Chapter Two: A Family of Three

Chen Zhou’s wife, Lin Yifan, was a very ordinary woman.
She was of average height, with hair neither long nor short, and a figure neither fat nor thin.
In a crowd, it would be their daughter who would recognize her first.
There was nothing particularly charming about her, but no obvious flaws either.
Lin Yifan saw her husband and daughter, smiling as she waved gently.
Yes... her personality was much the same.
Not overly warm, but certainly never cold.
Chen Zhou had once thought their marriage lacked passion, yet it was precisely this that made it remarkably steady.
When he was on the verge of being laid off at his company, his wife still kept the household running smoothly, step by step.
By the way, Lin Yifan’s work was going fairly well.
Compared to Chen Zhou’s fluctuating income, her salary changed very little,
somehow always hovering around the median per capita income of Seaside City.
The three of them walked upstairs hand in hand.
Chen Zhou’s lobster caught his wife’s attention.
“Did you get a bonus?” Lin Yifan asked curiously.
“No, the company’s still the same.
I was just passing by the seafood store when I picked up this spiny lobster — it had been electrocuted, half price, a lucky find.”
“I see,” his wife smiled and nodded, “That’s great.”
Peach mimicked them,
giving a heavy “Mm” and said, “That’s great!” as well.
Feeling the warmth and the slight shake of that little hand, Chen Zhou suddenly thought that even if he told his wife about his culinary intelligence system, the two of them would probably still say the same thing.
...
Their eighty-plus square meter two-bedroom apartment was tidy, yet bore the lively clutter typical of raising a child.
This was Chen Zhou’s home.
Before dinner, there were two important matters.
First, to solve the historic question—what to eat tonight.
Second, to watch over the child.
Chen Zhou had already linked his gourmet intelligence system, driven both by the need to earn good reviews from diners and his future plans in the food industry.
So he took on the responsibility of dinner.
Tonight’s menu was quite easy.
A big lobster as the main dish, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a simple cold dish would be enough.
He had also wanted to try the steamed buns recipe he had recently acquired.
But mother and daughter were in the living room, practicing pinyin with their frequent “Ah, I’m hungry” sounds.
Chen Zhou thought,
The state banquet chef’s steamed buns could wait.
He took off the pink apron with the “happy” kitten print, put on the matching black “family” kitten apron, and started preparing the lobster.
As the old saying goes, “The finest ingredients often call for the simplest cooking methods.”
(1/3)

(2/3)
Such a fresh lobster, so suddenly and precisely dead, was best steamed.
Before steaming, it needed to be cleaned thoroughly in the sink with a brush.
He had read online about poking chopsticks into the lobster’s tail, but opinions varied on whether it was to release urine or blood.
Having no experience with lobster, Chen Zhou just imitated what he saw and gave it a few taps.
Sure enough, some liquid came out.
But it didn’t shoot out with a splash—rather, it dripped slowly, drop by drop.
At his age, Chen Zhou hoped he wouldn’t end up like that.
Unconsciously, half an hour passed and the steamer was already steaming.
Lin Yifan and Peach came into the kitchen.
The little girl raised her arms and said,
“Daddy, let us help.”
“Peach is so good, how about you beat the eggs?”
“Okay~”
The three of them busied themselves in the kitchen.
As Chen Zhou put the lobster in the steamer, he turned and saw his wife picking eggshells out of the beaten eggs.
This was exactly why watching the child was a big pre-dinner task.
Haha, the little one was quite the troublemaker.
To Chen Zhou, living like this every day was wonderful.
A few years ago, there was a popular phrase online called “small but certain happiness.”
Tiny, definite joys.
That was exactly it.
But when he thought about paying a thousand a month for a kindergarten that didn’t even teach pinyin, plus a mortgage of 2,500 with large payments and a lowered LPR,
just these two expenses alone already exceeded his current salary.
As a father and husband,
it would be a lie to say he felt no pressure.
The gourmet intelligence system gave him direction, at least he wouldn’t be like a headless chicken stumbling around as before.
Accumulating good reviews from diners raised the system’s level.
Then using the intelligence to create dishes, garner praise, and upgrade the system formed a virtuous cycle.
Make big money? Of course Chen Zhou wanted to get rich.
But for now, he wanted life to be a little easier.
...
After Chen Zhou brought the steaming dishes to the table, the meal was complete.
Peach finally saw the lobster’s proper red color, excitedly waving her left spoon and right chopsticks. After taking a big chunk of snow-white lobster meat, she immediately gobbled it down.
The couple exchanged a smile and picked up their chopsticks to taste.
A two-pound spiny lobster was indeed large.
Just biting into one piece gave a great sense of satisfaction. The meat was firm and full, with a slightly sweet, fresh aftertaste.
Truly excellent.
(2/3)

(3/3)
After tasting it plain, it needed to be dipped generously into the sauce.
Because lobster meat becomes a bit dry towards the end, combining with the sauce complemented each other perfectly.
The flavor was a mild sourness of black vinegar balanced with the savory saltiness of soy sauce and oyster sauce.
Lifting the lobster head revealed pale yellow roe.
Lin Yifan scooped some for Peach with a spoon.
But the little girl disliked the fishy smell and only sniffed it before giving up.
She clearly took pride in the scrambled eggs her father made, which pleased Chen Zhou quite a bit.
Tomatoes blanched and peeled beforehand made the dish easier to eat, producing a sandy texture, with thick, bright red juice and excellent flavor.
The eggs were yellow and tender, visually appealing, though Chen Zhou preferred them a little more cooked at home,
letting the surface develop light brown crispy spots to enhance aroma.
For efficiency, Peach abandoned her recently mastered chopsticks and ate with a spoon.
Dinner was nearing its end.
Chen Zhou took Peach’s empty bowl to finish up.
At that moment, something pleasant happened.
The intelligence system notified:
[Customer Praise +1]
[…]
[…]
[…]
[Customer Praise +0.5]
Chen Zhou glanced at his daughter, then at his wife, and finally locked his gaze on his wife.
“Even my system is stuck because of you.”
His wife’s rating, like herself, was right in the middle... even the system only gave her half a point.
But since that was the case, it was a good opportunity to assess his own cooking skills.
If his wife’s overall cooking skill was 50 out of 100 (adequate for homestyle meals, but poor for a chef), then Chen Zhou’s culinary skills roughly ranked as follows:
Dough rising: 50/100
On par with his wife, capable of rising dough without turning it into a brick.
Seasoning: 55/100
Slightly better than his wife. She preferred mild flavors with healthy amounts of oil and salt, but the dishes lacked fragrance.
Knife skills: 40/100
For slicing alone, Chen Zhou’s hand-cutting was not great. But with the right tools, he would surpass his wife.
Heat control: 60/100
His wife’s performance was stable, neither bad nor outstanding. Chen Zhou had several reliable homestyle dishes like tomato scrambled eggs, braised eggplant, and red-braised pork.
After considering all factors,
Chen Zhou concluded that he still needed more practice.