Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 08/27/2023
If Wang Shen's data were within Su Bai's expectations, then Cui Luoheng's data seemed to slightly deviate from Su Bai's anticipations.
It's not that Cui Luoheng's achievements were poor. Despite his bad temper, he had managed to make it to the semifinals of the 110m hurdles at the U20 World Championships in 2016. In the domestic scene, Cui Luoheng was a young athlete who garnered attention within the track and field community.
However, compared to Wang Shen, who had been dominating national competitions since his youth, achieving impressive results in both the World U18 Championships and the World U20 Championships, Cui Luoheng's achievements appeared less dazzling.
Cui Luoheng's performance during his youth was commendable, but his personal best was only making it to the semifinals of the World U20 Championships, where he ran 14.11 seconds, finishing fourth in his semifinal group and failing to advance to the final.
Since the year he was about to turn 19, Cui Luoheng had begun transitioning to the adult category and adjusting his training accordingly. He shifted from the 99cm hurdles used in the youth category to the 106cm hurdles used in the adult category.
Due to the adjustment in hurdle heights between the youth and adult categories, this change was bound to affect Cui Luoheng's overall technique. It required a training and adaptation period. Consequently, he didn't participate much in domestic competitions the previous year, leaving his personal records largely blank.
Of course, the hurdles coach of the S Province Provincial Team still had high hopes for Cui Luoheng. After turning 18, he participated in the National Indoor Athletics Championships in February of the following year to set a good starting point for his official competitions that year.
Su Bai remembered that Cui Luoheng had won a certain station's 60m hurdles indoor championship, but he didn't perform at his best during the final round of the National Indoor Athletics Championships, finishing fifth.
Considering the potential value assessments that the system had given to Liu Jiaonan, the women's hammer throw champion, and to Wang Shen, Cui Luoheng's value of 7.6 seemed impressive. It might not mean dominating the international scene, but at the very least during his youth, he should have been competitive on the international stage.
However, looking at Cui Luoheng's results, even though he occasionally won championships on the domestic stage during his youth and was often within the top five of the national rankings in the 110m hurdles event, his achievements seemed inadequate compared to Wang Shen's accomplishments.
As Su Bai read through this, he slightly furrowed his brows. If Cui Luoheng's innate potential wasn't the issue, then what could be the reasons behind his actual performance not matching the expected heights of his potential value?
Was it due to insufficient training? Was there a deficiency in the coach's training plan? Or was it Cui Luoheng's own resistance to training and lack of cooperation?
Cui Luoheng's data had completely captured Su Bai's attention. Unfortunately, he had retired from the team, and from any perspective, he lacked the authority to access training plans and training records from the coach.
Thinking of this, Su Bai couldn't help but shift his gaze to the bottom of Cui Luoheng's associated page, where a row of grayed-out options awaited activation.
Among these options was the "Yearly Training Status Curve Chart for Athletes."
As Su Bai ate with Sun Xiangdong, his mind wandered. He wondered what level of authority he needed to activate these grayed-out buttons.
Sun Xiangdong had no idea what Su Bai was thinking. He simply grinned as he enjoyed his meal, raising his thumb in praise of Su Bai's cooking.
"Hey, Xiaobai, your cooking skills are incredible. After this meal tonight, those folks who didn't get to eat are going to be really upset!"
At this point, Sun Xiangdong continued with a laugh, "After eating your food, those guys and girls will probably be so hungry tonight that they won't even feel like snacking. I can tell you, last night when I had your bone broth noodles, I didn't realize how much I'd miss that taste until I tried making a bowl for myself after you left. No matter how I ate it, it just wasn't the same as your flavor. In the end, I ate it with a sense of dissatisfaction."
"With this meal you've prepared, those young folks probably won't even be interested in snacks tonight. It might save them from getting scolded by the coaches for indulging," Sun Xiangdong remarked.
Sun Xiangdong's praise was a bit exaggerated, and Su Bai blinked in surprise, saying, "Sun bro, your compliments are too much."
"Hey, what's too much about it?" Sun Xiangdong waved his hand, "I've been in the culinary field for so many years. The dishes you made, though they don't seem to have any extra seasonings, can bring out the inherent aroma of the ingredients themselves."
