I'm the Culinary God

"Remember when we were dating, the first time we ate out, we had spicy chicken shreds. You even coaxed me into drinking beer, saying it wouldn't get me drunk..."

As soon as Shen Baobao heard this, a gossip-hungry glint appeared in her eyes. WOW! Dad actually had the idea of getting Mom drunk on the sly! Dad, you were quite naughty, weren't you?

Shen Guofu sighed deeply. "Who knew you could drink even more than me? I miscalculated."

TSK TSK TSK, is this really something we younger folks should be hearing?

Shen Baobao stopped eating, supporting her cheeks with both hands as if ready to hear a story. This reminded Shen Guofu and Han Shuzhen that it was still dinner time.

"I'll taste Xiao Xu's cooking." Shen Guofu picked up a mouthful of chicken shreds with his chopsticks. After chewing, he gave Lin Xu a thumbs-up. "Spicy and crispy, and the meat inside is still so tender! You've nailed these chicken shreds. Honey, you better try them quickly. They're way better than the ones from that place at the alley entrance we used to go to."

Han Shuzhen tasted it, nodded, and said, "Indeed delicious! You two, hurry up and eat. Still waiting to hear the story, are you?"

Lin Xu and Shen Baobao exchanged smiles, then grabbed their Mixed Grain Pancakes in one hand and chopsticks in the other, and started eating.

The thoroughly fried chicken shreds were indeed tasty—crispy and flavorful. Especially with that hint of spice, it instantly whetted the appetite.

"MMM, not only are the chicken shreds delicious, but even the dried chilies are fried to a crisp. Chewing them is truly a delight."

The family ate joyfully. Lin Xu also tried some of Aunt Liu's dishes. They were all delicious, and the plating was exquisite. The only slight issue was that they didn't look particularly appetizing; otherwise, there was really nothing wrong with them. Especially the seaweed strips. They were sour and sweet, crunchy and tender to chew, with a fresh flavor that made one feel as if they were tasting nature itself.

It reminded him that he still had an unused Perfect Level Cooking Learning Card. Shen Baobao had also mentioned several times that Aunt Liu excelled at making Noodles With Black Bean Sauce. Lin Xu realized he needed to find an opportunity in the next couple of days to learn how to make Noodles With Black Bean Sauce from Aunt Liu. The new shop was about to open, specializing in hand-pulled noodles. Not offering Noodles With Black Bean Sauce would be an inconceivable omission, especially in Yanjing, where authenticity was paramount. A restaurant selling hand-pulled noodles without Fried Bean Sauce simply wouldn't be considered authentic.

「After dinner.」

Han Shuzhen took Dundun to the basement gym to play with a pogo ball, leaving Lin Xu, who had been about to get up and say goodbye, suddenly at a loss for words.

"Stay here, Xu Bao! Go back in the morning. I can't sleep without you!"

Lin Xu also wanted to sleep cuddling the fragrant and soft Shen Baobao, but this was his father-in-law's house, after all. It would be going too far. But with Dundun "kidnapped" by Han Shuzhen, he had no choice but to head upstairs, use Shen Baobao's computer to edit the video, and then upload it.

As his fanbase grew, the video review speed increased significantly. Soon after uploading, the video titled "Using My Father-in-Law's Kitchen to Make a Bar Snack He Loved in His Youth" appeared on his account feed.

"WOW! The uploader my great-grandpa follows posted an update! I'd better go 'burn some joss paper' for him!"

"Father-in-law's house? Has Boss Lin returned to Yanjing?"

"Isn't Boss Lin's father-in-law a big shot? Let me see what kind of bar snack the big shot loved when he was young. Starting tomorrow, I'm eating it every day!"

"Me too! I'm aiming to be a big shot in a few years!"

"Count me in!"

"And me!"

Before the video intro even finished playing, various scrolling comments floated up. As the video began, the scrolling comments were instantly tinged with envy:

"WHOA, this kitchen is bigger than my living room!"

"Thank you, Boss Lin, for giving me new material to dream about."

"I thought Boss Lin was teaching cooking, but he was actually showing off his wealth on the sly."

"If this kitchen fell into the hands of some shady landlord doing illegal sublets, wouldn't it be partitioned into more than a dozen tiny rooms?"

"I shared the video with my father-in-law, who after watching, passed it on to his father-in-law."

"Hey, does anyone know if the boss's wife has any sisters? If not, a brother would be fine too. I can adapt."

"..."

On the bed, Shen Baobao, wearing casual shorts, swung her two fair, long legs, laughing out loud at the hilarious comments from the netizens.

Lin Xu, sitting in front of the computer, said, "Tomorrow night, I'm having Dou Wenjing and the others over to my place for crayfish. Since the opening is soon, let's get everyone to meet and get acquainted."

Hearing this, Shen Baobao rolled over and said, "Then I'm going too!"

Eating crayfish without drinking beer wouldn't be right, would it? As the hostess, wouldn't it be improper if I didn't toast everyone a couple of times? And if I drink, I can't drive, and designated drivers aren't always safe... So, it would be perfectly reasonable for me to make a small sacrifice and stay at Xu Bao's place, right? WAHAHA, I'll get to cuddle Xu Bao to sleep tomorrow night too!

While Lin Xu was on his phone, messaging Dou Wenjing, Zeng Xiaoqi, and the others, Shen Guofu was downstairs in the gym, warming up for his aerobics session. He looked at Han Shuzhen, who had changed into a sports T-shirt and yoga pants, and asked, "Xiao Xu is staying here tonight, right?"

"Let him stay. It's not good for them to be apart so soon after getting together. I'm worried Yueyue might not be used to it."

"You're quite an open-minded mother, aren't you?"

"When you were young and came to my house, didn't my mom also let you stay? You even walked into the wrong room at midnight and ended up in my brother's room..."

"COUGH COUGH, let's not talk about that, dear... Let's get started. After this, I'll play a couple of games of pool with Xiao Xu. Yueyue said he played a lot in college and has a good foundation."