Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 154 - 126 Dessert_1

Chapter 154: Chapter 126 Dessert_1

Chef Bing went to check on the koi in the pond during his spare time, and at that time, Feng Yi was no longer squatting by the pond.

Observing the condition of the school of koi, Bing thought everything was fine.

"They look quite energetic."

There was nothing to worry about—it was just walking fish. As long as the boss was happy, that was all that mattered.

However, in the evening, Bing noticed the steward standing by the koi pond.

The steward, watching the group of koi swimming back and forth, had a look of reminiscence mixed with a touch of helplessness.

"Is there a problem with these fish?" Bing asked uncertainly.

He didn’t notice anything amiss, but the steward wouldn’t show such an expression for no reason.

"Nothing... major. It’s just brought back some memories. There are some things you just can’t avoid!" the steward sighed.

Upon hearing this, Bing knew there must be something about the fish that he couldn’t understand.

"So... do we need to change the feed for these koi?" Bing asked.

"It’s not related to the feed. Just mix it as you would normally do."

As the steward spoke, he took out his phone and snapped some photos and videos of the koi pond. He also took out a palm-sized fish-shaped stone from beside the artificial mountain to place it next to the pond as a reference.

Without the steward bringing it out, no one would have even noticed such a stone was there.

No one knew what the stone was for.

For the next two days, Feng Yi practiced precise control and energy sealing, but to others, it seemed he was merely addicted to walking the fish, doing it happily every day.

However, Bing kept a close eye on the koi and found that their appetites had increased!

He didn’t dare feed them too much, only increasing the amount slightly. Overfeeding could cause problems.

On the other hand.

The two Presidents Bai, who had taken the snake-bone chain and "password" back with them, first locked themselves up to unravel the secrets contained within.

The re-arranged jade chain corresponded to the pattern on the snake-bone chain, which served as a password.

Old Man Bai, the father of Bai Youwei, had left him a challenging puzzle before his demise. If solved, he could obtain the old man’s recipe and formula. If not, there was nothing he could do about it.

In Yang City, the Bai Family was considered a nouveau riche. Though their historical heritage couldn’t compare to the old brands, when it came to assets, they were far ahead.

Bai Youwei had seized the opportunity during a period of abnormal climate that brought market reshuffling and became wealthy.

When Bai Youwei was young, his family ran a small restaurant, and Old Man Bai was the chef.

Bai Youwei’s culinary skills were mediocre, but he had a good business sense. However, Old Man Bai had different ideas; he thought it was better to focus on their small restaurant, while Bai Youwei wanted to capitalize on the market reshuffle, which was a rare opportunity.

Their conflicting views led to a bet—

They would develop separately, with Old Man Bai standing by their own restaurant and Bai Youwei taking a portion of the startup capital to fulfill his dreams.

Old Man Bai, sticking to his restaurant, relied almost entirely on regulars. But as time passed, newer attractions flooded the market, the number of regulars dwindled, and those who remained could not support the restaurant, let alone its expansion.

Meanwhile, Bai Youwei’s business continued to grow, attracting more and more talent and expanding his ventures further and wider.

Given a choice, young people tended to prefer more refined and distinctive tastes. They were willing to queue for hours to try trendy foods!

Old Man Bai couldn’t keep up with the fast-paced fancies of the youth, nor could he withstand the market’s rapid changes.

Bai Youwei told him, "You’re living at your own pace, but the times are constantly changing. If you can’t keep up, you’ll be left behind."

Old Man Bai, unconvinced, closed the restaurant and occasionally took trips to distant places. Other times, he would stay in his small restaurant without opening for business, researching something or another. He claimed he was working on new flavors, new dishes, and secret recipes, but no one else had seen them.

It wasn’t until his final days that Old Man Bai told Bai Youwei and Bai Jing about this. The password on the snake-bone bracelet had been designed by an expert specifically hired for this task. Only by cracking the password could the secret recipes be accessed. Otherwise, a message from Old Man Bai would pop up saying, "Do not force what is not meant to be."

