Brush Up Your Proficiency

Along a bustling snack street at night, brightly lit shops stood shoulder to shoulder. The crowds of people attracted numerous vendors, their calls and the general hubbub filling the entire street. This lively atmosphere, in turn, drew even more people to spend money.

Thirty-year-old Wang Hao was one of them, but not as a consumer; he was a producer.

Wang Hao had his own fried noodles stall, set up every night in a relatively secluded corner of this street. His slightly plump body gently shook as he stirred the noodles with his spatula. His ordinary features, combined with the surrounding greasy smoke, created a quintessential street scene.

Few customers were eating at his stall, suggesting that while Wang Hao worked hard, the food he made was probably subpar. Otherwise, his business wouldn't be in such a state.

Just as Wang Hao plated the fried noodles in front of him, a line of text appeared before his eyes:

“Congratulations, your cooking skill proficiency +1. Current proficiency: Basic Cooking 98/100”

Wang Hao was used to it, giving it a casual glance before handing the fried noodles to the customer.

This phenomenon had started yesterday. At first, Wang Hao thought he had some kind of visual problem. Later, after discovering that everything else was normal, he stopped paying attention to it.

For two days, this notification had appeared every time Wang Hao finished making a plate of fried noodles. Now, with only two more plates to go before reaching maximum proficiency, Wang Hao couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.

If this had happened to Wang Hao at the age of 20, fresh out of school, he might have been so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. After all, anyone could tell that this was something extraordinary.

But having experienced the education of society, the thirty-year-old Wang Hao could calmly face it all. No matter how powerful an ability, in the great dyeing vat that was society, it was just another piece of material being colored. It was too difficult to remain unstained by the mud.

Wang Hao told himself that all he could do was stick to his original intentions and try to get closer to a state of not being happy with external gains, nor saddened by personal losses. Only in this way could the bitterness of life be made less bitter.

Beneath Wang Hao's ordinary appearance lay a maturity of thought far beyond his peers, which could be considered life's reward to him.

Regaining his focus, Wang Hao began to clean the stove, waiting for the next customer to arrive.

“Congratulations, your Basic Cooking proficiency +1. Current proficiency: Basic Cooking 99/100”

“Congratulations, your Basic Cooking proficiency +1. Current proficiency: Basic Cooking 100/100”

“Congratulations, your Basic Cooking skill has been upgraded to Intermediate Cooking. Current proficiency: Intermediate Cooking 0/1000”

After continuously frying two plates of noodles for customers, Wang Hao finally received the notification that his Basic Cooking skill had been upgraded to Intermediate Cooking. In an instant, a strange surge of information flooded Wang Hao's brain, causing him to frown involuntarily. However, this feeling came and went quickly.

Wang Hao only felt a cool sensation in his brain, a comfortable feeling filling his mind. At the same time, Wang Hao also felt that many things about cooking had appeared in his brain, which made him feel very surprised.

Seeing that there were no new customers at the moment, Wang Hao thought about making a plate for himself to taste what the fried noodles made with Intermediate Cooking skills were like.

No sooner said than done, Wang Hao habitually started the pot and heated the oil, but his hand movements were subconsciously fine-tuning. Some detailed things seemed to be used naturally, as if it were a bodily instinct.

This made Wang Hao once again realize the horror of Intermediate Cooking, and he became more serious about his proficiency cheat.

“Congratulations, your Intermediate Cooking proficiency +1. Current proficiency: Intermediate Cooking 1/1000”

As the fried noodles were completed, a fragrant aroma wafted over. These fried noodles, whether in color or aroma, were beyond anything he could have achieved before.

Wang Hao tried a bite and instantly felt an explosion of flavor. This feeling was comparable to that of a high-end restaurant. If Wang Hao's previous fried noodles could score a 60, barely palatable, then the fried noodles in front of him would have to score at least an 85, making them very delicious.

Wang Hao never thought that a non-professional vendor like himself could one day make such food. It was a pleasant surprise.

Just as he finished tasting his masterpiece, a customer came to order, and Wang Hao did not dare to neglect them, starting to busy himself.

“Congratulations, your Intermediate Cooking proficiency +1. Current proficiency: Intermediate Cooking 2/1000”

As the proficiency notification appeared, Wang Hao also had a fragrant plate of fried noodles in his hand. After serving it to the customer, Wang Hao began to observe the customer's reaction intentionally and unintentionally.

After all, it was related to his future business, and Wang Hao was a little apprehensive.

Through Wang Hao's observation, the customer clearly had a slight nodding movement when taking the first bite of the fried noodles. From this, it was not difficult to see that this plate of intermediate fried noodles was undoubtedly successful.

Although it did not reach the point where the customer exclaimed in praise, it did manage to make the customer's eyes light up.

Continuing to do business until twelve o'clock in the evening, Wang Hao unprecedentedly sold out all the ingredients he had prepared for the day, selling twenty-five more portions than usual. The proficiency of intermediate cooking also came to 32/1000.

On the way home from closing the stall, Wang Hao was already thinking about whether he could prepare a little more when buying ingredients tomorrow morning. Based on today's momentum, he could sell at least a hundred portions tomorrow, Wang Hao fantasized beautifully.

Wang Hao's place of residence was not far from this snack street, and it took 20 minutes to walk there.

The house Wang Hao rented was a small two-bedroom apartment. Usually, his sister Wang Lan would come to live there when she was on vacation, so Wang Hao also kept the room very tidy, making it look unlike the house of a slovenly old man.

Back home, Wang Hao cleaned up a bit, and it was already 1 a.m., so he fell asleep. Five hours of sleep was precious to him, as he had to go to the morning market early tomorrow to buy ingredients.

Having been busy all day, it was only at this time that Wang Hao could get a moment of peace. He was inherently a quiet person.

If it weren't for the pressure of life, being a homebody would probably be his destiny, and this personality also led to Wang Hao not finding a partner even at the age of thirty.

Now that he had the proficiency cheat, there was a glimmer of hope in his life, and Wang Hao couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of his mouth when he went to sleep.