Chapter 161
The porridge-selling mission had to be completed within three days, and today was the last one.
Jian Yunlan had always wanted to try making seafood porridge and pumpkin porridge—one savory, one sweet—so customers could choose their preferred flavor.
After all, setting up shop in the middle of the Death Barrens probably wouldn’t attract many customers. But even so, Jian Yunlan wanted to give it his all on the final day!
He was the type to act on his ideas immediately.
So, right after waking up, he threw himself into gathering ingredients and preparing the porridge.
Jian Yunlan himself could only travel between the Jian family villa and the apocalyptic world, but the butler, driver Xiao Li, Auntie Wang, and the others could return to their original worlds anytime.
For example, the butler came from an ordinary modern urban world and went back once a week to visit his family. Jian Yunlan entrusted him with the task of buying seafood, sending him and the others to a modern-world seafood market to procure the freshest, highest-quality ingredients.
“Abalone, lobster, dried scallops, sea cucumber, king crab, octopus…” Jian Yunlan listed off ingredients while emphasizing, “Money isn’t an issue—just make sure everything is fresh, preferably still alive.”
The butler took diligent notes, while Auntie Wang and Xiao Li swallowed hard, already salivating.
—Good heavens, with so many ingredients and the young master’s god-tier cooking skills, this was going to be amazing!
After finishing the long list, Jian Yunlan paused, then smiled at their eager expressions and added, “…Once everything’s bought, the first pot of seafood porridge will be for all of you to taste-test.”
The servants’ eyes lit up, and they cheered excitedly.
“AHHHHH! YES!!! LONG LIVE THE YOUNG MASTER!!”
“Wuwuwu, I’m so lucky to have gotten this job…”
“Young master, we pledge our undying loyalty to you!”
Even the usually reserved butler couldn’t hide his excitement, though he quickly composed himself and thumped his chest. “Young master, don’t worry! We’ll get you the freshest, highest-quality seafood from every modern world—leave it to us!”
After all, they’d get to taste the porridge made from these ingredients too.
Everyone was brimming with motivation.
It seemed the seafood’s quality wouldn’t be an issue. Satisfied, Jian Yunlan nodded.
Just before the butler and the others left, he suddenly remembered something else and called out, “Oh, right—butler, could you also pick up some good-quality clay pots for me?”
Right now, Jian Yunlan only had the one clay pot rewarded by the Chef God System. It had been barely sufficient the past two days, but with two different porridge flavors today, he’d definitely need a few more.
The butler nodded again. “Understood.”
Then, he led the drooling group out the door, all in high spirits.
While waiting for the seafood to arrive, Jian Yunlan soaked the rice. As for the pumpkin for the pumpkin porridge…
With a thought, he appeared inside his Pocket Spirit Farm.
It had been a few days since his last visit, and the farm had changed again.
—Blue skies, white clouds, a gentle breeze. A massive pear tree nearby was heavy with fruit. The neatly arranged black soil fields were thriving with crops, and the farmhouse was bustling with chickens and ducks.
Jian Yunlan skimmed over the rows of crops, then suddenly brightened.
Sure enough, his memory hadn’t failed him!
In one corner of the farm was a sprawling pumpkin patch. Beneath the lush green vines lay plump, deep-orange pumpkins, so large and heavy they pressed into the soil—some even half a person’s height.
Last time he’d visited, Jian Yunlan hadn’t looked closely, only vaguely recalling pumpkin vines without fruit. He hadn’t expected the crops in the Pocket Spirit Farm to grow so fast. In the blink of an eye, the pumpkins had ripened.
As a chef, Jian Yunlan wasn’t well-versed in farming and didn’t know how long pumpkins normally took to fruit. But even he could tell this growth speed was insane.
The sun had just risen, and Niu Tou was already toiling in the fields.
Spotting Jian Yunlan, his eyes widened. He wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel draped over his shoulder and cheerfully approached. “Mr. Jian, you’re here! What do you need? We’ve got chickens too—want me to slaughter a few?”
As he spoke, he lifted a chicken, which immediately flapped in panic: “Bwak!”
“…No, no need,” Jian Yunlan quickly stopped him. “Not today. I’m not making mushroom and chicken porridge—I’m here to pick some pumpkins.”
“Oh!” Niu Tou scratched his head and finally released the poor chicken.
The chicken immediately scurried away in terror, feathers flying everywhere.
Niu Tou led Jian Yunlan to the pumpkin patch:
“These pumpkins are all ripe and super sweet, Mr. Jian. Take your pick!”
As a street food vendor, having an entire farm at his disposal—where he could pick ingredients straight from the soil—was pure joy.
For pumpkin porridge to be sweet, soft, and sticky, choosing the right pumpkins was crucial.
