Brush Up Your Proficiency

Watching his sister, Wang Lan, eat with such abandon, Wang Hao felt a surge of satisfaction. To have a customer so engrossed in your food that they forget to speak – that must be the greatest respect for a chef.

After heaping two servings of rice, Wang Hao joined in. The two of them devoured the meal in a whirlwind, then leaned back in their chairs, completely content.

They gazed at the ceiling, immersed in the pleasant daze of a full stomach, savoring the aftertaste of the meal.

In ancient times, people often used the phrase 'lingering for three days around the beams' to describe beautiful music. Now, it seemed Wang Hao's cooking had achieved a similar effect.

The siblings savored the moment in silence. Wang Lan, usually so lively, became quiet and serene. She no longer chattered incessantly, and she marveled at her brother's transformation. It seemed that during her absence, her brother had been working hard to improve himself, and the meal before them was a testament to his efforts. She looked at Wang Hao, her eyes curving into a happy smile!

Wang Hao, too, was experiencing the feelings that cooking brought him. He hadn't felt it so strongly when he was just making fried noodles, but now that he was officially cooking other dishes, he truly felt how powerful his improved cooking skills were.

Both siblings felt different emotions welling up inside them. Then, Wang Hao broke the silence and asked about his sister's recent activities: "Xiao Lan, how's school lately? You'll be a senior after the summer vacation. Have you thought about where you want to do your internship?"

As he spoke, Wang Hao stood up and began to clean up the aftermath of their feast.

Snapping out of her reverie, Wang Lan also got up to help, replying as she tidied up: "Many students in my year have started talking about that. The teacher has also recommended a few companies where older classmates are working, for me to look into. They'll help introduce me after the semester starts, once I've decided. I'm still struggling to choose."

For college students who don't plan to pursue postgraduate studies, the senior year is usually spent in internships.

Wang Hao had discussed this topic with Wang Lan before, and Wang Lan had expressed her disinterest in pursuing a master's degree.

Mainly, she didn't want to burden her family. The school scholarship was a drop in the bucket, and she needed Wang Hao's support for tuition and living expenses every year. She wanted to start working as soon as possible so she could help the family sooner.

Of course, Wang Hao understood Wang Lan's thoughts, so at the time, considering the reality of their situation, he didn't overly encourage his sister to consider postgraduate studies.

But now that Wang Hao had a cheat, he felt that as a man with a cheat, he couldn't let his sister's future be compromised by such a small amount of money. It just wasn't worth it.

"Then, should we consider taking the postgraduate entrance exam? You've seen it yourself, with your brother's skills, we'll be doing better and better in the future. I think you can continue your studies. It'll make our parents proud back in the village," Wang Hao said to his sister with a serious expression.

With the progress of the times, college students are no longer a rarity in today's rural areas, but postgraduates are still relatively rare. Things are valued for their scarcity, and the same goes for people.

Hearing Wang Hao's suggestion that she take the postgraduate entrance exam, Wang Lan was initially somewhat indifferent. Although she was interested in taking the exam, the reality was what it was, and there was no way to do it. Hearing her brother say this, she instinctively wanted to refuse.

But when she looked up and saw Wang Hao's serious attitude, she didn't want to reject him directly, so she said tactfully: "Brother, although the food you make now is indeed very delicious, setting up a street stall is not as profitable as working in a big hotel, and it's also quite tiring.

If I start working sooner, you can relax a bit, right?"

Wang Hao felt very touched after hearing this. Seeing that his sister's intention was somewhat firm, he didn't continue to talk about the topic, but smiled slightly and said: "Then, how about this, tomorrow you come with me to set up the stall, and then decide whether or not to seriously consider my suggestion." After speaking, Wang Hao rubbed Wang Lan's hair.

Wang Lan looked at her brother's inscrutable expression, feeling a little puzzled, but she nodded in agreement. As they tidied up, Wang Lan vividly shared the interesting things about her school with Wang Hao.

Listening to his sister's school anecdotes, Wang Hao couldn't help but reminisce about his younger days.

When everything was tidied up, Wang Hao walked towards the bedroom and said: "It's really rare today, I can go to bed early for a while, I'm going to sleep now!

You must not stay up late, staying up late is bad for your health, and we have to get up early tomorrow. Rest early!"

Over time, he had become accustomed to this kind of life, but occasionally he would feel lonely. Now that his sister was here, loneliness naturally left.

After arriving at the market, they began to carefully select various fresh ingredients. After careful comparison and screening, they finally completed the purchase of the required ingredients.

In this process, they kept bargaining with the vendors, and with the tacit cooperation of the two, they successfully completed the purchase task without spending too much energy.

This purchase cost a total of about eight hundred yuan, with almost two hundred servings.

Looking at so many things, Wang Lan looked at Wang Hao with some worry and said: "Brother, today's purchase is almost four times the amount we usually buy, right? Can, can we sell it all? Don't let too much spoil and get stuck in our hands."

Wang Hao laughed and said: "Facts speak louder than words, just watch, old sister."

The two of them talked and laughed all the way home, processed some of the ingredients, and prepared the seasonings. Before they knew it, it was almost eleven o'clock in the morning.

Seeing that the preparations were almost done, the two of them didn't stay any longer, and came to the usual stall location pushing the cart. After arriving, they found that Brother Li, who sold fried chicken next door, had already been there for a while.

After saying hello, they started to set up their equipment.

Perhaps Wang Hao's fried noodles had made a name for themselves yesterday. Not long after they set up the stall, two old customers came to order, "Boss, two servings to eat here, two servings to take away, less chili."

After scanning the code to pay for four servings, the two sat down at the small table on their own, muttering words like "The fried noodles here taste right" and "The recipe must have been changed, it's better than before."

Wang Hao also buried his head in cooking, without paying attention to anything else. His strong arms began to swing, and Wang Lan neatly arranged the tableware and prepared the convenient packaging boxes on the side.

Her movements were skilled and natural, and she was obviously familiar with the work of a waiter. And such a scene was already very familiar to the two of them — for a long time, this had been their tacit working mode.

Before Wang Hao could finish making the first serving of fried noodles, two more customers came to order, and the prompt that two servings had been received rang out.

Wang Lan saw that six servings had been sold in such a short time, and the movements on her hands couldn't help but speed up. Her current state was completely different from the leisurely feeling she had when she came to help before.

Wang Lan originally thought that the busyness was only temporary, but she did not expect that she was still too young, too young too little!