Chapter 426: So Much for "Balancing Work and Rest," Huh?
After hearing the origin of Pearl Hidden in the Dark, Qi Han felt his whole body go numb.
This old Master Liu—whom he hadn't even met yet but would encounter when unlocking future recipes—was… a bit too up-to-date, wasn't he?
So trendy? He actually—
Qi Han let out a long sigh.
Looking at Side Quest 9—which had replaced the now fully claimed and vanished Side Quest 8—he fell into thought.
"Ru Yi, the quest says Lingqing must 'independently handle Han Shi's breakfast operations.' What exactly does that require?"
"Obviously, it means he must master every dish sold during breakfast hours."
"I see." Qi Han nodded.
Currently, Ye Lingqing had already mastered Xiaolongbao and Lamb Pao Mo, and he was close to mastering a third dish.
There were twelve dishes in total for breakfast service. Until Side Quest 9 was completed, Qi Han didn't plan on adding new ones.
Among these twelve dishes, all except Steamed Dragon Dumplings were 1 Star dishes with similar difficulty. Although Steamed Dragon Dumplings were 2 Star, the difficulty rating had originally been zero—it was purely the high-quality ingredients that pushed the dish to 2 Star. So Lingqing wouldn't have much trouble learning it.
Calculating it roughly… nine dishes remained. That might take two or three months.
No. Too long.
Qi Han shook his head.
Right now, he wished he could complete Side Quest 9 this very second, push his Spirit Power to level fifty, absorb his fifth Spirit Ring, reach Spirit King, and finally unlock the 4 Star recipe he had been thinking about for months. Two or three months felt unbearable.
It seemed he would have to push Ye Lingqing to study harder.
And so, the same Qi Han who had just yesterday told his disciple to "balance work and rest" had already forgotten his own advice.
Balance work and rest?
If you're not dead from learning, keep learning until you're almost dead!
"Achoo!"
Downstairs, flipping through a compendium of ingredients to relax, Ye Lingqing suddenly sneezed.
Did he catch a cold?
He scratched his head in confusion.
Maybe teacher was right—he really did need to balance work and rest.
He had been so busy that he didn't even notice he might be getting sick.
…
Despite saying "learn until you die," Qi Han still resisted the urge to rush downstairs immediately and force Lingqing to resume training.
A teacher couldn't be too heartless.
He'd let the kid relax for this one last afternoon. Then the real hell training would begin.
Mm… he truly was a caring and loving teacher.
Thinking happily, Qi Han opened the Yangzhou Fried Rice training space and entered.
Because he had spent the past afternoons publicly teaching egg fried rice, it had been five days since he last entered the training space.
However, before he began teaching egg fried rice, he had already completed the training for Pheasant Soup. Since he knew he would be teaching fried rice afterward, he hadn't opened another 3 Star training space until now.
Most of the recipes he had accumulated had already been released after completing Side Quest 7, so he didn't have many left on hand.
Aside from the already mastered but not yet published Pheasant Soup, he had only three unresolved 3 Star recipes: Yangzhou Fried Rice, Lantern Shadow Beef, and the newly obtained Pearl Hidden in the Dark. Aside from those was a 4 Star recipe he couldn't unlock yet.
Having slacked off for five days, his cooking practice would need more focus going forward.
Yangzhou Fried Rice originally began as a variation of ordinary egg fried rice.
During the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty, the prefect of Yangzhou, Yi Bingshou, added shrimp, diced lean meat, ham, and various other ingredients to basic egg fried rice, gradually evolving it into a mixed, multi-ingredient dish. Only then did Yangzhou Fried Rice become distinct from ordinary egg fried rice, eventually developing into the version known today.
Put simply, Yangzhou Fried Rice was the premium version of egg fried rice.
And after the system's optimization, this premium version became even more premium.
Not only was the rice upgraded from ordinary Spirit Spring–irrigated hybrid rice—
Alright, that wasn't ordinary at all.
Not only had the rice been replaced with a Heaven and Earth treasure—Golden Thread Cloud-Patterned Rice—but the dish now also included nine different 3 Star–tier ingredients stir-fried together. The resulting Yangzhou Fried Rice featured nine toppings of varying colors, their flavors merging into the rice, enhancing it without overpowering it, filling every grain with a rich yet harmonious blend.
In his previous life, Qi Han had eaten Yangzhou Fried Rice many times. But he had to admit—very few chefs could actually make a good one. Most versions were too oily, the ingredients overwhelmed the rice, and the rice itself became the "side character."
But the perfect-grade Yangzhou Fried Rice stir-fried by Yi Bingshou had none of those problems.
So when Yi Bingshou's lingering soul appeared and personally cooked Yangzhou Fried Rice for Qi Han, Qi Han developed an intense desire to master this delicious dish.
…
It wasn't until Ru Yi reminded him that business hours were about to begin that Qi Han finally snapped out of the focused state he had been in the entire afternoon, practicing Yangzhou Fried Rice in the training space.
Yi Bingshou's lingering soul had fully dissipated. Qi Han stepped out of the training space and headed downstairs.
"Teacher! After resting all afternoon, I feel so much better!"
Hearing the footsteps, Ye Lingqing greeted him with a bright smile.
"Teacher was right—balancing work and rest really is more effective than grinding nonstop!"
Qi Han froze for a moment, then his expression turned a little strange.
"Uh… teacher, what's wrong?"
Seeing the odd look on Qi Han's face, Ye Lingqing asked in confusion.
"Nothing." Qi Han shook his head and quickly organized his thoughts.
"Lingqing, I think your previous training method wasn't very scientific, so I'll be making some adjustments to your schedule."
Adjustments?
Ye Lingqing's eyes lit up with anticipation.
I get it!
No wonder teacher reminded me yesterday to balance work and rest—he must be planning to lighten my training load!
So the upcoming schedule would probably shorten training time and give him more free hours to rest and recover.
Teacher was so kind!
"Teacher, what kind of adjustment?" Ye Lingqing asked eagerly.
"Well… before, after breakfast service, you trained under my guidance for two hours in the morning until lunch prep began, then practiced freely in the afternoon." Qi Han paused.
"Starting tomorrow, your morning schedule will stay the same, but your afternoon self-practice will change to—"
Change to what?
More free time?
An earlier break?
Ye Lingqing's eyes sparkled with hope.
"—two hours of training under my guidance, then two hours of free practice."
The light in Ye Lingqing's eyes instantly died.
"Teacher," he said, devastated, "what happened to balancing work and rest?"
Teacher-guided training was like main classes.
Self-practice was like self-study.
Anyone could see which one was more tiring.
This new schedule was more exhausting than before.
How was this balancing anything?
"Ahem." Qi Han coughed lightly, looking a bit guilty.
"It is balanced. It's just… labor-tasks balance."
Practicing breakfast dishes outside of business hours—that was labor.
Helping him prepare food during business hours—that was tasks.
Any problems?
No problems.
What was this called?
Labor-tasks balance!
Ye Lingqing: "???"
<+>
if you want to see more chapters of this story and don't mind playing $5 per month to see my latest update, please go to my Patreon[1]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed[2]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 474: A Terrifying Truth[3]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/collection/67255?view=condensed
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444
[4] https://www.patreon.com/posts/becoming-food-in-152113444