As the saying goes, to win a man's heart, you must first win his stomach. Although Hu Ke'er's cooking skills are not particularly outstanding, she can still cook ordinary home - cooked dishes without any problem.
From her previous interactions with Uncle Zheng, it was clear that since this Uncle Zheng liked to drink, he must also need some delicious side dishes. If she could really cook something he liked, the current passive situation might change significantly.
"Um, this should be the kitchen, right?"
Following the route Chen Tianyi had told her before, Hu Ke'er found the place. Sure enough, she found a not - very - spacious room with a stove and some food seasonings inside.
"Fortunately, the things in this world I've traveled to are almost the same. I don't have to get familiar with them specially!"
Seeing the salt and sugar in front of her, Hu Ke'er nodded. With these two seasonings, she felt more confident in cooking.
What she needed to do next was to combine the ingredients at hand and cook them over the appropriate heat.
"I wonder if Uncle Zheng can get used to the modern cooking methods. But as long as the food is delicious enough, he should be able to accept it even if the taste is a bit unfamiliar?"
Thinking this way, Hu Ke'er quickly got to work. She washed the vegetables, cut them, heated the oil, and put the ingredients into the pot... Before long, a series of fragrant dishes were ready one after another.
"Um, these should be enough."
Hu Ke'er reached out and took a piece of the egg - yolk pumpkin she had made. A faint sweetness filled her mouth.
"The taste is not bad!"
After finishing all this, Hu Ke'er quickly put the dishes on plates and carried them to the place where Uncle Zheng was before.
"Senior Brother Chen, have you eaten? If not, sit down and have some with us!"
As Hu Ke'er said, she carried the dishes to the table one by one.
"Little Junior Sister, what is this..."
"Ah, Senior Brother, didn't you ask me if I had eaten just now? I was a bit hungry, so I went to cook something."
"Huh? Did you make all these by yourself, Little Junior Sister?"
Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, Chen Tianyi looked at the food in front of him with a surprised expression.
"Of course. Senior Brother Chen, hurry up and have a taste. The taste should be quite good!"
"Okay, I'll try."
Saying this, Chen Tianyi picked up a chopstick of crab - roe tofu.
"Hey? Little Junior Sister, is this still tofu? How can it be so delicious?"
When he took the first bite, Chen Tianyi showed a surprised look.
"Hehe, this is crab - roe tofu. The production method is actually quite simple. But because of the crab roe, the texture is a bit sandy, which just neutralizes the disadvantage of the tofu being too soft. Coupled with the natural freshness of the crab roe, it naturally tastes much better than ordinary tofu." Hu Ke'er said proudly.
"What about this? This is also very delicious!"
Chen Tianyi pointed to the twice - cooked pork in front of him.
"This is twice - cooked pork. The ingredients are nothing special. It's just ordinary streaky pork and then paired with..."
"Hiss hiss -"
Just as Hu Ke'er was about to explain to Chen Tianyi and turned around, she heard Uncle Zheng's nose twitch slightly. Then his eyes slowly opened.
"It smells so good. I didn't expect you, stinky girl, to have this skill!"
Looking at the dishes in front of him, Uncle Zheng smacked his lips.
"Hehe, it's okay. Uncle, if you don't mind, have some with us!"
"Well... okay then!"
Uncle Zheng hesitated for a moment, but finally when his eyes fell on the dishes on the table, he couldn't help but nod.
"This is so delicious. I didn't expect Junior Sister's cooking skills to be so good!"
Before long, the three of them had eaten all the dishes on the table.
"Hehe, it's okay. Actually, in my hometown, my cooking is quite ordinary. There are very skilled chefs there who can cook dishes hundreds of times more delicious than mine!"
"Hundreds of times! How delicious would that be? I'm afraid even the dishes in the Celestial Realm are not that delicious!"
Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, Chen Tianyi exclaimed in surprise.
"Stinky boy, don't talk nonsense. I've been to the Celestial Realm. The food there is not as good as that in the mortal world. Although it is full of spiritual energy, it tastes completely bland. It's so tasteless!" Uncle Zheng said softly.
"Hehe, thank you for your praise, Uncle!"
Hearing Uncle Zheng's words, Hu Ke'er smiled happily.
Since Uncle Zheng liked the food, things would be easy!
"If Uncle Zheng likes it, I can cook for you in the future. I can also teach the cooks in the Flying Tiger Hall how to make these dishes. Then Uncle, you can eat such delicious food every day."
"Stinky girl, don't think you can win me over with just a few dishes. Although these dishes taste good today, they are not enough for me to take you as my disciple!"
"Um, so Uncle won't eat the food I make in the future? That's really a pity. I can make many other delicious things, like Beggar's Chicken, Wine - marinated Fish. Besides, I also plan to brew a jar of wine myself..."
"You can brew wine?!"
Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, Uncle Zheng immediately became interested.
"Yes, I can. The wine I make tastes quite good. Uncle, why don't you consider it?"
"Um, well..."
Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, Uncle Zheng reached out and touched the gourd on his waist.
"Is the wine you brew really delicious?"
"Of course. But I'll only give this wine to my master. Uncle, if you don't plan to take me as your disciple, you won't be able to drink this wine."
"Okay then!"
Uncle Zheng gritted his teeth slightly and nodded.
"Uncle, does this mean you've agreed?"
Seeing Uncle Zheng nodding, Hu Ke'er said excitedly.
"Yes, but you have to agree to a few conditions of mine."
"Okay~"
Hu Ke'er happily agreed.
"Master, just tell me your requirements. I will definitely meet them!"
Uncle Zheng picked up his wine gourd and took a sip, then said,
"First, I don't want any fancy apprenticeship ceremony. It's too tacky."
"No problem."
Hu Ke'er nodded in agreement.
"Second, you have to come and cook a meal for me every month."
"Okay, Master~"
Hu Ke'er smiled and agreed.
"Third, since you've become my disciple, you can't achieve nothing. No matter what, you have to make a name for yourself. At least, you have to advance to the inner sect in the exam a few days later."
"Okay, I will do my best!"
After all, one of Hu Ke'er's original purposes of seeking an apprenticeship was to participate in the inner - sect test a few days later. And the first two conditions were not a problem for Hu Ke'er at all. So, Hu Ke'er successfully became an apprentice with this apprenticeship feast!