Chapter 36: This New Dish Sounds Bad Just From Its Name?
Then, both of them eagerly dug in.
After the first bite, they both felt lucky once again to have come here.
The noodles, the beef—everything was more delicious than anything they had ever tasted before.
You could get beef noodle soup anywhere.
But here, you could get the most exquisite beef noodle soup.
Only the luckiest people could find their way here.
The more they thought about it, the more excited they became.
As they were eating, the shredded potatoes were brought over.
"Please, enjoy."
Their eyes lit up once again.
The stir-fried shredded potatoes looked pretty amazing, too.
’Time to give it a taste.’
Both of them quickly picked up some shredded potatoes with their chopsticks and put them in their mouths.
As expected, it was exceptionally delicious.
"Master Huang, you’re an expert at stir-fried shredded potatoes yourself. What’s your verdict on this dish?" He Wenjie asked in a low voice.
Huang Liangwen sighed with admiration. "It’s often the simplest dishes that truly test a chef’s skill. This young boss’s culinary arts are even more profound than I imagined."
He Wenjie was equally impressed. "It’s unbelievable."
Huang Liangwen continued, "We used to believe that those few Special Chefs represented the pinnacle of human culinary achievement. But now, I’m starting to have my doubts. I can’t say for sure if this dish is better than what those Special Chefs could make, but the possibility is definitely there—and it’s not a small one. There are truly masters of incredible depth hidden among us!"
He Wenjie sighed again. "This is a real-life ’crouching tiger, hidden dragon.’"
Huang Liangwen nodded. "Indeed it is."
Then, the two stopped talking and focused on eating the noodles and shredded potatoes.
After they finished everything, they were once again filled with admiration.
"Boss, I never imagined your skills were so extraordinary. For someone with your culinary talent to be running a small eatery like this... it’s truly a waste," said Huang Liangwen.
Li You smiled. "I wouldn’t say that. It’s all about cooking for customers. Does it really matter where you do it?"
"Well..." Huang Liangwen nodded slowly. "I suppose that’s true."
Afterward, Huang Liangwen scanned the code to pay.
The two of them spent a total of 56 yuan.
"Congratulations, Host. Main Quest ’Achieve a total revenue of 2,000 yuan within one week’ has been completed.
Reward Granted: One Recipe, Two Lottery Draws."
’It’s finally done!’ Li You was thrilled.
However, he didn’t check the rewards right away. ’It can wait until the customers leave.’
Huang Liangwen and He Wenjie sat for a little while longer before getting up to leave.
Their visit had been unexpected, unbelievable, and thoroughly delightful.
"Take care, you two!"
After seeing the two customers off, Li You immediately checked the rewards he had just received.
First, the recipe.
One recipe represented a new menu item.
’I wonder what dish it will be this time?’
’This is so exciting!’
He found the unopened recipe in the Storage Pavilion.
He opened it immediately.
"Recipe: Cabbage in Boiled Water.
Learn?"
’Cabbage in Boiled Water!’ Li You was pleasantly surprised.
This was a famous and incredibly complex dish.
Judging by the name alone, the dish sounded plain and unappetizing.
’How could cabbage boiled in plain water possibly be any good?’
In reality, however, this dish was one of the ten most famous classic dishes of Sichuan cuisine and a staple of state banquets.
The "boiled water" in its name was, of course, not actual plain water.
It was a supreme broth, meticulously simmered with old hens, old ducks, ham hocks, pork ribs, and dried scallops, then clarified with minced chicken and pork until it was as clear as water.
The "cabbage" was actually the tender heart of a napa cabbage, blanched until just cooked through.
After a quick blanching, the cabbage heart was rinsed in cold water to remove any grassy taste, then the clear broth was poured over it, scalding it to perfect tenderness.
The resulting dish was clear, fresh, and elegant, with a rich and mellow aroma. It was refreshingly crisp in the mouth, a flavor that surpassed countless other delicacies.
This was a true showstopper.
Li You was very excited.
’But isn’t it a bit early to be getting a dish like this?’
Li You thought to himself, feeling it was a little too soon for this recipe to show up.
However, on second thought...
’This is good, too.’
’This way, I’ll have my first true masterpiece on the menu.’
’Not bad at all.’
’In that case, I’ll learn it right away.’
Soon, Li You had completely mastered everything about Cabbage in Boiled Water—from ingredient selection to the most minute details of the cooking process.
Now, Li You could cook the most delicious Cabbage in Boiled Water in the entire world.
This was a delightful surprise.
And there were two more surprises to come.
Because he still had two lottery draws.
’Time to use the draws.’
"System, open the lottery interface."
"Lottery interface opened."
The familiar and exciting lottery interface appeared before his eyes.
Recipes, Ingredients, Cookware, Other—the four categories.
’This time—no, *these* two times—which categories will I get? And what will the prizes be?’
’The anticipation is killing me!’
The first lottery draw began.
The wheel spun rapidly and came to a stop, the pointer landing on the Cookware category.
’Cookware again?’
’Cookware is good, too. Let’s see what it is.’
A beautiful gift box appeared once again. Ribbons fluttered as it opened.
"Universal Automatic Cleaning Machine."
"Description: Can automatically clean all types of tableware, including bowls, chopsticks, plates, and glasses."
’This is a high-end automatic dishwasher!’
Li You was overjoyed.
He had been dreaming of an automatic dishwasher.
And now he actually had one.
A dishwasher from the lottery would surely be infinitely better than any commercial model.
’I’ll never have to wash dishes by hand again.’
’I’ll try it out in a bit.’
But first, the second draw.
The wheel spun rapidly again and stopped.
This time, the pointer landed on the "Other" category.
This was the first time he’d ever landed on "Other."
’What kind of things are in this category?’ The anticipation grew.
The beautiful gift box appeared once more.
Ribbons fluttered again.
The gift box opened.
"Qiankun Automatic Decomposition Garbage Bin."
"Description: The bin has a capacity of 100,000 liters. When full, it will automatically decompose all trash, reducing it to nothing."
Li You was amazed.
100,000 liters was equivalent to 100 cubic meters. That was a cube with sides over four meters long, almost five.
’How much trash could that possibly hold?’
’Right, how big does it look from the outside?’
Li You found the garbage bin in the Storage Pavilion.
He took it out.
Its appearance was no different from a regular trash can, just slightly larger than a standard household one, maybe around 50 liters in size.
A normal-sized trash can that could hold 100,000 liters and automatically decompose trash into nothingness.
’This is just too amazing!’
Li You was extremely excited.
With this trash can, he would never have to worry about the restaurant’s garbage again.
No matter how much trash he or his customers generated, he just had to toss it into the Qiankun Automatic Decomposition Garbage Bin and be done with it.
No more long trips to take out the trash.
’This is awesome!’
’I’ll put this Qiankun Automatic Decomposition Garbage Bin in the kitchen.’
Then there was the Universal Automatic Cleaning Machine.
Li You found a spot in the kitchen, then took the Universal Automatic Cleaning Machine out of his Storage Pavilion and set it up.
The machine wasn’t large, but its internal capacity was enormous. It could wash hundreds of sets of bowls and chopsticks at once.
As it happened, the dishes from the two customers hadn’t been washed yet.
’Time to test it.’
He turned on the machine and placed the dirty dishes inside.
In less than thirty seconds, all the dishes were sparkling clean.
’It’s even faster than I imagined.’
Li You was once again pleasantly surprised.
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