Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 08/27/2023
This seemingly unsociable young man is named Cui Luoheng. He is a member of the track and field hurdling team of the S Province Sports Team and is also known as a troublemaker in the team.
Cui Luoheng was selected from the provincial sports school to the provincial team just two years ago. In the words of the hurdles team coach, "This kid has good talent, but he always looks like someone owes him eight million."
Actually, Cui Luoheng is annoyed by it too. Everyone thinks his face is full of rebellion, but he believes that anyone who can't eat well every day and has to undergo intense training would have a similarly gloomy expression.
Of course, apart from Cui Luoheng himself, no one in the team knows that his sour face is actually due to the problem of not being able to eat enough.
He finds this issue a bit melodramatic, but he's been a picky eater since childhood. Luckily, his family is well-off, and since he didn't like to eat, his family found all sorts of ways to get him to eat. Various delicacies were fed to him, which is how he managed to grow to 186 cm by the age of 16. Now, at 20 years old, he has shot up to 191 cm. In the hurdles event, his height is definitely an advantage.
However, his ability to eat well only lasted until he was discovered by his initial coach and joined the sports school.
Coming from a well-off family and with his father not expecting him to excel in academics, his family was convinced by the coach's talk of bringing glory to the country and the family name. Besides, his family, from his grandfather to his father, are all sports enthusiasts. Long story short, he was sent to the sports school at a young age, entering a cycle of "not enjoying meals - needing to eat due to intense training - wanting to go home to eat good food but the coach forbidding it - eating with a bad mood" loop.
Over the years, he has developed the ability to eat various foods he dislikes without changing his expression. After all, training requires a significant amount of energy. As an athlete, if he can't ensure the intake of various nutrients, there might not be significant issues in the short term, but in the long run, it will undoubtedly affect an athlete's personal condition and performance.
However, learning to eat disliked food and feeling unsatisfied after eating are two entirely different matters.
Since he started training, Cui Luoheng hasn't been able to enjoy a satisfying meal. Up until now, he's simply been wearing a sour expression every day.
Cui Luoheng feels like his temperament is just too good. There's no one in the entire S Province Sports Team with a better temperament than him!
But today, the aroma wafting from the third-floor cafeteria seems to be telling Cui Luoheng that the days of not being able to eat well might soon be over.
As Cui Luoheng entered the third-floor cafeteria, he could see a particularly long line at one of the counters, and the mouthwatering aroma was emanating from that very counter.
After glancing at the counter number, which was 3, Cui Luoheng immediately took out his meal card and swiped it at the designated spot. Those who dined on the third floor had their own personalized menus, and after swiping their cards, they would know which counter to go to for their respective meals.
Coincidentally, Cui Luoheng's dinner today consisted of three vegetable dishes, one meat dish, and one soup, all to be collected from counter number 3.
Seeing this, a faint look of satisfaction appeared on Cui Luoheng's face as he picked up his tray and headed towards counter number 3.
As Cui Luoheng reached the end of the line at counter number 3, Qiu Wen had just finished collecting his meal from the same counter. Today's meal included tomato egg soup and braised beef, both available at counter number 3. However, his meal didn't include stir-fried eggplant; instead, he had a dish of sautéed asparagus. He's been undergoing endurance training recently, and he mentioned that eating asparagus helps replenish oligosaccharides, which is exactly what his training regimen requires.
Even though Qiu Wen had already received the braised beef and tomato egg soup prepared by Su Bai, he couldn't help but feel a pang of envy when he looked at the stir-fried eggplant. However, the items on his meal card were clearly stated, so he could only carry his braised beef and tomato egg soup with a slightly mournful expression and move to another counter to collect his complete meal.
Cui Luoheng, on the other hand, wasn't as conflicted. He had all three dishes from counter number 3, and with a satisfied expression, he held his tray and circled around to collect his dinner and the accompanying fruit. Finding a seat without much thought, he picked up his chopsticks and was about to dig in.
The dishes in front of him were actually quite common in the third-floor cafeteria of the provincial team. Just like this braised beef, Chef Sun Xiangdong had probably cooked it countless times. However, in the past, Cui Luoheng had only reluctantly swallowed it down for the sake of training. It was nowhere near the way he looked at it today.
