Chapter 35

Upon returning to the store and putting away the purchased books, Xia Zhi took Zhu Zi to Wanmin Restaurant for dinner.

Xiangling had been eagerly waiting for him. Seeing them from afar, she waved from the doorway and called out, "Mr. Xia! And Miss Zhu Zi!"

Xia Zhi nodded with a smile, "Miss Xiangling."

"You both came quite early today."

"Mainly because we're looking forward to tasting Miss Xiangling's new dishes."

"Ah, it's all thanks to Mr. Xia's guidance! Please sit down, I'll head to the kitchen right away."

Xiangling rushed back to the kitchen energetically, "Dad! I'll be cooking now!"

Chef Mao looked up and couldn't help but ask, "Is Mr. Xia here?"

Xiangling took out the ingredients and nodded, "Yes!"

During Wanmin Restaurant's afternoon break today, Xiangling had tried following Xia Zhi's suggestions and remade the Come Come Dish and Jueyun Chili Chicken. Like last night's Triple-Layered Consommé, both dishes had achieved an incredible breakthrough in taste.

It's worth noting that every recipe at Wanmin Restaurant had been passed down through generations, refined countless times, and the flavors had already received recognition from numerous diners.

Modifying such well-established recipes was no easy task, yet Xia Zhi could identify the dishes' flaws just by tasting them, without even knowing the recipes, and provide perfect improvement methods. This ability was truly remarkable.

Chef Mao peeked out to look at him, speaking with some emotion: "Mr. Xia is really amazing. I wonder how he does it. He looks so young, yet how can he be more skilled than I who since childhood..."

At this point, a strange speculation suddenly jumped into Chef Mao's mind.

Could it be... that Mr. Xia was actually an adeptus?

The stories often told in the city tea houses were about Rex Lapis's earthly travels, how he took human form to wander around Liyue, leaving behind various legendary tales.

Now that Rex Lapis had ascended, Mr. Xia obviously couldn't be him, but he might be another adeptus.

If Mr. Xia were an adeptus, everything would make sense.

Though he appeared young, he might have visited Wanmin Restaurant many years ago and eaten here before.

This time coming to Liyue, he might even be inspecting the city on Rex Lapis's behalf, checking if the Qixing were misbehaving...

The more Chef Mao thought about it, the more likely it seemed. He peeked out again at Xia Zhi sitting at the table, feeling that the calm and indifferent aura around him even had a hint of otherworldliness.

This definitely wasn't an ordinary person!

"Could it really be true?" Chef Mao muttered to himself.

"What could be true?"

Xiangling happened to walk past with prepared ingredients and gave him a strange look after hearing his mumbling.

Chef Mao shook his head, "Nothing..."

Xiangling didn't pay it much attention and took the ladle from his hand, saying, "Dad, make way, I'll take over!"

Chef Mao silently stepped aside.

Soon after, Xiangling finished the three dishes and brought them to the table, looking at him hopefully: "Mr. Xia, these are the improved Come Come Dish and Jueyun Chili Chicken. Please try them and tell me how they compare to what you had at noon?"

Xia Zhi picked up his chopsticks, tasted each dish, and nodded: "Very delicious, exactly as I had imagined."

Xiangling broke into a happy smile and pushed the third dish forward, saying, "Mr. Xia, after your guidance, I also had some new ideas. This is a new dish I improved using my own thoughts - another version of the Triple-Layered Consommé, please try it!"

Xia Zhi had actually already "seen" this new Triple-Layered Consommé, but he couldn't distinguish anything special from its aroma.

He showed a curious expression on his face, then took a bite, his tone showing some surprise: "Hmm? This gelatin-like sticky texture, is this..."

Xiangling smiled mysteriously: "It's Slime Condensate! I added Slime Condensate!"

Xia Zhi fell silent for a moment, then said: "So that's what it is, truly an unique approach..."

Slime Condensate and Slime Secretions were actually the same thing, just called differently. Being colorless and odorless, no wonder he hadn't detected anything unusual in the aroma earlier.

But wasn't this an alchemy material? Could it actually be eaten?

Xiangling looked at him expectantly, asking, "What does Mr. Xia think of this dish?"

Xia Zhi thought for a moment before saying: "It has a very unique texture, like adding aspic and fish maw, but without their fishiness. The thick soup wraps the three ingredients together, perfectly blending their flavors. I think it's excellent."

Xiangling's eyes brightened, "Really?"

Xia Zhi nodded seriously: "Really."

Xiangling couldn't help but show an excited expression, saying: "That's wonderful! Now I have a direction for my recipe innovations!"

Xia Zhi looked at the burning light in Xiangling's eyes, feeling that this girl seemed to have suddenly opened the door to a new world. Surely she wouldn't create some terrible dishes using strange ingredients?

Xiangling left energetically: "Mr. Xia and Miss Zhu Zi, please continue eating, I need to get back to work."

Zhu Zi looked down at the Triple-Layered Consommé with an odd expression, asking: "Boss, did she really put Slime Condensate in this?"

Xia Zhi nodded, "Yes."

Zhu Zi's eyes immediately showed a mix of disgust and curiosity, asking: "Boss, is it really tasty?"

Xia Zhi nodded again, "It is."

Zhu Zi remained skeptical, "Boss, you're not lying to me, are you?"

Xia Zhi frowned: "I'm not lying."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then take another bite and let me see."

"Alright."

Xia Zhi picked up some Triple-Layered Consommé with his chopsticks, put it in his mouth, chewed a few times, and after swallowing, told her: "It's really quite delicious."

Only then did Zhu Zi dismiss her doubts and picked up some herself, slowly putting it in her mouth and carefully biting down. Then her eyes lit up: "It really is! It's sticky and soft, and the soup has this melt-in-your-mouth feeling. It's really tasty!"

"I wasn't lying, was I?"

"Boss, I was wrong. I never thought Slime Condensate could be used for cooking!"

"I didn't expect it either. Slime Condensate is quite expensive, people usually wouldn't use it for cooking."

"Yes, one portion of Slime Condensate costs 800 Mora, and you need to defeat three or four slimes to gather enough for one portion."

Hearing this, Xia Zhi paused for a moment. So normally it takes three or four slimes to gather enough for one portion of Slime Condensate? But thinking about it, it made sense - when slimes die, their secretions melt into the ground, and adventurers using containers to collect it would only be able to gather a small portion.

While he himself used the system to collect directly, avoiding this waste, which is why he could get one portion of Slime Condensate from just one slime.

Being able to perfectly collect materials, this must be a hidden feature of the system?