Jian Yunlan browsed through the patch and selected four enormous pumpkins, each a deep, uniform orange, plump and intact, with small, sturdy stems and pronounced ridges. When lightly tapped, they emitted a solid, muffled thud.
“Mr. Jian, you’ve got a great eye. These are the sweetest, ripest pumpkins in the whole patch,” Niu Tou said, effortlessly hoisting all four onto his shoulders and carrying them to the kitchen for Jian Yunlan.
“Thanks, Niu Tou!” Jian Yunlan said sincerely.
Niu Tou grinned sheepishly.
Different porridges required different types of rice. For the lightly sweet pumpkin porridge, Jian Yunlan used half pearl rice and half glutinous rice, creating a smooth, fragrant texture with a slightly grainy, sticky consistency—perfect with pumpkin.
As for the seafood porridge, he stuck with the same rice he’d used for the century egg and pork porridge and the mushroom and chicken porridge.
After soaking the rice, it wasn’t long before the butler and the servants returned from their shopping spree across various modern worlds.
Jian Yunlan’s eyes widened at the seafood they’d brought back—
The abalone were huge, their rough, ridged shells hiding plump, glossy flesh. The green lobsters were lively, their massive claws waving. The bright-orange king crabs had spiky shells and thick, powerful legs.
Honestly, even as a seasoned chef, Jian Yunlan had never seen such a lavish spread of premium, live seafood all at once.
Motivated by the promise of being the first to taste the seafood porridge, the butler and the servants had gone all out. The seafood was so fresh and high-quality it practically screamed delicious.
They all stared at Jian Yunlan expectantly.
“This seafood is amazing—so fresh. Great job, everyone,” Jian Yunlan praised sincerely. “I’ll start cooking right away. Don’t worry, you’ll get the first taste!”
At that, they cheered and bounced with excitement.
The villa erupted in joy once more.
*
With two types of porridge to prepare, the workload was hefty. Under Jian Yunlan’s direction, everyone in the villa—including Taotie and Niu Tou—pitched in.
The butler and the others helped peel and cube the pumpkins. To maximize sweetness, Jian Yunlan cut thick slices, keeping only the innermost, most tender flesh.
The pumpkin glowed a vibrant gold, its natural sweetness wafting through the air. Jian Yunlan steamed the cubes immediately—this would brighten their color and make the porridge a richer yellow. Once steamed, he mashed them into a silky puree.
This method ensured the porridge wouldn’t have chunks of pumpkin but a velvety, fragrant puree in every spoonful—refreshingly sweet and utterly delicious.
The pearl and glutinous rice simmered into a white porridge base, stirred constantly over low heat for two hours. A few rock sugar cubes and the pumpkin puree were then mixed in, completing the pot of sweet pumpkin porridge.
For the seafood porridge, all the seafood needed prepping—deveining shrimp, extracting crab meat and roe, shucking abalone—so it could be cooked to perfection in the boiling porridge later.
After briefly explaining the process, Jian Yunlan handed the task to Tao Tie and the others. Tao Tie had volunteered, after all.
“Who better than this lord to handle seafood? I’ve devoured delicacies from land and sea!” Taotie declared proudly—while sneakily popping an entire abalone (shell and all) into his mouth. Crunch crunch crunch.
Jian Yunlan: “…”
Well. He’d give him the benefit of the doubt.
Taotie sat on a tiny stool, silently peeling shells, wearing a mask and apron. His well-defined muscles made the scene oddly charming—until he opened his mouth and ruined it with his usual arrogant beast-god persona.
Miraculously, despite appearances, Taotie did a flawless job. All the seafood was neatly sorted and prepped.
After preparing the ingredients, Jian Yunlan began to cook the porridge.
First, he stir-fried the shrimp heads to extract the shrimp oil. Under the high heat, the shrimp heads quickly turned a tempting golden-red in the hot oil. Then, he added crab roe, and the entire layer of oil in the pot took on a rich, creamy golden hue. Fine bubbles rose to the surface, and an intense, savory aroma of shrimp and crab spread through the kitchen, accompanied by the sizzling sound of the oil!
The servants couldn’t help but widen their eyes, taking deep breaths and swallowing hard:
“Damn, that smells amazing.”
“Ugh, I can already imagine how delicious the porridge will be…”
“I can’t wait!”
Once the shrimp oil was ready, Jian Yunlan added the shrimp and crab meat in sequence, stir-frying until the rich fragrance fully developed. Then, he poured in the rice and added boiling water.
The rice took on a beautiful golden color from the shrimp oil.
For a full two hours, Jian Yunlan stood by the clay pot, sometimes covering it to simmer, sometimes uncovering it, constantly stirring the porridge to prevent it from sticking to the bottom while carefully monitoring the heat.
Finally, the first pot of fragrant seafood porridge was ready, steaming hot…
