Chapter 68

(Seeking recommendations, seeking Three Rivers votes)

With the joint effort of the Goose Head's Jianji Dapandang and Turkey's Xianghe Dapandang, the burst-sauce urination beef balls were being prepared intensively for their launch to the public. None of the brothers were idle, all joining in the grand opening ceremony planned by Stephen Chow.

However, none of this had anything to do with Luo Tai. Over the past few days, Luo Tai had been frantically learning how to prepare the soup for marinating the minced beef and the seasoning for stir-frying the shrimp jelly.

The task required Luo Tai to make the most delicious urination beef balls within seven days, which was no easy feat.

If Luo Tai had drawn level 8 culinary skills at the beginning, perhaps he wouldn't need Stephen Chow's help and could complete the task on his own. However, Luo Tai had only drawn a monk's robe, which was of no help to him in making urination beef balls.

Although the system rewarded Luo Tai with over a hundred points of merit for successfully helping Stephen Chow make the most delicious urination beef balls and facilitating the alliance between Turkey and Goose Head, these points, combined with his remaining merit points, were still not enough for him to participate in another draw. This made Luo Tai give up on the idea of obtaining culinary skills from the system.

Since there was no other way, Luo Tai had to learn Stephen Chow's culinary skills with all his might to complete the task.

Fortunately, he didn't need to become a top chef. According to the system's requirements, as long as Luo Tai could make the best urination beef balls, the task would be considered complete. Luo Tai was clearly far ahead in the process of hammering the minced beef and cutting the urination shrimp. Now, he needed to master the preparation of the secret soup and the stir-frying of the shrimp jelly.

For three consecutive days, Luo Tai basically ate and slept in the kitchen, never leaving. He didn't know how many batches of the secret soup he had made. Even Turkey and Goose Head, after tasting Luo Tai's urination beef balls, said they were almost indistinguishable from Stephen Chow's. Only then did Luo Tai confidently serve a bowl to Stephen Chow for tasting.

After tasting just one ball, Stephen Chow patted Luo Tai on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Brother, this batch is much better than the last. If you leave now and go out on your own, you won't have to go to the pig farm to make pig feed. Your skills are good enough to feed dogs at the police dog base!"

Stephen Chow's words made Luo Tai's face turn red. If he hadn't restrained himself, he might have kicked Stephen Chow with a powerful leg, leaving him in a wheelchair.

"Brother Chow, I've had my urination beef balls tasted by Sister Chicken and the others, and they all said they couldn't tell the difference from the ones you made. Why do you still think my urination beef balls aren't authentic enough?" Luo Tai finally asked, not willing to admit defeat.

Stephen Chow looked at Luo Tai through his nose and said with a disdainful expression, "Brother, I'm not deliberately nitpicking. If we divide dishes into ten levels, most top chefs can make dishes up to level nine. Why are there so few chefs who can make level ten dishes? It's not because no one knows the recipes, but because no one can precisely control the taste to be just right!"

At this point, Stephen Chow smiled at Luo Tai and leaned in to whisper, "I rarely misjudge people, but I was wrong about Tang Niu, and he played me hard, almost ruining my career. Fortunately, I met you. I must admit, I was wrong about you at first. From your knife skills, I thought you could become a culinary god surpassing me. But now it seems you lack a bit of talent in taste. Actually, you're just a little bit off!"

Luo Tai clutched his head and squatted on the ground, thinking hard. Where was he just a little bit off? Could it be, as Stephen Chow said, that his sense of taste was so poor that he could never make urination beef balls better than Stephen Chow's?

No!

Luo Tai's stubbornness rose up. As the old saying goes: With enough effort, an iron rod can be ground into a needle. Cooking should be the same. With enough effort, there's no dish that can't be made well. A mere urination beef ball, and Luo Tai had already mastered all of Stephen Chow's secrets. He would definitely succeed.

Luo Tai buried himself in the kitchen for another three days.

