Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Ghost-Face Beef

A martial arts school?

Even Chen Ran, who had always forged ahead fearlessly on the culinary path, hesitated for a moment.

Surely they weren’t expecting her to learn martial arts?

She looked around. Seeing how deserted the entrance of the martial arts school was, she finally felt at ease and went up to read the specifics written on the red notice.

"Hiring one cook: Requirements — skilled in large-scale cooking, meals and lodging included."

Seeing the job posting, which matched the martial arts school's style with its brief and straightforward wording, Chen Ran felt reassured.

As long as it’s for a cook! Though she worked out daily, it was mainly to better serve her culinary pursuits—she couldn’t handle the suffering that came with martial arts training.

As for the requirement of being skilled in large-scale cooking, she did have a bit of experience back when she worked at a kindergarten.

From the outside, the martial arts school didn’t look very large. It was quiet inside too—definitely no more people than a kindergarten.

Chen Ran raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"No turning your head! Mind your breathing!"

A very cool-sounding female voice rang out: "Your breathing is all over the place! Stand five more minutes later!"

Hearing the voice from inside, Chen Ran peeked through the iron gate.

It had been so quiet she thought no one was inside. But to her surprise, when she looked through the gate, there were actually around twenty people inside!

Regardless of age or gender, all of them were standing in the same posture—one hand extended straight forward, the other hand balled at the waist.

The owner of that female voice was now walking toward the iron gate. Chen Ran couldn’t quite tell her age, but she felt a strong sense of calm and stability from her.

"Hello, may I ask...?"

The woman said just four words, her chin lifting slightly as she looked at the bags and parcels Chen Ran carried, her gaze settling for a moment on Chen Ran’s shoulders.

"Here to sign up? What have you trained in before? Walk a few steps so I can check your stance—what stance techniques have you practiced?"

Perhaps it was the visible muscle on Chen Ran’s shoulders or the luggage she carried, but Tang Yang instinctively took her for a prospective trainee.

This young woman seemed to have some shoulder strength, but it was obvious her lower body hadn’t been trained much—her stance might be unsteady. Better start with two hours of horse stance a day.

As Tang Yang was still mulling this over, Chen Ran was already sweating.

She frantically waved both hands: "No, no, I’m not here to sign up! I’m here to apply for the cook job!"

Afraid of being pulled into martial arts training, Chen Ran quickly listed her experience: "I used to work at a kindergarten, and also cooked in a small restaurant—I can make most dishes. Is there an assistant cook?"

After saying that, Chen Ran suddenly remembered how Shu Jianmin had helped her apply for jobs before, and quickly added awkwardly, "How's the pay?"

Though her main goal was to complete a system task, it would seem too strange if she didn’t even ask about salary.

"Meals and lodging included, four thousand. As for an assistant cook..."

Tang Yang suddenly heard a slight sound from behind her. She turned and glared, then kicked a small stone on the ground—hitting one of the people inside dead on.

"This guy will be your assistant cook for today. As for tomorrow’s assistant, I’ll grab someone on the spot again. Sound good?"Stunned by that move, Chen Ran nodded instinctively. Tang Yang glanced at the calluses and small scars on her hands, looking quite satisfied, then directly lifted her suitcases with both hands and led the way inside.

“As long as you can cook big-pot meat dishes, that’s good enough. Our martial arts school doesn’t have high demands for taste, but protein and calories must be sufficient!”

“Try to use less oil and salt. Our ancestors didn’t care about these things, but we should still learn from modern advanced knowledge. No need to be too strict, but don’t make dishes like red-braised or soy-stewed ones.”

Chen Ran followed Tang Yang inside, walking past the group of trainees standing in stance, doing her best not to look at their faces.

“Got it. I’ve made fat-loss meals before too,” Chen Ran said. Though she hadn’t studied nutrition formally, she worked out herself and occasionally made fat-loss or muscle-gain meals, so she had some idea. “Start from today?”

She’d just taken a train for over ten hours, but since she’d slept sitting up through the night, she still felt capable of cooking now.

Tang Yang glanced back at her and immediately noticed that Chen Ran didn’t seem too energetic.

