On the first day of school, the business at Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant was way beyond Jiang Feng's imagination.
From seasoned old-timers to famished newcomers, everyone seemed to prefer dining out with their well-filled wallets over settling for the university cafeteria on the first day of school. UAL University's cafeteria was notoriously capricious—with the chefs performing well when in good spirits, but fully indulging their whims otherwise. Dishes like seaweed egg drop soup made from rinse water, broth enriched with seasoning powders, pineapple stir-fried with tomatoes, and chili fried with mooncakes attested to their creativity. There was nothing they couldn't whip up, only things you couldn't fathom.
The Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, situated near UAL University, was considered a large establishment. Despite its slightly higher prices, there were always those who didn't mind splurging on a meal. By the time noon approached, both the first and second floors were packed, and even the large round tables had been filled by individual customers.
"President, hey, President? Mr. Hao, my teacher held us back today, and I'm late!" Liu Zixuan, backpack in tow and gasping for breath, rushed into the restaurant, astonished by the sea of people before him. There were not only seated customers; some were even standing and waiting for a table.
Is this really... not the cafeteria?
Even the cafeteria on its special deal days isn't this crowded, right?
"The place is too packed, Feng has gone to the kitchen. Go up to the second floor and help your brother Qiu Chen; he's been running up and down the stairs, probably about to break his legs," directed Wang Hao to Liu Zixuan.
The lunch rush kept them busy until they finally got a break at 1:30.
"Feng, where have you been advertising or promoting? How come there are so many customers today?" Wang Hao gulped down his sour plum juice with gusto, reminiscent of Mr. Jiang Jiankang's demeanor.
"It's the first day of school, and cafeterias one, five, and six are not open for business. Which restaurant wouldn't be crowded?" The contractors for the three cafeterias were all the same entity, which typically started operations on the third day of the school term.
"That's true," Qiu Chen acknowledged, reminded of the fear that ruled previous first days of school in the battle for food at the cafeteria, "Feng, isn't your place considering doing deliveries? At lunchtime today, Liu Qian asked me when your restaurant is going to join a delivery platform."
"Didn't you see the notice at the door? We're hiring part-time delivery staff," Wang Hao said, focusing on his meal.
Doing deliveries could indeed greatly relieve the pressure on the restaurant from the abundance of patrons.
"We don't do delivery," stated Mr. Jiang Jiankang. "I've been running restaurants for over twenty years; I never mess with that kind of fluff."
"Oh please, you just hate the idea of paying a commission!" Mrs. Wang Xiulian gave Jiang Jiankang an eye roll, "Qiu Chen, dear, we wouldn't be able to keep up with deliveries even if we wanted to, what with your uncle being the only chef and all."
"We've only ever done deliveries for regular customers who place their orders directly over the phone. We did plan on expanding that service, but let's wait until we've hired more staff; the restaurant is already too busy as it is," Jiang Feng explained.
After lunch, those with classes went off to their lectures and those without returned to their dorms. Jiang Feng had no classes in the afternoon, so he stayed to prep the ingredients and took the opportunity to also cook two pots of porridge—a skill like Cooking Porridge (Intermediate) surely couldn't go to waste.
The lunchtime rush had given Jiang Feng the chance to take the helm in the kitchen. His skills in fire control and seasoning had notably improved. Watching the big pot of porridge bubble away, Jiang Feng pondered a question.
If he were to make Clear Broth Orchid and Swallow Vegetable...
Forget it, forget it. If Mrs. Wang Xiulian ever found out he wasted so much bird's nest just to practice one dish, she'd probably disown him on the spot.
Humming a tune, Jiang Feng sliced cucumbers. On his right, a neat array of dishes contained shredded carrots, radish sticks, julienned potatoes, potato chunks, onion slices, strips of chili, and pumpkin slices—all rich in color and quite pleasing to the eye.
It wasn't that Jiang Feng didn't want to cut meat, but Mr. Jiang Jiankang, as a devoted carnivore, held far higher standards for meat than vegetables. Every piece of meat had to be cut and sliced by him personally. How to cut the fatback, how much to use, whether it was for Kung Pao chicken or sweet and sour pork, he took care of all these details. In a way, it was ensuring that every pig and every chicken met its fate with dignity.
