Chapter 133: System Analyzes And Optimizes The Eight Treasure Pickles Secret Recipe!
Downstairs in Building 26, Long Ze Yuan.
Jiang Tao entered the building entrance carrying bags and packages.
He took the elevator to the 12th floor and knocked on the door of 1203.
“Jiang Tao, you’re here.”
Jiang Yi opened the door and smiled at Jiang Tao, who was holding various toiletries.
Jiang Tao had called her in advance before coming this time, so he wasn’t wearing the limited edition skin anymore.
He was wearing a set of ordinary cotton loungewear.
“Teacher Jiang, is your foot feeling any better?”
Jiang Tao smiled as he greeted Jiang Yi, then stepped into the room and gently closed the door.
“Thank you for the medicine, I feel much better after using it.”
As Jiang Yi spoke, she lightly brushed her hair.
Even though it was daytime, she and Jiang Tao were alone together in the room, which made her feel a little awkward.
“Haha, you’re only thanking me for the medicine? I don’t get any credit at all.”
Jiang Tao laughed heartily and made a small joke with Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi quickly corrected herself, “Of course not, thank you even more.”
“Haha, I was just joking with you. You took it seriously, just like when you used to teach our class.”
Jiang Tao’s words instantly brought them back to their university days.
He was 19 then, and she was 24, both at the most beautiful age of their lives.
Time flew by. Jiang Tao was already married with children, and Jiang Xue was old enough to buy pickles.
But Jiang Yi seemed to still be alone.
Jiang Tao was curious about Jiang Yi’s current relationship status, but he didn’t pry.
Everyone has the right to choose how they live their life; there’s no right or wrong way.
“It’s been almost ten years since we last met. Seeing you this time really surprised me.”
Jiang Yi looked at Jiang Tao with gentle eyes, comparing him in her mind to the Jiang Tao she once knew.
The former Jiang Tao was young, arrogant, and cynical.
But because he came from a rural area, he had neither an upward path nor the talent to break free from his constraints.
After graduation, like most of his classmates, he blended into the crowd, becoming a brick and mortar, a working horse in the lower strata of society.
The current Jiang Tao was mature and steady, successful in his career, and exuded an aura of immense confidence.
It was as if nothing was impossible for him if he set his mind to it.
This confidence, the charm of a successful person.
It was highly attractive, even to Jiang Yi, who was a few years older and more mature than him.
“I also didn’t expect to meet Teacher Jiang at Eddie’s. You used to teach university students, why are you teaching kindergarteners now?”
After Jiang Tao finished speaking, Jiang Yi seemed to recall an unpleasant memory.
Her previously radiant complexion seemed to have dimmed considerably.
“I’m sorry, Teacher Jiang, did I say something wrong? Please don’t mind me, I just talk too much.”
Seeing the change in Jiang Yi’s expression, Jiang Tao smiled sheepishly and ended the topic.
Jiang Yi forced a smile, “No, it’s just that some things are in the past, and I don’t want to talk about them anymore.”
“Okay, let’s not talk about it. No matter what unpleasant things happened, let them pass.”
“I’ll put my things down first, and then I’ll talk to you about something.”
“Oh? Is it about Xiao Xue?”
Hearing Jiang Tao’s words, the first thing Jiang Yi thought of was Jiang Xue.
“No, Teacher Jiang, please go sit on the sofa and rest for a while. I’ll put my things down.”
Jiang Tao said, then walked directly to the master bedroom door and pushed it open.
Upon entering, he immediately placed the bags and packages he was carrying onto the bed in the bedroom.
His “excuse” for coming today was to bring daily necessities for his sister.
You have to commit to the act; it still needed to be performed.
Lest Jiang Yi misunderstand his intentions.
He stayed in the bedroom for about five minutes, calculating the time, and then went out back to the living room.
As soon as he stepped out, Jiang Tao saw Jiang Yi sitting on the living room sofa, reading a book entirely in English.
With Jiang Tao’s current English level, he couldn’t even make out the book title.
As if sensing his presence, Jiang Yi looked up and met Jiang Tao’s gaze, smiling and gesturing to him.
“Teacher Jiang, yesterday I took the Eight Treasure Pickles you gave me back home for my family to try.”
“Everyone really liked your Eight Treasure Pickles.”
Jiang Tao made himself at home and plopped down on the sofa opposite Jiang Yi.
“Then I’ll pack some more for you when you leave.”
Jiang Yi closed her book and smiled at Jiang Tao; she was quite generous.
“Haha, I didn’t come today to ask for Eight Treasure Pickles.”
“Teacher Jiang, I feel that the flavor of your Eight Treasure Pickles is unique. Are you selling your recipe? I want to buy it.”
Jiang Tao didn’t beat around the bush with Jiang Yi and got straight to the point.
“Huh? You want to buy my secret recipe?”
Jiang Yi felt a mix of surprise and confusion at Jiang Tao’s words.
You’re a boss who sends your daughter to an elite school and drives a Mercedes, and you want to sell pickles?
