I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

Li Zhibai was quite familiar with green plums.

When I was a child, there was a plum tree in the backyard of my grandma's old house. Every May and June, the tree would be full of green plums that looked very tempting. But if you took a bite, they would be so sour that you would jump up on the spot.

Every year, Grandma would pick a basketful of plums. Part of it would be used to make plum wine, and the rest would be boiled into plum jam, which would be sealed in glass jars and last for about half a year.

The problem is, what kind of dish should this be made into to match the "taste" in Yu Shen's mind?

Green plums are sour in taste and neutral in nature. They can quench thirst, stimulate appetite, and relieve depression.

If used in cooking, sourness can enhance the flavor, cut through greasiness, and stimulate the appetite. There are many examples of using sour flavors in Chinese cuisine, such as stir-fried vegetables with vinegar, sour soup vegetables, and pork ribs with green plums, etc.

There are quite a few options.

But having a direction alone is not enough; he needs to know exactly what happened between Yu Shen and Qingmei.

Yu Shen was slurping his noodles while bragging to Pang Yi that if he had arrived half an hour earlier, he definitely wouldn't have let that new sucker take the top spot on today's spending list.

Li Zhibai came out of the kitchen and walked to his side.

"Brother Yu."

Yu Shen looked up: "Boss Li, what's the matter?"

"Have you decided on that custom dish yet? What do you want me to make?"

Yu Shen was taken aback.

Customized dishes?

Oh right, he won the right to make a custom dish at a tasting event a little over a week ago, but he was so busy outsmarting Li Heizi and figuring out how to get something for nothing that he completely forgot about it.

Li Zhibai immediately offered a suggestion: "Brother Yu, how about this? Let me guess what the main ingredient of the dish you most want to eat is. If I guess right, you can place your order soon; if I guess wrong, I'll give you a free deluxe stew pot. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Shen's eyes darted around twice.

Free stew pot? That stuff costs 888 yuan a pot! When did Li Heizi become so generous?

It's definitely a scam!

But then he thought again, no matter how you calculate it, he's guaranteed to win this bet! Especially the joy of making Li Heizi lose face is something that money can't buy.

"Sure!" Yu Shen immediately agreed. "But this bet is too small. I want to raise the stakes. If you guess right, I'll order 20 custom-made dishes! If I win, you have to replace this stew pot with a deluxe full-set meal. How about it? Dare to take it?"

Yu Shen was secretly pleased with himself after he finished speaking. How could Li Heizi possibly guess what he wanted to eat? This bet was definitely a sure thing.

But he seemed to have forgotten the lesson of the new, vengeful man who came before him.

Li Zhibai nodded very readily without much hesitation: "Okay! I'll take it!"

Yu Shen: "..."

This caught him off guard; he never expected Li Zhibai to agree so readily.

If I'm right, how much would 20 custom-made dishes cost?

Pang Yi, always eager for drama, immediately said, "Boss, Lao Yu loves crabs. His favorite place used to be the Crab Restaurant in Jiangcheng; he went there almost every week."

Yu Shen's expression changed, and he quickly reached out to cover the fat man's mouth: "The password? Shut up, don't talk nonsense!"

"Boss Li, don't listen to this fat man's nonsense, I really don't like eating crabs."

Of course, he looked panicked, but he was secretly delighted. Pang Pangzi's timely assist was too good to pass up. If Li Heizi had actually guessed the crab, he would have fallen into a trap.

If I can actually beat Li Heizi today, I can brag about it in the anti-black group for half a year.

Li Zhibai watched the two guys singing in unison, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Crab?

If it were a few days ago, he might have really guessed that way, because among Yu Shen's food fragments were indeed images of this kid crying loudly after being pinched by a crab when he was a child.

But now...

"Brother Yu, then I'll take a guess." Li Zhibai deliberately pretended to be thinking seriously, as if he was really struggling with whether or not to guess the crab.

Yu Shen couldn't help but hold his breath, screaming in his heart: Guess the crab! Guess the crab! Li Heizi, guess the crab now!

However, Li Zhibai slowly uttered two words:

"Ome."

Yu Shen's eyes widened instantly, and he said incredulously, "You...how did you know?!"

He had never told Li Zhibai this, and even Fatty and the others didn't know.

Li Zhibai: "Never mind how I know, just tell me, is it true or not?"

Yu Shen really wanted to say no, but his reaction just now had already betrayed him, so in the end he honestly admitted: "That's right, it's Qingmei."

Pang Yi was also shocked: "No way? It really is Qingmei? Li Heizi, can you read minds?"

His curiosity was piqued, and he turned to Yu Shen, asking, "Old Yu, what exactly is 'green plum'? Tell me quickly, I'm so curious!"

Yu Shen turned his face away: "No comment!"

He definitely wouldn't tell Fatty and the others. It was a secret he'd kept in his heart for many years. If Fatty found out, Lao Lu and the others would definitely make fun of him to death. He knew those guys all too well.

Of course, what's most infuriating is that he actually lost, and Li Heizi actually guessed it right!

How on earth did Li Heizi guess that?! This is fucking illogical!

"Boss, can you tell me how you found out?" Yu Shen asked.

Li Zhibai gave a mysterious smile: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

Yu Shen: "..."

Pang Yi wanted to ask what kind of dish the green plum was, but Yu Shen, unusually, drifted off into thought, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing his expression, he couldn't help but tease, "Old Fish, are you in heat?"

Yu Shen snapped back to reality and kicked out, yelling, "Get out!"

Pang Yi was prepared and easily dodged with a nimble, fat-man-style dodge: "Holy crap! I was right! Old Yu, you're really in heat! Boss Li, look, this guy's face is all red, he's definitely thinking about something embarrassing!"

"Die, you bastard!"

The two immediately started chasing and fighting in the store, causing chaos.

Li Zhibai, however, was looking down, thinking about something else.

Although the theme of "green plum" has been decided, it is not enough.

What story lies hidden within Yu Shen? What is the connection between him and "Qingmei"? We need to delve deeper to understand, otherwise we won't be able to guess the true "flavor," and the dishes we make will lack soul and fail to reach god-like status.

Seeing that the two were about to tear his shop down, Li Zhibai quickly pulled them apart and said, "Brother Yu, a bet is a bet! However, since you are also our shop's number one VIP, I'll make a note of these 20 orders for you. You can make up for them after I figure out how to make this dish."

"When will that be?" Yu Shen asked hurriedly.

"That depends on you." Li Zhibai changed the subject: "Brother Yu, my shop is about to close. Would you mind taking me to see the happy life of you second-generation rich kids? And maybe I can find some inspiration for cooking."

"Hehehe......."

Yu Shen was taken aback at first, then looked at the already dark sky outside and pointed at Li Zhibai with his index finger: "Fine, fine, Boss Li, I never thought you were this kind of person!"

"Alright! Then I'll show you around!"