Just as I thought—running through the full process really is enough to unlock the skill!
With his suspicion confirmed, delight appeared on Fang Ye's face. After giving Liu Anqing a slight bow in farewell, he turned and ran off into the garden once more.
Only this time, the place he headed for was no longer the tomato patch, but the cucumber patch not far away.
Look, smell, ask, touch, weigh.
Each time he used the skill to judge an ingredient, if his judgment was correct, he gained a small amount of proficiency. The standard of correctness was determined by the system itself.
[Five Methods of Produce Evaluation proficiency increased.]
"So this really is the better cucumber."
Using the Five Methods, Fang Ye quickly distinguished the difference between two cucumbers, then chose the greener one. The notification sounded the instant he made his selection.
And once he confirmed that judging ingredient quality could raise proficiency, Fang Ye turned into a diligent little bee, darting frantically all over the vegetable garden.
In the process, he made another delighted discovery: the more accurate his judgment of a fruit or vegetable, the more proficiency he gained. Unlocking a new type of produce also increased proficiency.
"This is so hard... maybe I should go ask Grandpa Qing..."
Wandering through the garden, Fang Ye eventually reached Erina Nakiri's section. He was just about to go over and say hello when he heard her muttering to herself.
"The okra on the right is better. Its color is a fresher green, and the skin is covered with a fine layer of fuzz. The one on the left is a little darker—that's a sign it's aging."
[Five Methods of Produce Evaluation proficiency increased.]
Seeing Erina's troubled expression, Fang Ye spoke up from behind her, startling her so badly that her whole body jerked and she nearly fell over. Luckily, Fang Ye reacted quickly and caught her.
"Why did you suddenly appear behind me?!"
After steadying herself in Fang Ye's arms, Erina's panic faded. Once she was standing firm again, she turned around and complained.
"I heard you talking to yourself. I happened to be passing by, so I came over to answer it for you. You were in Hokkaido when Grandpa Qing taught this lesson, so it's normal that you don't know the characteristics of okra."
"Who asked you to tell me! I just couldn't remember for a moment. If I waited a little longer, I definitely would have remembered. But since you meant well... thanks anyway."
Hearing Fang Ye's explanation, Erina replied in tsundere fashion, though what she said left him rather speechless.
How was she supposed to remember knowledge she had never learned?
Surely she wasn't some supernatural prodigy who could look at a plant she had never seen in her life and instantly judge its quality. That would have been a bit too ridiculous.
"If there's anything else you're unsure about, you can ask me while I'm here. I know every fruit and vegetable in this garden."
That wasn't an empty boast.
As a reincarnated grind-maniac, Fang Ye spent every spare moment reading. He knew how important knowledge was, and since Liu Anqing's lessons focused on ingredients, the book he had been reading was an encyclopedia of ingredients. Even obscure produce left some impression on him.
Of course, the encyclopedia mostly just introduced ingredients. It was nowhere near as detailed as Liu Anqing's lessons, and actual applications still required hands-on practice.
"Are you showing off to me? I don't need your guidance. Go teach Alice instead—I'm perfectly fine on my own here."
But the moment she heard Fang Ye's words, Erina's hackles instantly rose. A feeling of being looked down on welled up inside her, and her voice turned noticeably colder.
"All right. Call me if you need me."
Fang Ye had no idea what taboo he had just stepped on. He scratched his head, didn't go looking for Alice either, and simply turned to continue wandering in another direction.
I definitely won't be worse than you. I'm the possessor of the God Tongue. Father said I'm going to become the greatest chef in the world!
Watching Fang Ye's retreating back, Erina clenched her small fists. Thinking of the father who had accompanied her the entire time in Hokkaido, fighting spirit flared in her eyes.
In her memories, her father had spent very little time with her. Over the course of a year, they barely even met a handful of times.
But he was still her father, someone tied to her by blood, and she trusted his words completely. Deep down, she believed that no matter who she faced, she would not lose.
If she wasn't as good as Fang Ye right now, then it simply meant she hadn't learned enough yet. Once she made up for the knowledge she lacked, she would be able to stand proudly before him with her head held high.
She didn't even know why she felt this way—but she simply refused to admit that she was inferior to Fang Ye, in any respect.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
after parting with Erina, Fang Ye continued exploring the garden, and the proficiency of his Five Methods skill rose like mad in the process.
[Five Methods of Produce Evaluation proficiency increased. Proficiency has reached the current tier cap. Beginner has advanced to Initial Insight.]
[Five Methods of Produce Evaluation (Blue): Initial Insight (1/500)]
As the system notification rang out, Fang Ye felt as if his mind had been immersed in a cold, crystalline spring. His whole body shuddered, and everything around him seemed to sharpen into focus.
