Daily life with the ship girl

Page 148

Thinking of this, Li Ran decided to have a talk with Shengwang. He understood that Shengwang aspired to become the perfect head maid, but because of her huge flaws in cooking skills, Shengwang began to waver in her ability to become a perfect maid.

This was a situation that Li Ran would not allow to happen. He had read many books on the study of ship girls in this world. Although most of them were imaginary, some books mentioned that the ship girls would more or less have their own dreams or obsessions from the moment they awakened.

Pinghai is a typical example. She inherited the Pinghai, a light cruiser from the Republic of China era that sank in the Battle of Jiangyin. At that time, China's navy was weak and the country was in danger. The sinking of the ship in Jiangyin can be said to be a pain in Pinghai's heart, and it is also the eternal pain of all the ship girls of Country C.

It was the memory of the warship that led Pinghai to be extremely persistent in her naval dream, and as a Chinese soldier, Li Ran naturally devoted more attention to her.

This is not because he is partial, because Pinghai carried out the first experimental transformation of the port by chance and achieved great success. This made all the ship girls, including Bismarck and Lexington, feel that there was no problem for Pinghai to be the first ship girl to carry out the three-stage experimental transformation.

What about reputation? When she arrived at the port, she found that the only ship girl in the port was a battlecruiser girl. There was no ship girl of the same ship type. She felt a little lonely. Although Rodney was her good friend, Rodney was a battlecruiser girl and was assigned by Li Ran to be independent.

After her friend was sent out, her reputation in the port area became even lower, because she had been away from Rodney and had been acting as Li Ran's personal maid.

And because of this, everyone, including Li Ran, subconsciously chose to forget the kitchen ban against reputation issued more than two months ago.

Little did they know that the seemingly exaggerated ban had actually touched the most vulnerable part of Reputation, which was its poor cooking skills.

Li Ran looked at Shengyu like this and knew that if he didn't guide Shengyu properly, big problems would arise sooner or later.

Moreover, if she were less obsessed with cooking, perhaps her cooking skills could really rise above the level of dark cuisine.

So, Li Ran patted Shengwei on the shoulder and said:

"I'm going to make a British specialty. Do you want to learn how to make it? Rodney will probably like it. Maybe you can make it for her in the future."

Shengyu's body trembled slightly, then he turned around and said to Li Ran very seriously:

"I want to learn!"

Li Ran smiled with relief. He was not afraid that Mingming's cooking would be bad, but he was afraid that Mingming would lose his passion for cooking because of the kitchen ban.

However, British cuisine also has many types. Li Ran thought about it and said:

"Reputation, does Rodney like fish and chips?"

"I like it very much, but she never mentioned it. How did the master know?"

"Guess, I want to know which ingredients I want."

Reputation Hearing what Li Ran said, she blurted out:

"Fish and chips. Cod and haddock are the best. I was on a mission not long ago. I found a small school of haddock 46 nautical miles off the east coast. I happened to bring some back, but I can't go into the kitchen."

"Okay, it's my fault, who did you give it to?"

"Leave it to Lexington."

"It should still be in the refrigerator. I guess you haven't cooked haddock in these days. Go take it out and prepare it simply. If you want to learn how to cook, you have to start by preparing the ingredients."

"I understand." Shengwang's face was solemn and he walked towards the freezer with a serious look on his face.

Li Ran felt a little amused and relieved. Then he thought, fish and chips are not difficult to make. If he gave it to her, she should be able to learn it.

However, frying requires a high level of control over the heat, and Li Ran was a little unsure whether he could control it.

Moreover, frying fish and chips is only the first step. The difficult part is eating the sauce that goes with fish and chips.

Even Li Ran still had lingering fears after seeing the famous unique seasoning sauce last time.

The prestigious seasoning sauces are obviously made of the finest condiments, but the taste of the mixture is so delicious that it makes people feel ecstatic.

Li Ran smiled bitterly. It seemed that he had a long way to go. However, it was useless to regret now. He watched the reputation meticulously handling the haddock, smiled lightly, and then began to prepare the sauce.

"The ratio of salt and balsamic vinegar, white vinegar seems to be good too. It turns out that it was wise for me to popularize the recipe of vinegar in Qiyun City."

