Sour and Spicy Pickled Radish

Zhou Yan instinctively squeezed the brakes.

Food Appraisal? What kind of skill was that?

[Food Appraisal]: An outstanding chef must master the ability to select ingredients. Only by accurately judging an ingredient's freshness, origin, seasonality, and more can one obtain the best ingredients. Rapid analysis of food will aid the improvement of culinary skill. You have acquired this ability.

The system promptly added a note.

Zhou Yan fell into thought. He had not expected the rewards to include skills in addition to recipes.

"Big brother, do you want Dingding Candy too?" Zhou Momo turned around and asked, her little face brimming with anticipation.

Zhou Yan turned his head and saw a half-gray-haired old man by the roadside carrying a bamboo shoulder pole. The copper hammer and iron chisel in his hands lightly struck each other, making ding-ding sounds. That was how Dingding Candy got its name.

"I think you're the one who wants some, aren't you?" Zhou Yan asked with a smile.

Zhou Momo swallowed, pulled back her gaze, and firmly shook her head. "Mom said I can't spend big brother's money carelessly."

"Your brother can still afford to treat you to some candy." Zhou Yan smiled and wheeled his bicycle over.

The old man set down his bamboo shoulder pole and knocked the white candy slab into chunks like shattered jade. He wrapped them in kraft paper, making a hefty packet that cost only fifty cents.

Zhou Yan glanced at the candy slab, and a line of text appeared:

[An utterly ordinary candy slab. The sesame seeds are slightly over-roasted, but it does not affect consumption.]

Zhou Yan then glanced at the basket of bright red oranges displayed before a roadside vendor.

[A basket of oranges that are both sour and astringent. They have not yet ripened.]

Zhou Yan's eyes lit up. This was practically a godly skill for grocery shopping—he would never have to step into a pit again!

After paying, he opened the paper packet, pinched off a piece of candy, and fed it into Zhou Momo's mouth. Then he tossed a piece into his own mouth. Sweetness immediately melted across his tongue, and his mood brightened with it.

"Dingding Candy is so tasty! Sweet as honey! Big brother is the best big brother in the world!" Zhou Momo swung her little legs happily, her words somewhat muffled by the candy in her mouth.

"Good girl. I'll buy you more next time." Zhou Yan smiled and rubbed her head.

He also had the cutest little sister in the world. For fifty cents' worth of candy, sitting on the bicycle's front bar, she had provided an overflowing amount of emotional value!

It had to be said that the new bicycle Lin Zhiqiang had given him was truly easy to ride. The more he pedaled, the more energetic he became. The round trip that had taken over an hour that morning took less than half an hour by bicycle.

Back at the restaurant, Zhou Yan first lifted Zhou Momo down onto the ground, then pushed the bicycle inside and parked it against the wall.

This was currently Zhou Yan's most valuable possession, so he had to store it carefully.

"Zhou Momo, you got your brother to buy you candy again?" Zhao Tieying asked her youngest daughter, whose cheeks were puffing in and out, holding back a laugh.

"Yeah." Zhou Momo nodded, somewhat proudly. "Big brother bought me Dingding Candy. I like big brother the most!"

"Fifty cents for such a big bag. It'll last her ages." Zhou Yan took the oil-paper-wrapped Dingding Candy from his basket, opened it, and handed it to Zhao Tieying. "Mom, have some too."

"The restaurant's business has only just started picking up. Money still needs to be spent on the cutting edge of the blade," Zhao Tieying reminded him, pinching up a small piece of candy and putting it into her mouth.

Sweet—sweet enough to reach her heart!

"Got it. I'm going to make the toppings." Zhou Yan answered with a smile and carried the basket into the kitchen. Zhao Tieying had already washed and set out all the bowls, and the kitchen had been cleaned spotless as well.

"Mom, I'm going to play on the slide! Call me when it's time to eat!" Zhou Momo shouted, skipping toward the door.

"Don't run all over the place. We're having meat at noon, so come back early after you've had enough fun," Zhao Tieying called louder. "Otherwise, I'll eat all the meat myself."

"Okaaay—" Zhou Momo answered, pumping her little legs as she ran toward the factory-run school nearby.

This trip, Zhou Yan had bought one jin of minced beef, one jin of beef brisket, and one jin of pork ribs. That was enough Noodle Mince for thirty bowls of noodles.

