Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Am I…Up to This?

Chen Mo waited in the kitchen, taking the opportunity to watch how chefs worked in a real big restaurant.

One has to admit that only by witnessing something in person can one realize how shallow their understanding truly is.

The chef responsible for stir-frying quickly passed the ingredients through hot oil and then put them into a frying pan to cook over high heat, adding various seasonings periodically.

Ultimately, all the ingredients were placed onto a plate, and another chef used clean chopsticks for plating. An ordinary dish required the effort of multiple people to complete.

The entire process was seamless and fluid, something Chen Mo admitted he definitely couldn’t achieve.

’Compared to them, I’m just pure cottage industry.’

Chen Mo couldn’t help but think of the side quest, which talked about him always preparing simple dishes that required almost no skill, prompting the mission to demand he improve his skills.

It seems enhancing his skills appropriately is indeed necessary. Not to mention anything else, while his noodles are delicious, he can’t just eat noodles all the time. If one day he wants a change of taste, but the dishes he cooks with the system turn out worse than street food, that would be frustrating.

Even if he married Liu Yifei, there would be times when one gets tired, let alone just noodles.

After watching for a while, Chen Mo felt he couldn’t learn much, so he took off his apron and left the kitchen, heading toward the restroom.

What a coincidence.

“Boss Fang.” At the entrance of the restroom, Chen Mo saw Fang Zhizhong smoking with the boss of the restaurant, “How’s it going, is your daughter willing to eat something?”

With a cigarette between his fingers, Fang Zhizhong waved his hand, looking clearly impatient, “She hasn’t eaten a bite, and went to the restroom with her homework notebook to do homework.”

Mu Xin took a puff of his cigarette, “That’s my fault. I originally thought the dishes made by Boss Xiao Chen would resolve this issue, so I let those chefs improvise. I didn’t expect…”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo felt displeased. Combined with the boss showing off in the kitchen earlier, it was obvious he was unhappy about Chen Mo showing up at his restaurant, right?

But as an adult, now wasn’t the time to show he was upset. Chen Mo just slightly raised his hand, “Excuse me.”

Entering the restroom, Chen Mo gloomily approached the mirror, intending to wash his face. Before he even turned on the faucet, he heard a strange… cold yet childish voice.

“Ridiculous, hehe… Truly ridiculous.”

Chen Mo tilted his head and saw at the entrance of the women’s restroom, a girl was leaning over the vanity with a homework notebook in front of her.

The restroom at Yueyun Pavilion was quite upscale. There was a main door, leading to a common area for both genders to wash hands, check the mirror, and dry off.

On either side of this common area were the men’s and women’s restrooms. So when Chen Mo heard this cold voice, he instinctively looked toward the women’s restroom entrance.

“Hehe… You all are targeting me, thinking that bringing me to a big restaurant will earn my forgiveness? Ridiculous…”

Hiss!!!

A chill ran down Chen Mo’s spine, an awkwardness spreading from his toes to his scalp.

He saw the girl continue, leaning against the wall, tears streaming as she slowly slid down to the floor until she was halfway down.

“Yuanyuan, let’s take a break from homework, shall we?” The door was pushed open, and Fang Zhizhong peeked in, “Hey, what are you doing?”

Suddenly normal, the little girl just looked a bit indifferent, “My eraser fell.”

Fang Zhizhong made an ’oh’ sound, “Pack up and come out to eat first.”

After the door closed, the little girl continued to lean against the wall, sliding down slowly until she squatted on the ground, “Ridiculous, hehe… Laughable!”

Her expression carried a blend of three parts indifference, three parts ridicule, even four parts nonchalance!

This process lasted a few seconds, and perhaps realizing Chen Mo was watching her, she glanced at him, got up, and left the restroom, tearing a piece of paper from her homework and tossing it into the trash can.

“Bang!”

Soon after, Chen Mo heard a flurry of noise outside.

