I'm the Culinary God

He was already one of the people in charge of the case, plus he could go fishing at Uncle Shang’s place, so he took the bus there every day.

Fishing at the same time also let him keep anyone from bullying Uncle Shang, and through casual chatting he could dig into other issues in the village. Killing several birds with one stone.

After the meal, Lin Xu went downstairs. He was just about to drive over to Ginkgo Garden when he happened to bump into Yu Hui, who’d brought Tongtong over to play with Dundun.

"I’m on winter break now, Uncle Lin, so I can come play with Dundun all the time. Oh right, can I invite Dundun to my house to play?"

"Sure. When things aren’t so busy, I’ll have your Auntie Shen Jiayue bring Dundun over to your place, see if you’ve secretly stashed toys and snacks."

"I so did not. My mom’s nose is sharper than a police dog’s. As soon as I hide something she can sniff it out."

Yu Hui raised her hand and gave the little girl a light smack on the butt:

"You just love getting on my nerves. When you finally drive me crazy, we’ll see who’s left to take care of you."

Right then Dundun hopped down from the counter and started circling around Tongtong. Seeing the kid and the cat playing happily together, Lin Xu didn’t interrupt, left the shop, and drove over to Ginkgo Garden to take a look around.

Compared to before, Ginkgo Garden had changed quite a lot.

The main gate had been redone, and the concrete road that used to run straight in from the entrance had already been torn up. The colorful running track inside the gate was finished, and the small animal breeding area was in its final stage.

With money doing its work, and not that many places needing major changes, the whole park was moving along quickly.

The construction site hadn’t damaged the ginkgo trees either. Every operation perfectly avoided each tree, which made Lin Xu very satisfied.

As for the fishpond area in the back, the waterside boardwalk was also down to the final touches. These walkways are all prefabricated now—once the bases are set, everything else is just installation work.

He checked everything inside and out, chatted with the project lead for a bit, and was just about to drive off when he suddenly got a call from Old Huang.

"Brother Lin, where are you?"

"I drove over to Ginkgo Garden. What’s up, Boss Huang?"

"Head Chef Qiu just called me. Said his uncle wants pigeons, wild duck, and domestic duck, and that he’s planning to serve them when you come over... That’s the ingredients for Three-in-One Duck. Is he getting ready to teach you how to make it or trying to make things hard for you?"

Lin Xu was a little surprised. It probably wasn’t to make trouble for him.

From how Qiu Yaozu had behaved before, he didn’t seem like he wanted to put him on the spot. On the contrary, he gave off the sneaky vibe of secretly passing on a move or two while the master wasn’t around.

Thinking of that, Lin Xu laughed and said:

"I happen to be going over tomorrow to deliver a wedding invitation to Old Master Qiu. I’ll see what’s going on then."

But Three-in-One Duck is not an easy dish to make. Apparently there are tons of details to pay attention to. Without the technique, even Lin Xu couldn’t pull it off.

Because for Three-in-One Duck you not only have to debone the pigeon, wild duck, and domestic duck, you also have to nest them perfectly inside one another, forming a whole piece, then stew it in a clay pot. Every step is very exacting.

Lin Xu figured he was only good enough to help out with deboning the ducks; he only half-understood the steps after that.

Old Huang said:

"Brother, if he really teaches you, you’ve gotta make it once for me later so I can taste it."

"No problem!"

Lin Xu agreed, and was just about to hang up when he remembered there was still a Braised Three Chicken he’d never made. So he asked on the phone:

"Boss Huang, can you currently get wind-dried chicken and pheasant? The pheasant needs to be freshly slaughtered, and the wind-dried chicken has to be top quality. I’m planning to make a lost dish."

Hearing that, Old Huang immediately got fired up:

"Sure thing, no problem. I’ll get them ready for you. Wind-dried chicken’s easy, I’ve got some on hand. But for pheasants, we’ll have to poke around some farms. I’ll ask around for you."

Although pheasants are allowed to be farmed now, most chicken farms are raising hybrids, not pure strains, so he had to find birds close to genuine wild pheasants.

After hanging up, Lin Xu drove back to Yingchun Street.