People who practice martial arts are especially sensitive to others’ physical states.

“Take a break today. Start tomorrow. You’ll eat a meal I cooked tonight.”

Chen Ran nodded.

“I’m Chen Ran. How should I address you?”

“I’m Tang Yang. Just call me Yang-jie.”

After this simple exchange, Tang Yang quickly strode off. Chen Ran couldn’t help but lean on the windowsill to watch her continue scolding the trainees.

“Move!”

“Does standing in stance mean turning into a dead tree? Move! I’ve taught you how to exert force—use it while standing too! Curl your toes!”

“What, you think you’ll finish your stance training and just go work? Didn’t move enough of those three thousand jin of cabbages?”

While leaning on the windowsill, Chen Ran accidentally made a sound. Someone looked her way, and Tang Yang immediately noticed.

She quickly pulled her head back and started unpacking.

First, she took out the medicinal herbs and prescriptions given by Xu Ruyi, then the black iron chef’s knife and the apron from Grandpa Xu.

Unlike its somewhat dilapidated appearance from the outside, the martial arts school was actually quite neat inside—even the room prepared for her as the cook was well put together.

Though it was a single-story house, the floor was tiled, the mattress on the iron bed frame was thick, and the bedding smelled of sunshine.

Chen Ran collapsed onto the bed and glanced at the messages that had been piling up on her phone.

She usually didn’t spend much time on her phone, and she couldn’t afford distractions while cooking, so she often had it on Do Not Disturb.

Now, looking at the message list, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Ran-jie, no idea where you are now, but if it’s cold, remember to dress warmly!”

“Chef Chen, here’s a flower I just photographed for you! But honestly, eternal spring isn't that great either—I haven’t seen snow in years. I guess up north it must be snowing around now?”

Could those messages sound any more forced?

Chen Ran scrolled through a few pages of messages—many were subtly probing about her location by bringing up the weather. So she simply posted a WeChat Moments update: “Focused on cultivating my culinary skills—entering closed-door practice for a while, don’t miss me.”

Quite a few of her fans were on her friend list and noticed the little red dot immediately.

Unfortunately, they clicked in with excitement and left with disappointment.That Chen Ran! Why didn’t she include a photo with her Moments post? Even if there’s no weather info in the image, you could still figure out the latitude of her location from the sunlight and shadows!

After putting down her phone and getting a good afternoon nap, Chen Ran was woken up by Tang Yang at six in the evening.

“Time to eat, time to eat.”

Still a bit groggy, Chen Ran followed Tang Yang to the main hall of the martial arts school. Around four large round tables, many people were seated.

“Let me introduce—this is the new cook at our martial arts school. Starting tomorrow, she’ll be making our meals.”

“Welcome…”

“Alright, let’s hurry and eat. After you’re done, go rest.”

Chen Ran had worked in many different kitchens, but this was the first time she’d ever seen such a miserable mealtime scene.

However, once she finally sat down, she understood why everyone looked so gloomy.

The ingredients weren’t bad per se, but the cooking method—now that was something else entirely!

To be honest, despite having worked in the culinary world for years, this was the first time Chen Ran had ever encountered a dish like boiled pork tenderloin.

Seeing the shock on her face, even Tang Yang looked a bit embarrassed.

“Ah, I just threw something together last minute… Just make do with it! Don’t worry, even though there aren’t many seasonings, that pig was grain-fed and freshly butchered this morning—there won’t be any weird smell!”

A young girl next to her, still trembling from whatever training they had done that afternoon, generously offered the chili powder on her plate: “If you really can’t get it down, try dipping it in this?”

Chen Ran politely declined. She couldn’t taste anything anyway, so it probably wouldn’t be that painful.

She picked up a piece of the tenderloin and started chewing.

Dry.

Even without the ability to taste, the toughness of that dry pork tenderloin made chewing a painful experience. How were those trainees with normal taste buds even managing to eat?

Just as Chen Ran was puzzling over that, she heard Tang Yang say, “Eat faster! What’s a martial artist doing caring so much about food? If you can’t eat it, it means you’re not hungry enough. More training tomorrow!”