“Yuanyuan, there’s no rush for homework, let’s go back and eat first. You haven’t eaten properly for days, and Dad ordered your favorite dish today!”

“Boss Fang, why don’t I make a special dessert just for Yuanyuan, guaranteed she’ll love it!”

“…”

Chen Mo walked to the trash can, picking up the piece of paper, which had a Xu Song sticker in the upper left corner.

The writing on it was crooked, like someone who had never practiced calligraphy.

“The hot water is too hot, I’m afraid to drink it; people’s hearts are too cold, I’m afraid to touch them.”

“You want me to eat, so I will, but I’ll only eat the staple food, not the side dishes.”

“From today onward, I won’t take the initiative to talk to anyone, I’ll just quietly study and do my homework. Then, when no one notices, I’ll leave home.”

“Why are well-behaved children bullied so easily? Heh…”

At the end, it seemed she wanted to write more, but stopped when Fang Zhizhong knocked on the door. After reading this bit of self-narration, Chen Mo dug his toes into the floor.

My feet itch, but I’m afraid to scratch.

“So this is why the little girl doesn’t want to eat the dishes? So… she actually wants to eat it, but in front of her parents, she needs to maintain her aloofness and deliberately refrains from eating?”

Goodness, Chen Mo couldn’t empathize. He only felt memories from over a decade ago attacking him. Indeed, humans cannot empathize with their childhood selves.

“If that’s the case…”

Chen Mo thought about “For the Flowers to Grow Strong” and remembered Mu Xin’s sneering expression at the door. The key was that he recalled having a similar experience as a child.

Back then, Chen Mo thought he was going to become a silent person, traveling the world with a stick hidden in the chicken coop as if it were a sword.

He couldn’t even hold out for half an hour. His mom somehow got some ribs, stewing them before the sun even set.

In the cold winter, the aroma of soy-sauced ribs mixed with various spices filled the house along with the steam, making Chen Mo lie on the bed, salivating uncontrollably. Unable to resist, he ran outside and asked: Mom, when can we eat the ribs?

That night, Chen Mo ate a big bowl of ribs.

Absolutely delicious!

He totally forgot about wanting to become an aloof swordsman.

“So I don’t believe there’s any pain that can’t be healed by good food!”

Fueled by Mu Xin’s dismissive attitude, as well as the fact that the little girl hadn’t taken a bite of his food, making it awkward to accept a red envelope, and under various influences, Chen Mo pulled out his phone to start searching.

First, the little girl would definitely not go to the kitchen, so it’s impossible to entice her by making her hungry through the smell.

Then, it had to be visually appealing!

“What dish looks so good it makes you want to eat three bowls of rice?”

After searching, Chen Mo browsed through the many results, quickly settling on a dish based on his visual judgment.

The key was that the dish wasn’t particularly difficult to prepare, and with his current culinary skills, he could barely manage it.

But the finished product looked alluring in color. There was no need to taste it; just a glance made one’s mouth water. Even just seeing a picture of it, Chen Mo had the urge to get some of it immediately.

“It’s you!”

Chen Mo went to the restroom, washed his hands, and pulled out his phone to text Fang Zhizhong.

“Boss Fang, I have a dish that’s not on the menu, do you want to try it?”

Ding dong~

“What dish?”

Chen Mo grinned, “A dish that will make your daughter open her mouth.”

Fang Zhizhong replied instantly.

“Do it! Now, immediately, at once!”

Of course, Chen Mo wouldn’t really head to the kitchen immediately; all his skills were on the food cart.

The problem was, in such a big restaurant, customers bringing their own food was allowed, but someone else bringing it for other customers to eat? Impossible. Who would take responsibility if something happened?

Chen Mo washed his face again, looked at himself in the mirror, his gaze growing more determined. At this moment, it wasn’t just for the red envelope anymore.

“Can I… do this?”

A question arose in his mind, and before him appeared floating text from the system.

[You can.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep