Chapter 475 - 309: A Stretchy Cake?

Chapter 475: Chapter 309: A Stretchy Cake?

"Ganache?"

"It’s a type of chocolate sauce made with cream and chocolate, characterized by a prominent cream and chocolate flavor. You can just think of it as chocolate cream."

Cream and chocolate—two words that Westerners find impossible to resist.

Bella eagerly picked up her disposable paper plate. Not even bothering with a fork, she grabbed a piece with her hands and stuffed it into her mouth.

Her frantic eagerness was just like Erica’s that morning.

The mint cream that melted in her mouth, paired with the dense and silky lemon mousse, the springy rum-and-chocolate coconut panna cotta, the crispy chocolate pearls, and the crunchy shell all combined to create several layers of contrasting textures.

The intensity of the rum, the silkiness of the coconut milk, the refreshing coolness of the mint, the sweet and sour notes of the berries, the richness of the chocolate, the fragrant oiliness of the nuts, the lightness of the cake base...

With just a single bite, Bella swayed in blissful ecstasy.

"My God..."

She let out a heartfelt sigh. Her free left hand waved in the air a few times, but she was utterly unable to come up with a single fitting adjective to describe the taste.

"How is it? Say something!"

The woman beside her gave her an impatient shove.

"Don’t rush me. Let me have another bite."

One bite.

Two bites.

Three bites.

Seeing that the woman had no intention of stopping, her friend grew anxious and rushed forward to snatch the small piece left in her hand.

"Oh, hey!"

Bella moved with unprecedented agility, pivoting thirty degrees on the spot and easily blocking her friend.

"Darling, this is the cake I pre-ordered yesterday. We’ve known each other for so many years, you’re not actually trying to snatch it, are you?"

"Why would I snatch it?" the woman said with an awkward laugh. "I’m just curious. I’ve never seen such a strange cake before. Bring it closer and let me see what the filling looks like."

"Didn’t Lin just describe it? If you’re interested, you should just ask him to buy a piece and try it."

As she spoke, before she had even fully swallowed the cake in her mouth, Bella stuffed the remaining small piece into her mouth as well.

She didn’t forget to lick the lingering mint cream from her fingers before finally going inside to wash her hands.

Her words were a wake-up call for the friend, who turned to Lin Chen with a look of pure longing.

"Uh..."

He rubbed his nose awkwardly and had no choice but to cut a small piece for her, though it was less than half the size of Bella’s.

"Sorry, these were all pre-ordered by everyone, so I can only let you have a small taste."

Although it was a tiny portion, just a mouthful, the woman wasn’t the least bit dissatisfied. Instead, she nodded excitedly again and again.

"Thank you, thank you! I’m so grateful!"

"I’ve lived here for so many years, and I’ve never seen Bella act like this...?!"

The moment the cake entered her mouth, the rest of her sentence caught in her throat, and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"E-Excuse me, will you be selling this kind of cake at your stall in the future? I would definitely buy it all the time!!"

’Sell cake?’

Lin Chen paused, then shook his head instinctively. "I’m not sure about that yet. I’m actually just renting the stall for filming. But I’ve bought a piece of land on the road to Albany Port. I’ll be building a manor and a restaurant there, and I’ll also offer a series of activities like wilderness survival experiences, fishing, and diving. The restaurant will definitely sell it."

"But what you said gave me an idea. I’ll walk around later and see what everyone thinks. If the feedback is good, I might consider opening a dessert shop in the future."

"On the road to Albany?"

The woman’s gaze followed the enticing plate of cake as it moved away. From behind her, Bella’s voice piped up.

"You can follow Lin’s account. He’ll definitely post videos later, so you’ll know the address then."

"Good idea! What’s his account name? And no offense, but we’ve known each other for years! How could you not tell me about something this good beforehand? Next time, remember to let me know!"

’How could that one bite of cake possibly be enough? It was gone just as I was starting to taste it.’

’If I could just take a huge bite, I bet it would be a completely different experience.’

「Meanwhile.」

Lin Chen had already carried the cake over to Mr. Beef’s stall. Before Mr. Beef could even react, Zack, who was a few meters away, spotted him and excitedly raised the slender meat knife in his hand.

"Hey! Lin, what’s that! It looks amazing! Quick, cut me a piece!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he was kicked hard in the rear.

A stout, gray-haired woman glared at him, her eyes wide with anger, and pointed the tip of her knife at his nose from a distance. "You little brat! You point that knife at someone again and see what happens!"

"Uh, Mom, don’t get worked up. Put the knife down first. We can talk this out calmly."

"If talking calmly worked, would you still be doing something so stupid?"

"But I’m forty-six, after all. I’ve been cutting chicken for over twenty years; it’s become a habit."

"What’s so special about being forty-six? Is that so old? Your mother here is seventy this year. You still have a chance to change; I’m a lost cause."

Zack’s mouth twitched. He glanced at a few regular customers who were trying to stifle their laughter and lowered his head meekly. "...Okay, Mom. I’ll try to change."

