Trying New Dishes!

At seven that evening, at the Good Fortune Canteen in the backyard of the Fortunate Inn.

After the Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice sold out, Lin Zhe let the three kitchen aunties go home early.

"Zhe, the Good Fortune Canteen's total revenue today was 4,008 yuan!"

After calculating the day's total revenue, Lin Xiaomeng couldn't help getting excited!

This was only the Good Fortune Canteen's second day of official business.

Yet its revenue had already broken the 4,000-yuan mark!

That was an excellent result, and no small feat!

What was more, they had been forced to close because they hadn't had enough eggs.

With an adequate supply, their revenue would definitely have climbed even higher!

"Nice, very nice. Xiaomeng, you've all done a wonderful job. You deserve some praise."

"If you can keep this momentum going until the end of the month, you'll definitely get bonuses with your wages."

The smile had barely left Lin Zhe's face these past two days.

Ever since he had picked up that magical coin, one good thing had followed another.

Not only was business at the inn getting better every day, but the positive reviews kept increasing too.

The Good Fortune Canteen had also gotten off to a smooth start, giving him another source of income!

"Hehe, you said it, Zhe. No going back on your word when the time comes!"

At the mention of bonuses, Lin Xiaomeng's face lit up.

"Am I really that unreliable? If I say you'll get bonuses, you'll get them."

"And I can guarantee that your bonuses will absolutely, definitely be no less than... five yuan!"

As Lin Zhe spoke, he held up five fingers, looking about as punchable as anyone could.

"Huh? No less than... five yuan?"

Lin Xiaomeng stared at him in disbelief.

She thought her ears must be playing tricks on her. Who gave bonuses of just a few yuan?

"Hahahaha... look at you taking that seriously. You didn't really think I'd give you five-yuan bonuses, did you?"

Lin Xiaomeng's adorably bewildered expression made Lin Zhe laugh.

Teasing her whenever he had a spare moment was pretty fun.

"Don't worry. How could I bring myself to give you just a few yuan? That would be embarrassing. It'd have to be at least fifty!"

"..."

Lin Xiaomeng could barely tell which of his remarks were serious and which were jokes anymore.

A fifty-yuan bonus didn't seem much better than a five-yuan one!

"Oh, right, Zhe. There's something I wanted to discuss with you."

As she spoke, Lin Xiaomeng took a feedback notebook off the nearby wall. It contained the comments and suggestions she had collected from customers over the past two days.

"Sure, go ahead."

When it came to work, Lin Zhe put away his playful attitude and grew serious.

"Quite a few customers think our menu is too limited. No matter how delicious our Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice is, people will get tired of it if they eat it too often."

"So I was wondering if we could add some other staple dishes that go well with eggs."

"Things like stir-fried rice noodles and egg-fried noodles are local specialties too."

"Can you make those? Would we need to hire another cook?"

Lin Zhe only knew that Lin Xiaomeng made excellent egg fried rice. He hadn't tasted any of her other dishes yet.

"Yes! I can make both stir-fried rice noodles and stir-fried noodles!"

Lin Xiaomeng nodded with a smile. Those were among her specialties too.

It was true that she wasn't good at cooking other dishes. After all, she came from a small village. Who made several separate dishes for every meal there?

They only made a few dishes during festivals and holidays to create a festive atmosphere. Normally, meals were mostly staples like rice or noodles.

So when it came to staple dishes, Lin Xiaomeng was quite skilled and had plenty to be proud of.

Lin Zhe smiled and nodded. "All right! As long as you're confident. The Good Fortune Canteen owes everything it's achieved so far to your cooking skills."

"Oh, not at all. The main reason everyone likes our egg fried rice is that the eggs you get are delicious, Zhe. My cooking is just average."

Lin Xiaomeng smiled modestly. She wasn't trying to claim the credit, instead attributing it all to those exceptionally high-quality eggs.

After some thought, Lin Zhe said, "Let's introduce the new dishes tomorrow. For now, use a quarter of the eggs for stir-fried rice noodles and egg-fried noodles. We need to maintain our core offering of Soul-Stirring Egg Fried Rice."

Lin Xiaomeng nodded eagerly. "Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking, Zhe. We can experiment with new dishes, but the priority is making sure it doesn't affect our earnings."

"You're doing really well, Xiaomeng, and you've got some great ideas."

"One day, you'll definitely make our Good Fortune Canteen one of the most popular restaurants in the scenic area. When that happens, you'll get promotions and raises too."

Lin Zhe hadn't been a boss for long, but he was getting increasingly good at dangling rosy promises.

"Yes! I'm looking forward to that day too! I'll work twice as hard from now on and make sure I don't let you down, Zhe!"

Lin Xiaomeng felt instantly fired up by his encouragement, secretly vowing to make something of herself and show him what she could do!

Their success over the past two days had also given her a tremendous boost in confidence.

After finishing their discussion about the new dishes, the two continued chatting in the kitchen about the Good Fortune Canteen's direction and plans for the future.

Only when they heard someone knocking at the door did they snap out of their conversation.

"Grandma! What are you doing here? Huh? Is it already that dark outside?"

Lin Xiaomeng looked up and saw that the person knocking at the kitchen door was her own grandmother. She hurriedly got up to greet her.

"Good evening, Grandma Wu."

As Lin Zhe greeted the old woman, he raised his wrist to check his sports watch.

It was already twenty-something minutes past ten that night.

Lin Xiaomeng normally finished work at nine and took no more than ten minutes or so to get home.

Since it was so late and she still hadn't returned, no wonder her grandmother had come all the way to the inn to look for her.

Seeing that her granddaughter was safe and sound, the old woman finally stopped worrying.

Her gaze moved between Lin Zhe and Lin Xiaomeng a few times before she smiled and made a few gestures with her fingers.

"It's not what you think! I-I-I was just talking about work with Zhe!"

At the sight of her grandmother's gestures, Lin Xiaomeng flushed bright red and hurriedly stammered out an explanation.

After explaining things to her grandmother, she stole a cautious glance at Lin Zhe to see his reaction.

When she saw that he showed no particular reaction to her explanation, she felt relieved, but deep down, there was also a tiny trace of disappointment.

"It's getting late. Let me walk you home."

At this late hour, Lin Zhe didn't feel comfortable letting Lin Xiaomeng and her grandmother walk home alone in the dark, so he offered to escort them.

Lin Xiaomeng quickly said, "There's no need, Zhe. It's already so late. You should get some rest too. Grandma and I will be fine."

"Come on. No need to be so polite with me. I'm the reason you finished work late, so of course I have to take responsibility for you."

Lin Zhe smiled as he spoke to Lin Xiaomeng, then turned to her grandmother and said:

"Come on, Grandma. I'll escort you both home and be your bodyguard!"

His playful words brought an affectionate smile to the old woman's face, and she looked at him with even greater approval.

When Lin Xiaomeng heard Lin Zhe say he had to "take responsibility for her," something tender deep inside her heart was powerfully stirred.