Bai Xiaobai is a twenty-two-year-old restaurant owner struggling to keep the small eatery left behind by his parents alive. Everything changes when a mysterious Gourmet System appears in his mind, promising to train him into a master chef. Starting with an outrageously expensive tea egg, he must complete strict missions, master increasingly difficult recipes, and learn to work with extraordinary ingredients. As word of his food spreads, his once-empty restaurant attracts devoted customers, culinary rivals, competitions, and unexpected opportunities. What begins as a desperate attempt to save a failing business gradually becomes Bai Xiaobai’s journey toward understanding food, craftsmanship, responsibility, and what it truly means to become a great chef.
Chapter 19: Launching a New Product
A few minutes later, calm returned to Xiaobai Restaurant. Bai Xiaobai tidied up the mess in the restaurant a bit. The system’s equipment really is durable—even though the tables and chairs had been subjected to heavy collisions, not a single one was damaged. After the crowd gathered outside the restaurant had completely dispersed, Bai Xiaobai asked Wei Hai half-jokingly, “Do you have some kind of background? How come you came out of that completely unscathed?” Even now, Bai Xiaobai still couldn’t believe he’d just gone through the whole water meter inspection incident. Wei Hai smiled, revealing a mouthful of pearly white teeth. “What kind of connections could I possibly have? I just know a few people who happened to come in handy.” One phone call was all it took to resolve the inspection by the Administration for Market Regulation—is that what you call “knowing a few people”? Wei Hai’s connections were definitely no ordinary affair, but since he didn’t bring it up, Bai Xiaobai didn’t press the issue. After all, everyone has secrets they’d rather keep to themselves. Wei Hai pulled a fifty out of his wallet and placed it on the table along with the two hundred yuan Gao Ming had just paid as compensation. There was a total of two hundred and fifty on the table. “Mr. Bai, the fifty is for the tea eggs I ate, and is this two hundred enough to cover the broken items?” Wei Hai said, glancing at the mess on the floor. “It’s fine. A few bowls and plates aren’t worth much. Besides, your basketball jersey got dirty too—dry cleaning costs money.” Bai Xiaobai firmly refused to accept the 250 yuan, taking only the 50 yuan for the tea eggs. In truth, Bai Xiaobai didn’t care at all whether the shop’s items were broken or not—it was just a few bowls worth a few yuan. What really mattered was that Wei Hai had stepped in to save the day, and that genuinely moved him. Seeing that Bai Xiaobai was adamant about not accepting the other 200, Wei Hai didn’t press the issue. He put the 200 yuan away and said, “Mr. Bai, if those bastards come back to cause trouble at the shop, just give me a call.” After saying that, Wei Hai gave him a phone number. Bai Xiaobai silently jotted down the number and said, “Thanks for what you did today, Wei Hai.” Bai Xiaobai’s gratitude was sincere. If it hadn’t been for Wei Hai today, the shop would have definitely been forced to shut down for disciplinary action. Wei Hai brushed off Bai Xiaobai’s gratitude with a smile. “Boss Bai, if your shop closed, where would I go to eat such delicious tea eggs? Besides, that bunch of bastards never do any real work—all they do is bully honest business owners. I’ll just consider this ridding the people of a menace and giving them a taste of their own medicine.” After saying this, Wei Hai glanced toward the kitchen and continued, “Mr. Bai, if you really want to thank me, how about treating me to another tea egg?” The tea egg Wei Hai had just eaten had long since been converted into the kinetic energy of the fight and was gone, so naturally, he now had his sights set on Bai Xiaobai’s tea eggs. “Sorry, but it’s store policy—only one per person per day.” Bai Xiaobai immediately shattered Wei Hai’s illusions. Wei Hai licked his lips and smiled. “Mr. Bai, can’t you make an exception? I just did you a huge favor—give me the go-ahead and let me have another one.” “Sorry, that’s not possible.” Wei Hai had indeed done him a huge favor, and Bai Xiaobai was genuinely grateful. But gratitude was one thing; rules were another—the two couldn’t be confused. Besides, according to the system’s bizarre rules, breaking the rules would reset all data to zero. He was finally just one item away from completing Qian Duoduo’s task. If he broke the system’s rules now, all the progress he’d made over the past few days would instantly become zero—and that was a risk he absolutely couldn’t afford to take. Besides, without rules, there can be no order, so Bai Xiaobai was very principled: each person could only buy one