CHAPTER 145 - LIFE IS SOY MUCH MORE EXCITING WITH SPICES

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[Dragonflame Glaze:

A soy-based sauce infused with mythical spices and the essence of dragon peppers, offering a fiery kick balanced by a sweet and savory undertone.]

“What the heck happened? I didn’t add any chili peppers or spices!” I poured a bit of the sauce into a spoon and tasted it. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”

I made the spoon vanish into my inventory and got a piece of bread that I ate in a vain attempt to put out the fire inside my mouth. It wasn’t until I finished drinking two glasses of milk that I felt better.

My apprentices, along with Deming and his assistants, were sampling the other goods. There was one crate each of soy milk, tofu, soy sauce, miso, and tempeh, which were packed in jars or wrapped in waxed paper or banana leaves. There were even several types of tofu: firm, medium-firm, soft, silken, and fried tofu. I was quite surprised to note that the [Soy Machine] also produced a dozen different types of soy sauce. Of course, I knew about light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, but there was stuff like double black soy sauce and white soy sauce that I was not familiar with.

The Demon Chef and his assistants tried everything.

“Not bad.”

“This ‘miso’ is good.”

“I could make better fried tofu using this firm tofu.”

“Try this soy milk, it's delicious.”

“This silken tofu will go well with the miso. Do we have seaweed?”

Deming seemed happy enough, even though he did assess everything as low-grade, which was because the quality of products was tied to the player’s Farming level. The Demon Chef was particularly interested in the [Dragonflame Glaze]. He glanced at me and raised two fingers, which Fengying told me meant that he wanted two more batches of food items from the [Soy Machine].

“Sure, that’s no problem,” I said.

Fengying then handed me a letter from Shuye.

“Observers?” I frowned. “But I won’t have time to babysit visitors during harvest season. Can I refuse?”

“It would be slightly rude,” said Fengying.

“Well, okay, as long as it’s just slightly rude. Please let Shuye’s messenger know that I would prefer not to have observers during harvest season. Shuye can come himself if he wants to.” I was about to leave when I remembered I wanted to ask Fengying something. “By the way, why can’t I visit Shuye to see the baby?”

“My lady, clan member’s babies develop at a far slower rate compared to humans. Shuye’s child will be considered a newborn for around a year or so.”

“Oh.” I knew that the Chinese had a cultural tradition of postpartum confinement for as long as 100 days. Women who had just given birth were supposed to stay indoors, preferably in bed, and given special nourishing food. Visitors were forbidden until a certain time, though I couldn’t remember how long, and newborns were not supposed to be taken outside, especially in crowded places where they could be exposed to too many germs. I guess the traditional confinement was longer in this world.

“You see, my lady, clan members are long-lived and have a different view of time compared to us humans.” Fengying patted me on the shoulder. “It’s something that those who live or work with them have to adjust to.”

That sounded ominous. “Just say what you want to say, no need to be roundabout. Is this about Prince Baiyu?”

Fengying smiled. “You said that he’s asked his parents for permission to live here on the farm. Don’t be too disheartened if it takes a few more months.”

“Months?! Are you serious?”

“That’s fast for clan members.”

I pouted a little, but I got her point. Prince Baiyu wrote to me in a letter that he would be arriving “soon,” which apparently didn’t mean the same as what I thought of as “soon.” The fact that I was feeling impatient and looking forward to it this much was eye-opening for me. I must like him a lot more than I thought I did. I handed the letter back to her and said, “Okay, I understand. It’s all over once he moves into the third courtyard anyway.”

Suddenly I heard excited squealing from behind us. I turned around and saw that Lari, Kharli, and Mo were staring at us.

Mo covered her blushing face and said, “Wha- what does she mean by ‘it’s all over’? What is she planning to do?!”

“What do you think? Obviously, she’ll make him unable to leave!” said Kharli.

Lari gave the other two a disgusted look when they embraced each other and started making high-pitched sounds of delight.

I ignored them and continued sampling the soy products with Fengying.

***

Two days later, I removed the [Soy Machine] and replaced it with the [Creamery]. In Adventure Incarnate, the [Creamery] was a giant cow building with a large wooden “Moo” speech bubble. Here it was a square wooden building painted white with black spots like a spotted cow. The giant figure of a friendly cartoon cow was placed on top of the roof, complete with the “Moo” sign. It was very cute!

Inside it was a huge metal vat connected to six separate but identical machines, one in each corner and the middle of the walls. Each machine had a control lever that could be pulled up and down, with each slot labeled with a different milk product: Butter, Cheese, Cream, Buttermilk, Yogurt, and Ice Cream.

