Chapter 54

Chapter 54 – Chen Ran, the place where you work is really…

Very quickly, those once-viral short videos were dug up again.

Even the video where she made jianbing while catching a fugitive, which had been taken down for some reason, started to reappear in brand-new versions.

The most popular were the compilation-type videos that edited all these clips together.

“Eight Legendary Dishes from the Mythical Chef!”

“Who says the information age won’t produce another Hidden Master?”

“Got money? Got a secretary to book for you? Useless—before the Runaway Chef, everyone is equal!”

“How far would people go just to eat Chen Ran’s cooking? Using their kids to get into kindergarten, fighting for karaoke rooms—not even the craziest. A sophomore girl allegedly forced her family to throw a fake graduation banquet!”

These list-style videos quickly spread across major websites.

In He Xin’s group chat, debates about Chen Ran were also raging nonstop.

With such a sensational topic, this group of experienced gourmets couldn’t help but suspect that she was just a product of marketing.

What’s more, this Chef Chen Ran was reportedly not even 25 years old yet? And came from the Chen family?

“Chen Yuncong, that old man... though ranked eleventh on the ‘Famous Chefs List,’ hasn’t actually cooked in ages, right? Their business sells all kinds of stuff now. Started with pre-made dishes and seasonings, now even tinkering with chicken bone flavoring essence?”

“Could this Chen Ran be another one of that old geezer’s marketing products?”

“No way! I trust Ms. Chang Nian’s judgment of people!”

He Xin also felt there was probably some marketing involved, but as someone in the food industry, she didn’t really mind that much.

As long as the food was delicious, that’s what mattered!

As for everything else—if Chef Chen Ran was just a marketing gimmick, then the backer behind her was someone way beyond He Xin’s reach.

If she wasn’t, then she was simply a chef He Xin couldn’t afford to hire.

“Stop talking, let’s just go eat and find out for ourselves. Didn’t you see the later interview? She even knows how to handle sediment in oil bases—she clearly has real skills!”

“Yeah, that original ‘Twin Perfection Roast Chicken’ dish even earned praise from Master Chang Nian. They say it’s got both unbeatable texture and taste—I really want to try it…”

“I don’t think it’s marketing. Don’t forget, Chen Yuncong is obsessed with promoting the foreign Michelin model! Meanwhile, Chef Chen Ran appeared on Famous Chefs Record—those two sides don’t get along!”

“Alright, enough bickering, let’s just go try it ourselves!”

The topic circled back to the beginning. The group fell silent for a moment before someone replied:

“Where can we even eat it though?”

The foodies in this group were all quite wealthy. Sometimes during arguments comparing chefs, they’d just drop everything and go try the food in person.

Chefs who made it onto Famous Chefs Record usually worked in upscale restaurants that required reservations.

These people even had the connections to secure same-day tables.

But all that influence and capability—meant nothing in front of Chen Ran!

Well, not entirely useless. He Xin still managed to wrangle a copy of the upcoming schedule for the Shu family’s banquet sessions from Xiao Zheng.

“Here, take a look. This is the schedule for the banquets where that Chef Chen will be cooking.”

“Oh wow, so it’s not just hype—there’s something planned every day. Didn’t expect her working gigs to be this packed.”

“Yeah, looks like this Chef really enjoys hopping around. The places she works are constantly changing.”Since it's a group of gourmet fanatics, naturally, there were people familiar with that legendary Chef Chen from the Chen family who used to be invincible in the culinary world.

“Now that you mention it, I remember—wasn’t that Chef Chen from the Chen family also known for constantly traveling around back then? In that light, maybe this Chef Chen Ran really has something…”

“Whether she does or not, can someone just tell me—how do we even go eat there? Do I first find this Hou Tang Village, then go around asking which house Li Guixiang lives in, and then show up on the day with a red envelope to grab a seat?”

“I feel like… you might not even manage to get a seat that way.”

“No way—I have to try! That interview made me way too hungry! If all else fails, I’ll cry at the gate—can’t I at least have a chicken neck to taste?”

Though this group of foodies was willing to go to great lengths for a good meal, the group had one rule: you could use scalpers or connections, but under no circumstances could you disturb the normal dining experience of other guests.

