Chapter 35 The Gourmet in Prison_1

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 The Gourmet in Prison_1

The elderly woman slowly walked farther and farther away, and Veronica whispered to Aiden, "Is that inmate going to be released? She looks pretty kind. What crime did she commit?"

Aiden turned his head to glance at her and remained silent for a moment before speaking, "She’s not getting out. She’s a death row inmate. Today is the day of her execution. She’s on her way to the execution ground."

Veronica was stunned on the spot.

When the old woman had said "farewell" earlier, Veronica didn’t think much of it. After all, when an inmate leaves prison, neither she nor the prison guards who had overseen her would hope to see her return, even using farewell here could be considered an appropriate parting word.

"This old lady used to live in the southern suburbs of the city, renting out her house to others, then gaining the tenants’ trust to poison them and steal their fortunes—she killed six people this way, and can easily be said to have gotten what she deserved. There’s nothing sympathetic about her," Aiden explained calmly. "Unlike you, she was caught with irrefutable evidence, and she also confessed on the spot."

Veronica still hadn’t recovered, "But she doesn’t look like... "

"She doesn’t look like that type of person, does she?" Aiden continued naturally, "Yeah, she doesn’t look like the kind of inmate capable of such things. Actually, there are many like that here. You can’t see through people’s hearts. So remember, the most important thing here is not to trust the inmates too easily. Someone like you, who was framed and ended up here, is a rare breed."

Veronica fell silent, the incident was quite shocking to her.

Aiden continued to show her around the work workshops where other prisoners were laboring, introducing her to some of the prison facilities, and soon it was lunchtime, and Aiden led her to the staff dining hall.

"Do you only eat in the dining hall while working?" Veronica asked tentatively.

"Yes, prison guards in principle aren’t supposed to leave the prison during work hours..." Aiden thought for a moment and added a sentence, "Except me."

"Is that, within the rules?" Veronica looked at Aiden skeptically.

"The rule is that you must report to your superior if you leave your post during work hours, but I have no superior here. I report to myself," Aiden said with a smile.

"We must eat in the dining hall, huh." Veronica sighed.

"You seem very disappointed," Aiden observed her with interest.

"When I was a mounted police officer, I could eat out while on duty..." Seeing that her supervisor had figured it out, Veronica no longer tried to hide it, "Whether at the police academy or in the police force, the food in the dining hall was terrible."

"Then you don’t have to worry about that here; our dining hall is actually quite good," Aiden said with considerable confidence.

Five minutes later, Aiden and Veronica sat down opposite each other, each holding their meal trays.

"It looks like there are many dishes I’ve never seen before." Veronica said in wonder, examining her plate, "What’s this pile smothered in red sauce?"

"That’s called sweet and sour pork loin. It’s pork loin that has been chopped, marinated, then coated with flour, egg, and breadcrumbs before being fried in hot oil, and finally stir-fried with a sauce made from fruit vinegar, tomato paste, and sugar," Aiden explained.

Veronica carefully forked a piece of meat and put it in her mouth.

"Delicious!" she covered her mouth in surprise, having never tasted such cooking before, "And what is this called?"

"Kung Pao chicken."

"What?" Veronica didn’t understand the dish name.

"Anyway, it’s peanuts and diced chicken stir-fried with a bunch of spices. You should try it."

Veronica switched to a spoon to scoop up a spoonful of the dish and put it in her mouth, then exclaimed in amazement, "How did the chefs here come up with such amazing dishes?"

"I taught them," Aiden replied.

"Boss, were you a chef before?" Veronica asked with wide eyes.

"No, I just know the recipes."

"Then where did you learn them from?"

"It’s a secret." Aiden smiled.

In his previous life’s world, human culinary culture had already gone through globalization, exchange, and market testing. Although he wasn’t a professional chef, he could still compile some popular and well-known recipes from memory.

As a qualified transmigrator, after coming to this otherworldly realm, he naturally wanted to vigorously promote the culinary culture of his own world—after all, if he was going to start a new life in this world, he needed to satisfy his cravings.

This world wasn’t exactly undeveloped, but by comparison, the commoners’ gourmet culture did seem a bit sparse. The restaurants on the streets were passable, offering both home-cooked meals and what could be considered top-notch delicacies. However, when it came to the cafeteria’s communal meals, it became a sorry sight that was good for little more than filling the stomach.

After Aiden became the prison warden, he even managed to revolutionize the prison’s cafeteria. He sorted out some recipes using the ingredients and seasonings available in this world and taught them to the cooks here. Although doing so only brought the meals up to the standard of an average workplace cafeteria from his former world, it was still a significant improvement. Moreover, to the people of this world, these dishes carried the novelty factor in their flavor.

Keep in mind that when Aiden first ate at a cafeteria in this world and saw the dry bread, a few slices of smoked meat, and a dollop of bean paste on his plate, his heart was filled with rejection.

The improvements in the prison cafeteria also lifted the prisoners’ dietary standards. Although their rations were certainly still not on par with the guards’, they were much better than the past, when a meal consisted of a piece of bread and a few lumps of some strangely colored, unidentifiable mushy substance.

As a side effect, the prisoners’ discipline also improved somewhat—there had been frequent disturbances triggered by prisoners dissatisfied with their meals, fighting with their trays and utensils in the cafeteria, but after Aiden took charge, such incidents had been completely eradicated.

"By the way, Commander, what is that in your hand?" Veronica suddenly asked again.

"You mean this?" Aiden swung the two slender sticks in his hand. "The utensils I’m accustomed to using—these are called chopsticks. Is there a problem?"

"Can you really eat with these things?" Veronica examined them curiously.

"Of course, you can." Aiden said as he skillfully picked up some food from his bowl to show Veronica.

"That’s amazing." Veronica looked around. "I see a lot of guards using the same utensils as you, did they learn from you?"

"Yeah, you’ll want to learn too if you join us for hot pot one day."

"Hot pot? What’s that?"

"You’ll experience it when we have the chance to dine together—I think you’ll like it."

Veronica nodded, feeling fortunate in her heart that she was transferred here.

She glanced again at the contents of Aiden’s bowl, blinking curiously: "This is my first time seeing noodles eaten in soup. What kind of ingredients are these?"

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Pickled mustard greens and pig offal."

"What kind of offal is this? I’ve never seen it before." Veronica pointed at a ring-shaped slice of offal.

"Why don’t you try it first?" Aiden offered with a mysterious smile, picking up a piece with a clean pair of chopsticks and handing it to Veronica.

Veronica curiously put it into her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, then her eyes widened: "I’ve never tasted anything like this before. What part is it, exactly?"

"I’ll tell you later. If you want more, you can order it at that window."

"What’s it called then?"

"Pig offal noodles," Aiden said with a meaningful smile.

From his experience, it was better not to tell the other person that what she had just eaten was pig’s large intestine. Convincing the cafeteria chefs to be willing to prepare such ingredients had taken quite an effort.