Like a lifetime ago1
The System first had Sun Miao make the chicken soup for the Bubble Mini Wontons. Sun Miao had a knack for making soup, so preparing it was a piece of cake2 for her.
She had learned how to pick ducks before, and now she started picking chickens. For simmering chicken soup, an old hen was best. A Sanhuang free-range chicken3 would be even more perfect.
While picking chickens, Sun Miao thought of the few free-range chickens her previous landlord raised… Even if their chickens weren’t as good as the ones provided by the System’s space, they were still genuine free-range chickens, fed rice grains and wheat bran, not fattened up with commercial feed.
Later, later she would go back and buy those chickens. The landlord’s family was small; they couldn’t possibly eat them all. They might as well sell them to her!
After thinking about it, she still had to get to work. Sun Miao had to pick the most suitable chicken for soup from a large batch, and then dispatch it directly. Only after that did she start preparing the soup.
Plucking feathers, deboning, cutting into large pieces, then putting them in a large pot to boil the first time to remove blood and scum4. The second time, she added ingredients and started simmering. It had to simmer for over three hours until the bones were tender and falling apart. Finally, she took out the chicken meat and simmered the soup a bit longer for it to be considered a success.
Just simmering chicken soup alone took Sun Miao over a month. Her control over the chicken soup was, you could say, incredibly meticulous5. After finishing the chicken soup, it was time for the other main item—the Bubble Mini Wontons. The essence of Bubble Mini Wontons lay in their wrappers.
Ordinary wonton wrappers were too big. The kind sold in the market had to be cut twice to be divided into four pieces before they could be used. After being divided into four, they still couldn’t be used directly. A rolling pin had to be used to roll each wrapper very thin, so thin that when held up to the light, you could clearly see your fingers through it.
The best state was when it seemed almost invisible under the light; only then was it perfect.
What the System demanded was this step: truly, genuinely, it had to be as thin as a cicada’s wing. Rolling it into a thin wrapper without it tearing was also a skillful task. Most people making mini wontons probably just focused on keeping the wrapper intact, trimming any unsightly edges with a knife.
But the System required her to shape them directly, with no reshaping later. Coupled with the demand for them to be as thin as a cicada’s wing, Sun Miao found rolling the wrappers quite painful. Fortunately, under the System’s tireless guidance, Sun Miao eventually mastered it.
After rolling the wrappers, she also had to pay attention to keeping them moist. Those not being used immediately had to be covered with a damp cloth because the wrappers were so thin they would dry out after a while. Then, they couldn’t be wrapped at all; they would just shatter into pieces upon folding.
After this came making the filling. With her experience in making the filling for beef pancakes, preparing this meat filling wasn’t that difficult.
The meat filling was minced, mixed evenly, seasoned with minced ginger, chopped scallions, and other spices, and then spread onto the thin wrapper with a single chopstick. This step was also very difficult for Sun Miao. Because for this task, the most important things were precision and—absolutely no greed.
If too much filling was added, the wrapper would be too full, making it less likely for the inner cavity to expand and float up when boiled. A mini wonton that couldn’t float, could it still be called a Bubble Mini Wonton?
Secondly, a single chopstick wasn’t easy to control either. A slight misstep, and it would poke through the wrapper that was as thin as a cicada’s wing. It took another month of practice before Sun Miao could successfully make a bowl of these Bubble Mini Wontons. Looking at the finished bowl in front of her, before Sun Miao could even catch her breath, the System grabbed her to continue working.
Huizhou Huangshan Crab Shell Yellow Crispy Buns, made their grand entrance.
It could only be more troublesome than the Bubble Mini Wontons, not simpler.
Kneading dough, making the flaky pastry6, and rolling out dough sheets—these were all basic tasks. Especially rolling the dough sheets; the Bubble Mini Wontons required just one thing: thinness. But the Crab Shell Yellow Crispy Buns were different. They couldn’t be that thin. Although they would also puff up into a round ball during cooking, their expansion wasn’t due to thinness, but to the layered dough.
After making the oil pastry7, it was divided into two portions. Each portion of oil pastry was separated and cut into equal-sized pieces. Then, one portion of the oil pastry was kneaded, flattened with the palm, rolled into an ox-tongue shape (thin oval), then combined with another portion of oil pastry, and rolled out again. After multiple rollings, it formed a shape that was flat on both sides and slightly raised in the middle. Then it was covered with plastic wrap and left to rest for about fifteen minutes.
The control of timing here had to be extremely meticulous8; when it looked about right to the naked eye, it was taken out immediately.
This “about right time” was something that could only be understood intuitively, not explained in words9. Sun Miao’s eyes ached from staring before she finally understood what the System meant. She took out the oil pastry, rolled it again, and only then could the filling be added.
The filling was a very simple preserved mustard greens10 and pork filling, but achieving a perfect blend was no simple matter.
The preserved mustard greens were soaked in warm water to rehydrate, then mixed with finely diced pork. The pork had to be a mix of fat and lean, and chopped to a consistency similar to mince but not quite a paste—it needed to retain the chewiness of pork while also blending thoroughly with the preserved greens.
The preserved mustard greens themselves had a unique flavor. If not seasoned well, their taste could easily overpower the pork, making it unappetizing.
Finally, how to cook the pastries through was also a difficult task.
Authentic Crab Shell Yellow Crispy Buns were mostly made in traditional ovens, using charcoal or firewood. But such a large oven was a bit difficult for Sun Miao, who ran a food stall. She had seen people with large portable ovens at the Education Park before, but for Sun Miao’s food cart to accommodate both an oven and a large pot for boiling wontons was a bit too much.
