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"The host received the [Initial Task]."
"Prompt: As a kitchen apprentice, you should strive for independence and create a dish that satisfies both yourself and the guests."
"Reward: Recipe for 'Magical Mapo Tofu' (blue)."
Oh.
Xia Yu was delighting in the benefits of being a transmigrator, not expecting the God of Cooking System to assign him a task.
An initial task, to make a dish?
Not hard at all!
Xia Yu grinned, but the system coldly reminded him, "You must gain the guest's satisfaction to complete the task."
"Guests? Where would we find guests?" Xia Yu chuckled bitterly.
His family's Chinese Restaurant hardly opened once a month, not because it was too remote, but because the old man had such a peculiar and fierce temperament that over time, who would want to come eat?
Xia Yu had tried to attract customers, yet the old man simply brushed off his efforts with one comment - utterly useless.
It was blunt, but Xia Yu could vouch with a clear conscience that it was exactly as said, with no embellishments.
Lamenting how he got stuck with an old stubborn man, Xia Yu didn't dare linger upstairs too long. He quickly patched the cut on his palm with a band-aid, changed out of his school uniform, slipped into a work outfit washed so often it had a faint sweat smell, and clattered downstairs.
Plopping onto a small stool, Xia Yu began handling the ingredients.
In fact, he dealt with a lot of ingredients every evening, big fish and meat, along with various fruits and vegetables. Every evening when Xia Yu returned from school, he'd find the kitchen corner piled high with ingredients, yet he had never seen the supplier delivering them.
Also, although the small restaurant had no business, the ingredient consumption was astonishingly high. Xia Yu went from being confused initially, trying to find answers both overtly and covertly, to simply not bothering to think about it over time.
To him, this was 'Xia's Chinese Restaurant's Mysterious Incident No. 2.'
Incident No. 1 was, of course, the jar and the strange stones inside.
"Pow"
A large chunk of fresh, succulent beef landed on the chopping board, and Xia Yu routinely sharpened his knife, standing before the cutting board holding the glinting knife.
Slicing beef required technique, which Xia Yu had long mastered. As the saying went, cut beef and mutton across, pork along. He placed the knife at a ninety-degree angle to the beef grain, and with one cut, a circle of beef separated.
Cutting the whole piece of meat into rings, it was time to allocate tasks. Some beef was for pan-frying, while other parts were to be diced or shredded for other dishes.
This step was performed ahead of time, but with a fridge, there was no worry about the meat losing freshness. Xia Yu sorted and packaged the cut beef, stored it in the freezer, and then moved on to handle seafood.
Fish needed scaling, gills, and guts removed. Shellfish required more effort, and Xia Yu categorized them into large buckets, then turned to the kitchen counter to grab table salt, sprinkling it into each bucket. He followed with a container of cooking oil, pouring just enough oil to cover the water's surface.
It was well known that oil floats on water and can isolate oxygen. The oxygen-deprived fresh shellfish in the bucket then began breathing heavily, spitting out fine sand, making the ensuing dishes sand-free and praised for their texture.
A busy work session finally led to midnight. The antique clock hanging in the shop chimed rhythmically.
"Phew..."
Removing the apron, Xia Yu casually bundled it, stained with various wastewater and blood, and tossed it into the restroom. He filled a basin with clean water in the restroom and started wiping tables and chairs in the shop.
From the kitchen came the sound of a spatula clanging against a pot. Xia Yu looked over his shoulder, unsurprised as the old man started heating the pot. This was also Xia Yu's happiest moment of the day!
No more gnawing on street shop bread, there'd be fresh, hot midnight snacks to eat!
At this moment, Xia Yu felt tears of gratitude welling up, motivating him to work harder, ears perked to listen for sounds from the kitchen.
Bang.
Soon, two bowls of steaming noodles appeared on the counter. The old man removed his chef's hat and said blandly, "Take it—"
Xia Yu eagerly scooted over, taking one bowl of noodles for himself.
The cramped shop wouldn't have fancy tables or chairs. If you had watched the 'Midnight Diner' drama, it wouldn't be hard to imagine the restaurant's layout.
The midnight snack was a bowl of clear broth ramen. The old man was considerate, the broth had no gut-stimulating seasonings, with faint oil and scallions floating on the surface, accompanied by several perfectly fried, appetizing beef slices.
As the aroma filled the shop, Xia Yu clasped his hands together in a prayer, holding the chopsticks with a solemn face, "I'm about to dig in!"
Then he dug in voraciously.
A few mouthfuls of noodles, followed by a sip of broth, the hot food sliding down his throat caused Xia Yu to look up in awe, "This is real food..."
Time and again, he knelt before the old man's culinary skills, honoring him with respect and admiration.
The old man's midnight snacks varied almost daily. It was Xia Yu's most satisfying meal each day, compared to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which were 'solved' on the way to school, at the school store, or on the way back from school.
Without that abundant midnight snack, Xia Yu would have long gone on strike!
In his past and present life, Xia Yu dared say he'd never had better food than what the old man made, with soup noodles just being one of his specialties.
The most unforgettable dish for Xia Yu was the seafood dumplings he had about half a year ago. Just thinking about it now made his taste buds release a wave of saliva. Xia Yu swallowed, quickly finishing a big bowl of noodles, but when he reached for the counter to grab the other bowl, he noticed sucking sounds beside him.
His face fell immediately.
Hey, hey, that's my noodles, who are you?
Glancing at the empty counter and a guest sitting beside him, digging into a bowl of noodles, Xia Yu looked up at the ceiling, trying hard to hold back the tears in his eyes.
"Delicious, delicious!"
The guest added insult to injury, praising between bites, "No wonder it's Boss Xia's craftsmanship, haha, I'm in for a treat tonight!"
The broken but understandable Mandarin let Xia Yu know this impolite fellow was a Neon person. He'd rarely seen such presumptuous Japanese, who would help themselves to someone else's food. To the Neon people, being an inconvenience to others was wrong. Now, with the food stolen, this was more than a mere inconvenience, it was infuriating!
Oh?
Xia Yu's brow twitched.
Looking closely, he found this guy was indeed odd, wearing a detective-like black coat in the hot weather, with a black hat and a high collar.
Playing Sherlock Holmes cosplay? Shouldn't there also be a smoking pipe as a prop?
Logic said wearing such an outfit in this heat would induce sweat, especially with a cramped, fan-less, somewhat stifling shop. Yet, after finishing a bowl of noodles, as the man rubbed his belly, Xia Yu hadn't detected a single drop of sweat on his exposed skin.
Sensing Xia Yu's stare, this guest finally raised his head, grinning broadly at him.
A middle-aged man, quite elegant and handsome.
A vein twitched on Xia Yu's forehead. He resisted the urge to punch him, gritting through his teeth, "You've got scallion on your lip..."
"Really?"
The middle-aged man, still exuding an air of elegance and composure after eating, casually picked up a napkin from the counter and gently wiped away the scallion, tossing the balled-up napkin back into the rubbish bin before sitting back down.
Then, with a look of interest, the middle-aged man appraised Xia Yu.
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(PS: A newcomer and a new book, seeking recommendations and favorites!)
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