A Valiant Life

Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations

The first day of teaching had produced remarkable results. Bai Ke’s learning ability was pretty good. He had managed learned the dish in a day. Although it was only ten percent if Lin Fan’s standard, it wasn’t something to be looked down on.

Lin Fan sighed in his heart. Should I establish a training school next time? It would earn me some Encyclopedic Points.

I could stage a comeback for that New East Cuisine School from the Encyclopedia and make it bloom into the sunlight once again.

Of course, it was just a passing thought.

Outside!

Bai Ke was raising his voice, “For those of you passing by, don’t let this opportunity pass you by! Today’s dinner will be at half price. On top of that, you will get a free new dish, the ‘Mirror Box Tofu’. It tastes exceptional. Don’t let it pass you by!”

His voice was not soft at all and it really managed to draw attention from the passers-by. However, when they saw how run down the shop looked, they were turned off.

Still, this half price managed to draw some customers in because it really was very cheap.

Gradually, customers started coming in.

When some of the other restaurants’ owners saw this, they started to laugh. They knew that that shop used to do alright but ever since Bai Ke had taken over the shop, their business suffered a drastic decline. If they managed to make a net profit of two or three hundred in a day, it would already be considered lucky.

Even though they were using a half-price promotion to attract customers, it wouldn’t sustain for long.

Lin Fan said, “That’s about it. There are already two tables. Make sure you’re able to serve them quickly enough.”

Bai Ke was full of confidence. He nodded. “Yep, I’ll go to the kitchen now.”

There wasn’t much more for Lin Fan to do but he wanted to see how the diners critiqued his food.

Very quickly, Bai Ke carried the Mirror Box Tofu out. “Everyone, this is a new dish of our restaurant. It’s free to give everyone a taste. If you have any feedback, do let me know.”

The diners were pretty happy. They had a free new dish as well as half price on all the other dishes. It was definitely affordable. They all acknowledged Bai Ke’s words.

Lin Fan was noticing the expressions on the diners’ faces. After tasting the Mirror Box Tofu, they all let out an expression of shock. It was as if they hadn’t expected it to taste so good. Then, they moved their chopsticks non-stop as if they couldn’t stop themselves.

“This is good. This new dish is really good.”

“Hey, we’ve never seen this dish before. This is clearly just tofu, how could it taste so good?”

“Not bad, not bad. This restaurant doesn’t look like much. I didn’t think that this dish would be so delicious.”

…

It had gained the recognition of the townsfolk. Lin Fan heaved a sigh. As for the second dish, he thought about it for a moment and finally decided on Cherry Pork.

It wasn’t too difficult a dish as it didn’t involve any complicated steps and it was quick to make. He could teach it to Bai Ke. Moreover, this dish went very well with rice. People often came to this restaurant to have rice so that they would be full. And when this Cherry Pork is paired with Mirror Box Tofu, it would definitely receive good feedback

The Mirror Box Tofu had captured all of the diners’ stomachs. They, of course, had never thought that this dish would taste so good. On top of that, it looked so good too.

They were still savoring the aftertaste when the other common household dishes arrived.

The diners thought that these dishes would be like the first dish, incomparably delicious. But when they tasted the dishes, they were severely disappointed. The dishes didn’t taste as good as they thought they would.

But when they thought about how good the Mirror Box Tofu tasted, they didn’t think of much else.

“Boss, give us another serving of that first dish.”

“Another serving. We’ll pay for it. These household dishes are average but that tofu tastes really good.”

At that moment, Xiao Yan was working busily here and there but when she heard the diners’ praises, she felt pretty good. As for Bai Ke, who was in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but be delighted. He hadn’t thought that this Mirror Box Tofu would be so well-received. Naturally, he was exhilarated. But what saddened him was how unwelcome his household dishes were.

Still, he had heeded Lin Fan’s advice. Signature dishes are based on quality, not quantity. If he could make one dish that left an impact on customers, then he would have succeeded.

Even by relying on one dish, it’s possible to shake the earth.

In the end.

Bai Ke and Xiao Yan were dead tired sitting on the chairs but the smiles on their faces were very bright.

Bai Ke, in particular, was exhilarated. “Young Fan, you really are f*cking awesome. Did you see that? Those customers couldn’t stop praising this dish.”

Lin Fan smiled. “But your other household dishes left them disappointed.”

Bai Ke said grudgingly, “That can’t be helped. At least they weren’t too bad.”

Lin Fan nodded. “I’ll teach you another dish tomorrow that you can use as a signature dish in future. As for this storefront and door, I feel that it can be changed. After all, a good storefront is important.”

Bai Ke nodded. “Mmm, the storefront should be renovated. Just like the other shops, it should be given a more relaxing feel.”

*ring ring*

At that moment, a call from Wang Ming Yang came.

Wang Ming Yang: “I’m singing right now. Come and have some fun.”

Lin Fan replied, “Nah, I’m a little tired today. You have fun, I’ll pass.”

Wang Ming Yang: “Alright.”

After hanging up, Lin Fan looked at the time. It wasn’t early anymore. Then, he bid goodbye to Bai Ke and agreed to meet earlier the next morning. Bai Ke had worked the whole day and his arms were incredibly sore. He wanted to go back earlier to rest too.

The next day!

Lin Fan woke up early and had his breakfast. Then, he headed towards Bai Ke’s shop

At the shop.

Bai Ke came up to Lin Fan’s side. “Young Fan, what dish are you going to teach me today?”

Lin Fan noticed that Bai Ke was very energetic that day. It seemed like this man had received a boost from the joyous happenings the previous day. Then, he smiled and said, “Today, I’ll teach you a dish called Cherry Pork.”

“Cherry? Cooking a dish using cherries?” Bai Ke was surprised. He didn’t understand it.

After the Mirror Box Tofu, Lin Fan realized that some knowledge inside the Encyclopedia was non-existent in reality. After he went back the previous day, he did a search for this Cherry Pork and realized it really didn’t exist. It was a dish that existed in the Encyclopedia but not in real life.

Of all the Jiangsu dishes in the Encyclopedia, some of them existed in reality and some of them didn’t. It really was strange.

But he didn’t bother about it. As long as it tasted good, it was fine. What was the use of bothering about so much?

Lin Fan smiled and said, “There aren’t any cherries. It’s only named Cherry Pork. This dish is slightly more difficult to make than the Mirror Box Tofu. However, it is suitable for both young and old and goes very well with rice. It can be said to be a very delicious dish.”

When Bai Ke heard this, he couldn’t wait to start.

He really wanted to learn even more dishes but he knew that Young Fan had his own matters to care about. To be able to learn two kinds of dishes from him, Bai Ke was already thanking the gods for it, so naturally, he didn’t dare to think too much.

In the kitchen.

As Lin Fan prepared a serving of Cherry Pork, Bai Ke and Xiao Yan were flabbergasted by the fragrance.

The Mirror Box Tofu was already delicious enough but they never thought that when the Cherry Pork emerged from the stovetop, it’s fragrance would be so irresistible. Furthermore, they had no idea how those little cherry-like pieces of bright and beautiful pork were made.

“I think this dish is really hard to make,” muttered Bai Ke to no one in particular.

Lin Fan smiled. “It’s not too hard. With me teaching you, it’ll be simple.”

Bai Ke looked at Lin Fan. His heart was filled with delight. That’s right, he had Young Fan. And Young Fan would even teach him to step by step. Even if it was harder, it wouldn’t be a problem.