However, his father had cut him an extra three taels of beef brisket, specifically saying that he would come have Braised Beef Noodles at noon after selling out the beef.

"Yesterday, Zhou the Second really did jump into the Qingyi River to save Deputy Factory Director Lin's niece. They even brought him a new bicycle today to thank him. He's really become a hero for saving someone!"

"That kid is truly a living Lei Feng. He even dared jump into Bailatuo—good people really are blessed with long lives."

"I heard Zhou Yan switched to selling noodles today, and business was explosively good. Wang Laowu's nose has been twisted crooked with rage."

"With business that good, he probably won't need to sell hooks anymore. What a pity, what a pity..."

"Second Sister-in-law Lin, you're still thinking about that?"

"One of these days, let's go try Zhou Yan's noodles and support his business too."

"You're probably wanting to taste his..."

As Zhou Yan processed ingredients in the kitchen, the laughter and teasing of the older women washing clothes by the wharf drifted in through the window from time to time. It was funny and helpless at once.

Zhao Tieying came in carrying peeled garlic. Catching fragments of the conversation, she spat and rolled up her sleeves. "That Widow Lin's rotten mouth—I'm going to tear it apart!"

Zhou Yan had to coax and persuade her for quite some time before stopping her.

His reputation and public image were both improving in a positive direction. The trend was not bad.

Just as he had expected, after the factory got off work at noon, the restaurant welcomed a small peak in customer traffic. They were all workers who had come after hearing the news.

Fortunately, Zhao Tieying was there. Tending the fire, serving dishes, clearing tables, and handling payment—she carried it all on one shoulder without the slightest disorder.

After working for two hours, the silk mill's shift began and there were no more customers. Only then did Zhou Yan close the front door.

Zhou Yan let out a long breath and shook his slightly aching hands. Pulling noodles was not only a technical job, but a physically demanding one as well.

"We sold twenty-eight bowls at noon and took in 16.8 yuan." Zhao Tieying handed the counted money to Zhou Yan, unable to hide the smile on her face.

Zhou Miao silently cleared bowls beside them, a smile on his face as well.

This was not Zhou Erwa Restaurant's highest-grossing day, but it would be its most profitable day, because none of the prepared ingredients would go to waste.

None of them had expected noodles at sixty cents a bowl to sell so well!

"The remaining toppings are only enough for around ten more bowls. Should we stir-fry more toppings this afternoon?" Zhao Tieying asked, full of drive.

"No need. It'll be pretty good if we can sell another ten-odd bowls tonight. Most workers go home for dinner in the evening." Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head. In truth, noodle sales were best in the mornings.

They had prepared enough toppings and Noodle Mince for sixty bowls today. If they could sell it all, that would already far exceed expectations.

"Mom, go call Momo back for lunch. I'll cook noodles for you all." Zhou Yan smiled, put the money into the cabinet, and turned into the kitchen.

"Alright." Zhao Tieying answered and headed out. Standing at the restaurant entrance with her hands on her hips, she shouted toward the school, "Zhou Momo! Come home and eat! I'll count to three! One, two..."

Before she could call out three, Zhou Momo came trotting out through the school gate, shouting as she ran, "Coming! Coming!"

"Big brother, tummy hungry." Zhou Momo ran into the restaurant and headed straight for the kitchen, moving close to Zhou Yan and gazing up at him eagerly.

"Go wash your hands. We'll eat right away." Zhou Yan smiled at her little chubby hands, black with grime.

"Okay!" Zhou Momo obediently answered. She went to the water vat, stood on tiptoe to scoop a ladle of water into a small basin, and began washing her hands.

Before long, Zhou Yan carried out four bowls of Braised Beef Noodles. The family sat around together to eat, all starving after working until this hour.

"Try the Pickled Vegetables I made yesterday. They'll taste even better tomorrow." Zhou Yan brought out a plate of pickled radish. The red-skinned radish, cut into long strips and pickled for a day, looked crystal-clear.

"Crunch." Zhao Tieying picked up a strip of radish and bit into it, nodding repeatedly. "It's so crisp, sour and spicy, with a little sweetness afterward. Delicious!"

Zhou Miao tried one too and nodded with a smile. "Mm, it really cuts through the richness. It goes perfectly with noodles."

