novelPreparing the Dining Hall
| ← Ch.036 | Ch.038 → |
The next day, Ruan Tang posted an announcement on Weibo and the Live Broadcast channel. Since there were some things he needed to deal with, the live broadcast will be suspended for three days. This suddenly caused a wave of mourning. Countless people gave private messages. There were real fans who were concerned and asked him what happened, but there were also curious people who wanted to inquire about the situation. Still more were influenced by Wei Zhuo, and went to ask Ruan Tang if he really was the Film Emperor.
Remembering the warnings of the He Brothers from last night, Ruan Tang didn't respond to any of them.
By noon, some people had begun to produce conspiracy theories. They believed that Ruan Tang's behavior was deliberately evasive. This identity issue was just exposed and then he suddenly stopped the live broadcast. Who would believe that these two incidents were unrelated?
The incident continued to ferment on the star network. Because of this move, various conjectures and rumors ran rampant. And yet, he still did not respond, making public opinion more and more outrageous.
After his announcement, Ruan Tang did not log on to Weibo again, so these development online did not affect him at all. Although countless news outlets wanted to contact him, they were blocked by the live broadcast platform.
On Ruan Tang's end, this incident had already been brought to a close. Ruan Tang laid down on the sofa for a while. He then cooked as he normally did, except this time he didn't need to broadcast it.
He still remembered that he had promised the two brothers that from now on, whenever he cooked he would also send them a portion. So, he made a guess as to their taste preferences and started cooking.
He remembered that He Yun Chen liked to eat spicy food, so he first made spicy chicken – stir-fried chicken with dried chili and black pepper. The color was reddish brown and glossy. Mouth numbingly spicy but very delicious, it was a very satisfying dish. On the other hand, He Yun Yi liked to dense and rich, salty-savory dishes. So Ruan Tang made Saucy Eggplant. He took two whole long eggplants and stuffed the inside with minced meat. He fried it in heated oil and then let it drip off the oil. He then made the sauce by adding water and some sweet bean sauce. After boiling it with the eggplant for a few minutes at high temperature, it was done. The outer layer of the eggplant was a bit crispy, while the inner layer is especially soft. The juice of the meat was completely absorbed by the eggplant, so that the taste of the dish was full of richness. With the surface covered with a thick red sauce, it was a very suitable dinner dish.
Like he had done before when packing set meals, he carefully stacked the dishes and some rice. He then sent the two large preservation boxes to the two brothers.
After eating, Ruan Tang lay down on the sofa. No live broadcasts, no star network, it was kind of boring...
At this time, his light brain gave a slight vibrate. He had received a message from He Yun Chen: [I got your meal, it was very delicious, thank you. ]
A smile unconsciously emerged on his face and he quickly replied: [It's good that you liked it. ]
He Yun Chen replied back almost within seconds: [Are you bored at home? Do you want to come over to the military headquarters? There's something here I could use your help with. ]
Ruan Tang agreed without hesitation: [Okay. ]
"Identity verification is completed... Appointment verification is completed... Welcome, Consultant Ruan. Please wait a moment." The screen flashed twice, and the verification was completed very quickly. At the same time, the door opened with a bang.
Hearing how the smart terminal addressed him, he was a little surprised. He didn't think that He Yun Chen had also arranged for him to be considered as a consultant.
When the door was completely open, a tall silhouette appeared. He was wearing a tall and straight military uniform. He was lofty with handsome features and legs that went on for ages. As he stood against the light, it left Ruan Tang in a daze for a couple of seconds.
"You were already waiting for me?" Ruan Tang's eyes widened in astonishment, "How long have you been waiting?"
"Not long, I'll give you a ride." He Yun Chen said in his usual concise manner. He led Ruan Tang to his personal car and they quickly headed for the military office building.
Unlike the fresh and lively atmosphere of the Academy of Sciences, the Military Headquarters was completely solemn and dignified, full of soldiers with tall and straight bearings.
Whenever the soldiers saw them, they would immediately salute, their boots making a crisp sound on the floor.
He Yun Chen led Ruan Tang into the reception room and then turned back to close the door, isolating them from curious eyes sneakily trying to take a look.
This was Ruan Tang's first time here and although he was unfamiliar with these peoples' temperaments, but he was nevertheless very clear. Being locked up here doing training every day, these guys were actually more gossipy than housewives.
"You said there was something you wanted me to help with? What is it?" He had just sat down but Ruan Tang already couldn't help but ask.
He Yun Chen and He Yun Yi were helping him so he also wanted to help them.
"It's about the dining hall here." After He Yun Chen received the delivery, he was enjoying a delicious lunch in his office when he was found out by Li Kai who came to give a report. Li Kai was suffering because of the suspension of the live broadcast when he found his boss eating and drinking well in his office. Li Kai suddenly felt completely unwell. What's more, with just one sniff, he immediately knew that this was Ruan Tang's lunch box.
He Yun Chen rarely felt such a sense of guilt, and wondered if it was time to get a dining hall.
The Chefs' Association had always wanted to work with the military to create a canteen to promote natural foods, but because He Yun Chen didn't trust their skills, he had yet to agree. But with Ruan Tang, it wasn't the same. In his hands, any ingredient could be made to create something delicious. Even simple dishes could be delicious.
Ruan Tang was surprised."Do you want me to come and open a dining hall?"