He Xin smiled, satisfied that no one in the group had suggested throwing around high-value red envelopes.

She had clawed her way up from the countryside, and those kinds of subtly arrogant moves were bound to trigger resentment or show-off competition.

Maybe this was what real food lovers looked like.

But… being a true food lover didn’t mean you couldn’t engage in a little fair competition.

He Xin closed the group chat and quickly sent a private message to one of the silent big shots in the group.

“Brother Chen, haven’t seen you in the group these days. That rural revitalization project—did it hit a snag?”

“It’s alright, going pretty well. Just wrapped up a rural trade fair. Was thinking of taking a couple days off before finding the next one. What’s up, something big in the group?”

“A new chef just got added to Famous Chefs Record, name’s Chen Ran—went straight to the Earth List. But this chef’s a bit unusual. Been hopping between gigs, and right now she’s cooking for rural banquets…”

On the other side of the chat, Brother Chen’s expression twisted a little.

An Earth List chef cooking for village banquets? That just didn’t seem to match.

“You’re saying… we go over there to do a rural livestream event, and while we’re at it, use our connections to eat a couple of those banquets?”

“Exactly!”

“Alright, send me the village info. I’ll have my assistant check if it’s doable. Let’s pull a few people from the group too—we haven’t had a get-together in a while.”

Not just in the foodie group—Chen Ran was genuinely going viral across the internet.

By conventional logic, Chen Ran’s cooking alone shouldn’t have caused such a sensation. After all, with her constantly moving around, most people hadn’t even had a chance to try her food.

Only a small number of customers who had lined up at Yanglianshan or Bai Tian’e in the past, plus students from two universities in Xinhua, recalled those delicious dishes they once tasted and passionately testified in the video comments.

But what most people found entertaining was the extreme contrast.

And that contrast ended up giving Famous Chefs Record a surge in popularity too.

People started learning about Ms. Chang Nian, who dedicated her entire life to this pursuit. More and more ordinary folks began to realize—our Chinese cuisine has its own standards of evaluation!

This was the first time Famous Chefs Record had ever sold out in print.

People found that compared to Michelin’s ten 3-star restaurants with three serving steak, Famous Chefs Record, which focused on Chinese chefs, was actually a better fit for Chinese cuisine.

Although Heaven List chefs were rarely seen and Earth List chefs were mostly pillars of big restaurants, ordinary folks still had chances to eat dishes from chefs on the People List.

“Damn, I’ve eaten food from two People List chefs! It was amazing—remember that time we nearly swallowed our own tongues from how good it was?”

“Now I’m really curious what level Heaven List chefs are at. I mean, a bunch of them have cooked at state banquets—do you think they serve full Manchu Han Imperial Feast?”"It really is quite reliable. I've been to two of the restaurants listed, and they were both excellent! The recommended dishes were spot on too!"

Several families who had booked pre-banquet seats for October 14th with Shu Jianmin also gradually heard the news.

A chef from the Shu family's banquet team actually made it into that Famous Chefs Record?

Assistant chef Brother Liu was a bit worried. He pulled Shu Jianmin aside in private:

"Jianmin, now that Chef Chen is so well-known, if people start asking to add more tables, don’t agree to too many. Don’t let our Chef Chen get overworked."

"Don’t worry, I won’t!"

Back when Wang Deshui bailed on them and his mother came to ask Chen Ran for help, she had shown up right away without a word of complaint.

At the time, Shu Jianmin had already felt deeply grateful. Now, knowing that this Chef Chen’s skills were of such a high caliber, that gratitude only deepened.

To put it plainly, it was like their house had been left half-built, and a nationally certified architect had come to help them finish it.

And throughout the process, Chen Ran had never once shown arrogance. Every day, she quietly cooked—right now she was even off to the side carving a radish to practice her knife work!

Seeing Shu Jianmin glance her way, Chen Ran thought it was time to depart and picked up the pace.

Watching her wielding the kitchen knife with such precision, Shu Jianmin couldn’t help but say,

"Ranran, slow down a bit, don’t cut yourself!"

"It’s fine, I got it."

This black-iron kitchen knife rewarded by the system felt just right in her hands. Chen Ran picked up a white radish and carved a traditional small white dragon.

