Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Steamed Egg with Minced Meat

Since the tomato scrambled eggs were made with a braised flavor, the matching minced meat steamed egg was kept light and fresh.

Chen Ran was very satisfied with the meal she had prepared.

At first, she had quite a few complaints about the system’s part-time tasks.

Growing up, she had seen many famous chefs; uncles and elder relatives in her family were everywhere. But except for the legendary wandering divine chef ancestor, everyone else specialized in perfecting a few fixed dishes at one place.

But now, she thought she might understand a bit of the system’s purpose.

After placing the last small bowl of minced meat steamed tofu into the steamer, Chen Ran clapped her hands, happily watching the system release the side quest.

After finishing today’s meal, she should be able to get the recipe for braised lion’s head meatballs, right?

And coincidentally, the dinner menu for next Monday was exactly braised lion’s head.

Chen Ran was even a bit impatient; when the dishes were ready, she actively helped carry the dishes.

The minced meat steamed tofu was portioned according to the number of people; each child and teacher had their own bowl. A few people carried the dishes in two trips.

“All right, everyone line up properly. The teachers will serve the minced meat steamed tofu to you shortly.”

The little director led Qian Rui’s mother in, speaking sternly: “You can watch Qian Rui eat, but you can’t eat.”

Qian Rui’s mother looked thin, dressed in attire suited for a business career of more than a decade, replying on WeChat as she entered.

She was quite dismissive of the little director’s words.

Her family had come back from Shen City; they had been to all kinds of restaurants and banquet halls—why would they be interested in a bite of food from this kindergarten?

“No, I just heard Rui Rui’s appetite suddenly improved and was a little surprised. I want to see what changes the kindergarten meals have made so I can learn something to cook at home.”

The little director led her to Qian Rui’s seat. With a sharp glance and a pointed finger, Teacher Wang, who had been keeping a distance, obediently sat down, ready to assist Qian Rui’s mother at any time.

“Oh, no need for that. After picking up my child, I’ll also…”

The lids of the dishes were lifted, and a rich aroma spread out.

Qian Rui’s mother paused mid-sentence: “…I’ll make tomato scrambled eggs at home too.”

The strong tomato scent floated in the air, but the most prominent aroma wasn’t the tomato’s own tanginess—it was a sauce fragrance with a hint of braised flavor.

Just smelling it, one could imagine the tomato juice being super thick, tightly coating the eggs. One bite and the rich flavor would linger on the tongue…

If only it could be mixed with a bowl of rice!

Regarding the tomato scrambled eggs, Ms. Feng Meng, Qian Rui’s mother, was firmly on the savory side. To her, this flavor was even more tempting.

She no longer sat contentedly but stood up, looking toward the food.

The little director shot her a sharp glare again, and Teacher Wang immediately stood up: “Qian Rui’s mother, we have only prepared meals for the children and staff!”

Reluctantly, Qian Rui’s mother sat back down, watching Qian Rui carry his food slowly back to his seat.

Normally, her loving gaze would be fixed on her son with his poor appetite, but today, she simply couldn’t look away from the food.

That egg… it was fried egg?Qian Rui happily sat in his seat, ready to start eating, under his mother’s watchful gaze.

But as a good boy, he first asked his mother,

“Mom, do you want some? I can share half of this fried egg with you.”

Teacher Wang returned with the food, gently placing the tray next to Qian Rui.

Ms. Feng Meng swallowed and shook her head, “Mom doesn’t want any, you eat it yourself.”

Teacher Wang was very pleased. She picked up a spoon and thoroughly mixed the tomato sauce with the rice.

Glug.

A swallowing sound rang out.

Qian Rui glanced at his mother again, and after receiving her smile and shake of the head, he started eating his portion.

This tomato sauce really smelled so rich!

The deep red sauce gave off a deadly aroma. Qian Rui carefully scooped up the fried egg with a spoon and bit into it hard.

So fragrant!

Ms. Feng Meng even heard a nonexistent “crack” sound. She leaned on the table and couldn’t help but ask her son,

“Is it crispy?”

Qian Rui, who had attended a public speaking and hosting class, fully put his skills to use at that moment.

