Chapter 193: Sculpting Radishes with the Kitchen Knife
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
The system displayed, "Follow-up of the side mission has been release."
[2nd Side Mission] Make an artwork out of sculpting with a full score
(Mission Tips: As a to-be Master Chef, sculpting with kitchen knife is a piece of cake. I think highly of you, young man. Move, move.)
[Mission Reward] A piece of the Master Chef Set
(Reward Tips: if you can gather all the pieces of the Master Chef Set, you might be able to summon a grand prize.)
"Ho Ho. Is the grand prize a magic dragon?" Yuan Zhou supported his forehead and felt quite speechless.
The system displayed, "Host, please don’t make any unrealistic speculations."
"It’s mainly because the system is much too scheming. What’s the Master Chef Set this time?" The expectations of Yuan Zhou were not high. After all, kitchenware like spoon or chopsticks didn’t conform to his expectations at all although they were quite good.
"Is it a hat? The chef’s hat?" Yuan Zhou thought for a while and asked.
The system displayed, "The reward of Master Chef Set is a Miracle Kitchen Knife."
"It turned out to be true. But what does ‘miracle’ mean?" Yuan Zhou revealed an expression of "It really is". Yet, when he looked at it carefully, the Miracle Kitchen Knife was slightly different from what he had imagined. Therefore, he asked curiously.
The system displayed, "It is temporarily unknown."
"I have no comment," Yuan Zhou, who was attentively waiting for the answer, became instantly speechless.
It was just like what the Hong Kong police would answer when they were asked by the journalists about any criminal cases in the plot of Hong Kong movies.
The response of the system made Yuan Zhou recall those cla.s.sic words instantly.
However, the system didn’t have any reaction. There was only silence.
"Forget it. It’s supposed to be known after I complete the mission," Yuan Zhou felt he had practiced the sculpting skills to the utmost perfection previously and this mission was definitely to be accomplished within only a few minutes.
Although there wasn’t any introduction to the specific functions of the kitchen knife provided by the system, but the word ‘miracle’ could definitely bring a taste-free effect to the knife. That way, the dishes served could be improved by one point, which was really not too little.
After all, Yuan Zhou’s culinary skills were originally at a supreme level; therefore, it was really difficult for him to further improve.
It was like that a Kungfu Master who had practiced a martial art to its utmost perfection and could hardly improve it anymore.
Yuan Zhou began to play with the kitchen knife to get used to the knife provided by the system.
The system suddenly uttered something when Yuan Zhou took out the radish and prepared to practice his sculpting skills with the kitchen knife.
The system displayed, "The ingredients have been provided. Host, you can check and use them in the kitchen."
To Yuan Zhou who was right in the kitchen, he just needed to turn his head and have a look.
Having turned around, however, Yuan Zhou was immediately severely scared.
"Is this the radish you provide? Can this even be still called radish?" Yuan Zhou calmed down first and then asked.
The system displayed, "Host, you are required to complete the sculpture of ten points with the ingredients provided by the system. You can take it out of the restaurant, yet only within the scope of 1 meter around."
"You might as well tell me directly that it can be placed at the door only," Yuan Zhou speechlessly looked at the big thing in his sight.
Yes, the big thing was a radish. It was just that the radish itself exceeded Yuan Zhou’s height and reached almost 2m. With the leaves of the radish, it could be at least 3m.
Now Yuan Zhou only wanted to say, "It isn’t a radish, but is a radish spirit."
"System, didn’t the authority regulate no spirits are allowed to come into existence after the republic was founded? Is it really alright to get such a big radish?" Yuan Zhou couldn’t help grumbling and didn’t know at all where this big thing came from.
Luckily, the radish was white and tender all over and looked well-moisturized, seemingly easy to be sculpted. Otherwise, Yuan Zhou would have become quite speechless.
The system displayed, "Host, please complete the mission earnestly."
"Sorry, I have never seen such a big radish," Yuan Zhou grumbled while looking at the radish in front of him expressionlessly.
Yuan Zhou started to walk in circles surrounding the radish. He was very curious how this radish stood upright as the lower part was pointed.