Damn "do not force what is not meant to be"!

It’s just unsportsmanlike!

Bai Youwei had tried many times already, failing each time meant waiting another six months before trying again, often leaving him so frustrated his blood pressure soared.

He didn’t even know if these contained Old Man Bai’s secret recipes, but it was like an obsession for him. Even if there were no such things as secret recipes, he had to open it and see what was hidden inside.

Bai Youwei accessed the password page and entered the corresponding password after Feng Yi recombined the snake bones.

Thump—

The page changed, indicating the password was correct.

Bai Youwei’s breathing became rapid as his eyes locked onto the screen.

A video popped up.

It was recorded by Old Man Bai before his death:

"I made this password so complex because I didn’t want you to see these things too soon. I hope that when you do see them, it will be 20 years later. Try them out, and see if my creations still satisfy people’s tastes after 20 years!"

In the last few years of his life, Old Man Bai had visited many places, tasting the local cuisine—both the widely known and the obscure.

He did more than just eat; he would record videos, criticising things like ingredients, timing, and seasoning, but he would also point out the merits of each dish.

When not traveling, he would study recipes in his locked restaurant. In the edited videos, each short clip showcased a dish’s preparation, and Old Man Bai would point out things to be mindful of for each.

Watching these videos, Bai Youwei knew that Old Man Bai had always been holding his breath,

saying the old man didn’t dare to innovate, to look up and move forward, always guarding that little spot unwilling to change.

But these dozens of hours of video were Old Man Bai’s way of telling him—

I did change, you just didn’t see it! I didn’t want you to see it!

In 20 years, I’ll prove you wrong!

After the videos about the recipes and formulas, at the end, Old Man Bai sat relaxed in an old-fashioned bamboo chair, waving a fan:

"What did you say to me back then? ’Your word doesn’t count, mine doesn’t either; the market will decide.’ Let’s let the market be the judge!

"If, I mean if, by chance, you didn’t last 20 years, then let Jing and Lu take over, and they’ll see if I’ve been outdated!"

As he said this, Old Man Bai leaned into the camera, his face, aged by illness, beaming with joy: "I haven’t lost yet."

After the video ended, there was a countdown screen.

Only then did Bai Youwei realize that even without Feng Yi’s help to crack the password, the lock on this video would have automatically opened after a 20-year countdown.

Old Man Bai passed away almost 19 years ago. In a little over a year, this video would have appeared before them anyway.

But these things were no longer important.

Bai Jing waited a moment, giving his father time to adjust his emotions.

About ten minutes later, Bai Youwei roughly wiped his face and calmed his breathing.

Only then did Bai Jing step forward and ask, "Grandpa left behind so many recipes and formulas. Shall we pick one to try first?"

Bai Youwei took the list that Bai Jing handed over, on which all the dishes and formulas mentioned in the old man’s video were categorized.

Bai Youwei had memories of those mentioned in the video. He just glanced at the list and then marked a spot with his finger: "This one."

Bai Jing’s expression was a bit odd, and he opened his mouth, about to persuade his dad to choose another one, but then he thought, trying this one first was fine too. This one wasn’t even mainstream back then, and it was hard to say if it could be accepted by more people now.

In terms of culinary skills, Bai Youwei was not comparable to Bai Jing. As they took this matter very seriously, the preparation was to be done personally by Bai Jing.

...

On Bai Lu’s side, he had chased after his dad and brother without even having time to scoop up the koi he had his eye on and found neither of them upon returning.

Bai Lu felt despondent, realizing now that it wasn’t a business problem but certainly some other big secret! He felt abandoned by his dad and brother—they didn’t share the secret with him and excluded him.

Feeling emotional, he thought about leaving the house, but was stopped and told he couldn’t go out as he had an important task ahead of him and needed to stay at home for two days without eating or drinking recklessly.

