Chapter 677 Apprentice Chef Anna
Mag and Anna sat with a glass of water between them and stared at each other in silence for over 10 minutes.
In the end, Anna couldn’t help but break the silence. “Uncle Mag, are we going to start cooking now?”
“Yes. Cooking is a craft that will take a long time to master. You haven’t learned cooking before, so we’ll start off with some cutting skills. Those skills will lay the foundation for your cooking.” Mag nodded in response. It was not going to be an easy task to teach a five- or six-year-old little girl who had never even held a chef’s knife before. At the very least, it was going to be far more difficult than teaching Yabemiya to make ice cream.
“Alright.” Anna stood up and nodded with an expectant look in her eyes.
I hope she can keep up this level of enthusiasm, Mag thought to himself. Having enthusiasm was a good thing. After all, he had almost been driven insane when chopping up vegetables in the test field for the God of Cookery, and he knew just how boring practicing cutting skills was.
“System, give me a small apron and a set of knives suitable for Anna,” Mag said internally as he strode toward the kitchen.
“According to the system’s judgment, the trainee is too young and does not possess the physical prerequisites to become a chef. The system advises that you do not take her as your student!” the system warned.
“Physical prerequisites? Is that why you chose a disabled person like me in the beginning?” Mag rolled his eyes in response.
“Your body was crippled at the time, but this body possesses an enormous amount of potential, which is why it was chosen by the system,” the system retorted.
“Well, I think Anna has immense potential to grow up to become an exceptional chef, so I’m going to teach her how to cook. There’s no issue with that logic, is there?” Mag countered with a smile.
“Erm…”
The system fell silent.
“Hurry up and state your price; I don’t have time to waste here,” Mag urged.
After a brief silence, the system said in a pained voice, “A small apron and a set of small knives will cost a total of 1,001 copper coins. Due to your recent string of good performance, I’ll reluctantly give you a discount and bring the total price down to 1,000 copper coins.”
“Deal.” Mag couldn’t be bothered to barter on this occasion, so he immediately nodded in agreement.
“Ding! 1,000 copper coins have been successfully deducted. The apron and knives are being crafted and will be delivered in three minutes. Please provide a delivery location.”
“Just deliver it next to the counter. Make sure not to deliver it to the wrong place again or I’m going to ask for a refund!” Mag warned in a cold voice. This accursed system was regularly delivering things to incorrect locations.
Mag cast his eyes around the kitchen. This was a kitchen designed for a grown man, and everything was too high up for Anna to reach.
Mag’s attention was then drawn to a small stool in the corner. This was the makeshift stepladder that Amy used to wash her hands in the kitchen.
Seeing as Anna was serious about learning to cook and not just playing games, she would have to get used to this kitchen.
With that in mind, Mag came to a decision.
Mag ushered Anna into the kitchen, and instructed, “Anna, go step on that little stool and see if you can reach the cooking bench.”
Anna climbed onto the little stool obediently. She was about an entire head taller than Amy, so she was able to comfortably reach over the cooking bench while standing on the stool. In that case, chopping ingredients wouldn’t be an issue for her.
“Good. From this day forth, that will be your cooking bench.” Mag nodded with a content expression.
After hearing the system’s delivery notification, Mag smiled, and said, “Come with me, Anna; I have a couple of small presents to give you.”
“Alright.” Anna followed Mag out of the kitchen with a curious expression.
Mag pulled out a small pink apron and an accompanying pink hairnet from beside the counter.
“They’re so beautiful!” Anna’s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the apron and hairnet in Mag’s hands.
“There’s going to be a lot of splattering oil in the kitchen, so we need to wear aprons at all times in order to keep our clothes clean. Try it on and see if it fits, Anna.” Mag tied the apron around Anna’s waist with a smile.
Anna was wearing a small blue dress, which complemented her pink apron very well.
After having the pink hairnet slipped over her little head, Anna was starting to look very much like a little chef.
“Hmm, it looks very good, and fits you really well too.” Mag nodded with a content expression.
“Thank you, Uncle Mag.” Anna looked down at the little apron, and a smile appeared on her face.
“Aside from the apron and the hairnet, I also have another present for you.” Mag pulled out a dark brown wooden box from beside the counter before squatting down in front of Anna and removing the lid on the box.
“Wow!”
The shiny knives were reflecting a lot of glare, but Anna’s eyes were wide open as she stared unblinkingly at the small knife set within the box.
“Are these… Are these really all for me?”
Anna looked up at Mag with disbelief in her eyes.
“Of course. Owning a knife set of your own is your first step to becoming a chef.” Mag nodded with a smile.
“Thank you… Thank you.” Tears immediately welled up in Anna’s eyes as she bowed deeply toward Mag.
“I’m super strict when it comes to cooking, so you won’t be thanking me for too long.” Mag patted her little head with a smile. This little girl had such good manners that he couldn’t help but be fond of her.
“No way! I’ll be sure to learn to the best of my abilities.” Anna shook her head with an earnest expression as she hugged the box of knives tightly to her chest.
“Then let’s start with basic cutting skills. Cutting skills are the skills required to cut ingredients into specified sizes. For example, in the Yangzhou fried rice, all of the ingredients have to be cut to the same size as grains of rice.” Mag opened the fridge and looked at Anna before closing the fridge again.
He brought out two of the potatoes that he had purchased earlier from the food market and washed them before placing one of them in front of Anna, while the other was placed on the chopping board in front of him. He pulled out a knife from the rack, and smile on his face was replaced by a serious expression as he said, “Now, we’re going to chop this potato into rice-sized pieces.”
“How do we do that?” Anna stood on the little stool and looked up at Mag with rapt focus. It was incredible to her that such a large and round potato could be chopped into rice-sized pieces.
“Look carefully.” Mag picked up his knife and brought it downward, cutting off a thin slice of potato. This was immediately followed by a second and a third slice, and slices of potatoes of a completely identical thickness appeared on the chopping board, looking as if they had been precisely measured by a ruler before being cut by a machine.
The knife clattered onto the chopping board in a rhythmic motion, and while the speed of the slices wasn’t very fast, it created a mesmerizing and comforting rhythm.
Soon, all of the thin slices of potatoes were chopped up into strands, and then into rice-sized golden granules.
“Wow, that was amazing!”
Anna’s eyes widened as she looked up at Mag with admiration shimmering in her eyes.