In the 1970s, it started with contracting out communal dining.

Chen Wei took the kitchen knife.

The cleaver feels slightly heavy in the hand, and the handle warms up as you touch it, a smooth, warm texture emanating from your palm.

Chen Wei stroked the dark, fine forging patterns on the hilt of the knife, feeling as if the patterns were solidified rings of a tree, gleaming with a cold luster in the afternoon sunlight.

This is the steel kitchen knife that Wang Defa cherishes very much.

Just now, during the food preparation stage, Chen Wei saw him take it out and use it.

Wrapped in a piece of soft, snow-white cotton cloth, Wang Defa wiped the kitchen knife clean and cleaned it repeatedly when he took it out, showing how much he usually cherished it.

[Ding—Equipable item detected: Refined Steel Kitchen Knife]

[Change current equipment?]

Replace equipment?

Chen Wei's eyes lit up. What a great thing!

He immediately brought up the semi-transparent system panel in front of him, where two lines of comparative data were clearly displayed.

[Current Equipment: Old Kitchen Knife (Tier 1)]

This is an ordinary kitchen knife that has been used for countless years; the blade is sharp but has no special attribute bonuses.

[Replaceable Equipment Detected: Refined Steel Kitchen Knife (Tier 2)]

This is a kitchen knife made of high-quality steel, extremely sharp and durable. More importantly, it embodies decades of dedication from a Huaiyang cuisine chef.

Equipping this item will grant the following attribute bonuses: Knife Precision +20%, Food Processing Speed ​​+15%, and Cutting Stability +10%.

Equipping this steel kitchen knife actually provides attribute bonuses!

It seems my equipment was too bad before, which is why the system panel didn't show any attribute bonuses or anything like that.

Chen Wei subconsciously compared the two kitchen knives in his hand and found that the steel kitchen knife looked much more refined than his old kitchen knife. The blade was shiny and the handle was dark and heavy. It was obviously a good product!

What reason is there not to change it?

"replace!"

Chen Wei immediately recited it silently in his mind.

[Ding! Equipment replacement successful!]

[Refined Steel Kitchen Knife (Tier 2) Equipped]

[Current attribute bonuses: Knife precision increased by 20%, food processing speed increased by 15%, and cutting and preparation stability increased by 10%]

[Note: This is the dedication of a chef with 30 years of experience. There is a chance to trigger knife skills specialization during the cutting and preparation process.]

Instantly, a strange sensation surged from Chen Wei's palm, flowing through his entire body.

Chen Wei felt a sudden lightness in his wrist, and the kitchen knife in his hand seemed to instantly become an extension of his arm, merging with him and becoming one with his mind.

He tried waving it.

"Buzz—"

The blade emitted a deep hum, followed by the sound of air being cut.

"As expected of Wang Defa's privately used high-quality stuff, it's truly extraordinary!"

Chen Wei looked down at the kitchen knife in his hand, almost impatient to try out his new knife skills!

He immediately turned around and rummaged through the kitchen shelves.

Unfortunately, the common vegetables such as potatoes, eggplants, and green peppers that were originally stored on the shelf had all been used up when he made that lunch.

The shelves are now empty, even the cucumbers that are usually the most common are gone, leaving only half a basin of Pingqiao tofu and braised dried bean curd strips that Wang Defa left on the spot.

We can't expect Chen Wei to practice his knife skills in front of that half-bowl of leftovers!

Chen Wei scratched his head in a worried manner, but when his gaze swept across the kitchen floor, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Radish?!"

In the corner of the kitchen, there were two baskets of white radishes that had just been delivered by the purchasing department that morning. I don't know where they came from, but they were all plump and white, very fresh, with fresh soil still on them.

"This is it!"

Chen Wei muttered to himself, then happily took a large basin, filled it halfway with white radishes, washed them one by one under the tap, and brought them back.

Looking at the plump, white radishes in front of him, Chen Wei felt his steel cleaver was itching to be used, and he couldn't contain himself any longer.

However, just as he was about to make the cut, Chen Wei encountered a dilemma.

In his previous life, he disliked eating white radishes, so he knew nothing about dishes made with them.

The system didn't provide any recipes, so how am I supposed to practice my knife skills?!

Just as he was thinking this, a system notification suddenly popped up in Chen Wei's mind.

[Ding! Analyzable ingredients detected. Would you like to use the recipe analysis skill?]

Right!

Chen Wei slapped his forehead and remembered that he also had the skill of analyzing recipes!

It's just a recipe for radishes, let's see him go online and analyze it!

With that in mind, he immediately activated his recipe analysis skill.

The system's progress bar quickly reached 100%.

[Ding—Analysis complete!]

[Recommended Recipe: Shredded Radish in Lamb Shadow]

[Note: This is a famous Sichuan cold dish that truly tests a chef's knife skills. The radish must be sliced ​​as thin as a cicada's wing and as fine as a hair, so translucent that you can see through it, hence the name "Lantern Shadow"!]

"This is it!"

Chen Wei immediately made the decision and threw the radish in his hand onto the cutting board.

"Hey? Brother Chen, why haven't you left yet?"

Just as they were about to get started, Wu Xiaochun poked his head over and asked with a puzzled look.

Chen Wei didn't explain much, only vaguely stating his position.

"I was planning to make some cold dishes for the workers this afternoon to help them cool down! Now that I have some free time, I'll try making the dishes first."

"A food tasting?"

Wu Xiaochun's eyes immediately gleamed with a thieving green light, and he became fully alert.

"I won't leave either, I'll help you! If you're making cold dishes for them this afternoon, I'll also make some mung bean soup to help them cool down!"

"That brat, what's with all this talk about cooling off! Chen Wei can tell he's just craving something!"

However, Chen Wei did not stop them; what was wrong with having one more person to taste the dishes?

He just smiled, ignoring Wu Xiaochun, and casually picked up a radish, cut off the ends, and weighed it in his hand.

Then, taking a deep breath, he held the knife and made a diagonal cut, rotating and sliding it along the radish. A whole piece of radish skin was twisted off, the skin being thin and even, without a single tear.

"A fine knife!"

Chen Wei couldn't help but secretly praise it, and casually placed the radish horizontally on the cutting board.

He held the knife in his right hand with his fingers slightly bent and knuckles against the blade, his wrist suspended in the air, calm and focused.

"Knock knock knock knock—"

A series of familiar sounds of blades striking the cutting board rang out again in the kitchen.

This time, Chen Wei felt as if he could detect the texture of the radish with the knife in his hand. It seemed that it was not the system's blessing, but an innate intuition.

Whether it was due to the expertise of the steel kitchen knife maker, Chen Wei felt that his knife skills had improved by a level.

The blade flashed like lightning, so dense it almost formed a silvery-white curtain of light. Radish slices fell onto the cutting board like snowflakes, each slice nearly transparent. When shone through the window, the cracks in the brickwork on the opposite wall were clearly visible.

Wu Xiaochun watched in stunned silence.

"Brother Chen, when did you secretly take up these training courses? Your knife skills are even more beautiful than carving!"