Jiang Tao nodded confidently, “Yes, I want to buy your secret recipe.”
Jiang Yi smiled, “If you want to learn, I can teach you.”
“It’s not a special secret recipe, you don’t need to buy it.”
“Actually, I’m almost finished with the batch I pickled earlier. I’ll pickle another batch and teach you at the same time.”
Although Jiang Yi was short on money, she felt that a recipe for pickling vegetables wasn’t something to be sold.
Jiang Tao was stunned at first, then suddenly understood.
Right, Jiang Yi’s family’s ancestral Eight Treasure Pickles secret recipe had high commercial value according to System Brother’s evaluation.
But to Jiang Yi and her family, it might not be anything special.
It was likely that their family had been pickling them for generations just for their own consumption.
They had never thought of commercializing this secret recipe, nor did they know its actual value.
This outcome was far beyond Jiang Tao’s expectations.
He really hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly, and even get it for free!
Jiang Tao said readily, “Then I’ll buy all the ingredients needed for you to pickle pickles, Teacher Jiang! Consider it a gift for taking me as a disciple. Please don’t refuse this time.”
“Alright, I didn’t expect that after so many years, I’d be your teacher again, although the subject is a bit unusual this time.”
Jiang Yi said with a smile, feeling that the day’s events were somewhat amusing.
A university teacher teaching her student how to pickle pickles!
“Haha, then Teacher Jiang can’t hold back later, okay?”
Jiang Tao said jokingly, “If I commercialize and mass-produce this recipe in the future, will you sue me for infringement?”
Jiang Yi chuckled coyly, “I haven’t registered any patents or trademarks, so you can’t sue me even if you wanted to.”
Jiang Tao got back to the main topic and asked, “So, when are we going to buy the ingredients?”
Jiang Yi replied, “It’s better to do it now than later. I’m on vacation these past few days, and I won’t have much time once I go back to school the day after tomorrow.”
“Great! Then let’s act immediately!”
Jiang Tao didn’t stand on ceremony with Jiang Yi.
The two of them went downstairs together, got into Jiang Tao’s car, and drove directly to a Wumei Supermarket near the residential area.
There were no special restrictions on the “eight treasures” needed for Eight Treasure Pickles.
They could be mixed and matched freely according to personal taste.
The Eight Treasure Pickles that Jiang Yi often made included white radish, cucumber sticks, screw vegetables, lotus root, bamboo shoots, Jerusalem artichokes, chili peppers, and peanuts.
These were all ordinary home-style vegetables that could be bought at the supermarket, and the prices were very affordable.
After a big shopping spree, they spent less than 200 yuan and bought a large pile of items.
Back home, Jiang Tao helped Jiang Yi process the raw materials.
Some needed to be peeled, some washed, some diced, some cut into chunks, or cut into sections.
Different ingredients had different preparation methods.
Jiang Yi was truly teaching him, holding nothing back.
After preparing all the ingredients, she began layering them into a large porcelain basin, sprinkling salt on each layer.
“These ingredients need to drain for about a day. We’ll make the brine first and let it cool.”
“Tomorrow, after the vegetables have drained, wring them out with a cloth, and then pour in the cooled brine.”
“It will take about 8 days to pickle and be ready to eat.”
Jiang Yi explained the precautions needed during the pickling process to Jiang Tao.
At the same time, she picked out the seasonings she would need from the seasoning box.
“You can eat it after pickling for 7 days?”
Jiang Tao was overjoyed to hear Jiang Yi’s words.
He had previously assumed that pickling vegetables would take at least a month to fully infuse with flavor.
If it only took 7 days, he could pickle more than 4 jars in a month with the Delicious Pickled Vegetable Jar!
If the acceleration effect of the pickle jar was ideal, he could even reach 5 or 6 jars!
Calculating at 500 catties per jar.
6 jars would be 3000 catties!
At 20 yuan per catty, the monthly output value would be 60,000 yuan!
This output value couldn’t compare to factories or companies.
But for parents like his, who were self-employed, they could definitely live a comfortable life!
“Yes, it can be fully flavored and reach its best taste in 7 days.”
“Next is the brewing of the brine, the soul of the Eight Treasure Pickles.”
“First, heat oil in a pot, add 3 star anise, and 15-20 Sichuan peppercorns, and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant.”
Jiang Yi taught while demonstrating.
She taught Jiang Tao every step without reservation.
“After stir-frying the base ingredients until fragrant, add 150 grams of Qianhe light soy sauce for umami. I prefer this brand.”
“The ingredient list for this soy sauce is quite clean: only water, salt, and soybeans, with no miscellaneous additives.”
“This kind of pure brewing method is not only healthy but also preserves the natural umami of the soy sauce.”
“Then add 50 grams of sweet bean paste, 10 grams of dark soy sauce for color, and 15 grams of sugar to enhance flavor and balance the taste.”
“Finally, add two bowls of water. This is the ratio of all the ingredients.”
“Once the water boils, cook for another minute and then turn off the heat to cool.”
