After a while, Zheng Ping lifted the lid, took a look, poked at it with his chopsticks, and turned around to say, "It's almost done. Let's eat, or the bottom will get burnt."
Upon hearing this, everyone picked up their meals and lifted the lids. The color, apart from looking a bit dark, was actually... barely acceptable.
Lin Nian opened his lunchbox. Looking at his claypot rice, he felt something was off. Although he had never eaten it before, there was internet in the village, and he had seen it online.
Huang Fei's claypot rice looks a bit like the ones online, but it also seems different in some ways. It's a strange feeling of being both similar and dissimilar.
Everyone picked up their chopsticks and began to savor Chef Huang's claypot rice. Huang Fei also couldn't wait to pick up his chopsticks and taste his masterpiece.
Huang Fei picked up a slice of ham and put it in his mouth. He chewed it and then nodded with satisfaction.
"Hmm, although it's a little different from Fengzi's, it's still pretty delicious. What do you guys think?"
Yin Xing took a bite of claypot rice, and his lips went numb. He looked at Huang Fei with a snort and said, "Da Fei, putting aside whether this stuff tastes good or not, why the hell is my mouth numb? Is this normal?"
"It's numbing and delicious, you can come now." Huang Fei nodded, indicating that this was normal.
"Holy crap, this is the first time I've ever had claypot rice like this. How can I describe it? It's a bit like eating 'zha luo' (a type of fried rice dish)," one of his companions said, puzzled.
"Bullshit! How many times have you even eaten claypot rice? This is what authentic claypot rice tastes like, don't you know? It's so delicious!"
Huang Fei retorted, then picked up a large mouthful of rice and put it in his mouth, as if to prove to everyone that what he had made was fine.
But after taking one bite of rice, Huang Fei fell silent. This didn't taste quite like what he had imagined.
"Is it delicious, Dafei?"
Zheng Ping hesitated and looked at Huang Fei, wondering whether the problem lay with him or with Huang Fei.
"It's delicious, how could it not be delicious?"
Huang Fei said, then gritted his teeth and took another big mouthful of rice. At this point, if no one is going to support him, he has to support himself.
"Your stuff is numbing, but mine doesn't taste like anything. Ours tastes different!" Someone looked at the food in Yin Xing's lunchbox with a puzzled expression, then looked at his own, and couldn't help but pick up a piece of food from Yin Xing's lunchbox with his chopsticks.
"Wow... wow, this stuff is really strong! Even the Sichuan peppercorn fish head I make at home isn't as numbing as this." The man gasped, looking at the food in Yin Xing's lunchbox with surprise.
"Wow, that's impressive. They produced seven or eight different lunch boxes at the same time, each with a different flavor. Whether they taste good or not is another matter, but the novelty factor is off the charts." A companion next to him chuckled.
"You guys are too picky, making a lot of fuss. Lin Nian, is my cooking delicious?" Huang Fei could only look at the most honest Lin Nian now, hoping to get some approval.
Lin Nian lowered his head and ate his claypot rice, only managing to utter a single sentence after a long while under everyone's gaze.
"No wonder my grandpa said that those fancy things in the city don't taste good at all. He was right. This stuff is really not as good as mala tang."
Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, and Huang Fei, unable to bear the sight, covered his face in disbelief.
"If it's really that bad, isn't there anything to praise about it?" Huang Fei asked, looking at everyone with a persistent expression.
Looking at Huang Fei, who was seeking comfort, Zheng Ping finally sighed. He meant well, but his cooking skills were just not good. What could he do?
It was Huang Fei's first time cooking, so they couldn't keep discouraging him. They had to comfort him, otherwise they would feel bad.
Zheng Ping coughed lightly, carefully chose his words, and said, "Actually, Dafei, you cook quite well. Apart from being unpalatable, you don't have any other problems."
Huang Fei: "..."
Others: "..."
Everyone stared at Zheng Ping, speechless. They hadn't expected that his seemingly honest and unassuming words would be so hurtful.
We were at least trying to be tactful; you're being way too blunt.
Seeing everyone's expressions, including Huang Fei's face which had turned green, Zheng Ping seemed to sense something was wrong and offered another explanation.
"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that everything else was pretty good, it was just a little unpalatable..."
It would have been better not to explain; the explanation only made things worse.
"It wasn't me... Dafei, you... you know what I mean." Zheng Ping was also momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say, and could only say with a helpless expression.
"Yes, I understand you," Huang Fei sighed softly and nodded.
You look like an honest guy, but you're the most despicable one.
"Actually, it's alright. It's not too bad for your first time cooking." Yin Xing comforted Huang Fei and took a big bite of rice.
That bite made his tongue numb; he probably wouldn't be able to speak properly after a few more bites.
To be honest, Huang Fei's claypot rice wasn't very good, but it wasn't particularly bad either; it was alright.
Huang Fei was easygoing and it wasn't a big deal for him; he just gained a profound understanding of his own culinary skills.
Moreover, he discovered that while he could understand it in his mind, it was a completely different matter from him being able to do it with his hands.
"By the way, how was your haul today?" someone asked while eating.
"I found a small gold nugget today, I estimate it's worth over four hundred, hehe. Adding the other silver nuggets, I estimate it'll be worth over six hundred today."
One of his companions couldn't help but mention it with pride.
He'd been watching others pan for gold, and today it was finally his turn. Four hundred wasn't a small amount.
"I'll probably get three or four hundred in total, so today's harvest is pretty good."
"Me too, just the same old stuff."
"What about Lin Nian?"
Seeing that everyone had a good harvest, Huang Fei couldn't help but ask Lin Nian about it.
He had such a good haul yesterday, I wonder how he fared today. After all, there's someone who got over 600, it won't be so easy to surpass him.
Lin Nian was eating his secret-recipe claypot rice when he heard this and looked up.
"It's alright," he replied somewhat shyly.
No matter the time, Lin Nian basically always had that honest and simple smile.
"Don't be so rude, show it to us." Huang Fei said, always eager for a good show.
Everyone then urged Lin Nian to take it out and take a look. Seeing this, Lin Nian had no choice but to take out the small bottle from his pocket.
After seeing the small bottle containing the abundant harvest, everyone fell completely silent again.
"Alright, Lin Nian has completely taken over Feng Zi's job. I reckon he must have earned over 700, right?"
Zheng Ping took the small bottle, poured out the contents, and estimated the contents with a look of deep emotion.
Lin Nian's luck is ridiculously good; he seems to have gold every day.
"Wow, did your brother tell you some gold-mining secrets? Tell us about them too," one of his companions asked, puzzled.
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