"Wang Shu? Let me try!"
Huang Lei, who had just put his things down, couldn't help but feel a hint of surprise when he heard the name.
However, he also caught a very rich aroma, so he walked directly to the table and took the fried dough stick from Zi Feng's hand.
"The color looks really good!"
Taking the fried dough stick, Huang Lei couldn't help but examine it carefully and praised.
Huang Lei's own culinary skills were quite good; he was even nicknamed "Chef Huang." This time, the director team invited him as one of the resident guests precisely because of his impressive cooking skills.
And Huang Lei lived up to expectations, using his culinary prowess to ensure that all the guests who visited Mushroom House were extremely satisfied.
Huang Lei took a bite of the fried dough stick and his eyes immediately lit up. He looked at the young man sitting in front of him, drinking porridge, with disbelief.
While an amateur might not be able to tell, as a chef, he could taste that this fried dough stick was different.
Although it was just a simple fried dough stick, it was also a great test of culinary skill.
From the kneading of the dough, it tested the chef's experience, the control of the water-to-flour ratio, and the force used when kneading – all of which were a science in themselves.
Then came the frying stage, which tested the chef's heat control even more. The mastery of oil temperature directly determined whether the fried dough stick would be crispy enough.
If the oil temperature was too low, the fried dough stick would become particularly greasy and soft. If the oil temperature was too high, it would be burnt.
So, after tasting the fried dough stick made by Wang Shu, Huang Lei couldn't help but become curious about this young man.
The turnover rate of celebrities in the entertainment industry was too fast, and there were many celebrities he didn't recognize. But this didn't stop him from being curious about the young man named Wang Shu in front of him.
"Wang Shu, your cooking is excellent!"
After finishing the fried dough stick in his hand, Huang Lei couldn't help but sincerely praise Wang Shu.
"Wow, even Teacher Huang approves. This fried dough stick must be really delicious!"
"I didn't expect Wang Shu to write good songs and also fry excellent fried dough sticks."
"It's just frying fried dough sticks. My Xiao Zhan brother can do it too, he just disdains to show off here!"
"Exactly, isn't he just an unknown small artist? Does he have even one-tenth of the influence my Xiao Zhan brother has?"
"Laughable, not as handsome as my brother, he has to rely on cooking to attract attention. Truly pathetic."
At this moment, as Wang Shu's fans marveled at his culinary skills, some of Xiao Zhan's fans also began to mock him.
"Since Teacher Huang says it's delicious, I'll try it too!"
He Jiong, seeing Huang Lei's reaction, couldn't help but curiously pick up a fried dough stick and put it in his mouth.
"Mmm, delicious! Really good, even more fragrant than Teacher Huang's!"
After tasting the fried dough stick, He Jiong's eyes widened, and he said with surprise.
Hearing He Jiong's words, Huang Lei also laughed awkwardly.
"Hilarious, I suspect Teacher He is doing this on purpose!"
"Teacher Huang's expression has changed with anger. Teacher He probably won't be able to eat here in the future."
"I really want to taste what that fried dough stick is like. Why does everyone say it's delicious? Is it really that good?"
...
Xiao Zhan, listening to the commotion around him, felt even more displeased.
Why didn't Teacher He and Teacher Huang look towards him when they returned? He was such a big living person.
Also, was that fried dough stick really that delicious?
Xiao Zhan thought about it and couldn't help but swallow several times.
"Teacher He, Teacher Huang, hello!"
Finally, he could no longer pretend, so he rubbed his eyes with feigned innocence, stretched, and looked at Huang Lei and He Jiong to greet them.
"This is?"
Huang Lei was slightly taken aback. He turned and looked at Xiao Zhan curiously. He didn't recognize Xiao Zhan.
"Uh, Xiao Zhan, if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have noticed you were here."
He Jiong immediately reacted and said with a smile.
"I arrived too early this morning, so I just took a short nap. I didn't expect you to be back when I woke up."
Xiao Zhan said insincerely. In reality, he had been awake the whole time but just hadn't opened his eyes.
"Oh, so it's Xiao Zhan. Welcome, welcome!"
After He Jiong's reminder, Huang Lei finally realized who it was. He then politely said a few words before turning his attention back to Wang Shu.
"How long have you been studying cooking?"
Huang Lei asked Wang Shu with some curiosity. After all, the skill shown in frying that fried dough stick was far superior to his own.
However, Wang Shu looked no older than twenty, so he was very curious about how long Wang Shu had been studying cooking.
"I haven't studied much. I just figured it out myself."
Wang Shu gave a perfunctory answer. After all, this was a reward from the system, and he himself didn't know how many years it would take to reach this level.
"You figured it out yourself? I can hardly believe it!"
When he heard Wang Shu say that his culinary skills were self-taught, Huang Lei was once again shocked.
