Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off Chapter 901: Teaching the Sub-Beastmen to Cook

Su Qinglan shook her head helplessly. Now they finally understood how difficult cooking could be. It wasn’t enough to throw ingredients into a pot. The proportions, timing, heat, and preparation all mattered.

Even so, she didn’t intend to let the cooking skills remain a secret forever. That was precisely why she had brought the sub-beastmen here. She turned toward Hu Yan and Han Jue.

"From today onward, you two will teach the new workers how to prepare the basic dishes. Start with meat soup, porridge, and rice. Once they can prepare those properly, you can teach them other dishes."

Hu Yan looked up from the pot.

"How many people are we teaching?"

Su Qinglan pointed behind her.

"Those people."

Hu Yan turned around. The moment he saw the group of sub-beastmen standing behind her, his eyebrows rose slightly.

"All of them?"

"That’s right."

Han Jue also glanced at the group before looking back at Su Qinglan."Do you want them to help us cook, or are you planning to let them take over the stall?"

"Both, eventually. For now, teach them the basics. They need to learn how to prepare the food properly before they can work independently."

Su Qinglan smiled. "Don’t worry. You won’t have to teach everyone at once. We’ll divide them into smaller groups."

Hu Yan nodded. Since Su Qinglan had already made her decision, he naturally wouldn’t object.

Han Jue also agreed. However, before they could begin, Su Qinglan remembered one more thing.

She turned toward the crowd and called out, "Bai Ling! Come here for a moment!"

"What is it?"

"I need your help supervising the cooking stall."

Bai Ling blinked.

"Me?"

"That’s right. You can help organize the workers, keep track of the money, and make sure everything runs smoothly. If someone is having trouble learning, you can help them. And if there’s a problem with the ingredients or the cooking, report it to me."

Su Qinglan smiled meaningfully.

"After all, your household has one of the best cooks in the city."

Bai Ling immediately understood whom she was talking about.

Her bear beastman husband was an excellent cook. Although he wasn’t quite as skilled as Hu Yan and Han Jue, he knew how to prepare many delicious dishes.

If anyone could help supervise the cooking workers, he would be a good choice.

Bai Ling’s eyes lit up.

"That’s a good idea! I’ve been bored at home anyway. I can come here every day and help you."

She glanced toward the long line of customers and the cooking pots.

"Besides, if I help count the hides, won’t I be able to see how much we earn every day?"

Su Qinglan looked at her amusedly.

"You’re more interested in counting the hides than supervising the workers, aren’t you?"

Bai Ling didn’t feel embarrassed at all. "What’s wrong with that? If the business earns a lot, you should be happy! And if I help you manage it properly, you won’t have to worry about someone losing the hides."

"All right, all right. I’ll leave the accounting to you."

Bai Ling grinned. "Don’t worry. I’ll make sure every single hide is accounted for!"

The sub-beastmen standing behind Su Qinglan were still somewhat nervous.

They had never imagined that they would be allowed to learn how to cook such delicious food. They had expected to be given the dirtiest and most exhausting jobs, not a chance to learn a skill that even ordinary beastmen struggled to master.

One of them finally gathered the courage to ask, "Female Qinglan, are you really going to teach us?"

Su Qinglan looked at him.

"Of course. But you must listen carefully and work hard. Cooking requires patience. If you burn the meat or ruin the ingredients because you refuse to follow instructions, you’ll have to learn from your mistakes."

The sub-beastman nodded quickly. "We will! We’ll work hard!"

Hu Yan pointed towards the empty space besides the cooking pots. "Then stop standing there and come over. First, I’ll show you how to prepare the meat."

The sub-beastmen hurried forward.

Han Jue began explaining how to wash the ingredients and prepare the pot, while Hu Yan demonstrated how to control the heat and stir the soup.

Bai Ling stood nearby, helping divide the workers into groups and making sure they could all see what was happening.

At first, the sub-beastmen were so nervous that they barely dared to touch anything.

Hu Yan frowned when one of them held a sharp stone awkwardly. "Don’t hold it like that. Do you want to cut your own fingers?"

The poor sub-beastman immediately corrected his grip.

Han Jue, meanwhile, was explaining how to prepare the rice. "Pay attention. Don’t add too much water. If you do, the rice will become too soft."

One of the workers raised his hand.

"What happens if we add too little?"

Han Jue looked at him. "Then the rice won’t cook properly." The worker nodded solemnly, as though he had just learned an extremely profound secret.

Su Qinglan watched the scene with satisfaction.

It was a good start.

The vegetable garden had workers. The spiritual plants would help take care of the crops. The cooking stall now had people learning the basics, and Bai Ling had agreed to supervise the business.

Once everything was running smoothly, she could finally leave for Fox Beast City without worrying that Dragon Beast City would fall into chaos in her absence.

She glanced at the sub-beastmen, who were listening intently to Hu Yan’s instructions.

For the first time, these people had been given an opportunity to do more than simply struggle to survive.

If they learned to farm, they could help grow food. If they learned to cook, they could earn a living preparing meals. In the future, perhaps some of them could even teach others.

Su Qinglan wasn’t planning to solve every problem in a single day. But she could at least give them a place to begin.

"All right," she said, clapping her hands lightly. "Everyone, work hard. I’ll check on your progress before I leave tomorrow."

The sub-beastmen immediately answered, "Yes, Female Qinglan!" Their voices were much louder than before.

Su Qinglan smiled and turned to leave. She still had a great deal to prepare for her journey to Fox Beast City.

Behind her, Hu Yan’s voice suddenly rang out. "Who added all that water to the pot?!"

A frightened voice answered, "I-I thought you said we needed more!"

Han Jue stared into the pot. Bai Ling covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Su Qinglan stopped walking. She slowly turned her head.

The meat soup was so watery that it looked more like a pot of boiled meat than the rich soup they had been preparing earlier.

Hu Yan took a deep breath. "All right. Everyone, listen carefully. From now on, no one is allowed to add anything to the pot without asking first!"

The sub-beastmen nodded frantically.

Su Qinglan finally couldn’t hold back her laughter. It seemed that teaching people to cook would be far more troublesome than she had expected.

Fortunately, she still had two weeks before the menu would change.

With Hu Yan, Han Jue, and Bai Ling supervising them, surely they could learn to cook a decent pot of meat soup by then.

At least, that was what Su Qinglan hoped.

She turned around and continued towards home, already thinking about what she needed to pack for Fox Beast City.