Free Web NovelAfter a brief silence, Boss Hu crossed his arms and looked at Lu Yibei, asking with a serious expression, "Calamity Miss, have you ever heard of a saying? It goes that a chef's mood affects the taste of the food."
Lu Yibei thought for a moment and nodded # Nоvеlight # at Boss Hu.
Not only had she heard of it, but not long ago, when seeing Jiang Li off, she had made a table full of inedible dishes because she was feeling down.
"But what does this have to do with whether I can learn Human Fireworks?"
"Of course it does!" Boss Hu said, "From the perspective of basic cooking skills alone, you are actually quite excellent. However, when you cook, you always inadvertently emit negative energy, and this negative energy eventually integrates into the dishes you cook, thus affecting the taste of the finished product.
"This effect might not be obvious when your Spiritual Energy fluctuation level is low, but now your Spiritual Energy fluctuation level is far higher than most Psychic and urban legend. Even the slight energy you inadvertently emit can have a huge impact on surrounding things."
"The reason for this situation is mostly related to your past experiences. As for what you've experienced in the past, it's not convenient for me to ask more, haha!"
Hearing this, Lu Yibei narrowed her eyes slightly, sizing up Boss Hu, and said, "I think I understand what you mean. You're trying to say I don't have talent and want to discourage me, right?"
A person's past experiences are difficult to change, but as long as they don't change, they will affect the taste of the dishes made every time.
It will be very difficult to learn the cooking method of Human Fireworks under these circumstances!
It's almost equivalent to having no talent.
In fact, Lu Yibei felt that Boss Hu's words were quite tactful. If it were her, she would probably say directly, "A mere useless Spiritual Energy root wants to cultivate? You're dreaming!" or something similar.
Boss Hu looked at Lu Yibei, paused for a moment, and then smiled, "You might have misunderstood. I didn't intend to discourage you."
"Actually, I think you not only have talent, but extraordinary talent. Just in terms of infusing emotions when cooking, other apprentices would take at least several years to learn that."
"It's just that your talent isn't quite suitable for learning the cooking method of Human Fireworks. I wonder if you're interested in learning something else?"
"Something else?" Lu Yibei tilted her head and asked curiously, "Like what?"
"Human Hell!"
Lu Yibei,???
For a moment, she thought her hearing was faulty and she hadn't heard what Boss Hu was saying clearly.
But when she looked at Boss Hu, she found that his eyes were very serious, completely unlike someone joking.
Seeing Lu Yibei's confused look, Boss Hu smiled and repeated, "You didn't mishear. I did say Human Hell. It's a dish that uses negative energy as raw material, extracts the essence through cooking, and brings misfortune and despair to diners."
As he spoke, he turned and glanced at the plate of stir-fried galangal fish on the stove, adding, "In cooking Human Hell, you are definitely a genius rarely seen in thousands of years!"
"Take the dish you just made, for example. Without anyone teaching you, it already has the rudimentary form of Human Hell. It's truly impressive!"
Although she could tell that Boss Hu's remarks were sincere praise, she couldn't feel happy at all?
It felt like someone sincerely praising a girl with slightly less appealing looks by saying, "Although you're not good-looking, you're uniquely ugly!"
It's completely impolite and very hurtful, okay?
Lu Yibei thought, looked at the stir-fried galangal fish she had just made, was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly looked up, staring straight at Boss Hu, and said seriously, "But, I have a reason why I must obtain Human Fireworks. If I really don't have a chance to learn it, may I take the liberty of asking you to make it for me?"
"Since you know the cooking method of Human Fireworks, you should be able to make it, right?"
"I can pay you! If that's not possible, I'll stay here, learn that troublesome Human Hell cooking method, and work for you for a while?"
"Is that so?" Boss Hu looked thoughtful, then a sly smile like a Fox appeared on his face, "That's not a bad plan, but I refuse!"
One of your favorite things to do is say 【NO】 to people you think are capable? Lu Yibei muttered inwardly and pressed on, "Why? Didn't you say you were quite tempted? Is it because the payment isn't enough?"
