"I have learned a little calligraphy and Chinese painting before. When does the school require me to submit my works? I will go buy paper and pen to prepare first." Ye Tian continued.
"There's still a week left! Thank you Tiantian, you're so kind. I was just worried that no one in our class would participate!" Zhao Yu said excitedly, but she thought Ye Tian was just participating and didn't think about whether she could win the prize.
Afterwards, Zhao Yu accompanied Ye Tian to the stationery store at the school gate to buy the necessary rice paper, brushes and ink, and said that the class fees would be reimbursed.
After consideration, Ye Tian decided to write Su Shi's "Nian Nujiao. Remembering the Past at Chibi".
The great river flows eastward, washing away all the heroes of the past. The old fortresses of the past are now westward...
The words were so majestic, Ye Tian didn't dare say her handwriting could match them, but she hoped it would be one ten-thousandth of the same. She practiced for a few days, after all, she hadn't written in a long time and needed to find the feeling.
The day before the registration deadline, she took out a new piece of rice paper, wrote the entire poem in one go, and wrote with her pen flowing freely.
The three roommates watching nearby were all stunned.
"Tiantian, you're a hidden talent! Even though I don't know how to write calligraphy, I can tell you it's incredibly powerful. You must have been practicing for years!" Zhao Yu exclaimed. "I bet this piece will win first place!"
"Your hands are not only good for cooking, but also for calligraphy. How did you get these hands?" Lu Xinyi deliberately pulled Ye Tian's hand and looked at it left and right.
Li Yue's eyes sparkled with admiration. She had also practiced calligraphy as a child, but her writing only ended up looking like blobs of ink, so she had to give up.
"You guys are exaggerating too much. You all have your own specialties, right? Xiaoyue plays the piano so well, Ayu has a black belt in Taekwondo, and Xinyi is good at guzheng. They are all very amazing!" Ye Tian looked at her roommates and praised them sincerely.
"Hahaha, it seems that the four of us in the dormitory are all beautiful and talented!" Lu Xinyi said exaggeratedly.
That day, someone posted a photo on the school's love confession wall, asking the wall to help him find a girl.
The boy said, "Qiuqiang, I saw two girls picking osmanthus flowers the other day, and I was immediately drawn to one of them. But I didn't dare approach and ask for their contact information; I only managed to snap a few photos. After that, I went that way every day, but I never ran into her again. Qiuqiang, can you help me find her?"
In the photo, a tall girl wearing a Chanel-style jacket, blue jeans, and a high ponytail is holding her hands to catch the falling golden osmanthus flowers.
Under the osmanthus tree, the girl's smile is picturesque, gentle and beautiful.
One day later, in the dormitory, Zhao Yu was not there, Ye Tian and Li Yue were studying, and Lu Xinyi, lying on the bed, was looking at her phone when she saw this message. She looked closely and thought: Isn't this Li Yue?
So she leaned over to Li Yue, who was sitting on a chair reading a book, and shouted, "Xiao Yue, someone else is confessing to you on the confession wall!"
"Here we go again! I don't want to care about this, and I don't want to fall in love." Li Yue was a little impatient, but she still opened her phone to take a look. Although the confession made her irritated, she thought the photo of her was pretty.
Li Yue is beautiful, has a good figure, and is gentle and generous. She is a real white, rich and beautiful woman. There are endless people chasing after her, even more than those chasing after Lu Xinyi.
But she has been accustomed to being the center of attention since she was a child, and has long been immune to confessions. Instead, she feels annoyed when someone pursues her or confesses to her.
Ye Tian, who was trying hard to memorize words next to her, didn't say anything, but she also agreed with Li Yue's idea. Why should a girl be so excited when someone pursues her?
…
"Master Tiantian, look at the potato shreds I've made. They've improved a lot, right?" Xiao Li showed Ye Tian his latest achievements, hoping to get praise.
His knife skills have indeed improved a lot recently. He can now cut the potato shreds into thin and even pieces, and his speed is faster than before.
Ye Tian felt that she should encourage her, so she said, "Well, that's good. Why don't you come and stir-fry the shredded potatoes you cut yourself at noon?" After saying that, she looked at Master Yun.
Seeing Master Yun nod, Xiao Li was very excited. He had watched everyone cook countless times, and he had even studied Ye Tian's movements. Now it was finally his turn to do it himself.
He saw others cooking with ease, but when it was his turn, he was in a state of panic. Once the oil was boiling, he frantically added the dried chilies, then hastily dumped the shredded potatoes into the wok, not even bothering to put the pot back down properly. He also used too much force when stir-frying, sending some of the shredded potatoes flying onto the stove and the floor.
Chef Yun put his hand on his forehead and the speed at which he strung the beads became faster.
Ye Tian stared at the pot and calmly instructed: "Don't worry, add half a shovel of salt and two tablespoons of vinegar, and stir-fry again. Okay, it's ready to be served."
After pouring all the shredded potatoes into a large stainless steel plate, Xiao Li finally breathed a sigh of relief. He felt like he was so nervous that he even forgot to breathe.
He put a spoonful of the spicy and sour potato shreds he had cooked into his lunch box, and couldn't wait to taste the first dish he had made.
"It's crunchy, with just the right amount of sour and spicy. I think it's quite delicious." Xiao Li chewed it carefully for a long time and felt that he had done a good job. "I really have a natural talent as a chef!" he boasted with a cheeky smile.
