CHAPTER 459: CHAPTER 155 SUBSTITUTE TEACHING_3

Du Xixi felt that He Yuan made sense, and after chatting a bit more with her, when it was time to head to class, she found that the actual situation was just as He Yuan had predicted.

The Knife Introduction and Application class started without an opening speech or theoretical introduction. Almost immediately, everyone naturally picked up their knives and began "mangling" the potatoes to varying degrees.

Du Xixi walked over to one of the girls, who seemed to be very nervous because of her arrival. Her previously steady hand began trembling, and the half-peeled potato now had some uneven marks on it.

"Professor, I’m sorry! I..." The girl lowered her head in fear. She was somewhat timid, and even though Du Xixi had been so gentle over the past month, she still didn’t have the courage to communicate with her normally.

Du Xixi gave her a helpless look and tried to make her tone even gentler, "No need to apologize. Your knife skills are actually quite good."

As she spoke, Du Xixi picked up a piece of potato peel that the girl had previously cut off, shook it gently, and said softly, "You see, you were too forceful, so the potato peel came out in such small pieces. You can relax a bit; there’s no need to be so deliberate."

Using her clean hand, Du Xixi patted her shoulder with an encouraging tone, "Keep it up, you can do better."

The girl’s nose tingled as she felt warmth where Du Xixi had patted her. She gained some rare courage from within and looked up with slightly reddened eyes to meet Du Xixi’s gaze, "Professor, I will try my best!"

Du Xixi smiled and nodded at her, then walked over to check on other students. As she made her rounds, she started to understand Zhang Ye’s teaching level.

Most students were already quite adept at straight and angled cuts, but some still couldn’t hold the knife steadily and needed more attention—in simple terms, the knife skills of the students varied greatly, which must make it quite challenging for Zhang Ye to teach.

After gauging everyone’s skill level and teaching extent, Du Xixi had a plan for the remaining half of the class. She stepped onto the podium and used the classroom’s installed camera system, aimed at the chopping board in front of her, and said loudly, "Class, please look over here."

The camera system was able to record everything happening on Du Xixi’s podium and project it onto the virtual screens in front of the other students. Blue Star University had the most advanced holographic simulator, allowing everyone to "experience" Du Xixi’s demonstration up close from their spots.

Everyone knew that Zhang Ye was absent, and Du Xixi was filling in for the class. They had three classes with Du Xixi each week and naturally knew that her culinary skills were the best in the entire Food Department. No one dared to not pay attention, and even those in the middle of peeling potatoes quickly put down their knives to focus on her demonstration.

"Pay attention, just now I noticed that many students, when doing straight cuts, would..." Du Xixi had a good memory, and she had noted every student’s minor mistakes as she walked around earlier. By correcting them all at once, efficiency was improved.

"Also, when doing angled cuts, you can place your hand here without worrying about..."

After demonstrating for about ten minutes, Du Xixi corrected most of the small mistakes students were making. As for those who couldn’t even hold the knife properly, she certainly didn’t forget about them.

"I’m not sure how your Professor Zhang usually teaches you, and I’m not planning to impose my methods. However, I do have some little tricks from my own Knife Skills practice that might help you avoid some detours."

Du Xixi explained and demonstrated in detail, and time slowly passed with her soft voice. Soon, the class she was covering was about to end.

A class lasted only ninety minutes. Normally, by the end, everyone would feel so sore that they wished they could lie down immediately. But today, Du Xixi’s lecture was so excellent that she covered all the unclear points they had recently, leaving them reluctant for the class to end.

Everyone was eager to learn. Even if the Food Department was clearly a test course set up by the Blue Star Empire and Blue Star University, and whether there was a future after studying it was another question, since they came to learn, they naturally wanted to learn well.

When the class bell rang, Du Xixi had just announced the end of the class when a rather naïve-looking girl shouted, "Professor, please cover the next class too!"

"Haha." Du Xixi laughed briefly, slowly drying the water drops on her hands, and looking at the packed classroom with a hint of teasing in her tone, "What’s going on? Your Professor Zhang is only gone for a day, and you’re already planning the next substitute class."

Du Xixi folded her handkerchief and put it in her pocket. At that moment, her beautiful amber-colored, peach-shaped eyes sparkled slightly, "Be careful, or I’ll inform your Professor Zhang!"