Culinary Expert

Chapter 43: Foreign Customers (Part 2)

“Mr. Bai, the same as this morning—the usual trio. But swap the Supreme Chili Sauce for the mild version.” Having had medium-spicy twice, Wei Hai decided to switch things up and try the mild variety. “Sure. We’ve launched the Supreme Set Menu for lunch—it’s the same as what you had this morning, but it’s now priced at 500 yuan, which is 15 yuan cheaper.” Bai Xiaobai was a very straightforward person; he pointed to the newly posted customer notice in the glass kitchen. This was the new customer notice he’d had printed at the print shop that morning. It was still A2 paper size The content read Breaking News! We are proud to introduce the Supreme Set Meal. The set includes a bowl of Supreme Beef Noodles, a 5-milliliter serving of Supreme Chili Sauce, and a Supreme Tea-Egg. Priced at just 500 yuan—that’s 15 yuan cheaper than ordering all three items à la carte. We welcome everyone to order the set! In the last paragraph, Bai Xiaobai had deliberately enlarged the font to more than double its original size to emphasize the 15-yuan savings. If the three items in the Ultimate Series Set were ordered separately, the original total would be 515 yuan. Now priced at 500 yuan, they’ve indeed rounded down by 15 yuan. Wei Hai glanced at the customer notice and quipped, “Owner Bai, you’re pretty resourceful—coming up with a set menu like this is actually a great idea! I’ll have the Ultimate Set, please. Hurry up—I’m starving.” “Sure, please wait a moment.” Bai Xiaobai said, then deftly headed into the kitchen to get to work. Wei Hai casually picked a table and chair to sit down, unscrewed the cap on a bottle of mineral water, took a big gulp, and wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose. Strangely enough, this Xiaobai Restaurant was actually very cool. Wei Hai felt something different the moment he stepped inside. There were clearly no fans, let alone air conditioning, yet it was incredibly cool. And this coolness wasn’t the bone-chilling kind you get from air conditioning; it felt a bit like being inside a cave, with a constant stream of cool, natural breeze flowing in—he had no idea how it worked. It was actually more comfortable than the room with central air conditioning at his own home. How could Wei Hai possibly know? When the System originally designed the Xiaobai Restaurant, it had installed various invisible holes in the walls. A steady stream of natural breeze flows through these holes, maintaining a constant temperature inside the Restaurant—one that’s perfectly comfortable for the human body. So even without air conditioning or fans, the Xiaobai Restaurant remains incredibly cool. Guo Zhaohui parked his motorcycle steadily in front of Xiaobai Restaurant. Pointing at the restaurant, he said politely to Lisa, who was sitting behind him on the motorcycle, “Hello, this is a fantastic Chinese restaurant. The food inside is delicious—I highly recommend you try it.” “Thank you,” Lisa said with a smile, handing Guo Zhaohui 20 RMB. After taking the money, Guo Zhaohui cast a meaningful glance at Xiaobai Restaurant but didn’t go inside. Business for motorcycle taxis was really slow today! Even if he wanted to have another bowl of Supreme Beef Noodles, he simply didn’t have any money left. For lunch today, he’d have to make do with steamed buns and pickles. Guo Zhaohui sighed and, with a sense of resignation, hurriedly rode off on his motorcycle. Lisa stood at the Restaurant entrance, holding her rolling suitcase. She closed her eyes slightly and took a deep breath. Oh, my god…… What on earth are they cooking in this Restaurant? How can it smell so good? Lisa simply couldn’t resist the temptation of the aroma. Carrying her small suitcase, she quickly stepped into Xiaobai Restaurant. Bai Xiaobai was busy in the kitchen at that moment. He had just placed the hand-pulled noodles he’d just made into the boiling water to cook. Just then, Bai Xiaobai spotted a foreign woman walking into his restaurant. The foreign woman had blonde hair and blue eyes; she was tall and slender, dressed very fashionably, and carrying an elegant rolling suitcase. After entering the restaurant, Lisa casually found a chair and sat down. She saw Wei Hai looking down at his phone and mistakenly assumed he was the owner, so she said, “Hello, owner, do you have a menu?” Wei Hai was stunned by Lisa’s Huaxia—though she still had a slight accent, her pronunciation and enunciation were quite good for a