A Valiant Life

Panda Novel

The taste of the Mirror Box Tofu had stunned the two tables of diners. After they cleared it, they stared at Lin Fan, then looked at Xiao Yan. “This dish, could you give us another serving of it? We’ll pay for it.”

“Yeah, we’ll pay. It’s too delicious. This flavor is insane. With the minced meat and shrimps inside the tofu, this taste is simply irresistible.”

The diners had all been enraptured by the dish. Xiao Yan didn’t know what to say. They didn’t know how to make the dish.

Lin Fan smiled. “My apologies, everyone. This dish is limited not for sale. I’m just a friend of the owner’s but if you have the opportunity, you can come here again for another taste. Of course, the taste may not be the same but it will still leave everyone satisfied.”

The diners had no choice but this time, they remembered this dish.

After some time, they sent off the two tables of diners. As the diners left, they were extremely reluctant as if they were still immersed in the flavor of the dish and couldn’t forget it.

As Xiao Yan was cleaning up the shop, Bai Ke went next to Lin Fan. “Young Fan, how do you know how to cook? Your dish was so well done too.”

Lin Fan grinned. “You didn’t even eat it, how would you know it’s good?”

Bai Ke said excitedly, “I’m not blind. I saw the expressions on the diners’ faces. They were all captivated by your dish.”

Lin Fan patted Bai Ke on the shoulder. “Seeing how you are, could it be that you want to learn? If you want to learn, I can teach you.”

“Ah!” Bai Ke’s face was beaming with excitement but then it turned gloomy again. “You won’t even be in Zhongzhou for long. Learning to cook requires time. How would I be able to learn properly?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be teaching you many dishes. In fact, it definitely won’t be possible to teach you everything. There are many shops nowadays with one or two popular signature dishes. I could teach you to cook Mirror Box Tofu and one other dish. You won’t be able to make it as tasty as mine, but as long as you reach a certain standard, it would be enough to make those diners cry out that it’s a brilliant delicacy.”

That was really what Lin Fan thought. Jiangsu cuisine is a cuisine by itself, but it also contains some Jinling dishes, Yangzhou dishes, Suxi dishes, Xuhai dishes and dishes from other parts of China. It contains a diverse range. If it wasn’t for the Encyclopedia, there wouldn’t be many people who would dare to bang their chests and say ‘I can cook all the dishes of a cuisine perfectly and better than anyone else in the world’.

Even top chefs who were masters in certain cuisines wouldn’t dare to guarantee that they could cook all the dishes in a cuisine very deliciously.

After all, knowing how to cook something and cooking it well were two completely different things.

Therefore, Lin Fan was prepared to teach Bai Ke just two dishes. If he could cook them to a certain standard, he could rely on these two dishes to make his restaurant become a well-known restaurant and his business would naturally flourish.

If it was someone else, Lin Fan would have been too lazy to care. If they wanted to learn from him, he would just tell them to get lost but Bai Ke was different. For one, he used to be a schoolmate of his and they got together quite well. Secondly, this shop held a fond place in his memories of his high school days. He had eaten here so many times in the past, how could he just forget about it?

He wanted to help Bai Ke. If he just gave money or things to Bai Ke straight, from what Lin Fan knew, Bai Ke would definitely reject them. He might even think that Lin Fan was pitying him and it would result in a rift in their relationship that would be difficult to fix.

However, teaching Bai Ke to cook these two dishes was a different story.

To cook a dish may seem simple to most people but to cook a dish to its best taste isn’t something that can be done without the guidance of a master. Even top chefs, when they want to create new dishes, have to go through countless failures to create a strong foundation of understanding of the compatibility of different ingredients. Only when the flavor produced is to their liking, will they dare to use those ingredients to create a new dish.

Lin Fan’s suggestion moved Bai Ke’s heart. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have this signature dish but he didn’t have the ability. In order to improve his restaurant, he had read numerous cooking books but even if he followed the instructions, the taste his cooking produced wasn’t satisfactory. If he hadn’t spent some time learning from his Mom, he might not have been able to survive till then.

“Young Fan, I don’t remember you learning how to cook. Where did you learn it?” asked Bai Ke.

