C3 Madam, I Want a Bowl Too!

On the chopping block laid multiple slices of beef.

Each slice of the beef was uniform, and the texture was clear. It was as if the same amount of force was used to cut each slice.

Ye Xiao even said to himself that it was impossible for him to slice each one so perfectly, let alone doing it at the pace Ye Hong was slicing it.

"Ah Hong, this... this.... this was cut by you?"

Ye Xiao threw down the dough immediately in his hands and pounced in front of the chopping block. He then picked up the beef slices and carefully examined them with the utmost care, afraid of destroying the beautiful pieces of art in his hands.

"Why, of course."

Ye Hong said calmly as he wiped the kitchen knife clean before placing it back on the shelf.

"Good boy!" Ye Xiao could not help but laugh as he patted Ye Hong heavily on his shoulder, "When did you secretly train your knife skills to such an extent? It seems that there might finally be a successor for Midnight Snack at this point!"

Ye Hong rubbed his shoulders with a dissatisfied look on his face, "Stop hitting me so hard. My bones are about to be crumbled by you."

This old man was neither light nor heavy.

[Ding! Your shoulder muscles have received a blow externally, Resistance To Physical Attacks: +1, Current Progress: 1/10, Current Level: Beginner-level.]

Nani?! Even this is possible?!

"Uh… Dad, why don't you hit me again?"

"Brat, I never knew you were into such things... Anyway, hurry up and cook the beef, don't let the customers wait too long."

After saying that, Ye Xiao returned to his work and whistled a short tune — obviously in a good mood after seeing Ye Hong improve his knife skills.

Ye Hong shook his head slightly and dumped the beef into the pot.

What followed was the usual process of cooking beef noodles. This cooking method was a secret recipe passed down from Ye Hong's grandfather and had remained the same for decades.

However, just as Ye Hong was about to complete one of the steps, his hand instinctively stopped in mid-action.

Suddenly, a strange feeling welled up in his mind, as if a voice was telling him: "This is not the right way of making the noodles. There is another way to make this bowl of beef noodles even more delicious!"

After a moment of thought, Ye Hong finally understood that this was probably the effects of his leveled-up proficiency in cooking.

Placing down the current seasoning in his hand, he changed it to another ingredient.

Following that, the same feeling continued to appear many times.

After changing the steps of the recipe, the entire cooking process had been completely changed beyond recognition by him.

Coincidentally, Ann Xiaoyan just happened to bump into Ye Hong in the kitchen during this process.

"Brat, are you crazy? How many times have I taught you this? Why did you think adding water in this step was a good idea?""If you cook the noodles this way, the taste will definitely come out wrong!"

Attracted over by the commotion, Ye Xiao too sighed at the bowl of beef noodles that had just come staight out of the wok.

"Shall I make another serving?"

At that moment, the customers outside hurriedly urged, "Boss, are my noodles are almost ready? I'm going to starve to death. If you don't serve the noodles soon, I'm going to leave!"

"Right away!" Ann Xiaoying replied with a forced smile. She then turned her head and glared fiercely at Ye Hong, "If the customers are scared off by this bowl of beef noodles later, I'll definitely beat your ass up!"

Ye Hong calmly said, "Mom, I can guarantee that he'll still want to eat more after. Hehe!"

Ann Xiaoying did not have the time to pay him anymore attention as she hurried out of the hall with the bowl of beef noodles in her hands.

Ye Xiao — seemingly worried about the results of the noodles — secretly observed the customer's reaction through the kitchen door.

"Customer, your noodles are ready. Please enjoy your meal!"

The customer who ordered beef noodles was bald and wore a large gold chain around his neck. The fierce look on his face made him look extremely ferocious as he emitted an intense aura from his body.

Ann Xiaoying placed the bowl of beef noodles in front of the customer and wiped the other table nearby.

Wrinkling her apron with her fingers in suspense, she nervously peeked at the customer's reaction, preparing to apologize at any time if the customer was unsatisfied.

"The speed at which you serve the food really is slow, to the point where I'm going to starve to death. If I didn't happen to pass by this place, I never would've come to this kind of small restaurant to eat in the first place."

After mumbling out his complaints, he broke open his wooden chopsticks and dug into the bowl of beef noodles. With a loud slurping noise, he sucked a bundle of noodles into his mouth.

"Hng?!" The customer suddenly widened his eyes and froze in his spot.

Crap!

After rushing toward the customer, Ann Xiaoying bowed deeply and apologized, "I'm very sorry, we made a small mistake. If you don't mind, we'll get you a new one right away!"

As the customer raised his head, he looked at Ann Xiaoying in a daze and asked, "Madam, what are you talking about?"

Immediately after, he slurped down the bowl of noodles like a vacuum.

*Slither, slither, slither...*

Soon, he devoured the bowl of beef noodles.

After finishing the noodles, the customer gulped down the rest of the soup.

Reluctantly, he put down the empty bowl and licked his lips. Then, he said to Ann Xiaoying who was stunned at the side, "Madam, I want another bowl!"

"You should have told me it would be so delicious earlier. I would have even been willing to wait for half a day longer!"

"Oh right, help me pack three servings of the same noodles... No, six servings. Such delicious noodles, I must bring back for my brothers to have a taste!"

After that, he scratched his head and muttered, "What the hell? To think that there are actually such delicious beef noodles in this world! How come I didn't notice your store before?!"

Ann Xiaoying — still in a daze — already walked back into the kitchen before she even realized it.

She held the empty bowl in confusion, still immersed in the customer's exaggerated reaction.

To think that this bowl of beef noodles, which did not follow their family recipe, would actually receive such praise!

Could the taste buds of this particular customer be broken?

Similarly, Ye Xiao was just as dumbfounded as Ann Xiaoying.

Neither of them spoke as they turned their gazes toward Ye Hong in sync.

Ye Hong shrugged his shoulders and stated, "I told you he would want more afterward. Now, do you believe my words?"

"Brat, how did you do that?" Ye Xiao looked at Ye Hong as if he was looking at a different person.

Ann Xiaoying was even more straightforward, "Are you really my dumb son? Have you been possessed?

"Shoo, go away! How can you talk to your own son like that?"

Ye Hong shooed them away before preparing another bowl of beef noodles.

After making his first bowl of noodles and gaining more experience, Ye Hong seemed even more adept at making the next one.

[Ding! Cooking ability: +1...]

With the help of the system's prompt, Ye Hong quickly finished preparing the seven bowls of noodles as if he was performing some sort of magic trick.

During the entire process, Ye Xiao and Ann Xiaoying observed him without blinking an eye.

Observing his cooking process thoroughly, they realized that Ye Hong did not change the ingredients of the recipe at all; instead, he only changed the order at which he put in the ingredients and seasonings. Despite that, he was still able to transform the decadence into a miracle, turning the bowl of beef noodles into some sort of divine dish.

Could it be that their son really had the talent to be a chef?

"Son, I don't think you need to enter university anymore. I might as well send you to the New South Culinary School to learn culinary arts in the future!"

Ye Hong rolled his eyes at his two parents and said, "Stop messing around. Your son is someone who will accomplish great things in the future!"

"..."

That night, Ye Xiao and Ann Xiaoying spent the entire night researching and analyzing the beef noodles that Ye Hong made.

The two of them attempted to cook the beef noodles according to Ye Hong's original recipe. However, no matter what they did, it would not taste as good as what Ye Hong had cooked.

After attempting the recipe again and again, they had used up all of the remaining soy sauce.

"Ah Hong, go and buy more soy sauce."

Ye Hong accepted his fate obediently when faced with his two parents.

He left the restaurant and headed to the supermarket on the neighboring street to buy more soy sauce.

There was a shortcut to the supermarket, but one would have to walk through a dark alley.

Since there were a lot of hooligans gathered in this alley, Ye Hong usually would not dare to use that path.

Now that he possessed the system, however, his confidence had significantly increased. Today, he planned to test the waters of this alley with his new-found abilities.

The streetlights in the alley have not been refurbished and maintained whatsoever, so they had already been broken for quite a while. With the entire alley now pitch-black, one could barely see anything ahead or even around them.

Halfway through the dark alley, Ye Hong suddenly heard an anxious female voice cry out, "Help!"