CHAPTER 29: CHAPTER 029: MISS SHEN GETS JEALOUS! PERFECT LEVEL STEAMED RICE TECHNIQUE!

"Hi, are you Lin Xu? You’re really handsome! Can I take a photo with you?"

Shen Jiayue was sweetly looking at the repetitive replies from her online friends when she suddenly heard someone calling Lin Xu’s name. She looked up and saw a girl from another department approaching Lin Xu for a photo. It was graduation day, and taking photos with classmates was common. But this girl was almost clinging to Lin Xu as they posed. Lin Xu moved a step to the left, and the girl followed suit. Seeing this made Shen Jiayue feel a flare of annoyance.

Are you two dancing the tango or something?

She put away her phone, strode over to Lin Xu, and said, "I think I ate too much just now. My stomach feels a bit uncomfortable."

The boys who had been chatting with Lin Xu and the girls waiting to take photos with him immediately showed gossipy expressions.

Huh? What’s going on? Has Goddess Shen and Lin Xu’s relationship gotten this close?

Lin Xu looked at her and chuckled. "That’s because you were greedy... I’ll walk with you. Moderate exercise can stimulate gastric motility. If it doesn’t help, you might have to take some digestive tablets."

After speaking, he smiled apologetically at the girl waiting for the photo and then accompanied Shen Jiayue toward the long corridor draped in wisteria.

"Wow, that indulgent smile! My heart is melting!"

"I never imagined the most handsome guy and the most beautiful girl in our school would end up together like this."

"I heard that the breakfast Goddess Shen ate today was personally made by Lin Xu’s mom."

"Whoa! Have they already met each other’s parents?"

Their classmates were all abuzz with discussion.

But the girl who had requested the photo was somewhat displeased.

We haven’t even taken the photo, and he just left me here. Isn’t that a bit ungentlemanly?

"Hey... Lin Xu, we haven’t finished taking our photo..."

Lin Xu worried that the homemade steamed buns he’d given Shen Jiayue would make her ill from overeating. He also found the other girl’s photo-taking antics annoying. So, without turning his head, he said, "Next time. I’ll take a photo with you next time."

The classmates around them burst out laughing.

Graduation day is just this one day. Where would a ’next time’ come from? He’s obviously rejecting her, worried Goddess Shen would get jealous.

Shen Jiayue glanced sideways at Lin Xu. "Hmph, you still want a next time?"

Lin Xu was amused by her pouting expression. "Can’t I take a photo with you next time?"

The thought of that girl squeezing up to Lin Xu made Shen Jiayue quite uncomfortable. Even she had never done that before.

She said pitifully, "It can only be me alone."

"Alright, as you wish."

The two walked side by side for more than half an hour, arriving at the school auditorium just as the graduation ceremony was about to start. They found adjacent seats and sat down. The graduation ceremony was largely procedural: speeches from leaders, speeches from student representatives, awarding of diplomas, photo sessions, cap tossing...

By the time the whole ceremony concluded, it was already past twelve o’clock.

"Guys, shall we find a place for a few drinks?"

"Sure! We’ll all be going our separate ways soon, so let’s not go home until we’re drunk!"

"Lin Xu, come join us!"

"Yeah, Boss Lin, come with us."

Lin Xu smiled and waved his hand. "No, I need to rush back and prepare the ingredients for tonight."

He had already lost over ten thousand yuan that morning and needed to open promptly in the afternoon to try and recoup the losses.

"Then make more Chicken Feet this afternoon!"

"And make more noodles and lotus root slices too! We’ll come to your shop tonight to check in!"

"Just thinking about going to Lin Xu’s shop for dinner tonight makes me lose my appetite for lunch."

"Damn! Now that you mention it, I feel the same way."

Arriving at the main gate, Lin Xu said goodbye to his classmates and got into the red Ferrari F8 sports car driven by Shen Jiayue. After getting into the car and seeing the astonished looks of his classmates, Lin Xu sighed lightly. "That’s it. Now all my classmates know I’m a kept man."

Shen Jiayue started the car with a giggle. "Then you better be prepared to be manhandled by this rich woman."

"You’ve pretended to be an ordinary student for four years, never driving to school. Why the sudden high profile on graduation day?" Lin Xu buckled his seatbelt. He still felt a bit uneasy with Shen Jiayue driving a sports car.

Comparatively speaking, he still preferred the beautiful girl who used to secretly give him snacks during class.

"Isn’t this just to help you save face in case someone tries to show off in front of you?"

Shen Jiayue stepped on the accelerator, and amid the roar of the sports car, the two of them officially bid farewell to their college lives.

When the car turned onto the North Fourth Ring overpass, a system prompt suddenly sounded in Lin Xu’s mind: "Host successfully graduated from university. Awarded the Perfect Level Steamed Rice Cooking Technique. Congratulations to the Host."

Lin Xu was surprised. He hadn’t expected to receive an award just for attending the graduation ceremony. But... what was the use of just being awarded a Steamed Rice Technique? To sell plain rice?

Upon arriving at Yingchun Street, Shen Jiayue parked the car in a roadside spot. Just as she was about to get out with Lin Xu, her father suddenly called.

"Daughter, did you get your diploma? Once you have it, hurry back home. Today, your second paternal aunt, third paternal aunt, eldest maternal aunt, third maternal aunt, eldest maternal uncle, and second maternal uncle have all come. They’re all waiting at home to celebrate your graduation."

What? I was planning to mooch a meal off Lin Xu’s mother!

Shen Jiayue puffed out her cheeks helplessly. She rolled down the window and said to Lin Xu, "I have to go home first for a family matter. I’ll come find you for dinner later."

After saying this, she started the car and left Yingchun Street.

Lin Xu arrived at his shop. After a morning of renovations, it really did look different. A small space by the entrance, previously empty, was now occupied by the cash register. The former location of the cash register, in turn, now accommodated two additional dining tables. After all this rearranging, the shop had gained nearly ten additional dining seats.

After looking around, he returned to his rented house for lunch, which his mother had prepared. Afterwards, he changed into his work clothes and rode a shared bike to Chunfeng Market to purchase ingredients for the afternoon.

Not long after he returned from grocery shopping, Che and Song Tiantian arrived one after another, and everyone got busy with their tasks.

When braising the chicken feet, Lin Xu found the braising liquid a bit insufficient since Bone Soup hadn’t been simmered that morning. He added some clear water to the stockpot and threw in some strips of pork belly. Braising pork belly in the stockpot could produce an effect similar to that of Bone Soup. This method was often used as an emergency measure when the braising liquid ran low.

After setting the chicken feet to braise, Lin Xu opened the rice he had bought from the market that day. He steamed a pot in the rice cooker.

He wanted to see what was so special about rice steamed with the Perfect Level Steamed Rice Technique.

At around four-thirty in the afternoon, Che, holding a large slotted spoon, began to scoop the now-braised chicken feet from the stockpot. Lin Xu, meanwhile, checked the steamed rice. The rice steamed with the Perfect Level Technique had grains that were distinct and separate, neither sticky nor hard; everything was just right.

"Boss, are we serving rice now?" Che asked curiously.

Lin Xu smiled. "It’s just a little experiment; it’s not certain we’ll serve it yet."

He sliced the pork belly Che had scooped out, placed it in a bowl over the rice, and poured a spoonful of braising liquid on top, intending to eat it.

But just as he had finished preparing it, the system prompt rang out: "Host successfully made Braised Pork Rice, completing the side quest ’Independent Innovation.’ You have been awarded one Perfect Level Dish Upgrade Card. Would you like to use the Perfect Level Dish Upgrade Card on the Braised Pork Rice?"