Tilting his head cutely, he began to describe to his mother,

“Overall, it’s crispy, but the outer part has lots of juicy bubbles inside, chewy and crispy…”

Teacher Wang, who had been mentally exhausted by Feng Meng’s endless WeChat messages for days, felt ecstatic!

She took her own special rice-eating spoon and slowly cut the whole fried egg into pieces. Then, she paired each small piece with a spoonful of rice soaked in sauce, slowly putting it into her mouth, and then slowly withdrew the clean spoon.

“Indeed, crispy but with a bit of toughness; this texture is better than meat. I have to say, this tomato scrambled egg tastes better than tomato beef brisket.”

Teacher Wang gave a strong thumbs up, watching Qian Rui eat heartily, and praised Feng Meng, “Qian Rui’s mother, look how deliciously Qian Rui is eating!”

At the exact moment she heard Feng Meng’s stomach growl, she felt all the grudge from those twenty-something WeChat messages had been avenged!

Feng Meng couldn’t hold back anymore and quietly asked, “Can I pay for a meal and have some too?”

Teacher Wang shook her head regretfully, “Have you noticed that your Qian Rui not only eats deliciously but also eats very fast?”

Indeed, Qian Rui used to take half an hour to eat a few spoonfuls, but now he was almost done with a full portion!

“If you eat slowly, you won’t get any.”

Teacher Wang had already finished the food on her plate, but there was still half a bowl of minced meat steamed tofu left—after all, everyone had their own portion, no need to fight.

Feng Meng looked around the classroom in astonishment. She realized that during mealtime, this classroom hardly felt like a kindergarten.

Every child was seriously eating their food!

Teacher Wang grabbed another plate of rice, but the delicious fried egg was already gone, so she could only sadly take some tomato soup.She said seriously to Feng Meng, “Look, we really didn’t give your son any weird stuff, it’s just that the new assistant cook’s food… it’s just too fragrant.”

Qian Rui didn’t get a second fried egg either, so he began to eat the minced meat steamed tofu in small bites.

The tomato scrambled eggs just now could be said to be the pinnacle of rich flavors — the strong tomato taste, combined with the carefully blended braised flavor.

But for this minced meat steamed tofu, Chen Ran very carefully controlled the amount of seasoning.

Her A-level seasoning skills taught her a lot at this moment.

The seasoning must be precise and accurate, not excessive. The minced meat was already rich in aroma from early preparation. The tofu bought by the kindergarten today was very tender, with a natural bean fragrance. At times like this, just salt and pepper were enough to bring out the ingredient’s own flavor.

The richness of the tomato sauce highlighted the freshness of the minced meat steamed tofu; in turn, this light and fresh taste further enhanced the mellow texture of the tomato sauce.

Qian Rui couldn’t think of a complicated way to describe it; he just thought: delicious!

He wanted more!

But seeing his mother’s eager expression opposite him, he handed her the spoon.

“Mom, try it.”

Feng Meng originally wanted to refuse, but seeing that there wasn’t much tofu left in the bowl, she couldn’t help herself.

She scooped up a spoonful gently.

The tofu’s cooking was excellent — not too old, but not so soft that it lost flavor. It seemed to have hints of ginger and pepper, but on careful tasting, she could only detect the tofu’s fragrance.

This bite awakened her long-suppressed appetite.

Ms. Feng Meng mustered her strength and returned the spoon to her son: “Okay, Mom tried it, you eat now.”

Countless thoughts crossed her mind as she started to make small talk with Teacher Wang.

Having once been a factory worker herself, a few words easily coaxed Teacher Wang into revealing the kindergarten assistant cook’s salary.

If she could recruit her to come home as a nanny, wouldn’t that be awesome!

Chen Ran, preparing to go home in the kitchen, didn’t yet know that on her second day of work, someone was already trying to recruit her.

She happily tossed her keys up and down as she walked.

Although she still had no sense of taste, seeing the kindergarten children eat was as if she tasted the flavor herself.

It was just a pity that her mother couldn’t taste her cooking for now.

