Culinary God in Wilderness

"Isn’t knowing how to make pasta enough?"

Robert stared at him strangely. "Lindu said it’s pretty much the same process as making the sauce for carbonara."

"If you can make pasta, why can’t you make the sauce?"

"I only know how to make spaghetti with meat sauce! Lasagna! At most, I can manage a creamy bacon pasta! How am I supposed to know how to make something as advanced as carbonara? That’s something you sell in a restaurant!"

The man’s temper flared. He roared, slamming his fist on the table.

"Let’s get one thing straight! My job is to fill your stomachs, not be some R&D chef! If you’re not satisfied, then I’m leaving! Screw this, I quit!"

With that, the man kicked open the cabin door and stormed off.

"Hey! That damn Hei! Get the chopper started and fly me home!"

"And you lot inside, make sure you deposit my pay on time, or I’ll file a complaint against you!"

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Robert and the other staff members looked at each other, then rubbed their aching heads.

"He’s still got such a foul temper. It’s impossible to reason with him... Forget it. Go post a job listing. It’s time we hired a real cook. We’ve been eating spaghetti with meat sauce every day. The sight of it makes me want to puke!"

"Robert, he’s gone. What are we going to eat for the next few days?"

Someone suddenly raised their hand, voicing the question on everyone’s mind.

"Er..." Robert scratched his head. "Does anyone know how to cook?"

"Nope."

"I can only boil eggs and make toast. You know, with a toaster."

"How about we get Hei to pick up some apples, bananas, and bread on his way back so we can make do?"

The cabin had a generator for electricity, but running it was like burning cash. Unless absolutely necessary, they wanted to save their limited fuel for the helicopter.

After all, making a supply run was a huge hassle.

"When’s the next routine physical?"

The doctor glanced at her watch. "Tomorrow morning."

...

The roar of a helicopter grew from a distant drone to a thunderous clamor, finally touching down steadily on the clifftop.

It was a perfect landing spot the production crew had discovered after a few visits. It didn’t disturb Lin Chen’s shelter below, and since Lin Chen had already stripped the area of all its berries, the remaining bushes had no value. No one would feel bad if they got damaged.

Lin Chen groggily opened his eyes, struggling to crawl out of his sleeping bag.

’Time for the routine physical again, huh...’

He had spent the entire previous day overhauling his shelter, finally managing to install two wooden walls. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about the cold night wind seeping in.

Next, he just needed to fill in the details, like stuffing dried grass into the cracks or daubing them with mud. It wouldn’t take much more effort.

"Good morning, Lin!"

Robert’s voice came from outside the yard. Lin Chen emerged from his shelter and opened the entrance. "Come on in."

"Your new shelter looks great. It’s much more spacious than the last one."

The three of them couldn’t stop staring at the two-story log structure before them. Even though they had already seen it on camera yesterday, seeing it in person was still incredible.

"Be careful not to step in that pit," Lin Chen said, pointing to a hole dug in the yard. "It’s full of charcoal ash. It’s a meter deep, so if you suddenly fall in, you could easily sprain your ankle or even break a bone."

As he spoke, he picked up two branches and stuck them in the ground next to the pit as a warning, just in case anyone accidentally stepped in.

After the routine check-up, the doctor pulled a scale from her backpack.

"Lin, according to our records, your starting weight was 85 kg. Although you don’t look much different, we still need to keep a progressive record."

He was 1.8 meters tall, and working in the back of a Western kitchen was all heavy manual labor. He’d built up a lean, muscular frame over two or three years.

Plus, the owner of his old restaurant also ran a gym and would often organize workouts for the staff. So, while his weight might sound high, he actually had a very balanced physique.

Looking at his physique alone, no one would ever guess he weighed 85 kilograms.

In his home country, a build like his might look athletic, but in North America, surrounded by people who were generally big and tall, he was just average.

Lin Chen stared at the digital scale, the corner of his mouth twitching. He subconsciously took off his GoPro, then removed his shoes and clothes before finally stepping onto it barefoot.

"83.6 kg."

The doctor stared at the flashing number on the scale, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, before she recorded the data in the corresponding spot on her chart.

"In three whole weeks, your weight has only dropped by 1.4 kg? That’s an average of just 0.45 kg a week. That’s incredible!"

"Is he just dehydrated?"

Robert pushed up the glasses on his nose. "Water is limited in the forest, and his salt intake is low, so his body would lose water. I bet he hasn’t lost much actual weight. He’s been eating so well every day, haha."

"Oh, shut up, will you?" Lin Chen rolled his eyes, speechless, and quickly put his clothes back on. "Don’t go blabbing about this to the other contestants. If they find out I haven’t been starving, they might get ideas about raiding my food supply."

"Don’t worry about that, Lin. We’re professionals. We would never reveal a contestant’s personal information."

They didn’t stay long. After swapping out the GoPro’s battery, they prepared to head to the next location.

Just as they crossed the ’Hospital River,’ a thought suddenly struck Robert, and he turned around to ask.

"Lin, our team’s cook just quit. We probably won’t be able to hire a replacement anytime soon. Do you have any suggestions? Like, is there any food that doesn’t require an oven or a microwave, doesn’t take a lot of prep, and still tastes decent?"

"Instant noodles, duh!"

Lin Chen blurted it out without a second thought, giving Robert a strange look. "You’ve never had instant noodles, have you? Oh, right. Over here, you’d probably call it ramen, or cup noodles. You know, the kind they serve on international flights in a paper cup that you just add hot water to."

"Cup ramen?!"

Robert froze for a second, then slapped his thigh.

"Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? There’s a Costco over in Juno; they’re sure to have some. Quick, call Hei and have him haul back a few cases!"

Watching the trio’s backs as they disappeared over the hill, Lin Chen shook his head, speechless. He couldn’t be bothered with these clueless foreigners.

He pulled up his personal panel for a look.

’I’ve already saved up 18 Happiness Points without even realizing it... Only two more to go. I wonder if I can earn them today.’

He didn’t rush into action. Instead, he cupped his chin in thought, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

’I’ve already farmed all the points from the shelter, and I’ve basically gone through all the basic ingredients. If I want more points, I’ll either have to get creative with my potato recipes or go out and hunt some new prey myself.’