Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Why Have All These College Students Gained Weight…

Two small leaders of the pyramid scheme organization encouraged each other, relying on visions of future wealth. After half an hour, they finally carried all the potatoes, cabbage, and eggplants upstairs.

Chen Ran stood leaning against the door with her arms crossed, sighing.

Again with these few plain vegetables?

“Still potatoes and eggplants?”

Fang Zhe smiled: “We’re all family, struggling together—just need to eat enough…”

However, the smile he forced out was a bit strained.

Even with just potatoes and eggplants, these vegetables had almost wiped out his remaining balance.

After all, it was winter, and even the cheapest vegetables were still somewhat expensive.

Besides, potatoes and eggplants are quite filling. If he bought some meat too, it would be like eating back before liberation!

Chen Ran curled her lips: “Then at least buy some eggs? Also need another bottle of soybean oil, right? Without some oil, they’ll eat even more.”

“We bought eggs, but used less. If needed, we can dilute with water! Also got a bottle of soybean oil… that should be enough, right? I also bought quite a bit of green onions!”

He smiled apologetically, put the eggs in the fridge, and cautiously asked Chen Ran, “Thanks for your hard work. Should we make the food saltier?”

Chen Ran glanced at him, tossed her black iron kitchen knife up, twirled it once, and slammed it heavily onto the cutting board.

“No, no! I’m joking! I love your cooking!”

Fang Zhe waved his hands quickly.

He immediately left the kitchen, handing it back to Chen Ran.

Just now, what he was really afraid of wasn’t Chen Ran’s kitchen knife, but that suddenly several trainees might burst out from the room!

Chen Ran snorted coldly on one side, and someone immediately came out to look. If his voice was any louder, it felt like the trainees would rush over to attack!

Fang Zhe sighed deeply.

He had stayed at several pyramid scheme dens before, each with a few teachers managing a large group of trainees. But with brainwashing and competition, the trainees were not very united, so management was easier.

But inexplicably, this batch of college students had somehow become like a tight rope!

Liu Chenyang came over and asked him, “Why the sigh? I think our ‘remembering the bitterness and cherishing the sweetness’ session is almost done. If not, should we start conquering them in batches?”

“Start with Xiaomi?”

“Okay!”

Mi Chengzhi had been cooperating more actively these days. Liu Chenyang and Fang Zhe called him out and earnestly persuaded him.

“In this era, it’s really hard for ordinary people to succeed—you either are born lucky, or you find a big platform.”

“We weren’t born lucky, or we wouldn’t be here. But since we’ve found such a good platform, now is when your family should support you!”

“Bring your dad and mom here, and you become a pioneer trainee. Bring one more to make three, and you become a group leader! If you can bring six, you can be like Teacher Fang, leading your own team!”

“Think about it! This is a bright future in front of you, and all you need to do is make a simple phone call!”Liu Chenyang encouraged with a smile, placing the opened phone in front of Mi Chengzhi.

He had practiced that encouraging smile more than ten times in front of the mirror. He believed that under his encouragement, Mi Chengzhi would take this step!

At the same time, in the kitchen on the other side, Chen Ran also began cooking.

Since there was no way to change the ingredients, she decided to refine the cooking techniques!

Today, she would first improve the purely vegetarian eggplant pocket.

Although the trainees already praised this dish as extremely delicious, Chen Ran always felt there was room for improvement.

She had lost her sense of taste, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t sample the dishes. She couldn’t taste the flavors, but she could still perceive subtle differences in texture.

Master Xu once told Chen Ran that the creation of a dish emphasized “harmony in difference.”

She asked Master Xu at the time, “Grandpa Xu, is the key in ‘harmony in difference’ really the ‘difference’?”

What was Master Xu’s answer then?

It was “harmony”!

Back then, Chen Ran didn’t feel it as strongly, since she was listening to the lesson without any sense of taste.

No matter how clearly Master Xu explained, for someone who couldn’t taste, this knowledge still wasn’t vivid enough in the mind.

He felt sorry for Chen Ran and worried that losing her sense of taste was too hard for her, so he deliberately kept the explanation brief and moved on.