The presentation might seem unremarkable, but the beef, perfectly coated in simmered sauce, had an exceptionally appealing color. The beef had been scooped out of the stew pot just before being served to him, still emitting heat. Cui Luoheng picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and placed it in his mouth. In an instant, a wonderful flavor burst open in his mouth.
The long-lost sensation of savoring a satisfying meal made him squint his eyes in comfort.Chewing on the beef, the delightful sensation continued to spread in his mouth. The beef itself was perfectly tender and chewy, and a few bites allowed the aroma to linger even more on his palate.
The bowl of braised beef had a bit of sauce at the bottom, so after eating a piece of beef, Cui Luoheng decisively picked up the spoon and scooped the sauce onto his rice, enhancing the already fragrant and delicious sticky rice even further.
After taking a bite of the braised beef, Cui Luoheng extended his chopsticks toward the stir-fried eggplant. Eggplant was a good food, a common item on athletes' nutrition menus. However, athletes' diets strictly controlled their intake of fats, and their meals were kept relatively light. As a result, dishes like stir-fried eggplant, which needed to be both low in oil and light in flavor, often ended up somewhat bland in taste.
But today's eggplant didn't seem excessively oily in appearance, and the sauce didn't look overly abundant either. Yet, it gave off the impression that it would taste delicious.Cui Luoheng wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he was genuinely intrigued by this eggplant dish. As he placed a piece of eggplant in his mouth with his chopsticks, the satisfying sensation intensified.
The eggplant wasn't greasy at all. With each bite, it felt tender and absorbed the rich sauce. The juice of the eggplant mixed with the sauce's flavor and slipped down his throat with a gulp.
Perfect.
After a couple of bites, a sense of contentment began to show on Cui Luoheng's face.Not to mention, after sipping the refreshing tomato egg soup, the delicious food quickly stimulated his appetite. This feeling of pleasure from eating such good food softened Cui Luoheng's typically stern expression that seemed like "everyone owed him eight million."
A mouthful of white rice drenched in the braised sauce, a bite of beef, followed by another mouthful of rice, and then a taste of the stir-fried eggplant... While savoring these dishes, Cui Luoheng maintained a joyful mood. He didn't forget the other items on his plate either. Starting with several delicious dishes and occasionally eating some ordinary ones, even if they weren't as perfect, this was still the best meal Cui Luoheng had enjoyed in years.
Oh, right. Who was the chef responsible for making these dishes in the first place?
The name "Xiao Bai" popped into Cui Luoheng's mind.
Su Bai.
Cui Luoheng was familiar with Su Bai, but they weren't in the same training group. Neither Cui Luoheng nor Su Bai had a personality that was eager to make friends everywhere, so their interaction was limited to recognition.
In the past couple of days, Su Bai's name had been discussed more frequently within the provincial team. The day before, Su Bai's name appeared on the list of retired athletes on the team's bulletin board. Retiring at Su Bai's age was quite rare, especially since he hadn't sustained any major injuries. His decision to retire sparked a lot of discussion within the team.
However, little did they expect that the central figure of this discussion would become one of the chefs in the third-floor cafeteria, and moreover, possess such exceptional culinary skills.Upon thinking about it, Cui Luoheng immediately adorned the name Su Bai with an angelic halo in his mind, and he added a string of favorable impressions.
What did it matter if he retired? Someone who cooked such delicious food must be a good person!
Perhaps he could consider getting to know him someday?
Cui Luoheng mused aimlessly in his mind while eating his food expressionlessly.
Meanwhile, in the entire third-floor cafeteria, aside from Cui Luoheng who continued to eat calmly, the other athletes, regardless of gender, shed tears of excitement as they held their plates filled with the fortunate food from Window No. 3.
"Damn, this is the most delicious braised beef/stir-fried eggplant/tomato egg soup I've ever had in my life!"
Inside the cafeteria, there weren't many lucky ones like Cui Luoheng who managed to collect all three dishes from Su Bai. Nevertheless, most people had one or two dishes from Window No. 3 in their plates.
At this moment, as everyone savored their meals obtained from Window No. 3, excitement rippled through the cafeteria, creating a lively atmosphere.
"Ah! How could this braised beef be so delicious? With this, give me 10 bowls of rice, and I can handle it!"
"Daydreaming! 10 bowls of rice down your stomach, and Old Zhang will hang you up and give you a beating! You think you can just eat recklessly?"
