"But am I really going to your place in three days to learn the next stage of knife skills? Isn't it a bit too soon? I feel like my knife skill level hasn't reached the point where I can move to the next stage yet." Qin Huai was a bit doubtful.

He was quite self-aware, and this self-awareness was evident not only in his strengths, like kneading dough and making filling, but also in his weak points, like knife skills and fire control.

Every day after practicing knife skills, he didn't need to check the attribute panel to know whether he had made progress or become rusty, or whether his skill level had increased quickly or slowly. Qin Huai was very aware of this himself.

Even though the attribute panel now showed that his knife skills were only about 100 points short of the Intermediate level, Qin Huai knew well that these 100 points couldn't be earned within three days.

He felt that the skill level mechanism was such that the lower the level, the harder it was to increase, and the higher the level, the easier it seemed to get.

From Basic to Intermediate required only 1000 skill points, from Intermediate to Advanced 10,000, from Advanced to Master Level 100,000, and beyond Master Level 1,000,000. Besides the exaggerated 1,000,000 for the Master Level, earning 1000 skill points from Basic to Advanced might not necessarily be faster than the 10,000 from Intermediate to Advanced.

In Qin Huai's personal experience, he hadn't deliberately practiced seasoning; just by making snacks as usual, his seasoning skill level shot up. Yet, despite practicing knife skills so diligently every day, his knife skill level barely moved, which showed these skill levels had their own minds and growth mechanisms.

Looking at just the numbers was useless; it mainly depended on one's own feeling.

Yes, Master Qin Huai liked to rely on feelings in whatever he did.

Cao Guixiang chuckled and said, "Who said I was bringing you back to practice knife skills? Your knife skills, maybe in 10 more days, you'd be ready to come back. Practicing a bit longer, say half a month or more, is also good; there's no harm in spending more time, practice makes perfect."

"I'm bringing you back the day after tomorrow to teach you thickening."

"Thickening." Qin Huai hadn't expected that Cao Guixiang would proactively offer to teach him thickening.

Seeing Qin Huai's surprised expression, Cao Guixiang laughed softly, "Why so shocked? Could it be that you thought Master Cao would only teach you knife skills? Among the many techniques in meat cooking, I'm best at thickening. My two senior brothers can't match me in this; teaching you is more than enough."

Qin Huai quickly waved his hands, "Master Cao, that's not what I meant. I'm just really surprised you'd be willing to teach me thickening. Not really, I'm just surprised... Should I be learning thickening at my current stage? Isn't thickening something you should learn after mastering the basics, as an advanced technique?"

In Qin Huai's opinion, thickening and Finger Skill were similar, only thickening was a bit more practical in meat cooking than Finger Skill in pastry, and these were all advanced lessons to be taken after the core basics.

"Yes, theoretically, that's the case. But even if I don't teach you, wouldn't you research it yourself? I noticed you seem quite interested in thickening." Cao Guixiang had a look that said she knew his character well after all the online courses he had taken.

Qin Huai smiled bashfully, showing a look of excitement for new things and neglect for the old.

"No need to feel embarrassed, everyone goes through this. When I first started cooking, I hadn't even cut vegetables properly and wanted to learn how to flip the wok, make soups, control oil and sugar base, learn thickening, and carve fruit. It's normal to want to learn new and difficult things; the desire to learn means wanting to improve, and having ambition is a good thing."

"People only laugh at you if you don't learn; if you master it, then it's genuine skill."

"Since you have a talent for thickening, don't waste it messing around by yourself. Otherwise, you might end up like with knife skills, starting practice from how to hold the knife. Just tell me whether you want to learn; if you do, come back the day after tomorrow, and I'll start teaching you from the basics. The basic technique of thickening is easy to learn; two days will be sufficient."

"Once you learn the basics, whatever experimenting you do doesn't matter. As long as the foundation is correct, however you handle it will count as innovation."

"It's just two days, including the round trip; it won't delay much. You've got the group led by Xiao Tan and the others from Zhiwei Restaurant over there, and Xiao Cang came all this way to help with researching Crab Yellow Sauce; you can't stay with me for long."

"I saw the thickening method you just used; you learned it from here, but you haven't mastered it completely or grasped the essence. What I teach might as well be considered a unique skill, it's a bit wasted on Crab Yellow Sauce, but it's very helpful in meat cooking."

"If there's more time, we'll arrange extra training for you privately, and you'll learn as much as you can, then pass it on to Little Zang when you get back."

"You have to prepare to endure the hardship, more than the knife skills practice days before, make sure to mentally prepare." Cao Guixiang had a tone as if scaring a child, but with an unstoppable, grandmotherly kind smile on her face.

Hearing what Cao Guixiang said, Qin Huai was genuinely taken aback.

Of course, he knew that Cao Guixiang had many unique secrets and techniques; she was a Tan Family Cuisine heir, someone whom Qin Huai had googled about—quite impressive.

Almost the equivalent of a Shaolin sweeping monk and a hidden sect master from a fantasy novel.

Knowing that Cao Guixiang had many things that couldn't be learned outside, Qin Huai never mentioned what she taught him in front of Zheng Siyuan and Tan Wei'an, and the recipe for Cold Tossed Sea Cucumber was something he very rarely shared with others.

Others were also very discreet in this regard, never approaching Qin Huai when Cao Guixiang was holding online courses, fearing hearing something they shouldn't.

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