Chapter 58: Masterchef Liao’s Vegetable Farm
With his three disciples in tow, Lin Jin brought them to Liao Gu’s little yard.
Speaking of which, ever since he tasted Masterchef Liao’s dishes, Lin Jin had become much pickier. He always found everyone else’s dishes to be lacking so he wanted to come here for a free meal.
Of course, Lin Jin wouldn’t call it ‘getting a free meal’. It was a casual meet-up. See, he even had Zhao Ying and the others bring gifts!
Ever since that incident at Symphony Restaurant, Liao Gu never went back. Even though Symphony Restaurant’s back-end owner personally visited him back, Liao Gu was a stubborn man and refused to budge.
Rumor had it that Symphony Restaurant’s owner was furious. Of course, he wasn’t angry at Masterchef Liao Gu. It had been the manager, Zhang Baili’s fault. Without a doubt, he faced severe consequences by having to pay a huge compensation fee and could stop dreaming about establishing a career in this industry.
When Lin Jin arrived, Liao Gu was picking vegetables in his yard. He was thrilled to see Lin Jin.
This man had been cooking all his life. His personality was just like the fire of a stove, bold and straightforward. Those whom he approved of, he could converse with them for three consecutive days and nights. For those he scorned, he wouldn’t even spare them a glance.
Of the entourage he brought over, Zhao Ying and Lu Xiaoyun had met Liao Gu before. These girls were courteous and greeted Liao Gu respectfully. It was Han Dong’s first time meeting the legendary Masterchef Liao so he was too shocked to speak.
‘Appraiser Lin treats me with great sincerity, how can I continue to hide this from him?’ Throughout the journey, Han Dong had been battling his conscience. To be honest, he didn’t feel this mental pressure at first, but after witnessing Lin Jin’s extraordinary skills and his admirable character, Han Dong started wavering.
Especially after Lin Jin gave them that lecture, Han Dong could sense that Lin Jin didn’t hold anything back when conveying knowledge to his pupils. Lin Jin had done such a valuable deed, if Han Dong didn’t waver, he would only be an irredeemable bastard.
Hence, he pulled Lin Jin aside so he could come clean about his intentions.
After telling him everything, Han Dong felt like a great rock had slid off his back. There was also a sense of liberation. It didn’t matter to him what would come next.
Even if he was berated by Appraiser Lin or chased away, he would willingly accept his fate. He had to take responsibility for his wrongdoings no matter what.
Lin Jin never said a word after hearing him out.
What came next was a long period of silence.
With his head lowered, Han Dong said, “Appraiser Lin, you can scold me if you want to. I know I was wrong. When I get back, I’ll tell Dong He and the others that I’ll stop doing this. Then, I will leave the Beast Appraisal Association on my own accord.”
Having said that he turned to leave.
Lin Jin called him back.
“Not everyone gets the opportunity to taste Masterchef Liao’s dishes. You’re one of the few who gets to do so but you want to leave? Are you an idiot?”
Lin Jin smiled and went over to pat Han Dong on his shoulder. “Since you know you were wrong, you just have to change. Man makes mistakes every now and then. Only a liar would claim otherwise!”
Han Dong was dumbstruck.
At that instant, in his eyes, Lin Jin’s silhouette was colossal and unwavering. Like a wise guru, Lin Jin had pulled him out from a dark abyss and into the light.
More importantly, Appraiser Lin had forgiven him.
Han Dong felt like breaking down into tears.
In his heart, he had decided. Who cares about Dong He and Dong Que? From now on, he had nothing to do with them. Also, Han Dong was rather grateful as well. Had they not sent him here, he might have never been able to learn under Appraiser Lin’s guidance.
Lin Jin never mentioned this incident to anyone else.
He dismissed it because Han Dong hadn’t caused him any serious trouble. In addition, he had come clean on his own accord. With this, Lin Jin was able to gain a helpful follower so why should he make things hard for Han Dong?
‘I knew it. How could that pig-headed idiot, Dong He come up with something like this? So he has a clever sister, and she’s Elder Nan Gongxian’s wife. But so what!’
