Culinary Expert

Chapter 48: The Rising-Star Shop (Part 1)

For the first time since opening the shop, his single-day earnings had reached over a thousand yuan. If he could make this much every day, earning over ten thousand a month would be a breeze. Bai Xiaobai was beaming with joy; he was so excited that his palms were even getting slightly sweaty. It was so hot that after a busy half-day, Bai Xiaobai was already drenched in stinky sweat. After cleaning up the shop, he whistled as he rushed up to the second-floor bathroom for a relaxing soak. At the same moment. In a QQ group with a 500-member cap called “Operation Black Strike,” the chat was buzzing with activity, with a new message popping up almost every two or three seconds. Lonely Little Rice Worm: Major inside scoop, major inside scoop. I’ve heard that Abbess Extinction has returned from a business trip abroad. According to a source, she’s planning a massive “Operation Black Strike” tomorrow—stay tuned, everyone. Flying Little Divine Pig: When Master Extinction sets out, not a blade of grass remains. Looking forward to Master Extinction’s powerful return. Little Newbie: Hi everyone, I’m a new member of Black Strike. By the way, who is Master Extinction? Is she the female leader of the Emei Sect who killed her own disciple with a single palm strike? Greatness Lies in Forgiveness: Newbies, post a photo—or you’ll be kicked out instantly. Banana Eater: Are you some clown the monkey sent over? [Evil grin emoji] @Little Newbie Little Newbie: [Sweating emoji] Please explain—who exactly is Abbess Extinction? Banana Eater: @Little Newbie, she’s the deputy leader of our Black Strike organization. Check the admins—the one with the cute girl’s profile picture is her. Little Newbie followed the group members’ instructions and tapped on the admin with the cute girl’s profile picture. The profile was restricted and couldn’t be accessed, but it was clear that the admin’s personal signature read Tomorrow at noon, Black Strike’s target—an exorbitantly priced 500-yuan beef noodle set meal. The next day, Bai Xiaobai woke up early as usual to open for business. During the “Bullish to the Max” mission, the system stipulated that daily operating hours must be 6 hours, and Bai Xiaobai had already planned out how to allocate the day’s time. Morning operating hours were tentatively set for 6–8 a. m. , lunch hours for 11 a. m. –1 p. m. , and evening hours for 6–8 p. m. These time slots coincided perfectly with breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours. Of course, these times weren’t set in stone. Bai Xiaobai planned to test the waters first to see how things went. If the results weren’t good, he would fine-tune the operating hours as needed. As it turned out, the time slots Bai Xiaobai had initially set were quite reasonable. During the morning service, the ten “Supreme” tea eggs sold out in less than five minutes after opening, while the “Supreme” beef noodle soup and “Supreme” combo meals sold eight and six portions, respectively. By the end of the morning shift, the system’s “Awesome” task progress bar had reached 18/200. Since it was so hot, after the morning shift ended, Bai Xiaobai didn’t have anything special to do and didn’t plan to go out, so he stayed put on the second floor. The life of a single, homebound guy is monotonous and boring; Bai Xiaobai simply spent his time shirtless, with the AC blasting, munching on icy watermelon, and playing video games to pass the time. Games really are the perfect way to kill time. After a few rounds of gaming, it was suddenly 11:00 a. m. Time to open for business. Bai Xiaobai had a habit of splashing cold water on his face after using the computer. Some so-called experts say this helps block radiation, but Bai Xiaobai didn’t believe it at all; he did it purely to refresh his tired eyes. As he dried his face with a towel, the system’s cool, electronic voice rang out in his mind. [Host, the high-tech dishwasher has arrived in the kitchen. Please review the user manual. ] As the electronic message ended, a stream of golden text floated into Bai Xiaobai’s mind, bit by bit, and was slowly absorbed. The dishwasher arrived right at noon, just as promised—the system was quite reliable. Bai Xiaobai shut down her computer, rushed downstairs, and entered the kitchen to check out the high-tech dishwasher. Sure enough, a black appliance had appeared next to the kitchen cabinets. The appliance was about half a person’s height and looked a bit like a small upright refrigerator. Bai Xiaobai opened the appliance’s door to take a look inside. The dishwasher