"The payment is enough, and I was quite tempted," Boss Hu explained. "The reason I refused you is because I can no longer make it."
After a pause, he added, "Strictly speaking, no Psychic or urban legend in the entire Liao Zhai Tavern can make it currently."
"How could this be?" Lu Yibei blurted out.
Hearing this, Boss Hu held up one finger and said solemnly, "—Once! Almost every chef who masters the cooking method of Human Fireworks can only make it completely once, and I have already made it once."
"Do you know why it can only be made once?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Lu Yibei looked at Boss Hu blankly, shaking her head like a silly girl.
"Because there aren't enough raw materials! The ingredients needed for Human Fireworks might be the moon falling into a chimney, a village at night slightly tilted in the surging wheat waves, or maybe dewdrops falling from branches, while the morning breeze quietly blows across your face."
It's the white porcelain plum soup in midsummer, the crushed ice clinking against the wall, it's the grass bearing its seeds, swaying its leaves, and it might also be the person who is waiting for you, asleep on the dining table, when you return home late at night, and that bowl of two taels of thin noodles with just a few pinches of green onions and half a spoonful of pork lard, steaming hot.
"In short, it's a kind of beauty that's hard to describe concretely. After making Human Fireworks completely once, although the beautiful memories remain, the ingredients are consumed and not enough to make a second time."
Speaking of this, Boss Hu saw that Lu Yibei still had doubts in her eyes and didn't seem to understand. He pondered for a moment, then changed the subject and explained, "Since you know that person surnamed Pu, do you know what Human Fireworks he cooked?"
Lu Yibei looked at Boss Hu, paused, and quickly reacted, "...Could it be urban legend from a Chinese Studio?"
Hearing this, Boss Hu smiled with satisfaction and nodded, "To be precise, it should be the original urban legend from a Chinese Studio."
After taking a deep breath, Lu Yibei gradually understood everything, and her eyes lit up....So Human Fireworks doesn't just refer to cooking in a narrow sense?
"Who told you it had to be food?" Boss Hu said, "And tasting Human Fireworks here doesn't completely mean eating with your mouth. It means absorbing it. Seeing, hearing, smelling, etc., all count!"
"Also, think carefully, besides that one unique Human Fireworks, do you remember any other works by that person surnamed Pu?"
"I remember!" Lu Yibei answered without hesitation, "I think there was a book called 'Nong Sang Jing'."
Boss Hu's mouth twitched, and he asked expressionlessly, "Besides that, do you remember anything else?"
"I remember!" Lu Yibei answered again without hesitation, "Three plays 'Kao Ci Jiu Zhuan Huo Lang Er', 'Zhong Mei Qing Shou', and 'Lan Guan', as well as 'Cao Mu Zhuan', 'Yao Chong Shu', and'Shang Han Yao Xing Fu', and also..."
"Stop!" Boss Hu couldn't help but interrupt, "How do you know so much?"
"Uh, by chance, just by chance." Lu Yibei replied weakly, "Please don't mind, don't mind."
Could I tell you that I'm a student of Chinese Language and Literature, and I saw it in extracurricular knowledge? Lu Yibei added in her heart.
Seeing Boss Hu's dark face and sensing the slightly agitated Spiritual Energy fluctuations in the air, she immediately understood that she had spoken wrongly in a moment of impulse just now.
It felt like someone said, "People will only remember the first place. Who knows what the second highest peak in the world is?" As a result, the person next to you rattles off from the highest peak, Mount Everest, all the way to the tenth highest peak, Annapurna.
The hand slapping the face was almost welded to the other person's face.
However, after coming back to her senses, she also understood what Boss Hu wanted to express, which is that Human Fireworks, like Liuquan Jushi's urban legend from a Chinese Studio which tells the stories of the world through ghosts and monsters, or other great works that have gone down in history, a "chef" will likely only be able to make it once in their entire life!
