Xu Dan is an agent at Haohan Entertainment, twenty-nine years old, and has been working for seven years.
She currently manages three artists.
One has already become popular, another just signed and is still in training, and these two usually have dedicated assistants looking after them, so she can manage them remotely.
And then there's Su Ying, who is currently sitting next to her.
The youngest artist in the entire company, only ten years old, because of her mixed-race genes, she looks older than other kids her age.
Xu Dan is not particularly interested in kids, and when she first took over, she wasn't very attentive.
But Su Ying is just too well-behaved. In her two years in the business, she's already filmed seven TV dramas, thirteen commercials, and various other promotional activities. She performs exceptionally well in everything.
Especially since there's no one from her family around. Her mother said she wanted to train her to be independent, and only comes to the set during festivals and never stays with the crew.
Xu Dan had no choice but to look after her herself.
Over time, they developed a bond, and she naturally took on the role of a guardian.
Mainly because Su Ying is so well-behaved that you can't help but care for her.
Today, after the event, Su Ying rarely made a request, saying she wanted to eat her grandmother's seafood noodles.
Xu Dan thought that since there's the famed Qianlima Restaurant here in Bei'an, known for its seafood and local specialties, she'd bring Su Ying here to have some noodles.
Unexpectedly, the seafood noodles were served, and after a single bite, Su Ying said it wasn't the taste she remembered; she wanted her grandmother's version.
Xu Dan figured, since it's just a bowl of noodles, if the chef didn't get it right, they might as well call him over and have Su Ying describe the flavor her grandmother used to make and see if the chef could recreate it.
However, upon seeing the chef who came over, Xu Dan was taken aback.
She turned to the server beside her: "I'm looking for your head chef. This young chef doesn't appear to be him, does he?"
Wang Yuxuan responded quickly: "The head chef has finished his shift, and the other two chefs are busy and can't leave right now. This is Chef Fu, and his culinary skills are excellent."
Xu Dan frowned. This young chef seemed unreliable to her.
Being so young, no matter how good his culinary skills are, how good can they be?
After all, chefs and agents like her depend on time to hone their craft.
Besides, he's just the sous chef.
Xu Dan wasn't very satisfied, but there was no other option, since they were already here, and it wouldn't make sense to change places just for a bowl of noodles.
Xu Dan could only say: "Oh, this bowl of noodles isn't the taste we're looking for, so we'd like to communicate with the chef to see if another bowl can be made."
Wang Yuxuan instinctively looked at Fu Yu.
Fu Yu was staring at Su Ying.
Wow!
She looks just like she does on TV.
Her face is really small.
She's really pretty!
"Can you?"
Seeing the dazed look on Fu Yu's face, Wang Yuxuan's heart sank.
Oh no!
With the head chef not here, if the noodles can't be made, what will they do?
Fu Yu came back to his senses and asked, "Can you be more specific? There are just too many kinds of noodles."
Xu Dan nodded and asked Su Ying, "What does the noodle your grandma makes taste like? What ingredients are in it?"
Su Ying's voice was clear as she said, "It's seafood noodles, but without shrimp and scallops, it tastes really fragrant."
Fu Yu was puzzled. Seafood noodles with very little seafood?
Xu Dan guided her and asked, "Have you ever watched your grandma make the noodles?"
Su Ying nodded: "Yes, I have."
Xu Dan patiently encouraged: "What's the process like? Can you describe it?"
Xu Dan thought for a moment and said, "First scrub the pot, then pour oil, cook a pot of soup, and boil the noodles. I can eat two big bowls."
Her childlike words seemed to explain everything, yet nothing at all.
Fu Yu asked, "How about the flavor? Is it mild? You said there were no shrimp and scallops, so what else was in it?"
Su Ying seriously replied, "There were shrimp, green onions, and noodles. It was really delicious."
Well...
Normal seafood noodles also have green onions, shrimp, and noodles.
Her answer was way too vague.
Fu Yu hadn't cooked seafood noodles yet, and his personal skill set didn't even include it, not even at a beginner level.
Zhao Meng's personal skills show that he was advanced in cooking and intermediate in dough handling.
Even his seafood noodles didn't taste right.
Even if he imitated it, it might be in vain.
What should he do?
Xu Dan saw the troubled expression on Fu Yu's face and said, "How about this, please try to make another bowl based on what she described? If it doesn't turn out, it's fine, we're just here to eat, as long as it tastes good, that's all that matters."
[Ding! NPC Manager Xu Dan has issued a task: Make a bowl of delicious seafood noodles. Task Completion Reward: Noodle Skill Level +1]
Level +1...!!!!
Fu Yu was initially delighted, and then flabbergasted.
Even if his skill level increased by one, he would still be at the beginner level.
Can beginner noodle skills make delicious seafood noodles?
He lacked confidence a bit.
The only thing he could really do confidently was prep work.
He wondered if a nicely presented dish might win over the little star's favor.
The thought crossed his mind, and Fu Yu instinctively glanced at Su Ying.
At that glance, he was stunned.
Above Su Ying's head, a symbol appeared [ ... ]
What does that mean?
Fu Yu chose to check it out.
The next second, instead of the usual dialogue box, a picture appeared.
A simple pencil sketch.
It depicted a bowl of noodles. Despite only a few pencil strokes, the skilful drawing clearly showed an ordinary bowl of noodles.
The soup had traces of oil, tiny green onions floating, and you could see a couple of shrimp skins on the soup's surface.
Fu Yu was first taken aback, then suddenly recalled he'd recently obtained a badge, "Ingenious Artisan."
Wearing the badge gave him the ability to glimpse into the customers' thoughts.
So this drawing was of the noodles Su Ying remembered her grandma making?
Fu Yu was ecstatic!
He could actually see into Su Ying's memory.
What kind of divine skill is this!
Even cheats weren't this powerful!
He was truly fortunate to have fate feed him success so directly.
After a moment of sheer joy, Fu Yu felt amused.
This supposed seafood noodle?
It was just a plain bowl of noodle soup.
He'd thought he couldn't manage it a moment ago.
But now he felt a surge of confidence.
Other cooking he wasn't confident about, but he knew how to make noodle soup very well.
It was cheap, convenient, and easy to make, his family had it often.
Fu Yu had made it many times himself and was very adept at it.
Now that he knew what to do, Fu Yu didn't delay.
"Alright, I'll give it a try."