Demanding a chef who lost their sense of taste to repeatedly recall flavors is a terrible torture.

Chen Ran initially felt the same and even gave up imagining flavors.

Until she made the Dinghu vegetarian dish.

The evaluation from the system was the greatest encouragement she had received in many days.

The flavors she imagined without taste surpassed even the original creator!

After that, Chen Ran slowly began tasting dishes again.

Yes, her tongue couldn’t feel flavors, but she could still sense texture! And based on texture, she could imagine the flavor!

Like with the vegetarian eggplant pocket she created herself, she could feel the softness of the potatoes sliding on her taste buds and imagine the meaty flavor woven by shiitake mushrooms, caramelized sugar, and soy sauce.

Harmony in difference…

The most important part of this phrase is not “difference,” but “harmony”!

When Master Xu taught her this phrase, he was making three kinds of duck.

Domestic duck, wild duck, and pigeon—although these three ingredients didn’t taste exactly the same, their commonality was obvious, which allowed the dish to become a famous “harmony in difference” specialty.

The key is harmony!

After two days of effort, the vegetarian eggplant pocket was very popular among the trainees, but the system still hadn’t named the dish for her.

Chen Ran knew this meant that, at least by the system’s standards, the dish couldn’t be served at the table.

She was merely mechanically using potatoes to simulate the taste of meat, trying to create an eggplant pocket. But the soft, stewed meat-flavored potatoes and the eggplant had only “difference,” without “harmony”!Chen Ran stopped washing the shiitake mushrooms.

She needed to change her way of thinking!

Taking a deep breath, she quickly cut the peeled potatoes into thick slices and steamed them!

With excellent control over heat and a deep understanding of ingredients, she managed to cook the potatoes just enough so that they hadn’t become too soft.

She casually pressed them a few times with a spoon, added some salt, and the sandy, slightly granular mashed potatoes were exactly the consistency she wanted.

Now, heat the oil!

No caramelized sugar, no red-braised shiitake mushrooms, just simply stir-fry the mashed potatoes!

Under Chen Ran's skillful stir-frying, each grain of mashed potato became crisp and golden.

Though she added a little chopped scallion just before finishing, this potato dish was simply the purest form of deliciousness.

The best flavors are never just about meat!

The sandy, granular mashed potatoes, with a hint of crispness, were wrapped inside eggplant that was also lightly fried to a crispy exterior. Not only was the flavor “harmonious,” but the texture also embodied a high degree of “harmony in difference!”

Though there was “difference,” the flavors blended seamlessly!

Chen Ran took a gentle taste...

She still couldn’t taste the flavor, but the flavor she imagined seemed to dance on her tongue.

Eggplant and potatoes—two of the simplest ingredients in an ordinary family—created the purest of flavors.

Together, these flavors embodied the essence of simple life!

She sighed in relief, a slight smile on her face. Looking down, the system’s message appeared above the plate of eggplant pockets she had just fried.

"A dish that is visually appealing, fragrant, and full of flavor, with a high degree of completion—a vegetarian fried eggplant pocket."

【Random mission complete, congratulations to the host for creating a new recipe: Vegetarian Fried Eggplant Pocket (S-tier).】

Perhaps afraid Chen Ran would criticize the dish's name, the system hurriedly added a comment.

【Exquisite taste is never just about meat. Congratulations, host, for breaking free from your limitations!】

Although the Dinghu vegetarian dish had truly brought Chen Ran to a new level, that table of vegetarian dishes mimicking meat had also placed her in a dilemma.

It made her feel as though only vegetarian dishes that resemble meat are the best tasting.

But that’s not true!

Just like the aroma wafting through the kitchen now—there's no meat flavor, but it's still captivating!

Mi Chengzhi, who was about to make a phone call, also smelled the fragrance. He instinctively flared his nostrils.

"Smells so good..."

It really did smell good. There was a hint of fried potato aroma, along with the scent of fried eggplant.