After a round of sighs and groans, the entire bowl of boiled pork tenderloin was somehow polished off.

Ironically, it was Chen Ran—who couldn’t taste anything—who ate the least. She declined a second piece of pork and used the boiled broccoli on the side to help down half a bowl of rice.

The food was so healthy it actually made her a little uncomfortable.

After dinner, the same young girl who had shared the chili powder looked at her expectantly and asked, “Jiejie, did the teacher tell you the requirements for the meals?”

Chen Ran answered honestly, “She did. Less oil, less salt…”

The girl let out a wail of despair and wobbled back to the dormitory on shaky legs.

Soon after, a different kind of wailing echoed from the dormitory—it was the martial arts instructors helping the students with massage and stretching.

Curious, Chen Ran peeked in just in time to see Tang Yang coming out of the girls’ dormitory: “Wanna try?”

“No no no no, I’ll go check the kitchen and prep for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

With her black iron chef’s knife in hand, Chen Ran headed to inspect the kitchen.As the saying goes: “Scholars are poor, warriors are rich.”

Generally speaking, those who can afford to practice martial arts usually come from somewhat well-off families.

Naturally, those who run martial arts schools are no different.

This kitchen was fully equipped with all kinds of cooking tools. While there weren’t many types of seasonings, each one was of high quality.

Tang Yang had told her earlier that there was someone designated to deliver ingredients every morning.

While eating just now, she had observed closely—even though the food tasted terrible, almost flavorless, everyone still ate quite a lot.

She’d need to make more food tomorrow!

For breakfast, pocket flatbreads stuffed with vegetables were still the best option. Chen Ran pre-mixed the dough and refrigerated it to prevent over-proofing. Then she spent two hours preparing ingredients in advance before finally strolling back to the dorm to the sound of the trainees’ screams.

The martial arts school went to bed early and had morning lessons. Chen Ran set her alarm for 4:30 a.m., rising in the dark to begin cooking.

After what she’d seen during the last meal, she was deeply shocked. Today, she had to show Tang Yang that even with less oil and salt, it didn’t have to be something like boiled pork tenderloin!

It just so happened she had spent the last month learning under Old Freak Xu, and her understanding of seasoning had deepened.

Huaiyang cuisine emphasizes technique over heavy seasoning. Almost all dishes are mildly savory, light on oil. Once Chen Ran had thoroughly internalized these techniques, she could apply them even beyond traditional Huaiyang dishes.

For the breakfast protein, she chose chicken thighs. The thighs were skinned, deboned, and marinated overnight with just a bit of salt.

After removing the skin, chicken thighs are relatively low in calories, though they still have a thin layer of fat. At this point, she placed them in a pan without any oil. During pan-searing, not only would the chicken absorb more flavor, but its own fat would be rendered out.

But if she stopped there, the chicken thighs would still be rather bland. Luckily, the ancestors didn’t just rely on heavy sauces—our great culture also has ways of adding aroma without increasing calories!

Chen Ran strained to lift a large pot and placed it outside the kitchen.

The trainees were starting to wake up and looked curiously at what she was doing as they passed by.

Tang Yang, while urging the trainees along, also stopped with curiosity.

With so much space in the kitchen, why was she putting the pot outside? She watched as Chen Ran poured sugar into the pot and quickly reached out to stop her: “You can’t use sugar!”

A wave of disappointed sighs came from the trainees.

“No caramelizing with sugar either!”

Tang Yang thought Chen Ran was about to make braised dishes and quickly tried to stop her: “If it really can’t be helped, you could use some light soy sauce with low sodium…”

“Don’t worry—this sugar isn’t going into the food!”

Chen Ran reassured her and took out a giant steaming rack, placed it over the pot of white sugar, and carefully arranged the chicken thighs on top.

Before adding the sugar, she had already preheated the pot. If it weren’t for the calluses she’d developed over years of cooking, it would have been hard to place the chicken thighs properly.

Soon, the sugar burned and sent up a thick plume of bitter smoke that filled the entire courtyard.

She wasn’t caramelizing the sugar—she was smoking the chicken!