Li Ran thought so, and then saw the bottles of vinegar that foreign businessmen had given him as gifts not long ago. The packaging was written with "God of Cookery Vinegar", and his face looked a little strange.

Because the merchants who sent gifts said that this was the invention of the God of Cookery. Li Ran knew that they were talking about him, but he was not happy. He knew his cooking skills very well and knew that he was still far from the level of the God of Cookery.

After some thought, he decided to use balsamic vinegar and salt, plus some lemon juice, which would enhance the flavor of the fish and chips.

However, considering that this was just a preliminary attempt, Li Ran simply prepared the sauce and then asked the reputation:

"Is it handled? Don't keep everyone waiting."

"Well, all right."

"Prepare to peel the potatoes and cut them into strips..."

"Is that so?"

"I didn't ask you to cut it into dices..."

"so?"

"You haven't even peeled the skin cleanly!"

"Well, that's hard."

"I'm not asking you to..."

……

Li Ran's scolding and the sound of someone doing something wrong were heard again in the kitchen. Yixian sighed and said:

"Looks like I might not be able to have a snack tonight."

Lexington was stunned for a moment, then she heard the sound of the oven, she stood up and said:

"Don't worry, the admiral should have made some buns. I'll go get them."

Yixian smiled and looked in the direction of the kitchen. Li Ran's voice was still continuing, and his apology was heard from time to time. She felt that maybe it was not a bad thing for Su Xing to become Li Ran's ship girl.

Pinghai chatted with Lexington about tea art and some interesting stories. For example, Saratoga said that when she was operating a carrier-based aircraft, she saw many seabirds that few people can see normally, some of which were deep in the rain forest of the island.

Ping Hai talked about the schools of fish she had seen while on patrol, and she was also asked about her feelings about the transformation.

Yixian looked at the peaceful scene in front of him, and the uneasiness he had felt when he first arrived at the garrison finally dissipated at this moment.

Chapter 240: Growth

Li Ran watched Lexington come in. He just happened to hear a crisp "ding" sound coming from the oven. He then realized that he had forgotten that he had entered the kitchen to bake bread. He said apologetically:

"Sorry, I was so busy that I forgot about the important matter."

"It's okay, Yixian didn't care, but the admiral is still the same, he tends to forget himself when he enters the kitchen."

Lexington shook her head slightly, and then looked at Shengwang who was seriously wrapping the haddock in flour. A hint of tenderness flashed in her eyes. It was the first time she saw Shengwang like this, a little timid and a little excited. She knew that Shengwang really liked cooking.

Therefore, Lexington did not want to make things difficult for Li Ran. She knew that her admiral was not a person who would give up halfway. What's more, the admiral had not done what he liked for a long time. She, as the secretary ship, was really capricious. She knew that the admiral liked to cook, but for more than two months, the sisters in the port area had tacitly not let the admiral enter the kitchen. Now it seemed that it was wrong for both herself and others to not let the admiral cook because of their concerns.

"It's alright, Admiral. Once the bread is baked, I will be responsible for entertaining Yixian. You should continue to teach Renown."

"Well, tell Yixian for me. I haven't been in the kitchen for two months. I feel a little itchy, haha."

Li Ran said this, and then heard Yixian's voice:

"Admiral, it turns out you really like cooking."

"Yixian? Sorry, I wanted to entertain you myself, but I forgot about it when I entered the kitchen."

"It's okay. This is what happens when you love something. But I also want to make something. Can I borrow the kitchen?"

"Yixian, can you cook too?"

"Well, I should say cooking. Pinghai probably hasn't eaten meat buns for a long time."

"Miss Yixian really knows Pinghai, but today is the time when the admiral will teach Reputation, so let's go have tea. There are too many people, and Reputation will be strained."

Lexington said this, and then saw that the movement in Reputation's hands had indeed stopped.

There was a hint of doubt in Yixian's eyes, but she still nodded:

"Yeah, that's true, we won't bother you anymore."

Lexington wanted to say something but stopped herself, but since Yixian said so, there was nothing she could do. She walked to the oven, took out the bread, and left the kitchen with Yixian.

