“Tangjin, Xia-ger is just this kind of person. I’m sorry for the trouble.” Having said this, Hong Yuelian felt a pang of embarrassment. She had always presented herself as easygoing in front of her brother-in-law, never expecting her act to unravel so quickly and her true nature to be exposed.

Gu Tangjin merely smiled and said, ”Xia-ger is just fine this way. My parents also appreciate his temperament. Running a business requires a bit of spunk to survive.”

“Exactly, exactly. But Xia-ger, you must remember to be courteous in public—don’t invite trouble with your words,” Hong Yuelian added.

“I know. If he hadn’t come looking for me, I wouldn’t have bothered. He started it,” Ji Rongxia snorted.

“The glutinous rice balls are ready.” Qian Xuecheng brought two bowls over for Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia.

But the two stubbornly refused to eat, insisting that Hong Yuelian and Qian Xuecheng had theirs.

With no other option, Qian Xuecheng and Hong Yuelian kept one bowl each, delivering the other outside for Carpenter Ji and Ji Ronghu.

Qian Xuecheng had only cooked half the glutinous rice balls. He kept the other half in a wooden bucket, cooling it in well water so they could have another serving later.

He’d originally planned to let Xia-ger and Scholar Gu eat their fill before heading back. Now, well, they’d already eaten their fill.

Qian Xuecheng scooped three or four glutinous rice balls from the large bowl into a small one. Seeing this, Hong Yuelian took the ladle herself and added a few more for him.

“Try more of Xia-ger’s cooking. You’re eating for two now—how can you eat so little?” Hong Yuelian urged.

Qian Xuecheng smiled shyly, his cheeks flushing as he lowered his head and murmured, “Yes.”

Ji Rongxia’s eyes sparkled. “Mother! Why didn’t you tell me my brother-in-law was expecting the last time I visited? And just now, when I wanted to help you in the kitchen, you wouldn’t let me!”

“Congratulations, Mother. Congratulations, Brother-in-law.” Gu Tangjin also seemed surprised. Xia-ger had only been here a short while, and he hadn’t heard about this last time.

”I only found out yesterday. It’s not even three months yet, so don’t tell anyone. The child is well-behaved, and Cheng-ger hasn’t had morning sickness. If I hadn’t noticed the bright red mole on his wrist, I wouldn’t have seen it at all.” Hong Yuelian beckoned Qian Xuecheng to sit beside her, smiling warmly.

”Really? You can tell by that?” Ji Rongxia touched the red mole on his forehead, thinking to himself, hadn’t it always been red? He couldn’t see any difference.

Who cares? Anyway, I’m going to be an uncle!

Qian Xuecheng held a small bowl in his hands, not looking up as he silently ate a glutinous rice ball.

The sweet, sticky flavor was especially to his liking. He wondered, how much time had really passed? Had Xia-ger’s cooking skills improved this much already?

“Brother-in-law, is it tasty? I didn’t do a great job this time— I forgot to add lard, so the filling isn’t smooth and feels a bit gritty. Just make do with it. Next time I’ll make something even better for you to try,” Ji Rongxia said with a hint of pride.

His face practically screamed, Quick, praise me! Hurry up and praise me!

Qian Xuecheng swallowed the glutinous rice ball in his mouth and immediately praised, “The filling is sweet and fragrant, and the skin is soft and chewy. It’s delicious. Xia-ger, your skills have truly improved.”

Receiving the praise, Ji Rongxia’s face flushed even redder, his complexion radiant.

“Right? Right? I think it’s pretty good too.”

Hong Yuelian chuckled. “You silly boy, who brags about themselves like that? Won’t you be embarrassed if people hear you?”

Saying this, she took a bite of the glutinous rice ball herself.

“Mmm, delicious. What kind of filling is this?” Hong Yuelian asked curiously.

“Taro,” Ji Rongxia replied simply.

“Taro? Can taro be made this delicious? Your skills have truly improved.” Hong Yuelian assumed there was some special recipe involved and didn’t press further.

Seeing Qian Xuecheng enjoy them, she ate only two glutinous rice balls herself, secretly saving the rest for him.

Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin sat for a short while before departing.

Back at the eatery, Ji Rongxia hurried to practice his knife skills, while Gu Tangjin carefully leafed through an agricultural manual.

Gu Tangjin had read farming books before, but only for the imperial examinations. He had never truly studied agriculture in depth.

Now, however, he needed to examine it meticulously.

After a day of busyness, Ji Rongxia was almost impatient to enter the system space.

Before bed, however, they still needed to sprout the taro. They chose a shadier spot near the cucumber patch for this task.

This wasn’t difficult either. Covering the taro with straw mats and sprinkling water over them would soon bring forth sprouts.

For those large taro varieties, Ji Rongxia used taro chunks to sprout them. It was his first time planting them, and he wasn’t sure if this method would work.

After finally finishing their chores, the two returned to their room.

“Father praised my vegetable chopping today, but he said my meat cutting needs work. I often forget to check the grain of the meat and just slice it randomly.” Ji Rongxia blinked his eyes. ”Today I need to get assigned a meat-cutting task.”

In the past, the Ji family was lucky to have meat two or three times a month. Who remembered to check the grain before cutting?

He used to just chop it randomly.

Now that he was learning to cook, he finally understood that different cuts of meat required different slicing techniques.

Meat was precious in the restaurant kitchen—he dared not practice freely there. Practicing in the system space meant he wouldn’t have to worry about wasting meat.

