"Order food?" Tang Ya glanced at the grilled fish in Huo Yuhao's hand and swallowed.
Bei Bei could also tell that Huo Yuhao had no interest in joining a sect for the moment. After all, he was running a stall, and Tang Ya's conversation would get in the way of his business.
Just then, a male student in a yellow uniform who had been waiting nearby for quite some time came over and asked, "Little brother, how much are you charging?"
"Hello, senior." Huo Yuhao smiled. "Twenty Gold Soul Coins per grilled fish, five Gold Soul Coins per meat skewer, and two Gold Soul Coins per vegetable skewer. It's a small business, so no credit."
"What?!" The male student froze. "Twenty Gold Soul Coins for one grilled fish? Little brother, is your fish plated with gold?"
"This is a family recipe, and today is my first day doing business in Shrek City," Huo Yuhao said with a smile. "If you think it's too expensive, senior, you can try a meat skewer or some grilled vegetables first. If you don't like them, I won't charge you."
"Free if I don't like it?" The male student's eyes lit up. "Then give me a meat skewer with plenty of fat, please."
Huo Yuhao shrugged, took a grilled meat skewer with a generous amount of fat, and handed it to the male student. Marinated in sauce and grilled with Huo Yuhao's virtually flawless control of the heat, the meat had turned golden. Droplets of fat dripped from it, and its mouthwatering aroma made appetites stir.
Bei Bei glanced at Tang Ya, who was secretly wiping away her drool, and smiled dotingly. He took forty Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Soul Tool and held them out to Huo Yuhao.
"Yuhao, I'll take two grilled fish."
Huo Yuhao nodded, picked up two grilled fish, and handed them over. Bei Bei kept one and gave the larger one to Tang Ya.
A thin sheen of fat still flowed over the golden grilled black carp, while a rich aroma kept billowing from its belly. Tang Ya's eyes lit up, and she began eating the moment she took it.
There was even a faint crunch as her teeth met the grilled fish. Its skin had been grilled perfectly crisp without being scorched in the slightest. The crisp skin carried an intoxicating fragrance, while beneath it lay tender, juicy flesh infused with flavor.
After just one bite, Tang Ya's eyes glazed over. She had no time for praise; in a few quick mouthfuls, the entire fish was in her stomach.
Meanwhile, the male student tasting the meat skewer took only one bite before feeling as though the taste buds in his mouth had exploded.
Tempered by the charcoal fire, the meat was already brimming with fragrance, and Huo Yuhao's special sauce added another flourish, making it even more flavorful.
Tenderness, crispness, savory saltiness, and numbing heat all churned and danced in his mouth at once. The delicious flavors reached the very tip of his tongue, and the meaty fragrance filling his mouth seemed to seep into the depths of his soul.
Vaguely, the male student also felt a current of warmth flowing through his meridians. His soul power seemed to have increased slightly. Though the increase was minuscule, it mingled with the pleasure of savoring delicious food, making the experience even harder to forget.
"You used soul beast meat for these skewers?!" the male student asked in surprise.
"That's right. It's meat from ten-year soul beasts-spirit sheep and spirit cattle. I bought all this meat from vendors today, so I can absolutely guarantee its freshness," Huo Yuhao said with a smile.
"Give me ten more skewers!" The male student pulled a heavy pouch from inside his clothes and tossed it onto the counter. "Count it. If there's extra, don't bother giving me change. Just give me a few vegetable skewers to try. Oh, right, I'll take a grilled fish too!"
"Yuhao, we'll take another two as well!" Tang Ya had already finished her own grilled fish, and even Bei Bei's half-eaten fish had ended up in her stomach.
Even so, her taste buds were still unsatisfied, and she accepted another two grilled fish from Huo Yuhao.
All five grilled fish had sold out, and hardly any meat or vegetable skewers remained; the male student had nearly bought them all to take away. At that point, the wealthy second-generation heirs among the onlookers, with their appetites stirred and their pockets full, could no longer hold back.
A male student dressed in purple hurried up to Huo Yuhao's stall and tossed down a pouch filled with Gold Soul Coins. Then he swept up everything on Huo Yuhao's grill and ran off to one side to feast.
Next, a senior dressed in black came over, tossed down an even larger money pouch, and bought everything in Huo Yuhao's next batch, intending to treat a few friends.
In the end, they even began bidding against one another, offering higher prices to buy the food. But such bidding inevitably brought chaos, and the surrounding crowd erupted into a deafening argument.
"Seniors, seniors, please hear me out," Huo Yuhao said loudly, tapping the counter. His voice quieted the arguing Shrek students, and they all turned to look at him.
"Today is my first day doing business, but I've brought plenty of ingredients. I certainly won't let anyone go home empty-handed. The prices for grilled fish, grilled meat, and vegetables are all fixed. They won't increase, and I hope you'll all cooperate."
"However, every day, my stall will offer one Barbecue King. Its price won't be fixed; it will be sold by auction! Now, allow me to present today's Barbecue King—the Gold Dragon Fish!"
Huo Yuhao brushed his hand over his Storage Soul Tool ring, and a Gold Dragon Fish more than a meter long instantly appeared on the stall before him.
Seeing the enormous Gold Dragon Fish, weighing ten kilograms and gleaming gold-red all over, the students watching let out cries of amazement.
"Naturally, only the most generous big spender deserves this Barbecue King! You're all the academy's favored children of heaven. In the future, you will surely leap into the heavens like fish and soar away as dragons. This Gold Dragon Fish will bring you all an auspicious omen."
"Now, let today's auction begin! The Barbecue King Gold Dragon Fish starts at one hundred Gold Soul Coins. Let the bidding begin!"
"Barbecue King? Interesting. I bid three hundred!"
"Five hundred! The boys and I are eating that grilled Gold Dragon Fish today!"
"One thousand Gold Soul Coins! A Gold Dragon Fish really is a lucky omen. It suits someone as wise and mighty as me perfectly!"
With Huo Yuhao deliberately guiding them, the many wealthy heirs around him immediately began bidding. Even Bei Bei could not withstand Tang Ya's pitiful gaze and joined the bidding army.
In the end, Bei Bei, the sucker, bought the Gold Dragon Fish for two thousand four hundred Gold Soul Coins. Huo Yuhao also gave him a token made of refined iron, engraved with a lifelike Gold Dragon Fish.
"Every big spender who wins the day's Barbecue King will receive a limited-edition token. With five tokens, you can redeem a day's Barbecue King at my stall and eat it for free. There will be no auction that day!"
Huo Yuhao's business model was full of tricks. After all, plenty of customers would come to bid every day, making it extremely difficult for these tokens to end up in the same person's hands. Even with Dragon God Douluo Mu En as Bei Bei's elder, he could never sustain that kind of spending.
Yet this offer would stimulate the buyers' desire to spend, keeping them scrambling to outbid one another instead of losing interest after winning a single auction.
At this rate, I'll only need a week before I can order a custom Medicine Cauldron and buy ingredients for refining medicine, Huo Yuhao thought, secretly delighted.
Sure enough, if a penniless loser wants to turn his fortunes around, he has to start by selling fish!