Boss Hu stared at Lu Yibei with a dark face for a moment, his chest rising and falling slightly. He adjusted his breathing and spoke again,
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So, you absolutely must obtain the complete Human Fireworks. There are only two paths: the first is to find a way to collect enough raw materials.
“The second path is to find a way to learn the cooking method yourself.
“Although your talent isn't very suitable for learning the cooking method of Human Fireworks, if you insist on learning, we still have a way to teach you.”
“I understand, I understand!” Lu Yibei said repeatedly. “This kind of thing is like an athlete who achieved brilliant results in the past. After growing old and weak, although he can't recreate past glory, it's still possible for him to be an excellent coach, right, Coach?”
Although that was the case, it didn't seem wrong either? Boss Hu frowned, and that seemingly semi-permanent smile reappeared on his face. “That’s about the meaning. So, how will you choose?”
“The first path!” Lu Yibei answered without thinking. “Although my talent isn't great, doing errands should be much simpler than directly learning, right?”
“This kind of thing is probably like playing games for me. I'm completely hopeless at writing guides, but as long as I read other people's guides, I can almost get the hang of it after just one read.
“Copying homework! I'm best at that!”
The guy who only learned half of the Human Fireworks cooking method thought the same way, but in fact, it won't be much simpler. Boss Hu opened his mouth, hesitated several times, and then said, “In that case, come back to the kitchen at the same time tomorrow night?”
“At that time, I will give you the tools and methods for collecting the raw materials for Human Fireworks.”
Speaking of this, he paused, turned around and surveyed the kitchen, then his gaze fell back on Lu Yibei. “It's getting late today, why don't you go back and rest early?”
“Alright! Thank you, Boss Hu, I'll be heading off now!” Lu Yibei responded, turned, and walked towards the elevator at the end of the kitchen.
Not long after walking out, she stopped, turned around, and asked Boss Hu, “Oh, right, Boss, can I also learn Human Hell while I'm at it?”
That thing sounds really powerful, and it would be good to learn.
Learn, you can learn anything! If tempting doesn't work, I'll just drug all the little turtles to force the old turtle to show up!
Boss Hu was momentarily stunned, then smiled and nodded. “Of course you can.”
“Also,” Lu Yibei’s gaze shifted to the stir-fried galangal fish beside Boss Hu, she raised her finger and quietly asked, “Can I take that thing home?”
She suddenly remembered that she seemed to have promised to pack supper for Ju Meng to take back, but at the time, she didn't pay attention to what Ju Meng wanted to eat, so she could only pack this thing to make do.
Whether it can be eaten is one thing, whether the intention is there is another.
At least she couldn't give Smelly Girl something to talk about, right?
What's more, I also want to see if this Human Hell is really capable of being used to make weapons, as I thought. Lu Yibei thought.
Boss Hu shrugged. “I couldn't ask for more.”
Leaving that kind of thing in the kitchen was ultimately a Disaster. If some foolish righteous mouse or mountain demon were to steal and eat it, they would probably die on the spot, and there wouldn't even be time to save them.
“Thank you, Boss!”
Lu Yibei took the packed stir-fried galangal fish from Boss Hu, said her thanks, and walked out quickly.
The moment she turned around, her expression darkened, and she frowned.
She found it very strange.
She had no ties to Boss Hu, so why would Boss Hu help her to this extent?
In the early morning, within the Jingyi Apartment Complex.
Ju Meng, who hadn't slept all night, was holding Wang Yingying and sitting cross-legged on Lu Yibei's bed, watching the sunlight outside the window gradually intensify. She pouted and grumbled, “You dog, I asked you to bring me supper, but it's already daylight and you're still not back? What kind of supper is this? Might as well eat breakfast!”
As she spoke, she seemed to suddenly think of something, her expression darkened, her willow-like eyebrows furrowed, and she suddenly raised her hand and slapped the ball of flesh in her arms, causing Wang Yingying to struggle and squirm violently.
“Oh no! Could it be that the dog did something to offend Boss Hu, and was dragged into the back kitchen by Boss Hu, chopped up, and stewed?!”