Then, he witnessed the resourcefulness of the system.
The big radish was inserted in a perfectly-sized hole and had a round base outside. Fixed in that way, it wouldn’t fall.
He looked at the time. It was 2:40 p.m. and there were still a few hours before he opened the restaurant for dinner. Yuan Zhou wanted to complete the mission immediately during the period of time.
Yuan Zhou was fairly confident about making a sculpture of ten points, even if he had to use a kitchen knife.
"Hu," having taken a deep breath and exhaled, Yuan Zhou took up the kitchen knife and started to wave it.
With the "Hua Hua" sound lingering in his ears, the radish chips fell continually onto the ground beside his feet. Yuan Zhou wasn’t actually distracted by that and just concentrated on the sculpting.
The volume of the radish was indeed too big. Only after forty minutes did Yuan Zhou finish the work.
Since it was taller than a person and, moreover, was a slender radish, being wide at the upper part and thin at the lower part, it was just perfect for sculpting a phoenix tree.
Yuan Zhou had abundant experiences in sculpting the phoenix tree. It was also him who thought of sculpting a radish of a phoenix dwelling in a phoenix tree in the dish Phoenix Tail Prawns.
As time went by, a phoenix tree full of leaves and branches came into being under Yuan Zhou’s diligent work while crawling up and down.
"It looks fairly nice. There should be no more problem," Yuan Zhou set down the kitchen knife and swung his arms as he said confidently.
After resting for a while, Yuan Zhou said, "System, you can score it now."
The system displayed, "The overall rating was 3 points."
"You must be mistaken. What the h.e.l.l do you mean three points?" Yuan Zhou stared at the score for three minutes before he asked.
The system displayed, "The full score is 12 points. Host, you get three points for the sculpture this time."
Fearing that Yuan Zhou couldn’t understand, the score of three points were made in bold font when it was shown.
"I can’t say my sculpture deserves twelve points, but 10 points shouldn’t be a problem," as a chef who had his own pride, Yuan Zhou definitely had his air of arrogance.
The system displayed, "Host, please watch it carefully and then give an objective mark."
After that, the system further presented a three-dimensional picture of Yuan Zhou’s sculpture so that he could observe it more carefully.
The proverb of "being unable to see the wood for the trees" applied to Yuan Zhou well. The radish was truly too big and Yuan Zhou couldn’t see all the parts at the same time. Therefore, he always had a feeling that he did a good work. When he saw the panorama, however, Yuan Zhou instantly wilted.
When he watched the seemingly bright and limpid phoenix tree carefully and closely, Yuan Zhou found the distribution of the branches wasn’t good enough. The main branch was even thinner than some lateral branches. As for the allocation of the leaves, it also appeared to be messy now.
Even the root hairs below were not allocated well. Due to the size of the kitchen knife, the veins in the leaf were likewise not exquisite.
For the work of sculpture, it was not the smaller, the harder. Identically, the bigger, the tougher. After all, it was difficult for him to take care of the tiny parts.
With the appearance, the phoenix tree was sculpted as if it was poorly developed. Even he himself was unable to see it directly. His work really deserved the three points.
"Is there any specific score?" after quite a while, Yuan Zhou asked while looking at the radish of phoenix tree in front of him.
The system displayed, "The frequent carving methods include rilievo, round carving, engraving carving, shadow engraving, hollow engraving and openwork carving, etc. Every carving method required some sculpting techniques, which could only be achieved through long-term training.
"Host, you get no points on aspects of compositions, proportion and color matching."
"Composition, proportion... Come on, I’m not an Arts and Crafts Master," Yuan Zhou sighed helplessly.
Yuan Zhou was quite confident about the simple collocations, but his level of appreciation was merely ordinary.
On aspects of things related to the genuine arts, he was, nevertheless, a layman.
"It seems I need to find a teacher to learn something about it." Looking at the disastrous work of sculpture in front of him, Yuan Zhou suddenly thought of Wu Hai.
He was a painter as well as an artist. There should be no problem to learn from him.
Eventually, Yuan Zhou made up his mind and prepared to ask him.
However, it was yet a problem whether or not Wu Hai would teach him...