Chapter 115 - 107: Truly Delicious

Chapter 115: Chapter 107: Truly Delicious

It was exactly as Chen Zihan had said. Crocodile Ecological Park looked quite large, but there actually wasn’t much of interest.

Fearing accidents, the teachers didn’t allow them to play in the water park. The family zone was for little kids, and these junior high students "disdained" playing with such childish things. Therefore, they mainly gathered around the science museum and the crocodile breeding area. The science museum was fascinating to those who liked it, and boring to those who didn’t.

The breeding area just involved watching crocodiles lying on the shore one by one. It was quite different from the videos they had seen online; there were no staff members going in with iron shovels to knock them on the head and drive them into the water. It seemed different breeding bases used different methods.

Students interested in board games spent a longer time in the board game area. Some boys, in particular, were laughing and roughhousing. Those with some spare pocket money would buy beautiful souvenirs when passing by the sales area. Although the tour guide introduced the souvenirs, there was no coaxing or pressuring them to buy. Everything was entirely voluntary. After all, middle school students didn’t have much money. As for the others, they just looked for scenic spots suitable for taking photos and snapped a few pictures.

With so many students traveling together, they drew curious glances from the other tourists in the park. The originally rather deserted ecological park gained a bit more vitality due to the arrival of this group of students. Fatty Liu was right; students really did boost popularity.

Strolling and wandering around, they finished touring in about an hour and a half.

Seeing that it was nearing noon and it wasn’t raining, the teachers immediately gathered everyone to find a place to sit nearby and eat the food they had brought for lunch. The park had plenty of chairs and tables for pedestrians to rest. Li Beixing and a few other teachers found a table and sat down. Those who had brought food took it out, while the teachers who hadn’t went to the restaurant area to eat. They were only afraid of the students getting food poisoning. If the teachers got an upset stomach, it was fine; at worst, it would just be a bout of diarrhea.

"Sister Yun, do you want to join us?"

"Chen Qiyun, let’s sit together?"

Several classmates invited Chen Qiyun to sit with them.

Chen Qiyun glanced at Li Beixing not far away and shook her head. "No, I’m going over to Teacher Li’s side." With that, she carried her little backpack and walked over.

Everyone was instantly shocked and exchanged looks. How could a student dare to sit with a teacher? Shouldn’t they be afraid of the teachers?

For junior high students, even the ones with good grades wouldn’t get too close to the teachers. Most still felt a great deal of awe and reverence toward them. There was also a small fraction hitting their rebellious phase who were very disdainful of the teachers. They often went against them and provoked them in various ways, acting as if this was very cool. They felt that anyone close to the teachers was a teacher’s pet. High school and college students were different; it was normal for them to treat their teachers like buddies.

"Teacher Li~" Chen Qiyun walked over. "Can I sit next to you?"

Li Beixing asked curiously, "You can, but Chen Qiyun, why aren’t you sitting with the other students?"

Chen Qiyun’s lips curved into a smile. "I brought the food my brother made." She took out the lunchbox wrapped in a plastic bag from her backpack. Hmm, good, it hadn’t leaked.

"Oh?" Li Beixing was surprised.

"Teacher, do you want to try some?"

"I don’t think that’s a good idea." Li Beixing was a little tempted, but she subconsciously restrained herself out of politeness.

She had also brought a packed lunch, which she had asked Auntie Wang to help make that morning. She had heard that the food in the park’s restaurant wasn’t very good, and many people only came to eat there for the crocodile meat. She had no interest in crocodile meat.

Chen Qiyun whispered conspiratorially, "But it smells really good!"

Li Beixing was curious. "What did you bring?"

"It’s beef!" Chen Qiyun asked, "Teacher, do you eat beef?"

She opened the lid of the lunchbox. The top layer was fully packed with cold-tossed beef, coated in red chili oil and chopped green onions. Immediately, a spicy and savory aroma slowly wafted out. At this, even the few teachers beside them were surprised.

The math teacher next to them immediately teased, "Chen Qiyun, why are you only sharing it with Teacher Li?"

"Because... because..." Chen Qiyun stammered. She couldn’t very well say she wanted to introduce her older brother to Li Beixing. She could say that in private, but she chickened out in front of the other teachers.

"Exactly."

"Chen Qiyun, it’s not good for you to play favorites like this."

The other teachers also chimed in with their banter.

Of course, it was just teasing. They knew Li Beixing favored Chen Qiyun and hoped this little girl’s grades could improve. It was only human nature. Although the food Chen Qiyun brought did smell incredible, how could teachers have the nerve to snatch food from a student? Moreover, none of them were children anymore; no matter what, they wouldn’t let their appetites control them.

Li Beixing knew what was going on, and her face flushed slightly. However, this cold-tossed beef really did smell amazing. Originally, she wasn’t someone who could handle spicy food very well, but smelling the aroma of this chili oil, she couldn’t help secretly swallowing her saliva.

The food she brought consisted of broccoli, a boiled egg, and a pan-fried chicken breast. It was a fat-loss meal, since she felt like her weight was getting a bit out of control lately. Anyone who had eaten fat-loss meals surely knew what they tasted like. Those who hadn’t could just use their imagination.

"Thank you, then I’ll just have one piece," she said.

Facing Chen Qiyun’s expectant gaze, she had no choice but to reach out with her chopsticks, pick up a slice of beef, and place it in her mouth.

