Chapter 1428: The Highest Realm of Culinary Art is the Taste of the Food Itself

The variety of wheat planted, the technique for milling the wheat, what the cooking oil is like, the soy sauce must be brewed...

But that is not all; there is also the dining setting. If one could recreate the way things were at home back then, it would surely achieve twice the result with half the effort!

Gu Yuxin widened her eyes, stunned and speechless for a long time, just staring at Zichen.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that. Everything I said is true; I'm not fooling you." Zichen had been bullied by Gu Yuxin for a long time, so he subconsciously prepared to protect himself the moment he saw her widen her eyes.

"You're really amazing. How did you think of so much?" Gu Yuxin exclaimed in admiration.

This was the first time she had praised Zichen, and she meant it.

She had only thought of making a bowl of heartfelt hand-pulled noodles; she hadn't considered all of this at all.

Zichen told her that the high-tech kitchen products in her kitchen were useful for people who couldn't cook to quickly make palatable meals, as they could reduce learning time.

But if one wanted to make the best food, none of those things were of any use. The reason remained the old one—high-tech kitchenware might seem easy to use, but it lacks a soul.

Gu Yuxin used to get annoyed whenever she heard this.

But now she was convinced, especially convinced.

"Can you help me?" Gu Yuxin lowered her pride.

"What did you say?"

Zichen couldn't believe his ears. Had he heard correctly? Was something wrong with his hearing?

The bossy and unreasonable Miss Gu was actually begging someone?

"Can you help me? Eating a bowl of hand-pulled noodles made by Mom is Grandma's wish. I want to help her fulfill this wish. Please!"

Having grown up to this age, this was likely the first time Gu Yuxin had ever begged someone!

Zichen almost agreed right away.

Filial piety is a virtue; such a request was not excessive and should be granted.

But as the words reached his lips, he wanted to play a prank. He had been bullied by her plenty of times, and this was a perfect opportunity to get revenge.

"Helping you is no problem, but I have conditions."

Zichen wanted to make her shout over the loudspeaker: "Sheng Zichen, I was wrong. It was my fault for bullying you in the past, and I won't bully you ever again..." or something similar.

But when Gu Yuxin asked him what the conditions were, he changed his mind: "No conditions. I was just teasing you. I'll help you, no conditions."

Gu Yuxin didn't believe him: "Really? You'd better think it through. This is one of the few chances you'll have to give me a hard time. If you miss this village, you won't find this shop."

"I've thought it through. Stop talking nonsense and come with me."

Zichen pulled Gu Yuxin straight out of the school gate and arrived at the long-distance bus station.

"Where are we going?"

"To my master's house to find flour."

"You have a master? Who is your master? Can I apprentice under him too? We can't go to your master's house empty-handed. Let me buy some gifts..."

Zichen said there was no need; his master had everything at home, so there was no need to buy gifts.

Gu Yuxin used the words he had once said to retort, saying that just because they didn't lack anything didn't mean it wasn't rude to show up empty-handed for the first visit.

When the two got off the long-distance bus and arrived at Gu Zhihao's house, they happened to catch mealtime.

Shi Yuke was as happy as could be to see Zichen bring a girl, asking after her with great warmth and enthusiasm.

Sheng Jiang and Wang Yinghao whispered to each other, discussing how the girl Zichen brought this time was different from the last one.

It was a good thing for their eldest grandson to find a girlfriend, but it wasn't good to keep swapping them out. Sheng Jiang wanted to have a good talk with his grandson, but he was stopped by his wife.

His wife said that their grandson was an adult now and shouldn't be lectured in front of a girl. Besides, Zichen had said the last girl was just a classmate, not a girlfriend.

It seemed... he said this one was a classmate too!

The old couple finally decided to treat the guest normally and ask their grandson about it in detail later.

Gu Zhihao added chopsticks and a bowl, and offered Gu Yuxin the seat of honor.

She insisted on not sitting there and pulled up a small stool to sit next to Zichen.

They had arrived on short notice and hadn't called ahead. The family usually ate simply, so Gu Zhihao went to the kitchen to add dishes for the guest. Before long, he brought out four dishes: red-braised pork, braised sea cucumber with scallions, stir-fried baby bok choy with eggs, and Pulled Silk bananas.

The four freshly made dishes were placed in front of Gu Yuxin for her to taste.

She picked up a piece of red-braised pork with her chopsticks; the date-red meat had an amber luster, lean but not dry, fatty but not greasy, and smelled fragrant.

"Delicious!"

She widened her eyes after just one bite, unable to believe it.

It was all called red-braised pork, so why did his taste so good?

"If it's delicious, eat more. Feel free to have Zichen bring you over whenever. We didn't know you were coming, so we didn't prepare much. I hope you don't mind these simple dishes."

Having been a Village Chief for two months, Gu Zhihao often had to meet various leaders from above, so his speech had become much smoother than before, and he knew how to say polite things.

Gu Yuxin tasted every dish, and every dish amazed her!

After the meal, she scrambled to help clear the dishes.

Shi Yuke refused: "No, you go sit in the main room. Meiyin, keep the sister company and get her some fruit." She asked Yulong to help her with the work.

She was a guest, so how could they let a guest clear the dishes?

That wouldn't be proper.

But Zichen smiled and stopped his aunt: "It's fine, let her clear them. She just wants to see what our kitchen looks like."

He was right on the mark; that was exactly what Gu Yuxin was thinking.

Want to see the kitchen?

That was simple.

A guest still shouldn't clear the dishes, but the kitchen was open for her to visit however she liked.

The Gu Family kitchen also shocked Gu Yuxin. She had thought her own kitchen was big enough, but the kitchen at Sheng Zichen's master's house was even bigger!

It was a bit like a kitchen in a Cafeteria, yet different. A Cafeteria kitchen had many seasonings, while the Gu Family kitchen didn't have as many varieties, but it had an abundance of all kinds of ingredients.

Zichen explained his purpose to his master.

Gu Zhihao laughed: "Kid, you're smart to be able to find your way straight here. Wait."

He opened a cabinet, where dozens of bags were arranged neatly.

Gu Zhihao pulled a bag from the middle, slung it over his back, and said to Zichen: "Follow me."

"Where are we going, Master?"

"To the Old Mill at the north of the village. Today, we are grinding the wheat ourselves."

In the past, people used stone mills to grind wheat; the efficiency was low, but the taste was excellent, and it wouldn't lose the wheat's inherent fragrance.

Nowadays, everyone uses electric mills, which are fast and efficient, but because the speed is too high, the temperature also rises; although most people can't taste it, for a foodie, one can still taste that tiny bit of difference.

"I'm going too."

Gu Yuxin knew the wheat was being ground for her, so there was no reason for her not to follow.

Although it was currently the autumn harvest, and business at the mills was incredibly good.

But the places with the best business were all at the electric mills in the south of the village, so the stone mill here appeared cold and deserted.

"Wow, such a large millstone?"

Gu Yuxin was especially curious; she touched the millstone and then compared the thickness of her arm to the wooden lever used to push the mill.