Chapter 50 - 46: Return from the Hunt

Chapter 50: Chapter 46: Return from the Hunt

In his nearly thirty years of life, the chef Johnny admired most was Grandpa Miao. The Black Panther Company’s culinary tour business had only taken off and built its reputation after the old man joined. No matter what prey they hunted down, Grandpa Miao could always find the perfect way to prepare it, creating dishes that left their clients singing their praises.

Even if the boss made a fair point, Johnny simply didn’t believe this newcomer could hold a candle to Grandpa Miao’s culinary skills. In his eyes, it would be a win if she could just help Uncle Hansha complete the menu without the guests questioning their service and demanding a refund. Earlier, right after getting out of the vehicle, Johnny had secretly urged Uncle Hansha to put the girl to the test. Now, seeing that her dish was ready, he immediately walked over to evaluate her work.

He thought, "Well, the aroma isn’t bad."

Holding the bowl, Johnny was hit by the rich, creamy scent of mushrooms, which made him swallow involuntarily. He decided to see how it tasted. Foregoing a spoon, he tipped the bowl back and downed the soup in one loud GULP.

Then, he froze in a dazed stupor.

"How is it?" Hansha asked when he saw Johnny remain silent.

Johnny didn’t react, acting as if he hadn’t heard him at all. Seeing this, Hansha simply scooped a bowl for himself and took a sip.

"This..."

His expression shifted slightly. He took another sip, savoring it carefully. The broth was silky and smooth with a prominent creamy flavor, perfectly capturing the essence of the dish. The mushrooms were rich in umami and tender on the palate. Upon closer tasting, the distinct notes of onion and minced garlic emerged without overpowering the main ingredients. Paired with a savory seasoning, it elevated the soup to a whole new level of appetizing.

Compared to Grandpa Miao’s cooking, the quality was actually a cut above! Was this really the skill level of someone who just made breakfast in a cafeteria?

Beside him, Johnny finally snapped out of his daze. With an unnatural expression, he scratched his head. "It’s... it’s not bad. You’re pretty... pretty amazing. Um, let me know if you need anything. I’m... I’m always on call!"

With that, he slammed the bowl on the table and bolted out of there in a flash.

Ning He was completely baffled by his reaction, but fortunately, Hansha gave a very clear evaluation. "The soup is flawless. I’ll leave these dishes in your hands."

"Don’t worry," Ning He replied, patting her chest confidently.

It was currently nine-thirty. With less than three hours until mealtime, they had to prepare the other dishes in advance to leave enough time to process the prey Macken and his team brought back. After confirming their division of labor, Ning He and Hansha immediately got to work.

The mushroom soup was prepared exactly as before, just in a larger portion. The main difficulty lay in stirring the roux, but thankfully, Ning He found an electric whisk that solved the problem perfectly. With the cream soup and mushrooms prepped and set aside, there was a brief lull. Stir-fries couldn’t be made too early, and the fruit platter had to wait to ensure its freshness. Finding herself with some free time, Ning He noticed the little girl had tired herself out from playing and returned to her tent to snack on tortilla chips. An idea suddenly popped into her head.

She quickly grabbed two tomatoes, blanched and peeled them, then diced them up. She de-seeded and minced two small red chili peppers, chopped up an onion and some cilantro leaves, and crushed two cloves of garlic into a paste. Adding a dash of lemon juice and salt, she mixed it all thoroughly. Just like that, a saucer of chunky salsa was ready.

Ning He brought the salsa over to their tent, exchanged a few words, and returned to the food truck. The little girl and her parents watched her walk away. After a moment, all three scooped up some salsa with their tortilla chips and popped them into their mouths.

The two adults instantly revealed expressions of pleasant surprise. The little girl seemed to find it a bit too spicy; she covered her mouth and furrowed her brows, yet she refused to spit it out. After swallowing, she hissed, fanning her tongue, and immediately grabbed a glass of water to take a gulp. Before her parents could even check on her, she picked up another chip, scooped up more salsa, and started munching away with relish.

The parents exchanged an amused smile. The father turned to the bespectacled middle-aged man, who was zoning out while staring at the stream, and said something to him. The man smiled faintly, nodded, and got up to join them at the table for a taste. Evidently, he loved the flavor too, and the four of them gathered around to enjoy the snack. Since it was still early for lunch, it was the perfect bite to tide them over.

