"A Dish Upgrade Card has been consumed. The Excellent Level Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce has been officially upgraded to Superior. Congratulations to the Host," the system's notification sounded.

Numerous insights about steaming chicken flooded into Lin Xu's mind. After absorbing these insights, Lin Xu realized that the method for Superior and Excellent Level was very similar; even the seasonings used were almost the same. The only difference was the steaming time.

Superior required one to two minutes less steaming time than Excellent Level.

So... was it because I steamed the chicken for too long that it was downgraded to Excellent Level instead of being Superior?

Damn!

That's too much of a loss!

Lin Xu felt that the upgrade had been too impulsive. If he had waited for his master or senior brother to arrive and try it, they would have definitely noticed the issue of excessive steaming time. That would have saved a Dish Upgrade Card.

But this also highlighted the essence of preparing steamed dishes. One must precisely control the steaming time. Even a difference of just over a minute could dramatically reduce the quality of the dish. No wonder some restaurants used stopwatches when making soy sauce pork ribs or Steamed Sea Bass; these ingredients truly needed to be steamed to the exact second for their taste and texture to reach perfection.

"Boss, can we try it?" Niu Chuan and the others were already eager to taste it while he was pondering these things. But since Lin Xu hadn't picked up his chopsticks, they felt it would be improper to start eating first.

"Go ahead, eat up. There are no strangers here, and we need to get back to work after this."

Lin Xu snapped back to reality. He picked up a piece of chicken and tasted it.

Hmm, although it was only Excellent Level, the chicken was still steamed very well. It was fragrant and smooth. The chicken was juicy and tender. Moreover, thanks to the thorough marination, it had a subtle yet pervasive soy flavor both inside and out.

"This is really delicious!"

"It would be perfect with a bowl of rice. Mixing them would taste amazing."

"Boss, are we adding this dish to the menu?"

Lin Xu put down his chopsticks and said, "We'll add it, but not today. Let's wait a bit longer, maybe in a couple of days."

Since he had already wasted a Dish Upgrade Card, he certainly needed to find a way to earn it back. However, the restaurant was currently selling Crispy Meat, and customers were just getting hooked on it. Introducing a new dish now would affect Crispy Meat sales.

It would be better to wait a couple of days. Then, he would introduce the Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce as a featured new dish in the restaurant. He believed the customers would be very satisfied.

「In the morning.」

After Lin Xu finished his assigned tasks, he set up the action camera on a tripod. He filmed the process of steaming the sea bass for the camera.

The video of stir-fried Fatty Intestines he had shot the day before yesterday had gained him considerable popularity. His personal account's followers had reached 92,000, and the Lin Ji's Food topic, thanks to Dundun, had shot up to eleventh place on the Yanjing Region food trends list.

Indeed, the Lin Ji's Food topic didn't just attract food lovers making their presence known anymore. It had also drawn in many pet enthusiasts. Although some netizens criticized Lin Xu, a chef, for not focusing on his culinary skills and instead relying on a cute pet to gain popularity, such criticisms were quickly drowned out by the sheer volume of other comments.

Those in the know could see just how high Lin Xu's professional cooking standards were. Gaining online popularity was only a matter of time for him; Dundun's knack for amusing antics merely accelerated the process.

"Steaming sea bass is simple. If you don't have caul fat, you can substitute it with lard. This will make the steamed sea bass even more fragrant and delicious... Now for the tasting segment."

After Lin Xu finished filming the preparation, he proceeded, as usual, to film the tasting segment of the Steamed Sea Bass with Dundun.

Just like last time, a plate of steamed chicken breast was placed in front of Dundun, while Lin Xu had the Steamed Sea Bass.

Once filming started, Dundun first lowered his head to take a few bites, then turned his gaze to the Steamed Sea Bass beside him and let out a dissatisfied "MEOW!"

He then raised a fluffy paw and pushed his plate towards the edge of the table, all while grumbling under his breath. His expression clearly conveyed: How can you make me eat chicken breast while you enjoy that delicious fish? This is intolerable!

Lin Xu reached over and rubbed the little guy's big head, "You think yours isn't tasty? How about I get you some fish, then?"

Dundun immediately sat down. He looked the picture of obedience.