“Then tonight, wouldn't I have to order a dish of Disaster tenderloin tempura at Liao Zhai Tavern, or perhaps stir-fried Disaster black heart with pickled peppers?”
Just as Ju Meng was speaking, the sound of a door opening came from downstairs, followed by the soft call of Lu Yibei's urban legend, the Empress of the Locust Tree.
Yes, she had stayed in the Liao Zhai Tavern for too long, and when she came out, it was already bright, missing the opportunity to lift the urban legend transformation.
“Smelly Girl, Smelly Girl, are you up? I brought food back for you.”
Hearing this, Ju Meng's eyes rolled around, and she leaned back, collapsing onto the bed, entering a state of feigned sleep.
Sister, I don't care at all whether you, you dog, were safe going to Liao Zhai Tavern last night!
Sister played games, went to bed early, and slept soundly!
After waiting for a moment in the darkness, she heard the sound of rustling by the bed. Ju Meng opened her eyes a tiny slit and secretly looked in the direction of the sound. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Lu Yibei almost face-to-face.
Alright, stop pretending, get up quickly?”
“...” Ju Meng was silent for a few seconds, then opened her resentful eyes, her arms crossed over her chest, glaring resentfully at Lu Yibei.
“What? What's with that expression? You're not going to say you need a kiss to get up, are you?” Lu Yibei teased expressionlessly.
“Yes, yes, yes, then kiss me!” Ju Meng shouted carelessly.
“Didn't we already kiss before? Did I remember wrong?” Lu Yibei tilted her head.
Ju Meng’s gaze lingered on Lu Yibei’s pink little mouth for a moment, her face suddenly turned red, she dodged Lu Yibei’s gaze, and mumbled, “I, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, if you don't know, then forget it.” Lu Yibei said indifferently. “Then I'll owe you one for now. Why don't you get up and eat what I packed?”
As she spoke, she shook the packed bag in her hand. “I made it myself, stir-fried galangal fish.”
“Made it yourself?” Ju Meng looked at Lu Yibei sideways.
Lu Yibei nodded. “Yes, personally.”
“Hmph!” Ju Meng tilted her chin slightly upwards, let out a light snort, and took the packed bag from Lu Yibei. “Then, Sister, I'll reluctantly give it a try!”
Seeing Ju Meng take the packed bag, Lu Yibei furrowed her brow slightly. While walking quickly downstairs, she said, “Don't rush. I'll get you a bowl and tissues, and don't eat on my bed.”
Looking at Lu Yibei's somewhat flustered back, Ju Meng cursed in a low voice, “Bah! You dog, I'll do it anyway!”
As she spoke, she opened the packed bag, picked up a small piece of fish with her fingertips, put it in her mouth, chewed a couple of times, and curled the corners of her mouth.
“Hehe, the dish made by that dog actually tastes pretty good!”
The next moment, her body stiffened as if it had turned to stone, frozen in place.
After the initial deliciousness faded, she felt the hidden malice in that dish. In an instant, her delicate little face turned from white to green, then to blackish green, as if it had been broken.
It was an unavoidable, cold impact, like working hard for a year, full of motivation, encouraged by the boss's empty promises, only to find at the year-end evaluation that the boss's ignorant brother-in-law got first place, and she got last place.
Or it felt like staying up all night for several days, finally defeating an extremely difficult boss, only to have the game crash right before looting the body, filled with the frustration and sadness of a shattered dream.
At the same time.
Lu Yibei stood at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, watching the stopwatch on her phone, muttering to herself, “Three, two...”
The moment the word “one” was spoken, a furious scream came from upstairs.
“Lu Yibei, you bastard! Yue~yue~yue, you~ actually poisoned the food, yue~!”
Hearing this, Lu Yibei nodded with satisfaction.
Some people are like this; they are always polite to people they are not close to, but when facing people they are close to, they always want to find a way to be a jerk.
And...
Can this Human Hell actually have an effect on urban legend of Smelly Girl's level?
Then it's absolutely necessary to learn it, isn't it? Lu Yibei thought seriously.