Just after cutting a piece of cake for Mr. Beef, Lin Chen saw him grabbing a handful of long, thin, white strips of scrap meat from the cutting board, about to throw them in the trash.

The moment he saw those scraps, Lin Chen’s eyes lit up.

"Stop!!"

"Huh?"

Mr. Beef froze, looking at him in confusion. "What? Don’t tell me you can make something delicious out of this stuff too?"

"Of course!"

"How is that possible? I’ve actually tried before. No matter if you boil, roast, pan-fry, or deep-fry it, you can’t even chew it! It’s like gnawing on a leather belt!"

"That’s because you don’t know how to prepare it."

Lin Chen beckoned confidently with his finger. "Bag it up. Do you have any more? If so, give it all to me. I’m afraid if I cook it up later, there won’t be enough for you all to eat."

"That’s all for this morning. This is all of it. A fresh batch of beef will arrive this afternoon. Why don’t you make it then?"

"That works. Just put it in your fridge. We can bag it all together then so I don’t get busy and forget. Are there any other scraps or cuts that don’t sell well?"

"These," Mr. Beef said, putting the scraps into a bag and pointing to a small mountain of meat piled in a corner of the counter.

The cuts of beef were long and oval-shaped, thin at the ends and thick in the middle. One end had a thick, translucent, band-like structure attached to it.

"Beef shank?"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes, speechless, though he wasn’t particularly surprised.

Westerners generally don’t eat this cut. Back when I was in Toronto and went grocery shopping at the Great Xia supermarket, beef tendon and shank were sold for single-digit prices. Only the slightly larger boxes reached double digits. Compared to a random piece of steak that would cost ten or twenty bucks, it was an absolute steal.

After discovering how cheap these cuts were, he ate braised beef shank and tendon for a whole week straight. He only stopped for a few months after he got completely sick of it.

Seeing such fresh beef shank being treated as the least popular cut, the long-dormant glutton inside Lin Chen stirred once again.

Mr. Beef’s family raised cattle. Every day, they would slaughter cows—one in the morning before dawn and another in the afternoon—and then transport the meat to his stall to sell.

Given the spending power of the residents around the market, he could only sell one or two cows a day, amounting to just four or five hundred a year. The excess had to be taken to supermarkets or processed into beef products.

"How about this: give me two beef shanks, and if nobody wants the tendons, cut them off for me too. It’s such a waste to throw them away... Actually, how about you set aside half a cow for me this afternoon? I’ll cut the parts I need myself, and I’ll give you back whatever is left. How does that sound?"

"Of course you can. Worst case, I’ll just grind up the rest and sell it as beef patties or use it to make sausages. I’m curious to see what kind of delicious dishes you can make with this beef."

It was normal for them to be amazed by dishes made from scraps they didn’t eat and no one bought.

But many parts of the cow were common, everyday cuts. The less common parts would be turned into ground meat and then processed into beef patties or sausages.

He was genuinely curious to see what new and interesting dishes Lin Chen could create from these common cuts of beef.

After washing his hands, he finally noticed the filling inside the chocolate cake.

To save himself the trouble, Lin Chen had quickly cut a piece for Old Zack while Mr. Beef was washing his hands, and explained the filling to both of them.

The two men didn’t have as exaggerated a reaction as Bella. After taking a bite, they didn’t say a word, simply looked at each other, and smiled.

"Lin, is there any more? I’d like to bring a piece for my daughter. She would definitely love this flavor."

"Lin, cut a piece for my mom, too. Otherwise, she’ll hold a knife to my throat."

"Zack!" the stout woman glared at him ferociously. "Don’t think I can’t hear you just because I’m seventy! I’m not dead yet, and you dare badmouth me right to my face! Bring that plate over here, and stop bothering Lin!"

"The p-plate? Mine?"

"Duh! What’s wrong with giving your old mom half of your piece?"

Facing the threat of the gleaming silver blade, Zack shook his head, on the verge of tears but unable to cry.

"N-No problem."

While he was dawdling over there, Kardashian from the seafood stall opposite them couldn’t take it anymore. From a dozen meters away, she started waving frantically in their direction.

If it weren’t for the customers at her stall, she would have abandoned it and run over long ago.

When Lin Chen finally brought the cake over, she had already washed her hands and eagerly took the plate. She also skipped the fork, grabbing the cake and taking a huge bite.

"Woohoo!"

After one bite, she burst out laughing, the muscles in her face completely escaping her control. Her smile was brighter than the sun outside.

"A chocolate cake that stretches?"

A customer who had just finished picking out his seafood stared curiously at the cake in her hand, clearly also surprised that a cake could be stretchy.

However, like most customers, he was merely curious and wasn’t forward enough to ask Lin Chen for a piece.

"Where’s the landlord?"

Lin Chen looked at the small amount of cake left on the tray and glanced around in confusion.

"He’s coming this afternoon. I think he went out to run some errands this morning."

Kardashian devoured the cake in her hand like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds, her gaze, still hungry for more, darting repeatedly to the remaining portion on the tray.

"Don’t even think about it. This is for the landlord and his daughter. If he finds out you tried to snatch his cake, watch out for a rent hike next month."