The entire dragon, once carved, radiated a quiet power—its scales and claws were vividly lifelike. Place it on any dish and the value of that plate would instantly skyrocket.

However, Chen Ran stared at the dragon for a moment, sighed, and bit off half of its head.

In autumn and winter, radish is better than ginseng—it crunched crisply with each bite.

She had tried many carvings, but none seemed to improve her knife skills.

Although her main standard for judging her skill level came from the system's grading, during practice she could still sense where her ability stood.

Even when she improved her heat-control skills through the “oil sedimentation” technique, she had already sensed progress during her nonstop deep-frying days at the Bai Tian’e KTV—her grasp of oil temperature and the condition of ingredients during frying was sharpening.

But now, observing her knife work—no improvement meant no improvement, and she could feel it clearly.

Even if she carved a hundred radishes, her technique hadn’t shown signs of a breakthrough or even a bottleneck.

Looks like she’d have to wait for the system’s next task.

Seeing the assistants starting to pack up, Chen Ran stood up too, ready to head off to the next banquet venue—Hou Tang Village, across from Qian Tang Village.

As she stood up, Brother Liu couldn’t help but offer his congratulations again:

"Ranran, congrats on making it into Famous Chefs Record!"

"Thanks, Brother Liu."

In truth, the day Chang Nian decided to place Chen Ran on the Earth List of Famous Chefs Record, Chen Ran had already found out.

But her first reaction wasn’t pride—it was a bit of unease.

Yes, unease.

Although she had brought joy and satisfaction to so many diners, to Chen Ran herself, she still didn’t really know what her food tasted like.

Even with the system’s evaluation skills, all she could do was get a rough sense: whether a dish was good or bad, whether it could be served.However, after a few days, she couldn't help but start browsing various websites for news about herself.

It wasn't that no one suspected the whole thing was just marketing.

But under every comment accusing Chen Ran of being purely a marketing gimmick, there were diners who had eaten her food arguing and explaining on her behalf.

Qingjiao-ge’s entire dorm always acted together—four college guys who would fire off over a dozen comments while others were still typing one, successfully drowning the negativity in a sea of replies.

There was also Liu Shihan, who always backed up her arguments with legal references—apparently someone Chen Ran knew from the Qiaotou Road police station. Though the two still chatted frequently about fitness, Liu Shihan had never mentioned what else she did.

Wang Zhaoshan’s replies always sounded extremely professional, full of references and sharp sarcasm. He would silence critics while also rallying a wave of approval from others.

Even the film emperor Qian Jun had shown up—only to forget to switch to an alt account. Someone caught a screenshot of it... that panda-head meme avatar of his once again resurfaced online.

What gradually calmed Chen Ran from anxiety to excitement, and finally back to peace, wasn’t her ranking in Famous Chefs Record, nor the praise from various compilation videos, but rather the sincerity of these diners.

Only sincerity can be met with sincerity.

Someone must have first recognized the heart she poured into every dish. And in return, they treated her sincerely—with their own hearts.

Chen Ran raised her hands, looking at the thick calluses and small scars covering them.

These were the hands of a chef.

Losing her sense of taste didn’t matter. She still had these hands. She still had her culinary skills.

Even if she couldn’t taste her own food, as long as she followed the correct steps precisely, she could still produce the correct flavor.

“Ranran, time to go! There’s another banquet at 3 this afternoon!”

“Oh, got it.”

Chen Ran held onto the rail and lightly jumped into the vehicle:

“3 p.m., huh? What’s the occasion for this banquet?”

A 3 p.m. banquet really was a rare sight.

But over the past few days, Chen Ran had seen all kinds of banquet reasons.

One common reason was social ties in rural areas. Another was that many who booked her grand banquets would come up with a reason on the spot.

Still, today’s reason even left the experienced Shu Jianmin a little stunned.

“This family... just built a new vegetable greenhouse.”

Chen Ran's expression turned a bit odd—this was the first time she’d heard of someone throwing a banquet just for building a vegetable greenhouse.

But still, it was more legit than Zhu Chenchen’s graduation banquet.

Building a greenhouse could just barely count as starting a business, right?

“Alright then, building a greenhouse isn’t cheap either. Starting a business and throwing a banquet seems pretty reasonable.”

