Reborn in 1977

Before Jiang Lili could speak, he scurried out.

This time, he didn't take the main road but went straight through the small path, like a diligent bee, bringing back ten more large soft-shelled turtles.

Although not as big as the first one he brought back, they were all about the size of a washbasin. If this were a few decades later, people would pay 1000 yuan per half kilo, but now he could pick them up casually.

At this time, Jiang Lili had already boiled the water and also turned out the large iron pot that was hidden on the wooden frame in the pigpen and used to cook pig feed. She carefully washed it clean with rice straw and placed it on the simple stove next to the pigpen.

Next was Chen Fan's performance time.

First, he took a cotton stalk and made the soft-shelled turtle bite it, pulling out the old turtle's head. In the blink of an eye, with a swift movement of his hand and a drop of the knife, the old turtle was decapitated and blood flowed freely.

The turtle blood was not wasted either, he used a bowl to catch it. After the blood stopped flowing, he soaked the turtle in hot water at about 80 degrees Celsius.

Jiang Lili stood by the whole time. When Chen Fan asked for hot water, she brought over a small half-bucket. When he asked for cold water, she brought a large bucket.

Watching Chen Fan peel off the outer membrane of the soft-shelled turtle that had been soaked in hot water bit by bit, leaving no black spots, he then used large scissors to cut two openings in the turtle's abdomen, peeled open the shell, and carefully cut off all the rice-grain-sized yellow fat inside the internal organs. He also discarded some of the internal organs. Finally, he placed the soft-shelled turtle on a tree stump and chopped it into small pieces with a large kitchen knife, soaking it in cold water to clean it.

After washing the turtle meat, he put it into the cleaned pig feed pot, poured in water, lit the fire, added large pieces of ginger and knotted scallions. Chen Fan stayed by the pigpen, holding a spoon, patiently skimming off the foam.

Once there was no more foam, he poured out the soup, continued to rinse it with hot water, and finally put the drained turtle meat into a casserole dish lined with many ginger slices.

He added hot water, knotted scallions, and salt to the large iron pot again, placed a steaming rack on top, put the casserole dish on the steaming rack, and finally covered the pot, starting a fire to boil the water.

Only then did Chen Fan exhale a long breath and smile at Jiang Lili, "Simmer it slowly over a low fire. In two or three hours, we can eat right at 5 o'clock."

Jiang Lili was stunned for a long while. Hearing his words, she came back to her senses, her gaze shifting between him and the pot, "Will the soft-shelled turtle not have a fishy smell this way?"

"How is that possible!"

Chen Fan sighed, "Without cooking wine, not even white wine, the fishy smell definitely won't be completely removed. Actually, it's best to stir-fry it with hot oil and spices to make it braised in brown sauce. That's the most delicious. But conditions are limited, so this is the only way."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a "ding" in his mind.

"Successfully made soft-shelled turtle for the first time, reward Cooking Skill Experience +10, current Cooking Level LV4."

Experience +10? Cooking Level LV4?

Hearing this prompt, Chen Fan's first reaction wasn't that a new skill had been unlocked, but rather: So, experience points and level values aren't equal?!

Previously, he had only received experience points twice, once for washing dishes, Housekeeping Skill Experience +1, and the other time for talking to Big Yellow Dog, Animal Language Skill Experience +1.

The former's Housekeeping Skill Level was LV3, and the latter's was LV1, which gave him the illusion that experience points were equal to level values, and adding one point would level up.

Only now, with Cooking Skill Experience +10, but the Cooking Level only at 4, did he realize it.

So, how much experience is needed for each level up?

Jiang Lili, on the opposite side, was still thinking about Chen Fan's words. If there really were cooking wine, oil, star anise, fennel, and cinnamon, could he really make soft-shelled turtle without a fishy smell?

Then she noticed Chen Fan staring blankly at her with both eyes. Her face immediately flushed, and before her mind could even start to work, she stood up and quickly walked towards the front yard, as if afraid that someone would chase after her.

But Chen Fan didn't even notice that Jiang Lili had left. He stared at the panel in front of him, lost in thought. How do I see the experience progress bar?

While pondering, the information on the panel changed.

The previous parts remained unchanged, only a few new experience progress bars were added to the skill column at the bottom.

Skills:

Housekeeping LV3 (1/100)

Animal Language LV1 (1/10)

Cooking LV4 (10/200)

Besides a progress bar, there was nothing else, still ridiculously simple.

Chen Fan carefully pondered. Animal Language is LV1, requiring 10 experience points to level up. Housekeeping Experience is LV3, requiring 100 experience points to level up. Cooking Experience is LV4, requiring 200 experience points to level up.

So, not counting level 1, which probably unlocks with 1 experience point, then 1 to 2 requires 10 experience points, 3 to 4 requires 100 experience points, and 4 to 5 requires 200 experience points.

Then the question is, how much is needed to go from 2 to 3?

There's no pattern at all, it's just unreasonable!

Chen Fan pondered for a long time and found it useless, so he sighed. Forget it, when Animal Language reaches level 2 one day, I'll naturally know how much is needed from 2 to 3.

He looked up and looked around, eh? Where's Jiang Lili?

She didn't even say a word before leaving.

Muttering to himself, he didn't care. Anyway, Jiang Lili's impression on him was like this, more cautious and timid than a white rabbit. He'd just let her go.

He checked the fire, broke off a few cotton stalks and stuffed them in, then closed the stove door a little. Chen Fan patted his hands and went to the front.

Just now, when boiling water to kill the soft-shelled turtle, the water in the water tank had become shallow again, so he carried the water bucket to brush the task.

He carried two loads of water back, filling the water tank, and his physique smoothly increased to 7.

Although the water tank was already full, he went to carry another load. He would need water to wash up at night, so preparing two buckets of water in advance was just right.

But this last time, it didn't increase his stats, only added 3 points of housekeeping experience, the progress bar increased from 1 to 4.

What's going on?

Chen Fan fell into thought. If it was ineffective, then there shouldn't be any experience points at all, but if it was effective, how could a good physique point turn into housekeeping experience?

Could it be that the increase in basic attributes from the same method is limited? Once it's exceeded, it's useless?

......

Jiang Lili hid in the room. Hearing Chen Fan carry a few loads of water back and not saying anything to her, she silently reflected in her heart, was she overthinking things?

Perhaps he was just thinking about something else at that time and wasn't looking at her at all?

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little conflicted.

She finally had someone willing to talk to her, would she be estranged again because of this?

Thinking back and forth in the room, she felt a little distraught.

After a long while, she suddenly realized that there was no movement outside. Silent for two seconds, she quietly opened a crack in the back window. The earthen stove by the pigpen was still steaming, but she couldn't see Chen Fan's figure.

Peeking at the front window again, Chen Fan wasn't in the yard either.

She walked to the door and pressed her ear against it, still not hearing the slightest sound.

She pondered for two seconds, gently opened the door, poked her head out and looked left and right, still no one?

She couldn't help but frown slightly, where did he go again?