To this, Bai Lu was indignant.

What did they mean by eating and drinking recklessly! If the taste wasn’t good, he wouldn’t even bother to try it!

Still, Bai Lu stayed in obediently for two days and didn’t eat anything with a strong flavor.

Bai Lu had no talent for business and couldn’t enter the kitchen either, having nearly blown it up after a few attempts. However, he had a keen sense of taste, his palate as good as any professional food critic’s. Often when the family’s restaurants introduced new items, they would have him taste and evaluate them.

Being assigned an important task made Bai Lu quite happy.

Until two days later.

Bai Lu looked at the people sitting around the dining table.

Besides his parents and sister-in-law, his long-absent aunt was also there.

The atmosphere felt a bit serious and somewhat heavy.

Bai Jing brought out a soup.

Bai Lu looked at the delicate porcelain bowl placed before him.

The smell wasn’t exactly bad, but it wasn’t particularly pleasant either.

"Durian... kelp... mung bean soup?"

Bai Lu had tried kelp mung bean soup before, which was salty, not amazing, and didn’t leave a strong impression. The bowl in front of him, with durian added, clearly belonged to the dessert category, different from the soups he had before. As for what else was added inside, that was harder to discern.

But Bai Lu’s assessment of food was never based on his eyes and nose—his nose wasn’t that sensitive. Whether it was a true delicacy could only be known by tasting it.

He carefully tasted a small half-spoonful.

His brows furrowed then relaxed, followed by another spoonful.

It smelled somewhat strong, yet the taste brought a pleasant freshness!

It was novel, delicately made yet rustic, lacking the flamboyant showiness of trendy desserts on the market, but the combination of ingredients was just right—any more would be cloying, any less too bland.

Slightly chilled but not too cold, the temperature was perfect.

Now that the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed for quite some time, and people in Rong City were already wearing long sleeves, while it was still short-sleeve weather in Yang City. This refreshing dessert would still have its market at this time.

Unwittingly, he finished the entire bowl.

Under everyone’s gaze, Bai Lu frankly said, "If I were a customer, I might not feel impressed at first taste, but I would come back and order it again! However, people who don’t eat durian definitely won’t accept it. Brother, why don’t you develop a non-durian version? Yet I’m sure that version won’t be as good as this one."

While Bai Lu was still blabbering his opinions, the others had started ignoring him and served themselves a bowl to try.

"Is my task completed now? Can I go out?" Bai Lu looked around and scurried to the kitchen to find his brother, "You cooked so much?"

Remembering the fish in Feng Yi’s koi pond, Bai Lu messaged Feng Yi to ask if he ate durian products, mentioning his family had developed a new item.

Feng Yi said he did.

Bai Lu found a thermos to fill and deliver it to Feng Yi, bringing along a tank for the fish.

He was there to scoop someone’s fish, and saying it was a gift, he couldn’t just take it for nothing. Since his brother made so much, bringing some food as a friendly gesture was only appropriate.

After all, weren’t they able to see these things ahead of time thanks to Feng Yi’s miraculous appraising abilities?

Bai Youwei didn’t object to this. After confirming the password was correct, he transferred the remaining payment to Feng Yi and even sent him a red envelope to express his gratitude.

When Bai Lu arrived, he handed the thermos to Feng Yi.

"It’s a new product about to hit the market, just developed. Try it, Brother Yi."

"What new product? Durian?" Feng Yi had already caught the scent.

"Durian kelp mung bean soup."

"..."

It wasn’t exactly a mainstream combination, but it wasn’t unheard of either, just somewhat nondescript in a competitive market.

Since it was developed by the Bai Family, it was worth a try.

Feng Yi took the thermos back to his room.

Meanwhile, Bai Lu immediately rushed to the koi pond with his tank in tow.

However, upon seeing the fish in the pond, Bai Lu was stunned.

"How come, after only two days, the fish in this pond seem to have gotten rounder?"