Seeing this, Hansha said something to Ning He. She flashed an "OK" sign and quickly made another batch. Dividing it into two saucers, she delivered a serving of tortilla chips and salsa each to Jia Mei, who was painting, and the man in the suit, who was fishing.

"Are they not back yet?" Ning He checked the time; there were less than two hours left.

Hansha was also a little unsure. "They should be close. If they don’t come back soon, it’s going to delay mealtime."

Just then, the BZZZ of a flying drone echoed from the sky.

"The boss and the others are back!" Johnny shouted excitedly.

The drone arrived first, carrying several bags. Johnny swiftly unloaded them and called Hansha and Ning He over to inspect the day’s harvest. Ning He saw clearly that each bag contained a different type of prey. At that moment, the system’s notification chimed once again, detailing the information of these animals one by one.

"Mutant Goat collection progress 100%. Rewarding Host with 100 Experience Points. Obtained high-collection rate reward: 10 cubic meters of pollution-free planting soil. Please check the system inventory."

"Avian Mutant collection rate 100%. Rewarding Host with 50 Experience Points."

"Discovered mutant species. Scanning... Scan complete. Mutant Rock Snake (Perfect Form) collection progress 100%. Rewarding Host with 600 Experience Points. Obtained high-collection rate reward: 10 cubic meters of pollution-free planting soil. Please check the system inventory."

"Discovered mutant species... Mutant Blue-scaled Fish (Perfect Form) collection progress 100%. Rewarding Host with... Please check the system inventory."

Ning He rapidly skimmed through the basic information of the four animals, then quickly dismissed the system window, pretending to carefully study the cloth bags in front of her. Beside her, Hansha took an instrument with a long probe from Johnny and inserted it into the prey’s wounds.

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Accompanied by the detector’s indicator sounds, Ning He saw green, yellow, and red numbers appear on the instrument’s display screen. The green numbers were the lowest, while the red ones were the highest. The Blue-scaled Fish registered as green, the avian mutant as red, and the other two were yellow.

Hansha looked at the hundred-pound mutant goat and breathed a sigh of relief. "This goat is edible. The main course is secured. But this fish..."

"What’s wrong with the fish?" Ning He asked.

"Sigh, this fish is hard to cook. It has a strong fishy stench, the meat is very tough, and it’s full of bones. If it’s not done perfectly, you won’t even be able to swallow it. Even Grandpa Miao didn’t have any good solutions when dealing with this kind of fish."

"What about this snake?" Ning He pressed.

Hansha shook his head. "We rarely encounter these snakes. Their bones are incredibly hard, they have very little meat, and it’s extremely tough and dry. It just doesn’t taste good no matter how you cook it."

She knew it was absolutely edible! She knew exactly which parts were delicious and how to prepare them—the system had laid it all out clearly. But she couldn’t tell them that. Ning He could only mirror his distressed expression.

"If worse comes to worst, you can use my fish."

A voice came from the side. Ning He turned around and saw the short, plump man in a suit who had been fishing earlier. The bucket beside him held six or seven foot-long fish. The system didn’t react, meaning they weren’t mutant species.

These fish were perfectly fine to cook, but Hansha couldn’t bring himself to accept the offer. They had already collected the guests’ money; failing to provide the promised service and then having the client subsidize their ingredients was something he simply couldn’t do.

Ultimately, Hansha decided to give it another shot. "If there really is no other way, we’ll borrow your fish."

The man in the suit nodded and, without another word, returned to the riverbank to continue fishing.

Since the goat was confirmed for the menu, it had to be slaughtered and processed immediately; otherwise, they wouldn’t make it in time. Johnny hefted the bag onto his shoulder and walked off. Seeing Hansha staring gloomily at the Blue-scaled Fish and the Rock Snake, Ning He tentatively suggested, "How about we cut this snake open first and take a look? Maybe there’s some usable meat somewhere."

Hansha thought about it. Having no other options, he nodded. "I suppose that’s all we can do. We’ll see how it goes."

"I’m quite good at dissection. Mind if I lend a hand?" The bespectacled middle-aged man suddenly walked over, carrying a metal case.

Hansha was taken aback for a moment, but then he remembered something and smiled. "If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, of course."

The middle-aged man nodded. Once Hansha had taken the Rock Snake out of the bag and laid it out, the man opened his case. Ning He’s eyes widened in sheer astonishment. Inside the case was an entire row of gleaming surgical scalpels!