I mentally clicked on the buckets of [Cow’s Milk] in my inventory and then [Used] it on the vat to fill it up. Then I let Lari set the levers on the machines to make one of each item and Mo pressed the Start/Stop button.

“Teacher, I don’t know what some of those things are,” said Lari.

“I know, but don’t worry, they’re all good. You’ll be able to taste them tomorrow when the machine is finished making all that stuff,” I said.

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Most of these milk products were unfamiliar to them because Chinese cuisine didn’t use a lot of cream, butter, or cheese. Some parts of the Westerlands used ghee, which was clarified butter, but as for the rest, they didn’t use it much except for when a high-class restaurant or noble kitchen was making Central cuisine. Nonetheless, I wanted to build a creamery because I liked dairy products.

While I waited for the [Creamery] to finish one production cycle, I tried my hand at baking an apple pie.

“I know, I know! It’s not normally made that way, but this is how my bloodline inheritance makes it,” I said when my maid, Yinuo, protested at what I said I was going to do.

“...I’m just worried it will be tasteless with no spices,” said Yinuo.

“Me, too!”

We had finished watering and tending the crops earlier, and now I was free to train my Cooking skill while my apprentices were Hunting and Foraging in the forest.

Yinuo prepared everything I was going to need in the kitchen in the inner courtyard that was reserved for my use. The Demon Chef’s domain was the kitchen and storerooms in the outer courtyard. My maid placed a cutting board, knife, and bowl of water in one corner of the central kitchen island.

“Okay, here goes nothing.” I got a bunch of [Apples] from my inventory and let the System guide my hands in cutting them up with the knife. “Noooooo! How can I burn apples by cutting them?”

I stared mournfully at the burned apple that now looked like a lump of coal.

Yinuo was used to it and simply threw the evidence of my failure in a trashcan.

Eight more [Apples] were burnt before I managed to slice one properly. The System recipe called for just one [Apple] per pie, but I had to make at least a dozen uncooked pies since I would probably burn a few when I tried to bake them.

“At least cutting them is fast,” I said.

Yinuo put the [Apple Slices] in the bowl of water to prevent them from browning.

Eventually, we had enough slices to start the second part of the baking process. Yinuo put away the knife and cutting board before flouring the counter.

“My lady, are you sure you only need flour and water?” Yinuo looked worried. “I can get salt and whatever you need from the kitchen.”

“It’ll be fine. You’ll see,” I said.

Yinuo put two pots on one side of the counter which I filled with [Flour] and [Water] from my inventory. Using the System’s Cooking tab, I selected [Pastry Dough]. I tipped the pot of [Flour] onto the counter then poured the [Water] from the pot over it. I burst into laughter at the ridiculousness of what happened next. The two ingredients seethed and combined without me having to lift a finger. Then…

We smelled smoke and I got some [Burnt Pastry Dough].

Yinuo just shook her head while I lamented my disastrous Cooking skill.

“I just burned flour and water without even using a stove or oven!” I said.

“You can do it if you try again, my lady,” said Yinuo. Her lips were twitching.

Unless I was very much mistaken, Yinuo actually enjoyed it when I burned food.

It only took five more tries until the [Flour] and [Water] properly combined into a smooth and elastic ball of dough. I took out a [Pie Pan] from my inventory and pressed half of the slightly tacky dough onto it.

Or at least, I tried to.

“This can’t be real…” I was shocked when I burnt the dough. My fingers felt a little hot, and I immersed them in ice water for a few minutes before trying again. Again I got more burned dough.

Yinuo couldn’t bear it any longer. “My lady, perhaps I can help?”

“Hmmm.” I thought about it before answering. Other people couldn’t touch my inventory items until I processed them, so Yinuo couldn’t touch the [Apples] but she could touch the [Apple Slices]. The same was true of the [Pastry Dough]. “Okay, you can assemble the pies once we have enough items for twelve of them.”

Most of the Cooking exp came from the final step of baking the [Apple Pie], so it should be fine to have someone help with assembly. I kept on using the [Water] and [Flour] with each other until I had twelve more [Pastry Doughs] while Yinuo went to the Demon Chef’s kitchen to ask for pie pans since she couldn’t touch the ones I had.

She returned with the Demon Chef in tow along with the requested items.

I thought Deming would offer to help, but all he did was watch as I instructed Yinuo to press half of the [Pastry Dough] onto the pie pan then place the [Apple Slices] on top of the dough crust. Lastly, Yinuo deftly created a lattice crust for the pie using the other half of the dough. Taking strips of [Pastry Dough], she carefully wove them over the apple slices, creating an intricate pattern.

