The next morning, a large crowd gathered by the window of the restaurant. To be more precise, it was under the apple tree.
The crowd buzzed with discussion: "Look, an apple tree!"
"I've lived in Misty Town for almost twenty years, and I never thought I'd see an apple tree growing here."
Ina opened the window and asked, "Does anyone want apple crepes for breakfast?"
Thinly sliced apples were simmered with a little water and sugar until the liquid reduced slightly, resulting in delicious candied apples. These apples were spread evenly over a thin layer of soft crepe batter, rolled up, and ready to be enjoyed. For an additional 5 copper coins, customers could add a spoonful of mulberry jam, which would give the crepe a more complex flavor: first, the sweet and sour taste of the apple, followed by the sweet fragrance of mulberries, and finally, if savored carefully, the buttery taste of the crepe.
Lusen attended to the guests, Dusì busied herself with collecting payment, and Ina focused on making the crepes in the kitchen. With the sound of order notifications popping up from time to time, and the chef's professional experience bar constantly increasing, Ina was in a great mood. She wondered whether the restaurant's experience value would break through to level two first, or if her chef profession would rise to level three.
Upon leveling up her profession, Both her Chef's Intuition and Chef's Tongue abilities had proven quite useful. She wondered what rewards she would get when the restaurant leveled up, hoping it would be a new branch or industry. She had been reveling in the thrill of running the business for the past few days, almost unable to pull herself away, and wished to open restaurants all across the continent.
As the morning customers began to leave, and after refusing numerous requests to purchase apples, the restaurant returned to its usual calm. Lusen sat at the table eating his breakfast, his fingers subconsciously tracing the eternal inscription.
Though it was Dusì's first day at work, she had already identified several minor issues with the restaurant's operations. She solemnly suggested to Ina, "Not only should we have an account book, but we should also keep a record of our food supplies. If any food-related issues arise, this will help us quickly identify the responsible party."
Dusì was indeed right. The Dragon Flame Restaurant was currently small in scale, and most of the ingredients came from a single supplier. However, this didn't mean that the Dragon Flame Restaurant would always be confined to the small Misty Town. Implementing quality control measures as soon as possible was indeed a wise move. It seemed that Dusì had some innate management talent, which reinforced Ina's determination to nurture her.
Of the two employees at the restaurant, Lusen was only a temporary worker. His interests and talents lay elsewhere, not in business-related matters. Ina had never attempted to guide him in that direction and was quite lenient with him spending a lot of time researching eternal inscriptions and handling magical materials. However, Dusì took her job much more seriously and had a steady and meticulous personality, which raised Ina's expectations of her.
"Let's head to Keira's butcher shop and see if there's any fresh monster meat available!" Ina suggested to Dusì.
Dusì, who had been diligently recording the existing goods, felt encouraged by Ina's support. She hoped to keep track of the daily consumption of ingredients, making it easier to calculate the restaurant's daily profit.
The two arrived at the butcher shop but didn't find Keira.
"She's milking the cows in the backyard," Keira's husband replied.
"Have you gotten any fresh monster meat recently?" Ina asked while examining the shop. She noticed that there wasn't much fresh meat, which she attributed to the recent beginning of the clearly month and the first batch of mercenaries who entered the Midnight Swamp not having returned yet.
Keira's husband revealed a "you've come at the right time" expression: "I just received a whole long-tusked boar. This monster's meat is firm and its size is huge, making it perfect for a restaurant's ingredients!"
Ina and Dusì followed Keira's husband into another room where a massive cutting board was laid out with the long-tusked boar, gutted and opened up.
"I'd like a whole piece of pork chop," Ina said, walking around the long-tusked boar.
"A whole piece?" Keira's husband was pleasantly surprised by the size of the order. The long-tusked boar was massive, with just its rib section weighing over 100 pounds. If it weren't for the fact that it had arrived early, before other prey from the Midnight Swamp was transported out, he wouldn't have been willing to purchase such a large monster from mercenaries. With the small population of the town, it would take many days to sell an entire long-tusked boar.