Lin Jin wasn’t afraid at all. Despite how bleak the circumstance he had found himself in, to seemingly have no chance to turn the tides after his consultation hall was shut down by Wang Ji, Lin Jin was no longer the same Lin Jin from before. With the Museum of Deadly Beasts, it was only a matter of time before he made his comeback.
For now, Lin Jin couldn’t be bothered with such petty matters. He only wanted to have a good meal.
On top of that, the association’s monthly assessment will be taking place in two days. Coincidentally, it was also the day for major exams for beast appraisers. This was a rather unique date.
Apprentice beast appraisers would take the qualification exams to become certified beast appraisers, and certified beast appraisers, on the other hand, would take the ‘promotion’ exams.
Lin Jin was currently a Rank 1 beast appraiser. He participated in and passed the promotion exam, he could become a Rank 2 beast appraiser.
This was Lin Jin’s plan. In fact, whether or not his hall was shut down, Lin Jin had already decided to take the promotion exam. With the Museum of Deadly Beast in his arsenal, why wouldn’t he?
So before that happened, it was nice to take a break.
Liao Gu surely lived up to his title as a Masterchef. Just a few random dishes were scrumptious enough. He had a great chat with Lin Jin over their meal while Zhao Ying, Lu Xiaoyun, and Han Dong kept their heads down as they chowed down everything bite-after-bite.
Just then, Lin Jin noticed a pile of rotten vegetables in the yard that was obviously eaten by insects so he casually asked about it. Upon hearing this, Liao Gu began to fume from his ears.
“It’s all because of that dreadful cabbageworm. God knows where it’s hiding but it’s constantly ruining my vegetables. My vegetables are all nourished and watered with spirit spring water. This ended up attracting that sonuvab*tch and I’ve tried so many ways to catch it, but so far, I’ve only come back empty-handed.”
What an amusing old guy Liao Gu was. To think he would be this vexed because of a cabbageworm.
When Lin Jin heard this, he immediately came to realize that this cabbageworm Liao Gu mentioned might not be a regular insect. Otherwise, how could it be intelligent enough to evade a human’s capture?
Out of curiosity, he inquired further about the issue. Liao Gu described the cabbageworm to have a large body, as thick as a human’s thumb. It was completely green with red patterns on its body. It had been wreaking havoc in his vegetable farm, eating everything in its path, and Liao Gu had been troubled over this for quite a while since he couldn’t catch it.
“I suspect that this cabbageworm might actually be a rare breed. Not only does it move irregularly, but it’s also extremely cunning. During our ‘battles’, I always end up on the losing side. But it’s not like it matters anyway as I’ll be leaving Maple City soon. When that time comes, that awful worm won’t be able to harm me even if it wanted to. Since I can’t afford to provoke it, I can at least evade it.” Liao Gu looked helpless. It was evident how dejected he was for not winning the war against the cabbageworm. He could only complain and tell them about the dreadful insect’s evil deeds.
Lin Jin could only listen to him.
Just then, Goldy, who had been carried over by Lin Jin, held its chicken head high up as it trotted past the dining table. In Goldy’s mouth was a large, fat cabbageworm.
Lin Jin inadvertently glanced over only to realize that this juicy worm looked just like the cabbageworm Liao Gu had described.
It was as thick as a thumb, green all over with red patterns.
Lin Jin immediately interrupted Liao Gu’s grumbles and pointed at Goldy. “Masterchef Liao, that dreadful worm you mentioned… Is it this one?”
Liao Gu was just getting hyped up about the story, so being interrupted by Lin Jin annoyed him. When he turned over, he was dumbstruck.
Judging by the look on the chef’s face, without question, that was the one.
Sensing Liao Gu’s heated gaze, Goldy took a cautious step back, probably afraid that Liao Gu was going to snatch his snack from him. And so, with a swift motion, he bit down, chopping the large worm into portions before swallowing it all up.
Once he was done eating, with his head held high, he stretched his chicken claws pompously and went outside to sunbathe at the vegetable farm