novel-books Chapter 13 This one strike wasn't just cutting vegetables, it was cutting down the very essence
Chapter 13 This one strike wasn't just cutting vegetables, it was cutting down the very essence
Fang Qingxue looked at Lin Fan, her mind completely blank.
Cook?
Fang Qingxue, having grown up like this, couldn't even tell which way the kitchen door faced, let alone cook.
Within her family, she was the pride of the family and the hope for the future.
All his time was spent either cultivating, fighting, or learning intelligence and management knowledge that could influence the world order.
As for meals?
Naturally, there is a top-notch team of nutritionists and chefs who precisely calculate every meal to ensure that energy and nutrients are absorbed most efficiently.
Asking her to cook is far more difficult than assassinating an A-level wanted criminal.
"Sir...I..."
Fang Qingxue's cheeks were burning hot; this was the first time in her life she had felt so embarrassed.
"What do you mean, 'I'? You don't want to?'" Lin Fan glanced at her, his tone self-righteous. "I'm taking you in, providing food and lodging, so isn't it only right that I let you do some work? The flowers in my yard are precious, and I don't even care about your flower-growing skills. Start with cooking; consider it your internship."
Internship period...
Fang Qingxue pondered this unfamiliar word, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
She, the eldest daughter of the prestigious Fang family and the future head of the family, actually had to start as an intern "cook".
But on second thought, this is by no means a trivial matter!
This is the master's order!
It is a test of the gentleman's character!
If you can't even pass this worldly test, how can you talk about following in your footsteps and exploring the highest realm of martial arts?
Thinking of this, Fang Qingxue's eyes sharpened instantly, and the resolute aura she had when carrying out S-level missions returned to her.
"Please rest assured, sir! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!"
She straightened her back and answered loudly, her demeanor more like she was going to blow up a military base than to cook.
Lin Fan was taken aback by her display of force, and then waved his hand impatiently.
"Alright, alright, keep your voice down, don't scare the neighbor's cat."
"The kitchen is over there, the rice and vegetables are there, just get ready, I'm hungry, hurry up."
After saying that, Lin Fan leisurely returned to the rocking chair, picked up an old book with a yellowed cover, and began to read it at his leisure.
Fang Qingxue adjusted her breathing and walked with heavy steps toward the kitchen, which was more mysterious to her than a dragon's den or a tiger's lair.
The kitchen wasn't big, but Lin Fan had kept it fairly clean.
An old-fashioned brick stove, with a gas cylinder and a single-burner stove next to it, and a large iron pot gleaming.
A few cabbages and potatoes were piled up in the corner, and a bag of rice was leaning against the wall.
Fang Qingxue stared at these things, her mind blank.
How does rice become cooked food?
How does a dish become a dish?
Her family's secret manuals record hundreds of methods for tempering the body, explain the mysteries of the 360 acupoints in the human body, and even analyze the energy structure of more than a dozen supernatural abilities.
But not a single page mentions whether or not to peel the potato skin.
After hesitating for a while, she decided to start with the simplest thing—washing rice.
She scooped half a pot of rice from the rice bag, turned on the tap, and began to rinse it.
The water was gurgling, and the white rice soup, mixed with rice grains, kept overflowing from the edge of the pot, spilling all over the ground.
She frantically tried to scoop the rice back, but ended up getting her sleeves and clothes covered in wet rice grains.
After all that fuss, almost half the rice in the pot was gone.
She looked at the pitiful amount of rice in the pot, then at the messy floor, and for the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared on her usually aloof face.
Martial arts training emphasizes precise and meticulous control.
She can control her mental power and detonate the primer of a bullet from a hundred meters away.
She can control her own strength, and when she strikes tofu with her palm, the tofu does not break.
But now, she can't even control a handful of rice.
Is this... also a form of spiritual practice?
Fang Qingxue's expression turned serious again.
Yes, this must be a test from the master for her!
It tests her character and whether she can find the true meaning of martial arts in the most ordinary and trivial matters!
She rallied and set her sights on those potatoes.
She picked up a kitchen knife and, mimicking the chef she remembered, began peeling the potatoes.
But that kitchen knife in her hands was more unruly than the most difficult alien weapon to control.
"bass!"
The knife slipped, and instead of peeling off a piece of potato skin, it cut a thin, bloody gash on her fair finger.
"hiss……"
Fang Qingxue gasped in pain, staring blankly at the beads of blood seeping from her fingertips.
How long has it been since I've been "injured" like this?
Since mastering the family's protective qi, ordinary swords and blades have been unable to harm her in the slightest.
Today, she was actually brought to her senses by a small kitchen knife.
In the courtyard, Lin Fan lay on a rocking chair, not even lifting his eyelids.
In fact, he was aware of everything that happened in the entire courtyard.
The sounds of running water, rice grains falling to the ground, a cleaver striking the cutting board—or rather, slamming onto the cutting board—and Fang Qingxue's suppressed gasps filled the kitchen.
Lin Fan's lips twitched uncontrollably.
I thought that bringing back a tool would make life easier.
In retrospect, it seems like we've invited an ancestor back to our home.
This isn't cooking; it's clearly dismantling the kitchen.
He sighed inwardly.
