Xue Xi looked at the glittering Tianfu Braised Pork Knuckle page, feeling a little troubled. She had no idea whether people would buy a food with such a gamble-like effect. If she priced it too high, those who didn't win might think she was scamming them. If she priced it too low, the price wouldn't do justice to its heaven-defying effect. Besides, did Earthlings even know what a Gene Multiplier was?
After much deliberation, Xue Xi decided to price the dish at 100 million Huaxia Currency. It wasn't all that expensive, relatively speaking. It was like buying a lottery ticket: if you won, you'd be set.
Then she turned her attention to the Beef and Mutton Paomo. Its effect was equivalent to that of a berserk potion, so Xue Xi priced it at one million per bowl. Lijiang Baba was cheaper, since it only served to fill your stomach, so she set the price at 1,000 per piece.
Lastly, she looked at the shop's first beverage—Zhu Ku La Coffee. Since Zhu Ku La coffee trees had gone extinct in the wild on this Earth, the catalog page had, for the first time, featured a dedicated ingredient supply channel.
For just 10,000, customers could get one kilogram of authentic Zhu Ku La coffee powder. It was made using traditional methods passed down in another world: hand-picking the beans, removing their shells with a mortar and pestle, sun-drying them, peeling them by grinding, roasting them in an earthenware pot, and grinding them with a stone mill.
Xue Xi priced it the same as the Crab Roe Soup Dumplings. Both were the most basic Desolate Rank foods, at 100,000 per serving. Each time the quality rose by one rank, the price went up tenfold. That was reasonable, right?
After updating the new menu, she sent the list of ingredients she needed to Luo Feng, who was busy making purchases. Only then did Xue Xi lie down on the bed, curious to try out the Culinary Practice Virtual Space she had just obtained.
She closed her eyes. After a slight dizzy spell, Xue Xi found herself in a vast, empty space shrouded in gray mist. She couldn't tell how large it was.
As Xue Xi looked around the culinary practice space, a screen suddenly appeared before her: "Please select a cooking environment, cookware, and required seasonings and ingredients. (One-click practice for catalog dishes)"
The options below included environments such as deserts, rainforests, swamps, and cities. She could choose from all kinds of cookware, and monsters and plants—some familiar, some not—flashed by nonstop. Xue Xi was dazzled.
She decided to practice with Zhu Ku La Coffee first. She chose an ordinary city setting and used the one-click option on the Zhu Ku La Coffee page. In an instant, all the ingredients and cookware for practice appeared in the kitchen of a five-star hotel.
A jar of dark brown coffee powder appeared in her hand. This was authentic Zhu Ku La Coffee. The catalog supplied it already ground, so all she needed to do was master the brewing technique to improve the grade of this intangible cultural heritage food.
However, in her previous life, Xue Xi hadn't drunk much authentic coffee. She'd preferred Xiao Que Que's instant coffee packets, which weren't as bitter and were more convenient. Now she could only figure it out herself.
She first tried making it the way she used to prepare instant coffee, pouring in hot water and stirring it with chopsticks. When she finished, the catalog rated it "Below Standard"—it hadn't even reached Desolate Rank. Xue Xi awkwardly touched her delicate little nose. So all the coffee she'd drunk before had been below standard!
She pulled up the Zhu Ku La Coffee page and carefully read the section on brewing.
Xue Xi actually thought she had quite a talent for cooking. Two hours later, she brewed another cup with the perfectly extracted coffee powder supplied by the catalog.
First came the blooming stage. She poured in twice as much blooming water as coffee powder, letting the grounds absorb the water. Once saturated, the grounds would swell and release another kind of aroma. The longer they bloomed, the stronger the coffee would taste.
Then came the pour. Xue Xi used a pour-over kettle to extract the coffee over two and a half minutes. At first, she poured a thin stream; near the end, she increased the flow to avoid washing out too many impurities.
She began pouring from the center and spiraled outward, then circled back from the outer edge to the center, stopping the pour at the middle. She even used the newly learned pulse-pouring technique and never once hit the filter paper. Finally, she poured it into a cup—a fresh cup of pour-over coffee was ready!
This time, the catalog page gave her a Hong Rank rating. Xue Xi excitedly rubbed her hands together, picked up her creation, and took a big sip.
The next second, "Ptooey!" Hot, brown coffee sprayed from her mouth. Xue Xi's little face twisted into a grimace. She stuck out her tongue and complained, "What the heck, why is it so bitter? This isn't even as good as my Xiao Que Que!"
Once she recovered, she smacked her lips, savoring the lingering taste. Honestly, Xue Xi really didn't like bitterness. The coffee was bitter, but not astringent—instead, it was rich and fragrant.
After thinking it over, Xue Xi decided to add milk to the Zhu Ku La, which was basically espresso to her, along with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. She made her favorite mocha. One sip enveloped her taste buds in sweet, rich flavor. One word came to mind: silky.
Thinking that customers probably wouldn't enjoy pure bitterness either, she simply left the virtual space and added plenty of flavor options after Zhu Ku La Coffee on the menu. Besides the original flavor, there would be lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos, and so on. Variety was the name of the game.
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