However, as Chen Ran continued her work, the hearts of the watching trainees grew colder.

They had thought the new cook might bring better meals, but with smoke billowing like that, could it really taste good?

Thankfully, the thick smoke didn’t last long. Chen Ran monitored the wind direction and smoked the chicken at the downwind edge for just five minutes before putting out the fire and going back inside to slice vegetables and cook the flatbreads.Soon, just as the students finished their morning classes and were getting ready to eat, Chen Ran had already finished preparing the pocket flatbreads and their fillings. She took the smoked chicken thighs out of the pot and stuffed them one by one into each pocket.

Tang Yang took one first.

Considering the appetite of the martial arts school students, these pocket flatbreads were made larger this time—holding one in hand was almost like holding a giant burger.

She tentatively took a bite.

That first bite was just as delicious as a burger!

Moreover, upon savoring it, the saltiness level was exactly what she preferred. The flatbread wasn’t salty at all—in fact, it could even be considered a bit bland. Yet, despite the blandness, the flavor was incredibly rich!

The chicken thigh meat was exceptionally tender and carried a smoky aroma. This smokiness perfectly compensated for the slightly light flavor of the chicken, giving the taste buds an entirely new experience.

Additionally, the pan-fried chicken thigh had rendered out its bit of fat, making the whole piece extremely low in calories while achieving the texture and flavor of smoked bacon.

It wasn’t just the smokiness… there were other flavors Tang Yang couldn’t quite identify. All she knew was—it was delicious!

She asked Chen Ran cautiously, “You didn’t put any sauces you weren’t supposed to, right?”

“Nope! Don’t worry!”

Although today’s healthy diet promotes low oil and low salt, throughout history, common folk haven’t always had access to sufficient salt.

As a result, some ethnic groups used spiciness to replace saltiness, and some regions used sourness as a substitute.

That’s just how skilled our people are at using native resources to shape this splendid landscape of ours.

And Chen Ran’s pocket flatbread cleverly used sour, spicy, and smoky flavors—different layers of taste that made up for the lack of salt.

At the same time, the chicken thigh used as the main ingredient was pan-fried, so the minimal fat attached to its surface was maximized to provide flavor satisfaction.

“The slight sourness comes from the yogurt I fermented last night. The spicy taste is from sweet peppers. To better match the smoked flavor of the chicken, I pan-fried the peppers without oil as well.”

Tang Yang, still a bit hesitant, took another bite of the flatbread.

This time, with the hint, she could taste exactly what Chen Ran had mentioned!

The slight tangy and creamy flavor, similar to salad dressing, came from the yogurt.

There was also the mild spiciness of sweet peppers, and the smoky flavor—several layers of taste combined to create a perfect Chinese-style burger.

And none of the ingredients—be it the sauce, the vegetables, or even the skinless chicken thigh—had excessive calories. Sweet peppers were even one of the vegetables with the highest vitamin content.

“Alright, let’s eat! It’s pretty tasty, so eat up—still got horse stance training later this morning.”

However, most students didn’t particularly trust Tang Yang’s sense of taste.

After all, someone who once made “boiled pork tenderloin chunks” was bound to have questionable taste.

The girl who had tried to give Chen Ran chili powder yesterday stepped forward, cautiously picked up a pocket flatbread, and hesitantly took a bite.

That hesitation quickly turned into big, hearty mouthfuls! She hadn’t even finished the first one before reaching out to grab a second!

“So good!”

“This really tastes like a burger…”

“Wait—are you grabbing a third one?”The proud expression on Chen Ran’s face instantly melted away as she hurried over to maintain order: “Two is enough! Two per person!”

After all, each pocket flatbread was stuffed with a whole chicken thigh!

By her calculations, two per person were more than enough to provide the needed calories.

Her own appetite wasn’t small either, but even she could only manage one of these large flatbreads.

“Two isn’t enough!”

“Give me another one! If not with meat, at least give me one without meat!”

“I feel like I haven’t eaten anything flavorful in a month—if I explode from overeating, it’s still worth it!”

Some memories from the kindergarten came flooding back to Chen Ran.