"No, I want to pick a few soldiers and ask you to teach them."
Ran Jing's cooking skills had always been pretty bad but after learning from Ruan Tang's broadcasts, her cooking made great progress. Now, she could even make some delicious meals. This was where He Yun Chen got the idea. Not all of the soldiers in the military were fighting-types, their physiques weren't good enough. But they were very smart and made great logistics and support personnel. With their smarts, learning to cook should be no big problems for them. Moreover, Ruan Tang mentioned last time that he would accept apprentices, which was why He Yun Chen was willing to bring up this matter. Ruan Tang didn't need to teach them until their cooking skills excellent. So long as he could teach them a few good dishes for set meals, it would improve everyone's meals and that would be good enough.
"Of course!" After listening to He Yun Chen's idea, he readily agreed. If he were asked to manage the dining hall, he might have refused. After all, he didn't want to spend his time in front of the stove all day. But if it was just teaching, that would be no problem. Cooking in itself wasn't difficult. The difficulty was in the food preparation, knife skills and temperature control. But there weren't any high level requirements for just making simple dishes.
He Yun Chen was very happy that Ruan Tang agreed. These next few days, Ruan Tang would be helping out to build the dining hall. Like this, they now have a reason for Ruan Tang's disappearance from the live broadcast. When the media and public opinion fired back about his disappearance being deliberate, they now had a reasonable excuse. It was definitely killing two birds with one stone.
He Yun Chen immediately had ten people transferred from the logistics departments. These ten people were all nimble-brained, quick-to-respond types. In addition, because of their low physique ranks, they were readily able to accept natural ingredients. Recently, Ruan Tang had become quite famous on the star network so naturally, they knew of him. Some of them had even watched his broadcasts. So, they were very willing to learn how to cook from Ruan Tang.
As for the dining hall itself, Ruan Tang still knew a bit about running one. After all, he had to go to the cafeteria to eat and buy food every day for four years while he was in school. Therefore, he also gave a lot of suggestions regarding the construction of the dining hall
However, it would still take some time for the construction of the dining hall, so He Yun Chen had a military storehouse vacated to be used as Ruan Tang's venue for teaching. In any case, kitchen utensils and ingredients could be purchased directly from the shopping site. It was easy enough to create a simple kitchen. There were also ten stoves in the kitchen make things convenient for Ruan Tang to teach them all at the same time.
Among the beginner dishes, there was nothing simpler than egg dishes.
"I will teach you to make an egg custard. Watch closely as I make it and after I'm done, I'll have you copy the steps and try it yourself for me to see, " He said to the ten alternate apprentices around him.
Not everyone was naturally suited for cooking. Some people could manage with just a little bit of teaching, while some were still kitchen killers no matter how much they were taught. Therefore, Ruan Tang planned to use a step-by-step approach in teaching them. He would examine their ability to learn cooking and only leave the most suitable ones. After all, these people were excellent soldiers. If they didn't fit, it wouldn't make sense to keep them in the kitchen.
"Yes!" Ten people responded promptly and gave a military salute. Before they came, they were all warned by Marshal He to learn diligently. They had to learn at least one dish today or else there would be extra training in the evening.
Ruan Tang nodded with satisfaction and started the demonstration.
He took a small bowl, and broke an egg over it. He added a little salt, and evenly beat the eggs with chopsticks. At the same time, he added warm water of about forty degrees. He slowly beat it into the eggs for about 8 minutes.
After removing the floating foam on top, he put the bowl directly into the steamer. After steaming for around 10 minutes, it was done.
The steamed egg custard has a faint scent, the color was clear and the surface was delicate and smooth. With a bit of soy sauce and a sprinkling of chopped green onions, it was ready to eat.
"You can now have a taste." He signaled everyone to come forward.
They didn't hesitate and each took a spoonful. After blowing on it a bit, they eagerly put it in their mouths.
This bowl of egg custard, although the production method was very simple, the texture was smooth and delicate, and it was very delicious and refreshing. After these people tasted it, their eyes sparkled. They had long heard that Ruan Tang's cooking skills were exemplary and he could make any ingredient into a delicious dish. Some thought that this was just an exaggeration. They didn't expect that Ruan Tang's skills were this amazing. Their desire to learn from Ruan Tang suddenly became even more heated.
"Now, you do it according to how I demonstrated it."
"Yes!" They were all well-trained soldiers. They quickly picked up the bowls and eggs and, according to Ruan Tang's demonstration, put the eggs into the bowl.
Most of the people did a good job, but two of the soldiers used too much strength and smashed the egg against the bowl. The eggshell broke and the eggshell pieces fell in together with the egg.
The two soldiers suddenly looked at Ruan Tang, clearly at a loss. With pitiful expressions on their faces, they looked like two big guilty dogs.
Ruan Tang coughed lightly and covered his mouth to cover his lips that threatened to show a smile. Lowering his tone, he said, "It doesn't matter, you can just pick out the broken eggshells."
The two soldiers gave a sigh of relief and began to pick the eggshells, but they hadn't expected the eggs to be so slippery. It wasn't easy to pick out the pieces. After using the strength of nine bulls and two tigers they finally got out all the eggshells. At the same time, their companions had already beaten the eggs and had started to add the warm water.
| ← Ch. 036 | Ch. 038 → |