Gourmet Food Supplier
Chapter 20: The 288 RMB Egg Fried Rice Combo
【Mission Reward】Egg Fried Rice Combo (Retrievable)
He had truly waited a long time for this day to arrive, dreamed for years before it had been fulfilled. Finally, something new had appeared.
Yuan Zhou clicked on “Retrieve”.
This time, the mission reward did not turn into the shape of a book. Like qigong power pouring into his body, it rushed into his brain and only a line of words appeared after the reward had been retrieved.
The system: “The side dish in the egg fried rice combo does not require preparation from the host, the system will automatically provide it.”
“So it turns out that the system will provide it. No wonder I don’t have to study it, nor does it have such an impressive display like the first time.”
“In that case, how much shall the egg fried rice combo be priced at?
The system: “Fixed Price: 288 RMB.”
“…”
This price immediately caused Yuan Zhou speechless. After thinking a bit, he still asked in clarification, “There seems to only be an additional bowl of seaweed soup and a plate of pickled radish in the egg fried rice combo, right?”
The system: “Yes.”
“Then why is the price 100 RMB higher?”
Yuan Zhou thought that it was still pardonable and extremely fair that the egg fried rice was sold at such an expensive price. After all, it was rice from Xiang Shui. And then there were also the eggs…
But things like pickled radish and seaweed soup were provided free of charge by other eateries, and fundamentally weren’t limited for customers. Was it really okay to sell them at a hundred RMB?
Even Yuan Zhou, someone that was rather fond of money, was a little surprised. Or should he say, shocked to the point that he would eat a whale*!
TL Note: (The word whale in chinese has the same pronunciation for a word that made up surprised. For accuracy purposes, I have added the whale part in. If you ignore that, it will simply mean that he was very shocked.)
This was unavoidably too scammy.
The system: “Please trust in the price that the Culinary God System has set, the host is allowed to give it a try first.”
“That’s true, there’s a chance it might also be some sort of Kobe beef grade radishes and seaweed.” Yuan Zhou thought of the complicated feelings he had when he first heard of the divine class egg fried rice and decided to give it a taste first.
Picking up his pan and spatulas, he speedily cooked himself a plate of egg fried rice whilst in his best condition.
Just like he’d done in the past, he placed the plate laden with fried rice on the glass counter on the side. As usual, there was a small tray on the glass counter made of burly brownish red wood, which carried a faint earthen aroma around it. The tray wasn’t large, but was still capable of storing four full plates of egg fried rice. For Yuan Zhou, who had strong arm strength, carrying four plates of egg fried rice at once was still something easy for him.
Normally, Yuan Zhou would place the plate directly on the tray after he’d finished cooking. This time however, something different happened. One could see a green and white bowl, along with a blue and white plate, both made of porcelain with white bottoms, appear instantaneously on the tray of the egg fried rice.
They truly emerged in an instant, and their speed was so quick, it was almost as if they were on the tray the whole time.
This was a feat already capable of appearing in the magic section of the Spring Gala Show, don’t you all think so too!?
Yuan Zhou stared at the plate for a full two minutes, and realized that the two objects that had abruptly appeared were still sitting nicely on top. He stretched his hand out to get a feel of the outer edges of the bowl, and felt that the temperature of the seaweed soup inside the small bowl seemed just right—enough so that it could be directly eaten.
Just like the cup that forever held water, everything was perfect.
“Thank god I’ve already gotten used to this sudden appearance and disappearance act. I should put the tray on the inside table from now on.”
Yuan Zhou mumbled as he carried the plate.
Sitting on a chair and moving all the dishes out from the tray, Yuan Zhou looked back and forth and eventually decided to eat a piece of radish and see how it tasted.
This plate of radish was the same size as the saucer used to carry side dishes. There were, at most, a dozen or so radishes inside. The most major point was that the radishes outside had actually been mixed with ingredients; it was a normal blend of chilli, sugar and oil and so on inside them.
However, the plate in front of him had nothing inside of it; it was a dish that held true to its name. There were at least a dozen pickled radishes that were jade and white coloured, piled up in the shape of a pyramid. There wasn’t anything else except for the radishes, and one could tell that it hadn’t been mixed with any other ingredients. They were the type that had been fished out once they were cut.
