Chen Jingle often cooked for himself and had even studied various dishes from the Eight Great Cuisines, but his skills were limited to the level of everyday home cooking. After all, culinary arts heavily relied on talent. In the face of true talent, hard work was hardly worth mentioning; at best, it could only raise one’s baseline.
However, this plate of Guo Bao Rou had clearly far surpassed the standard of home cooking. Without exaggeration, it tasted even better than the one he had eaten in Qiongzhou, which was purportedly made by an authentic chef from the Northeast! That guy was a professional chef at a large restaurant, charging fifty-eight yuan a plate!
"Even after the practical class ends, as long as I can retain ninety percent of my current skill with this dish, it’ll be enough," Chen Jingle grinned widely.
Relying solely on this Guo Bao Rou, if he ever set up a food stall at the school gates exclusively selling this dish, he wouldn’t have to worry about starving.
"Well, the restaurant sells it for fifty-eight a plate. If I set up a stall, how much should I charge? If it’s too expensive, I’m afraid no one will buy it. Eight yuan? Wouldn’t I be taking a massive loss at eight yuan? Pork tenderloin costs at least fifteen yuan a pound nowadays..." As he thought about it, his mind began to wander. He quickly shook his head to toss out all the distracting thoughts. "Forget it, I’ll eat first. I’ll think about it later!"
Mixing the leftover spicy pork stir-fry broth from lunch into his rice, he took a bite of the Guo Bao Rou. MMM~ Absolutely delicious!
They say good food is the cheapest source of happiness, and it was truly no joke. The sheer bliss this plate of Guo Bao Rou brought Chen Jingle was enough to sustain his mental energy for the next three days. If he could come home after a long, exhausting day and eat a fragrant plate of Guo Bao Rou like this, it would all be worth it!
After cooking, eating, and washing the dishes and pots, he finally finished his chores. It was then that the system’s notification belatedly arrived.
[Great job, baby! You have successfully completed the study task. Reward: Facial skin pore reduction.]
"Huh?! Shrink pores?" Chen Jingle froze. With a WHOOSH, he darted back into his room, grabbed a mirror, and scrutinized his face from left and right before touching it with his hands. "HISS~ My skin seems... smoother than before."
His previous pores might not have been large enough to plant rice seedlings in, but they were definitely quite rough. After all, he frequently stayed up late, had an irregular sleep schedule, naturally had very oily skin, and loved snacking on all sorts of junk food. He had been purely indulging his appetite without caring about his physical appearance. It might not have seemed like a big deal in the short term, but over the years, the damage to his skin had been immense.
As everyone knew, destruction was easy, but reconstruction and repair were hard. If he were to use medical aesthetic procedures—such as mesotherapy or intense pulsed light treatments—to achieve this level of skin repair, it would easily cost several thousand, if not tens of thousands of yuan, and require multiple sessions.
"I just saved myself a fortune! It’s basically pure profit! I’m making a killing!" Chen Jingle felt gleeful.
With this system reward, his entire appearance had instantly transformed.
Although he couldn’t quite be called a pretty boy yet, the refined texture of his facial skin, combined with his wheat-toned complexion radiating a healthy glow and his well-proportioned features, already made him quite handsome. He was one step closer to becoming a true heartthrob!
"TSK, TSK, TSK. This beauty filter effect is way too strong, isn’t it?" Chen Jingle beamed with joy. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Being good-looking came with massive advantages. After all, this was a society that judged by appearances. If you were good-looking, the other party would be the one taking the initiative on blind dates. And if you were handsome to a certain degree, you could completely ignore all other conditions and make a living solely off your face.
The success of certain illiterate idols had already proven this point. Even on a slightly lower tier, just look at those internet influencers. Did anyone care if they graduated from top-tier universities, or whether they had a master’s or doctorate degree? Did anyone care if they had work experience or were fresh graduates? All they needed was a pretty face! Therefore, being good-looking was truly crucial!
If they weren’t truly left with no other choice, who would willingly be born a goblin or a Giant, only to be mocked and humiliated by a Yellow-haired Hero or a White-robed Saintess?
Receiving positive feedback from the system once again, Chen Jingle’s heart was brimming with confidence for the future. "My smile can be pure too!"
He had thought it would take a week to see any obvious transformations in himself. He never expected that things would be completely different on just the first day. The changes brought about by his shrinking facial pores were the most significant, not to mention that he had successfully mastered a master-class recipe for Guo Bao Rou. This made Chen Jingle look forward to the upcoming courses even more.
After a ten-minute rest, he indeed heard the system notification chime again.
[Next up is free time. A smart baby should learn to take the initiative in learning, building upon the foundation of the previous courses to arrange reasonable free-study content for themselves. You can definitely do it too, right, baby?]
"Free time?" Chen Jingle was stunned. "Can I do anything?"
[As long as you feel it is helpful to your personal growth, baby.]
Chen Jingle pondered for a moment. "I’ve done the theoretical knowledge class and the practical skills class, but I haven’t done a physical education class yet. How about I exercise then?" He wanted to see if he could trigger other types of rewards by completing class tasks.
[That works.]
"Can I choose my own exercise?"
[No problem at all.]
Chen Jingle’s final choice was push-ups and squats. After all, he had just eaten and his food hadn’t fully digested yet, so it wasn’t suitable for him to do intense running or jumping exercises. Running and jump rope were out of the question, and ball sports were not his forte anyway. Push-ups and squats would be enough. These two exercises could effectively work out most of the muscle groups in the body.
However...
Chen Jingle still overestimated his own physical fitness. He had to split fifty push-ups into five sets, and his form during the final set degenerated into a frantic flapping motion like butterfly wings.
"I can’t, I can’t. I’m exhausted." After finishing the fifty push-ups, he collapsed on the floor, panting heavily.
Damn it, it had been too long since he last exercised, and his whole body had become utterly weak and out of shape. As expected, once a person let themselves go, it was incredibly difficult to pick up the habit of exercising again and stick to it.
[You are already amazing, baby! Nothing can be achieved overnight. As long as you persistently exercise every day, I believe it won’t be long before you have a healthy and strong physique.]
Look at this!
Even though his performance had been lackluster, he still received praise and encouragement from the system. This made Chen Jingle feel as though he wasn’t quite as exhausted anymore. He was genuinely moved!
Encouraged, Chen Jingle forcefully pushed himself up. "I’ll do some squats first. My arms have no strength left for now."
Squats were much easier than push-ups, allowing him to do fifty in one breath. However, once he finished, his thighs were sore and numb, forcing him to rest once more.
Fueled by his anticipation of the system’s rewards, Chen Jingle didn’t need the system to urge him on; he took the initiative to persist on his own. Over the course of an hour, he completed a total of over two hundred push-ups and two hundred and fifty squats.
By the end, Chen Jingle lay motionless on the floor, as exhausted as a dead dog. "Mother of God, this... this is probably more than my total amount of exercise... over the past three months combined!"
It was no exaggeration! If it weren’t for the fact that the system would give him positive feedback, he really might not have been able to persevere. Now, it all depended on what reward the system would give him.
[Great job, baby! You have successfully completed the exercise task. Reward: Height +0.1 cm, Strength +0.2 kg. Current height is 173.1 cm, current strength is 32.9 kg.]
Chen Jingle was speechless. "..."