Su Yuan carefully cut a palm-sized piece of meat from the roasted goose's belly.
The moment the knife tip touched the goose's reddish-brown, glistening skin, it split open with a crisp crack at the slightest pressure. An even richer aroma welled up from beneath it.
The aroma was so rich that as soon as Su Yuan had sliced off a piece, everyone in the kitchen had already gathered around.
"Xiao Su, you roasted this goose?"
Chef Li stared at the goose skin in the white porcelain plate, gleaming like amber, and the tender, juicy-looking meat beneath it. He was a little astonished.
He'd once worked at a star-rated hotel in the city and had seen the work of a Foundation Establishment Realm master of Cantonese roasting. Judging by the appearance of this roasted goose, Su Yuan's roasting skills were every bit as good as that master's!
"Uncle Li, try it first."
Su Yuan divided the goose meat on the plate into several small pieces and handed Chef Li a pair of chopsticks.
With a solemn expression, Chef Li picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. He closed his eyes and savored it carefully.
At that moment, Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi both held their breath.
Whether the roasted goose tasted good or bad would determine how much they earned for quite some time to come. They couldn't help being nervous.
But after Chef Li put the meat in his mouth, he froze as if time itself had stopped.
Not only Su Yuan, but everyone else in the kitchen was getting anxious.
If it tasted good or not, just say something already!
After quite a while, Chef Li finally opened his eyes. He stared at Su Yuan with a stern expression and said coldly:
"Kid, I have a major complaint about this dish of yours."
Su Yuan: "..."
Chen Nuoyi and the others in the kitchen were equally stunned.
What did he mean?
Was the roasted goose just pretty to look at, but not tasty at all?
Just as everyone was baffled, the cold look on Chef Li's face melted away like snow in spring, and he smiled:
"You should've started working here in your first year of high school, instead of waiting until now."
Su Yuan: "..."
So, Old Li, have you been watching too much Hell's Kitchen?
That was well said, and made for great television, but don't say it again next time.
"Then, Uncle Li, can the two of us start working here?"
Su Yuan asked cautiously.
Chef Li said, "Hiring you is no problem, but I'll need to discuss the pay with you two."
"Xiao Su, since you're only part-time, you can't stay in the kitchen all day like the rest of us. So you're planning to come in and make roasted meats for a few hours each day, right?"
Su Yuan nodded.
Chef Li said, "With your roasting skills, you deserve a head chef's salary. The head chef in our cafeteria makes around fifty thousand a month."
"But since you're both part-time, a fifty-thousand monthly salary is out of the question. And if we pay you an hourly rate of one or two hundred, that wouldn't be quite fair to you either. So I think you could work on commission."
"Commission?"
"In short, you make the roasted meats, and the cafeteria sells them. You get a share of the profit from every portion sold."
"The more roasted meat you sell, the more you earn. But if the dishes don't sell, you won't make much."
"Whether you want to choose this arrangement depends on how confident you are in your product."
At that, Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi exchanged glances, then each picked up a piece of goose to try.
Their confidence instantly soared!
"Uncle Li, we'll take the commission option. But we need to settle on the price per roasted goose and how much we'll get from each sale."
Su Yuan rubbed his hands together, his eyes somehow already turned into money signs.
After half an hour of heated debate, they finally settled on the exact commission.
The total cost of turning a Dragon Scale Goose into roasted goose came to around six thousand yuan.
But Dragon Scale Geese were big enough to yield over a hundred pounds of meat after roasting. They could divide one goose into a hundred portions and sell each portion for... 120 yuan!
It wasn't cheap, but this was a spirit beast at the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining, a highly nourishing food for cultivators. The price could be considered fair.
For each portion sold, Su Yuan would get twelve yuan!
That meant he'd make 1,200 yuan from selling one whole goose. At a rate of one goose a day, he could earn over thirty thousand a month!
And all it would cost him was a little over two hours after school each day to refine corpses... ahem, roast meat.
Of course, that was just the ideal scenario. The cafeteria's menu changed often, students had weekends and holidays off, and 120 yuan was no small sum for a student. They couldn't afford to eat it every day.
It was entirely possible they wouldn't sell a single goose in three or four days.
"As the cafeteria's new dish, Dragon Scale Roasted Goose will be sold at half price tomorrow. Of course, your commission won't be reduced. Xiao Su, whether you can make the big money depends on tomorrow."
Chef Li said with a beaming smile.
"Since the roasted goose I made tastes good, it's bound to sell!"
Su Yuan looked at the contract they'd just signed and wore a confident expression.
Chef Li raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Too much confidence isn't a good thing. The students might not buy it."
Su Yuan said confidently, "Don't worry, Uncle Li. Since I dared to apply, I'm prepared to make money for sure. I'm not just confident in my roasting skills—I've also got a special trick for selling this goose."
"Let me handle the sales tomorrow. I guarantee I'll open your eyes, Uncle Li!"
Seeing how sure of himself Su Yuan was, Chef Li guessed he really did have a plan. He smiled.
"In that case, you can take charge of the roasted goose counter tomorrow."
Then Su Yuan hung the roasted goose in a well-ventilated spot in the kitchen to dry. After reminding everyone not to chop it up under any circumstances, he and Chen Nuoyi left the cafeteria.
Feiyun Community.
The two changed into their security uniforms and took up their posts.
"Class Monitor, let's agree on this ahead of time: we'll split the earnings from the roasted goose fifty-fifty."
Su Yuan glanced at Chen Nuoyi's Saint Fall Degree on the System Panel and said.
Chen Nuoyi was startled. She hurriedly waved her hands.
"No, fifty-fifty is too much. I didn't really do anything while you were making the roasted goose. I just helped out a little. Even twenty percent would be plenty."
Su Yuan smiled and shook his head.
"Class Monitor, you can't think of it that way. I'm the one making the roasted goose now, but once you've learned how, I can hand the job over to you."
"You'll be the one running around and doing all the work, while I sit back and reap the benefits. Even taking fifty percent would be too little."
"So consider the money we earn before then compensation for the future. You have to accept it."
Chen Nuoyi was stunned. She hadn't expected Su Yuan to have thought so far ahead.
After a moment's hesitation, she slowly nodded.
"Then... I'll do as you say."
At the very moment Chen Nuoyi agreed, the Righteous Path Saintess—already deeply corrupted from taking part in and learning corpse refinement—fell further into depravity in the system's judgment, this time through money.
A crisp "ding" rang out in Su Yuan's mind.
[Saint Fall Degree (100%/100%)] [Quest: First Follower (Completed)] [Quest Reward: Abyss Dharma Vein (Granted)]
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