Zhou Momo struggled with her chopsticks for a while without managing to pick one up, so Zhou Yan directly picked up a strip for her to hold.

The little girl held it up to her mouth and nibbled at it in small bites. Her big eyes lit up, but she soon began going, "Sss-ha, sss-ha," while continuing to nibble and sighing, "Such yummy radish, it's just a little spicy..."

There really were fewer customers at dinner, but they still sold all eleven bowls of noodles. Several customers who arrived late did not get any and could only come back the next morning.

Only after helping Zhou Yan clean up the restaurant did Zhao Tieying climb onto the back seat of Comrade Zhou Miao's bicycle, humming a little tune as she left.

Her mood was clearly excellent. What impressed Zhou Yan even more was her energy: she had gotten up in the morning to process beef offal, cook, feed the pigs, then spent the entire day helping at the restaurant, yet she could still hum a tune on the way home.

Zhou Yan had only handled matters at the restaurant, yet he was already tired enough to want to lie down on the floor.

He took out the money in the cabinet and counted it. They had sold a total of sixty bowls of noodles today, bringing in exactly 36 yuan. Yesterday's starting capital had been 16.4 yuan.

Buying ingredients had cost 16.9 yuan, and buying Dingding Candy had cost 0.5 yuan.

He now had 35.5 yuan in hand!

The wood, oil, and seasonings they were using now had all been purchased by the restaurant before, so those expenses could be calculated together at the end of the month.

Little Comrade Zhou had a big heart when it came to purchasing. He was clearly preparing to do something big. There were still dozens of jin of rapeseed oil in the oil vat, a whole wall of oak firewood stacked neatly behind the stove, and plenty of seasonings such as salt and dried chilies. They would last for quite a while.

Although the money had been spent with a lavish hand, it had all been spent on the restaurant, and none of the goods were bad.

After soaking the dried bamboo shoots and washing up simply, Zhou Yan went to bed. Before sleeping, he glanced at the panel:

[Player: Zhou Yan]

[Profession: Chef]

[Wealth Value: -822.52]

[Professional Skills]:

Knife Skills (Intermediate): 9604/10000 (Your knife skills are sufficient to handle the requirements of most dishes)

Heat Control (Intermediate): 1668/10000 (You still need more practice with cooking)

Seasoning (Intermediate): 1695/10000 (Salt King, ease up a little)

Eloquence (Advanced): 88889/100000 (A pig pushes open the curtain—everything depends on one mouth)

[Mastered Dishes]:

Double-Pepper Beef Tossed Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000

Braised Beef Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000

Braised Pork Rib Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000

Pickled Vegetables (Advanced): 99999/100000

Smashed Cucumber (Intermediate): 1871/10000

...

Special Skill:

Food Appraisal (Master): 999999/1000000 (Cannot be upgraded)

[Main Quest: Become a God of Cooking! Make your name shake the world!]

[Main Quest: Restaurant influence reaches 100 (61/100)]

[Wealth Marketplace]: Unlocks when Wealth Value reaches 1000.

After one day of business, the panel had changed noticeably.

His Wealth Value had gone from -858.52 to -822.52. The increase of 36 should correspond to today's revenue, one-to-one.

Zhou Yan was quite looking forward to the Wealth Marketplace. He wondered what it sold. It would be great if it had recipes.

Next, the proficiency of his knife skills, heat control, and seasoning had all risen by 1,000. That should be related to his acquiring and mastering three noodle dishes.

Beef Braised with Dried Bamboo Shoots, Two-Pepper Minced Beef, and Braised Spare Ribs—mastering these three dishes had given him a certain understanding of braising, flash-frying, and red-braising.

The knowledge entered his mind; it was not stored separately.

If he could cut beef into evenly sized cubes, then he could likewise mince pork into ground meat.

Beef Braised with Dried Bamboo Shoots was extremely delicious, but if he replaced the dried bamboo shoots with radish or potatoes, then Potato-Braised Beef Brisket and Radish-Braised Beef Brisket presumably would not turn out too badly either. They would simply fall somewhat short of perfection.

Zhou Yan was like a blank sheet of paper, and now a bold stroke of rich ink had already fallen upon it. As for what kind of magnificent culinary masterpiece it would become next, who could possibly predict it?

He did not know either, but he knew that there would definitely be more customers to receive tomorrow, and that he would need to pull more noodles.

And earn more money!