Forget it, if I rely on her, I'll starve to death by today's meal.
He put down his book, stood up, and went into the kitchen.
Upon entering, I saw Fang Qingxue holding a potato, confronting me with a serious expression.
She had a band-aid wrapped around her hand, and on the cutting board were several oddly shaped and irregularly sized pieces of potato.
Some were smaller than a fingernail, and some still had large pieces of skin attached.
In the large iron pot next to it, half a pot of blackened stuff was burning, emitting a strong burnt smell.
It's obvious that she just tried to stir-fry potatoes, but she didn't put in enough oil and turned the heat up too high.
"stop."
Lin Fan's voice rang out; he simply couldn't bear to watch any longer.
Fang Qingxue froze upon hearing the sound and turned around abruptly.
Upon seeing Lin Fan, her face instantly turned bright red, like a child who had done something wrong, and she didn't know where to put the kitchen knife in her hand.
"Sir...I...I..."
"What do you mean, 'you'? You want to set my kitchen on fire?" Lin Fan snatched the kitchen knife from her hand in an annoyed tone. "Get out of the way, I'll do it."
He skillfully peeled the remaining potatoes and placed them on the cutting board.
"Watch closely."
With a flick of his wrist, Lin Fan transformed the ordinary kitchen knife in his hand.
"Tap tap tap tap tap—"
A rapid, heavy sound, like raindrops pounding on banana leaves, rang out!
All Fang Qingxue could see was a continuous line of flashing blades.
In the blink of an eye, a round potato has been transformed into a pile of evenly sized, paper-thin potato shreds!
Fang Qingxue's pupils suddenly contracted.
What did she see?
That's not just about speed.
In her perception, every strike Lin Fan made was executed with unbelievable force, angle, and speed.
Every cut was executed flawlessly, without a single wasted effort.
The path a knife follows as it cuts through potato fibers contains some profound and mysterious principle!
This doesn't look like chopping vegetables.
This is clearly an exquisite and unparalleled sword technique that returns to the essence of nature!
"What are you looking at? What are you spacing out for?" Lin Fan threw the shredded potatoes into the water, then picked up a cabbage. "Cooking is like practicing martial arts; it's about 'mind and hand in harmony.' If your mind is all jumbled up, how can you use your hands correctly? Look at this cabbage, every leaf and every vein has its own texture. Cutting with the texture is easier and tastes better. Cutting against the texture is more difficult and it gets stuck in your teeth."
As Lin Fan spoke, he quickly chopped the cabbage.
The movements—lighting the fire, pouring the oil—are fluid and natural, full of life.
But in Fang Qingxue's eyes, every movement was imbued with the essence of "Tao".
So it turns out... martial arts really are in everyday life.
The gentleman wasn't teaching me how to cook.
He was explaining the true meaning of martial arts to me in the most direct and simple way!
Fang Qingxue was deeply shocked. She stared blankly at Lin Fan's back, her eyes sparkling with wonder.
Soon, a plate of hot and sour shredded potatoes and a plate of stir-fried cabbage with vinegar were freshly prepared.
It's clearly the simplest home-style dish, yet its aroma is so irresistible that it fills your nostrils and makes your mouth water.
"Alright, take it out. Remember what I taught you today, and you'll do it tomorrow."
Lin Fan washed the pot, wiped his hands, and walked straight out of the kitchen.
Fang Qingxue, still in a daze, carried the two plates of food and followed them out.
She ate the meal absentmindedly.
My mind was filled with Lin Fan's movements as he chopped vegetables, and his words, "Mind and hand in harmony."
After finishing her meal, she took the initiative to clear the dishes and then went to the kitchen alone, picked up a potato, and began practicing shredding it.
She didn't use any more internal energy; she simply used her wrist and finger strength to imitate Lin Fan's movements.
At first, things were still bumpy and difficult.
But who is she?
She is the pride of the Fang family and a martial arts prodigy!
After she began to practice chopping vegetables as a form of knife skill, her progress was terrifying.
From chopping at the beginning, to cutting later, and then gradually finding that wonderful feeling of following the grain and achieving harmony between mind and hand.
She spent the entire afternoon in the kitchen, battling with potatoes.
Lin Fan lay in the yard, listening to the rhythmic "thump-thump" sounds coming from the kitchen, which gradually became more and more chaotic, and nodded in satisfaction.
Not bad, he's teachable.
At least I don't have to worry about starving to death anymore.
As dusk fell, dim lights illuminated the alleyways.
Lin Fan stretched and prepared to go back to his room to sleep.
Just then, he habitually muttered a sentence to himself.
"System, check-in."
[Ding! Today's check-in successful!]
[Congratulations, host! A new 'kitchen helper' has been added to the courtyard, slightly improving your quality of life and triggering a lifestyle reward!]
[Congratulations, host, you have obtained "God-level Culinary Mastery"!]
boom!
A massive flow of information flooded into Lin Fan's mind.
From the eight major cuisines of China to top-tier dishes from around the world, from the most basic knife skills and cooking techniques to the most complex molecular gastronomy techniques.
He mastered countless recipes, techniques, and insights in an instant.
He can even clearly perceive the finest molecular structure of each ingredient, and knows what temperature and cooking method are needed to bring out its best flavor.