Chapter 5 Standards For Cooking

"Let's go, look our Little Amy is already yawning. Let's go upstairs to sleep." Mai Ge said, taking Amy's hand and smiling.

"Little Amy's not sleepy yet, I can help Daddy tidy up." Amy said, shaking her head while yawning.

"I'll tidy up later. You can't fall asleep here, I can't carry you right now..." Mai Ge took Amy's little hand, feeling a little disappointed.

Such a cute daughter, yet he couldn't give her a princess carry, let alone lift her up high. No, he had to recover quickly, Mai Ge secretly vowed.

The stairs were at the other end of the kitchen. There was a small door leading from the counter to the living area, separating the dining room and living area, which suited Mai Ge perfectly.

The little one had been running up and down the stairs while he was unconscious, and even went to get someone to check on him. Now, after eating, she said she wasn't sleepy, but her eyes were already closing as she climbed the stairs.

Mai Ge led her into the master bedroom. Next to the large bed was a pink children's bed with guardrails. The small bed had a complete set of small blankets and pillows, and even a small ladder to climb up.

Amy's eyes lit up when she saw the beautiful room and the little bed, but she was so sleepy. She took off her shoes, climbed onto the small bed, rested her head on the warm and comfortable pillow, and happily said, holding onto Mai Ge's finger tightly, "Daddy is so amazing! The bed is so soft and comfortable, Little Amy loves it. And the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast, it must be delicious..."

"Yes, you can eat the breakfast Daddy makes tomorrow morning when you wake up. Go to sleep now." Mai Ge said with a smile.

"Daddy's breakfast must be delicious..." Amy murmured, closing her eyes, and soon fell asleep.

Mai Ge stood by the bed, watching Amy sleeping sweetly. He reached out and gently brushed the hair from her face, then pulled his other hand back and tucked her in.

"Don't worry, Daddy will definitely let you eat the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast." Mai Ge said silently in his heart, leaning down and gently kissing Amy's hair.

Only then did Mai Ge sit down on the large bed beside her, closing his eyes and looking at the door in his mind, wondering how to open it. A small figure exactly like him appeared in his mind, like his own body, completely under his control. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and pushed open the door with the four large characters "Yang Zhou Fried Rice" written on it.

All of a sudden, a flash of white light appeared in front him. Mai Ge instinctively closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all of his consciousness had been absorbed into the body of that little figure. The door behind him was gone, and where he now stood was a rectangular kitchen, exactly the same as his kitchen on the first floor, perfectly scaled down.

"Wow, this is great! It saves me the time of getting used to and familiarizing myself with the kitchen after I get out." Mai Ge's eyes lit up. He lifted his leg and then froze. His body, which had been completely powerless before, could now move normally. He couldn't help but jump a couple of times. Although there was still a slight feeling of weakness, it was much better than his previous crippled state.

"System, what is this?" Mai Ge exclaimed excitedly. Had the system kindly restored his body?

"The host's current physical condition is the state after a +0.5 increase in physical fitness. Please work hard to complete the tasks; a strong body awaits you." the system's voice sounded.

"So that's how it is." Mai Ge looked at a physical fitness comparison chart that appeared in his mind. A normal human's physical fitness is 2, while Mai Ge's physical fitness after his severed arm and leg were reattached was 1, a semi-crippled state.

His current state was 1.5. Although he couldn't lift a heavy sword, he could at least hold a kitchen knife.

Moreover, the physical limits of humans in this world are much higher than on Earth. For example, with a physical fitness level of 4, one can fight ordinary orcs in hand-to-hand combat, and at level 10, one can even knock down a forest troll with a single punch. Mai Ge • Alex's physical fitness level was probably around 8, making him an extremely powerful human.

"Welcome to the Chef God's Trial Ground. The system will provide you with a recipe for authentic Yang Zhou Fried Rice. Only when the Yang Zhou Fried Rice you prepare passes the system's certification will you be allowed to leave the trial ground. The standard is all the requirements you mentioned when you previously reviewed Yang Zhou Fried Rice." the system's voice sounded again.

"System, I think I misheard something just now. What exactly are the standards you're referring to?" Mai Ge tentatively asked.

