By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 18 New Reward: Cooking Skills
After Li Younan finished checking in, he finally received the long-awaited system notification.

Complete the daily check-in to receive a random reward.

Cooking skill +1

Standing at the exit of the Jinling Museum, Li Younan waited quietly for twenty or thirty seconds to digest the skills he had acquired.

He was already extremely familiar with this experience, and countless culinary knowledge flooded his mind.

Even the recipes for signature dishes from internationally renowned cuisines such as Italian and French cuisine were absorbed into his brain.

It's not enough to just have dry knowledge; cooking also requires muscle memory and the skillful use of various kitchen utensils and tools.

At that moment, Li Younan inexplicably felt an impulse. He wished he were in front of a kitchen counter so he could easily grab a cleaver, that long-lost cleaver.

Li Younan smiled wryly.

Actually, he can cook a little bit.

When I lived with Yang Ting, I would often cook at home.

Although he couldn't make anything very complicated, he was still willing to do it.

Thinking of this, Li Younan still sighed.

Cooking for Yang Ting was not a pleasant experience. Every time he served the dishes, Yang Ting would point out the shortcomings of his cooking.

For a period of time at the beginning, Li Younan had some doubts about himself.

Before living with Yang Ting, Li Younan would cook for his mother at home, and every time his mother would happily eat all the food and praise him for how delicious it was.

Yang Ting's attitude made Li Younan wonder if his mother had lied to him all along.

Li Younan shook these unpleasant memories out of his mind before turning his attention back to reality.

Gan Tian looked at Li Younan strangely: "What are you daydreaming about?"

Li Younan snapped out of her daze, smiled, and said, "It's nothing, let's go."

Since Li Younan had already offered to treat the two girls to dinner, they decided to go together.

In fact, Zhu Qingyue wasn't particularly interested in eating.

She has never eaten a meal cooked by her parents since she was a child, because her parents have always been busy with work and have not had much time to cook for themselves since she can remember.

She ate in the school cafeteria with her parents since she was a child.

In her memory, there was no taste of her mother's cooking, nor of her father's cooking; instead, there was the unchanging taste of the canteen's communal meals.

Later, when she got a little older and more independent, she would still order food at restaurants by herself.

Many times, she actually envied those children who were able to eat their mothers' cooking from a young age.

The best meal she could remember was braised pork cooked by her classmate's father at her classmate's house.

Zhu Qingyue still remembers that uncle was chubby and always had a kind smile on his face.

She remembers being so hungry that day, a feeling of hunger she hadn't experienced in a long time since.

Li Younan asked, "What would you like to eat?"

Gan Tian's idea was that this meal wasn't important, and she should finish it as soon as possible. She would have Li Younan send her the photos she had just taken while she was eating.

Zhu Qingyue also didn't want to eat anything too complicated or expensive.

She looked around and spotted a roadside stall selling fried rice noodles, so she smiled and said, "Let's eat that."

Li Younan looked in the direction Zhu Qingyue pointed, somewhat surprised, and asked with a smile, "Are you sure?"

Zhu Qingyue said, "I really want to eat stir-fried rice noodles, so let's have that."

Gan Tian nodded and said, "I'm fine with anything...whatever!" Li Younan nodded in agreement, "Alright then."

At this time, the fried rice noodle stall didn't have many customers yet.

A pushcart, two folding tables set up on the open ground next to it, and a few small chairs—that's all it takes to set up a stall.

Li Younan went to order: "Boss, three servings of fried rice noodles."

At this moment, the boss was a lean, middle-aged man with dark skin and a kind face with a hint of honesty.

He was on the phone, looked up and gave Li Younan a slightly apologetic smile, then said into the other end of the line, "Let's not talk about this now, I have a client."

However, the person on the other end of the phone was clearly resentful, and the volume was so loud that even Li Younan next to him could hear it: "Fine, hang up the phone, and don't call me again."

The boss had already started cooking and the eggs were in the pan. He was in a bit of a bind, so he gave Li Younan an apologetic smile and gestured for Li Younan to help him flip the eggs.

Li Younan naturally took the large ladle and casually rolled up his sleeves.

The prepared ingredients are very convenient to cook.

An expert will know if there is one as soon as he takes action.

The boss, who was busy making a phone call, immediately understood when he saw Li Younan's actions that this person must be a chef.

Li Younan glanced at the boss's phone call, knowing it wouldn't be finished anytime soon, and continued cooking on his own, adding ingredients one by one, adjusting the heat, and skillfully tossing the food in the pot.

The boss's expression froze for a moment.

Meanwhile, Zhu Qingyue and Gan Tian, ​​who had just sat down, were wondering why Li Younan was taking so long to order food.

Looking over, one could see Li Younan holding a large pot, constantly stirring the vegetables and beef inside.

As he tossed and turned the wok, the ingredients flew and tumbled like acrobats, leaving both of them stunned.

They looked at each other again and saw disbelief in each other's eyes.

Gan Tian chuckled and said, "I didn't expect him to be able to cook."

Zhu Qingyue looked intently at Li Younan, hesitated for a moment, then stood up and silently moved closer to watch Li Younan cook at a close distance from the stall.

The stall owner had just finished his call. He put down his phone and stared intently at Li Younan as he cooked this classic Cantonese dish—stir-fried beef noodles.

Li Younan seemed to have been through countless trials, his control of the heat was incredibly precise.

Then there were some operational details that impressed the boss.

Li Younan blends light soy sauce to enhance the flavor and dark soy sauce for color, then drizzles it along the edge of the pot to bring out the aroma of the sauce.

After the rice noodles are put into the pan, they are first fried for a few seconds, then stir-fried to form a slightly charred layer. Then the ingredients are returned to the pan in two batches: first, the rice noodles are stir-fried until they are 70% cooked and then set aside, then the aromatics are sautéed and then mixed and stir-fried again, thus doubly locking in the wok aroma.

In one swift motion, as the fire was turned off, a cloud of white gas surged up, releasing a rich aroma.

This move even made the owner, who had been stir-frying rice noodles for over a decade, nod in approval, and finally asked, "Brother, are you in the same business?"

Li Younan just smiled slightly: "No, no, I was just messing around at home."

But the boss looked suspicious at Li Younan's explanation.

Judging from Li Younan's level of skill, it's not at all like the level one would expect from someone cooking at home.

Zhu Qingyue's gaze was completely fixed on the stir-fried rice noodles in the pot. She felt her cheeks ache and her saliva was welling up.

She swallowed hard and licked her lips.

She suddenly felt incredibly hungry.

(End of this chapter)