Xue Xi and her apprentice went to sleep, but the restaurant downstairs was still running. With Blue Sister in charge, Xue Xi naturally felt completely at ease.
Meanwhile, the diners enjoyed their food and talked about what had just happened.
"I never would've guessed that Shopkeeper Xue, who spends every day at this Huaxia Restaurant, had such a young apprentice. Come to think of it, did she take her in before coming to Chaos City?"
"You don't know the half of it. A buddy of mine who works in upper management at a company told me that Shopkeeper Xue met the girl in a game called Gourmet Hometown, then took her on as an apprentice after putting her through a test. That Tang Xiaoyou even won the cooking competition in the game!"
"Really? Well, that's not so surprising. I wouldn't believe it if Shopkeeper Xue's apprentice didn't win. But if that's the case... Tsk, I should get the little brats at home to try that game too. Maybe, heh heh..."
"Exactly! Why didn't I think of that? If they became Shopkeeper Xue's apprentices, they wouldn't even need to learn everything. Just mastering one dish would be enough to open a restaurant. Tsk, tsk. Assistant, message that good-for-nothing brat at home and tell him he'd better win the championship in Gourmet Hometown and come back. Otherwise, I'm cutting off his bank account!"
Before long, a rumor began circulating that Gourmet Hometown was a game Shopkeeper Xue had created to select apprentices, and that anyone who won the championship had a good chance of catching her eye and being taken on as her apprentice.
When Xu Xin heard about the rumor, she quietly helped it spread. A wave of excitement over Gourmet Hometown swept through the Virtual Universe Network, prompting the game's