Supreme Tea Egg per day! Wei Hai wasn’t one to beat around the bush either. Although he really wanted to eat another one, since Boss Bai was firm in his stance, he had no choice but to give up. After paying, Wei Hai didn’t linger at Xiaobai Restaurant; he left reluctantly. Having to smell the aroma of the tea eggs without being able to eat them was even more agonizing than the fable of the fox who couldn’t reach the grapes. After Wei Hai left, the 50 RMB in Bai Xiaobai’s hand vanished, and the system in his mind suddenly came back to life. [Congratulations, Host, on completing the “Money Galore” quest! You’ve sold a total of 100 Supreme Tea Eggs and gained 50 experience points! Your Gold Card profile has been updated! Please check it. ] Damn it, System—as expected, you’re always the fastest to show up whenever money’s involved. As the electronic voice faded, Bai Xiaobai immediately felt that huge golden card reappear in his mind. Name: Bai Xiaobai Goal: To become a top-tier chef versed in both Eastern and Western cuisines. Gender: Male Age: 22 Ethnicity: Han (Earth Human) Items: None Special Move: None Experience: 161 points Physical Attributes: Locked Mastered Dish: Supreme Tea-Egg (d) Culinary Talent: ? Current System Level: Big Bai Remarks: Blank Bai Xiaobai noticed that his Golden Profile Card had gained 50 experience points, bringing his total from 111 to 161, but his level remained at “Da Bai”—he hadn’t leveled up. Bai Xiaobai was a bit puzzled and asked, “By the way, System, what’s the next level after ‘Da Bai’? How much more experience do I need?” The System’s electronic voice rang out 【The next level after ‘Da Bai’ is ‘Xiao Tong.’ Please continue your efforts, Host. 】 Xiaotong? “So how much experience do I need to reach Xiaotong?” Text appears on the screen: Host, your current level is too low to know! Please work hard to level up. “……System, you’re just messing with me!” Bai Xiaobai broke out in a cold sweat. Now it seems I don’t even have the right to know—haha! Although the system didn’t say it outright, common sense dictates that the more you level up, the more experience points it takes. It only took 20 experience points to go from Xiaobai to Big Bai, but going from Big Bai to Xiao Tong would definitely require more—maybe three or four times as much, or even seven or eight times as much. The reason Bai Xiaobai cares so much about leveling up is that it means a higher revenue share—in layman’s terms, more money. For example, over the past two or three days, Bai Xiaobai completed Qian Duoduo’s quest and and sold 100 “Supreme” tea eggs. Under the standard 80-20 split between the system and the host, Bai Xiaobai’s net income was 50 × 0. 2 × 100 = 1,000 RMB. If the split were raised to 70-30, that would be 50 × 0. 3 × 100 = 1,500 RMB. A mere 10-point increase in the split would net Bai Xiaobai an extra 500 RMB—which is quite enticing. Although he hadn’t leveled up, Bai Xiaobai was a little disappointed. Still, over the past two or three days, he’d made a net profit of over 1,000 RMB—which was far better than when he used to run a Restaurant. Bai Xiaobai tapped on his mobile banking app to check his earnings, and a smile spread across his face. “By the way, System, now that I’ve completed the Qian Duoduo quest, can I introduce a new dish?” The electronic voice rang out in Bai Xiaobai’s mind once more. [Host can learn to prepare a new dish: C-level dish ‘Supreme Beef Noodles’] Beef noodle soup—that’s great. At least it’s a staple food; it’ll fill my stomach. Bai Xiaobai was very satisfied. “Is the upgrade still twenty minutes?” 【Estimated learning time for Supreme Beef Noodles: ten hours. 】 “Holy crap, ten hours?” Bai Xiaobai nearly jumped out of his skin—not out of anger, but shock. That was a huge jump; last time, the Supreme Tea Egg had only taken twenty minutes. It seems the difference between C-level and D-level dishes is indeed far more than just a single tier. Shortly after the system’s electronic voice faded, an hourglass countdown popped up in Bai Xiaobai’s mind. At the same time, a long passage of golden text detailing how to make Supreme Beef Noodles slowly floated into his mind and was gradually absorbed. Bai Xiaobai did a quick calculation. Ten hours—that meant the upgrade wouldn’t be complete until a little after 6:00 a. m. tomorrow. Launching the “Supreme Beef Noodles” tomorrow was sure to attract new customers. Bai Xiaobai was overjoyed, imagining a future where customers would flock to his shop. The shop had already sold out of its “Supreme Tea Eggs” today. With all the commotion caused by the Bureau of Industry and Commerce’s inspection earlier, Bai Xiaobai still hadn’t had dinner yet. His stomach was growling with hunger, so Bai Xiaobai simply closed the shop and went out to find something to eat.
