One hundred thousand followers?
The video of Steamed Sea Bass isn’t even out yet, and Dundun’s killer move—eating the fish head—hasn’t been used. But the task’s already complete.
Lin Xu felt a bit like, "I haven’t even gone all out and you’ve already given up."
Still, finishing the task is a good thing.
At least now the restaurant can finally serve a proper stir-fried dish.
Too bad it’s super busy right now.
No time for the lottery.
Once the lunch rush is over, he’s definitely gonna play with Dundun for a while, then have the little guy help pick a dish that’s tasty, sells well, and rakes in cash.
"I want two duck heads, a bottle of beer, and a bowl of Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce. How much is that?"
"I’ll have five duck heads, five duck feet, four bowls of braised pork rice, and one Tomato and Egg Rice Bowl."
"One order of Spicy Boiled Pork, two bowls of rice, four chicken feet, two bottles of beer."
"One order of Dry-Cooked Chicken, one Sweet and Sour Pork, two duck heads, four chicken feet, four bottles of beer, two bowls of rice..."
The customers lining up each told Song Tiantian what they wanted to order.
After paying, they waited for a table to open up inside so they could eat.
Lin Ji’s Food only has about fifty seats.
It’s not a small number, really, but every mealtime the line of people spills onto the street. The business is so good, even other restaurants are jealous.
Two in the afternoon.
Once the noisy buzz in the shop died down.
Lin Xu swapped into a clean t-shirt, went to the cashier, grabbed the cat-teaser stick that Shen Jiayue bought, and played games with Dundun until the little guy got tired—then scooped him up.
Dundun immediately snuggled in, looking comfy as heck.
Lin Xu silently chanted in his mind:
The prize wheel popped up in his mind’s vision.
When the wheel spun rapidly, Lin Xu hit the draw button.
The system’s ding rang out in his head:
"Congratulations, you have won Perfect Level stir-fry dish—Stir-Fried Yellow Beef."
Stir-Fried Yellow Beef?!!!
Lin Xu was so overjoyed, he planted a kiss right on Dundun’s forehead:
"Good boy, you’re seriously awesome!"
He’d originally figured—whatever, as long as he got a meat stir-fry, since those usually sell more and go for a higher price, at least he wouldn’t end up with that "all that hustle for a dish priced at twenty-five" awkwardness.
Never thought the little guy would go straight for the premium dish among stir-fries—Stir-Fried Yellow Beef.
This isn’t just luck anymore, it’s basically sneaking into the system’s skills vault and stealing the recipe for me...
Wang Teng’s dad said, "My son has the makings of an emperor."
Now Lin Xu also wanted to say:
"My Dundun, got the luck to bring his old man fortune!"
Dundun didn’t cling to Lin Xu anymore.
He hopped down from Lin Xu’s arms, bounced onto the cashier counter, sprawled on his little mat, and fell right asleep.
Lin Xu didn’t stay either.
He grabbed the video footage he’d shot in the morning, went up to the apartment, edited it, and uploaded it.
Originally, he’d planned for this video to push him past the hundred-thousand-follower mark.
But thanks to his sister-in-law’s sudden boost, he hit that goal early.
Now Lin Xu didn’t even feel hyped to edit the video.
Still, a video’s gotta get posted.
He’s still chasing the top spot on the food chart and a place in the overall Top Ten—that main quest is waiting.
Main quest rewards are definitely worth looking forward to compared to the side quests.
Like the Cuisine Upgrade Card.
And the Perfect Level Cooking Learning Card.
Those are exactly what Lin Xu needs right now.
He headed back to the restaurant to get back to work.
Right now, the daily sales at the shop are holding steady at fifty thousand; after deducting costs and wages, at least half of that is profit.
So there’s no way he’d dare take a day off.
Since resting one day means losing several grand in income.
But being so busy isn’t a long-term solution, either.
Lin Xu planned to teach the must-do-in-person dishes to the other chefs ASAP—especially the hand-rolled noodles; gotta teach Niu Chuan fast.
That way, even if he wants a day off,
the restaurant won’t be stuck with nobody to cook.