It was clearly the aroma of the potatoes themselves, without any noticeable seasoning, but no one could resist this smell! When a top-level chef stops obsessing over seasoning and instead uses near-perfect fundamentals to highlight the flavor of the ingredients themselves, the result is this almost perfect effect.

If one were to carefully identify the scent, it was the fragrance of the potatoes being fried in oil, but it was still irresistible!The heat needs to be just right; if it’s too low, it loses the smoky flavor; if it’s too high, it will burn immediately!

It wasn’t just Mi Chengzhi who was drooling; even Liu Chenyang on the other side swallowed involuntarily.

He had just eaten at a seafood street stall yesterday! How could he be salivating over just the scent of potatoes?

"This potato just smells good no matter how it’s cooked... Haha..."

Liu Chenyang awkwardly tried to ease the situation while urging Mi Chengzhi, "Hurry up and make the call!"

After being swayed by Liu Chenyang and Fang Zhe, Mi Chengzhi was indeed a bit unsure.

After all, these people who work in sales have decent speaking skills. They’ve specifically learned persuasive tactics, and with a two-on-one situation in a small room like this, it’s hard for many to resist.

But! This hint of fragrance brought Mi Chengzhi back to his senses!

Wait a bit more; he hadn’t eaten enough yet!

It’s already hard enough to get food at this point. If he calls his parents, he could almost imagine the scene.

His dad asks for an eggplant pocket; would he not give it?

His mom, looking at his bowl of food with a little desire in her eyes; could he refuse?

Mi Chengzhi lowered his eyes, picked up his phone, but cleverly made a trick.

His dad has two phone numbers, but the phone isn’t dual-SIM. Mi Chengzhi dialed the less frequently used number.

He called three times in a row, but it was switched off.

"Ah, my dad is probably out for a run. I’ll call him later."

Liu Chenyang and Fang Zhe looked worried, but when the student called, they could hear that it was indeed switched off. There was nothing they could do.

Besides, both of them were like Mi Chengzhi now, their minds not on business, but on the kitchen!

This chef really had something special—how could potatoes smell this good?

Just by smelling it, they could already imagine the golden, crispy texture of the fried potatoes...

"Forget it, next time. Let’s eat first!"

Fang Zhe looked at how fast Liu Chenyang was heading out the door, almost faster than Mi Chengzhi!

He weakly extended his hand...

At the rate these students eat, if he didn’t place an order soon, he’d need to borrow money to buy ingredients!

"Wow, it smells that good?"

A single compliment snapped Fang Zhe out of his thoughts. He quickly stood up and rushed toward the food line.

The money he spent! Even if he was disappointed, he had to eat and make it worth it first!

I have to say, food really does have a magical healing power.

In this somewhat rundown, unheated sales hub, taking a bite of warm carbs felt like warmth spreading from the chest.

The crab soup mixed with steaming rice, fresh and delicious, he gobbled down a big mouthful.Then, taking a light bite of the vegetarian fried eggplant pocket...

Chen Ran had no sense of taste, so she could only imagine the flavor through texture. But for those with a fully functional sense of taste, this vegetarian fried eggplant pocket was simply perfect!

It was the gift from Mother Earth!

The golden, crispy fried potato mash, with a granular texture, embodied the purest form of delicious simplicity!

And simplicity is definitely not the same as being crude.

This flavor felt like visiting grandparents during the holidays, being stuffed with snacks and pocket money, and having to take away the dish that was eaten the most from the table.

Perhaps the things grandparents give aren’t fashionable, but this simplicity, no matter how many years later you remember it, will always warm your heart!

Potatoes are just that kind of ingredient.

Its flavor is simple, but it’s absolutely impossible to say it’s not fragrant! Although it’s just carbohydrates, it’s definitely impossible to say it’s not filling!

This fragrance might not be associated with luxury, but it is definitely the most heartwarming kind of taste.

The oil-fried cooking method also gives this heartfelt, simple flavor a touch of lightness. A bite of this crispy eggplant with potato filling, no one would think this is just a vegetarian dish, just an ordinary potato or eggplant.

Everyone would only think: it's delicious!

This flavor is bright, even a little sharp, and as it dances on your tongue, it feels like it brightens even this narrow, cold sales hub.

