I'm the Culinary God

The bathroom and shower were on the left side of the room, and on the right was a large bedroom with a tatami-style platform bed.

"Wow, I love this place; it's so comfortably furnished."

Shen Baobao happily rolled on the bed. Then, like a child with ADHD, she opened the window next to her. Her face lit up with surprise as she asked, "Lin Xu, are those trees over there filled with fruit? They look so tempting!"

Lin Xu glanced over and said, "Over there is a wild fruit orchard. The original inhabitants of this mountain used to pick the fruits and sell them down the mountain. The fruits are very tasty. If you like, we can go have a look after lunch."

"Yeah, yeah!"

After moving their luggage in, the two of them drove back to the farmhouse restaurant.

Lin Xu was preparing to roast a whole lamb, while Shen Baobao was getting ready to livestream Lin Xu roasting the lamb.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the livestream officially started.

Lin Xu first greeted the viewers in the livestream and then assembled two roasting racks.

Once assembled, he went to the kitchen. He brought out the marinated lamb from the refrigerator's chiller and rinsed the marinade off its surface with water. Then, he spread it out to dry and, in passing, prepared the Crispy Skin Water for roasting the lamb.

"Wow, I haven't even gotten out of bed yet, and I'm seeing Boss Lin roast lamb for me. This feeling is just too wonderful! Let's start a Carnival."

The viewer named Bobo Not Happy came from a family in the sanitary materials business, which had seen a high volume of work and was doing well over the past two years.

He had originally just wanted a photo with Lin Xu and hadn't planned on buying a whole roasted lamb, since he was almost sick of the whole lamb offered by several restaurants in Yinzhou City.

But after tasting Lin Xu's cooking, his inner foodie was activated.

He instantly ordered two whole roasted lambs.

Now, having just woken up, he saw Lin Xu meticulously busy preparing the roasted lamb he had ordered and immediately sent a Carnival as a sign of gratitude.

"Brother Bobo is really generous!"

"Bro, if you're unhappy, just speak up and let the brothers enlighten you."

"We silly netizens may not be good at much, but making saucy jokes and bringing joy is no problem for us."

"..."

Soon, various life coaches started chiming in on the livestream chat.

Even masters of motivational speaking, adept at pumping people up, came to join the fun.

The comments section of the livestream was filled with grand words about life, motivation, and other such topics.

The enthusiasm of the viewers deeply moved Bobo Not Happy.

He responded, "I'm often unhappy because my dad is only a multimillionaire instead of a billionaire. What do you guys think I should do?"

Everyone: "..."

The life coaches who had initially tried to enlighten him suddenly felt like they needed someone to enlighten them.

In the usually silly livestream chat, an unexpected moment of shared melancholy emerged.

At that moment, Chen Shaokang, who was at home being urged to do his homework, snuck into the livestream. Seeing that the comments had gone quiet, he boldly asked, "Why isn't anyone talking?"

As soon as he posted that, a flurry of comments filled the video page:

"Have you finished your summer homework yet?"

"Have you memorized all your vocabulary words?"

"Have you done your listening and reading exercises?"

"Have you learned all the math formulas?"

"Have you recited the ancient poems?"

"Are you writing an essay every day to improve your writing skills?"

"..."

Chen Shaokang was utterly dumbfounded. Did Mom really get the netizens involved to make sure I do my homework? I—I—I—I... I'll do my homework, okay?

He quickly logged off and began to diligently work on his summer homework.

The depressive moment in the livestream ended with his appearance, and the viewers returned to their silly mode of sharing jokes and memes.

In the restaurant kitchen, Lin Xu worked methodically on the two lambs.

Once everything was ready, he tied the lambs to the roasting racks and began roasting them. Since his cousins were all at home doing homework and hadn't come to the scenic area, Lin Xu was without free labor.

He had to sit on a stool before the roasting racks, slowly turning the spits by hand. He occasionally chatted with the viewers in the livestream, and the morning passed by just like that.

「At noon.」

Bobo Not Happy and his friends came to eat the whole roasted lamb.

