Chapter 36: The Troublemaker in the Kitchen

"Yes, yes, I have it!" Ronan replied.

This was the first time he had heard his father's voice since leaving Paris.

"Cut the beef into large chunks..." Luo Tianhai began slowly.

After running through all the steps and receiving Ronan’s confirmation that he understood, Luo Tianhai said calmly, "Bring something else along tomorrow. The meal itself doesn't have to be perfect, but don't lose sight of decorum; you are representing China now."

Ronan smacked his lips.

His own fault...

He had set the tone too high, leading his parents to believe this dinner had ascended to a political level.

"All right, I understand." Before Ronan could say anything else, Luo Tianhai hung up the phone.

Ronan slapped the table in excitement.

The first step of the long march had finally been taken!

...

Building on the recipe his father had provided, Ronan incorporated his own culinary knowledge, adding a few improvements to the spiced beef.

More than an hour later, he submerged the braised beef into the pre-prepared brine to soak and absorb the flavors, then moved on to the second dish: mouth-watering chicken.

The mouth-watering chicken wasn't as complex as the spiced beef, and he had it ready in less than an hour.

He used a pair of newly purchased chopsticks to pick up a piece and put it in his mouth...

[Tasting the mouth-watering chicken: Happiness increased by 3 points.]

The system gave the answer on behalf of Ronan’s tongue.

"No need to taste the spiced beef; just drain it and put it in the fridge overnight." Ronan grabbed a baguette from the table, tore off a piece, and dipped it into the alluring red chili oil, saying with deep regret, "If I had known it would be this successful, I would have steamed some rice."

...

The next day.

Ronan returned to the village of Lourmarin before sunset.

He first went to the butcher shop to buy a chicken, then went home to pack the spiced beef from the fridge, along with all the seasonings needed for the mouth-watering chicken. Carrying several bags, he knocked on the door of Louis's house.

"Look, our chef has arrived!" Alain, pipe in mouth, began to tease as soon as he saw Ronan.

"I wouldn't call myself a chef, just showing off a little bit." Ronan carried his supplies into the kitchen, where Lea was busy working.

"Do you need anything? I can help you prepare." Lea was a wonderful host.

"I brought everything," Ronan said, gesturing to his large bundles.

The men and women chatting in the living room heard Ronan's voice and crowded into the kitchen.

"Ronan, are you making 'dumplings' today? Vieri just described the taste, and I'm starving just hearing about it." Freddy was a total foodie; he was always the last person to put down his knife and fork at the dinner table.

"No dumplings today, I've prepared other dishes." Ronan began to process the chicken.

The kitchen was limited in size; even in the sparsely populated region of Provence, it couldn't 'accommodate' a dozen people at once.

In the spirit of respecting the elderly and caring for the young, everyone let the eldest, Karl, stand in the front.

"Young man, you don't cook often, do you?" Karl commented on Ronan’s speed in butchering the chicken with the posture of a 'gourmet.'

Ronan wiped the water splashed onto his face with the back of his hand.

"I only started cooking after coming to Provence."

"Oh la la—" Karl drawled, "You are too rough with the food. If you treated a lady with that kind of force, she would kick you out of bed."

Laughter erupted from the men around them.

Ronan couldn't argue with that point.

Level 2 [Cooking] had filled his head with a wealth of culinary knowledge—such as how to proof dough, how to maintain the best elasticity in meat, and how many grams of salt to add to how many grams of food—but it hadn't improved his knife skills or physical dexterity.

Ronan guessed that a ten-year-old child cutting a chicken would look exactly like him right now.

"But that doesn't stop the food from being delicious," Ronan tried to find a way to save face.

Upon learning that Ronan was a novice who had only stepped into the 'gourmet world' a month ago, these 'seasoned gourmets' put a big question mark over his efforts for the evening.

Could it really be good?

Uh... maybe.

As the enthusiasm faded, the onlookers left the kitchen one by one.

But the kitchen soon welcomed some new 'visitors.'

Lea, who was chopping vegetables, shouted toward the outside:

"Vieri, take Bobo and the others out! They're causing trouble in the kitchen."

"Okay, Mom." Vieri obediently pulled the three dogs outside.

A few minutes later, Lea’s voice rang out again:

"Vieri, they're back in!"

"You guys, get out, this is no place for you." Vieri came back in to grab the dogs.

A few minutes later, Lea's voice was clearly tinged with anger:

"Vieri, take them to the yard to play for a while!"

"Mom! They won't leave..." Vieri began his struggle of wits and strength against the three dogs.

"My God, what exactly is in the kitchen that's attracting them?" Lea circled around the kitchen.

Ronan's lips couldn't help but twitch.

What else could it be?

The spiced beef he brought, of course.

The semi-finished product yesterday had teased the little black dog so much that it whined all night long; now that it had been cold-cured for a night, he couldn't imagine how delicious it must smell!

...

Provence is full of 'experts.'

In addition to a large number of gourmets, there are also many zoologists.

The strange behavior of the three dogs at Louis's house caught the attention of the zoologist, Freddy.

Freddy ran a slaughterhouse, and according to him, everyone living in Provence had eaten meat butchered by his own hands.

Dealing with cold carcasses every day, his claim that he also knew a great deal about live animals carried a certain level of credibility.

He abandoned his friends in the living room, parked himself in the kitchen with a glass of wine, and began to seriously analyze why the dogs refused to leave.

"There is a scent attracting them here, a scent they cannot resist," Freddy concluded.

"There is food in the kitchen every day, but I've never seen them act this obsessed," Lea said with a worried look.

Freddy took a couple of sips of wine, his eyes darting around before he asked:

"Did you buy anything today?"

It must be a new scent that had caught their attention.

Lea shook her head:

"I haven't been out all day today."

"Is that so..."

Freddy and Lea looked simultaneously at Ronan, who was giving the chicken a 'massage.'

Ronan felt there was no point in keeping up the act, as everyone would be eating it sooner or later. So, with a look of 'sudden realization,' he took the wrapped chunk of spiced beef out of the bag and asked 'skeptically':

"Perhaps it's the scent of this?"

As soon as Ronan took it out, the three dogs immediately pressed against him, waiting expectantly to be fed.

Freddy beat them to it, getting the first taste of the spiced beef before the dogs.

He uttered "Wow" three times in a row, pressed his thumb, index, and middle fingers together, and kissed them:

"The texture is incredible! Did you make this?"

Ronan couldn't stand Freddy using his kissed fingers to prod his beloved spiced beef, so he picked up a knife and started slicing it himself.

"Yes."

Lea curiously tasted a small crumb that had fallen off:

"Beef?"

Ronan finished slicing the beef, put it on a plate, and pushed it toward them:

"Yes, it's a Chinese method of cooking beef. You have to eat it in big bites to really enjoy it, like this."

As he spoke, Ronan popped a piece of spiced beef the size of half a palm into his mouth.

Freddy stuffed three slices into his mouth in a row, licking his fingers as he walked toward the door:

"My God, who just made a bet for a pack of cigarettes saying Ronan would definitely ruin dinner? I want to place a bet!"

...

The kitchen became overcrowded once again.

Everyone's actions were perfectly synchronized.

Eat a slice of spiced beef, talk and gesticulate about how it's the most amazing beef flavor he/she has ever tasted, finish speaking, take a sip of red wine, then eat more meat, switch to a new way of expressing their love for it, then drink more wine...

Ronan leaned against the refrigerator, sipping an ice-cold beer.

"Provence really is full of gourmets; they knew the spiced beef had to be paired with wine without me even saying a word."