Night had fallen, dotted with stars, in a secluded corner of Moonstone City's harbor.
At this moment, this usually sparsely populated corner gathered many of Moonstone City's prominent figures.
The street-side open-air restaurant was surrounded by soft light and the warm air of fireworks.
And inside the small street-side eatery, the stove blazed, the spatula flew, and the scent of food was intoxicating, with the freshness of seafood, the richness of grilled meat, and the crispness of vegetables.
Beyond that, the water elves constantly carried dishes, scurrying back and forth among the tables.
"Water elf, serve the dishes quickly."
"Being able to have this meal, this month has not been in vain."
"Water elf, bring me a bottle of the strongest whiskey!"
"Boss, another serving, braised abalone in sauce!"
"Another serving of moonlight fish."
The diners sat around the table, enjoying this rare feast.
[You cooked garlic moonlight fish today and gained 85 Spiritual Points.]
"Why has it turned out this way? Why?"
Chen Qi waited for Perlu while genuinely wondering.
His original idea was just to cook, sell food, while incidentally progressing through his Chef occupation.
But he never imagined it would become this popular!
Three days after opening, he was already too busy to cope.
Therefore, he had no choice but to switch to a reservation system.
But even so, with only one chef, he was still extremely busy.
Then, Chen Qi began training deep-sea water elves, letting the more intelligent ones like second and third help with cooking.
Second was in charge of chopping vegetables, and third was responsible for flipping the pan.
Although this reduced the quality of the dishes, it significantly increased the efficiency of serving them.
Chen Qi thought that with reduced quality, there would be fewer customers.
However, the restaurant became even more popular.
Many people came to eat just to flirt with the water elves.
Even scalpers started to snatch up reservations at his restaurant.
Chen Qi's restaurant even made it to the Witch Times, where it was dubbed as the Water Elf Restaurant in the newspaper.
"Why has it become so popular?"
Chen Qi rubbed his head and sighed again.
The effect of celebrity endorsements was terrifying!
And this was without him deliberately raising prices.
Aside from costs, in just over twenty days, from only about four hours of business each night, he earned a total of over half a million Shell Coins and 1,600 Spiritual Points.
Chen Qi picked up the account book and did the math.
Running the restaurant, along with the income from selling ghost fire fish and black pearls, added up to about two and a half million.
The mass of useless equipment he acquired from the Black Rabbit ship, due to lack of a formal channel, only sold for three million Shell Coins.
Plus the one and a half million in cash from the Black Rabbit ship.
His cash on hand once peaked over seven million Shell Coins.
However, the expenses on the Transcendent path were a huge sum.
He went to the black market and bought just one nice, high-level deep meditation Skill Card and one most basic Qi Power basic defense Skill Card, and three million Shell Coins vanished in an instant.
Now, Chen Qi only had a savings of four million Shell Coins.
For an ordinary person, that was enough to get married and buy a house.
But on the Transcendent path, this money could only stir up a little splash.
Fortunately, once the Sea Beast breeding farm was successfully built, it would be a sustainable income.
Chen Qi reviewed the accounts for tonight.
From tonight's stall, he could make about a hundred thousand Shell Coins.
Despite the restaurant's popularity, the unit price of food made from ordinary ingredients was too low.
Limited by manpower, after several consecutive days of busyness, both the deep-sea water elves and he had reached their limit.
Moreover, the season for moonlight fish had passed.
The most expensive moonlight fish sold for only a bit over ten thousand Shell Coins.
To truly make big money with the Chef occupation, the best way was still to create legendary Transcendent cuisine.
Such as honey-roasted dragon meat, bone dragon rib soup, and so on.
Chen Qi stood outside the houseboat, shaking his head, still wanting many items from the equipment market that he hadn't purchased.
Seven million Shell Coins were still far from reaching the goal of buying a large ship.
"Perlu, is this the restaurant you mentioned? It looks pretty shabby, but the water elves here are cute. I wonder if the boss would sell them."
"It seems not for sale, tell me what you want to eat, it's on me."
At that time, two women walked onto the small houseboat.
Finally, they arrived... Chen Qi crossed his arms, "Perlu, good evening, what would you like to eat?"
I wonder if Perlu managed to get any information about the Lamp Phase crack today.
Perlu confidently replied,
"I'll take the fattest moonlight fish, today, I'm treating my junior, Lilith, to a meal."
Junior? Chen Qi looked toward Perlu's side.
Standing next to Perlu was a tall, young woman about 170 cm, wearing round black-framed glasses, with slightly curly black hair, a strong physique, and also dressed in a black vintage ruffled long dress.
Lilith, that seems to be the pen name of the Witch Times' editor-in-chief... Chen Qi remembered.
Recently, Witch Times reported on his Water Elf Restaurant, so the impression was quite strong.
Lilith greeted him, looking at the water elf with an infatuated gaze,
"Hello, Mr. Chef, I'm very fond of your water elves here."