She did that twelve more times while Deming watched and I turned on my industrial-sized oven to preheat it. When Yinuo finished, Deming picked one up and examined it closely. He sniffed it a few times, then put it down and left.

Yinuo and I exchanged a glance.

I shrugged. “I guess he just wanted to see what we were doing. Time to bake these suckers.”

Waiting for the pies to bake was pleasant enough since I had a new gossip book we read and giggled over. According to the latest scuttlebutt, no fewer than eight noble gentlemen of the Magpie clan were fighting over the same lady. There were duels, elaborate courtship displays, and a series of grand gestures to win her favor. I noted that the hunting of ferocious animals and offering them to the lady figured prominently in the tales.

When I got the System message that the pies were cooked, I held my breath until I removed them from the oven and saw that, miraculously, only ten of the twelve were burned.

“Yes! I baked two!” I quickly stored the [Apple Pies] in my inventory for later and thanked Yinuo for her help. “Let’s eat these tomorrow.”

***

The next day, my fears that the [Creamery] would produce something weird like the [Soy Machine] were put to rest. Each machine produced a normal product. My apprentices and I let Deming and his assistants look over the [Butter], [Cheese], [Cream], [Buttermilk], [Yogurt], and [Ice Cream] first.

Except for the Demon Chef, they seemed puzzled by the items. I guess they weren’t as expert as Deming was in Central cuisine. The [Cheese] was a wheel of simple, soft, and creamy cheese like Brie without the rind, or maybe triple cream cheese. If I wanted a harder, more mature cheese, I would need to age it in a [Cask]. The [Creamery] also made regular vanilla-flavored [Ice cream] which could then be mixed with various ingredients to make whatever flavor the player wanted.

I waited until everyone was done sampling all the goods before snagging a jug of [Cream] and a tub of [Ice Cream].

“Hey, let’s go to my kitchen, Yinuo and I will prepare a special treat for you,” I said to my apprentices.

They followed me to my kitchen while discussing the strange new items from the [Creamery].

Lari had a slice of cheese and was eating it. “Teacher, this is very nice.”

“I like it,” said Kharli.

“It’s not too bad,” said Mo.

“The [Butter] is just cow milk fat, isn’t it? I remember Teacher used it to make [Toast],” said Mo.

“Yes, and we had [Ice Cream] before,” said Lari.

Once we arrived at the kitchen where the [Apple Pies] were already cooling on a rack, Yinuo got a whisk and a bowl into which I poured some of the cream. I also tried to make whipped cream with a mixer from the Cash Shop, but, as expected, I burnt it instead. While Yinuo was making whipped cream, I asked the kids to set the kitchen table with dessert plates and forks for everyone.

“No chopsticks?” asked Lari.

“No chopsticks.” I mentally laughed at the idea of eating pie with chopsticks.

Ten minutes later, Yinuo was done and we served the kids with two tiny slices of pie topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

“Et voila! Apple pie à la mode. That’s the one with the [Ice Cream].” I pointed at the slice of pie topped with ice cream. Since this recipe wasn't in the System, I could easily add the toppings without burning them. “The other one is topped with whipped cream. Tell me which one you prefer.”

Yinuo had been surprised at the smell of warm, cinnamon-spiced apples that came from the pie since she knew very well that I hadn't used any spices or seasoning, not even salt. I told her to just chalk it up to my witch magic.

My fork cut through the slice and I lifted a forkful of apple filling, golden crust, and ice cream to my mouth. Each bite offered a mix of textures and temperatures — the soft apple slices in a velvety sauce contrasted with the flaky crust, while the coldness of ice cream and warmth of the pie warred delightfully with each other. I especially enjoyed how the tartness of the apples melded with the buttery crust and the sweet ice cream.

It wasn’t nearly as good as something Deming would have made, but I was still proud of it.

“I love the one with the [Ice Cream]!” said Mo. “But the whipped cream is good, too.”

“I agree,” said Lari.

Yinuo nodded her agreement, too.

“I would like to have both toppings on my pie,” said Kharli.

“That’s a great idea,” I said. “Anyone want another serving?”

I had coffee with mine while Yinuo and the kids had [Soy Milk] with theirs. When we finished, we went back to the outer courtyard to find out what Deming had decided to make with the new products, but Haoran suddenly burst into our midst, wild-eyed.

“The bees! The bees!” he said.