Where before he had seen only a tiny difference between two ears of corn, now, under the enhanced discernment of the upgraded Five Methods skill, he quickly picked out the flaws in each one.
"So that's how it is. What this skill upgrade improves is insight? That makes sense. Stronger insight would let me judge ingredient quality more quickly and accurately."
The corn silk on both ears was a moist brown, but the end of one still retained a trace of toughness, while the other had already lost it.
Then there was the matter of weight. The former was noticeably heavier than the latter, and although its outer husk was larger, the ear of corn inside was slightly smaller.
Its kernels were plump, neatly arranged, and tightly packed. Lowering his head to smell it, he could detect a fresh, sweet scent with a grassy undertone.
"After leveling up, selecting ingredients feels like switching the game to easy mode."
From then on, Fang Ye sped up, no longer picking the produce but simply judging it and putting it back where it belonged.
Yet the rate at which his skill proficiency increased also began to slow. Comparisons with huge, obvious differences could no longer provide him with any proficiency.
Even so, he didn't mind.
After all, proficiency growth was a long, long process of accumulation. He had never expected to grind for a single day and max out a high-level skill.
The higher the grade of a skill, the slower it improved.
That was a conclusion he had reached through practice.
·
·
Time rewound twenty minutes.
In a place none of Fang Ye and the others could see, two figures had already been standing quietly on a raised ridge not far away, taking in the children's every move.
One of them wore a suit and sunglasses: an utterly unremarkable bodyguard-secretary type.
The other man had a long, finely cut face and skin so pale it was almost translucent. His hair was combed neatly back, save for a single loose strand hanging over his forehead.
His frame was lean, but his posture perfectly straight. He wore a dark suit, a black overcoat snapping in the wind, and black gloves on his hands.
This man was none other than Erina Nakiri's biological father—
Azami Nakiri.
"So this is the kind of training Erina has been receiving these past two years?"
Watching Erina Nakiri planted in the muddy earth, getting herself thoroughly dirty, Azami's expression darkened. He clearly had not expected the "early education" Senzaemon Nakiri spoke of to amount to sending his daughter into the fields to do farm work.
His voice was low and cold, brimming with unmistakable displeasure. The bodyguard beside him said nothing. He knew this was not the sort of question he was supposed to answer.
Azami's gaze remained locked on his daughter. As he watched her dirt-stained hands and slightly flushed cheeks, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
In his mind, Erina ought to have stood high above the world as a queen of cuisine—not wallowing in country soil, reduced to mingling with dirt like the lowest of peasants.
"This crude form of education is nothing less than a desecration of the talent she was born with."
Azami spoke icily, the fingers beneath his black glove slowly tightening.
Just then, Erina seemed to run into some kind of problem in the field. She stared down at the two okra pods in her hands, brows tightly knit. Azami had just begun to step forward when he saw an unfamiliar boy walk over to her side.
To his surprise, that boy merely glanced once and then accurately pointed out the difference in quality between the two okra pods.
And what displeased him even more was that Erina allowed the boy to approach her, and when he reached out to steady her, she showed not the slightest trace of resistance.
"Who is that brat?!"
There was a dangerous edge in Azami Nakiri's voice.
The bodyguard-secretary answered in a low voice, "According to the records, he is the child of the couple whose baby was born in the same hospital room as Lady Erina. He is currently being fostered by the Nakiri family. His name is Fang Ye."
"Fang Ye... so he's the child of that couple."
Azami repeated the name, his eyes growing even colder. Then he muttered to himself, "So Father not only has Erina receiving this vulgar kind of education, he's also letting her mingle with a commoner like this."
He watched Fang Ye turn and walk away, and when he saw the complicated look in Erina's eyes as she stared after the boy's back, the dissatisfaction in his chest reached its peak.
"It's time for Erina to return to the proper path."
Azami murmured softly, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"She has no need to learn ingredient selection through such crude means. There will naturally be people who place only the finest ingredients in her hands, and teach her to remember the appearance of the very best produce.
"And she has no need to associate with these commoners who understand nothing of the true essence of gourmet cuisine, because they simply do not belong to the same world.
"She only needs to unleash the talent she was born with, become the God Tongue I envision—and then create cuisine in its truest form!"
A light breeze swept by.
In the field, Erina Nakiri seemed to sense something and suddenly turned to look in Azami's direction.
But there was no one there anymore.
Only a few leaves drifted slowly down in the wind.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 135)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter67)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter85)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 60
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 65
From Junkman to Wasteland 50
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 35
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 40
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 37
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