After exchanging a few simple pleasantries, Chen Qi served up a plate of spicy grilled moonlight fish.
Perlu and Lilith sat down at the table.
Chen Qi asked, "Perlu, did you really get information about the Lamp Phase Occupation Card?"
Perlu mysteriously said, "Yes, because this matter involves confidentiality. After you close up and when there are fewer people around, he will come to find you."
He? Involves confidentiality? Chen Qi looked puzzled.
Perlu, known as the enigma killer, had uncommonly refrained from disclosing the name and identity of the other party directly.
A second-tier Lamp Phase Occupation Card was actually involved in confidentiality.
Chen Qi had a bad feeling about this.
And then, Perlu secretly winked at Chen Qi.
Chen Qi drew in a cool breath.
Her meaning was,
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"Get her guests thoroughly drunk!"
Perle sat at the dining table and said to Lilith:
"Lilith, don't be shy, help yourself. The moonlight fish, this is the boss's specialty!"
Lilith took a small bite with a slightly puzzled look on her face.
Delicious!
Perle actually didn't trick her!
Then, Perle chuckled with a confident face and picked up five bottles of highly concentrated wheat beer:
"Cheers! To celebrate the new sales record of your newspaper, Lilith!"
"Thanks, Perle. The reason my newspaper's sales could set a new record is all because of the popularity of the Flower Witch.
After all, the name of the Witch Times is meant to commemorate the legendary witches.
Of course, I couldn't have done it without your guidance, Perle."
"That has little to do with me, let's drink to that! By the way, how high have the sales of your Witch Times been lately?"
The newspaper's sales determined the success or failure of their competition.
Lilith whispered, "Not much, a newspaper with cute girls and ladies on the cover hasn't sold many copies."
A faint smell of gunpowder spread within his small houseboat.
Chen Qi smacked his lips.
Are these two performing an office drinking session here?
In the game forum, they are competitors.
As the editor-in-chief of the Witch Times, Lilith was the polar opposite of Perle.
Compared to Perle, who chased big news, Lilith specialized in sensational and silly news.
Moreover, she had exquisite drawing skills, applying unique artistic alterations to characters in the news.
Especially to certain special parts.
According to some players' investigation,
Lilith seems to be the only normal person in the White Dove Newspaper.
Therefore, in the game forum, her nicknames are 'Doujin Editor' and 'Ordinary Person'."
In the White Dove Newspaper, every year, the editor with the highest sales is given an unimaginable legendary reward!
So, the sales war between the two is now at a fever pitch.
Nowadays, since Perle didn't catch the Flower Witch, the sales of the White Dove Times plummeted.
Whereas Lilith reported on the interesting stories of the Golden Flower Bird Kingdom, setting a new sales record.
Chen Qi could never have imagined.
His little restaurant would actually gather two rising stars in the news industry.
Lilith gave a slight smile:
"Perle, cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Bring on some strong liquor, Qi!"
After three rounds of drinks.
Perle gave Chen Qi a knowing look.
Lilith's drinking capacity actually matched hers.
To get Lilith drunk, this amount of alcohol isn't enough!
"Hmph."
Two minutes later.
Perle banged on the table and fell down, unconscious from drunkenness.
"Weakling——"
Lilith sneered coldly.
Then she raised her head, face flushed, and said to Chen Qi:
"Boss, are you selling the Water Elf?"
Chen Qi had an ominous premonition and asked, "What do you want the Water Elf for?"
"Big plans."
Lilith honestly replied, "From my observations, many nobles are learning how to play like the Golden Flower Bird Kingdom. They need the Water Elf for some special play.
You should understand the wonder of the Water Elf, right?
They will pay a substantial sum for your Water Elf."
"The wonder of the Water Elf? Play????"
What are you talking about?
Chen Qi frowned instantly like an old man on the subway.
What the hell?
He had underestimated the perversion of the Witch Sea folks.
The Water Elf is being targeted by rich matrons.
As a devoted host, Chen Qi had no interest in letting the deep-sea Water Elves experience the secretive and luxurious world of the rich.
After all, they are so well-behaved.
"No."
Chen Qi turned down Lilith's request.
"Is that so, too bad?"
Lilith chugged down another bottle of wheat beer and also passed out.
These two are so weak, thought Chen Qi as he tidied up the dining table.
It was now late at night, the dock had become extremely quiet, and a cold wind began to blow.
"Waku Waku!"
Suddenly, a deep-sea Water Elf, as if encountering some kind of monster, leaped into his arms.
"???"
"Chef, would you mind stepping outside for a chat?"
A stable elderly male voice.
Perle's guest? Chen Qi turned his head toward the direction of the voice.
It was an elderly man with white hair, wearing a crisp blue navy uniform, with white hair neatly tied at the back of his head.
A high forehead, a prominent nose, and a face full of wrinkles.
Chen Qi's gaze landed on the shoulder patch of the other party.
A five blue star patch.
Chen Qi was momentarily taken aback.
The person Perle brought was a navy general?
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