It was already close to four in the afternoon. He went into the kitchen and saw Wei Qian swinging a cleaver, chopping up several red-billed Muscovy ducks, so he asked curiously:

"What are we having tonight?"

"Tea-Fragrant Young Ginger Duck. It’s cold now; gotta eat more things that make you sweat."

The so-called Young Ginger Duck uses tender fresh ginger to cook the duck, letting the duck carry the gingery spiciness. It’s basically a Sichuan-style version of Ginger Duck, but the methods and ingredients are completely opposite to Ginger Duck.

Young Ginger Duck uses young ginger, and the duck is chopped into small pieces, whereas Ginger Duck uses old ginger and the whole duck goes into the pot; only when it’s almost done is the duck cut into small pieces with scissors.

Right now Lin Xu had Three-in-One Duck on his mind and was planning to go to Qiu Yaozu’s place early tomorrow so he wouldn’t miss out on good food.

But aside from Qiu Yaozu’s home, everyone else’s places he’d have to go in and out quickly. Otherwise, if he stayed half a day at each house, he’d still be delivering invitations after the New Year.

Just before dinner, Shen Jiayue and Chen Yan came back from fishing.

Each of them had caught two grass carp weighing over ten jin, and Shen Jiayue had also landed a whole bag of crucian carp, restoring her legendary "Fishing Grandma" reputation.

"Hahaha, fishing is just too much fun. They dragged a net through twice, and we still managed to fish out this many. Uncle Shang was completely stunned—he couldn’t believe there’d be so many fish that slipped through the net."

Lin Xu looked over the catch and said to Shen Jiayue:

"Go wash your hands and eat. We’re having Young Ginger Duck tonight, made with tea oil—lots of rich tea aroma."

"Yes, yes! I’ve been really into tea-oil stir-fries lately. I’m going to eat a lot later."

Lin Xu asked again:

"I’m delivering wedding invitations tomorrow—are you coming?"

"Nope. I’m going fishing again. Hooking these escapee fish is way too satisfying. If it weren’t for it getting dark, Yan Bao and I wouldn’t have wanted to come back."

Chen Yan nodded in agreement:

"Exactly, these fish give such a sense of achievement. There are still several anglers who won’t leave and are planning to night fish."

Since she wasn’t going, he didn’t press it.

Lin Xu had actually been hoping to let Shen Baobao try the Three-in-One Duck made by the old master.

Tomorrow he’d get the Cooking Learning Card ready and learn this Huaiyang dish properly. That way he’d be one step closer to unlocking the whole Huaiyang repertoire.

After breakfast the next day, Lin Xu took the invitations and the prepared wedding candies and snacks, drove over to the East Third Ring, and knocked on the gate of a villa.

The gate opened and the housekeeper led him inside.

Very soon, he saw Qiu Yaozu in the yard, practicing Tai Chi Boxing.

Old Master Qiu finished a full set of moves, took a light breath, then looked at Lin Xu and asked:

"Xiao Xu, can you make Three-in-One Duck?"

"No..."

Hearing that, a "just as I thought" expression appeared on Qiu Yaozu’s face. He said:

"Your master’s got talent, but no stability. Insisted on going traveling for no good reason. Since you haven’t learned Three-in-One Duck yet, I might as well teach you today, so your talent doesn’t go to waste while your master’s gone."

With such a good opportunity to learn, of course Lin Xu wouldn’t turn it down. He smiled and said:

"Then I’ll be troubling you, Old Master Qiu."

Qiu Yaozu shook his head:

"No trouble. Because today, I’ll talk and you’ll cook. I’ll also take the chance to see what kind of foundation you really have."

Lin Xu: ????????

What kind of brand-new gameplay is this supposed to be?

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I’ve been coughing since I got up this morning, the kind that tears you apart, and this afternoon the headache started, plus my whole body feels awful. If this virus doesn’t leave, I’m going to get sent off instead. This Chapter is 5,300 words. I’ll throw in the Monthly Tickets tomorrow, brothers—tomorrow is double Monthly Ticket day. I’ll see how I feel tonight: if I can update, I will; if I can’t, it’ll have to wait till tomorrow. Sorry.