Chapter 45: Too Hard, Isn’t It? (2/2)

Shen Lingyao clumsily operated in the kitchen.

Just as she finished cutting the vegetables, a burnt smell suddenly emanated from the pot.

The heat was too high.

The water had evaporated.

The already unappetizing mushy rice was now sticking to the bottom of the pot, along with eggshells, forming a blackened mass.

Shen Lingyao, frightened, hurriedly turned off the flame and frantically threw all the cut vegetables into the pot.

“Maybe if I hide it, the burnt taste won’t be noticeable?”

“Let’s flip it over, evenly heat it.”

“Ah, both sides are black, it looks like a shield…”

“Never mind, I’ll add some salt…”

After some professional analysis, Shen Lingyao was convinced that this pancake-like shield resembling a pizza could be eaten.

She decided to add some salt and a bit of soy sauce, to color and add flavor.

But not only could she not differentiate between salt and sugar,

She also couldn’t distinguish vinegar from soy sauce.

Only after smelling a strong burnt sour odor did she realize she had mistaken vinegar for soy sauce and quickly added a large amount of salt, hoping to neutralize the sourness with saltiness.

“Maybe some sugar too…”

“And what’s cooking wine for? There’s oyster sauce here too…”

“Whatever, mom always adds everything when she cooks, can’t be wrong.”

“There’s also thirteen spices, and some Lao Gan Ma, let’s make a flavor medley!”

“Done!”

“Royal Fried Rice Pancake coming up!”

“And it’s sweet and sour!”

After a ‘battle’ of over ten minutes, a steaming, black, mysterious-smelling rice and egg pancake was finally ready, thanks to Shen Lingyao’s relentless efforts.

“Yaoyao, is it ready?”

Zhao Qingfeng had been waiting for a while, his stomach starting to rumble with hunger.

“Yes!”

Shen Lingyao struggled to scoop out the pancake with a spatula and placed it on a plate.

In an instant,

A strange object that he had never seen before was served to Zhao Qingfeng.

“Come and taste the ‘Encouragement Dish’ personally cooked by Miss Shen Lingyao, eat it all now!”

“…”

Zhao Qingfeng was stunned.

Was this really edible?

The bizarre smell was pungent.

The charred shape was alarming.

An irregular circular object, fried into something unrecognizable, was glowing strangely on the plate.

Indeed, the pancake was reflective!

There was too much oil – even America might want to invade!

Moreover, this thing didn’t look like it was meant for human consumption, perhaps not even the pigs in his uncle’s pigsty would deign to eat it.

“What exactly is this?”

Zhao Qingfeng swallowed, making a gulping sound, not from hunger, but from fear.

“The Shen family’s secret recipe for delicious fried rice… pancake! Hey, don’t judge by its looks, it must taste great, just like stinky tofu, smelly but delicious, try it!”

Shen Lingyao tried to break off a piece, but it was too hard. She had to use pliers to chip off a bit, her face full of expectation.

“…”

Zhao Qingfeng watched in horror, too terrified to move.

“Come on, eat up, I made it just for you, what are you waiting for?”

Shen Lingyao, hands on her hips, really wanted to hear Brother Qingfeng’s review. It was her first time earnestly cooking for someone else.

Zhao Qingfeng solemnly nodded.

Although it looked nowhere near as good as Liu Ruoxin’s cooking, the two couldn’t be compared. Even if Shen Lingyao’s dish was worse than anything else, he still wanted to eat it all.

Taking a piece, he bit into it and immediately smiled, giving a thumbs-up, “Delicious, a real treat!”

“Ah… my teeth, I can’t bite it… so sour, so salty! It’s too hard, did you add metal or something?”

“Stop hitting, I didn’t do anything wrong this time!”

“I really can’t bite it, try it yourself!”

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