S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 82

The Culinary Murderer 34 – Remedial Lessons

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Jiang Ping had found a "narrow and elongated" building, a factory that produced canned fish, not far from the port of S City and the seafood market Zhan Zhao and the others had visited previously.

Bai Yutang asked whether this canning factory belonged to Shi Yanshuo.

Jiang Ping looked into it and said it didn't.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded, it wasn't as though everything had to be connected to Shi Yanshuo...

But then Jiang Ping added, "It belongs to his mom, Wang Zhen."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned. "His mother's factory?"

Jiang Ping nodded. "Wang Zhen was born into a wealthy family. Her family was in the fishing business, they had a fleet and quite a few similar seafood processing enterprises, as well as a rather well-known cat food brand."

Jiang Ping pulled up an advertisement for that brand of cat food, and both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang pointed at it – they'd bought from that brand before!

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both shook their heads. That suitcase was, strictly speaking, also directly related to Shi Yanshuo's biological mother... All the clues, one way or another, kept circling back to this one family.

"How should I put it..." Zhan Zhao stroked his chin. "There are so many clues, and all of them are too targeted, it gives the whole thing a false feeling."

"But something is definitely off with that family, otherwise the economic crimes division wouldn't have been investigating them for so long," Bai Yutang felt that the evidence they had was all indirect leads, how to proceed would depend on what came of Guan Mei and Shi Yanshuo's wedding, which wasn't far off now anyway.

After dismissing everyone, Bai Yutang dragged Zhan Zhao out of the police station and headed to a bookstore.

Zhan Zhao watched Bai Yutang walk into the bookstore, go straight to the counter, and ask, "Do you have an encyclopaedia about kitchens?"

The shop attendant blinked, it was probably the first time they'd ever heard someone ask for an encyclopaedia on kitchens. They helped check the system. "There's no kitchen encyclopaedia, but we do have The Big Book of Vegetables and The Agricultural Encyclopaedia... Also Basic Stove Repairs, Choosing Cookware, Culinary Skills for Absolute Beginners, Learn to Cook in Three Days..."

Zhan Zhao stood by, looking up at the sky – Who on earth wrote these books? If I can't learn it in three days, can I claim compensation?

Bai Yutang glanced at the long list on the staff member's screen, then pointed from the first title all the way down to the last. "I'll take them all!"

"Huh?" The staff member was stunned.

Zhan Zhao leaned over and added, "Do you have the Mushroom Encyclopaedia?"

.......

At dinnertime, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao drove back to the villa. After getting out of the car, Bai Yutang went to fetch a little wheelbarrow used for shovelling sand, loaded the entire box of books from the trunk into it, wheeled it into the living room, lifted the handle, and dumped the whole lot onto the floor like he was unloading cargo.

On the sofa, Issel and Eleven were eating pizza and watching television. They glanced at the books on the floor, then looked up at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang glanced at the wall clock, pointed at the pile of books and said, "It's six o'clock. You have six hours, finish all the books by midnight!"

The pizza in their hands instantly lost its appeal, and they both stared at Bai Yutang – Are you serious?

Bai Yutang clapped his hands. "Get moving! Go! Go! Go!"

Zhan Zhao was holding the newly bought Mushroom Encyclopaedia in one hand and ordering takeaway on his phone with the other, for some reason feeling that Bai Yutang's tone sounded uncannily like the police dog trainers barking orders downstairs...

Still, Issel and Eleven seemed to have received some kind of calling. They immediately put down their pizza and started flipping through the books.

......

As night fell, everyone who had gone out for dinner returned.

Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi were the first through the door. On one of the sofas, Zhan Zhao was leaning against Lisbon, eating deep-fried skewers while reading.

All over the floor beside him were those books, and Issel and Eleven were poring over them with intense focus, flipping pages at a pace that was nearly on par with Bai Chi's speed when going through case files.

Bai Chi picked up two books that were closest to hand and looked at their covers: 100 Questions on Kitchen Knowledge and Quick Q&A for Young Kitchen Experts—One Hundred Entries.

Zhao Zhen had a "learning something new" expression on his face. Who knew such books even existed? He flipped through one, and to be fair, it was actually quite practical.

The two of them sat down on the sofa opposite and also began reading.

Bai Yutang had taken off his jacket and was in the kitchen unpacking the new kitchenware the twins had just bought.