The difference was their exceptionally beautiful colors; it was the same as white jade and was sparkling and translucent. Taking a closer look, even the size of the cuts were identical in size. The appearance of their artistic arrangement was perfect.
After closely examining the radish that was wedged between his chopsticks, Yuan Zhou placed it inside his mouth and began to chew.
When he placed it inside of his mouth and bit down, a strand of pure sweetness assaulted his tastebuds. The radish brought with it a crisp, tender, fresh, salty, and even sour texture, and thoroughly roused one’s appetite . Yuan Zhou, who was lost in this sense, put another piece in his mouth.
The sort of acrid taste that was in normal pickled vegetables was completely absent in that pickled radish. Every flavor was perfect, neither too little nor overdone. Even people that had different degree of salt tolerance would be unable to criticize it. The pickled radish that had gone through three grades of processing was completely absent here. They carried a sweetness that came from within the radish, and even had the fresh taste of a newly harvested radish, yet the spicy and acerbic taste of a garden-fresh radish didn’t exist.
Eating a mouthful of pickled radish along with a mouthful of egg fried rice as an experiment, he found that both flavors could practically allow a person to ascend to the heavens. Under the stimulation from the pickled radish flavor, the originally delectable egg fried rice had risen into a new stage in an instant. The taste inside his mouth made a person felt like he had seemingly entered an illusionary world; it was solidly rich, beautiful and boundless.
Under such an influence from the pickled radish, Yuan Zhou finished an entire plate of pickled radish unknowingly, along with a large part of the egg fried rice.
And this moment was exactly the time to stop and drink a mouthful of soup. As such, Yuan Zhou picked up the green and white bottomed porcelain bowl.
Even though the small bowl was exquisite and good-looking, it was the size of a fist. The soup in it was only seventy percent filled and could basically be finished in a mouthful. The darkish green seaweed inside was floating on top of the clear soup like scattered stars and gave the impression of an instant seaweed soup. It went without saying that it was the type of soup where scallion wasn’t even added.
“Gulp, gulp.”
As the temperature was comfortable, with just a mouthful, he had drunk half a bowl. But, merely a second later, Yuan Zhou straightaway felt a bit regretful. That was because it was just too delicious. Yuan Zhou had always had a habit that he was fond of; he always left the tasty stuff to the end, and enjoyed it fully. Now that he had drunk half of the soup in a mouthful, his heart was indeed somewhat aching.
But shortly after, Yuan Zhou didn’t have the mood to think about other things, he was completely immersed in the tastiness of the soup.
The crystal clear soup was totally not a type of stock and was truly just drinking water. Except that this drinking water was very exceptional, there was neither the taste of rust nor chlorine, just the characteristics of water; clean, transparent, beautiful and sweet . It was countless of times tastier than the everyday water that the system provided him with. The difference was like comparing the tap water from his home and the mineral water imported from France, Evian.
As for the seaweed soup, Yuan Zhou had originally disliked the dish. He had always felt that seaweed soup had a sort of indescribable fishiness to them. Only after being a chef did he realize that the fishiness comes from the sea. However, he couldn’t change what he disliked. Even first-rate seaweed, with perfect quality, still had a little bit of a fishy smell to them, thus Yuan Zhou wasn’t fond of it.
However, there wasn’t even a trace of a fishy smell inside this bowl of seaweed. The soft and smooth seaweed brought along a crisp texture and between every bite carried a sort of refreshing breeze from the sea. Coupled with an unknown yet extremely delicious soup water, Yuan Zhou now had finally realized why the side dishes were worth 100 RMB.
“This was indeed a mission accomplished. Waiting and eating new things is truly the name of the game.”
Drinking the soup until not a drop remained, the pickled radish on the plate as well as the soap had disappeared. The plate that was laden with egg fried rice was the same as usual, looking like it had just been cleaned. Yuan Zhou patted his stomach with satisfaction.
“System, can you talk about the radish and seaweed this time? And that water too, of course. This is just too magical, how delicious, it’s simply a match made in heaven.”
Yuan Zhou, who had eaten and drunk his fill, was currently incomparably curious about the origin of the delicious ingredients and had naturally prepared his heart for it. Something that could complement such a valuable egg fried rice, but yet used as a side dish and soup as part of a combo must have a very extraordinary past.
If it had a mediocre value, how could it complement the divine class egg fried rice?
The system: “…”