“Hey, Gu Ding, aside from egg fried rice, can’t you make anything else?” Liliath complained with some reluctance as she gazed at the big bowl of egg fried rice in front of her.
This Grey-faced Buzzard model came with a gravity system installed and even had a cultivation room where the strength of gravity could be individually adjusted. The maximum it could be adjusted to was ten times the normal gravitational force.
“Why? Is it not tasty?” Gu Ding asked through a mouthful of fried rice, cheeks bulging.
“Tasty is tasty, but we’ve been eating egg fried rice three days in a row. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is already the eighth time…” Liliath could not avoid protesting anymore. Although she acknowledged that Gu Ding’s egg fried rice was masterful, eating it three days in a row did indeed make it a little unbearable.
“Oh, but I don’t know how to make anything else.” Gu Ding immediately gave an unarguable reason. “Rose Tavern’s Uncle Cook said I don’t have any culinary talent at all. Even this simple egg fried rice took me six months to learn.”
“I feel you do very well. Uncle Cook must have only said that because he was afraid you’d steal his job. To teach you egg fried rice for six months—he must’ve done that on purpose.” Judging from Gu Ding’s egg fried rice, Liliath felt that he probably had plenty of culinary talent.
“But the Rose aunties all said this too and made me do everything but cook.” Gu Ding harbored some doubt regarding Liliath’s views.
“Let Neptune search for a few simple recipes for you. You can try making something first. I’ll be the gourmand.” Liliath pushed the egg fried rice in front of her aside, full of anticipation.
Gu Ding finished his meal in two or three bites, also eager to try it out as Uncle Cook had not allowed him to touch anything in the kitchen after he had learned egg fried rice.
“I found something simple for you, and there are ingredients in the refrigerator too.” Although Neptune could not eat, watching humans busy in the kitchen was a delight. “This dish is very traditional. It’s called chili pepper shredded meat.”
Gu Ding looked at the recipe and the video, then nodded confidently. “Judging by the name, it’ll only be tasty if it’s spicy enough. I remember Liliath bought some hellfire dragon peppers before.”
After Gu Ding rummaged around in the refrigerator, he finally found a few purple peppers as large as a small thumb. “They’re so small. I’ll put a few more in.”
Gu Ding grabbed a handful of hellfire dragon peppers, then started choosing the meat.
“The recipe says I need lean meat. Gorilla flesh is probably the best choice, but the fridge only has… Brute Force Minotaur flesh.”
Having chosen the two main ingredients, Gu Ding quickly prepared the accompanying ingredients too.
Around twenty minutes later, Gu Ding stared at the large chunk of meat in the pot. The color did not seem to have changed much. Thus, he could not resist asking Neptune, “Do you think it’s cooked?”
“Probably not. According to data records, Brute Force Minotaur flesh will only be done after being broiled at 1300 degrees for more than five minutes. It’s an ingredient that requires special handling. Also, this isn’t shredded meat, is it? This piece of meat has more volume than your brain…” Neptune could not resist protesting.
“There’s no helping it. The knives in the kitchen couldn’t slice through this chunk of meat…” Gu Ding looked at the already-dull edges of the three kitchen knives, feeling like crying a little inside. “How about we just serve it like this in the pot then. We can just change the name of the dish.”
“Change it to chili pepper meat then.” Even Neptune did not know whether this sentence was said as a taunt or a suggestion.
“I don’t think that’s half bad.” Gu Ding felt that Neptune’s suggestion was acceptable.
“Up to you. It’s not for me to eat anyway.” Neptune could vaguely imagine what Liliath’s reaction would be later on.
Lifting the pot, Gu Ding then served the dish.
Upon seeing the huge chunk of meat, Liliath could not help asking, “What dish is this?”
“Chili pepper meat.” Gu Ding felt that this name was not too awkward-sounding either.
Liliath picked up her knife somewhat skeptically, but found that she could not cut through the meat even she tried for half a day. “What knife did you use to slice this earlier?”
“I didn’t slice it. The kitchen’s three kitchen knives have all been bent…” Gu Ding told Liliath with the utmost honesty.
“Alright then.” Liliath put down her small knife. She knew this meat was definitely inedible, but to show her support for Gu Ding, she pierced two little peppers onto her fork and shoved them into her mouth…
The moment the peppers entered her mouth, she spat them back out, her entire person having jumped onto the table. “Water, give me water…”
Gu Ding felt a little strange. He knew Liliath liked spiciness, so he had put in quite a few peppers. However, he never expected a reaction like this.
After pouring seventeen cups of cold water for Liliath, she finally calmed down. However, her voice was really hoarse. Staring at her swollen lips, Gu Ding could not understand what she was saying at all.
“She asked what peppers you used.” Neptune took up the task of translating. He could deduct what Liliath was saying based on the movements of her mouth.
“Hellfire dragon peppers,” Gu Ding answered, a little puzzled.
Upon hearing this name, Liliath’s response became more fired up. She gestured as she ranted.
“She said, the hellfire dragon peppers she bought weren’t for eating, they were to process her bullets. Hellfire dragon peppers have a special effect that can largely lower the platelet aggregation rate, lowering the recovery rate of the wounds caused by these bullets, alongside plenty of pain,” Neptune explained.
“But don’t some people use this to cook too?” Gu Ding could not quite understand.
“Actually, I just looked up information on hellfire dragon peppers. When others cook with it, they would only put a maximum of one, and they also only wash it with oil for a moment before fishing out the pepper. Then, they use that chili pepper oil to cook. However, you grabbed a handful earlier. That was at least thirty, probably…” Neptune did not wait for Liliath to explain and reported the results of his own search to Gu Ding.
“Then I’ll try other dishes. I promise I won’t put peppers in this time.” Having been persuaded by Liliath, Gu Ding was determined to make a new attempt.
However, of the following dishes, not a single dish looked appetizing. Every dish that Gu Ding handled all completely became dark cuisine[1]. Just looking at them made it hard for her to gulp.
Liliath also finally understood why the Rose Tavern people had said Gu Ding had no culinary talent at all, and she subsequently gave up completely.
Even Gu Ding could not quite look at some of his final products. After placing his seventh dish down on the dining table, Gu Ding looked at the gruesome plate of sweet and sour pork ribs. “I think we should find a chef.”
Liliath replied with some gestures, which Neptune translated.
“She said she wants to tell you a secret. Actually, she cooks worse than you…”
“All the more reason for us to find a chef then!” Gu Ding’s resolve was only further strengthened.
“No need to be anxious. Fix the spaceship first. There are still about four hours before we arrive on Constlac.” Neptune’s voice sounded in the duo’s ears.
“Just in time for dinner.” Gu Ding winked at Liliath.
[1] Slang for cooking so bad, it’s inedible