Chapter 290: Chapter 189: Mastering the Carving Knife Technique! Good heavens, Boss Lin is going after the sculptors’ livelihoods! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
Before, I had only heard about forced loan repayment; I never imagined there would be compulsory lending.
Lin Xu had been waiting to save enough points to redeem the Eye of Discrimination, but now, his points kept decreasing and were even on the verge of turning negative.
Use the Points Overdraft Card!
He muttered to himself, and immediately the system’s notification sounded in his mind:
"Gold Level Points Overdraft Card used, 500,000 points obtained. Please earn 700,000 points within one month, or a random Perfect Level dish will be canceled."
After getting the points, Lin Xu quickly entered the Points Mall and started exchanging them for the techniques he needed.
In the Points Mall, individual techniques were relatively cheap. For example, the Superior White Water Lamb Dipping Sauce Technique he had exchanged for during the last competition cost only 200,000 points. But Knife Skills, a major and widely applicable skill category, were a lot pricier. For instance, the Carving Technique he wanted to exchange for now cost 80,000 points even at the Basic Level. At the Excellent Level, it reached 200,000 points. As for Superior, it required 500,000 points.
Hmm, I just received an overdraft of 500,000 points, and it’s going to be spent in less than a minute.
The system truly understood the essence of microloans.
By now, other contestants had already started picking their ingredients.
Lin Xu also focused his mind, pondered for a moment, and chose the Superior Carving Technique. All the contestants present, every single one of them, had carving techniques above the Excellent Level. If he had exchanged for the Excellent Level, it would have been better to admit defeat right away.
"The Host spent 500,000 points and obtained the Superior Carving Technique. This triggered a Skill Task: ’Please use the Carving Technique once within half an hour and receive praise from over a thousand people. Otherwise, the Superior Carving Technique will be downgraded to the Excellent Carving Technique.’"
As expected... another one of these Skill Tasks. But a thousand people is just a thousand. Though there are only two to three hundred people on-site today, many more are watching the live stream online and on TV. Getting praise from a thousand people shouldn’t be difficult. After all, carving techniques are visually demonstrative; there’s no need to taste anything. As long as the carving is up to par, winning a wave of applause won’t be an issue.
Upon absorbing the experience, Lin Xu strolled over to the ingredients rack to pick his items.
He first decided against cucumbers. Although this ingredient could demonstrate the art of intricate carving in a confined space, it was ultimately too small to score highly. As for the Winter Melon, its size was too large, and its texture not delicate enough. It was only suitable for carving some crude and bulky designs. While it might look good from afar, up close, it was full of flaws.
Pumpkin was actually not bad. Its size was moderate and its flesh dense, suitable for displaying carving techniques. But when Lin Xu went to pick one, he found that the pumpkins had already been snatched up. The same was true for other popular ingredients for carving—White Radishes and Carrots were also gone.
It’s a pity there aren’t any Beauty Heart radishes. If there were, I could have carved a rose. That would have scored high and delighted Shen Baobao – killing two birds with one stone!
With no other choice, Lin Xu grabbed a box of Lactone Tofu.
If one were showcasing Basic Knife Skills, Lactone Tofu was a popular choice. Because, no matter the occasion, Wensi Tofu is always the prime candidate for demonstrating Basic Knife Skills. But since this was about carving, and it was a live broadcast, the fragile nature of Lactone Tofu—prone to crumbling at the slightest touch—made many contestants hesitant. The risk of a disastrous failure was too high; it wasn’t worth the gamble. On the contrary, ingredients like radishes and cucumbers were easier to work with and offered a better chance to impress.
"It’s Lactone Tofu again; Boss Lin really has a special fondness for this ingredient."
"Probably loves tofu just like me (joking)."
"Hey, the commenter above, clarify what you mean by ’eating tofu’!"
"Uncle Ben once said, ’The greater the difficulty, the more points added.’ Boss Lin must have chosen it for the extra points, right?"
"Dude, which version of Spiderman did you watch?"
"I study jade carving. Why do I suddenly feel so nervous?"
"Don’t panic, brother. Boss Lin may be crossing disciplines, but he won’t steal your business... Anyone need welding? If your iron gate is squeaking, give a shout! A metalworking veteran of twenty years is online and taking orders!"
Seeing Lin Xu choose Lactone Tofu, the fans in the live stream began to eagerly anticipate what kind of surprising crossover he would attempt.
In a spot next to Lin Xu, the quick-acting Wei Qian chose a section of pumpkin near the stem. This part of the pumpkin, lacking pulp and seeds, was an ideal choice for carving. As for Guo Xinghai, he selected a finely-textured White Radish. Both their chosen ingredients were quite good. As long as there were no mistakes in their carving, they should be able to score well.
After looking around, Lin Xu then brought over a glass bowl half-full of clear water. The Lactone Tofu was extremely soft and delicate. To carve a beautiful pattern, it had to be done underwater to best ensure the integrity of the shape.
He drizzled some water on the cutting board. Then, he cut the four corners of the Lactone Tofu box, tore off the surface film, and carefully slid the tofu out.
He drew the kitchen knife, one his master had used for half a lifetime, from its sheath. Lin Xu carefully wiped the knife with a towel, then sprinkled water over the tofu and meticulously trimmed its edges. Once packaged, Lactone Tofu develops a slightly firmer ’skin’ on its sides, top, and bottom surfaces. During carving, these firmer edges needed to be trimmed off. This ensured the tofu’s texture would be perfectly uniform, preventing mistakes during the carving process.
After trimming all four sides, he carefully sliced off the top surface using a flat-blading technique. Then, cautiously, he slid the knife blade under the tofu and carefully transferred the quivering block of Lactone Tofu into the glass bowl filled with water.
Once it was in the water, the preparation work was considered complete, and he could begin carving.