“Alright, then try to see if you can get a job like that.” Gu Tangjin was also curious—just how far this little rascal would compromise for Xia-ger. “If it doesn’t work out, don’t push it.”

“Got it. I won’t force it either. Just said it offhand. If it can help, great. If not, no big deal.” Ji Rongxia knew he was worried about him. He reached out and hugged Gu Tangjin’s strong, sturdy arm before burrowing under the covers and closing his eyes.

Soon, he entered the system space.

The moment he entered the system space, he heard the familiar notification sound.

【Ding! Random task detected.】

【Ding! Random task: Make taro paste. (Includes instructional video).】

【Task Requirement: Master the method of making taro paste.】

【Task Reward: Three bags of creamy taro paste (each bag contains two jin), three snack recipes (Crumbly Crispies, Jianbing Guozi, Pan-fried Pork Buns).】

“Random task? There’s such a thing?” Ji Rongxia froze.

“Host, did you make taro paste today? Random tasks require specific dishes to trigger. If a dish you made was particularly… rough, it could trigger a random task. After all, you’re meant to become a culinary god—how could your creations not be delicious?” The Cooking God System floated beside Ji Rongxia, speaking with great tact.

“Huh? So you’re saying my taro paste was awful, which triggered this quest?” Ji Rongxia summarized with pinpoint accuracy.

Cooking God System: “…”

Cooking God System: “You could put it that way.”

Ji Rongxia rolled up his sleeves: “Bring it on! I’ll show you how delicious properly made taro paste should be!”

He felt a tiny spark of defiance. His steamed taro was perfectly cooked, and the sugar was just right—how could it be called unpalatable?

Both sets of parents, his brother-in-law, and his husband all loved it!

He entered the kitchen with a determined look.

This time, he immediately opened the demonstration video.

The person in the video started by selecting the taro variety.

Not all varieties of taro make good taro paste.

Steam the taro and purple sweet potatoes, then mix in the right amount of heavy cream and sugar…

Ji Rongxia watched the video carefully and asked, “What exactly is this thing called purple sweet potato?”

As he spoke, he picked up a palm-sized purple sweet potato from the stove and examined it.

In previous tasks he’d completed, all the premium ingredients were things he’d seen before.

This time, neither the light cream nor the purple sweet potato in the video was familiar to him.

【Purple sweet potato: An annual herbaceous plant. The flesh ranges from purple to deep purple, sweet and delicious in flavor.】

【Light cream is an animal-based cream, containing approximately 35% fat content.】

“Host, well, you can think of this purple sweet potato as similar to taro, and whipping cream is made from milk,” the Cooking God System explained as simply as possible.

“Fascinating. Can I taste these ingredients? Sampling ingredients while cooking is part of a chef’s job, right?” Ji Rongxia asked.

The Cooking God System analyzed the situation and determined it wasn’t against the rules, so it replied, “Yes. Both can be eaten directly.”

Ji Rongxia casually cut a piece of purple sweet potato and popped it into his mouth. The sweet flavor filled his palate, accompanied by a crisp texture that made him instantly fall in love with the taste.

He then scooped out a small amount of light cream and tasted it.

This cream had no tanginess, only the pure fragrance of milk, with a rich, velvety texture. Ji Rongxia had only ever tasted goat’s milk before—even when boiled, it retained a distinct gaminess. During his ‘illness,’ his parents had bought him copious amounts of goat’s milk to fortify his health. He’d forced himself to drink it despite the nausea, but he’d disliked it intensely. This light cream, however, was truly delicious.

“Is this light cream made from cow’s milk?” Ji Rongxia pondered for a while before asking uncertainly.

Cooking God System: “Yes, Host. Did you taste it out?”

“Half tasted, half guessed. Tangjin mentioned pastries made with something called butter. On our wedding night, he read me a travelogue he’d copied. This tastes somewhat like the ghee described in those travelogues.“ Ji Rongxia shook his head, looking rather playful.

”Close enough. Different fat contents cause dairy products to take on different states,” the Cooking God System explained.

Ji Rongxia nodded and poured himself another bit of light cream to taste.

“Host, what’s wrong?” The Cooking God System asked anxiously when he didn’t respond.

“Nothing. I just feel like… You might truly be something I can’t quite figure out.” Ji Rongxia said. He rather liked the taste of this light cream—chatting more with the System meant more chances to taste it!

The Cooking God System asked uncertainly, “Host, are you upset? If you follow the steps, you’ll definitely make delicious taro paste. It won’t be called rough again.”

“Upset? Why would I be upset? I think my taro paste tastes pretty good. The demo video you showed just used better ingredients.” Ji Rongxia said, taking another bite of purple sweet potato. He wasn’t angry at all—he just wanted to chat a bit longer, stall for time, and sneak a few more bites of the delicious treat.

The Cooking God System suddenly didn’t quite grasp its host’s meaning: ”Huh?“

”All these treats can be given to you as rewards if you complete your tasks properly. “ The Cooking God System dangled the carrot.

But Ji Rongxia clearly wasn’t buying the system’s promises. He muttered, ”Anyway, I tried my best. The glutinous rice balls tasted fine. It just looks rough because I didn’t have these ingredients. But even with limited ingredients, I should strive to improve my cooking skills. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

After finishing a piece of purple sweet potato, Ji Rongxia clapped his hands. “Alright, time to start my quest.”

He wasn’t about to be intimidated by this Cooking God System’s standards!

Time to get to work!