Even Fang Zhe went for a second helping!

“That previous eggplant pocket was really delicious... but I didn’t expect this to be even better?”

However, the direct consequence of describing it as delicious was that, in the next two days, the food was consumed even faster.

Chen Ran had finally created a new recipe, and in a sales hub like this, naturally, she made as much as everyone could eat.

But the reverse was also true: the more she made, the more they would eat!

In this situation, no one was willing to recruit anyone else.

Fang Zhe was about to collapse. A week had passed, and he hadn’t closed a single deal!

Meanwhile, the potatoes and cabbage were almost gone...

The two teachers sighed in the small room.

“If this really doesn’t work, should we hire a couple more people?”

Liu Chenyang thought for a while, then said, “I still feel like something’s wrong. These college students are no good. They can only eat, and each one eats more than pigs! They’ve never gone through the hardships of society and aren’t motivated to earn money at all…”

“And these students are getting along way too well! I’ve noticed, for the past few days, they’ve been voluntarily washing pots and dishes…”

The two sighed again.

“I noticed Zheng Ergang has also gone to wash the dishes recently. This is a sales hub! Why is everyone starting to follow ‘Five Virtues, Four Beauties, and Three Loves’ now?”

Zheng Ergang was a fake student, a plant! If this continues, he would be assimilated into a college student!

Liu Chenyang slapped his thigh and made a decision: “This can’t go on! We need to recruit a few real working people!”

College students really only know how to eat. This can’t work!In mid-December, the temperature in Pingshan City had already dropped significantly. However, due to the outside Wulin vegetable-snatching event, the foot traffic on the streets was noticeably higher than in previous years.

Such a large-scale Wulin event was enough to boost the tourism of an entire city.

After all, this vegetable-snatching event had very few alternatives!

And for some people, the martial arts world still holds an irreplaceable sentiment in their hearts.

The Tang Martial Arts School was truly bustling now! Even the parents of Zhu Kuangkuang, who had been hesitant before, had actively sent her over.

Anyone who had watched the live-streamed clips would no longer doubt Tang Yang's martial arts skills.

This female martial arts master actively wanted to teach Zhu Kuangkuang and promised not to let her academic studies fall behind, saying that in the future, she could even attend a sports-focused university with her martial arts skills.

Tang Yang's promising future had reassured Zhu Kuangkuang's parents, who had sent their daughter over and officially held a master-disciple ceremony.

At the master-disciple ceremony, people were reminiscing about the glorious scene of the vegetable-snatching event.

“Haha, now we don’t have to fight for the vegetables anymore. It just doesn’t seem as fragrant as it did back then.”

Zhu Chencheng, who attended university locally, had to come to her younger sister’s master-disciple ceremony. She hit the nail on the head:

“Even if we had to fight for it now, the vegetables wouldn’t be as fragrant as back then. If everyone cooked like Chef Chen, why would so many people be chasing her around?”

It had been a week since the vegetable-snatching event ended, and Chef Chen had also been gone for a week. There were still many people in Pingshan City looking for her!

“Sigh, I wonder where Chef Chen is now and what kind of dish she’s making…”

The group from the Lion’s Head had already become very familiar with each other. Even Mrs. Wang, who had been a bit hesitant before, had returned specially to attend the ceremony and had even given a big red envelope.

Looking at Zhu Chencheng as she glanced in her direction, Mrs. Wang amusingly raised both hands in a surrendering gesture: “I really don’t know. Chef Chen hasn’t made a peep lately, not even posting on her social media.”

At that moment, Tang Yang arrived with Zhu Kuangkuang to offer a toast to this table. Of course, Zhu Kuangkuang was drinking orange juice.

“Don’t worry, I’ve taught Chen Ran a few tricks. If she ever runs into any bad people, she’ll be able to run away without a problem.”

However, even Tang Yang probably couldn’t have guessed that this time, Chen Ran didn’t run away. Instead, she had been taken by the system's monster directly to a pyramid scheme hub to complete a mission!

