Sure enough, early the next morning, Xue Xi was woken by the loud banging at her door. She leaned lazily by the window to see what was going on, only to be startled by the crowd packed below. What was happening?
Luo Feng, who had sharp eyes, spotted Xue Xi looking bewildered on the second floor and shouted, "Xue Xi, open up! You'll probably be busy all day today. Your big sister Xu Xin asked me to come help out."
Without even changing, Xue Xi hurried downstairs in her teddy-bear pajamas and slippers. She opened both doors, and the impatient crowd outside immediately poured in, cramming the restaurant's more than one hundred seats. People were still pushing their way in from outside.
Luo Feng pulled Xue Xi into the kitchen and asked in surprise, "You didn't go online last night? Your restaurant's being treated as a second 'Elite Training Camp' now. Martial Artists are gradually making their way here, and you still managed to sleep?"
She shook her head. "I was exhausted after dealing with a few crabs yesterday, so I went to bed early. What should we do? The ingredients I bought yesterday probably won't last more than a few days, like you said."
Luo Feng thought for a while, then glanced at the lively scene outside and made up his mind. "I'll take care of the ingredients. I still have 5.3 billion in my account. I can invest it in your restaurant, and you can share the profits with me later. What do you think?"
Xue Xi agreed at once. City Lord Luo, coming to her rescue when she needed it most, was kind of handsome. And this brother-in-law of hers seemed pretty dependable. "Sounds good. We can discuss the details once we're done today. For now, let's take care of the customers."
Luo Feng nodded. "All right. You focus on cooking; I'll handle the cashier, serving, and restocking." As a talented Psychic, taking care of those things would be a piece of cake for him.
The two quickly settled on their roles, and the restaurant ran smoothly throughout the day. During that time, Yao Rao, one of the three personal guards of Hong from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, came to try two dishes. Before leaving, she exchanged contact information with Xue Xi and issued a warning to the various factions: Hong was keeping an eye on the restaurant, and if anyone caused trouble, the Extreme Martial Arts Hall wouldn't hesitate to carry out a purge.
The people present were so frightened that they stopped crowding and obediently lined up to pay and wait for their meals. After eating quickly and confirming the effects were real, they promptly left their seats for those who came after them.
By a little after nine that night, Xue Xi, who had been working nonstop all day, couldn't hold out any longer. She apologized to the Martial Artists still arriving outside, quickly hung up the "Closed" sign, and shut the door.
Exhausted, she collapsed against the back of a chair. Looking at Luo Feng, who still had plenty of energy, she said enviously, "Martial Artists really do have amazing stamina. One day, I'll be able to stay open all night and still feel this energetic. There are still mouths across an entire universe waiting for me to feed them."
Luo Feng assumed Xue Xi was talking nonsense because she was worn out. He forcibly hauled her to her feet, finalized the details of his investment, then took his leave to prepare more ingredients.
Xue Xi dragged her tired body into the shower for a hot rinse. The Gourmet Anchor might have an unbeatable effect, but it couldn't do anything about mental exhaustion and frustration. She was only an eighteen-year-old girl, after all. Just thinking about the hundreds of millions, then trillions of customers she'd have to serve made her vision go dark. She sank her thoughts into the Gourmet Catalog; it was time to tally up what she'd earned after a grueling day.
She'd made a rough count today and figured there had been at least four or five hundred people. Luo Feng had said these were just the people who lived nearby, and there would be more and more in the days ahead.
She deftly cleared the red notification dots for the unlocked rewards on each page, then flipped through four pages of the catalog at once. The next page's unlock progress had reached 55/100. She ignored the four new menus for now and turned her attention to the four items slowly emerging from the deep-blue vortex.
Culinary Practice Virtual Space (Desolate), Culinary Spirit Fire (Desolate), Magic Seasoning Pouch (Desolate), Housekeeping Doll.
The four rewards hovered around Xue Xi. Just as its name suggested, the Culinary Practice Virtual Space provided data for every ingredient she'd encountered within a virtual environment, allowing inheritors of intangible cultural heritage cuisine to practice without wasting ingredients.
The Culinary Spirit Fire worked much like Myriad Manifestation Water. It was a wisp of spiritual flame that could freely change temperature, with a maximum of 5,000 degrees Celsius—close to the Sun's surface temperature. It would greatly speed up her cooking from now on.
The Magic Seasoning Pouch contained every seasoning found on Earth. The Housekeeping Doll could do everything except cook and fight, so Xue Xi decided to leave the restaurant's cleaning and cashier work to it.
After learning what the new rewards did, Xue Xi finally turned her attention to the four new menu entries.
①: [Zhu Ku La Coffee] China's first coffee tree was planted in 1904, when the French missionary Tian Deneng planted it in Zhu Ku La Village. [Modified Effect] Keeps the mind clear and speeds up Spiritual Force cultivation. Depending on the level, it multiplies the cultivation speed by 10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 times. The effect is halved when breaking through a major realm. The effect of one cup of coffee lasts for seven days. ②: [Lijiang Baba] Lijiang Baba is a traditional delicacy of the hardworking Naxi people, with a long history of preparation. Yunnan has a saying: "Lijiang baba and Heqing wine." It was once a staple preserved food for caravan traders and was slow to spoil. It wouldn't go moldy even after sitting for several days.
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