The Onion-Cutting Ninja's Secret Crush

79 Dangerous Territory

"Hm, Si Jin ..." Si Qi pondered how to describe his master to somebody outside of the clan. "He is somebody that is usually very logical, very rational. If he looks at something, he is able to cut straight to the heart of the matter and find a solution to problems. He is definitely gifted in that regard.

"Also, if there's something that he wants, he will pursue that with fervor. It doesn't matter how many hours he needs to put in. He will just see what needs to be done and then he'll get to it.

"Think of this matter with 'Golden Spoon': You asked your fans to register and he figured that it would be something that would make you happy so he signed up and even rallied some friends to do the same. Unfortunately, Si Jin really couldn't cook.

"He grew up in a wealthy family. His whole life, he has never had to worry about making even the simplest of dishes." Or at least not the kind that would net him a win in a show like this. Si Jin could — just like all the ninjas of the Si clan — definitely scour the wilderness for ingredients and make something to sustain himself for weeks or even months without trouble. But that was about survival, not taste. And it also wasn't something that Xiao Ming needed to know just yet.

Si Qi left out this fact and just continued his previous line of thought. "So anything that he knows about cooking came from your live streams. And while I guess he had somewhat of a shaky foundation at least after listening for several years, I don't think he ever held a spoon before. Not to cook, at least."

Xiao Ming couldn't help but raise his brows at that. He had heard that Si Jin hadn't been able to cook before but he had thought that maybe this was somewhat exaggerated. A lot of people would be able to make simple dishes at least but would still say that they couldn't cook because they weren't able to make something without following a recipe or only knew a few staple recipes.

In his eyes, it was still pretty much the same. They were able to make something. Maybe they needed a bit more guidance for that but they were able to. Somebody who couldn't cook at all ... he actually had trouble imagining that. But it seemed that Si Jin really was somebody like that. "So he just ... started learning?"

Si Qi nodded. This was actually rather easy to talk about since it was the whole truth. "You know how he knows that Michelin-starred chef, Ai Gui Jin? Si Jin told him he wanted to learn and, well, here we are now. Ai Gui Jin taught him everything starting from the basics that he should pay attention to and then just had him try until he got it right.

"Honestly, I have never seen somebody cut onions like that." He cupped his cheek, his expression still stunned when he thought back. In any case, it wasn't strange in the Si clan to see some rather ... unusual things when somebody was picking up a new skill. But the cooking sessions especially in the first week had been astounding nonetheless. Seeing all those onions and then all the other vegetables and fruits pile up ... he still couldn't forget the sight and smell of that.

"Did he really cut ten thousand onions?" It seemed completely impossible.

Si Qi smiled though. "I know you can't imagine it but that's exactly what I mean: Si Jin is even more stubborn than the most stubborn person I know. If he wants something, he gets it. And he isn't afraid to put in the work even if it's grueling.

"So yes, he really did. He had ten thousand ordered, then had Ai Gui Jin show him once how it's done, and then tried himself until he got the hang of it. I guess it didn't look too well at the beginning but you can imagine that after ten thousand of them, he is actually rather good at it now.

"If you ever get the chance to see him cut an onion on the show, you should definitely take a closer look. I can't speak to for the rest of his cooking but his cutting techniques should be pretty good. That was the first thing that he learned after all and he is only going to get more practice the longer the show is running."