When Li Younan completed the check-in, he finally received the long-awaited system notification.
[Check-in completed, receive random reward.]
[Cooking skill +1]
Standing at the exit of the Jinling Museum, Li Younan quietly waited for twenty or thirty seconds to digest the acquired skill.
This experience was extremely familiar to him, with countless culinary knowledge flooding his brain.
Even the methods for signature dishes in internationally renowned cuisines like Italian and French were transmitted into his mind.
It wasn't just dry knowledge since cooking also requires muscle memory and proficiency with various kitchen tools.
At this moment, Li Younan suddenly felt an inexplicable urge, hoping there was a kitchen counter in front of him, where he could easily grab a knife—that long-missed knife.
Li Younan chuckled wryly.
In fact, he could cook a little.
When he used to live with Yang Ting, he would often cook at home.
Although he couldn't make anything too complicated, he was still willing to give it a try.
But thinking about it, Li Younan heaved a sigh.
Cooking for Yang Ting wasn't a pleasant experience; every time he served the dishes, Yang Ting would point out the flaws in them.
Initially, Li Younan had some doubts about himself.
Because before living with Yang Ting, he also cooked for his mom at home, and each time she would happily eat everything and praise how delicious it was.
Yang Ting's attitude led Li Younan to wonder if his mother had been lying to him all along.
Li Younan shook these unpleasant memories out of his head and focused back on reality.
Sweetness looked at Li Younan curiously: "What are you daydreaming about?"
Li Younan snapped back to his senses, smiled, and said, "Nothing, let's get going."
When it's mealtime, they could conveniently grab a bite to eat, and while eating, Younan could send Sweetness the photos he just took for her.
Li Younan planned to grab something casual from a street vendor. If they wanted something better, they could also split the bill.
Zhu Qingyue wasn't very enthusiastic about the idea of eating.
Ever since she was a child, she never ate meals cooked by her parents because as far as she could remember, they were always busy with work and had no time to cook.
She had always eaten in the school cafeteria with her parents.
In her memory, there wasn't a "mom's taste" or "dad's taste," only the unchanging flavor of cafeteria bulk meals.
Later, as she got older and slightly more independent, she merely ordered food in restaurants.
Many times, she envied those who could eat meals cooked by their mothers from a young age.
The best meal in her memory was at a classmate's home, where her classmate's father cooked braised pork.
To this day, Zhu Qingyue remembers that the uncle was chubby and always had a kind smile on his face.
She also remembers being very, very hungry that day—a kind of hunger she hadn't felt in many years since then.
Li Younan asked, "What do you guys want to eat?"
Sweetness thought this meal wasn't important; she wanted to finish it quickly, just fine for Younan to send her the just-taken photos during the meal.
Zhu Qingyue also didn't want anything too complicated or expensive.
At that moment, she glanced around and spotted a street stall selling stir-fried flat noodles, smiled, and said, "Let's have that."
Li Younan took a look, and it seemed just right.
Zhu Qingyue said, "I've been craving stir-fried flat noodles, so let's have that."
Sweetness nodded, "I'm fine with anything... whatever!"
Seeing this, Li Younan nodded, "Alright then."
At this time, the noodle stall hadn't yet attracted any customers.
A cart, with two folding tables set up by the owner on the nearby ground and some small chairs, completed the stall setup.
Li Younan went to order: "Boss, three portions of stir-fried flat noodles, please."
The owner, a lean-looking middle-aged man with dark skin and a somewhat honest and kind face, was on the phone.
He looked up and gave Li Younan a slightly apologetic smile, then said into the phone, "Let's talk about this later, I have business now."
However, the person on the other end of the line was evidently upset, and their voice was loud enough for even Li Younan nearby to hear: "Fine, if you hang up, don't call me again."
By then, the owner had already started the fire, and the eggs were in the pan. He was somewhat caught in a dilemma, showing Li Younan an apologetic smile and gesturing for his help with flipping the food.
Li Younan naturally took over the large spatula, rolled up his sleeves effortlessly.
The prepared ingredients were easy to cook.
An expert reveals their competence in a glimpse.
Seeing Li Younan's moves, the owner, while still on the call, realized instantly that he was dealing with a cook.
Li Younan glanced at the owner, who seemed stuck on the phone, and continued on his accord, adding ingredients one by one, adjusting the heat with ease, proficiently tossing the wok, flipping the food inside.
The owner's expression was momentarily stunned.
Meanwhile, Zhu Qingyue and Sweetness, who had just sat down for a short while, were puzzled as to why ordering food was taking so long.
Looking over, they saw Li Younan wielding a big wok, constantly stir-frying the vegetables and beef inside.
Under his tossing and flipping, the ingredients danced and tumbled like acrobats; the two of them were stunned.
Sweetness chuckled and said, "I didn't expect him to know how to cook."
Zhu Qingyue gazed intently at Li Younan, hesitated for a moment, then stood up and silently moved to the front of the stall to watch him cook up close.
The owner of the stall also finished his call, put down his phone, and similarly didn't take his eyes off Li Younan cooking this classic Cantonese dish—stir-fried rice noodles with beef.
Li Younan, as if meticulously drilled, managed the heat with uncanny precision.
Some operational details grabbed the owner's attention.
Li Younan added light soy sauce for freshness and dark soy sauce for color, drizzling it along the edge of the wok to release fragrance.
After the rice noodles went in, he let them sear for a few seconds before sautéing, forming a slightly charred layer, then returned the ingredients to the wok in two batches—first stir-frying the noodles to seventy percent done, setting them aside, sautéing the aromatics, and then mixing everything back, double-locking the wok's fragrance.
Executing it all in one go, when he turned off the heat, a white plume of steam rose up, emitting a rich aroma.
This technique impressed even the owner, who had been frying rice noodles for over a decade, prompting him to ask, "Buddy, are you a fellow colleague?"
Li Younan merely smiled faintly, "No, no, just messing around at home."
But the owner showed a suspicious expression at Li Younan's explanation.
From Li Younan's level of proficiency, it seemed beyond just home cooking abilities.
Zhu Qingyue's gaze was completely glued to the stir-fried noodles in the wok, feeling her mouth watering.
She swallowed lightly and licked her lips.
She suddenly found herself very, very hungry.