"There's a saying, isn't there? 'Top-notch food naturally carries its own pure flavor.' We chefs, apart from seasoning, the real skill is in enhancing this 'freshness'." Sun Xiangdong smiled and looked at Su Bai, "You're someone with real skills."
"Eating such delicious and wonderful food, then going back to those usually fragrant snacks, these kids won't find them as appealing."
Sun Xiangdong's words sounded a bit mysterious, but they also seemed to make sense.While Su Bai's cooking skills used to be quite decent, the difference between then and these past two days was like night and day. The sensory enhancements brought by the quirky system and the various culinary techniques it had taught him had propelled his cooking to a whole new level.
But...
The skill Sun Xiangdong was praising him for, according to the system's evaluation, was still only at the level of "Novice Chef: Has preliminary grasp of techniques to bring out the delicious flavors of food, foundational culinary skills not yet solid, needs to continue to work hard."
Su Bai didn't really mind this evaluation from the system. At present, he had embarked on a completely new career path, and the system's evaluations, as well as the various tasks it assigned, had given him a clearer direction to move in.
He aimed to complete the system's tasks diligently, to continually explore the system's hidden functions—this was an interesting challenge that motivated him. Moreover, the system seemed to hold the potential to bring him back to the coaching path.
As Su Bai contemplated the system and various future matters, on the other side, Qiu Wen, who had finished eating, saw Su Bai and Sun Xiangdong feasting heartily in the kitchen through the glass window. He pressed himself against the window, almost turning into a portrait of resentment.
"Su~~~ Xiao~~~ Bai~~~~ You and Chef Sun are having such a great time without us!!!"Qiu Wen gazed at the dishes on the kitchen table with a look of longing. Even through the glass, he could distinctly smell the aroma of the braised beef, sautéed eggplant, and tomato egg soup.
Holding his bowl of food, Su Bai turned his head and saw Qiu Wen pressed against the glass window, feeling somewhat speechless.
"... We're just having a casual meal."
Having retired, he naturally didn't need to consciously control his diet, and as for Sun Xiangdong, well, who ever heard of a chef dieting?
So, when he said they were just eating casually, he really meant it was a casual meal.
Of course, Qiu Wen understood his words, but he still felt hungry!
After thinking for a moment, Qiu Wen squeezed into the small window under the glass, and called out to Su Bai inside, "Xiao Bai!! Don't forget, tonight, I'm up for a midnight snack! Can we have the bone soup noodles from last night? Pretty please?"
This whining voice, filled with tenderness and accompanied by wavy lines, caused Su Bai's hands holding the bowl to tremble. He then put on a cold expression and said, "Speak properly!"
Right after Qiu Wen finished his lament, Su Bai didn't hear him mumbling something about 'cold and heartless Su Xiaobai', but instead, he saw Cui Luoheng, who had just arrived behind Qiu Wen and was standing by the plate collection shelf.
It had been a long time since Cui Luoheng had enjoyed a meal that refreshed him like this. Even though he was eating happily, it still wasn't enough.
Even if he poured all the sauce from the braised beef and sautéed eggplant over his rice, he couldn't satisfy his appetite!
So, after enjoying the delicious food and having his fill of regular food, Cui Luoheng held onto his plate, ready to put them on the collection shelf as usual.
But next to the shelf, he saw Qiu Wen, who was lamenting against the glass window.
Cui Luoheng knew that Qiu Wen was Su Bai's roommate, and from the gossip of those around them, he even knew that Qiu Wen had already eaten the 'exquisite and delicious bone soup noodles' made by Su Bai the previous night.
Thinking about the delicious dishes from today's dinner, which were also crafted by Su Bai's hands, Cui Luoheng's mind also started to wander towards the idea of bone soup noodles.So, Su Bai saw that Cui Luoheng, who had been standing on the side, blinked his eyes and then walked up to the window, tapping on the glass.
"Midnight snack, count me in."
Initially, Qiu Wen wasn't aware that Cui Luoheng was behind him. Startled by someone speaking behind him, he turned around and saw Cui Luoheng standing there.
"Hey! Ah Heng, why are you behind me? You scared me!" Qiu Wen didn't know if Su Bai was willing to prepare midnight snacks for others, so he attempted to change the subject.
