to be vegetarian stir-fried shredded potatoes. Adding animal fat would cover up the natural fragrance of the potatoes! Also, if you want to add animal fat, why not just stir-fry the potatoes with meat?”

The spicy aftertaste of the shredded potatoes hit Lu Xiaoyu, and she couldn’t help but gulp down a big mouthful of water.

Perfect with rice!

With that spicy kick and a big bite of rice, the collision of carbs in her stomach swept away the exhaustion from climbing up the mountain.

Chen Ran was preparing the crew’s boxed lunch for noon. While washing vegetables and meat with the auntie, she slightly turned her face sideways, occasionally watching the two girls out of the corner of her eye.

But… she didn’t notice anything, only the quick backs of the two girls eating their rice.

Fortunately, the system prompt came out just in time.

【Mission accomplished, congratulations host on obtaining the SS-rank recipe Braised Pork Knuckle】

【First time acquiring an SS-rank recipe, host’s cooking officially begins】

【Skill mission pending activation】

That last line was what Chen Ran wanted to hear most!

Since her wok-tossing skill upgraded to B-rank, Chen Ran clearly felt that simply tying sandbags to her wrists no longer helped her knife skills at all.

As for the other skills, she hadn’t learned much more while at the Chen family, and she didn’t even know how to start improving them.

But just as she began to worry about how to improve, the damned system went silent again.

Chen Ran pouted.

Anyway, ever since Chen Tingwei took disciples last time, she realized that maybe the system was even more anxious than she was to have her learn cooking.

She would get the mission done sooner or later!

Meanwhile, the plate of shredded potatoes had been completely eaten by the two. Lu Xiaoyu took out her phone, took a “clean plate” photo again, and started editing the post.

“You’re really going to become a food blogger?”

“Finally got some followers,” Lu Xiaoyu secretly snapped a photo of Chen Ran’s bowed head chopping meat, edited the caption, picked background music, and posted it, “Ever since Sister Ran left the kindergarten, I haven’t gained followers for a long time!”

She didn’t have Zhu Chenchen’s perseverance, who would work at the kindergarten just to get lion’s head recipes, but going daily to the kindergarten cafeteria to shoot recipe videos earned Lu Xiaoyu a stable batch of followers.

Unfortunately, those followers were probably stable “lion’s head fans.” After posting two lifestyle videos, she got zero response.

This time, seeing Lu Xiaoyu’s account post a shredded potatoes dish, Zhou Jiaming was about to unfollow.

He was also a local of Xinhua City, and ever since watching that cooking guy’s lion’s head video, he had been keen to try the legendary lion’s head at the kindergarten.

Unfortunately, until Chen Ran left the kindergarten, he never had a chance to try it.But on the eve of unfollowing, he glanced at the caption…

“I found the chef who makes lion’s head! She’s at a small restaurant on Yanglian Mountain! Although strapped for cash [crying][crying], I tried Chef Chen’s vegetarian stir-fried shredded potatoes, and it was delicious!”

The post’s pictures were two shots: one a full plate of shredded potatoes, the other a spotless empty plate.

Yanglian Mountain? Isn’t that not far from Xinhua City? After all, it’s a scenic spot with a dedicated route from Xinhua City.

Zhou Jiaming quickly checked the route online — it only takes three and a half hours to get there!

His heart struggled fiercely.

Under Lu Xiaoyu’s account, other comments had already flooded in.

“Where’s the menu?”

“Yeah, Xiaoyu, you got famous from menus, don’t forget your roots! Post the menu quickly, let me see if there’s lion’s head!”

“Strapped for cash? Miss, your lion’s head tastes way better than the Chen Restaurant’s one that costs over a hundred yuan. If it’s under 200 yuan, I’ll order every dish!”

“Address! Don’t just post the menu, post the address too!”

Lu Xiaoyu, who hadn’t felt a hundred likes on a video for a long time, quickly posted the menu.

This small restaurant was a product of failed decisions by scenic area leaders. The cost of transporting ingredients, and the low foot traffic in the scenic area, caused the menu to shrink repeatedly.

Originally, there were about thirty dishes on the wall menu, but the full-stocked ingredients didn’t sell, so some dishes had their names covered with tape.

The remaining dishes were mostly those with ingredients that could be frozen or stored long-term.

However, from this aspect, the scenic area managers were fairly conscientious; it seemed they hadn’t considered using pre-made dishes.

Lu Xiaoyu posted the menu in the comments section, and replies quickly started piling up. Before long, she even received two group chat invitations.

The chat in the groups was flooding fast, but the most frequent comment was still: “Why no lion’s head?!”

“The prices are a bit high, but in a scenic spot, this price isn’t too bad?”

Everyone had a deep understanding of scenic area prices. Seeing 58 yuan for vegetarian shredded potatoes and 8 yuan for rice didn’t cause much surprise.

“And from Xiaoyu’s post, the portion looks pretty big.”

“Though no lion’s head, there’s sour plum ribs, and I think the white-cut pork knuckle is worth trying?”

The group discussed heatedly. Qiu Xian quickly sent the video to Wang Zhaoshan: “Sir, do you think now is the time to invite the director to taste it?”

She really wanted to see the moment Chen Ran appeared on Famous Chef!

“This is halfway up the mountain. Can you really tell the old lady to go up?”

“Isn’t there a cable car?”

