Xu Yuehuai was completely bewildered by the sudden barrage of insults.

She quickly explained, "Young man, I'm from the Central Plains. I came here specifically to learn cooking skills from a master in the Kingdom of the Dark Moon."

The young man glanced at Xu Yuehuai indifferently from head to toe, then turned his gaze to the dried fruit in front of him. His eyes lit up and he suddenly had an idea.

"Want to become an apprentice? Sure..." the young man said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai took a step to the side to bypass his stall and prepared to go in, but unexpectedly, he was stopped by the man again.

Looking at the outstretched hand in front of her, Xu Yuehuai frowned slightly, then looked at the young man with a suspicious gaze.

Didn't you say it was okay? What's going on now?

Seemingly sensing Xu Yuehuai's thoughts, the young man chuckled and pointed to the dried fruit in his hand, saying, "If you want to become my apprentice, of course you can, but you'll have to trouble you to buy all of these dried fruits first."

"Dried fruit?" Xu Yuehuai picked up the black object beneath her with suspicion, examined it, and then chuckled, saying, "I thought these were some kind of strange thing, but they're just dried fruit?"

The young man naturally understood the sarcasm in those words, and his face immediately turned bright red.

He forced himself to argue, "What do you know? This is my specialty. This way, people will know I made these dishes as soon as they taste them. If you don't understand, don't make random comments."

His serious demeanor intimidated Xu Yuehuai. She blinked twice, then reached out, picked up two dried fruits, and looked at them in front of her.

But after taking a second look, she realized that the "unique feature" this person was referring to was different from what she understood as a unique feature.

The dried fruits were not only poorly roasted, but some of them were also moldy. It looked like they had been made for several days, but no one had bought them, which is why they ended up like this.

Xu Yuehua frowned as she brushed the moldy fruit peel off her hands, then picked up a fresher dried fruit.

This piece still feels slightly warm to the touch, suggesting it was baked not long ago.

Xu Yuehua nodded, quickly peeled off the skin, threw it into her mouth, chewed it haphazardly a couple of times, and then spat it out.

"If you don't want to eat it, then don't eat it. Why are you wasting my dried fruit like this?" Unexpectedly, the young man glared angrily at Xu Yuehuai when he saw this.

Waste?

These two words really stunned Xu Yuehuai for a long time. He had roasted these dried fruits into this state, but did he ever think that he was also wasting these good things?

Now that I've vomited it up, they're actually turning around and accusing me of wasting things. There's really nowhere to reason with them.

"Brother, do you know why your dried fruit isn't selling?" Xu Yuehuai asked after thinking for a moment.

"That's because those people don't have any taste," the young man replied nonchalantly.

These words almost made Xu Yuehua laugh. Who gave him the courage to say such a thing?

However, since she needed someone's help, she naturally didn't dare to laugh out loud. So she put on a strange expression and tried her best to suppress her laughter.

"How about I show you how to roast dried fruit?" Xu Yuehuai asked, trying not to laugh.

"You?" Upon hearing this, the young man looked Xu Yuehuai up and down again, then sneered, "With your small frame, I doubt you could even flip a piece of dried fruit. You want to roast dried fruit?"

Xu Yuehuai ignored the ridicule and chuckled lightly, saying, "Are you afraid?"

"Why wouldn't I dare to let you try?" the young man replied.

In his heart, he thought that the man in front of him was full of empty talk and that what he made could not be as good as his own, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

Sugar-roasted chestnuts are truly a delicacy. Once you peel one open, it's sweet, soft, and melts in your mouth, making it unforgettable.

First, select chestnuts, choosing those that are uniform in size, and then wash them clean with water.

Next, take a sharp knife and make a cross on the surface.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add a little salt, then add the chestnuts and cook over high heat.

After brewing for the time it takes to make a cup of tea, turn off the heat and let it steep for a little while before taking it out and setting it aside.

Next, prepare the sauce. The ratio of honey, sugar, and water is 1:1:1. Mix it into a bowl and set it aside.

After pouring the broth back into the pot, quickly add the cooked chestnuts and let them soak for 15 minutes.

Once the flavors have fully infused the chestnuts, you can start stirring and roasting them over a fire.

Keep the heat low and stir constantly with a spatula until all the chestnuts are coated with syrup and crispy. You're all done!

Take out a chestnut, still a little hot, break it in half, and you'll find a whole chestnut kernel that melts in your mouth, rich and sweet.

The man took a bite and found it to be a hundred times better than what he had made. He then realized that there were always people more skilled than him, and immediately changed his attitude: "Young lady, since you have such good skills, why don't you go into the dried fruit business? It's much easier to sell than hand-pulled mutton."

“I didn’t learn this to make money,” Xu Yuehuai immediately waved her hand. “I learned it to participate in the food competition in the Mingyue Kingdom.”

"After all, I come from the Central Plains and am not familiar with the specialties of the Mingyue Kingdom. I only heard that your family's hand-pulled mutton is the most special, so I thought I would come to inquire about it. If you really can win first place, I will definitely not treat you unfairly."

Brother Liu and the woman exchanged a glance, and he said with difficulty, "Miss, it's not that I'm being mean, but you'd better not waste your time. My father has a temper, and he's not going to teach you that."

"Why?" she asked, puzzled.

The young man sighed and began to tell his story: "My dad's mutton shop was very successful back then, attracting many outsiders. At first, these people were quite polite, but later they broke my dad's hand just to get the recipe. After that, my dad never made it again. He even told us to beat people out when they came to ask for the recipe."

Xu Yuehuai quickly realized what was happening.

This is a knot in my heart.

She quickly curtsied and said, "I understand, but I still want to try. Please help me out, young man."

Although she could make hand-pulled mutton herself, she was afraid that her taste wouldn't suit the palates of the people of Mingyue Kingdom, so she naturally had to consult a professional.

Seeing how persistent the man was, the young man from the Liu family pondered for a moment before continuing, "Since that's the case, then let's do as you say. However, I can take you in, but whether my father can teach you depends on your own abilities."