On her way home, she passed by the Chen family restaurant. Coincidentally, Chen Yijin was also about to get off work.

After all, as a member of the Chen family, it was unlikely he would work late like an ordinary chef.

Chen Ran’s eyes lit up when she saw Chen Yijin.

“Chen Yijin! Have you learned how to make lion’s head meatballs yet?”

Chen Yijin looked back with some bitterness inside.

Clearly, he was the one who had been kicked out of the family, so why was he the one feeling bad all the time?

“Not yet…” He looked at Chen Ran listlessly and just gave up, “A few days from now the cooking guy is coming to check the restaurant. These days, the lion’s heads are made by my dad personally, so there’s no time to teach me.”Don’t even talk about teaching him; even when he tries to get involved, his dad thinks he’s just making trouble.

As he spoke, Chen Yijin recalled how Chen Ran had crushed him when he was learning to cook, and he waved his hand impatiently.

“Why do you care? It’s just a matter of time before I learn. You, on the other hand, don’t even think about learning it in this lifetime!”

Watching Chen Yijin spit and leave, Chen Ran looked at the system with some regret a few times.

This time, there was no new task!

She opened her phone, switched through several platforms, and searched for the ID “Zhunán” (Cook Guy).

“Zhunán” is a middle-aged uncle whose nickname means “Cooking for you to eat.” At first, when he made lifestyle videos, he didn’t get much traffic, but he became popular after starting to review restaurants.

Because he’s very good at cooking home-style dishes, his reviews not only comment on taste but also on the restaurant’s methods and ingredients, earning him a devoted following.

In every video, he finds the restaurant with the most comments based on likes.

The last video’s highest-liked comment was for Chen Family Restaurant.

“Chen Family Restaurant’s lion’s head meatballs! It’s said the chef there is the brother of the Zhìwèizhāi head chef, and one meatball costs only 168!”

Many comments agreed below, with likes reaching 13,000.

For a small city restaurant, this amount of likes shows it has a solid local reputation.

Zhu Chenchen, a junior this year, is one of them.

Since having the New Year’s Eve family banquet at Chen Family Restaurant, she hasn’t been able to forget it.

Especially the lion’s head meatballs—once eaten, never forgotten.

“Kuangkuang, remember this: after I go back to school, you have to remind Mom a lot! This year’s New Year’s Eve dinner, we must go to Chen Family Restaurant again!” She sighed boredly while playing with her phone on the sofa. After a while, she noticed her usually quick-replying younger sister hadn’t responded.

“Zhu Kuangkuang! Why aren’t you saying anything?” She changed position and told the servant to get some fruit, “Bring me an orange.”

The servant, who was really the biological mother, happily brought an orange and sat on a small stool, watching her elder sister.

“Sis, the kindergarten food is even better than Chen Family Restaurant’s!”

Huh?

Zhu Chenchen bit into the orange—it was a bit sour. Without a word, she slipped two segments into her sister’s mouth and watched her baby-faced sister’s cheeks scrunch up.

“What tastes good to you? Don’t tell me you fell in love with kindergarten because they fried you a chicken leg?”

Mom Zhu came over just then and saw Zhu Kuangkuang’s face all scrunched up. She gave her eldest daughter a reproachful pat.

“Bullying your sister again! You go to the kindergarten event tomorrow; your dad and I both have to work overtime.”

“I don’t want to go!”

“If you don’t go, then go find a part-time job! I’m annoyed every time I see you just slouching on the sofa at home.”

Zhu Chenchen felt like the sky was falling—she had just arranged to join the team for ranking matches tomorrow night.

Zhu Kuangkuang finally swallowed the sour orange segment and leaned close to her sister.

“Sis, go! Our kindergarten food is really good!”

“What’s so good about kindergarten food!” Zhu Chenchen rolled her eyes at her sister. Seeing the servant’s overly eager flattery, she decided to give her food-naïve sister a shock.

“Fine, if you behave at the event tomorrow, after school I’ll take you to eat something delicious.”Her little sister is so pitiful, she even thinks the big pot food at kindergarten tastes good. Tomorrow night, she’ll take her sister to experience Dr. Mai’s baptism!