Without Stephen Chow's evaluation, Luo Tai knew he still couldn't match him. If he had made urination beef balls better than Stephen Chow's in these three days, the system would have notified him that the task was complete. Since there was no notification, Luo Tai was truly disheartened.

There were only a few hours left before the seven-day deadline. Luo Tai felt he had done his best, but he couldn't complete the task this time.

He threw the stir-fry spoon onto the cutting board in frustration, stood up, and stretched. Ah, it's fate.

"Finally giving up?"

Stephen Chow, holding two glasses of red wine, walked in from outside the kitchen and handed one to Luo Tai, saying with a smile, "You're more persistent than I thought. It took you six whole days to throw the stir-fry spoon. I thought you'd give up by yesterday."

Luo Tai took the wine glass and drank it in one gulp, then sat on the ground, head down, ignoring Stephen Chow.

Stephen Chow squatted next to Luo Tai and said softly, "Do you know why your urination beef balls have never been as good as mine? Because you haven't been using your heart."

Luo Tai looked up, eyes wide with surprise, and asked, "Not using my heart? I've been so focused and dedicated, and you say I haven't been using my heart? Have you ever seen me not be dedicated?"

Stephen Chow chuckled.

"I mean using your heart, not just being focused. The most important thing is the heart. When you cook, do you think about how you want the dish to turn out? Do you put all your emotions into it? For example, when you stir-fry the shrimp jelly, you can't just treat it as a dish. You should imagine that you're making it for the person you love the most. Only then will you add the seasonings at the right time, and only then will the dish you make be the best."

"Make the dish for the person you love the most?" Luo Tai repeated Stephen Chow's words, dazed, and found himself at the stove, once again starting to prepare the secret soup as he had done for the past few days.

During this preparation, Luo Tai kept thinking, who is the person he loves the most?

When Luo Tai sprinkled the seasonings into the stir-fry pan, the rising steam clearly revealed Liu Yifei's beautiful face. As the steam moved, Liu Yifei seemed to nod frequently at Luo Tai. In her eyes, full of deep emotion, Luo Tai read a hint of responsibility. Liu Yifei was clearly reproaching Luo Tai for thinking of her so little since they had parted ways.

In this imaginary world, Luo Tai unconsciously prepared a pot of fragrant secret soup.

Stephen Chow came over, dipped his finger in the soup, and tasted it. After savoring it carefully, he exclaimed, "Good! This pot of soup is well-prepared! It's almost as good as mine."

Luo Tai stared at the rising steam until it dissipated into the air, then turned to Stephen Chow and said, "Brother Chow, I finally feel what you mean by using the heart to cook. This is the secret to why you're called a culinary god!"

Stephen Chow looked at Luo Tai's joyful face and nodded with a serious expression, saying, "Good brother, you've understood!"

Before he finished speaking, Stephen Chow burst out laughing, clutching his stomach and collapsing on the ground, laughing until his limbs twitched, as if he were about to die.

Luo Tai didn't know what was wrong with Stephen Chow and was a bit flustered.

After laughing enough, Stephen Chow sat cross-legged on the ground and looked up at Luo Tai, saying, "Silly brother, did you really believe in using the heart to cook? That was something I made up when I won the title of culinary god. Your problem is that you imitate me too much, almost copying every move I make. That won't work. The talk I gave you was to shift your attention, to make you forget about imitating me. Only when you have your own cooking techniques can you truly say you've learned my culinary skills."

"Have you ever seen anyone use urination beef balls to compete for the title of culinary god? No, low-level dishes are low-level. No matter how you make urination beef balls, they can't compare to a bowl of shark fin soup. Do you understand?"

After saying this, Stephen Chow laughed again, almost to the point of cramping.

Luo Tai took a deep breath and nodded, somewhat understanding. As he nodded, he felt his phone vibrate, and the task of making urination beef balls was finally complete.

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