To show his gratitude, this fellow ordered every dish in the restaurant again, keeping Shi Wenming so busy he barely touched the ground. In the end, it was Lin Xu who helped out, ensuring the other visitors got their lunch on time.

「After lunch.」

Lin Xu drove Shen Baobao back to the bed and breakfast for a midday rest.

After enduring the heat from the roasting oven all morning, lying down on the bed in the air-conditioned room brought an immense sense of relief washing over his body.

After Shen Baobao also climbed in, the two of them rolled together again…

「At three o'clock in the afternoon.」

After a restful nap, the young couple, each donning a sun hat and carrying a bamboo basket, headed out the door.

They planned to pick some wild fruits for a taste.

Leaving the gate of the B&B, they ambled along the mountain path leading to the back hill.

After rounding two mountain streams and crossing a ridge, the pair, who had now experienced the truth of "a distant hill is a deceiving hill," finally arrived where the wild fruits grew.

There were many types of wild fruits: some resembled black plums, others were red berries akin to persimmons, and there were also wild raspberries and cherries, among others.

Shen Baobao plucked one, rubbed it carelessly on her clothing, and bit into it, exclaiming, "Wow, this sour and sweet taste is really delicious!"

Lin Xu tasted one; indeed, it was good.

Last summer, when I stayed here, I was too preoccupied with playing games and never ventured to this area. Now, it seems like a great loss.

The young couple began picking the fruits.

Shen Baobao found it inconvenient to pick from the ground and nimbly climbed up a tree, making Lin Xu seriously wonder how this girl had spent her childhood.

The two had come with the casual intention of taking a stroll.

The basket they brought was just a small, decorative bamboo one from their room.

Thus, it didn't take long to fill it up.

"There are still so many! Should we make another trip, or what?"

Considering the long distance, Lin Xu really didn't feel like running back and forth. He thought for a moment, took off his T-shirt, tied the sleeves and collar, and turned it into a makeshift bag.

"Come on, let's keep picking."

Yeah, I used to sneak into the neighbor's yard to steal jujubes when I was a kid. Back then, without pockets, I would use my shirt like this to carry them. But doing so often had an unfortunate consequence. Every time Mom and Dad saw me, a beating was inevitable.

"Wow, this method is great! Why didn't I think of using my clothes like this when I was a kid? Hmm... maybe it's because I'm a girl, and girls are supposed to be demure," Shen Baobao mumbled to herself, sitting on a tree branch, swinging her legs, and munching on fruits.

Lin Xu was speechless. Baobao, I really can't see where you've been demure at all.

After finishing a fruit, Shen Baobao resumed picking. When Lin Xu's T-shirt could carry no more, they decided to head back, planning to return the next day for more.

Back at the B&B, they emptied their spoils. To their surprise, the fruits filled an entire coffee table.

"How are we going to eat all this?"

This was a good question. Lin Xu was also wondering how to consume everything, especially with so many still on the trees. If they didn't eat them quickly, the unpicked ones would just rot.

After the trek, both of them were parched.

Shen Baobao opened the fridge and saw many drinks inside. She randomly picked out a bottle of apple vinegar, took a sip, and said with a smile, "Our mom really dotes on me! Knowing I like to drink apple vinegar, she prepared so much."

Apple vinegar? An idea suddenly struck Lin Xu, who was fretting over the fruit. He remembered the last competition rewarded him with the vinegar-making technique, which he had then thought would be a useless skill he'd never need. But now it seemed…

With that thought, he turned to Shen Baobao and said, "You like drinking fruit vinegar, don't you? Then I'll turn all the fruits we pick these next few days into fruit vinegar. It's a good way to handle them."

"Can these wild fruits be made into vinegar?"

"Yes, they can."

"Wow, that's awesome! Thank you, hubby!" Shen Jiayue exclaimed, happily throwing herself at Lin Xu and nibbling on him enthusiastically.

Lin Xu was speechless again. Baobao, what happened to being demure?

Just as the young couple was frolicking, Lin Xu's second uncle called. "Lin Xu," he asked, "I just caught a wild rabbit in the bushes near the water's edge. How should I cook this thing to make it delicious?"