The twins were preparing the venue for tomorrow's rehearsal and livestream, and they still had a meeting to attend that evening, so they'd dumped the pots and pans at the house and dashed off to the Bai Group.

Zhan Zhao ate a skewer of deep-fried shiitake mushrooms, then another of enoki mushrooms, all while turning pages and looking at colourful pictures of fungi.

......

Not long after, Bai Jintang and Gongsun returned too. The two of them had gone to Zhao Jue's for dinner, where Bai Ye had cooked seafood omelette rice and deep-fried pork cutlets, which were absolutely delicious.

Gongsun had packed a portion of the cutlet to bring back and placed it on the coffee table. Zhan Zhao poked a piece with the bamboo skewer from his enoki mushrooms and took a bite, praising, "It's a real shame Uncle Ye doesn't open a restaurant!"

Bai Jintang glanced at the two kitchen novices on the floor, both fully immersed in study mode, and gave an approving nod – Now this is more like it.

A while later, Zhao Jue and Mia, having gone out for a walk after eating too much, strolled over to the villa.

Zhao Jue glanced into the living room and saw that everyone was sitting on the sofas flipping through books. Gongsun and Zhan Zhao were seated together, reading and discussing something with obvious delight, who knew what they were studying, but they looked genuinely happy about it.

Zhao Jue nodded with a hint of gratification. "These amoebas have finally realised the importance of knowledge and their own ignorance..."

He didn't get to finish the sentence before Zhan Zhao, seated on the sofa, shot him a sidelong glance – You're the amoeba!

In the blink of an eye, it was already past ten at night, and more than half the books on the floor had been read, now neatly stacked in a pile against the edge of the sofa.

The rest were still being tackled by Issel and Eleven, each holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other, reading diligently.

The room was filled with the rich aroma of coffee. Earlier that afternoon, Bai Yutang had drunk a latte made by Zhu Yi, which had sparked a bit of interest in coffee. Conveniently, he'd also bought a book on how to make it, so he borrowed Zhao Zhen's drip coffee pot to brew some.

Zhan Zhao, having eaten too many fried skewers and pork cutlets, was feeling a bit bloated. Since he'd slept all day and wasn't tired at night, he took Lisbon for a walk around the courtyard.

After finishing his coffee, Bai Yutang planned to take a short nap and get up at midnight to give the two a late-night crash course in general knowledge. After all, theoretical knowledge alone wasn't enough, practical skills were essential. He decided he'd teach them how to make breakfast. By the time they finished, it would probably be light out and they would be ready to eat.

Bai Yutang also wanted to make a good impression, this was, after all, a task Uncle Ye had assigned. If he was going to return these rookies, they at least had to be trained pigeons!

Bai Ye had come by at nine-thirty and was pleased to find the two assistants "growing nicely." At the very least, they'd be able to put on a passable act during tomorrow's livestream and wouldn't make fools of themselves. They might even prove somewhat useful.

......

At midnight, the alarm went off. Bai Yutang woke right on time, turned it off, and went downstairs for a look.

In the living room, Issel and Eleven had just finished the last two pages and were closing their books. They tilted their heads back and yawned.

Bai Yutang spotted Zhan Zhao asleep on the sofa, curled up with Lisbon.

Lisbon lay sprawled on the sofa, sighing – Can you humans please learn to sleep properly at night?!

Bai Yutang carried Zhan Zhao back to their room and moved Lisbon upstairs as well.

Then he went downstairs again and started by testing Issel and Eleven with a few theory questions.

To his surprise, these two have made remarkable progress in their theoretical studies.

Once he was satisfied that they could now tell the difference between spring onions, Chinese chives, and garlic, Bai Yutang brought out all the kitchen tools and demonstrated how to assemble, disassemble, and use them.

The two of them could take apart and reassemble a car without any trouble, so learning how to use an induction hob or microwave was hardly a challenge.

What Bai Yutang hadn't expected was that the two had reached a saturation point with theory and had now moved on to studying the components of various food products. They had grown deeply concerned about food additives and were convinced that everything they ate was essentially a chemical equation.

Watching the two, who had gone from kitchen illiterates to budding food scientists almost overnight, Bai Yutang rubbed his forehead with a sigh – This level of mastery really wasn't necessary...

At one-thirty in the morning, the newly trained beginners were finally ready to begin the practical stage with Bai Yutang. Step one: frying an egg.

Bai Yutang told them to fry an egg, toast some bread, and make a simple egg sandwich.

