Chapter Twenty: Pleasing Everyone Is Impossible

However, Heath soon discovered the root of the problem: he had forgotten an ingredient when preparing the braised chicken at the dinner table earlier.

“So… this thing is supposed to be braised chicken?” Heath was even more astonished. What had the Leek Duck done to turn a portion of braised chicken into this? The ‘coal’ before him bore no resemblance to braised chicken; it was utterly unrelated, making it impossible to even imagine it as such.

“Leek...” The Leek Duck clutched its leek with a pitiful expression, occasionally quacking as if to prove its grievance. Heath pursed his lips; he wasn’t convinced.

“Now, make another portion of braised pork. Meals must be eaten bite by bite, roads must be walked step by step. You want to leap straight to the top? You're dreaming.” Heath felt helpless. It seemed the Leek Duck, having managed to make braised pork with his help, had become overconfident.

It even dared attempt braised chicken without Heath’s hands-on guidance?

Moreover, the golden finger had yet to notify them that the Leek Duck had completed its task, so Heath suspected the braised pork was still not up to the golden finger’s idea of perfection.

“This night is still long; let’s take it slow.” Heath cheerfully closed the kitchen door, making the Leek Duck gulp and instinctively cover its rear.

Heath’s mouth twitched. He was neither the ghost knight Ning Caichen nor Xu Xian; how could he possibly have that sort of interest in a Pokémon?

“Prepare yourself, you rascal!”

...

[Leek Duck has crafted a perfect braised pork with oil tofu. You have received a special reward: Golden Perfume.]

Heath sat breathless on the kitchen floor, exhaling deeply. Leek Duck had finally managed to make a decent portion of braised pork with oil tofu, completing the golden finger’s task.

Heath also noticed a new bottle in his pocket. He took it out to inspect—a bottle containing pink liquid. He felt a surge of delight.

Golden Perfume—Heath remembered this item from “Skinless Eri,” an expensive and miraculous tool that increased the chance of encountering rare Pokémon.

Looking at the Golden Perfume in his hand, Heath felt that the wasted ingredients had been compensated for. He only hoped the next “Chef’s Road” task wouldn’t be too absurd.

Meanwhile, the exhausted Leek Duck leaned weakly against the wall, clutching its leek, worn out and sporting a thoroughly defeated expression. It realized that Heath, when serious, was truly intimidating.

“It’s about time to rest. We have to get up early tomorrow to buy ingredients.” Heath yawned, glanced at his watch—it was already past midnight. If he didn’t sleep soon, he’d be exhausted tomorrow.

After packing away the Leek Duck and heading to bed, a few strange noises echoed from the kitchen, but they quickly died down, as if nothing had happened.

...

The next morning, Heath rose early. Today, he needed to prepare meals for the prisoners in Evergreen City Prison, so he wasn’t planning to open his morning stall. Feeding fifty prisoners was no easy task.

Heath could have prepared a single large pot dish, but that wouldn’t meet his standards. Besides, this job had been arranged by Sister Maple; if he didn’t do it well, he didn’t want to risk testing whether his head was harder than concrete.

Though big pot dishes seemed simple and easy, they were actually quite tricky—the proportions of ingredients and seasonings were critical. Too much, and it’s overly salty and heavy; too little, and it’s bland and tasteless.

So Heath decided to lower the difficulty, preparing five different meal boxes, each tailored for ten people.

[Make fifty prisoners satisfied with your cooking. Rewards will depend on the number of satisfied diners.]

Heath paused—another task triggered? Still, tasks were always good news. He wasn’t picky, but this challenge made him abandon his original plan.

Pleasing everyone’s palate was no easy feat. In Heath’s experience, even traveling between provinces back in Huaxia, people struggled to adjust to local cuisines. Even within a single city, preferences for rice dumplings varied—some liked plain dumplings with sugar, others preferred savory ones with salted egg and ham.

Now Heath faced the challenge of crafting meals that would satisfy prisoners whose tastes he knew nothing about. It was indeed outrageous.

“This task… is truly difficult. I wonder what reward awaits?” Heath admitted he was curious.

“Let’s handle it this way, then.” After a moment of hesitation, Heath settled on the dishes he would prepare.

He decided to divide the meals by flavor: sweet, spicy, light, seafood-based, and meat-based.

With this plan, Heath hurried to the market, using the meal allowance Sister Maple had given him to buy all the necessary ingredients.

Heath relished the rare joy of shopping without having to meticulously plan, and after gathering everything, he counted his remaining funds—over four hundred Alliance coins—quite satisfactory.

Four hundred coins, not too much nor too little. It was enough profit, and Heath wasn’t greedy. He even considered spending the whole two thousand five hundred coins just to ensure success.

Returning with his ingredients to Officer Junsha’s dormitory area, Heath smilingly borrowed a kitchen from the cafeteria auntie and began preparing the meals for the prisoners.

For the sweet option, Heath made sweet and sour pork ribs—a popular dish with its tangy-sweet flavor, unless one disliked sweet or sour foods.

For the spicy meal, he went with mapo tofu and spicy chicken. For the light option, pork rib soup and chicken broth rice.

“Whew, thankfully I still remember how to make seafood fried rice… though my seafood repertoire is a bit weak.” Heath stroked his chin, gazing at the fifty meal boxes he had finally finished.

Beside him, Leek Duck’s eyes sparkled as it watched. Heath chuckled and tapped its head.

“What do you want to learn?” Heath was in a good mood—the Leek Duck’s knife skills were superb and had been a great help.