Wang Zhaoshan hesitated a bit. Chen Ran’s rise to fame was faster than he expected. If he didn’t recommend her to the director soon, what if Chen Ran went to work elsewhere and someone else beat her to it?

“I’ll ask around. You gather some info first.”

Honestly, he actually wanted Chen Ran to grow a bit more before finally recommending her to the director. But now it seemed at least she needed to be officially introduced to the director first!

Wang Zhaoshan’s worries were unknown to Chen Ran. Their contact was limited to the last cooking competition and the recent job recommendation.What she wanted to know most now was when the special flavor effect of Guo Bao Rou (crispy sweet and sour pork) would be achieved.

For the noon boxed lunch, she made Guo Bao Rou as usual, with the other two dishes being dry-pot potato slices and vinegar-sautéed bean sprouts.

When Wan Jiaxin came to pick up her boxed lunch, she was delighted to see her favorite Guo Bao Rou back again.

“Wow, Guo Bao Rou again!”

Chen Ran was a bit worried: “Is it not good to repeat the same dish?”

“No problem, no problem!”

It was a joke—she had even eaten boxed lunches that caused diarrhea from being unclean. Now with such delicious boxed meals, what’s wrong with repeating dishes twice?

The same menu could keep her happy until the end of the show!

Not just Wan Jiaxin, the entire crew was very satisfied with this round of boxed lunches.

Especially compared to the guests tormented by Lv Yi’s experimental tasting…

This time, the outdoor shoot lasted longer than usual, with each shoot split into two episodes.

Moreover, due to the particularity of the outdoor location, ingredients were acquired by answering questions, making the noon meals even more abstract.

Zhou Yingqiong and Lu Xiaoyu had just found a good spot, using binoculars to observe the crew.

The two originally came up the mountain to fangirl—they were both fans of Liu Zi, and hearing their idol was filming a variety show on Yanglian Mountain, they decided to watch.

“What do you think Lv Yi’s dish tastes like?”

Having just eaten shredded potatoes and rice, Lu Xiaoyu’s stomach was full, and looking at the meat on camera didn’t make her hungry.

She was just a bit curious… from her idol’s expression just now, the dish should taste good, but judging by the look, it seemed otherwise?

“Should be pretty tasty, right?”

Zhou Yingqiong considered herself a rational fan. Though she followed Liu Zi’s schedule closely, she couldn’t say her idol’s acting was very good.

“Look at everyone’s reactions, don’t they seem to like it?”

The spot they chose on the mountain was very secluded, almost overlooking the entire filming area of the variety show. They even sneakily took a few photos of their idol, happily enduring mosquito bites.

“Let’s head down a bit later.”

“Okay, let’s leave at three. After all, this is a scenic area, not some wild mountain. It should be safe.”

Inside the filming site, the celebrity guests had finished lunch. The two young male stars voluntarily washed dishes and cleaned up. The dishwashing was inside the room, so Lu Xiaoyu could only see her idol’s legs. She admired them a bit, then started randomly looking through the binoculars.

Wait, where is the diva going?

She quickly tapped Zhou Yingqiong: “Look, even reality shows have people wandering off!”

Together they watched and saw the diva quickly walk to an unattended shaded pavilion, and while no one was looking, she picked up a box of food and took two bites.

Really sneaking a bite!

“This should be on purpose by the crew, right?”

Zhou Yingqiong wasn’t sure, but as a longtime fangirl she knew there was no variety show without a script: “Probably, after all, the diva is almost sixty this year…”Indeed, the program’s Chef Bai Jing and the diva were both not young. Plus, after the previous green bean poisoning incident, the crew had to leave some food to fill these poor guests' stomachs.

The diva was from the Northeast. When she opened the boxed lunch and saw Guo Bao Rou, her eyes lit up.

She had eaten at many places and could naturally tell that this Guo Bao Rou was authentic.

“Good! This vinegar flavor is authentic!”

【Received four genuine heartfelt compliments (2/4)】

Chen Ran was handling the pork knuckle in the small restaurant!

Having just obtained the double S-level recipe, she couldn’t resist itching to cook.

Anyway, there weren’t many tourists on Yanglian Mountain, and this small restaurant had few customers for now. On the wall menu was a dish called boiled pork knuckle; she pre-cooked a clear stew pork knuckle in advance as preparation, right?

Suddenly, the system gave a series of notifications, causing her hand holding the torch to tilt and nearly burn the wrong spot.

“System, your notifications could be a bit more user-friendly.”

The system didn’t respond at all, only continuing to remind her that the mission completion had reached (4/4).

Chen Ran perked up!

Without thinking about what was happening on the variety show side, she quickly opened the system panel to check the flavor effect of Guo Bao Rou.

The system’s flavor effects were always related to the diners. This time the diners were all celebrities—would the flavor effect be different?

Chen Ran clicked the description option behind Guo Bao Rou, and a line of text popped up.

【Respect for the diner and love for food are the most precious qualities of a chef】

【And the diner’s sincere praise when removing their mask is the best reward for the chef’s efforts】

【Flavor Effect: Eating this Guo Bao Rou will cause the person to unknowingly say the words deepest in their heart within 24 hours】

【Effect Limit: Can only be made one day per month】

Chen Ran vaguely felt this effect seemed a bit too targeted.

Her phone rang. She took out her phone and looked at the message.

It was from Li, the production assistant.

“Chef Chen, everyone really likes the Guo Bao Rou you made. Make some more tonight!”