No matter how much food was made, the plates always came back spotless!

Looks like lunch would need to be upsized again.

“What are you doing? Don’t pick it up if it fell on the floor!”

“No dipping sauce with your fingers! And you—what are you doing? Stop eating with your mouth open!”

One short student was eating slowly—holding one pocket flatbread in hand while raising the other high in the air with the other hand.

Unexpectedly, while he was busy guarding the one he was eating, someone took a huge bite out of the one he was holding up!

After a chaotic mess of shouting and scrambling, Tang Yang dragged several people out for punishment and reminded Chen Ran before leaving, “Chef Chen, make more food for lunch!”

Still a little shaken, Chen Ran nodded.

She had seen customers rush food counters before, but the level of intensity from these martial arts students snatching food was a bit beyond her imagination.

How was someone even jumping over others’ heads?!

For lunch, she temporarily added two more dishes and a pot of rice—but even that was completely devoured by the students.

After two meals, Tang Yang was already very confident in Chen Ran’s cooking. What she wasn’t confident about now was the students’ seemingly elastic appetites.

The contrast was just too stark!

Back when she made boiled chicken breast, people still left some even with one piece each. But now? Chen Ran’s tomato-braised beef at lunch—two whole pots—still weren’t enough?

“We need to set a meal limit!”

“Agreed, we can’t let this bunch eat endlessly,” another instructor said, drenched in sweat. “Just during the stances this afternoon, after two moves, one kid already vomited all over the floor…”

Tang Yang was furious: “Who ate until they puked? I didn’t even eat enough at lunch and they’re out here wasting food?”

Was waste really the issue here?

Another instructor cleared his throat, and only then did Tang Yang realize: “Oh… right. Yeah, we really should set meal limits. Eating too much isn’t good for the stomach anyway.”

While the martial arts school instructors were busy drafting meal portion rules, Chen Ran—hard at work in the kitchen—finally heard a “ding” sound she hadn’t heard in days.

She couldn’t help but pause and tease the system.

“You finally showed up—I thought you crashed.”The few signature dishes Chen Ran had recently learned were all Huaiyang cuisine taught by Old Freak Xu. It had been a long time since she’d seen a recipe from the system.

Even for this mission location, the system didn’t provide any additional skill prompts.

Chen Ran opened the system interface to check the current system task.

[Adjusting recipes according to diners’ needs is a skill every chef must master]

[Mission Requirement: Improve upon the clear-braised pork knuckle dish to create a spiced beef brisket dish that meets the martial arts school's requirements]

[Mission Reward: Skill enhancement clue]

Chen Ran was slightly disappointed.

She had thought she could continue upgrading her skills at this martial arts school, but it turned out to be just a stopover.

Still, the system task had to be done, and this one did offer a hint.

Low oil, low salt—wasn’t that exactly the recipe style of the clear-braised pork knuckle?

Not only was it low oil, low salt, and light on seasoning, but even the types of spices used in the pork knuckle dish were few. Most of the aroma came from fresh vegetables.

From that angle, it might really be possible to make a spiced beef dish that’s also low in oil and salt!

Lunch had just ended, and there was still time before dinner, so Chen Ran began thinking about the ingredient ratios for the spiced beef.

Spicing, or “lu,” is a unique and widely used method in Chinese cuisine.

Chen Ran had some experience with spiced dishes. Back when she worked at the Qiaotou police station’s food truck, she had spiced pork knuckles and various vegetables for flatbread fillings.

The key to spiced dishes is actually the use of salt.

Most recipes list various spices on the surface, but the real secret lies in mastering the amount of salt.

Salt is considered the ancestor of all flavors, and in spice-heavy dishes that emphasize taste, this holds even more true.

In fact, the task the system gave Chen Ran might be the most difficult one yet.

But that didn’t mean there were no clues to follow.

Following the logic of the clear-braised pork knuckle, Chen Ran began searching the kitchen for vegetables that paired well with beef.

Onions, celery, various radishes, green peppers, and chili peppers—all were ingredients commonly paired with beef.

Next came testing.

