Chapter 27: Lighting Up the Second Collection

The fat chef’s fingers danced as if playing a piano, and roaring flames erupted from all ten claypots.

The thin chef beside him had already placed tin foil bases onto a tray.

The fat chef placed all the still-flaming claypots onto the tin foil bases.

An older waitress, who had been waiting at the side, quickly carried the trays away.

Having finished filming the entire cooking process, Li Xiao didn’t linger.

He had only been there for less than ten minutes, but a thin layer of sweat already covered his body. If he stayed any longer, he’d probably have to change his clothes immediately.

Returning to his seat, he chatted with the viewers in his stream while he waited.

Soon, the first claypot was served.

GULP. Li Xiao swallowed hard.

His eyes went wide as he watched the older waitress lift the still-steaming lid with her bare hands.

’Is this lady a hidden martial arts master working in a restaurant?’

That lid had to be over 100 degrees Celsius, yet she picked it up bare-handed, without gloves or a cloth. It was simply astonishing.

’It makes me wonder if things like the legendary Iron Sand Palm and Iron Cloth Shirt were actually real.’

However, his wandering thoughts were quickly drawn to the sizzling claypot in front of him.

As the lid was lifted, a cloud of steam carrying the strong aroma of rice wine washed over him, followed by a rich, charred fragrance.

The first pot to arrive was the Sizzling Eel Claypot.

The intense aroma made all four of them lick their lips.

The other three weren’t fools. Li Xiao was treating them to this meal, and he was live-streaming, so they naturally wouldn’t steal his thunder.

Li Xiao picked up a piece of eel with his chopsticks and held it up to the camera.

"Everyone, take a look. They prepare their eel very meticulously."

"The organs have been cleaned out completely. I love that!"

"To help it absorb the flavors, the chef not only marinated it beforehand but also scored the back of the eel before cooking."

"The eels they use here are quite large, so the meat on the back is thicker."

"The cooking time for a sizzling claypot is quite short, so if you don’t score the eel’s back, it’s hard for the sauce to penetrate the meat."

"Let’s give a thumbs-up to the meticulous chef!"

The viewers in the stream stared at the savory, glistening, and plump pieces of eel, their mouths watering.

"That color on the eel is gorgeous!"

"It looks so appetizing!"

"I thought 58 yuan for a pot was expensive before, but seeing the portion size, now I’m worried the restaurant will lose money!"

"Holy cow, that’s a thick eel!"

"It looks delicious! I have to go try it this weekend!"

······

After his introduction for the audience, Li Xiao couldn’t hold back any longer and popped the piece of eel into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth, a rich *wok hei* filled his palate.

The dish was cooked over high heat the entire time, yet the control of the flame was perfect.

A moment more and it would have been burnt; a moment less and it would have been undercooked.

It was an extreme test of the chef’s skill in heat control.

Next came the complex flavors of Chu Hou paste and XO sauce.

The flavors of these two sauces were incredibly rich, instantly awakening his taste buds.

As he chewed, his teeth broke through the firm, crisp eel meat.

The juices, sealed inside the eel by the high heat, burst out in an instant.

The eel meat itself was incomparably fresh and sweet, creating a sharp contrast with the heavy, savory sauce. Li Xiao couldn’t help but close his eyes to savor the complex, layered flavor.

The moment Li Xiao swallowed the food,

a series of system notifications appeared in his mind.

[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new entry in the Food Atlas]

[The food you have unlocked is: Sizzling Claypot]

[Food Rating: 91 [Excellent]]

[As the rating is Excellent, you will receive a 4x reward.]

[Congratulations, you have received a cash reward of 400,000.]

[Congratulations, you have received the recipe for Sizzling Eel Claypot.]

[Congratulations, you have received the recipe for Secret Chu Hou Paste.]

[Congratulations, you have received the recipe for Secret XO Sauce.]

[Congratulations, you have gained the skill Multitasking [Beginner]. You can now prepare 2 dishes simultaneously.]

[Note 1: All rewards are automatically legitimized. You do not need to worry about their origin.]

[Note 2: Reward multipliers vary based on the rating.]

[Rating: 60-69, Passable, 1x reward multiplier]

[Rating: 70-79, Average; 2x reward multiplier]

[Rating: 80-89, Good, 3x reward multiplier]

[Rating: 90-99, Excellent, 4x reward multiplier]

A flood of relevant memories poured into his mind.

The next moment, Li Xiao saw his phone screen light up.

[Your savings account ending in 7700 has received a deposit of 400,000.00 yuan...]

·····

Hearing the system’s notifications, a satisfied smile spread across Li Xiao’s face.

He was a little surprised that the sizzling claypot had received a rating as high as 91.

It had earned him a 4x reward.

The 400,000 yuan deposit made him very happy.

This meal had only cost him a little over 300 yuan, but his reward was over 400,000.

That was a return of more than 1,000 times his investment. Even the richest man in the world would probably be green with envy at that kind of ROI.

At this rate, earning ten million a month didn’t seem impossible.

Chewing the piece of eel carefully, Li Xiao grew even more satisfied.

For a price of 58 yuan, getting an eel this big and thick obviously meant it was farmed.

After all, if it were truly wild-caught, this pot of Sizzling Eel Claypot would have cost at least 158 yuan.

However, even for a farmed eel, this one was of very high quality.

Of course, what was more important was its extreme freshness.

Although he had mainly been filming the fat chef’s cooking process earlier,

he had also noticed some of the thin chef’s actions. He saw that the eels had just been killed in the back kitchen, then washed and brought out.

The segments of eel were still writhing on the stainless steel plate. While it looked quite gruesome, it was also a clear indicator of their freshness.

It had probably been less than ten minutes from the time the eel was killed to when it hit the pot.

Spitting out the bone and seeing that the other three hadn’t touched their chopsticks yet, Li Xiao quickly urged them,

"Don’t just stare, eat while it’s hot! The flavor will be much worse once this stuff gets cold."

Zhou Yu, sitting beside him, asked in a low voice,

"Should we wait until you’re done streaming? Won’t this affect your broadcast?"

Li Xiao rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"What are you talking about? I don’t make my living from streaming."

"You guys go ahead and eat. It won’t affect my stream."

Hearing Li Xiao say this, the others finally relaxed and picked up their chopsticks.

"Whoa, this eel smells incredible!"

"The skin is seared to a golden brown, but I can’t believe there’s still so much juice inside."

"This is amazing, thanks, Brother Li! If it weren’t for you, I’d never have gotten to eat such a delicious Sizzling Eel Claypot."