Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 120 - 117: Mr. Tang’s Invitation ()

"Actually, making acid-spicy potato shreds is quite simple. You just need to follow a few key steps." Mr. Tian took out two potatoes, peeling them while explaining to Han Qiwu.

"Got it, please continue, I’ll jot it down." Han Qiwu pulled out his phone and opened the notes app.

Mr. Tian nodded, raised the knife, and began his instructions to Han Qiwu.

"Step one, the potato shreds must be perfectly uniform—neither too thick nor too thin, and absolutely unbroken." After saying this, Mr. Tian began slicing the potatoes. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"Swish swish swish swish swish."

With a few swift moves, Mr. Tian turned two potatoes into a large bowl of potato shreds. Upon closer inspection, they were indeed as he said—completely uniform.

"Mr. Tian, if I don’t have such great knife skills, can I use a shredder board instead?" Han Qiwu asked with a helpless expression. He might know how to gut a fish, but slicing potatoes was a whole other story.

Mr. Tian froze for a moment, then nodded while rinsing the shredded potatoes.

"That’ll work, but it might slightly affect the texture."

Having cooked for so many years, he had never actually used one of those tools.

"Step two, before stir-frying, the potato shreds must be blanched. Simply put, boil them briefly in hot water. If you follow the thickness I’ve sliced, blanching them for thirty-six to seventy-five seconds will suffice. No need to be overly precise." Mr. Tian narrated while executing this step.

Han Qiwu: "... Blanching precise down to seconds still counts as ’not precise’?"

Did I misunderstand the meaning of precision?

When the time was up, Mr. Tian promptly scooped out the potato shreds and submersed them in a previously prepared bowl of cold water, to which a bit of aromatic vinegar had been added.

"Next is the easy part: heat oil to coat the wok, add seasonings; once fragrant, toss in the potato shreds and stir-fry on high heat for thirty seconds, and that’s it. Your potato shreds will be crisp and aromatic." Mr. Tian said as he quickly chopped the seasonings.

"Thirty seconds? Would they even be cooked?" Han Qiwu asked doubtfully. Potatoes, when uncooked, might be toxic.

Dragon Hollyhock alkaloid alert!

"They’ll be fine. Watch." Mr. Tian swiftly poured a large ladle of oil into the wok, flicking his wrist slightly.

Han Qiwu: "???"

That ladle was bigger than Han Qiwu’s face—easily over half a pound of oil!

"Mr. Tian, aren’t we making French fries here?"

"What nonsense! This is for coating the wok." Mr. Tian swirled the oil for a moment before pouring most of it back into the oil basin, leaving just a thin layer at the bottom.

Alright, that’s fine then.

After sautéing the seasonings to release their fragrance, Mr. Tian tossed in the potato shreds, then twisted the valve of the gas stove.

"Whoosh!"

"Vroom vroom vroom vroom vroom."

A deep blue flame surged from the gas burner, turning a fierce yellow as it met the underside of the wok.

Unlike typical home stoves, this burner’s flame ring was exceptionally large, and the room temperature instantly soared.

Is this what you call high heat?

If you didn’t show me a picture, I might’ve thought this was a planetary engine!

That flame is ridiculously intense!

No wonder it cooks in thirty seconds.

If you threw in anything cut into shreds, it’d cook just as fast!

Thirty seconds later, Mr. Tian transferred the potato shreds onto a plate and turned off the gas stove.

"Want to taste?"

"Sure."

One bite—these potato shreds were tangy, spicy, fragrant, and perfectly tender while retaining their crisp texture. They were undeniably delicious.

"How is it? Have you learned how? If not, I can make it again." Mr. Tian chuckled cheerfully. As a chef, he hadn’t felt this sort of satisfaction in a long time.

"Thank you, Mr. Tian. I think I’ve got the hang of it; I’ll try it out at home later." Han Qiwu heard the system notification sound.

[Mr. Tian’s Favorability Reward]

[You’ve learned the recipe for acid-spicy potato shreds]

Just like with Aunt Hong Mei’s favorability reward, this instance triggered directly.

Seems like completing assistance tasks not only earns rewards but also builds favorability for more rewards.

A huge win today.

After thanking Mr. Tian, Han Qiwu left.

Before leaving, Han Qiwu even added Mr. Tian on WeChat, conveniently for future tasks.

You never know when he might need more ingredients, right?

If he urgently needed potatoes, a single potato could earn 700 gold. Twenty-something potatoes equals 15,000 gold—rounding up, 20,000!

Heh.

Once outside, a cold breeze hit Han Qiwu square in the face.

Ah, awake now.

No pep talk necessary.

After stepping out, he first headed to the blacksmith’s shop to sell a pile of crystals.

Total earnings: 1,765 gold.

Without any luck bonuses, the crystal yield from the cave wasn’t very high.

Next, at the seaside, Han Qiwu similarly went to the trade center to sell the remaining 26 cave fish he’d caught.

Otherwise, there’d be no space in his inventory for new fish.

How much longer will it take to save up 10,000 gold to upgrade the inventory slots?

Life’s tough.

[Through trading, you earned 5,530 gold]

Stonefish sell for 260 gold, rockfish for 230 each.

If it weren’t for the bait restrictions, Han Qiwu could easily catch fish worth 10,000 or 20,000 a day!

What a pity.

Back to mining for bait.

"Now that I’ve got over 10,000 gold in the bag, should I spend 5,000 tonight to upgrade the pickaxe, and save the rest for potential finds in the small goods truck tomorrow?" Han Qiwu mused, carrying his fish bucket while heading toward the rock cave where the black bream were.

The reason he wanted to fish for black bream was simple: he wanted to test the precision fishing skill’s effectiveness.