Lin Fan smiled mysteriously. There was a place mentioned in the Encyclopedia, New East Cuisine School, specializing in the Eight Great Chinese Cuisines. He had to have learned his culinary skills from somewhere…

“At New East,” replied Lin Fan.

Bai Ke was puzzled, he had no idea where that was. “Where’s this New East? How come I’ve never heard of it?”

Lin Fan had no idea what this New East was either, so he made up a story, “It’s a training workshop. Later on, the students got involved in a scuffle and a number of people got injured, so the workshop got sued and was closed down.”

Bai Ke was still puzzled. He had never heard anything like that before. But when he thought about it, there were many mini-workshops around so maybe he just didn’t know about this one. However, for this workshop to get sued like that because their students got into a fight was a shame.

“Why don’t you start teaching me now? I learn very fast,” Bai Ke said.

“What are you going to learn now? You called me here to reminisce about the old times. If you want to learn, then start tomorrow. Let’s not talk about other things and drink some wine first. There shouldn’t be any more customers coming in,” said Lin Fan.

They drank all the way till eleven. Lin Fan’s head was dizzy. He had not thought that he would be finished after just 200ml. But at least he could still stabilize himself. He rejected Bai Ke’s offer to send him back and called a cab for himself.

At his apartment entrance, he took out his keys.

At such an hour, his Mom and Dad must have been asleep. He wondered what nonsense Wang Ming Yang talked about with his Mom and Dad that night. But it didn’t matter. The next morning, he would have to wake up early and leave the house quietly, so even if he wanted to ask them, he wouldn’t be able to.

He pushed open the door.

The living room was full of noise.

“Aunty, don’t worry, this is on me. Uncle, let’s drink…”

“Ah, he’s back…”

Lin Fan stood at the entrance, looking at those familiar silhouettes in the living room. He was momentarily stunned. Then, he looked at the time. It was almost half past eleven but they were still not done. They must have had a lot to talk about.

A few gazes fixated on Lin Fan, causing his little heart to start quickening its beat. This is too f*cked up.

His Mom sat there and said, “You little brat, come here quickly. Mom wants to ask you some questions.”

Lin Fan was startled, then he suddenly started shaking and rocking. “Ah, my head is dizzy. I drank too much today. I can’t handle it, I need to go to sleep…”

At that moment, he started to walk unstably, right towards his room. He didn’t dare to chat with his Mom. He would rather play dead. He had to wait until Wang Ming Yang and the rest left, then get a clearer picture of what they had talked about and come up with a plan.

Of course, how could she not see through her own son? “Trying to act drunk again.”

Wang Ming Yang smiled. “Quick, come over here. Aunty said that she won’t rush you to get married.”

When Lin Fan heard that, he stopped in his tracks. “Ah, my head isn’t hurting anymore. Ma, why are you guys not done yet?”

Lin Fan had relaxed slightly after hearing Wang Ming Yang’s words. It seemed that Wang Ming Yang hadn’t disappointed him. He must have been won over by Lin Fan.

At the dining table.

Lin Fan’s Mom said in a sincere tone, “Son, Lil’ Wang told us about this situation. We are really relieved but you have to remember, those are good young ladies. You can’t be in two minds about it. Even if you have to pick, after you’ve picked someone, you can’t cheat the other lady’s feelings and you definitely can’t cause her any hurt. If I find out about it, I’ll make sure that you won’t have any more good days.”

Lin Fan took a deep breath. “Ma, don’t worry. Don’t you guys trust me?”

Mom nodded. “Yeah, we trust you.”

After that, everyone chatted for a bit at the dining table.

Wang Ming Yang and Xu Zi Le prepared to leave. It was really getting late.

Lin Fan’s Mom didn’t urge them to stay any longer. “Quick, send Lil’ Wang downstairs.”

Lin Fan acknowledged.

In the lift.

Wang Ming Yang was smiling. “How was it? Amazing, right? You trust me now, right?”

Lin Fan gave him a thumbs up. “Amazing.”

“Haha…” Wang Ming Yang laughed. When they got to the ground floor, he held onto Xu Zi Le and they left into their couple’s world.

…

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