Lin Xu arrived at the shop holding Dundun.
The huge four-door steamer had been delivered a little past eight o’clock the previous evening. After several hours of work, the installation technicians finally set up the water and gas lines for the steamer. The new steamer was now in place and ready for use today.
While the technicians were busy, Lin Xu used his laptop to edit the footage shot by Chen Yan into a promotional video for the catering service. With the help of his Basic Editing Skills, the normally troublesome video editing process was no longer difficult. Lin Xu even managed to interact with Dundun while editing.
After uploading the video, it immediately attracted new followers. When he got up this morning, he saw that his follower count had increased by more than ten thousand. His total number of followers was now thirty-eight thousand, still some distance from one hundred thousand. But there was no rush, as there were still several days to go. At this rate, surpassing one hundred thousand followers within ten days did not seem very difficult.
After setting Dundun down in the store, Lin Xu rode a shared bike to the market to procure ingredients. Today, he had to buy the daily necessities for the store. Additionally, he needed to procure all the ingredients for over three hundred lunchboxes and more than thirty tables for the evening’s catering. The volume of procurement was huge. All the meat, eggs, vegetables, and other ingredients needed for the entire day would probably require both Uncle Shen and Boss Hu to help with the delivery.
Fortunately, it was only for three days. If it were an everyday affair, he would need to rent a box truck and go to the wholesale market beyond the Sixth Ring Road. The vegetables at the wholesale market were fresher, the variety more complete, and the prices relatively cheaper. But going to the wholesale market meant getting up at two in the morning. Otherwise, one would end up buying leftovers that the vendors couldn’t sell.
Arriving at the market, Uncle Shen had already prepared the ingredients Lin Xu needed to buy.
"The volume of procurement today is really huge; if you hadn’t informed me ahead of time, the tomatoes and baby bok choy at my stall wouldn’t have been enough."
After receiving the notification last night, Uncle Shen had made sure to stock up on more vegetables during his morning purchases, especially those Lin Xu would need for today’s lunchboxes, such as eggplants, tomatoes, and baby bok choy, among others.
For the lunchboxes, Lin Xu planned to offer Tomato Egg Rice Meal Sets, Braised Meat Rice Meal Sets, and Eggplant Dices Rice Meal Sets. The so-called meal sets were essentially the standard rice dishes sold in the store, but with added vegetables and a small bowl of Nori Egg Drop Soup. They weren’t as fancy as typical boxed lunches, but they were delicious enough. Lin Xu believed the trainees would get hooked after just one taste.
After purchasing all the vegetables and meat needed for today, Uncle Shen and Old Hu each drove their electric tricycles to start delivering the goods for Lin Xu.
Back at the store, he first sorted and put away the ingredients. Then he placed all the pork, skin-side up, on the worktable and started to sear the Pork Skin with a blowtorch.
「At ten in the morning.」
Shen Jiayue, who was in charge of catering this time, drove to the store. Today, Shen Jiayue dressed more formally, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt tucked into black slim-fitting trousers. Despite wearing flat shoes, her straight and proportionate legs still stood out noticeably.
"Dundun, I’m here, did you miss me!"
As soon as she walked in, Shen Jiayue scooped up Dundun, who was trying to escape, and hoisted him onto her shoulder as if carrying a gas canister.
After lifting Dundun, Shen Jiayue looked towards the kitchen, only to find that the store was running like an assembly line.
Song Tiantian and the others were busy filling stack after stack of disposable plates with rice. Once filled, they passed the plates to Che Zai and the others, who then added braised meat. The plates were then passed down the line. Some stir-fried baby bok choy was added before each was sealed with a lid, labeled "Braised Meat," and neatly packed into prepared cardboard boxes.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Lin Xu was using a large spoon to ladle the freshly made Nori Egg Drop Soup into neatly arranged disposable bowls on the worktable. All the soup bowls were filled, lidded one by one, and neatly arranged in cardboard boxes. Then he took out new soup bowls, set them on the worktable, and continued to ladle soup.
Seeing Shen Jiayue come in, Lin Xu said, "If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat a lunchbox. I specially prepared a little extra today; even the staff at the event venue will get some."
Even though the contract called for 312 portions, he couldn’t prepare just that exact amount. He had to make at least twenty or thirty more. This way, people with bigger appetites wouldn’t go hungry, and the staff helping with meal distribution at the venue wouldn’t starve either.
Shen Jiayue, petting Dundun’s sleek fur, huffed, "Serving *me*, your VIP client, a boxed lunch, huh? Looks like I need to reconsider our partnership!"
As Lin Xu busied himself, he asked, "What would you like to eat then?"
"I feel like eating..."
This question stumped Shen Jiayue for a moment. What to eat? Fish with Pickled Greens, Gulao Meat, Yuxiang Shredded Pork, Kung Pao Chicken, Dry-fried Green Beans, Mapo Tofu, Steamed Sea Bass, Braised Gu Fish, Braised Meatballs... I want them all!
After thinking, Shen Jiayue replied, "I want to eat steamed fish, but it seems it’s not possible to make it now, right?"
There was no fish in the restaurant, and it seemed too late to buy any now, since they were about to head to the event venue.
Lin Xu was about to say that it wasn’t possible to make it at this hour. But then the system’s notification sounded in his mind: "Host initiates cooking for Shen Jiayue, triggering the reward task [[Fish Steaming]]: Please prepare a steamed fish dish to Shen Jiayue’s satisfaction within twenty minutes using your understanding of fish ingredients and existing cooking techniques. Upon completion, you will be rewarded with one Superior Cooking Learning Card."
It’s confirmed, confirmed! This method really can trigger tasks. And it’s still a reward task. Could it be that all future tasks triggered with Shen Jiayue will be reward tasks? Making a fish dish to receive a Superior Cooking Learning Card in return—this is too good a deal!
With that thought, Lin Xu shouted to Che Zai, "Che Zai, go to the supermarket next door and see if there’s any live fish suitable for steaming—Sea Bass, Gu Fish, or Long-snouted Catfish will do. If there is, buy one!"
Everyone listening looked at Shen Jiayue with envy. Wow! The boss is really spoiling the boss lady, huh? She mentions wanting fish and he immediately goes to buy it, insisting on a live one too. This is exactly the kind of romance we all yearn for!
Shen Jiayue was somewhat surprised; she had mentioned it casually and wasn’t really craving fish. But Lin Xu’s response... Aww, Xu Bao, you’re going to spoil me rotten!
She really wanted to rush into the kitchen and give Lin Xu a kiss, but it was bustling with people, and she was holding Dundun, who wasn’t allowed in there. After thinking it over, Shen Jiayue could only choose to kiss Dundun, "Your daddy is so good to me! I’m so touched!"
However, when Dundun saw Shen Jiayue’s mouth approaching, he thought she was about to eat him! He quickly struggled free and fled, diving into a corner under the cash register in terror. Scared meow to death, almost got eaten by Yueyue Demon King!
Che Zai wiped his hands and went to the supermarket next door. From the seafood section, he picked a lively Sea Bass weighing just under two pounds. Upon returning to the store, he silently began to thoroughly clean the fish under the tap.
"Boss, the fish is ready."
Just then, Lin Xu had finished ladling the Nori Egg Drop Soup. He took the cleaned fish from Che Zai and prepared to steam it!