In other areas, fish were either too scarce or required bait, but here the fish were the most cooperative—they bit as soon as the hook was dropped.

Black bream: "Us honest fish, what did we ever do to you!"

Upon arrival, Han Qiwu first surveyed the water.

The timing was spot-on today; the large black bream were lining up to swim back from the rock crevices, clearly just done foraging.

"Let’s see who today’s lucky guest will be!" Han Qiwu lightly cast his line, and the hook drifted across the surface—exactly beside a black bream’s mouth.

The fishing game successfully triggered.

A few minutes later, Han Qiwu reeled in a black bream.

And again.

He kept fishing until the sun touched the horizon, finally putting away his gear with a hint of reluctance.

Under the soft glow of the setting sun, Han Qiwu slowly walked across the rocky shore, his figure solitary.

The black bream cave was still the same, but the person who led him to fish here hadn’t been heard from in a long time...

"Ra-da da da dada-da dada-da dadada-da Your turn!"

Vibing to Tom’s ringtone hits differently.

Glancing at the caller ID, Han Qiwu smiled faintly and answered the phone.

"Han Qiwu, got time to go fishing with me tomorrow? I’ve been so busy lately—I really need a fishing break." Tang Qingying asked shyly.

Her friend Jing Yijia stood beside her, enthusiastically cheering her on and holding up a cue card.

"Tomorrow? Let me check." Han Qiwu instinctively replied, mentally reviewing his schedule. Tomorrow was the 22nd; apart from dealing with the goods guy, there wasn’t anything too pressing.

So it’s a yes!

"Oh, okay then, check it out." Tang Qingying’s face was flushed red, tightly gripping both her phone and her sleeve.

Upon hearing her tone, Han Qiwu naturally responded, "I’ve got time tomorrow. Perfect—I caught some new fish these past few days; I’ll cook them for you to try at dinner."

"Huh? Dinner? What about lunch? I might need to head back in the evening; tomorrow’s Monday and I’ve got class." Tang Qingying reflexively answered, realizing moments later she hadn’t followed the cue card’s lines.

"Oh sure, lunch works too." Han Qiwu chuckled. He’d suggested dinner for a simple reason: How busy is the day—who has time for lunch?

Considering the past few days, when was the last time he had a proper lunch at home?

For all I care, cultivators don’t need food!

"I’ll come by around 10 AM tomorrow morning; let’s meet by the black bream cave." Tang Qingying exhaled in relief.

"Alright, see you there." Han Qiwu mused; he’d better go meet the goods seller earlier tomorrow morning.

After hanging up, Han Qiwu grabbed his fish bucket and headed toward the trade center, planning to sell more fish before upgrading his tools. Coincidentally, he had six copper ingots stashed in his inventory.

Meanwhile, on the balcony of a high-rise apartment in Rong City, Tang Qingying set down her phone and hurried back to her bedroom. Taking a deep breath, she flopped onto the bed.

"Xiao Tang, why didn’t you follow the cue card? Were you nervous?" Jing Yijia teased, leaning in like a tabloid reporter, her face brimming with gossip.

"Your lines are weird to say. Besides, you didn’t hear it—after I used your lines, he said he’d think about it. I think I bothered him." Tang Qingying mumbled into her pillow.

Earlier in the day, the two had simply gathered for a meal of spicy hotpot. While eating, Tang Qingying sighed, "These past ten days have been so exhausting. If only I could go fishing with Han Qiwu again—his fish dishes are amazing. One meal leaves you feeling refreshed."

Jing Yijia, ever the instigator, immediately quipped, "Well, take advantage of tomorrow being Sunday—ask him to go fishing!"

"Better not. What if he’s got things to do? Just freeloading meals feels wrong." Tang Qingying had shaken her head then.

Not having it, Jing Yijia instantly transformed into Yue Lao. After grabbing a cue card, she scribbled down an extensive 500-word strategy!

The card contained distilled wisdom from countless romance novels!

But Tang Qingying, ever the rebel, completely disregarded the script’s planned maneuvers.

Watching her friend bury her face into a pillow, Jing Yijia’s eyes gleamed with mischief. Grinning, she explained, "You don’t know—this is the classic ’playing hard to get’ tactic from boys! Deep down, he definitely wants to fish with you! But since you’re his teacher, he doesn’t want to overstep. In times like this, you need to take the initiative! High tree, sweet fruit—who steps up gets the prize!"

"Stop talking nonsense. We’re just teacher and student—whatever prize nonsense you’re spewing." Tang Qingying sat up, leaning closer to Jing Yijia.

"Wait a second—wasn’t he trying to set up dinner?"

"Yeah, but then we switched to lunch."

"See? Proof he’s trying to woo you!" Jing Yijia declared, eyes sparkling. "Otherwise, why insist on dinner? Be cautious—no alcohol tomorrow!"

"Drink, don’t drive; drive, don’t drink. Got it." Tang Qingying chuckled. "Okay, enough about me. What about you—anything new happening?"

"Me? Nothing noteworthy." Jing Yijia waved her hand dismissively, steering the conversation back to Tang Qingying. "Also, no beer fish or beer duck either. If he tries to use what you said to keep you around, be wary!"

"Relax—it’s just lunch, no alcohol involved." Tang Qingying waved her hand. "Alright then, back to eating hotpot. I’ll go reheat the dishes."

"Stop, stop—I’ll handle it. Remember the rule: the kitchen is off-limits for you! Just stay in teacher mode!" Jing Yijia firmly held Tang Qingying back.

The traumatic kitchen accidents of the past were too vivid—she didn’t want to see firefighters again tonight.