The aroma of the beef instantly filled her entire mouth. The thickness was just right, and the texture was fantastic—chewy, yet the beef fibers wouldn’t get stuck in her teeth. It was no exaggeration to say that this was one of the best pieces of beef she had ever eaten, purely in terms of flavor. Li Beixing came from a well-off family. Therefore, whether it was top-tier foreign Wagyu or Angus beef, or domestic fresh Northeast marbled beef and Guizhou yellow cattle, whether prepared in a Chinese or Western style, she had tasted them all.

She originally thought that no matter how delicious beef could be, it would only amount to so much. She hadn’t expected Chen Qiyun’s offering to give her such a pleasant surprise. This beef probably wasn’t particularly high-quality; it was just ordinary lean beef. But it was cooked so well. The characteristics that distinguished beef from other meats had been magnified several times over, making it taste absolutely phenomenal!

In a word, savory! Crucially, it wasn’t an aroma born from crazily piling on all sorts of spices. Rather, it was the intrinsic fragrance of the meat combined with a complex blend of various spices, chili oil, and chopped green onions. The seasoning merely acted as the icing on the cake. It was truly excellent!

It made someone want to eat a second and a third piece right after finishing the first!

The portion just now had been too small, leaving her no time to savor it carefully. Li Beixing subconsciously picked up another slice. It was only after she extended her chopsticks and picked it up that she realized what she was doing.

She thought in panic, "Wait! What am I doing?! Didn’t I say I’d only eat one piece?"

At this moment, her face burned with embarrassment, and she wished the ground would swallow her up. She said awkwardly, "Sorry, I spaced out for a moment."

Chen Qiyun snickered. "It’s fine. As long as you like it, Teacher."

Li Beixing didn’t dare to speak anymore and buried her head in her food. As the second slice of beef entered her mouth, that sensation of her taste buds cheering and jumping for joy appeared once again, her stomach screaming frantically for more.

At this moment, she looked down at her fat-loss meal and thought, "Ugh, why am I eating this stuff? How is this any different from torture?"

But she didn’t dare to take another piece; it was too embarrassing! She could only force down her discomfort and silently eat her terrible-tasting diet food. She suddenly remembered the food pictures Chen Qiyun had sent her before, especially that Jade Pearl Fish Flower. At the time, she thought Chen Jingle just had decent knife skills at best. Who would have thought that even a seemingly ordinary cold-tossed beef could be made so deliciously?

She realized, "So everything Chen Qiyun said is true."

Chen Qiyun always used to say that Chen Jingle’s cooking was amazing. Li Beixing hadn’t believed it, thinking she was exaggerating. Now it seemed it wasn’t an exaggeration at all. It felt even better than Auntie Wang’s cooking, and it should be noted that Auntie Wang used to be a head chef!

This made her curious about Chen Jingle’s culinary skills. She wondered, "Could he actually be some sort of master chef?"

If it were true, just how delicious would the meals he cooked be? For a moment, she actually felt a bit envious of Chen Qiyun. Li Beixing felt a bit bewildered, wondering if a person could really have such high accomplishments in so many different areas.

Meanwhile, while eating, many students secretly looked over. Seeing Chen Qiyun sitting quietly next to the teachers and eating, they couldn’t help but admire her.

"Sister Yun is too amazing. She’s actually chatting and laughing with the teachers."

"As expected of Sister Yun!"

"I wonder what kind of food Sister Yun brought. I want to eat it too."

"You wish."

Seeing that Li Beixing was reluctant to eat any more, Chen Qiyun decisively scarfed the rest down herself in a flash, SWISH SWISH SWISH. Seeing her eat with such gusto, the teachers beside her all spontaneously revealed gratified smiles.

The math teacher said, "You have to eat more to grow taller, you know that, Chen Qiyun?"

Although she wasn’t very fond of the math teacher, she still nodded. "I’ve been eating well lately. I’ve already grown almost two centimeters taller than before."

The English teacher said, "That’s good. Your generation of children gets plenty of nutrition, so you’ll definitely end up taller and bigger than us."

Chen Qiyun, however, was thinking about measuring her height when she woke up this morning. She was almost at 154 centimeters. Once she reached it, she could ask Chen Jingle for another mystery gift. The bread chicken he made last time was very creative, allowing her to fiercely show off in front of her close friends. What would the gift be this time? Just thinking about it made her look forward to it.

After finishing their meals, they cleaned up their trash. Everyone rested briefly before preparing to head back. Li Beixing waved the small tour guide flag and shouted for the students to start gathering. Several teachers helped take a headcount.

"Class 1 is all here."

"Why is Class 2 missing someone? Who else isn’t here?"

"Teacher, Li Jiahao is missing!"

Li Beixing, who was in the middle of counting students, felt as if the sky was falling when she heard this. Everything had been fine when they came; if they returned missing a student, wouldn’t the parents eat her alive?

She hurriedly asked, "Was anyone with Li Jiahao just now, or did anyone see him?"

The students exchanged uncertain glances. Someone whispered, "He was just sitting with us eating."

Li Beixing could no longer sit still. "Class Monitor, Study Commissary, take two students each and search nearby. Wang Zeyu, Li Zilin, you two boys were with Li Jiahao just now, so help look for him too. Everyone else, wait where you are, and don’t run around!"