Chapter 137: The Chef Advancement Quest

Chen Yun glanced at the tea. It was no longer the counterfeit tea with hallucinogenic effects from last time, but genuine Biyuan green tea. He couldn't help smiling and said, "Brother Zhang really has impressive means. Just a few days and you've already secured real Biyuan green tea."

"Don't even mention it, my friend. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. I specifically had the tea from last time authenticated, and as you predicted, it contained addictive hallucinogens. It's a good thing I didn't drink much, otherwise I'd be in deep trouble. That damned Lao Sun—such an old friend of many years, yet he dared to backstab me. I won't let him off the hook," Zhang Lang said indignantly.

"Since he's an old friend, there's no need to make things unpleasant. Now that you know what kind of person he is, just be careful in the future. I'll go get ready now. You go ahead and be busy, Brother Zhang." Chen Yun downed his tea in one gulp and headed to the private little kitchen.

Upon arriving at the kitchen entrance, before even stepping inside, Chen Yun heard the sound of a card game in full swing, complete with shouts of playing triplets and bombs, leaving him with a head full of black lines.

Here he was, running around every single day fighting for his life, while the few of them had it so good, idling away their time playing cards right inside the kitchen. It seemed he really wasn't a very qualified head chef.

Standing at the doorway, Chen Yun looked through the mini-map and saw his three assistants gathered in the lounge area of the small kitchen, deeply engrossed in their card game. Especially Cao Long, who was clutching three bombs in his hand, aggressively egging on Zhu Bin and Peng Lian to play high cards so he could unleash a chain of consecutive bombs.

"Three Jacks," Zhu Bin played.

"Got you covered. Three twos. Nobody wants them? I'm playing then," Peng Lian tossed out three Kings. Seeing neither of them react, she was just about to throw down a straight and finish with a deputy commander card when a leisurely voice drifted from behind her.

"Using three twos as your trump card? Where on earth did you get the courage?"

"Why can't three twos be a trump card? Aside from the jokers and bombs, who can beat them?" Peng Lian pouted.

"Right, right, hurry up and play, little sis. I won't block you, I'm going after Zhu Bin," Cao Long said with a grin, before suddenly realizing something felt off. Who had just spoken?

President Zhang had given explicit instructions that no one except Master Chen and the three assistants was allowed inside the private kitchen. So who spoke just now?

Peng Lian and Zhu Bin snapped back to reality as well. All three turned around in unison toward the voice, and the moment they saw who it was, their faces drained of color.

"M-Master Chen..."

"You three are certainly in high spirits. But playing Fight the Landlord isn't quite exciting enough. How about I join in to make even numbers and we play Upgrade instead?" Chen Yun walked over with a smile.

"Master Chen... No, it's not what you think... We..." Cao Long was so terrified he didn't know what to say. The card game had been his idea, so if Chen Yun decided to hold someone accountable, he would be the first.

"Master Chen, I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been playing cards in the kitchen. It was our fault," Peng Lian chimed in, hastily admitting her wrongdoing.

"Right, right, right, it was our fault," Cao Long and Zhu Bin quickly echoed.

"There's no need for all this talk of fault. If anyone truly needs to apologize, it should be me. Ever since I came here, I've only cooked twice," Chen Yun shook his head and said, "I don't blame you. How about this: from now on, you can go help out in the main kitchen when I'm not around, and I'll come find you whenever I need your assistance."

"Yes, Master Chen!" Hearing this, the three of them let out a collective sigh of relief. What they feared most was Master Chen firing them in a fit of anger; they certainly weren't willing to give up a job with such a remarkably high salary.

"Let's put this matter behind us. Zhu Bin, go to cold storage number four, get two pounds of mutated catfish meat, and bring it back to mince for the filling. By the way, grab the mutated catfish whiskers from inside and slice them into sections as well," Chen Yun instructed.

"Cao Long, prepare a clear broth without adding any seasonings."

"Sister Peng, cut the tofu into strips, the eggplants into chunks, the potatoes into slices, the garlic sprouts into sections, and slice the meat into strips. Crack ten eggs and beat them, chop some coriander, and peel some garlic. I'll need them shortly."

Hearing these orders, the three scrambled off to make their preparations. Meanwhile, Chen Yun washed his hands, changed into his chef's uniform, and sat in the lounge area. While waiting for the assistants to ready the ingredients, he pondered the matter of Wang Hong's birthday banquet.

Two weeks had passed since he helped Elder Wang neutralize the heart-devouring poison. The fact that Elder Wang allowed him and President Jiang to attend his birthday banquet indicated that the situation within his family had been brought under control, and those invited to the banquet were all individuals trusted by Elder Wang. Since that was the case, he might as well prepare a little extra so that everyone could partake. With this thought, Chen Yun called out to Cao Long, "Cao Long, make the clear broth in a large pot and make a generous portion."

"You got it, Master Chen! Don't you worry, I guarantee even a pig couldn't finish drinking all the broth I make!"

"..."

Before long, the ingredients were fully prepared. Chen Yun stood up, changed into the special chef's uniform he had worn when meeting royalty, washed his hands, lit the stove, and heated the pan. Within ten minutes, he produced six dishes along with a catfish and tofu soup. Regrettably, among the six dishes and one soup, only the soup attained a blue quality rating, while the rest remained green.

"The player has crafted 6 green-quality dishes. Chef proficiency +30."

"The player has crafted 1 blue-quality dish. Chef proficiency +10."

It seemed that junior chefs could only craft green-quality dishes, though with the assistance of superior materials, they could reach blue quality. He wondered if reaching the intermediate chef tier would allow for a hundred percent success rate on blue dishes. Chen Yun thought to himself as he looked over the finished culinary creations.

"Next up is the mutated catfish whisker soup." Staring at the sliced catfish whiskers in the bowl, Chen Yun held his breath and focused his mind, dedicating one hundred and twenty percent of his concentration to handling an ingredient officially recognized by the system as rare.

To preserve the truest essence of the mutated catfish whiskers, Chen Yun boiled them directly in the unseasoned original catfish broth. Five minutes later, as the system prompt chimed, the corners of Chen Yun's mouth curved upward. As expected of a rare material, it was truly overpowered!

"Mutated Catfish Whisker Soup: Purple rare dish. Permanently increases physique by 5 upon consumption, and increases physique by 500 for 12 hours. Uses: 1/1."

"The player has crafted 1 purple rare dish. Proficiency +300."

"The player's junior chef proficiency has reached its maximum. Please find an intermediate chef to accept the chef advancement quest."

Hearing the final prompt, Chen Yun froze for a moment. Proficiency maxed out? That fast? How was it that he felt he hadn't cooked very many dishes at all?

Reviewing the system log, Chen Yun understood. Green and blue dishes provided minimal proficiency—only 5 points per green dish and 10 for a blue one. However, purple rare dishes yielded a massive boost, granting 300 proficiency points for a single dish. Meanwhile, the required proficiency to advance from a junior to an intermediate chef was only 900 points. Truly, this was a dish worthy of driving royalty wild.

"If I want to farm proficiency quickly, I still need to focus my efforts on purple dishes," Chen Yun deliberated inwardly. His gaze then shifted toward his three assistants. All three of them were intermediate chefs, perfectly fitting the requirements for the system's advancement quest. However, figuring out how to trick them into giving him the quest presented a bit of a challenge.

"The cooking is done, and since idle hands make the devil's work, how about the three of you play a game with me?" After thinking for a moment, Chen Yun suddenly recalled a hilarious scene from a comedy television program he had watched in the past, and inspiration struck him like a flash of lightning.