"All the requirements you mentioned when you previously reviewed Yang Zhou Fried Rice." the system replied emotionlessly.

"I think the official standards for Yang Zhou Fried Rice that were previously released are quite good. How about we just follow those?" Mai Ge tried to negotiate.

"The standards cannot be changed. Please complete the task as soon as possible." the system flatly refused.

"What about the standards for other dishes after this?" Mai Ge was a little flustered.

"All standards will be based on the host's previous reviews."

"What the hell!"

Mai Ge was inwardly collapsing. He had originally thought this system wasn't malicious and could be used as an auxiliary system, but now it seemed he was too naive. Using his previous picky and harsh demands as the standard was definitely full of malice.

Thinking back to the harsh and critical demands he had made, and now having them applied to himself, "hehe" wasn't enough to express his feelings.

This was practically setting him up for failure! Even those Yang Zhou Fried Rce masters probably couldn't make Yang Zhou Fried Rice to that level.

"Sure enough, I shouldn't have thought too optimistically. This is a system created by the God of Heaven to appease those chefs and specifically torment me. But now that I'm in, I can't get out without completing the task..." Mai Ge looked at the glittering experience pack that appeared in his mind, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down.

Since there was no other choice, he would face it head on. He had already promised to make a loving breakfast for Amy. Thinking about how happy Amy would be to eat the Yang Zhou Fried Rice, Mai Ge was full of anticipation, and his gaze became resolute.

Mai Ge tried to mentally access the glittering experience pack in his mind, and a complete set of Yang Zhou Fried Rice making experience was instantly infused into his brain. From the selection of ingredients to the preparation and the cooking process, it perfectly integrated into his thoughts, as if he had always known how to make it.

"Is it that simple?" Mai Ge was completely stunned. He originally thought the system would make things difficult for him, but he didn't expect it to give him such a big surprise. It was like inheriting the legacy of a Yang Zhou Fried Rice master. He felt that as long as he followed the method in his mind, he could immediately make a bowl of top quality Yang Zhou Fried Rice that was perfect in color, aroma, and taste, instantly transforming him from a cooking novice to an expert. It was practically cheating!

After organizing the information in his mind, Mai Ge confidently walked to the refrigerator, opened it, and found various ingredients neatly arranged inside: rice, mushrooms, ham, bamboo shoots, shrimp, green peas, eggs, and scallions—all the necessary ingredients were there.

"First cook the rice, then prepare the ingredients, and then stir fry the rice." The steps in Mai Ge's mind were very clear. Looking at the ingredients in the refrigerator, his eyes lit up.

He reached out and grabbed a handful of rice. It was smooth and delicate to the touch, with a bluish-white color and plump grains. Under the light, it was crystal clear, far superior in quality to the Thai jasmine rice he usually ate. A refreshing fragrance wafted towards him.

Then he looked at the large prawn in the sink. Their semi-transparent bodies had rare light purple patterns, and they were swimming happily, looking vibrant and full of life.

The bamboo shoots still had a little black soil clinging to them, and the salt crystals hadn't been removed from the ham. The gray mushrooms were probably some kind of tree fungus, and the eggs were larger than ordinary eggs, with a yellowish-brown hue. Dewdrops still clung to the tender green scallions.

As a food lover who had almost eaten at every Michelin-starred restaurant, Mai Ge had a good eye for ingredients. These ingredients were definitely top notch, but he wasn't sure exactly how good they were. However, since these were given to him for practice, he wouldn't be polite and started washing the rice and cooking it.

With such comprehensive experience, Mai Ge initially thought making Yang Zhou Fried Rice wouldn't be difficult, but when he actually started preparing the ingredients, he realized that everything wasn't as simple as he imagined.

Although he knew exactly how to use the knife in his mind, when he actually held the ingredients and started cutting, he found that his hand movements couldn't meet the requirements and standards he envisioned.

To make the fried rice more delicate in texture, each ingredient had to be cut into pieces the same size as the rice grains. This required extremely high knife skills, and it was a serious challenge for Mai Ge. He couldn't even manage to cut the slices evenly, so he had to repeat the process again and again.