Seasoning couldn’t be imagined out of thin air, especially now that Chen Ran had no sense of taste. Her ability to imagine flavors was like a castle in the air—completely ungrounded.

She first made a pot of beef broth, then used the broth to boil different combinations of vegetables.

Fortunately, even without taste, she still had the system’s identification function.

Each time she scooped out a serving of beef broth, the system's identification skill would display a line of evaluation.

“Beef and radish soup with an overly strong radish flavor.”

“Beef, radish, and onion soup with a just-right flavor.”

Chen Ran shook her head.She had already developed some understanding of the system’s identification skill, and these results clearly indicated that the proportions were still off.

If the vegetable ratio merely served to complement the beef flavor, then the final identification result should have been something like “beef soup” or “vegetable beef soup.”

The problem lay in the amount of radish—right now, the radish was overpowering the main flavor.

She tried using less radish, but it still wasn’t right.

After pacing around the kitchen a few times in frustration, Chen Ran finally remembered that before she left, Grandpa Xu had given her some ancient recipes!

She had read half of the book A Brief Treatise on Vegetarian Cuisine, which mentioned a palace-style vegetarian broth recipe: shred carrots and white radish in a 3:7 ratio, then sauté them in sesame oil until soft.

That’s it!

She had previously tried the two types of radish separately again and again, but had never thought to combine them.

Chen Ran quickly adjusted the vegetable ratio once more. In addition to onion and celery, she used carrots and white radish in a 3:7 ratio.

This time, even before she ladled it out to check the system’s identification, she already knew she got it right!

“So fragrant…”

Previously, the vegetable aromas were always distinct and a bit sharp. But this time, with just a slight adjustment in the ratios, the vegetables seemed to meld together into a single harmonious sweetness, releasing a soft and subtle fragrance.

And under this layer of delicate sweetness, the aroma of the beef broth became especially tantalizing.

Chen Ran scooped out a bowl of soup and placed it on the stovetop.

As the white steam slowly dispersed, the bowl of clear beef broth sat quietly on the counter, gently releasing its fragrance. Above the bowl, a line of text appeared:

“A perfect bowl of beef soup.”

From what Chen Ran knew about the identification system, the fewer the adjectives, the better the flavor.

She felt at ease. Now she could use this ratio to make the spiced beef!

Early the next morning, Chen Ran took out the beef that had already been massaged and marinated from the fridge, and gently lowered it into the pre-prepared spice broth.

Since salt had to be reduced, the spices in the spiced beef would also need to be cut down accordingly.

Traditional spiced meat recipes relied heavily on strong spices. Even if she avoided soy-based braising and used five-spice instead, if the saltiness wasn’t enough, then the other spice flavors would also need to be toned down.

And those missing flavors—she would have to make up for them with the natural fragrance of vegetables.

As the spiced broth in the pot gradually came to a boil, the martial arts school’s students also began waking up and starting their morning exercises.

Tang’s Martial Arts School was considered one of the more well-known schools. Tang Yang was an orthodox heir of Tang-style Taiji, and his cannon fist technique was exceptionally refined.

However, with martial arts in decline these days, several other schools coexisted within the martial arts hall. Each teacher instructed their own students, scattered across the courtyard doing strength and flexibility training.

Their techniques differed, but what they had in common was that they were all training on empty stomachs, with the aroma from the kitchen drifting over.

At first, it was fine—the mingled scent of various vegetables, while pleasant, wasn’t particularly mouthwatering.

After all, it was just vegetables.

But slowly, at some point, the vegetable fragrance faded away.

Yet the appetites that had been gently stirred awake by that clean, sweet aroma of vegetables were now fully alert.The awakened appetite became even more sensitive and instantly caught the faint beef aroma lingering in the air.

Yes, it was a light beef aroma.

Normally, the smell of beef is rich—whether it's braised or spiced, even the lightest preparation can’t erase that deep, robust flavor.

But this beef scent drifting through the air was unmistakably light.

The vegetable aromas from earlier had all vanished, seemingly blended seamlessly into the underlying flavor of the beef, subtly mellowing the richness.

In the cold and brisk morning air of the northern region, such a delicate fragrance shouldn’t have been so noticeable—yet every student in the courtyard was subconsciously drawn to it.

