CHAPTER 392: CHAPTER 133 FORCED LEAVE_2

Du Xixi’s gaze started to simply assess the three young boys who stepped forward. Their plain appearance was not particularly striking, they were not tall, their build was neither fat nor thin, the kind of people who would easily vanish in a crowd.

But their hands made Du Xixi remember them instantly.

What are a chef’s hands like? Perhaps not long and slender, nor fair, like Du Xixi, who by virtue of having a talent for purification had natural maintenance, which is rare; most are like He Yuan’s, rough and coarse, not pretty due to various culinary baptisms.

The hands of these three youths were exactly like that. Normal-sized hands that seemed accustomed to working hard, showing signs of scratches and wear, suggesting they came from poor homes, but around the base of the thumb and the inner side of the fingers, lay plenty of blisters that Du Xixi could recognize with just a glance.

Du Xixi’s smile deepened imperceptibly, appearing brighter. Although she couldn’t be sure about these youths’ culinary skills, just because they had evidently worked hard, they deserved extra points for effort.

Nonetheless, Du Xixi would not let that lower her impression of the nine others, as all were here to learn cooking skills. Whether or not they had prior exposure, it was just a matter of foundational differences.

Du Xixi had not spoken all along, her thoughts swirling internally, making everyone a bit nervous, especially the three young boys who stepped forward.

They had thought Du Xixi might praise them or perhaps ask some culinary related questions, having gone over possible questions and answers in their heads, but Du Xixi’s silence left their minds blank, making their bodies a bit restless.

The small boy was not one of the three, he merely stood behind them. One boy shyly turned his head, seemingly hesitant to speak, his pleading eyes glanced at the small boy hoping he would urge Du Xixi.

Although he was small, the little boy was outgoing, having already gotten familiar with everyone on the way there, adept at "winning people over", but as a leader now, he hesitated.

It wasn’t due to lacking "spirit", but Du Xixi evidently wore a contemplative look, and if he suddenly interrupted, it would be bad if Du Xixi got angry.

Measuring loyalty against the mentor’s mood, the little boy hesitated, ultimately deciding that the latter was more important. So he could only look apologetically at the boy ahead, indicating reluctance to speak.

The boy glared angrily at the little boy, but immediately after turning his head back, he met Du Xixi’s clear eyes, and his heart sank instantly.

In their eyes, Du Xixi might have seemed lost in thought, but in truth, she used this opportunity to observe everyone’s reactions. When a mentor evidently "loses focus", a student’s attitude can very much reflect their temperament and character.

The boy who glared was unmistakably caught by Du Xixi, clearly wishing not to do something himself, yet unable to tolerate others choosing likewise, typically exhibiting overly strong self-awareness. The mental score Du Xixi had given him lowered slightly.

With a gentle cough, Du Xixi didn’t reveal her inner thoughts but didn’t pay much attention to the boy either. Instead, she softened her smile and said aloud, "Please each find a place, take the peeling knife, and start peeling potatoes."

The familiar routine of peeling, dicing, and shredding, the first batch of students practiced for an entire half-month; this batch wouldn’t have half a month to practice, so a shorter version would have to suffice.

Du Xixi first looked at the knife skills of those three young boys, finding that they indeed had put in hard work. Their peeling was steady and swift, though they hesitated a little when dicing and shredding, these flaws did not overshadow their overall performance; it was quite good.

Moreover, setting aside previous biases and evaluating objectively, Du Xixi found the glaring boy had the best knife skills, producing potato slices of appropriate thickness, while the shredded ones weren’t very fine, they were decent.

Du Xixi nodded satisfactorily and fairly while gently reminding, "Your knife skills are good, but make sure other aspects are done well too!"

At the moment Du Xixi approached, the glaring boy had begun to panic internally, with his knife skills performing exceptionally. Hearing the first part, he thought his earlier incident had been disregarded, only to find there was a second part of Du Xixi’s sentence, causing his hand to shake, almost slicing the last bit of potato incorrectly.