Lin Feng: What the heck? I have to pay wages too?

Inside the kitchen, the corners of Lin Feng's mouth were stretched nearly to his ears; it took every ounce of his willpower to keep from laughing out loud like a pig.

The system had actually relented!

Although it was only a "discretionary consideration," given the system's tsundere nature, saying it would consider something was practically a done deal.

Just the thought of only having to flip a spatula and act cool in the kitchen from now on, while everyone else did the heavy lifting...

Lin Feng felt his inner spirit of laziness burning with a fierce, raging fire.

In his excellent mood, even the top-tier ingredients looked much more pleasing to his eyes.

Time seemed to lose all meaning amidst the group's devout waiting.

I don't know how much time passed.

The kitchen curtain was gently lifted by a hand.

In an instant, a rich aroma that defied description surged out!

Lin Feng walked out unhurriedly amidst this intoxicating fragrance.

In his hands, he carried an ordinary-looking ebony tray.

Yet, in the eyes of the Title Douluo present, that tray seemed to carry a condensed, miniature world!

Every dish was wreathed in divine radiance and the rhythms of the Dao, with light flowing and strange phenomena manifesting!

Above the "Bone-Eroding Qilin Steak," a phantom of a majestic Qilin seemed to be roaring at the heavens!

Beside the "Abyssal Thousand-Throat Liver," an endless abyss appeared to be slowly rotating!

Gulp.

I don't know who it was, but someone swallowed hard; the sound was as clear as a war drum in the deathly silent hall!

Lin Feng's movements remained as lazy and casual as ever.

He walked to the table, set the dishes down with a nonchalant air, and tossed out a single, faint sentence:

"Enjoy."

Once that "Enjoy" fell, no one dared to move their chopsticks.

It was as if it weren't a casual remark, but the final decree of a god opening a grand banquet.

Led by Ghost Douluo, all the Title Douluo stood up in unison once more and bowed deeply toward Lin Feng's retreating back.

"Thank you, Senior, for the feast!"

Only after Lin Feng had left the area did they dare to slowly straighten up and retake their seats.

But the moment their backsides touched the chairs, the atmosphere of extreme restraint, known as "devotion," shattered instantly!

A second ago, they were believers meeting a god.

The next, they transformed into starving wolves fighting over a divine offering!

"Clang!"

Ghost Douluo's withered hand was as fast as a ghost; cold black energy flashed, and his chopsticks had already precisely plucked a rib wreathed in the Qilin phantom!

He didn't even have time to savor it before shoving it straight into his mouth!

Chrysanthemum Douluo's enchanting face no longer held a shred of elegance!

His right hand, with its pinky finger extended, was now moving at a speed that had nothing to do with grace, his mouth stuffed full, cheeks bulging high like a hamster stealing food.

Divine Flame flared in Spirit Kite Douluo's phoenix eyes; she wasn't eating food, she was eating fighting spirit! It was her determination to surpass Tuoba Xi today!

Demon Bear Douluo abandoned his chopsticks entirely, grabbing a meat rib with his fan-like hand and shoving it into his mouth. Grease ran down his rugged chin, but he didn't notice, only caring to let out a satisfied, garbled roar!

The entire dining table had completely turned into a slaughterhouse!

At the center of this chaos, Ghost Leopard Douluo, this newly minted "believer," had only just tremblingly picked up his first bite of Flying Cloud Leopard Minced Meat Noodles.

That wasn't just noodles; that was the Divine Grace he had personally pushed away yesterday!

The moment the noodles entered his mouth, Ghost Leopard Douluo's mind went blank.

It was an extreme deliciousness that no vocabulary could describe, a sensation that even thought could not reach.

The chewy, smooth noodles, coated in a rich broth that felt as if it could melt the soul, exploded on his tongue!

And the finely minced Flying Cloud Leopard meat was the finishing touch; it melted upon contact, transforming into a pure, domineering, yet incredibly gentle meaty fragrance that instantly swept through all his senses!

Around him, the sounds of Chrysanthemum Douluo and the others wolfing down their food seemed to be isolated in another world.

A scalding hot current surged from the bottom of his heart to his eyes.

Yet, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile of extreme ecstasy—one that looked uglier than crying.

Delicious.

So delicious it made him want to swallow his own tongue.

So delicious it made him feel that everything he had eaten in all his years prior was nothing but pig slop!

Was this the taste of Divine Grace?

When Lin Feng lifted the door curtain and returned to the kitchen, the fanaticism and devotion of the Title Douluo outside were finally completely shut out.

The detached, world-weary expression on his face collapsed instantly.

"Phew—next up is the food for Hu Liena and the other two. Three people only add up to a little over a hundred points, it really is..."

Of course, despite his grumbling, Lin Feng would still treat the three little ones' orders with care.

After all, without these three high-quality 'seed leeks,' where would today's entire lush 'Elder leek garden' have come from?

When Lin Feng served the dishes for Hu Liena and her companions, the atmosphere in the entire restaurant underwent a subtle change once again.

Unlike the table of the Elders, where the dishes shone with brilliant divine light and manifested various phenomena, these three portions appeared much more "plain."

There was no roaring Qilin, nor any revolving abyss.

All there was, was a rich, visible aroma that had almost condensed into substance, lingering over the plates.

Yet, even so, it was enough to make the eyes of the three youngsters light up.

"Th-thank you, Senior, for the meal!"

Lin Feng ignored them and simply walked back toward his exclusive rocking chair.

Creak—

The moment he lay back down and completely relaxed, an unprecedented sense of exhaustion surged into his heart.

It was not physical fatigue.

It was mental.

Acting!

Keep on acting!

Lying limp in the rocking chair, he finally remembered the massive joyous event from earlier.

"System, System, come out and chat."

He called out in his mind.

"About that 'waiter' matter..."

Lin Feng's tone carried a hint of petty, small-town shrewdness and anticipation that only he could detect.

"Let me make this clear first."

"My shop follows a high-end route; it's all about style and prestige."

"The waiter you find for me can't be too lacking in looks or temperament, right?"

He paused, then added, "I don't want any crooked melons or cracked dates; that would seriously damage my glorious image as a 'Senior'."

[Heh.]

The System's cold, mocking electronic voice arrived right on cue.

[You small-fry host, is your vision really still stuck at the superficial level of looks? How pitifully shallow.]

Lin Feng's mouth twitched violently.

Damn it, he was being looked down upon by this broken system again.

However, the System's next words made the expression on Lin Feng's face stiffen slightly.

[Furthermore, what you need to consider now is no longer the quality of the staff.]

The System's cold, heartless electronic voice carried a hint of imperceptible mockery.

[It is whether your points are enough to pay the staff's wages.]

Lin Feng: "?"

The beautiful image playing in his mind—of a beautiful waitress serving tea and water while he lay back and counted money until his hands went soft—instantly stuttered, shattered, and turned into a screen of pixelated static.

Wait.

Did some strange word just get mixed into that last sentence?

Wages?

What wages?

Deep within his heart, Lin Feng's pupils underwent a massive earthquake.

He asked in his mind, word by word, in an extremely dangerous and probing tone:

"You mean... I have to... use the points I worked so hard to earn to pay them wages?!"

[???]

In his mind, the System's cold electronic voice only echoed back three question marks filled with disdain and confusion.

As if to say:

What else?

Are you trying to run a slave system?