It must be said that Qiu Wen's quirky personality was well-known even in the provincial team. He was always cheerful, and even with someone like Cui Luoheng, who was known for being prickly, he could strike up a conversation. Their relationship was acceptable, but while it was acceptable, he understood very well that he didn't want to cause trouble for his roommate without knowing Su Bai's intentions.
However, Qiu Wen's concern was indeed unnecessary. After all, Su Bai was now the official chef of the provincial team. According to the athletes' nutritional requirements and Sun Xiangdong's arrangement, which was the nutritionist's plan, preparing food for the athletes was his main duty.
However, according to calculations made by Sun Xiangdong and the various coaches, the athletes who needed midnight snacks often found it a bit troublesome to eat another meal at night. They negotiated with Sun Xiangdong to shift the nighttime portion to other times, supplementing the required nutrition through fruits, milk, and other means to fulfill their daily nutritional needs. As a result, most of the athletes in the provincial team had forgotten about the concept of 'midnight snack time'.
Su Bai just turned to look at Sun Xiangdong. After confirming the recent training intensity of Cui Luoheng, Sun Xiangdong agreed that it was necessary to provide 1-2 additional supplementary meals for athletes like Qiu Wen and Cui Luoheng at their age. It would be beneficial for them.
With Sun Xiangdong's approval, Su Bai turned back to agree with the two athletes. Unexpectedly, in just a short moment, another person, Wang Shen, appeared outside the glass window.
Clearly, Wang Shen had also heard the conversation between Qiu Wen and Cui Luoheng. His eyes lit up, and he flashed a bright smile at Su Bai through the glass.
"Oh? For the midnight snack, why not take me with you?"
In any case, whether it was for one person or three people, Su Bai agreed after confirming. Sun Xiangdong glanced at the obviously greedy trio, gave a snort, and with a smile, reorganized the midnight snacks for the three of them and handed the arrangement to Su Bai.
At this moment, dinner had just ended and it wasn't yet time for midnight snacks. So, Su Bai returned to his dormitory to freshen up.
Although he had retired, he had taken up a position in the team's kitchen. The team had decided that it was more convenient for him to stay in his original dormitory rather than moving again.
Returning to the dormitory, Su Bai took a shower and during that time, the voice of the silly system popped up, providing him with a series of settlement prompts.
Ding!
The task "Obtain 20 Junior Affiliated Users" has been completed. The host's main level has been upgraded, granting Level 2 observation permission for affiliated users, and rewarding 1 skill point!
Ding!
The food cooked by the host has received 108 sincere compliments. Rewards: 2 freedom permission points, 2 skill points!
Ding!
The host has completed today's daily tasks. Reward: 1 skill point!...
...
The long string of notifications made Su Bai feel a bit dizzy, but he quickly caught the key points—his Level 2 observation permission for affiliated users had been unlocked!
Considering the skill points he had accumulated from completing the previous day's daily tasks, he now had 5 skill points. This was enough to upgrade his Basic Culinary Arts from Level 1 to Level 2.
Su Bai glanced at the currently empty skill slots and tentatively upgraded his Basic Culinary Arts from Level 1 to Level 2.
After a perfunctory flash of white light, Su Bai saw the upgraded description of Basic Culinary Arts.
Basic Culinary Arts Level 2: The host's five senses will receive an additional 10% enhancement on top of Level 1. As a result, sensitivity to culinary-related aspects such as ingredients, seasonings, and cooking techniques will be proportionally improved. Additionally, at Basic Culinary Arts Level 2, the food prepared by the host will receive a 15% enhancement in color, aroma, and flavor. (Upon mastering Basic Culinary Arts Level 2, there is a chance that the food prepared by the host may have minor special effects on affiliated users who consume it.)
Skimming over the contents that were mostly similar to Basic Culinary Arts Level 1, Su Bai quickly noticed the sentence within the parentheses at the end.
Minor special effects?!
As Su Bai read this, he was initially taken aback, wondering what exactly these effects could be. Soon, he recalled the set of nutritional recipes the system had provided him. Opening it up and glancing through, he discovered a new line of small text beneath it.
For instance, beneath the recipe for the Braised Beef he had prepared today, he found an additional line: "There is a chance that the food prepared by the host may enhance affiliated users' training efficiency by 1%."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------