Chen Ran couldn't help recalling the group of fans who once followed her to a wedding—back in the kitchen while she was cooking, Wang Nüshi’s voice had suddenly sounded behind her and nearly caused her to burn the meatballs!

“I heard they got some kind of subsidy…” Shu Jianmin recalled the joyful tone on the other end of the call yesterday.

“They just need to farm properly. Not only do they get technical guidance, but the future organic vegetables will be bought back under contract too.”

“Sounds like some kind of farming support program?”

Chen Ran didn’t think too much of it, picked up an apple, and resumed practicing her knife skills.As the black iron kitchen knife swept across, the apple peel came off smoothly, without a trace of flesh left on the red skin. She quickly finished peeling it, cut the apple into a few pieces to share, and carefully wiped the knife clean.

Finally, they arrived. This time, the host had, surprisingly, given Chen Ran a menu in advance.

For Chen Ran, the dishes on the menu posed no problem—almost all were her specialties. But from the perspective of someone hosting a banquet, this menu... was it really okay?

She asked Shu Jianmin with some doubt, “Why are there jinbing and egg-stuffed pancakes on this menu? And what’s with making so many Shuangjue roast chickens? How many per table?”

“You’ll have to put in a bit more effort! I heard they’ve not only invited the village leadership to this banquet, but also the Party A in charge of the agricultural aid program. Probably their idea…”

“That’s fine too. Helping with rural development is a good thing. Making a few more roast chickens isn’t too much trouble.”

Yes, the ones who absurdly added egg-stuffed pancakes and jinbing to a banquet menu were the Lao Tiao group!

After careful discussion in the group, they decided that those with time would contribute time, and those with money would contribute money, to hold a small-scale rural assistance event in Houtang Village.

He Xin, who facilitated the connection, had it all figured out: on one hand, it helped the farmers; on the other, it gave him a trustworthy vegetable source.

With a vegetable greenhouse he invested in and personally oversaw, at least there’d be no pesticide scandals.

And he could enjoy a grand banquet by Chen Ran in the process—perfect!

However, the Lao Tiao foodies attending the event weren’t entirely just excited.

Even the most seasoned hunter can get pecked in the eye by a goose. These hardcore foodies who chased gourmet food across the country had been scammed by hype accounts before.

The banquet hadn’t even started, and a group was already chatting about it.

“Remember that Diao-ge Beef Brisket place in Jing City? Claimed he paid millions for the recipe—just another money grab at launch…”

“Ahh, don’t remind me. Who hasn’t been ripped off? Overpriced, waited all night for a table, and it was so salty it made you choke…”

“The saltiness was one thing. But that boss who dropped out in middle school even berated customers, saying our taste buds needed to be ‘developed.’ Said our undeveloped tongues didn’t deserve his million-dollar brisket.”

“No one knew back then he came from a pyramid scheme background,” said Chen Songtao, who’d been scammed, with lingering resentment. “Whatever, if the food’s good today, we’ll support it. If not, we’ll just treat it as doing a good deed.”

They chose to support this farmer because the whole family was hardworking—even the girl among the three kids hadn’t dropped out of school.

“They’re here, they’re here! Damn, first dish is the small fried fish that Old Master Huang personally recommended to me!”

This time, the menu was compiled by He Xin after studying Chen Ran’s videos and all the stories about her.

Every dish was essentially the star of a popular short video.

Crispy fried small crucian carp—crispy to the extreme on the outside, yet still tender and fresh on the inside.

It was hard to imagine what kind of masterful heat control could make the fish bones so crispy while keeping the flesh soft and aromatic.

Candied sweet potatoes—needless to say how long the sugar threads could stretch. The crunchy shell and the sweet, soft inside combined perfectly—sweet but not cloying, smooth but not dry.

Then there was the braised pork knuckle prepared in two styles. This time, the soy sauce was specially sourced by Shu Jianmin. Whether sliced and dipped in soy sauce or pan-seared to a slight crisp with salt and pepper—it was so good it made you want to swallow your tongue.

Dish after dish was served, and each one was good enough to be a signature dish at a top restaurant in Jing City!

Even the egg-stuffed pancakes were so good people could eat a whole one plain.

