You said you failed your college entrance exam and are now crowdfunding to build a university?

Wei Ying: "..."

"We've hired all the workers we could find in the area, so the construction period will probably be delayed by half a day," Liu Dazhu added.

Wei could accept a half-day delay.

"There's something else," Liu Dazhu said with a wry smile.

"Of those fifty-odd people who took leave, four are construction site cooks. They're out of lunch today. It's too late to order takeout now." He glanced furtively at Wei Ying.

"Work may have to stop this afternoon as well."

"Stop in the afternoon too?" Wei Ying couldn't sit still any longer. That would mean a whole day.

Liu Dazhu said with a long face, "The construction site is in this ravine. It takes at least two hours to deliver food, so we can't possibly make it in time."

Construction sites usually provide lunch, so the workers can eat and then continue working. Now that the cook has left, we can't let everyone work on an empty stomach, can we? That would definitely lead to a strike.

"This is troublesome." Wei Ying frowned.

Just then, a system notification sounded:

"Ding! A shortage of chefs has been detected at the construction site where the host is located, triggering the live stream challenge [Food is the first necessity of the people]."

"【Food is the most important thing for the people】: Please solve the lunch problem as soon as possible, provide the workers with a hearty meal, and obtain a positive review rate of over 90% to ensure the smooth progress of the project."

"Mission Reward: 2000 Challenge Points"

Wei Ying's eyes lit up. The reward was generous, and they even gave him an idea—to recruit a new chef.

"There are so many people on the construction site, go and ask if anyone knows how to cook, and call them all over," Wei Ying said to Liu Dazhu.

"This method will work!" Liu Dazhu nodded quickly.

Half an hour later, twelve dark-skinned, muscular men stood in front of Wei Ying.

"Each of you try making a dish." Wei Ying led them to the temporary kitchen on the construction site, gave each of them a large pot, and let them create freely.

However, after tasting these twelve dishes, Wei Ying's face darkened. They were merely "edible," far from being "rich and delicious."

If you use them, let alone a 90% positive review rate, even 5% would be considered an exceptional performance.

"This is already the best workmanship on the construction site, why don't we make do with it for now?" Liu Dazhu suggested in a low voice.

"No way." Wei Ying rejected it outright. This concerned the project's progress and the two thousand points reward, so it couldn't be taken lightly.

"There's no one else," Liu Dazhu said with a mournful face. He had already asked around, and these were the only people he considered good cooks, but Wei Ying didn't approve of any of them.

"Who said there's no one else?" Wei Ying smiled. "I'll take care of lunch."

"You...can cook?" Liu Dazhu swallowed, wondering if he had misheard.

In the live stream, because the whole thing was being broadcast live, the viewers also saw this scene, and the chat was instantly flooded with question marks.

"????"

"Did I hear that right? The streamer's going to cook? This is construction site food, not some simple home-cooked meal!"

"Making meals in a large pot is difficult, but making them delicious is even more difficult."

"I have never had a decent meal at a cafeteria."

"I admit the streamer is amazing at drawing and archaeology, but please don't try cooking. What if nobody eats it?"

"..."

The comments section was filled with skepticism, advising Wei not to humiliate himself. They warned that if the food was too bad, the workers wouldn't be so forgiving and might even go on strike.

Wei Ying glanced at the comments, smiled, and headed straight for the construction site kitchen.

Wei Ying silently opened the system shop and quickly found the [Grandmaster-level Culinary Skill Book], which required 500 challenge points to exchange.

"With master-level culinary skills, that should be enough." He didn't hesitate and exchanged the items directly.

A faint light flashed, 500 challenge points were deducted, leaving 2520 points. A vast amount of culinary skills, experience, and cooking methods flooded into my mind.

A few minutes later, he finished digesting and slowly opened his eyes.

"There are still two hours until lunchtime." He glanced at the time and then looked at the ingredients in the kitchen: eggs, vegetables, and pork, all common items found on construction sites.

"Why is the streamer not moving? Don't know where to start? Cooking in a big pot is different from stir-frying, it's tricky."

"With hundreds of people on the construction site, and cooking for dozens at a time, do you, the host, really know everything about seasoning ratios and heat control?"

"Oh no, the ingredients are going to be wasted."

"I bet five cents that even a dog wouldn't eat what the streamer makes."

In the live stream, the viewers saw Wei Ying standing still and started discussing again, still no one believed he could cook.

Home-style stir-fries are easy enough, but this is a large-scale construction site meal, which has always been a challenge for the culinary world.

Trying to cater to the tastes of hundreds of people is impossible; some like salty, some like bland, some want spicy, and some want sour.

"Huh? The streamer has started washing rice." Soon, the audience noticed that Wei Ying had started.

He walked to the rice bin, took out some rice, rinsed it, filled a container with water, rinsed it twice, then washed his hands and gently rubbed them into the rice.

After kneading three times, soak the rice in water for fifteen minutes until the rice grains turn from transparent to snow-white. Then drain the water, put the rice into a large pot, and start cooking over a wood fire.

"Holy crap? The streamer seems to be really skilled. His technique is quite proficient; he even knows how to 'increase rice' (a euphemism for gaining money)."

"It's been a long time since I've seen such meticulous rice washing. I remember watching a master chef demonstrate it at New Oriental before."

"Wait a minute, it's just washing rice. Anyone can do that. Is it really necessary to brag?"

"Anyway, I didn't see anything special about it. It's just cooking; anyone with hands can do it."

In the live chat, a few knowledgeable viewers recognized the trick, but most thought it was basic technique. That is, until a netizen claiming to be a graduate of New Oriental stepped forward to explain:

"A true master rice-washing expert can preserve the original aroma of the rice through techniques and strength, and then lock the aroma into the rice grains with the right heat."

"The routine the host just described looks simple, but every step is important: the rice can only be washed twice, otherwise the aroma will be lost."

The kneading should be gentle, to bring out the aroma without breaking the rice; soaking for fifteen minutes is called "rice swelling," which makes the rice grains turn white; finally, cook over a wood fire, adjusting the heat as needed.

"If it's too strong, the aroma will dissipate; if it's too weak, the aroma won't come out. I guess his next step is to open the lid and stir it a second time."

Sure enough, Wei Yingzhen opened the pot lid and gently stirred the rice with a spatula.

"Hmm... It's just cooking rice, why all the fuss?"

"This is outrageous. I've lived for so many years and suddenly I realize I can't even cook rice."

"Speechless. No matter how well it's cooked, it's still just rice. The key is the main dish!"

"Time to cook some vegetables? Even the best rice is just okay; cooking large batches of vegetables is the real test!"

After hearing the explanation, the audience felt that the cooking method was too complicated and purely a gimmick.

Their attention was focused on the large pot of stew that was about to be served, which would be the true test of their culinary skills.

On the construction site, more than two hundred workers were sweating profusely. Although they were tired, everyone had a smile on their face.

Two days ago, I helped dig up a tomb and each of us received an extra 20,000 yuan bonus. I can brag to my wife and kids on the phone about how many cultural relics I rescued.

"Wow! It smells so good!" Suddenly, an enticing aroma of rice wafted across the construction site. Everyone smelled it and looked towards the kitchen in unison.

"Who cooked today? It smells so good!"

"I heard the previous chef left, so they probably hired a new one."

"Stop looking at that. Hurry up and finish your morning work so we can go eat. I'm starving."

The workers whispered among themselves, and many couldn't help but swallow hard at the aroma.