If anyone were to ask Mai Ge why he can cook so many delicious dishes, he now knows how to answer.
"I've spent my whole life searching for delicious food, until one day I realized that what others made couldn't meet my standards of culinary excellence, so I picked up a kitchen knife."
Yes, that's pretty pretentious.
However, after tasting the grilled fish, Mai Ge figured that this was probably why he chose to pick up a cleaver and keep practicing in the tedious Chef God Trial Ground, relentlessly striving to perfect a dish.
To create the truly perfect cuisine in his mind, to let Amy and himself taste genuine deliciousness, and to show those chefs who claim to be at the pinnacle of a particular cuisine or dish that higher demands and standards should be a driving force for progress, not a source of resentment.
Thinking about this, Mai Ge felt a little moved.
"Daddy, why are you crying? Is it because it's too spicy?" Amy looked up at Mai Ge, asking with some concern.
"Oh, no, it's just that this grilled fish reminded me of something." Mai Ge blinked, wiping away the tears welling in his eyes. Embarrassingly, he had actually moved himself to tears.
"Eat up, it'll be time to get back to work afterward." Mai Ge glanced at the clock on the wall, regained his composure, and looked gently at Sally and Yabemia. Although the earlier incident was a little awkward, but having weathered many storms, he didn't dwell on it at all.
Besides, to him, Sally and Yabemia were just two little sisters working at the restaurant, he had absolutely no intention of Amy changing her address of them from "older sister" to "stepmother."
Mai Ge is not a saint, but he is definitely not a casual man either. In his previous life, he was able to flit from flower to flower without getting a single petal on him. In this life, with Amy by his side, he will certainly not be so casual.
Being a model father was his lifelong goal.
As for relationships, Mai Ge was never in a rush. He believed that fate would bring them together naturally. He was quite laid-back about it.
Besides, there was the mother of his child. Although he has no memory of Irina and has no feelings for her, but she is still Amy's biological mother.
Nothing might happen between them in the future, but before seeing her again, Mai Ge needed to at least appear respectable, proving that he had taken good care of Amy, providing her with a comfortable life and room to grow. It was a matter of a man's responsibility.
Sometimes Mai Ge had to admit that he was just a sentimental person, not vulgar enough, but he was happy living this way.
"This dress must have been tied too loosely this morning, so it accidentally ripped open because the food tasted so good just now. I can't really blame the boss... But... this is the second time this has happened in front of him. My mother said that if a man sees my body, I'll have no choice but to marry him. Should I marry Boss Mai? But Boss Mai already has Amy, and he must have a wife too. In that case, will he not want me anymore?" Yabemia thought with a conflicted expression, her gaze falling on the grilled fish on the table. She swallowed hard. "But this grilled fish is so delicious. If I could marry Boss Mai, I could eat all kinds of delicious food everyday, right? That seems like such a happy thing."
"He probably...didn't see anything, right? My grandmother said that if a man other than her husband sees her body, she should kill him or gouge out his eyes." Sally glanced at Mai Ge out of the corner of her eye, thinking with some hesitation, "But he didn't do it on purpose. Delicious food has extraordinary effects. This is a specialty of the restaurant. This grilled fish tastes really special and delicious."
"Never mind! Let's eat!"
Sally and Yabemia almost simultaneously had this thought. They glanced at each other, picked up their chopsticks, took another piece of fish, carefully protected their chests with their hands, and then fed the fish to their mouths.
The numbing and spicy sensation raged in their mouths, bringing an unprecedented feeling. Unlike the simple spiciness they usually experienced, this spiciness also had a numbing effect on the tongue. The spiciness was intense, and the aroma was equally rich. Paired with the tender and delicious fish, it brought an unparalleled enjoyment.
One chopstick after another, the simplest and most effective way to suppress the numbing spiciness in their mouths was to keep their mouths moving. So the two of them ate non-stop, their foreheads already soaked with sweat, but compared to the delicious food, that was nothing!
"Indeed, good food is the best way to defuse an awkward situation." Mai Ge watched the two of them eating without stopping, secretly relieved. He glanced at the Ugly Duckling, who was clinging to his leg and trying to climb up, smiled, got up, took its small plate, placed two pieces of fish on it, and put the plate on the ground. He said seriously, "Ugly Duckling, this fish is extra spicy. Make sure you can handle the spiciness before you decide whether to eat it or not."
"Ugly Duckling, if you eat this spicy food, you might explode!" Amy said seriously, sticking out her little tongue. Although it was spicy, but it was really delicious.
"Meow meow~" The Ugly Duckling nodded its little head, eagerly pouncing forward, sniffing the air, and then taking a bite.
"Meow!!!"
The Ugly Duckling let out a long meow, leaping half a meter into the air. Its normally soft fur stood on end, turning it into a tiny orange ball of fluff, bouncing around like a rubber ball, looking incredibly cute and adorable.
"Hahaha, Ugly Duckling, so silly!" Amy laughed so hard she bent over.
Mai Ge couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. He remembered a time when he ate grilled fish in Sichuan, the restaurant owner had a cat that calmly ate almost half a Spicy Grilled Fish while lying at his feet, much more composed than him. That's why he'd given Ugly Duckling some of this Spicy Grilled Fish, but it seemed the little one wasn't quite used to the spiciness.
Ugly Duckling hopped away from the plate of grilled fish with a look of terror, only slowly calming down after a while.
"Ugly Duckling, do you still want to eat?" Amy asked, looking at the Ugly Duckling.
"Meow meow~" The Ugly Duckling shook its head hurriedly, licked its lips, looked at the food with a conflicted expression for a long time, then slowly moved closer, sniffed, took a bite, and then transformed back into a little orange ball, hopping around the restaurant.
"Saying no with its mouth, but its body is quite honest." Mai Ge chuckled and shook his head, ignoring the Ugly Duckling's wavering between pleasure and pain, and picked up the noodle.
The translucent noodle has perfectly absorbed the red sauce, looking glistening with a hint of red. It wobbles slightly when held in chopsticks, displaying excellent elasticity.