contained five layers of metal racks. Each metal rack was designed with exceptional user-friendliness in mind, accommodating various tableware such as bowls, chopsticks, plates, saucers, knives, and forks. Although the dishwasher’s interior wasn’t very spacious, it was more than sufficient for her current needs. Following the instruction manual, Bai Xiaobai plugged it in, connected the water inlet hose to the faucet, and attached the drain hose to the sink. With the installation complete, it was time to give it a test run. But the morning’s dishes had already been washed spotless, so there weren’t any dirty dishes available for testing right now. Never mind—he’d leave it at that for now. After all, once the shop opened in a little while, there would surely be a pile of dishes to wash. Bai Xiaobai wasn’t in a rush, so she strode out of the kitchen, pulled open the store’s roll-up gate, and officially began the lunch service. Noon. Tianteng Group. Li Lili finished her current tasks and rubbed her aching neck. Lisa, sitting across from her, had finished drawing the luggage designs using AI software and stretched as well. “Lily, let’s go get that beef noodle set together for lunch.” Lisa had only eaten a small vegetable salad and a fried egg that morning, so by now she was ravenous. “Lisa, you’ve made that beef noodle set sound so delicious—I’m actually curious to see which restaurant chef’s work it is,” Li Lili said with a smile, revealing a faint dimple. Li Lili was usually aloof and serious—a habit she’d cultivated over many years. However, as a luggage designer, Lisa was one of her key clients. As the host, she naturally had to keep a smile on her face as much as possible to show friendliness. “Lily, this is the name of the street where the Restaurant is located. It has Huaxia characters on it that I don’t recognize—take a look.” After saying this, Lisa pulled out the small piece of paper with the street name—which a passerby had written down for them earlier—from her bag. As she took the slip of paper from Lisa’s hand and glanced at it, Li Lili’s mind wandered for a moment. “Lily, isn’t this address too far from the office?” Seeing Li Lili lost in thought, Lisa asked with a hint of concern. “It’s not far. Let’s go.” Li Lili had a vague feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. The Manko Building, where Tian Teng Group was located, was about 1,000 meters from Chaotianmen Street—hardly a long way. Even though Li Lili and Lisa were walking slowly in high heels, it only took them ten minutes to get there. Lisa had a very good memory; since she’d been there just yesterday, she quickly found the exact spot. “Lily, we’re here—it’s this restaurant.” “Xiaobai Restaurant?” Li Lili was completely taken aback. “That’s right, this is the place. The beef noodle set meal inside is fantastic—the owner is practically a gift from God.” Lisa’s praise was so high she even brought God into it. Actually, Li Lili wasn’t the least bit surprised by Lisa’s praise. After wrapping up the “Black Strike” operation at “Xiaobai Restaurant” last time, Li Lili left on a business trip abroad the very next day—a trip that lasted several days. While abroad on the business trip, she stayed at a luxury hotel affiliated with a foreign partner company. Naturally, the food was top-notch. In the mornings and at lunchtime, there were premium steaks, all kinds of specialty grilled meats, and seafood buffets; for dinner, there were even French feasts. Logically speaking, those dishes were all quite good, but Li Lili had little appetite for them. It wasn’t just because she was naturally unaccustomed to Western cuisine; it was more because ever since she’d tasted the “Supreme Tea-Egg” at Xiaobai Restaurant last time, she’d been unable to forget its flavor. The delicate aroma of the tea-eggs seemed to linger on her lips and between her teeth at all times, refusing to fade. Whenever she thought of that exquisite flavor, those tempting Western dishes paled in comparison. Li Lili lost a full three jin during her business trip abroad. She had originally planned to go to Xiaobai Restaurant this evening to savor the Supreme Tea-Egg and replenish the nutrients she’d lost. She never would have imagined it. The exorbitantly priced beef noodle set Lisa had mentioned actually came from Xiaobai Restaurant as well. Thinking back to how embarrassing her last “undercover” mission at “Xiaobai Restaurant” had been, a wry smile involuntarily tugged at the corners of the aloof Li Lili’s mouth. If it’s this place, she might as well forget about today’s undercover mission. It’s doomed to fail!