While he was mulling this over, suddenly the system prompt sounded in his head:
"Host considers staff development, triggering Side Task[Skill Training]. Please guide Niu Chuan to make hand-rolled noodles a hundred times in ten days. Completing this will reward you with one Excellent Level Basic Cooking Techniques lottery draw, and reward Niu Chuan with Excellent Level Hand-Rolled Noodle Technique (excluding Dough Technique)."
So once this task’s done, in the future, if he wants a breather, all he needs to do is help Niu Chuan mix the dough?
Even if the plan isn’t really to slack off, if something urgent ever comes up and he needs to step out, at least Niu Chuan can cover.
Thinking this through,
he said to Niu Chuan:
"Niu Chuan, you’ve been learning hand-rolled noodles for ages now, it’s time for you to get hands-on. From today, let’s have employee meals be your noodles. When you have downtime, practice more."
Ten batches a day isn’t a hard ask for Niu Chuan.
The key is Lin Xu has to remember to advise him.
Niu Chuan lit up with joy and said:
"You got it, boss! I’ll put my heart into it!"
Shen Guofu drove his Bentley and brought Tan Yajun to slowly park in front of the restaurant.
"Old Shen, your son-in-law’s honestly flawless; good thing I don’t have a daughter—otherwise I’d be fighting you for him."
Tan Yajun opened the door and got out.
Looking at the Lin Ji’s Food sign, he was full of admiration.
Shen Guofu hefted a bottle of Moutai and laughed:
"Wouldn’t matter if you did fight—Yueyue and Xiao Xu were college classmates for four years, spent every day together. No way you’d stand a chance."
"Look at you showing off. What are we eating today? I’ve pretty much had everything on your son-in-law’s menu."
Ever since Audit Bureau training started, all of Tan Yajun’s lunches came from Lin Ji.
He’s honestly super familiar with Lin Ji’s menu.
Shen Guofu grinned and said:
"No worries, today’s dish you definitely haven’t had—my son-in-law is making something new just for you, even I haven’t tried it yet."
"Is that so? Well, I’ll have a proper taste then!"
The two entered the restaurant.
Just two or three customers around at this hour.
Shen Guofu, acting like a total cat lover, cuddled Dundun for a bit before leading Tan Yajun in.
"Xiao Xu, your Uncle Tan’s here."
Lin Xu hurried out from the kitchen and greeted Tan Yajun:
"Hello Uncle Tan, please have a seat! Thank you so much for your help."
Doesn’t matter if it’s the Audit Bureau training orders or talking him up to Uncle Shen, Uncle Tan totally deserves thanks.
Tan Yajun waved him off and said:
"The one you should thank most is Jiayue. Back during campus recruitment, she messaged me to get you a job lined up. If it weren’t for my oversight, you’d already be working at the audit office..."
If I were working at the audit office, life would probably be totally different than now, huh?
Too bad I’ll never know...
Shen Guofu looked at Lin Xu and smiled:
"Don’t just stand there, Xiao Xu! Get the dish you prepared for Uncle Tan out here so we can finally taste it."
He had the waiter bring out chicken feet and the other dishes.
When the steamer alarm went off, he opened it up and brought out a dish of Black Bean Steamed Chicken.
When the dish hit the table,
Tan Yajun didn’t dig in right away—he first inhaled deeply, looking blissed out.
The fresh aroma of chicken and the intense black bean sauce instantly hooked him.
"Wow, this little aroma—totally different."
He picked up a piece of chicken and popped it in his mouth; the tender texture and savory taste instantly wrote shock all over the face of this poker-faced auditor:
"This chicken is unbelievably tender! Xiao Lin, this dish has totally changed how I think about chicken... Old Shen, you gotta try it too—your son-in-law’s seriously a genius in the kitchen!"
"As if I didn’t know?"
Shen Guofu tried a piece and found the chicken really was exceptionally tender.
Once Lin Xu headed back to the kitchen to get busy again,
Shen Guofu leaned in and quietly asked Tan Yajun:
"Old Tan, Xiao Xu’s mentor helped him buy a shopping car. As a family elder, shouldn’t I do something for the kid too?"