Li Ran breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that they could still understand Reputation, which was a good thing. If it was Saratoga instead of Lexington who came in just now, he didn't know whether Gaga would hurt Reputation's newly established confidence because of his outspoken words.

He thought for a moment, then walked behind Reputation and said:

"It's better to coat the flour evenly. Your shoulders are too stiff. You need to relax when cooking. Otherwise, you won't be able to convey your heart to the dish."

As Li Ran spoke, he naturally leaned on Shengyu's back and gently held her hand:

"Don't take it too seriously. Lexington and the others actually know they shouldn't agree to the kitchen ban."

Reputation came back to her senses and heard the admiral's whisper in her ear. She felt her ears itchy, and the masculine scent caused ripples in her calm state of mind.

However, Shengyu discovered that Li Ran was only concentrating on teaching her how to process the food, and the blush on her cheeks spread to her ears.

Reputation, reputation, how can I let my mind wander at this time? I need to focus! I need to be more focused.

Li Ran watched as Shengyu's skills in handling the haddock became more and more skillful, so he stepped back and said:

"That's how you prepare it. You don't need to coat the haddock too thickly with flour. I'll go heat up the oil first. As for the potatoes, let me handle them."

Li Ran said this and looked at the pair of potatoes on the chopping board that had been peeled into various strange shapes. Some of the potatoes had not yet had their skins scraped clean. He sighed.

Mingwei's knife skills are so bad. It seems that if I want to teach him, I have to start from the beginning.

Reputation nodded. The intimate contact just now had made her heart beat so fast that it had not yet calmed down.

This feels so weird.

As Li Ran's head maid, she had stayed with him longer than anyone else. Now that this situation had occurred, she was a little confused. However, when she heard Li Ran say this, she quickly came to her senses and said seriously:

"I see."

Li Ran nodded. If one could take reputation so seriously, perhaps his cooking skills could still be saved.

He came to his senses and started heating the oil.

It is worth mentioning that some of the daily necessities of the Xiguang Garrison were brought by foreign merchants in the past two months. After all, Li Ran now has the power of a quasi-governor jointly granted by seven governors, and monetary rewards are not as practical as material support.

The merchants also understood this. After all, if they used money to bribe, everyone would look bad.

Although Li Ran hated these things, he knew he had to endure them in order to get some things clear.

He watched the cooking oil in the wok slowly begin to boil, then shook his head. How could he let his mind wander while he was cooking? Even if it was more troublesome, he would wait until the dish was finished before worrying about it.

Putting aside his complicated thoughts, Li Ran reached out his hand for the remaining potatoes that had not yet been cut by his renowned knife skills. Then he weighed the silver knife and began to use his superb knife skills. The round potatoes were cut into strips.

After finishing the haddock for seven people, she saw Li Ran had already started frying French fries. She said nervously:

"Admiral, everything has been handled."

"Well, that's great. Come here and I'll teach you how to control the heat for frying."

"Oh."

Mingyu put the basin of haddock aside, and watched the admiral move aside. She walked to the frying pan with some trepidation, and listened to Li Ran's instructions.

……

Outside the living room, Yixian was eating a small piece of bread and found it tasted really good. She looked at Pinghai and Saratoga and said,

"As expected, the admiral's cooking skills are really amazing. This bread has a soothing taste."

Lexington looked at her sister so calmly, she smiled bitterly, although her cooking skills were good, she was not yet able to make dishes that could make people feel at ease like the admiral. She could taste the admiral's subtle thoughts in the bread:

"Yeah, the admiral probably did it for his reputation, and it can be considered an apology."

Yixian was somewhat puzzled:

"Apologize? Why?"

Lexington smiled softly, then glanced at the closed kitchen door:

"You should ask the admiral yourself about this matter."

Yixian followed Lexington's gaze and revealed a thoughtful expression:

"It's about that famous lady."

"Yeah." Lexington nodded.

……

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Li Ran, sweating profusely, left the kitchen with Reputation. He said to his ship girls:

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. This is made by me and it tastes great."

When they heard that it was Mingwang who did it, Lexington and Yixian were not surprised, but Pinghai and Saratoga looked a little strange.