When Su Qingluan heard the man's question, she giggled, revealing a row of small white teeth, then she cut the remaining two-thirds of the cucumber in her hand with a few strokes.

Then……

That's still two-thirds of a cucumber.

"...What...what happened?" Someone was a little confused.

"It seems... the cucumber hasn't changed much..." Someone was very confused.

"Tsk, you're just being mysterious." Someone was sneering. After all, not everyone in this crowd was as kind to Su Qingluan as Shopkeeper Liang. Some admired her, while others naturally disagreed.

The sarcastic ones obviously belong to the latter category.

But she herself doesn't care - after all, for Hongfulou, she is just a "technical franchisee". Although she is happier the more prosperous Hongfulou's business is, she is not the boss and doesn't care about the employees.

Glancing at the people across from him who were all in a different state, Su Qingluan coughed lightly and said something particularly pretentious:

"Now, the time to witness a miracle has arrived!"

As he spoke, he held one end of the cucumber with one hand and gently wiped it with the other. With the slight pulling force from both sides, the originally "half" cucumber slowly loosened up, like a light green gauze made of jade, gathered on the white porcelain plate.

"This thing looks a bit like the top of the straw raincoat we wear on rainy days, so it has a common name of '蓑衣黄...蓑衣胡瓜'." Su Qingluan explained.

Seeing this, Shopkeeper Liang came over curiously and reached out to fiddle with the cucumber, but because he didn't control the strength well, he tore it a little.

This frightened Manager Liang and he quickly retracted his hand.

Su Qingluan laughed out loud: "It's okay, it's broken, it's a simple thing once you get used to it. Besides, this is originally a cold dish, you can season it and then break it and eat it."

Seeing that everyone around her was staring blankly at her—or rather, at the plate of cucumbers in her hand—she simply passed the plate around the room, letting the curious people have a clear look, and then said:

"This cutting method isn't difficult, but it requires skilled knife skills and wrist control. I'm sure Master Xu has that skill." She looked at Xu Yuanwei, but he turned his head away for some reason. Su Qingluan didn't take it seriously and continued, "I also have a quick and easy way to do it. It can be quick, but I don't recommend relying on it."

As she spoke, she took out another cucumber and put a pair of chopsticks on both sides of the cucumber.

This time she was not trying to "amaze everyone" but simply to explain, so she slowed down her pace, cut with her hands, and began to explain with her mouth in coordination with the movements of her hands.

"Cut the front of the cucumber as you normally would, but make sure it's a little thicker. If it's too thin, it'll easily break, and when used in salad dressings, it'll be too flavorful and lose its crisp texture." She gestured toward the chopsticks placed on either side. "However, unlike regular slicing, you can't cut through the shredded cucumber, whether you're slicing the front or back."

"Excuse me, Madam Su, how can we avoid being cut off?" This question was much more polite than before, and there was more admiration in the tone.

"My two chopsticks are to prevent you from accidentally cutting - but for a chef who really masters the power of a knife, he should be able to do it easily without chopsticks."

This statement is not an exaggeration.

In her previous life, in order to let her practice her hand feeling, her master actually came up with a weird training method of letting her cut Wensi tofu on a water-filled balloon.

At that time, Su Qingluan was a teenager, and her mind was still unstable. She cursed and cried every day, but she still kept practicing with her hands.

However, such hard training has a significant effect. Now Su Qingluan can even cut tofu on a water balloon with her eyes closed - although there should be no artificial rubber in modern times, it should be possible to teach them how to cut Wensi tofu with their bare hands someday.

Su Qingluan was thinking casually, but her hands did not stop moving. She quickly finished cutting one side and turned the cucumber over to cut the other side.

"When cutting this side, be careful. The direction of the cut should be 45 degrees to the previous one... Uh..." Su Qingluan forgot whether the ancients had the saying of 180 internal angles. She thought about it and came up with a more vivid way of saying, "The distance between the two cuts should be about one-eighth of a perfect circle."

After she finished speaking, she stretched out her hand and gestured: "It's about this size."

After demonstrating, she cut the remaining cucumbers with swift movements. With a flick of her hand, the beautiful cucumbers slowly loosened up and meandered down the plate.

"However, this type of cucumber requires a certain level of knife skill, so if you are good at cutting, you can use it. If you are a chef who specializes in making noodles, don't try it lightly - after all, Qixi Festival is only two days away."

In such a short period of time, unless one cheats, it is impossible to make any rapid progress in the vegetable cutting technique.

Having said that, Su Qingluan turned to look at Shopkeeper Liang and said, "That's about it. If they all remember it, the presentation of Hongfulou's dishes will definitely be greatly improved."

As for the further food carving and scene setting, it will not be done overnight and cannot be explained in just a few words.

What's more, although she has a good relationship with Manager Liang now, it is not the same with other chefs.

As the saying goes, "My friend's friend is not my friend."

Without being sure about the character and abilities of these chefs, Su Qingluan did not intend to teach any overly exquisite and complicated dishes.

Moreover, according to her usual observations, even things that are very common to modern chefs still have a lot to learn for people of this era.

Su Qingluan taught plating in the kitchen for more than half an hour. When the peak of the meal gradually came, her throat was hoarse. The chefs in the kitchen also became increasingly busy and had no extra energy to listen to her "teaching".

Upon seeing this, Shopkeeper Liang made an invitation to Su Qingluan and invited her to the private room on the second floor to have some tea and rest.

Su Qingluan was not polite either. She drank tea and chatted with Manager Liang.

As they chatted, Su Qingluan mentioned her desire to rent a shop. After all, Shopkeeper Liang had a wide circle of friends and connections, and was more well-connected than herself, a time traveler. If there was any news about a shop for rent, perhaps he could share some information.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shopkeeper Liang's arm, holding the teacup, frozen in mid-air. She teased, "What's wrong? Shopkeeper Liang, what do you think is wrong?"

Shopkeeper Liang gave a bitter laugh: "Are you kidding, niece? If you were to open a restaurant, with your skills, how could I, Uncle Liang, compete with you..."

But Shopkeeper Liang also understood that he couldn't hinder others from doing business just because of this, as that would be too mean.

Su Qingluan looked at the other man's chubby face that was wrinkled into a bun, and laughed heartily, "Uncle Liang, I only said I wanted to rent a shop. When did I say I wanted to open a restaurant?"