The System modified the method, changing it to an electric oven. Sun Miao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking an electric oven was much simpler. Most importantly, she wouldn’t have to watch it constantly, which would be much more convenient.
Sun Miao once again felt grateful: Technology changes lives.
But while technology had changed things, what needed to be learned still had to be learned. The System taught Sun Miao both methods of preparation: the electric oven and the traditional oven. After making them, she tasted one herself and found that—actually, the ones made in the traditional oven tasted a bit better.
The traditional oven produced pastries with less moisture, making them crispier, and they didn’t have the greasy taste that the electric oven ones sometimes had. However, if you hadn’t tasted Sun Miao’s traditional oven version, the electric oven version was still the best of the best11. Besides, when saying the traditional oven version was “not as good,” it was only in comparison to her own traditional oven version.
For the customers, Sun Miao’s electric oven version of Crab Shell Yellow Crispy Buns would still be the most delicious Crab Shell Yellow Crispy Buns they had ever eaten.
Sun Miao had spent another six months in the System’s space this time. Every time she left the System’s space, she had that “like a lifetime ago” feeling, but this time, she felt even worse. Because—she had Su Ruixi, with whom she had just confirmed their romantic relationship!
In what felt like the blink of an eye for Su Ruixi, she only thought they hadn’t seen each other for a day. But for Sun Miao, it had been six months!
When Sun Miao came out of her room, she heard faint sounds from downstairs. Needless to say, it had to be Su Ruixi. She didn’t hesitate and went straight down the stairs. She saw Su Ruixi, who was holding two packets of instant noodles. Seeing Sun Miao, Su Ruixi gave a small smile.
“You’re up? I… I wanted to cook something for you.” Su Ruixi remembered that Sun Miao hadn’t woken up when she got up yesterday. After leaving, she had sent Sun Miao a message, and Sun Miao only replied after nine, so she thought Sun Miao would wake up around the same time today.
She was thinking that Sun Miao always cooked for her, and since Sun Miao rarely got a break, she wanted to let Sun Miao eat something good too. So she got up, ready to show off her skills12. But after wandering around the kitchen for half a day, she realized she still only knew how to make instant noodles in the microwave.
Just as Su Ruixi was about to make them, Sun Miao came over. Hearing Su Ruixi’s words, Sun Miao’s heart13 softened. Right now, Sun Miao really, really wanted to see Su Ruixi. Hearing her say that, how could she hold back any longer? She walked straight over and, before Su Ruixi could react, hugged her tightly.
Because of this sudden hug, Su Ruixi froze for a moment, and the instant noodles in her hand fell to the floor. She paid no mind to the noodles and just hugged Sun Miao back. Su Ruixi didn’t know the reason, only thinking that not seeing each other for a day had made Sun Miao miss her very much.
—Sun Miao really likes me a lot.
Su Ruixi couldn’t help but think this, and the corners of her mouth curved up. She gently patted Sun Miao’s back. While tucking away the little bit of pride in her heart, she apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to be so busy yesterday that I didn’t come back. You even brought me food, and I wasn’t here.”
Sun Miao didn’t know what Su Ruixi was thinking; she just felt that in this moment, she had come alive again. Instead of opening her eyes to countless chickens, or to customers whose faces she couldn’t see but who were sharp-tongued and picky, or to the rolling pin that she had used with such mechanical repetition it had become muscle memory, making her sick of the sight of it.
It was Su Ruixi! The one in her arms was Su Ruixi. What lingered by her ears wasn’t the smell of oil pastry, but Su Ruixi’s fragrance.
This world can’t be without girls. Su Ruixi is just too wonderful.
The two of them hugged for a good while before separating. Sun Miao felt a little embarrassed, “Sorry, was I too sudden?”
Su Ruixi shook her head. “No.” She thought for a moment, then, pretending to be casual while the tips of her ears were actually turning red, said, “Actually, I like it a lot too.” She liked Sun Miao’s hugs and the affection Sun Miao showed her.
Su Ruixi even praised herself in her heart: Good job. The internet said you should affirm your lover’s actions. I did really well.
Sun Miao, however, lowered her head and picked up the instant noodles from the floor. At this moment, the two of them fell into a brief silence again.
“Susu-jie, you eat this?”
Su Ruixi was a bit embarrassed. She defended herself in a low voice, “I… I only know how to make this.”
Sure enough, as soon as Su Ruixi finished speaking, Sun Miao started to gently scold her, disapprovingly, “Susu-jie, you have stomach problems, how can you eat this? This has no nutrition. It can easily mess up your digestive system. Other than having a bit of oil to make your stomach feel somewhat full, it’s useless.”
Because she knew how to cook, Sun Miao found fault with almost everything from outside, especially pre-packaged meals. Instant noodles could be considered an early form of these meal kits. Their only prominent feature was convenience; they were useless for anything else.
If you talked about being cheap, you could only say they were cheaper than other things. Compared to their actual cost, they weren’t really cheap at all. Loose noodle cakes14 from the wet market cost only 7 or 8 mao15 for the cheap ones, and the most expensive were no more than 1.5 kuai16. Just adding some seasoning, an egg, and buying some green vegetables—wouldn’t that be cheaper than the current packaged ones?
The most crucial thing was, that at least had egg and vegetables. Instant noodles, what did they have?
Other than convenience, they were good for nothing.
LP: Hey now, instant noodles fed me through college!
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!