Because, according to his estimation, to reach such a culinary level, Wang Shu should have started learning cooking from around the age of ten.
But Wang Shu claimed he hadn't studied cooking and just tinkered with it himself, which he found hard to believe.
"May I see your hands?"
Huang Lei said to Wang Shu again.
"Certainly!"
Wang Shu directly extended his hands in front of Huang Lei for inspection.
"These hands have no calluses at all. They are so delicate. They don't look like a chef's hands at all!"
Looking at Wang Shu's hands, Huang Lei was once again stunned.
There were no calluses or wounds on Wang Shu's hands; they looked nothing like a chef's hands.
After all, if someone had been studying or working as a chef for many years, their hands would surely bear some marks.
There would either be calluses formed from constantly chopping and stir-frying, or cuts from careless chopping, or at the very least, blisters from burns.
But Wang Shu's hands were completely free of these, pristine and clean.
"You can be considered a culinary genius!"
Huang Lei exclaimed, as it was his first time encountering such a genius who understood cooking so profoundly.
"Teacher Huang is too exaggerated. This is just a minor skill. In front of you, it's like showing off to an expert."
Wang Shu replied with a smile, as he needed to give Huang Lei some face. He was just a guest for today, while Huang Lei was a resident guest of the show; he couldn't steal the spotlight.
"Since you all arrived so early, we should get to work. Today's task is to finish planting the seedlings before we can eat!"
After they finished breakfast, He Jiong directly began to assign today's task.
"Planting seedlings again today!"
Upon hearing about planting seedlings, Peng Peng immediately looked dejected and said.
He had been planting seedlings with guests for several consecutive days. He had initially thought he would have a day off today, but unexpectedly, they had to plant seedlings again.
"If you don't plant, you won't eat today!"
He Jiong said to Peng Peng with a smile.
"Hilarious, poor Peng Peng!"
"Unlucky Peng Peng, he has planted several acres of land by himself."
"Heartbreaking for Peng Peng for a second, because in the remaining time, we'll be heartbroken for Wang Shu."
When the audience saw Peng Peng's helpless expression, they all teased him.
Although Peng Peng looked reluctant, he still retrieved the rice transplanter tools from the storage room and distributed them to Wang Shu, Xiao Zhan, and Zhang Zi Feng.
Then, he and He Jiong led the three guests to the seedling field.
"How do we get down?"
When Xiao Zhan saw the muddy seedling field, he frowned and said.
"Just come down like me. Although planting rice is tiring, it's also quite fun. I planted that whole section!"
Peng Peng directly entered the seedling field and proudly pointed to a large area of already transplanted seedlings not far away.
Wang Shu then followed Zhang Zi Feng into the seedling field and began planting seedlings with proper technique.
Only Xiao Zhan stood at the edge of the field, frowning, unwilling to get down.
"Hurry up and come down, it's okay!"
Seeing that Xiao Zhan was unwilling to come down, Peng Peng shouted to him from the field.
Xiao Zhan realized that if he didn't go down now, he would definitely be criticized by the audience for being pretentious. So, he slowly and with a frown walked into the seedling field.
To avoid smelling the odor, he even took out a mask and put it on.
"Why don't we have a competition to see who plants faster? Whoever loses will wash their face with this mud, okay?"
After they had been planting for a while, Peng Peng said mysteriously.
"A competition? Who's afraid of whom!"
Zhang Zi Feng directly accepted the challenge to Peng Yu Chang's suggestion.
"I'll participate too!"
Wang Shu also agreed.
"Maybe I'll just skip the competition..."
Xiao Zhan looked at the few seedlings in front of him, then at the large area already planted by the other three, and decided not to participate in the competition.
"Alright, then it's just the three of us. Teacher He, you be our referee!"
Seeing that Xiao Zhan refused to participate, Peng Peng didn't force him and directly said to He Jiong, who was organizing the seedlings.
Then, at He Jiong's command, the three of them entered the competitive state.
With the boost of his martial arts skills, Wang Shu treated planting seedlings like a set of martial arts moves, which significantly increased his speed.
He could even plant with both hands. In just over ten minutes, Wang Shu had already pulled far ahead of the other two.
Peng Peng had originally thought he would definitely win today's competition, as he had been planting seedlings for several days and was quite experienced.
But when he looked up to wipe his sweat and saw Wang Shu's side, he was startled.
"Damn it, Wang Shu, are you even human?"
Peng Peng said to Wang Shu with shock.
"Why are you cursing?"
Zhang Zi Feng, who was diligently planting seedlings, looked up and glared at Peng Peng when she heard Peng Yu Chang's words.
However, when Zhang Zi Feng's gaze fell on Wang Shu's side, her eyes also widened in disbelief.