Chapter 72: We agreed not to review, so you got a perfect score?

“squirrel mandarin fish? Can squirrel and fish together taste good?” Kushina expressed her doubt.

“It shouldn’t be squirrel and fish together. Maybe the finished dish just looks like a squirrel,” Minato said after washing the vegetables.

Since he hadn’t washed any squirrels, there shouldn’t be any in the dish.

“Minato is right, there’s no squirrel in this dish,” Muzuki explained as he cleaned the scaled and gutted fish.

squirrel mandarin fish is a very classic dish in Su cuisine, which can be said to have both color, aroma, and taste.

Muzuki had watched many videos of this dish in his previous life and even tried it once himself, but because his knife skills were not good enough, the final product could only be said to look nothing like the original.

But now with the Chef skill, when Muzuki picked up the fish, he had already processed it in his mind, though he hadn’t started yet.

Muzuki first used a knife to cut off the backbone of the fish, leaving about 1 centimeter of the spine at the tail. Then he spread the fish skin-side down and made cross-cuts with a slanted knife, cutting four-fifths of the way through the flesh.

This step is very important; any mistake would compromise the final appearance of the dish.

With the Chef skill, Muzuki perfectly recreated the squirrel mandarin fish from his memory. The golden and crispy fish meat resembled a squirrel, and when topped with the prepared sweet and sour sauce, it was not only visually appealing but also incredibly fragrant.

“Huh? How did this fish turn into this while Minato and I were just chatting?” Kushina stared dumbfounded at the squirrel mandarin fish on the dining table.

No exaggeration, she had never seen such a beautiful dish.

In her impression, food was first to fill the stomach, and second, to taste good.

Minato stood up and walked to the dining table to observe the freshly prepared squirrel mandarin fish up close, also feeling very surprised that there could be such a beautiful dish.

“This is the first time I’ve thought a dish looked beautiful,” Minato praised. Muzuki’s squirrel mandarin fish was truly a feast for the eyes.

“Don’t just look; try it,” Muzuki said with a smile.

Kushina and Minato didn’t stand on ceremony, picking up their chopsticks and each grabbing a piece of fish.

The moment he ate the fish, Minato first tasted the sweet and sour, followed by the crispy outside and tender inside texture of the fish, and then the sweet and sour flavor that permeated the fish meat.

After getting over the momentary daze, Minato quickly served himself a bowl of rice and started eating. This sweet and sour dish was incredibly appetizing.

“No, either Minato or I must learn this dish!” Kushina said seriously after finishing her meal.

Although she still preferred braised pork, the squirrel mandarin fish scored too many points for its appearance.

“No problem, I’ll teach you,” Muzuki said with a smile.

“However, this dish is much harder than braised pork, so be prepared,” Muzuki warned.

Braised pork doesn’t require considering aesthetics; if the steps are correct, the final product won’t be too bad.

But squirrel mandarin fish is different. The appearance is the soul of this dish. Once the appearance has a problem, it basically means failure.

“I don’t believe this dish can be harder than those advanced Sealing Techniques,” Kushina had good confidence in herself and Minato.

“Muzuki, to what extent have you cultivated your Three-Finger Sealing? Have you encountered any problems?” Minato asked about Muzuki’s Sealing Technique practice.

“It feels much harder than the previous One-Finger Sealing. I’ve practiced for ten days and still feel clueless,” Muzuki sighed lightly.

Although he had mastered it in six days, Kushina estimated he should complete it in a month, so Muzuki planned to say he completed it on the twenty-seventh day.

Then Muzuki brought up the problem he encountered on the first day, looking like a studious beginner.

Kushina and Minato both enthusiastically answered Muzuki.

Muzuki also didn’t waste this opportunity. Besides some questions to disguise his cultivation progress, Muzuki also asked some Sealing Technique knowledge questions that he genuinely didn’t understand.

With Minato and Kushina, two Sealing Technique masters, to answer his questions, Muzuki gained a lot. He felt that the Chef skill had come at just the right time.

Without the Chef skill, the progress of his friendship plan would be much slower.

…

Two days after the final exam, Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, and Anko agreed to go check their grades together.

After the three arrived at the agreed location, they went to school together.

“I got second in practical again. If my theoretical score was a bit better, I could ask Teacher Muzuki for more rewards,” Anko was in a very good mood today.

“Anko, didn’t you think the questions were quite simple when you finished the exam? Your score must be very high,” Kotetsu Hagane said with a smile.

“Yeah, we’re unlucky. We weren’t confident about many questions,” Izumo Kamizuki said with a worried expression.

“It’s okay, after we see our grades, I’ll treat you to breakfast,” Anko said grandly.

“Anko, is that really true?” Kotetsu Hagane looked expectant.

“When have I ever lied to you?” Anko asked with her hands on her hips.

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki exchanged glances, then shook their heads. They thought, who could possibly be fooled by Anko?

As they were almost at school, Anko remembered something and looked at the two suspiciously, asking, “You both did so well last time, you’re not tricking me into thinking I did badly, are you?”

“No way, last time was just good luck,” Kotetsu Hagane refused to admit it.

“Yeah, this time we probably won’t be so lucky,” Izumo Kamizuki sighed.

Final exam results could be seen on the bulletin board, or they could go back to the classroom to see the distributed test papers. The three went directly back to the classroom, where Muzuki had already placed the test papers on the corresponding students’ desks.

The three greeted Muzuki and then returned to their seats to look at their test papers.

“Eh, how is it only seventy-eight points? That’s two points less than last time,” Anko put down her test paper and scratched her head. It wasn’t what she had expected; eighty-seven points would have been closer.

“Kotetsu, Izumo, what about you?” Anko asked with a troubled face. How could she ask Teacher Muzuki for a reward now?

“My luck seems pretty good this time too, a little higher than yours,” Kotetsu Hagane said with a smile, placing his paper face down on the desk.

“Me too, a little higher than Anko,” Izumo Kamizuki also smiled when he saw his score.

“A little higher?” Anko immediately burst into extreme speed and snatched both their test papers.

“You call one hundred compared to seventy-eight ‘a little higher’?” Anko said through gritted teeth, looking at the scores on their test papers.

“Kotetsu is also one hundred?”

“Izumo is also one hundred?”

Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki both looked stunned. They had agreed not to study and that they wouldn’t do well, so what was with the hundred points?

“Izumo, did you lie to me two weeks before the exam? You actually weren’t playing games and were studying seriously the whole time!” Kotetsu Hagane couldn’t help but ask.

“Kotetsu, weren’t you the same? You said you were reading novels, but you were actually studying every day, weren’t you?” Izumo Kamizuki retorted.

“You two!” Anko stared at them dumbfounded. So these two scoundrels said they weren’t studying, but secretly they were always competing.

Unable to hold back, Anko directly chased after them, hitting them.

“You two bastards, you ruined me! And breakfast? Take this punch first!”

Watching the energetic trio, Muzuki smiled and looked at the rewards popped up by the system, feeling that this semester’s harvest was quite good.

This chapter is a bit rushed, it will be revised later.