"I saw the name card of the chef in charge of Window No. 3. All these dishes were made by Su Bai! He's really different in person. Who could have thought that little Su Bai could cook so delectably? I'm so regretful. Back then, why didn't we ask him to cook a few meals for us?"
The athletes on the third floor of the cafeteria were mostly familiar with Su Bai, varying degrees of closeness aside.
No one had expected that the seemingly cold and aloof Su Xiaobai would possess such culinary prowess.
The people who tasted these dishes cherished them dearly. After devouring a few mouthfuls, they noticed that there wasn't much left of the portion cooked by Su Bai. So, they switched to chewing slowly, savoring each bite.
There were also some whose luck wasn't as good, as they missed out on getting even a single dish. They could only look around for familiar faces to share a taste with. They then let their imaginations run wild, picturing the satisfaction of feasting on these delectable dishes.
Among the diners, after taking his first bite of braised beef, Qiu Wen started longing for the stir-fried eggplant that he hadn't managed to get. He lamented internally while listening to everyone around him affirming Su Bai's culinary skills. All the while, he harbored a sense of satisfaction in his heart—after all, he was the first one to taste Su Xiaobai's bone broth noodles. Oh well, he wondered if he could manage to trick another bowl of bone broth noodles for tonight?
In the back kitchen, Su Bai had also taken a break. In each floor's respective kitchen, the chefs would set aside some food for themselves to serve as their lunch.
At this moment, Sun Xiangdong was also happily enjoying his meal, holding a plate of white rice and savoring the dishes made by Su Bai.
Sun Xiangdong wasn't an athlete, so he didn't have to worry about the nutritional composition of these meals. He only cared about which dishes tasted good. As a result, he was much happier than the athletes dining in the cafeteria.
As he ate, Sun Xiangdong felt even more satisfied with Su Bai. He thought letting Su Bai into the kitchen was truly an excellent decision.
If Su Bai could hear the notification sounds of increased goodwill right now, he would probably be overwhelmed by the constant stream of +1 goodwill notifications.
With the conclusion of this dinner, Su Bai had achieved his target task. He gained 20 initial associated users. Among them, Qiu Wen and Sun Xiangdong, who had already shared two meals with him, both had their experience points become 2/20 in terms of initial associated users. It was highly likely that once their experience points were full, they would be upgraded to intermediate associated users.
Furthermore, the "Effective Duration of Associated Users" for both of them extended by one day.
While eating, Su Bai glanced at the system interface in his mind and reviewed the information about his 20 associated users, particularly their project potential values.
He had been quite surprised when he saw Qiu Wen's project potential values for the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints yesterday—only 3.9 and 4.2, respectively. After all, Qiu Wen was already a strong performer in the provincial team. In competitions like the National Track and Field Grand Prix, he could contend for the top three in the 100-meter sprint, and even in major events like the National Championship, he was a seeded athlete for the top five.
Surprisingly, his 200-meter potential was slightly higher than his 100-meter potential. Even with this slight advantage, his potential values for both events seemed far from satisfactory.
Su Bai had been waiting for new associated users, uncertain about whether the issue lay with the quirky system's stringent judgment criteria or some other reason. However, after scanning each associated user, he finally concluded that the system was indeed overly strict and somewhat ridiculous.
Among the 18 new associated users he had gathered today, one of them was a gold medalist in the women's hammer throw event. She spent about seventy to eighty percent of her training time with the national team, only occasionally returning to the provincial team for preparations leading up to an event in the city of S. Women's hammer throw was a strong discipline in China, and this senior athlete possessed top-tier skills nationally, suggesting that her abilities could even compete for Olympic medals on the global stage.
Now, what was her project potential score in the system's evaluation? Despite her impressive abilities, her project potential score was merely 8.2 points.
Seeing this, Su Bai couldn't help but marvel internally. He couldn't fathom if the system would ever evaluate anyone with a potential score exceeding 9. Those individuals would likely be capable of breaking world records, right?
His thoughts briefly spiraled, but Su Bai quickly pushed them aside and took another look at the potential values of all the associated users. He spotted two values that stood out, even in the stringent eyes of the whimsical system.
One of them was a well-known prodigious athlete in the team, Wang Shen. His potential value in the high jump event was an astonishing 7.3 points.
The other was the notorious troublemaker in the team, Cui Luoheng. Surprisingly, his potential value in the 110-meter hurdles event was slightly higher than Wang Shen's, reaching 7.5 points.
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