"Ding, you've completed the main quest [Rising Little Store], and received the reward item: [Take-out Fresh-keeping Box]."
"Ding, a new optional main quest has been discovered: [Stand Firm]: Gain the recognition of 1000 customers for Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant."
He opened the quest panel and selected yes next to the main quest.
[Stand Firm]: Gain the recognition of 1000 customers for the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant. Progress (2/1000).
Mission Tip: Customer recognition is crucial for a new establishment. Please make Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant the number one restaurant in the hearts of many patrons at UAL University.
Becoming the top restaurant at UAL University was no easy feat. Within the university town where UAL was located, not to mention the food street, the residential area for teaching staff alone harbored no less than 20 different restaurants. And that's excluding those within the school itself, on the school's commercial street and the outer commercial street, as well as the shopping malls. There were hundreds of restaurants of various grades and sizes, some of which had been established for twenty or thirty years.
For Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, a new player, to snatch food from the jaws of these established eateries was no small challenge.
If it were just like the previous task which only required the approval of a hundred diners, things would be a bit easier. This campus had no more than 10,000 teachers and students combined, and the other campus was a full 40 kilometers away. One couldn't really expect the teachers and students from there to come over just to eat, could they?
After calculating the daily customer flow at the Healthy Stir-fry Restaurant, Jiang Feng decided to put this main quest on hold for a while and let things take their course, beginning to investigate the rewards given by the game for completing the task.
Under the item category, the [Take-out Fresh-keeping Box] indicated that it could be taken out. Jiang Feng clicked to retrieve it, and a large foam box suddenly appeared on the ground.
A foam box that looked quite ordinary, with the words take-out written crookedly on the lid. That it wasn't damaged might already be the biggest grace the game had bestowed upon him.
It very much resembled the type of foam box that cheap stir-fry restaurants near every school used for take-outs.
Jiang Feng stared at the foam box, speechless for a long time.
Was this his reward for the main quest?
To call it a safe was generous; if the box could retain heat, that would be impressive enough—just seal it tight with some tape.
Never mind, if he ever had to deliver take-outs in the future, he might indeed need it.
Jiang Feng silently clicked to retract the item.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Someone was shouting outside.
"Coming." He walked out from the kitchen and saw a girl with a ponytail standing in front of the recruitment notice.
"Hello, are you still looking for part-ti... Jiang Feng?"
"President?"
The two of them stared at each other for a while, wide-eyed.
"You're working part-time in this shop?" Ji Yue was somewhat surprised.
"President, didn't you go off to prepare for the postgraduate entrance exams?" Jiang Feng was even more surprised that Ji Yue, who was supposed to be studying for her postgraduate exams, was looking for a part-time job at this time.
Ji Yue was the former president of the Chess Club, a major in graphic design from the fine arts department, who had just graduated. She failed the entrance exams and rented a small apartment nearby to study for them.
"Something came up at home, and my younger brother still has to go to college—we can't afford for me to retake the exams for another year. I can't find a decent job, and drawing pictures for others isn't enough to support myself, so I just came out to look for any job," Ji Yue said with a bitter smile.
"This is my family's restaurant. It's a bit beneath you to be doing odd jobs with your drawing skills, President," Jiang Feng said sincerely.
"Well, I'd like to draw, but nobody wants my drawings," Ji Yue responded casually, familiar with Jiang Feng, "I never realized before that you were a rich second-generation. You know my situation. Our school's arts majors are all pretty watered down, and I didn't formally study fine arts. I learned to draw for two years just to get into a good university during the college entrance exams."
"So how about it, you know what kind of person I am, President. Just give me enough to get by, and I can manage for a while," Ji Yue said nonchalantly.
"1500 a month, with three meals a day, no days off. It's just busy during meal times. You can work as long as you want, President, and just tell me when you've found another job," Jiang Feng offered.
"Thank you," Ji Yue heaved a sigh of relief, "I'm useless in both literature and martial arts. Nobody even wanted me as a tutor for elementary school. If it weren't for your chivalrous assistance, I might starve."
"By the way, how's the cooking here?"
"I made some porridge; do you want to try some first?"
"Sure, sweet or salty porridge?"
"Tell me the truth, President, how many days has it been since you last ate?"
"..."