However, the two immediately argued that the healthiest way to eat eggs was to boil them. Once the egg white and yolk were exposed to air, the nutrients would begin to degrade...

Bai Yutang looked at them speechlessly. "Then why don't you just fry it with the shell on?"

The two exchanged knowing looks that clearly said, We're not falling for that. "Frying or microwaving with the shell on will cause an explosion!"

Bai Yutang felt a headache coming on. He told them to hurry up and fry the eggs and stop going on about it.

Each of them cracked an egg into the pan and even set timers on their phones, flipping it after exactly one minute.

As they fried the eggs, they kept commenting that the yolks seemed a bit runny and might not be fresh enough...

Bai Yutang was beginning to worry that these two were veering dangerously from one extreme to another. Hopefully, Uncle Ye won't decide to leave them here because they're too annoying.

Issel successfully fried a perfectly shaped sunny-side-up egg. Eleven toasted two slices of bread to a golden brown, just the right degree of crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Bai Yutang handed them a butter knife and told them to get some butter from the fridge.

This time, the two had "common sense," distinguishing between butter and cheese, even specifically choosing unsalted butter. They took it out, spread it on bread, added the eggs, and presented the plate to Bai Yutang for "tasting."

Bai Yutang took a bite... then another...

Issel and Eleven stared at him wide-eyed, eagerly waiting – Well? Is it good? Say something! Don't just keep eating!

Bai Yutang ate half, then cut the remaining half into two pieces and handed them to the pair to try for themselves.

They each took a bite... then another...

At last, the sandwich was gone. The three of them stood in the kitchen, blinking at one another.

After a long pause, Issel asked Eleven, "Was it good?"

Eleven blinked. "No flavour..."

"I told you there was something wrong with that egg!"

"I think it was the bread."

"Must've been the butter, then?"

Bai Yutang pressed one hand to his forehead and tapped the table with a jar of seasoning with the other. "You two didn't put any salt on the eggs."

The pair shook their heads in unison and solemnly educated Bai Yutang: "Adding salt reduces the nutritional value of the egg..."

Bai Yutang let out a long sigh and sat down on a chair – Glancing at Luban and Lilia, who had come over and were rubbing up against his legs, he suddenly thought maybe Uncle Ye should just take these two as assistants instead. At least they could be cute on livestream, they were far more reliable than those two uncles!

Around three o'clock, Zhan Zhao woke up briefly and came downstairs for a look.

He saw Bai Yutang sitting on the step in the kitchen, petting the cats, while behind him, the two uncles were arguing, apparently about whether or not the casing should be removed from sausages.

Zhan Zhao shook his head and went back to bed.

Around four, Bai Chi came downstairs for a look.

He found Bai Yutang lying straight on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting. In the kitchen, Issel and Eleven had laid a waterproof mat on the floor, one was gutting fish with a knife, the other holding the mat up to block the splatter. The whole scene looked like a crime scene clean-up.

Xiao Bai Chi shook his head and went back upstairs to continue sleeping.

Around five, Gongsun was woken by the thwack thwack thwack of someone chopping meat downstairs. He turned over and went back to sleep.

Finally, dawn broke.

Everyone got up, and the moment they came downstairs, they were greeted by a delicious aroma.

Issel and Eleven stood by the table wearing aprons and gestured to everyone that breakfast was ready.

Zhan Zhao and the others gathered at the table and sat down, and saw that breakfast was impressively plentiful! There were seafood dumplings, fried noodles, and crispy potato pancakes.

Everyone turned to stare at Bai Yutang in amazement – They actually made a proper Chinese breakfast? Not just a lazy egg sandwich?

Bai Yutang sat at the table, clutching a mug of coffee, looking half-asleep.

Issel and Eleven, on the other hand, were full of energy, gesturing eagerly – Go on! Try it!

Everyone thought the presentation was excellent, so they picked up a dumpling and popped it in their mouths. They took a bite... then another...

Cheeks puffed out, they all turned simultaneously to look at Bai Yutang – Why does it have no flavour?

Bai Yutang sat there silently drinking his coffee – Uncle Ye just told me to give them a crash course in basic kitchen knowledge. That's done, I can't be bothered with the rest! Worst case, just have them act cute on camera, or let Uncle Ye beat them up for entertainment. That'd be good too!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 16, 2025 by Angel

Edited: September 24, 2025 by Soojin