After receiving confirmation, Keira's husband asked Ina and Dusì to step outside as he prepared to process the long-tusked boar that hadn't been divided yet. Before leaving the room, Ina instructed, "No need to cut it all up, just divide it into a few large pieces." Ina gestured with her hand, indicating that each piece should be about 40 centimeters long, and Keira's husband happily agreed.
"From now on, I'd like you to be in charge of purchasing meat, is that okay?" Ina looked at the silent Dusì.
So soon? She still didn't know how much meat was consumed daily in the restaurant.
Ina continued, "I'll give you a budget of two silver coins per day. You can purchase every two days or less frequently, it's up to you."
Dusì looked a bit confused, "But I don't know how many customers will come to the restaurant, what the dishes of the day are, or what types of monster meat the customers prefer..."
Ina patted her on the shoulder, "Don't worry about all that. Whatever your choice is, I'll help you with the rest. If the meat isn't enough, we can change the menu. If there's too much, we can store it in the cabinet, where the items never spoil. Your only task is to choose the right meat."
Dusì nodded cautiously, already deciding to ask her neighbors who cooked at home for advice when she returned. After all, she knew very little about the differences between various parts of monster meat, let alone the variety of monsters that would come from the Midnight Swamp.
The young girl seemed a bit too nervous. Ina noticed Dusì's tense posture and tried to ease the tension by tilting her head and speaking in a relaxed tone, "A few days ago, the restaurant didn't even serve meat and was still popular, so don't worry too much."
Hearing Ina's reassurance, Dusì's mouth twitched, and she managed a faint smile.
The amount of meat they bought today was enormous, so Ina put the meat directly into her backpack. She paid Keira's husband 24 silver coins and discussed future meat delivery arrangements with him.
Since Dusì had mobility issues, Ina hoped that Keira's husband would be able to deliver the meat Dusì ordered the day before to the restaurant in the mornings. The distance wasn't far, and Keira's husband readily agreed.
Upon returning to the restaurant, Ina and Lusen worked together to make crosswise cuts on the whole piece of ribs without breaking them apart, which made it easier for the meat to absorb the marinade. They finally seasoned the ribs with a mix of salt, pepper, sesame seeds, garlic cloves, a bit of sugar, and a small amount of chili pepper, evenly rubbing the mixture onto the meat. These large ribs would need to marinate overnight, so they wouldn't be able to enjoy the delicious dish until the next day.
After the ribs were marinating, Ina asked Lusen to plant some peanuts. While "Uproot" had been exceptionally efficient when planting vegetables like radishes and lettuce, it wasn't as useful for crops like peanuts and potatoes, which had edible parts buried underground and scattered. The same issue applied to cucumbers and tomatoes, as it was too much to expect the spell to distinguish which parts were edible fruits. Perhaps it could be more versatile once Lusen helped it evolve into intelligent magical machinery.
Its name, "Uproot," defined its function - nothing more.
Lusen had to harvest the peanuts himself. After a few harvests, he had gained enough experience to craft a simple arm-length rake. After pulling the peanuts out of the soil, he gently raked through the dirt to catch any peanuts that had been missed.
"Miss Ina, what dishes are we going to make with these peanuts?" Lusen asked casually, noticing Ina standing nearby.
Ina was actually observing the consumption of the plant nutrient solution. In recent days, the restaurant's sales had increased, leading to a significant increase in nutrient solution consumption. The Slime Recycling House could only cover a fraction of the loss. If they couldn't obtain more plant nutrient solutions through the lottery, the restaurant's vegetable supply would face issues.
[You can exchange achievement points for plant nutrient solution, at a 10:1 ratio~]
"1 achievement point for 10 portions of the nutrient solution?"
[The other way around. Plant nutrient solution isn't that cheap, dear~]The system's response carried a sarcastic tone.
Ina didn't want to spend her precious achievement points on plant nutrient solutions!
Lusen's question interrupted her contemplation, and Ina came back to her senses, "We'll be making peanut brittle."
Another unfamiliar dish! Lusen was full of anticipation, "What does peanut brittle taste like?"
Ina noticed that Dusì, who had been quietly writing in the account book, had also subtly turned her ear towards them. She couldn't help but smile, "It's sweet."