Along with milk tea and grilled skewers, Jiang Yining was carrying a selfie stick.
Upon entering, she turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees, filming the inn's reception area first.
Lin Zhe was hardly surprised.
Running an inn inside a scenic area, he often had livestreamers and content creators from various short-video platforms staying there.
Jiang Yining was probably a streamer on some platform too.
Her looks certainly fit Lin Zhe's "stereotypical image" of an online streamer.
Pretty face, great figure-she was practically born for the job.
"Thanks for carrying my luggage, boss. Have some milk tea and skewers on me~"
When Jiang Yining reached the reception desk, she put away her selfie stick, then offered Lin Zhe the milk tea and skewers.
"Oh, you shouldn't have. Helping guests with their luggage is part of our service."
Lin Zhe rose from his seat and politely demurred with a smile.
"Just take them~ You're young. Don't fuss like some middle-aged man."
"I've already bought them. They won't taste good cold, and then my hard-earned money would go to waste."
Jiang Yining was quite straightforward. Without giving him a chance to refuse, she set the milk tea and skewers on the reception desk.
"Thank you, then, Miss Jiang. Your room is 214 upstairs. Here's your key card."
"Turn left upstairs. It's the third room on the sunny side. I've already left your luggage outside your door."
After thanking Jiang Yining, Lin Zhe found her key card and handed it over.
Jiang Yining had booked online, so her personal information was already in the system. All she needed to do was collect her card and check in.
"Okay, thanks~ My suitcase is pretty heavy. You must've used up plenty of energy, so eat up and get your strength back~"
Jiang Yining teased Lin Zhe with a smile, then turned and headed upstairs, humming a cheerful little tune.
Although she was only casually humming a few lines, it sounded surprisingly lovely. She was probably a talent streamer!
Lin Zhe occasionally browsed QuickTok, Bilibili, and the like on his phone, but not much.
Besides, there were countless streamers and content creators online, so he hadn't recognized Jiang Yining.
After watching Jiang Yining go upstairs, Lin Zhe stretched, picked up the milk tea and skewers she had given him, and settled into the unpopular guest room at the bend in the ground-floor hallway, directly opposite the reception desk.
Unless the inn was fully booked, hardly anyone stayed in those two rooms by the corner. They were too close to the reception desk, and the constant foot traffic was a nuisance.
Whenever those two rooms were unoccupied, Lin Zhe would choose one to stay in.
His parents were both at the hospital now. He would be all alone even if he went home, so he couldn't be bothered.
The milk tea Jiang Yining had given him was iced, and the skewers were still warm.
Lin Zhe had eaten dinner with his parents at the hospital that day. They had eaten a little early, and he happened to be hungry again, so this would fill his stomach.
He drank milk tea and ate skewers in the air-conditioned room while video chatting with his parents for about half an hour.
By the time the video call ended, he had finished both the milk tea and the skewers.
He watched a movie for a while afterward and didn't turn off the lights and go to sleep until around midnight.
The night passed uneventfully, and morning soon arrived.
When Lin Zhe opened his eyes, he heard several people murmuring quietly outside.
He raised his wrist to check his watch. It was only six in the morning, still very early.
At first, Lin Zhe thought some early-rising guests were awake, but after listening carefully for a while, he recognized Lin Xiaomeng's voice talking to someone.
"You're here for work this early?"
Lin Zhe rubbed his eyes, rolled out of bed, and pulled on the clothes hanging on the rack.
He opened the door and looked toward the reception desk. Sure enough, Lin Xiaomeng and the three women who worked in the kitchen were standing there, discussing something quietly.
"You're awake, Zhe!"
"Good morning, boss."
"Did you sleep well last night, boss?"
"Morning, boss."
All four greeted Lin Zhe warmly when they saw him.
At the same time, they carefully kept their voices down, afraid of disturbing the inn's guests.
"Good morning. Why are you all... here so early?"
Lin Zhe scratched his head. He wasn't fully awake yet, and his mind was still a little foggy.
Lin Xiaomeng explained, "Zhe, aren't we starting breakfast service today? That's why we came in a little early."
"Oh! Right! I forgot all about that. My fault, my fault."
Her explanation reminded Lin Zhe that he had indeed told her yesterday that they should start serving breakfast too.
"I was just discussing what to make for breakfast with the three ladies."
"Egg fried rice is a must. We thought we could also sell some porridge and other things that are easy on the stomach alongside it."
"Something like seaweed and egg soup, for example. But that needs eggs too, so I thought we should use ordinary eggs for the soup."
"We barely have enough of those special eggs for the Egg Fried Rice as it is."
Lin Xiaomeng chattered away as she reported her breakfast plans to Lin Zhe.
Lin Zhe smiled. "You're the manager of the Good Fortune Canteen. What we serve for breakfast and how we make it are entirely up to you.
"You don't need to ask me in the future. Just make the decisions yourself."
Since he had made Lin Xiaomeng the manager, Lin Zhe wanted to develop her abilities and had no intention of interfering too much.
Besides, he didn't have the slightest experience in this area either. Worrying about it would accomplish nothing!
So, sticking to the principle of trusting the people he hired, he might as well let Lin Xiaomeng and the others get on with it!
"Okay, Zhe! We'll go get things ready in the kitchen, then~"
Hearing how much Lin Zhe valued and trusted her, Lin Xiaomeng felt a surge of warmth in her heart.
Meeting such a wonderful boss made it all worthwhile!
"Go ahead. Thanks for your hard work, everyone."
Yawning, Lin Zhe waved to them and watched them head toward the back courtyard.
About an hour later, the kitchen had breakfast ready and officially began serving it.
Around twenty rooms at the Fortunate Inn had been occupied the previous night, with more than thirty guests.
Over twenty of them chose to have breakfast at the inn.
The Good Fortune Canteen brought in over eight hundred yuan on its first day of breakfast service-a promising start.
As word of mouth spread over the past two days, sales of the Good Fortune Canteen's Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice continued to grow.
At lunch, they sold fifty-eight servings of egg fried rice, with the scenic area's management committee and the Three Pure Ones Palace reliably accounting for over twenty.
The remaining thirty-odd servings were bought by guests at the inn.
The quality and taste of the Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice also earned unanimous praise from every customer.
By six that evening, the Good Fortune Canteen had sold another thirty-four servings of egg fried rice, then had to close up once again because it had run out of eggs.
The ninety-nine hens Lin Zhe had obtained by checking in at the Fox Nibbling Chicken attraction consistently laid just ninety-nine eggs a day.
He had also set aside some eggs with +3 attributes, unwilling to use them.
With each serving of egg fried rice requiring an average of one egg, the Good Fortune Canteen could only sell eighty or ninety servings a day.
As for substituting ordinary eggs, Lin Zhe considered the idea briefly before rejecting it.
That would knock the Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice off its pedestal and make it ordinary. He would be ruining his own reputation.
"If only I could get some more chickens from checking in!"
However much Lin Zhe had disliked receiving chickens from that check-in back then, he wanted them just as desperately now!
These chickens really delivered!
Through sheer chicken power, they had built a sterling reputation for the Fortunate Inn!
The Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice had already made something of a name for itself within the scenic area.
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