Jiang Yi taught diligently, while Jiang Tao opened his mobile phone’s notepad and used Xunfei Voice Input to transcribe Jiang Yi’s words into text.
The two of them worked in the kitchen for over an hour to finish processing the ingredients for the Eight Treasure Pickles and brewing the brine.
Jiang Tao also noted down the brands of all the seasonings Jiang Yi used during the preparation.
In the future, he would strictly purchase ingredients according to Jiang Yi’s specifications.
Using substitutes might result in a different taste.
【Ding! Jiang Yi’s entire teaching process has been recorded and is being analyzed and optimized by the system…】
【Ding! Optimization complete. Congratulations to the host for acquiring the skill of pickling Eight Treasure Pickles!】
Suddenly, two dings sounded in Jiang Tao’s mind, and two notification messages appeared on his retina.
At the same time.
It was as if a copy of the Eight Treasure Pickles production process had been replicated from Jiang Yi’s mind into Jiang Tao’s.
He felt that he could now perfectly and accurately replicate all the steps of Jiang Yi’s Eight Treasure Pickles preparation, even without looking at his phone’s notepad!
Although he had never tried it before, it felt as if he had performed the process hundreds, even thousands of times.
This peculiar form of memory, akin to eidetic memory, was marvelous.
It not only saved Jiang Tao the practice process but also indirectly saved him a significant amount of time.
It directly transformed him from a novice at pickling Eight Treasure Pickles into an expert!
Moreover, the skill he acquired for pickling Eight Treasure Pickles had been analyzed and optimized by the system.
It could be said that he surpassed the original!
“Perhaps there’s nothing special about Jiang Yi’s secret recipe. It might be easily found online.”
“But only by learning from her personally can the System Brother’s analysis and optimization command be triggered?”
Jiang Tao recalled the process of learning to pickle Eight Treasure Pickles from Jiang Yi today and came up with a tentative conclusion.
While learning from Jiang Yi today, he had thought, “This is nothing special!
Aren’t these all common procedures?
I bet I can find many tutorials online.”
Only now did Jiang Tao begin to understand the purpose of the intelligence about the Eight Treasure Pickles secret recipe that System Brother had provided him.
Of course, whether this inference was correct wasn’t that important.
What was important was that he had now mastered the technique of pickling Eight Treasure Pickles.
He could go back to Xiao Shahe this afternoon and pickle a large jar of Eight Treasure Pickles using the Delicious Pickled Vegetable Jar.
And then officially start the small business of Eight Treasure Pickles.
“That’s all for today’s lesson. If you have any questions when you operate on your own, you can call me.”
After finishing today’s teaching, Jiang Yi unfastened the strings of her apron from behind her back.
Perhaps due to being distracted while talking to Jiang Tao, the strings behind her apron didn’t untie smoothly but tied into a knot.
In an instant, Jiang Yi felt extremely embarrassed.
She quickly brought her hands from behind to the front, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Tao mentally closed the notification message on his retina and smiled at Jiang Yi:
“Teacher Jiang, you’ve worked hard. It’s almost lunchtime, let me treat you. Consider it my thanks for your free teaching.”
Jiang Yi smiled, “You don’t need to be so polite, Jiang Tao. It’s just a small matter. Besides, you bought so many ingredients for me, we’re even.”
Jiang Tao insisted, “That won’t do. You’ve shared such a valuable secret recipe with me for free, I have to show my appreciation somehow.”
“I must treat you to lunch today. You can pick the place.”
“Really, you don’t need to, Jiang Tao. I can just make something simple at home.”
“You must! Otherwise, I’ll feel like I’ve taken a huge advantage of you.”
“If you don’t want to eat, that’s fine too. Teacher Jiang, name your price, and I’ll pay you for the secret recipe.”
“Choose one of these two options.”
“…”
Jiang Yi naturally wouldn’t charge Jiang Tao for money, so she finally had to agree to go out to eat with him.
The place she chose was a Sichuan Restaurant located outside the residential area.
Although it didn’t have a star rating, the restaurant, from the outside to the inside, gave a very clean and hygienic impression.
The boss lady was also a kind-looking and approachable middle-aged woman.
“Xiao Jiang, you haven’t been here in a while~ Is this your boyfriend? He’s so handsome!”
“I was wondering why you haven’t been here for so long, so you were busy dating!”
The boss lady seemed very familiar with Jiang Yi and greeted her with a smile while carefully observing Jiang Tao.
“Cough cough, Sister Liu, you’ve misunderstood. We’re not that kind of relationship, this is…”
Suddenly needing to introduce Jiang Tao’s identity, Jiang Yi faltered.
How should she introduce him: as her former student, or as a parent of her current students?
“Hahaha, Sister understands, Sister understands~”
“You two go find a place to sit and see what you want to eat today.”
The boss lady looked at Jiang Tao and Jiang Yi with a smile, finding the two of them very compatible.
No matter what, she had decided they were a couple.
You say it’s not that kind of relationship?
I’ll decide, not you!