And it wasn’t just the martial arts school…

Outside the school was a bustling food street. In the early morning, vendors shouted as they sold steamed buns and mantou, the griddles for pancakes steaming with heat.

Even though the fragrance was light, it insisted on invading everyone’s nose in a way that was impossible to ignore.

Even Tang Yang couldn’t continue training. She strode into the kitchen, lifted the heavy curtain with one hand, and said, “What are you making? Smells amazing!”

Chen Ran was also taking in the aroma, standing in front of the big pot with her arms crossed.

Seeing Tang Yang walk in, she smiled and said, “Spiced beef. Well? Smells good, right?”

Spiced beef?

Tang Yang was a bit surprised.

Normally, something like spiced beef, while not overly greasy, would definitely be high in salt content.

However, after eating Chen Ran’s cooking all day yesterday, she had already learned to trust this young yet remarkable chef.

“Is it done?”

Chen Ran didn’t check the time—instead, she took a deep breath, sensing the fragrance of the beef.

“It’s done.”

She lifted the lid. With a scoop of the skimmer, large chunks of beef were fished out!

The broth was clear, with no sign of soy sauce.

Tang Yang was relieved, but then puzzled again.

No matter how the beef was cooked, the scent when the lid was lifted should have been stronger and more intense. But why did this beef still smell so light and refreshing?

“Want to try?”

Chen Ran carefully tore off a piece from a beef shank, placed it in a small bowl, and handed it to Tang Yang with a pair of chopsticks.

Tang Yang blew on it and took a small bite cautiously.

Tender.

The beef was unexpectedly tender, but not in the way meat treated with baking soda or tenderizers felt—it was soft yet retained a slight chewiness.

Then came the rich flavor!

When she first bit into it, Tang Yang was still slightly doubtful.Beef this tender—was it really spiced beef? Maybe calling it clear-broiled beef would be more fitting?

But as soon as she started chewing, all her doubts completely vanished.

That single bite was packed with rich beef flavor!

The milder the aroma smelled, the more intense the flavor inside!

Everyone who took a bite of this spiced beef couldn’t help but think—so that’s why the scent was so subtle just now: the intensely rich beef flavor had been completely sealed within the meat itself.

Because of the reduced salt content, the beef didn’t have the typical dry and tough texture of traditional spiced beef. Instead, it was more tender.

Tenderness meant the meat retained more of its juices. But after all, this was spiced meat, so the juiciness was not quite the same as stewed beef. It just added a subtle enhancement to the texture.

With one bite, the juicy richness burst out, combined with the springy beef fibers, so much so that one couldn’t even register how salty or bland the meat was.

It was the flavor of the beef itself that truly captivated!

“This is amazing! This is what beef is supposed to be! The pure taste of real food…”

Tang Yang was just about to describe how she felt, but suddenly found herself at a loss for words. She could only take another bite—and this time, she didn’t even bother trying to speak.

The pot of spiced beef was now fully open. From Tang Yang’s angle, she could see a variety of vegetables inside. When the pot had just started boiling earlier, she had smelled the fragrance of those vegetables.

But now, while eating, she couldn’t taste them at all!

The initial sweet vegetable aroma had completely melded in. That slight sweetness perfectly complemented the beef’s flavor, subtly making up for the reduced saltiness.

“All right, let it cool before eating more. It’ll taste even better then.”

Chen Ran took the beef out of the pot and laid it flat on an iron tray, quietly waiting for it to cool.

In the haunted house, during Old Freak Xu’s lessons, she had learned the concept of “flavor revealed through subtlety.” But only now, after creating this spiced beef herself, did she truly understand what those words meant.

The beef on the tray now gave off almost no aroma—but only Tang Yang, standing nearby, knew: this seemingly unscented beef had locked in all the flavor deep within the meat!

The system popped up with a task completion message.

【Congratulations to the host for completing the mission! Please name the new recipe!】

Thinking back on the past month of training, and that twisted expression on Old Freak Xu’s face, Chen Ran smiled.

“Let’s call it Ghostface Beef.”