foreigner. “I’m not the owner; the owner’s in there,” Wei Hai told Lisa, then immediately turned and called out toward the glass-walled kitchen, “Owner Bai, we have a customer.” “Just a moment, I’ll be right out,” Bai Xiaobai replied out of habit. In reality, Wei Hai couldn’t hear Bai Xiaobai’s reply from outside at all. That’s because the glass in the kitchen provided by the system was very special—this high-tech glass could block the view from one side while allowing sound to pass through. Specifically, whatever customers did or said outside, Bai Xiaobai could see and hear everything clearly from inside the kitchen. Conversely, the customers outside could neither see what Bai Xiaobai was doing in the kitchen nor hear a single word he said inside. The Supreme Tea Eggs and Supreme Chili Sauce were both ready to go. After Bai Xiaobai finished preparing the Supreme Beef Noodles and placing them on a tray, he carried the tray and quickly walked out of the kitchen. Placing each item of the Supreme Set Meal one by one on Wei Hai’s table, Bai Xiaobai said, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Enjoy your meal.” After attending to Wei Hai, Bai Xiaobai walked over to Lisa, intending to greet her in “Gutter-Level English.” But he had only attended high school, and under the exam-oriented education system, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe his “Gutter-Level English” as a complete mess. He could only say things like “Hello,” “Hi,” or “Love you.” Anyway, he’d just heard in the kitchen that this foreign lady could speak Huaxia, so he might as well just communicate in Huaxia. “Hello, what would you like to eat?” Bai Xiaobai spoke as slowly as possible. As soon as Lisa walked into the Restaurant, she noticed it was completely empty—not only were there no menus, but there weren’t even any color photos of dishes on the walls. She had originally intended to ask for a menu, but when she saw how appetizing Wei Hai’s beef noodle soup looked, she wanted to try it too, so she said, “Hello, boss, I’ll have the same as him.” Bai Xiaobai immediately caught on—the foreign woman was clearly drawn to the set meal Wei Hai was eating. However, to avoid any unnecessary controversy, Bai Xiaobai, as always, quoted the price first: “Hello, the Supreme Set Meal is 500 yuan per serving. Would you like that?” Bai Xiaobai’s tone was very sincere, and he prefaced every sentence with “Hello.” But Lisa wasn’t about to be swayed by Bai Xiaobai’s sincere tone just like that. The moment she heard the price, she blurted out in English and nearly screamed. “Oh no, it’s crazy…” Bai Xiaobai understood these two simple English phrases—the foreign woman thought the price was too outrageous to accept. No matter how strong the customer’s reaction, Bai Xiaobai had long since grown accustomed to such things, so he remained calm and didn’t offer any further explanation. If a customer can accept the price, he’ll do it; if not, he won’t push the issue. Lisa furrowed her brow. She tried to get up and leave, but it felt as if her butt was glued to the chair—she simply couldn’t stand up. In reality, it wasn’t the chair at all—it was all in Lisa’s head. She was torn right now. On the one hand, although she came from a wealthy family and wasn’t short on money, she didn’t want to get ripped off for no reason. Having traveled frequently to Huaxia every year, she knew the country’s prices inside and out. A beef noodle set meal for 500 yuan? That was absolutely outrageous. That price would easily buy her ten bowls of beef noodle soup in the Imperial Capital. Besides, the cost of living in this city clearly can’t compare to that of the Imperial Capital. Could it be that the owner is overcharging her just because she’s a foreigner? To put it bluntly, was he ripping off tourists? But on the other hand, this beef noodle soup smelled absolutely amazing—nothing she’d ever tasted before had a fragrance like this. Just the aroma alone was enough to make her mouth water uncontrollably. Slurp… slurp… Wei Hai was sitting right across from Lisa. Oblivious to everyone around him, as if he were eating at home, he slurped down the Supreme Beef Noodles in big mouthfuls. Lisa’s last line of defense was completely breached by the sound of Wei Hai’s slurping. She’d actually only had a slice of toasted bread and a bottle of plain milk since this morning, so she was already ravenous. Swalloing a big gulp of saliva, Lisa made up her mind. “Hello, boss, I’ll have this set meal, too.”