Ye Tian didn’t want to discourage him, so she said, “It’s okay, keep up the good work!” and turned around to stir-fry the shredded cabbage.
Ye Tian had previously suggested to Master Sun that he make a dish of sweet orange spareribs, using orange juice. The resulting spareribs had the fragrance of orange, were golden in color, and tasted sour and sweet, which was very suitable for girls' tastes and received a lot of praise.
Master Sun was also very proud that he finally had something delicious. This also strengthened his determination to continue researching how to cook with fruits.
Chef Xiao Du recently made some steamed buns made with chopped noodles. Each one is big and solid, and many teachers like to buy them and take them home to eat.
He prepared the bun filling according to Ye Tian's recipe. The wrappers were white and soft, and the filling was fresh, fragrant, and juicy, unlike the dry ones before. Every morning, the students would have a big bun and a bowl of porridge, and their mood would improve.
Aunt Liu also learned a simple braised chicken dish from Ye Tian, and planned to make it for her family when she returned home from her break, which surprised her daughter and husband.
The Third Canteen has really been on the rise lately, even adding a weekly signature dish. This was the brainchild of Chef Yun, who serves bracelets in a large teapot every day.
Signature dishes are usually big dishes, such as the sweet-scented osmanthus drunken crab and the Dongpo pork that Ye Tian is making now.
She creates a unique scene in the bustling kitchen, yet busy yet not chaotic. She washes several large pieces of pork belly, puts them in a pot with cold water, adds slices of ginger and cooking wine, and simmers for five minutes before removing them from the pot. She then cuts the pork belly into 5- to 6-centimeter cubes, then adds the cubes to the pot, frying them over medium-low heat to remove any excess fat. She sears all sides of the pork, except the skin and bottom, until golden brown.
Tie the fried pork belly into a cross with cotton string to prevent it from falling apart during cooking. Add rock sugar and water to the pot and simmer over medium-low heat until the syrup is formed.
After completing the previous steps, Ye Tian set up the cafeteria's large iron wok, spread a layer of scallion and ginger slices on the bottom, and placed the pork belly, skin side down, in the pot. Then, she added light and dark soy sauce, the simmered syrup, and a suitable amount of Huadiao wine, then poured in warm water until the pork belly was covered. She then covered the pot and simmered it over medium-high heat for 30 minutes. She flipped the pork belly, turning it skin side up, and continued to simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Once a chopstick could be easily inserted into the meat, she turned the heat back up to reduce the sauce. The Dongpo pork was ready.
While waiting, Ye Tian had already arranged a row of small white porcelain bowls, placed a large square piece of pork belly into the bowls one by one, garnished it with a few leaves of coriander, and then served them on a plate, waiting for students to come and buy them.
A meat-loving man's eyes lit up at the sight of the bright red Dongpo pork. He bought two servings and began to devour them. With each bite, he could taste the fat, thoroughly seared, oozing out its fat. It melted in his mouth, rich yet not greasy. The lean meat, braised to tenderness and flavor, was especially delicious when combined with the fat. The delicious texture, swirls along with the rich sauce, filling his mouth with the aroma of meat. Adding a mouthful of rice, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction and happiness.
Although Ye Tian didn't directly acknowledge Li Bing as her apprentice, she would occasionally guide him. So Li Bing felt that he couldn't let his young apprentice Tiantian work so hard cleaning, so he took the initiative to take on more physical work and let Ye Tian go to the window to help Aunt Liu serve lunch to the students.
The students queuing outside couldn't help but wonder: Hey, why has the person serving food in the cafeteria changed? She's actually a beautiful girl.
Oh... everyone suddenly remembered that it seems that every cafeteria now arranges students to work and study, and this person should also be their alumnus.
On her first day of serving food, Ye Tian developed a new rule: her hand must not shake when she spoons food. Even if the servings are the same amount, a shake can make the serving seem small. That shake can make the students' hearts flutter. She's better off giving half a spoonful first, then adding a little more as needed—that's easier for everyone to accept. She also estimates the approximate number of people eating and then allocates portions accordingly, of course, based on the price of the dishes.
Aunt Liu gave a lot of food, but the students still liked to line up in Ye Tian's team, especially the boys. They often whispered and laughed while getting their food, as if they were talking about which department and class Ye Tian was from.
Ye Tian pretended not to see or hear anything, and continued to serve food to everyone equally with a professional smile on her face.
She didn't expect that the boys would give her a nickname: The Sweet Lady in the Third Canteen.
Ye Tian was a little unhappy when she heard this, but she couldn't control other people's mouths.
When she was on break, the boys who came to get food all felt like something was missing. They gradually figured out that on the days when "Sweetie" was getting food, the food in the third cafeteria was always especially delicious. They didn't know what the pattern was.
Therefore, Ye Tian almost became a weather vane for food. Whenever she was on duty, there would be a lot of people coming to the third canteen to eat.
There are few staff in their cafeteria, so it is still very tiring every day. Fortunately, the logistics department hired a handyman, which greatly reduced the pressure on the kitchen helpers in cleaning.
Ye Tian was tired but happy. Her latest paycheck was over 2,400 yuan. While it wasn't comparable to the tens of thousands of yuan a chef earns at restaurants, it was something Master Yun had worked hard to secure for her. Master Yun himself only made 8,000 yuan a month. It was enough to pay off her school debts and allow her to make other plans.
She wants to buy sweaters, coats, down jackets, ankle boots, and a tablet for studying. Alas, money is never enough!
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