Chapter 25: Selecting Silverfish for the Intermediate Examination

Qiao Xin did not expect that they would meet again so soon.

Her candidate number for the Intermediate Nutritionist Exam was 2333, but she was surprised to find someone behind her in line. It was Wen Zhiliu. When the two met at the entrance, they both paused in surprise.

"You're taking the Intermediate Nutritionist Exam too?"

"Yes, good luck!" Qiao Xin had a very good impression of Wen Zhiliu.

"Hehe, well, actually, I'm not very confident..." Wen Zhiliu gave a self-conscious smile. If it weren't for her fiancé insisting she take it, she wouldn't have come at all.

"I only took the Primary Nutritionist Exam this morning and am just here to practice this afternoon. Don't put too much pressure on yourself; it's not like you have to pass on the first try anyway." Qiao Xin shrugged and offered her a bright, reassuring smile.

Wen Zhiliu was taken aback, then covered her mouth in disbelief and said excitedly, "The food you make is so delicious, you'll definitely be fine!" She had full confidence in her.

Touched by her gentleness and kindness, Qiao Xin smiled sincerely. "Thanks! Let's add each other; we can exchange notes after the exam."

"Oh? Okay, sure!" Wen Zhiliu hurriedly held out her light-brain to exchange contact information.

"Are you going in or not? What's the point of blocking the doorway?" Someone else arrived behind them, speaking with their chin tilted up and a haughty air. The two women hurried inside, ignoring the grumbling person.

During this exam, Qiao Xin spent quite a while on the analytical section. The primary exam hadn't included questions on how to improve ingredients, but the intermediate one did.

*How can the earthy, fishy smell of mud-weed greens be treated?*
*How should Gugu chicken be cooked so it doesn't become tough?*
*Chijin chicken eggs have high nutritional value but a strong fishy odor; is there a way to remove it?*

These methods were not in the interstellar databases and strictly tested one's true expertise. Qiao Xin quickly wrote down at least three solutions for each, though she specifically noted that some of the auxiliary ingredients she suggested were more expensive than the main ingredients themselves. She did not, however, reveal the specific flavor profiles—those were her secret recipes.

Because she wrote so much, she couldn't leave early. Wen Zhiliu had wanted to wait for her, but because Qiao Xin took so long and Wen Zhiliu had just barely passed the theoretical cutoff, she received her practical assessment notice and had to head off to the next stage.

Qiao Xin was among the last to hand in her paper, and the proctors were already thinking they could give up on her.

However, when they saw the paper Qiao Xin submitted, they were stunned.

"Blanching mud-weed greens? Stewing Gugu chicken? Adding sour-fruit to Chijin chicken eggs? What on earth are these?" The more they read, the more confused they became. But as professional proctors, they had the light-brain analyze the feasibility.

In the end, it returned a ninety-percent success rate!

Instantly, they wanted to rush back to experiment, and they began flipping through the remaining papers rapidly. As it turned out, aside from Qiao Xin, only one other person passed. They shook their heads, sent out the notifications, took photos of Qiao Xin's methods, and immediately went to test them.

Qiao Xin had waited for ages without receiving her notification and assumed she had failed. The others didn't dare ask, but then the notice finally arrived.

"I told you Xin-xin couldn't fail!" Lin Yifeng let out a huge sigh of relief; he had been about to use his authority to pull her exam results!

"Relax, relax. I'm not even worried, so don't be so nervous," Qiao Xin said with a laugh as she looked at her parents and the other two. "Let's go to the practical assessment."

"Not nervous, not nervous, you shouldn't feel pressured either!" Xiao Linshuang held her hand to comfort her.

"Okay!" Qiao Xin left with Lin Yifeng.

Upon arriving at the assessment site, the five proctors stood up immediately.

"Dr. Lin!"

"You are proctors right now!" Lin Yifeng frowned slightly, clearly displeased by their excited demeanor. The five proctors sat down, bewildered, and watched him follow a candidate to the assessment station, their minds full of question marks. *A doctor acting as an assistant?*

Qiao Xin didn't know Lin Yifeng’s title, but Xiao Ruyi had told her about his genius, so she wasn't surprised that people recognized him. She ordered him around as she saw fit, without the slightest hesitation. When dealing with so-called "heaven's favorites," you really couldn't be too kind, or they would take a mile for every inch you gave.

"The Intermediate Nutritionist assessment requires at least two dishes. You may choose any ingredients and any cooking method. The assessment begins!"

It was another group of ten. As the exam started, Qiao Xin checked the available seasonings. There were more ingredients and more seasonings than in the primary exam. Qiao Xin found it hard to choose, so she started by selecting her main ingredient.

*Splash—*

The silverfish in the water tank splashed, but no one chose them. The characteristics of silverfish meat immediately appeared in Qiao Xin's mind; its only drawback was that the fishy smell was difficult to remove.

"Lin Yifeng, do you know how to process silverfish?" Qiao Xin had already imagined a full fish feast in her mind. She used his full name because that was the only way to keep him behaving normally.

"How does Xin-xin want them processed?" Lin Yifeng had seen her cook fish before, but he needed to be clear about the specific requirements.

"Fillet one, chop one into chunks, and just clean the scales and viscera of the last one," Qiao Xin explained one by one.

Lin Yifeng raised his hand, and the three silverfish were lifted into the air by wind. They spun rapidly, and the scales were scraped off completely. Then, he slit them open, removed the organs, and cleaned them. A whole silverfish was placed on a large plate, one was cut into evenly sized chunks, and the last one was sliced into palm-sized fillets by his wind blades.

The translucent fish meat was piled up, and a wave of fishy odor hit them.

"Get me some wheat-fruit powder and squeeze some sour-fruit juice." Qiao Xin quickly organized the seasonings she had chosen, giving direct instructions for anything she needed help with.

Her natural, matter-of-fact demeanor left the five proctors staring at each other. Of course, what was even more shocking was Lin Yifeng’s compliance—he followed her instructions perfectly. Since he had fallen ill, his personality had become so eccentric that people usually avoided him.

The fishy smell of the silverfish made the candidates on either side of Qiao Xin very unhappy. If it weren't for the rule against disturbing others during the exam, they would have started shouting.

Qiao Xin drizzled the sour-fruit juice over the whole silverfish and the chunks, rubbed it in evenly, and set them aside. Then, she used Gugu chicken eggs to mix the wheat-fruit powder and coated the fish fillets. After doing this, she started boiling water, preparing the base for the fish fillets and simmering a broth.

Half an hour later, she put the whole silverfish into a steamer and started braising the fish chunks in a pan. By then, the broth was ready. She set up five clay pots with the cooked base, boiled the fish fillets in the broth for ten minutes, and took them off the heat. The clay-pot fish fillets were done.

The steamed silverfish was almost ready, and the braised fish chunks needed a little more time. She immediately began preparing the topping for the steamed fish. As she stir-fried it, the aroma mingled with the scent of the clay-pot fish, making the candidates on both sides want to complain again.

Before, it had been an unpleasant fishy smell, but now it was an intoxicating fragrance. The extreme sensory contrast was so strong they could barely smell the food they were cooking themselves!

Qiao Xin was busy monitoring the heat and didn't notice, but the other candidates kept glancing at her, genuinely wondering how she could possibly create such a fragrant aroma. Even without tasting it, the scent alone was far superior to anything they had made.