American forensics, but the gourmet system

A rich aroma wafted from the kitchen. Russell took a deep breath; the beef had been simmering in the pot for nearly two hours and should be completely tender by now.

However, pressure cookers are not allowed in Russell's apartment, otherwise the stewing process would be even faster.

Russell turned off the fire on the stove. He couldn't open the pot to take out the meat yet. First, he wanted to let the broth and beef in the stew pot cool down, and second, he wanted the braised beef to soak in the pot for a while so that the flavor would penetrate more thoroughly.

He picked up another pot, filled it with some water, and started cooking the pasta he had bought on his way home from get off work.

A perfect meal consists of protein and carbohydrates.

Of course, Russell prefers handmade noodles. But he knows nothing about pasta making. And compared to the dried noodles and thin noodles in the Chinese supermarket downstairs, Russell prefers the texture of pasta.

Instant noodles are okay, but they're deep-fried noodles, so they're not very healthy...

The pasta was cooked until soft and served on two plates. Although Russell did not prepare meat sauce to go with the pasta, he did prepare chili oil.

This fusion of Chinese and Western cooking methods was something he and his former roommate came up with together. Similar examples include slicing baguettes, coating them in egg and frying them, and using fresh hamburger patties with celery leaves to make dumplings.

After being tormented by Western food, people often unleash tremendous creativity.

  

Spicy oil with pasta was a late-night snack that Russell often prepared for himself. The spicy oil sold in the Chinese supermarket was the mutton fat version, which tasted very fragrant and went well with any staple food.

"Hey, Ina. Would you like to try this pasta dish?"

Russell waved the chili oil in his hand toward Aina.

Every food has its loyal fans. For example, Italians consider pineapple pizza heretical, and some French people think that putting bacon in a crepe deserves to be guillotined. Of course, there's also the famous debate between sweet and savory rice dumplings and sweet and savory tofu pudding...

Russell wasn't sure if Aina was a member of the Pasta with Meat Sauce Cult, so he had to find out first.

Aina had been restless for a while and kept glancing in Russell's direction.

"What's that, chili sauce?"

She stood up, walked to the kitchen door, and took a satisfied breath of the aroma coming from the kitchen before asking.

"It's a kind of Chinese condiment chili sauce," Russell shrugged. "We call it chili oil."

"With pasta? I've never tried eating it that way before... I'd love to give it a shot."

"That's good."

Russell scooped a large spoonful of chili oil into each of the two plates of pasta.

This chili pepper looks bright red, but it is very mildly spicy, with the aroma of chili being the main characteristic.

There will absolutely not be a situation where the spiciness spreads from top to bottom.

Then, Russell lifted the lid of the stew pot.

The temperature of the sauce in the pot had dropped and it was no longer boiling, but the aroma of meat, sauce, and spices still wafted through the air.

It smells so warm and comforting.

Russell took a spoon and scooped a trembling, glistening, and distinctly textured piece of braised beef from the pot.

"Wow……"

Aina let out a heartfelt exclamation of admiration. Her throat bobbed involuntarily, and her light blue eyes were unable to leave the piece of meat, like a kitten drooling over the pigeons outside the window.

Just as Russell placed the meat on the cutting board, ready to cut it, the system interface suddenly popped up.

[The host was detected to have spent 26.5 hours completing the preparation process for the braised beef...]

[Trigger Quest: Time Magic]

[Task objective: Spend more than 24 hours preparing a standard-compliant dish]

[Task completed, reward being calculated...]

[Task Reward: Practice Makes Perfect (Beginner Level), Passive Skill. Realizing your talent begins with countless repetitions; with this skill, every practice session will increase the reward.]

On the system interface, next to the four characters "唯手熟尔" (only through practice), a dense array of small characters scrolls.

Russell looked closely and saw that the small print read:

[Cooking skills: Outperformed 84% of competitors with this skill]

[Forensic Pathology: Outperformed 61% of competitors with this skill]

Clinical Forensic Medicine...

Forensic biological evidence...

……

[Singing: Outperformed 2% of competitors who possessed this skill]

It seems that [Practice Makes Perfect] can enhance the skills Russell once acquired through learning, and judging from the skill description, it can also accelerate Russell's improvement speed.

Russell, however, did not quite agree with the system's assessment of his singing ability.

It's definitely a system error, which is to be expected...

As Russell reassured himself, he cut against the grain of the muscle, slicing the glistening, trembling beef into small pieces.

Divide the beef on the cutting board into two portions and place them into the plates containing the pasta. This incredibly eclectic yet surprisingly harmonious dinner is now ready.

Russell called it a premium version of spicy beef pasta.

Of course, it's the high-end version. Each plate contains nearly half a pound of braised beef, enough for a well-known instant noodle brand to last for half a year.

He handed the chopsticks to Aina, who couldn't even wait to take the plate out of the kitchen before picking up a piece of beef and putting it in her mouth.

"Um!"

Without even listening to Aina's opinion, Russell could tell from her squinted eyes, swaying body, and slightly tossing dark red hair that the beef must taste delicious.

Russell also picked up his chopsticks and mixed the spaghetti with chili oil. The aroma of noodles, meat, oil, and spiciness mingled together. A hot bite on a late autumn night was something he wouldn't trade for the presidency of the United States.

But if offered the position of New York City's chief medical examiner, Russell would seriously consider it.

After all, Russell really wanted to be the chief medical examiner...

For a moment, apart from the soft sounds of chewing and slurping pasta, there were no other sounds in the room.

A few minutes later, Aina, holding a plate, said somewhat shyly:

"Um... could I have some more beef? I've never had beef cooked this well before..."

……

The night is getting darker.

Both of them collapsed onto the sofa, comfortably rubbing their bellies.

"How about we skip image enhancement tonight..." Russell suggested. "Discussing work on such a comfortable night is a bit of a mood killer..."

"It's work for you, but it's a pastime for me..." Aina smiled mischievously. "If you don't want to watch, you can just copy the photos for me."

"I'd actually like to observe from the sidelines..." Russell said, standing up from the sofa. "And if possible, I'd also like to learn a bit..."

Given that the system had given him the passive skill of "practice makes perfect," Russell really wanted to learn more about improving his forensic abilities.

Moreover, forensic imaging has become a very popular hybrid discipline in recent years.

Of course, this is only relatively speaking... Forensic medicine is a very niche discipline, and forensic imaging is just one of the more popular branches of that niche discipline recently.