She laughed and toasted all around: “Come on, let’s have a drink!”

Wang Zhaoshan hurriedly put down his phone and solemnly raised his glass, drinking it all in one go.

Since Tang Yang had corrected his posture in the Vajra skill and stance, he had felt much lighter, which was a great kindness!

As for finding Chen Ran through videos, it didn’t matter if it took a day or two more. He had finished the hair growth kit at the salon he ran, so he could take his time watching videos when he got home.

Thinking of this, he turned to He Xin and asked, “Hey, do you think I’m starting to grow some little hairs on my forehead?”

He Xin gave him an irritated look: “It’s only been a few days, do you think your hair grows as fast as a beard? Don’t ask me, you’ve asked me this like a million times. I can’t tell!”

She flipped through her phone and showed Wang Zhaoshan a video from a YouTuber called “Anti-fraud Da Yong,” who exposed scams: “Look at this YouTuber’s series on fraud scams. Most hair growth secrets don’t work. If you’re that worried, you should just go for a hair transplant.”

Wang Zhaoshan wouldn’t admit it, but he secretly followed the YouTuber recommended by He Xin.

In the message list he didn’t see, the backend of the YouTuber automatically sent him a message.

“This month, Anti-fraud Da Yong will take you on a journey to explore the legendary black-market pyramid scheme hubs. Stay tuned for the live streams in the fan group!”

In a week, Wang Zhaoshan might cry over missing this message. But right now, he didn’t even glance at it and continued eating and drinking.And at this moment, Anti-fraud Da Yong was noticed by Liu Chenyang.

These black-market pyramid scheme hubs were skilled at luring people in, and the talent market was the best place to recruit.

And Anti-fraud Da Yong seemed like the perfect target.

This person was gripping a large bag in front of him, occasionally reaching up to touch the chest area of his down jacket, looking alert but not overly cautious, scanning the advertisements. Upon seeing the low wages in the ads, he displayed a look of disdain…

Liu Chenyang and Fang Zhe were overjoyed!

This was the perfect little lamb!

He had some money in his pocket, was out looking for a job, but had little patience for ordinary work, constantly thinking about getting rich quickly through some big project.

Turn him around! This was their best breakthrough point!

Moreover, under the guidance of such a clueless fool, those college students would likely quickly shift their focus to making money, rather than just stuffing themselves with potatoes and eggplants every day!

Little did they know, they had set their sights on Anti-fraud Da Yong, and Anti-fraud Da Yong had set his sights on these two.

“Are these the ones who were tipped off about running a pyramid scheme?”

“Yeah, I heard they’ve recruited a bunch of college students... they’re under Lou Dongcheng’s subordinates.”

“They’re still so proud of themselves. Lou Dongcheng already sold several of his underlings to northern Myanmar… Alright, I’ll try to follow them, you guys find a good spot to film.”

“Alright, Brother Yong, take care of yourself. I heard the northern-style pyramid schemes are pretty violent.”

“It’s fine, the worst they’ll do is make me eat potatoes and cabbage every day in class. With my weight, it’s actually perfect for a diet!”

Anti-fraud Da Yong had been eyeing this pyramid scheme hub for some time. A few days ago, he had seen these two people buying a bunch of cabbage and potatoes to take back.

He sighed, pinched the fat on his waist, and mourned for a moment.

“Alright, everyone get ready, I’m going in! This time, we’re not just taking down this hub, we’re also capturing that Lou Dongcheng and his cronies!”

“Alright, Brother Yong, go ahead, it’s tough on you. When you come back, we’ll have a feast waiting for you!”

Anti-fraud Da Yong sighed, but his acting was becoming more and more refined.

Finally, Liu Chenyang came over!

“Hey, bro, you seem to have a good aura. I’ve got a big project, want to hear more?”

After some back-and-forth, Anti-fraud Da Yong finally got into the car with Liu Chenyang and Fang Zhe, being driven straight to the pyramid scheme hub.

He had prepared himself to see a room full of poor college students, but this was a bit beyond his expectations.

Wait… why were these twenty-something college students all sporting chubby faces that were round and flushed?