Lin Xu used large kitchen shears to cut the spine of the sea bass and carefully served the fish head onto Dundun's plate. The Fatty Intestines from two days ago had been too spicy and salty for the little fellow to eat. But the sea bass was no problem. Steamed Sea Bass contains minimal seasoning, especially the head. It wasn't even drizzled with Steamed Fish Sauce. If Dundun didn't eat it, it would likely be leftover anyway.

"You eat the fish head, I'll eat the body. Fair and square. No more mischief from you, alright?"

After placing the plate back in front of Dundun, the little fellow licked the fish head on his plate, and his eyes immediately widened, as if he couldn't believe how delicious the sea bass was. He then lowered his head and began picking at the meaty parts of the fish head.

「After the filming ended.」

Lin Xu felt that with Dundun's performance, reaching one hundred thousand followers was now practically guaranteed. To reward this little buddy's performance, he disassembled the fish head, carefully picking off the meat and placing it onto Dundun's plate, allowing the little fellow to fully enjoy his fish head treat.

After finishing the fish head, Dundun happily hopped over to the cashier's counter to play with Song Tiantian. Lin Xu then packed up the tripod and filming equipment, washed his hands, and continued with his kitchen work.

「At lunchtime.」

The remaining half of the chicken was made into Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce by Lin Xu. Shen Jiayue, who came to pick up her boxed lunch, exclaimed with delight as she ate, "Wow, this chicken is steamed so perfectly! It's incredibly fresh and tender—so satisfying to eat. Can I have some more this afternoon?"

She knew her dad was going to treat Uncle Tan to a meal and that Uncle Tan liked chicken, so she wanted to get in on another delicious meal.

Lin Xu smiled and said, "One tender rooster makes exactly two plates. How about one plate for you and one for them?"

"Yes, yes!"

Haha, a whole plate to myself! Just thinking about it makes me so happy!

Lin Xu tasted the Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce, prepared using the Superior method. Although it was steamed for just a minute less, the tenderness of the chicken had improved manifold. It was truly worthy of the Superior grade. It was a completely different experience compared to the plate from this morning.

While eating, he curiously asked his student Shen, "Why hasn't your cousin come by these last few days?"

Thanks to Dundun, Lin Xu's personal account experienced a surge in followers. Consequently, various MCN agencies relentlessly sent private messages, wanting him to sign with their companies. They even used different accounts when he blocked them. Lin Xu figured, in that case, he might as well sign with his sister-in-law's company. That way, he'd also have someone to help manage the comment section and the live-scrolling comments, preventing the constant spam of advertisements.

"She's given me the cold shoulder! She doesn't even reply to my messages."

Seriously? The two of you, with your combined ages, are practically nearing retirement, yet you're 'giving each other the cold shoulder' like little kids?

Lin Xu said, "Then tell her my account is about to hit one hundred thousand followers, and I'm planning to sign with an MCN company. Several companies have already sent letters of intent."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jiayue immediately whipped out her phone and furiously typed out a message.

Less than a minute later, Chen Yan's call came through. "I'll be right there! Save some food for me. I'm so sick of takeout, I've been eating it for days and I'm about to puke..."

Tsk. Is she here to sign the contract or to freeload a meal?

Chen Yan arrived very quickly. Upon arriving at the shop, she wasted no time, grabbing a bowl of rice and mixing it with the remaining Steamed Chicken with Soy Sauce. All the while, she complained there wasn't enough chicken left for her.

「After the meal.」

She pulled out a contract from her bag and handed it to Lin Xu. "Sign it. Once you put your name down, you'll be a contracted video blogger for my company. You just need to focus on updating videos; we'll handle everything else, like traffic generation and promotion."

Lin Xu nodded and picked up a pen to sign his name.

"Brother-in-law, just you wait. I'll go back and set up the traffic generation for you. You'll break one hundred thousand followers in no time."

「With that said.」

Chen Yan took the contract and left.

Lin Xu had initially thought his sister-in-law was just bragging. However, later, around one o'clock, while he was busy, the system's notification suddenly sounded in his mind:

"The Host has successfully surpassed the one hundred thousand follower mark, completing the side mission [One Hundred Thousand Followers]. You have been awarded one Perfect Level Stir-Fry Lucky Draw. Do you wish to draw now?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.