I'm the Culinary God-Chapter 630 - 294: The Soul Dipping Sauce That Gets You Hooked with Just One Bite! Geng Lele’s Celebration Banquet for Academic Advancement! [Subscribe Please]_3

Chapter 630: Chapter 294: The Soul Dipping Sauce That Gets You Hooked with Just One Bite! Geng Lele’s Celebration Banquet for Academic Advancement! [Subscribe Please]_3

"Yunyun, I have some unfortunate news for you..."

This tone of voice made Shu Yun puzzled. "What unfortunate news? Did you get caught forging a sick note?"

"No, it’s that I can never pretend to be the class teacher to sign off on things again, nor am I eligible to participate in the college entrance exam... I... I... I... I... I was forcibly accepted by the Excellent Level class."

Accepted is one thing, but forcibly? It’s not like they can go to your house and drag you there.

Shu Yun said with a smile, "That’s good news, actually! When we took the college entrance exam, we would study all night long, and after the exams, we were all out of sorts. To be able to skip the college entrance exam and get into Tsinghua University, and moreover, to be in the Excellent Level class which is on par with Professor Yao’s class, is a dream come true for many."

"But..."

Geng Lele, too, initially thought it was quite nice. But these past few days, whenever she showed the slightest hesitation, everyone—whether school teachers or family relatives—acted as if her acceptance was a stroke of immense luck, a blessing from her ancestors. You’re ungrateful and even putting on airs, how thoughtless! That was the general sentiment.

Young Geng Lele was experiencing troubles beyond academics for the first time, so she was unhappy.

Shu Yun put down her bowl and said with a smile, "Let them say what they want; just don’t listen to them. Didn’t Professor Cui say last time that he would handle these matters? He doesn’t want you too involved in things outside your studies to prevent them from affecting you."

From her years of knowing her relatives, some genuinely cared about the younger generation, but others were covertly jealous. Their own achievements were mediocre, and so were their kids’. If everyone were mediocre, then fine, but there just had to be someone exceptionally talented in the family. To find some psychological balance, they deliberately talked down to the younger ones, and the more outstanding the young person, the harsher they lectured them.

Dealing with these people is actually quite simple; just find someone imposing enough to make them back down.

Shu Yun looked at Geng Lele and asked, "When they say these things, is your grandfather not present?"

"Yeah, they always wait for my grandfather to be absent before they say such things."

"Next time someone says that, just call your grandfather over. Let the gentle and amiable Mr. Lishan sincerely thank them for their earnest advice and fervent hopes."

Geng Lele paused for a moment. Could the problem really be solved that simply?

She had been quite troubled by these matters during this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival. What seemed so hard to resolve unexpectedly became simple just by bringing her grandfather into it—it was almost too easy!

"Thank you, Yunyun. Oh, by the way, I might be having a school acceptance celebration in a few days. You should join us."

"Sure, I’ll bring you a big red envelope!"

After speaking, Shu Yun pointed upstairs, "They’re all upstairs eating steam pot chicken. You should hurry up and try some too. Besides, before dinner, Aunt Han was mentioning she hadn’t seen you these past few days."

Upon hearing there was food, Little Mushroom Head instantly perked up. "I’ll go right now, and I’ll invite Uncle Shen and Aunt Han to my school acceptance celebration..."

And she happily trotted upstairs.

Song Tiantian enviously watched Geng Lele’s departing figure and said, "I so envy those for whom taking the college entrance exam is as easy as drinking water. After being accepted by Tsinghua University, Lele’s parents must be really happy, right?"

Happy, definitely. But extremely happy... Considering that both of Geng Lele’s parents work in a research institute and are highly intelligent, they probably take such things in stride. They would likely think it’s only to be expected. Moreover, when it came to happiness, the truly elated one should be the runner-up from Haidian Middle School, who had always been overshadowed by Geng Lele. Now, hearing Geng Lele was leaving, that student was probably genuinely happy for their schoolmate.

「The following morning.」

While the back kitchen was bustling with preparations, Lin Xu received a call from Geng Lishan.

"Lin, my young friend, you heard about Lele getting into Tsinghua University, right? I’m planning to hold a school acceptance celebration at your place, for about eighty or ninety people. Can your place accommodate that many?"

"Yes, we can. We just set up a banquet hall before the Mid-Autumn Festival; it can definitely accommodate them."

Upon hearing about the banquet hall, Geng Lishan was relieved. He was very dedicated to his granddaughter’s school acceptance celebration. He invited not only a host of relatives but also leaders and teachers from Haidian Middle School, as well as esteemed guests like Cui Qingyuan. Additionally, members of the TV show "Delicacies of the Worlds" were also invited, since they were colleagues, after a fashion.

After finalizing the date, number of guests, and dishes, the restaurant began its preparations. The roast suckling pig from the last time had left a profound impression on Geng Lishan, so this time there would be one per table, along with a whole roasted lamb. As for other dishes, that was up to Lin Xu to decide. He had only one request: nothing too fancy, just showcase the dishes’ natural flavors as much as possible. It was a celebration for close friends and family, after all; no need for pretentious, unsatisfying dishes.

But to Lin Xu, it sounded like: "Not too fancy? Natural flavors? What kind of cooking fits these criteria?"

After hanging up the phone, he asked Wei Qian, "What kind of dishes are considered not fancy while maintaining their natural flavors?"

"Stewing," Wei Qian replied. "That’s all about natural flavors, isn’t it?"

That was one direction, but for a proper school acceptance celebration, we can’t just serve a table full of various stews, can we? Even at a country feast, they don’t just do that!

Zhu Yong said, "The steam pot chicken you made yesterday fits the bill. It looks good, tastes good, and is suitable for Lele’s school acceptance celebration."

That was a good suggestion. I’ll ask Old Huang to prepare a few more chickens that day, so each table can have a serving of steam pot chicken to try.

Zhuang Yizhou also offered his opinion, "How about steamed dishes? They are simple and fresh without being bland. That should meet Mr. Lishan’s requirement for natural flavors perfectly."

The topic of "natural flavors" spurred a lively discussion.

While they were talking, the usually silent Qin Wei suddenly spoke, "Salt... salt-baked. That... meets the... requirements."

As he said this, everyone’s eyes lit up.

Right, salt-baked! When speaking of natural flavors, what could be more fitting than salt-baked dishes?

It was truly unexpected; Mr. Lishan, despite his age, was actually speaking so cryptically! If Qin Wei hadn’t figured out his hint, this celebration banquet might not have achieved perfection.

Just as he was thinking, the system notification rang in Lin Xu’s mind:

"Host continually seeks improvement, triggering Side Quest [Technique Exploration]: Please create three salt-baked dishes of at least Excellent Level within four hours. Upon completion, you will obtain a Superior universal Cooking Technique—Salt Baking."

Four hours, three dishes. And all must be of Excellent Level. System, you don’t have to think so highly of me, really. I’m just a newbie in the cooking world. Starting me off with three dishes... it’s going to be very difficult for me to achieve that.

Lin Xu sighed and began to conceptualize the salt-baked dishes he was about to make...

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