“Forget the other dishes. I used to think that video of catching a fugitive was exaggerated... but now it seems, maybe that fugitive really was craving this stuff!”

He Xin held up a jinbing that was thin yet resilient, showing it to everyone:

“Look at this pancake! You can still read text through three layers of it!”All of Chen Ran's signature dishes were gathered on this banquet table!

The few seasoned gourmets present were all connoisseurs. While eating, they watched the videos one by one and commented on the various stories behind the dishes.

“Oh oh, this is the lion’s head meatball that made Chef Chen famous? I’ve seen so many videos where other foods are compared to this one!”

“This tastes really good! Great texture too. Don’t be fooled by how the lion’s head falls apart when touched—it’s actually quite chewy in the mouth!”

“I still admire the candied sweet potato the most. I’ve tried making it myself. A dish this simple, made this well—that’s true skill!”

“Exactly. Not to mention that oil-set batter technique. Just hearing about it felt like reading a sci-fi novel, yet she really pulled it off.”

“When that video from Qian Jun came out, I honestly didn’t believe it! Seriously! I really didn’t!”

Chen Songtao looked sheepish, like he'd been proven wrong: “I even thought he might be making a new movie, like The God of Cookery or something. Only after eating it today did I realize—none of it was exaggerated!”

Then there was the Shuangjue roast chicken, which He Xin had insisted on increasing in quantity—this table alone saw two people finish off one whole chicken.

“This roast chicken is insane… If she opened a roast chicken shop, I’d buy one every day and wouldn’t get tired of it even after a year!”

“And throw in some of those little fried fish and fried drumsticks too. Our ancestors’ fried food is still the best—not worse than Korean fried chicken, right?”

Having been burned many times by influencer-hyped restaurants, these veteran (and often exploited) foodies had pretty low expectations for this rural feast.

In fact, a few of them came with more of a picnic mindset.

But once they started eating, they realized—Ms. Chang Nian really was still that high-standard, strict Ms. Chang Nian!

How did she even discover such a precious gem?

“Hey, Xiao He, let’s book another table, yeah? You’ve got a list, right? Today’s the 10th, so for tomorrow and the day after—whatever big banquet is coming up, let’s book it all!”

“Chef Chen’s great at everything, except this habit of constantly running off…”

“Come on, maybe that’s part of her secret heritage! Just tell me if the food’s good or not!”

The table was now a mess of empty plates and bowls. Everyone had eaten half a roast chicken and was slumped in their chairs, unable to move.

This group were technically the hosts, so naturally no one came over to rush them. He Xin forced herself to digest a little, got up, and went to look for Shu Jianmin, who had just been seen wandering around.

“Hey, little sister, can I ask you something—where’s the person who made all this food?”

The youngest daughter of the host family recognized her as the big sister who helped set up the greenhouse and quickly replied with a smile, “They’ve left—said they were taking the chef jie back to the city…”

He Xin’s heart sank.

Based on Chen Ran’s previous pattern, she never stayed in one place for more than a month.

And the Shu family’s banquet team usually only worked in the village—so now they were suddenly heading back to the city…

She was about to say something when a chubby little girl nearby called out first: “Ranran-jie ran away again!”

Poor university student Zhu Chenchen had missed out on her own graduation feast. Taking advantage of the holidays, she had secretly returned and finally got to attend the housewarming banquet in the neighboring village.

—Building a vegetable greenhouse counts as a kind of housewarming, right?

But according to intel from the fan group, bookings for banquets were supposedly scheduled through the 14th. Why did Ran-jie disappear on the 10th?

Shu Jianmin, you big liar!After sneezing five times in a row, Shu Jianmin easily guessed that someone must be badmouthing him behind his back.

The banquets from the 11th to the 14th—he had made up all those names himself. After all, his mother had instructed him to take good care of Chen Ran, and he couldn’t let anyone trap her into staying because of something that happened under his watch.

However, the places this Chef Chen chose to work were getting weirder and weirder.

After driving for almost an entire night, the banquet RV finally arrived at the destination: a somewhat rundown amusement park.

“This is it? Are you sure?”

Chen Ran nodded: “Yes, this is the place.”

The system had clearly indicated that the clue to her knife skills improvement was right here!