Chapter 21: A Little Classroom in a Dream

Bai Ye checked the cured meat and, seeing no issues, turned off the fire. The whole family, taking advantage of the warm blankets, went to bed early.

However, Bai Ye couldn't fall asleep. A three-and-a-half-star task—it looked easy enough, but who knew what twists might arise?

Thinking about how he'd been earning experience points from previous tasks but hadn't used them yet, he quickly opened the system to take a look.

In the task list, several completed missions were listed, and at the top was the amount of system rewards he had earned, along with his experience points.

He hadn't realized it before, but now he saw that he had accumulated over 4,500 yuan in rewards over just a few days since returning home.

Good grief—this was only after a few days!

Moreover, under the system's step-by-step guidance, his family had already made about 2,000 yuan selling cured meat in the past two days.

In the past, his parents would toil away in the fields for months and still not dig that much money out of the soil.

Even for himself, before he was promised a salary of 6,000 yuan, his monthly income was only about three to four thousand. Now, he'd already surpassed that within days.

Bai Ye's heart swelled with gratitude. He sincerely thanked the system for three full seconds.

Unexpectedly, the system actually replied with a casual "You're welcome," making Bai Ye chuckle silently.

Then he looked at his experience points—ninety points in total.

He had skimmed the system before and knew that experience points were used to unlock other system modules or upgrade them.

But over the past few days, as soon as he climbed into his warm bed, he would quickly fall asleep and not wake up until morning.

Tonight, for the first time, Bai Ye seriously studied the entire system.

The system had multiple modules. The first module he entered was the one he had already unlocked—ingredient processing.

This module was like a pyramid. The bottom row had functions already unlocked, such as one-click cleaning.

He had used that function before, but had completely forgotten about it these past few days. No matter—it would come in handy for tomorrow's banquet.

Above the one-click cleaning function were several grayed-out skills on the same level, probably of the same category—such as one-click slicing, one-click shredding, and so on.

Bai Ye had never planned to unlock those, thinking they were unnecessary.

After all, slicing and shredding were basic skills for any chef. Unlocking them all would just be a waste of resources.

Further buttons remained grayed out with no labels, presumably hidden until prior functions were unlocked.

Bai Ye wasn't particularly interested in the ingredient processing module, so he went back to the main menu.

The overall system looked like a tech tree—but not a simple one, a realistic tech tree.

It resembled a massive tree with modules hanging off like apples.

The tree was so vivid that Bai Ye felt as if he were standing under an enormous, towering tree at first glance.

Looking up, the branches were withered, and the leaves yellowed, as if stricken by disease.

The more he looked, the more a deep sadness grew in his heart.

He could almost empathize with the tree—knowing it was gravely ill but unwilling to die, still struggling to survive.

The lit-up apples seemed like medicine; not only did they glow bright red, but the branches they hung from also gained a touch of fresh green.

Observing closely, Bai Ye noticed that four small branches had come back to life.

This matched the four tasks he had completed.

Bai Ye smiled and said,"Don't worry, big tree. For the sake of money, I'll keep completing tasks and unlocking modules!"

However, unlocking a new module wasn't easy.

According to the system, he needed to use the lottery wheel to unlock new modules.

Each spin of the wheel cost 50 experience points.

With only ninety points in total, Bai Ye wasn't about to splurge. He flatly refused the system's suggestion.

Better to unlock one-click shredding instead.

Unlocking it would only cost 20 experience points, and it might save him a lot of time.

Bai Ye returned to the ingredient processing module, eyed the row of slicing and shredding skills, and was about to press one when a dialog box suddenly popped up:

[Unlock all one-click cutting functions at once for only 80 experience points.Bonus: Food Carving Training Course.Unlock now? Countdown: 30 seconds.]

Bai Ye froze for a moment, then clicked confirm.

Why not? Unlocking all one-click cutting functions would really save him trouble during tomorrow's banquet.

Even though there would be helpers for washing and prepping vegetables, they weren't professionals—meaning the cuts would be uneven in thickness and length, which could affect cooking times and the final texture of the dishes.

He needed 120 satisfaction points to complete the task.

With fifteen tables and eight to ten people per table, there would be around 120 to 150 guests. But getting almost everyone to be satisfied was no easy feat.

Bai Ye knew his own skill level: decent enough for a small roadside diner, but nowhere near that of a true master chef.

So paying attention to details was crucial.

Plus, he was intrigued by the bonus food carving course.

While learning under his old boss, Bai Ye had focused only on home-style cooking; he had never needed fancy plating or decorative carving.

Thus, he was absolutely clueless in that area.

Now that a training course was available, there was no way he would pass it up.

He just wondered—how exactly would the system "train" him?

After confirming, the second layer of the pyramid lit up completely.

Shredding, slicing, dicing, chunking—everything unlocked.

Before Bai Ye could take a good look, he suddenly felt as if he were being sucked away by a giant vacuum cleaner.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a vast, empty square.

In front of him was a table, a knife, and a few radishes.

Suddenly, someone banged on a table up front and shouted,"Pay close attention! If you don't learn it properly, you're not allowed to leave!"

Bai Ye was stunned—so this was the so-called "training course"? Actual classes? And he wouldn't be allowed to leave until he passed?

Well, since he was here, he might as well go along with it. Bai Ye earnestly started following the lesson.

But, having never received formal training, he stumbled from the very beginning.

The instructor walked down from the podium, glanced at his carved radish, and coldly remarked:

"Your hands are clumsier than your feet."

Bai Ye was left burning with indignation.

He refused to believe he couldn't even carve a simple radish flower!

When the rooster's crowing rang in his ears, Bai Ye slowly opened his eyes.

Still a little dazed, he looked at his hands.

Had it all been a dream last night? Or had it really happened?

Somehow, he had learned food carving overnight.

Not just basic decorative garnishes, but intricate, three-dimensional carvings!

Recalling everything from the dream, Bai Ye's hands itched to start carving something right away.