What? Taking tomorrow off? (Bonus double-length chapter, 4,000 characters)

Some diners still refused to give up and crowded around Shen Chuan, hoping he could prepare more ingredients tomorrow.

People were picky eaters these days. It was rare to find something they particularly wanted to eat, and missing out left them terribly disappointed. The less they could get it, the more they wanted it.

Unfortunately, Shen Chuan refused without even hesitating.

"Not tomorrow. I'm planning to take a day off. Proper rest is how you stay in peak condition."

[Ding! Show-off Points +30!]

After saying that, Shen Chuan even nodded earnestly, pleased with his own showing off.

With today's experience under his belt, he had clearly earned more Show-off Points than yesterday. Tonight, he could definitely redeem a new recipe. He would choose one that made showing off easy, and tomorrow he still needed to study the recipe, familiarize himself with the process, and find ingredients!

The system's recipes had basic ingredient requirements. Not just any ingredients would do.

He also had to prepare his show-off lines in advance. He was very busy every day.

"What? Taking tomorrow off?"

"You can't be serious!"

"Oh my god, I couldn't buy any today, and now I won't get any tomorrow either? I just want a chive pocket! Why is it so hard?"

The few diners who could not bear to leave all stared wide-eyed, as if they had heard something unbelievable.

Boss, would you listen to what you're saying?

What normal stall owner took a day off after working just two days? This wasn't a factory job with two days on and one day off.

They had all asked around while queuing. This chive pocket stall was new to the food street. Yesterday had been its first day, and today was only its second. He was already tired?

Even Jiang Wenyan paused in his packing. If Boss Shen wasn't opening his stall, didn't that mean no chive pockets for him either, and no extra money?

The diners wailed, looking at Shen Chuan pitifully, hoping their longing for chive pockets could move him.

Unfortunately, Shen Chuan heartlessly climbed onto the tricycle and left.

After taking Shen Chuan to the entrance of his residential complex, Jiang Wenyan still hoped Boss Shen might change his mind. Before leaving, he asked again, "Boss Shen, are you really not opening tomorrow?"

Shen Chuan hopped off the tricycle and took the handlebars. "Nope. I'm tired. Time for a day off."

Jiang Wenyan watched Shen Chuan leave, his face full of disappointment.

Then he suddenly understood. Right, Boss Shen was a God of Cooking. With his skills, becoming the head chef of a five-star hotel would be a matter of minutes.

It was already remarkable that he sold snacks at a street stall. How could they expect him to be like ordinary people, working overtime every day just to earn that little bit of money?

Sure, Boss Shen charged ten yuan per chive pocket, but he didn't sell that many. He even spent four hundred hiring Jiang Wenyan to help set up and pack away. Did he make any money at all in a day?

And there were the costs of running the stall too.

Clearly, Boss Shen didn't care about money. Was running a stall just a hobby?

Only his poor stomach would suffer, with nothing delicious to eat tomorrow. Only the two hundred yuan in extra pay he had just received could soothe his dejected little heart.

Back home, Shen Chuan immediately switched on the air conditioner, changed into comfortable loungewear, and tossed his suit into the washing machine.

Taking off that heavy suit made him feel two pounds lighter.

He flopped onto the couch and opened the system. More people had come today, and he had earned more Show-off Points. Combined with yesterday's, he had just over five hundred, enough to redeem a new recipe.

Shen Chuan immediately opened the redemption interface. All sorts of night-market snacks flashed before him, making his head spin.

Considering that he had been selling chive pockets, he already had all the necessary cooking equipment. Redeeming a different category would mean spending more money on new equipment and rearranging everything at his stall.

He had only been running his stall for two days and hadn't earned much. He also had to spend four hundred yuan a day on transportation just to show off. He couldn't make such sweeping changes.

He needed a delicious snack that would save money while requiring enough skill to let him show off. After much picking and choosing, Shen Chuan finally selected crispy scallion pancakes.

These crispy scallion pancakes were rather different from the ones he usually saw by the roadside.

According to the recipe's introduction, ordinary scallion pancakes were rolled out after creating the flaky layers, using technique to roll each one into a thin pancake.

These scallion pancakes weren't rolled out. Instead, they were tossed by hand, using centrifugal force to spin them in the air. Once tossed and spinning, the middle would stretch thinner and thinner, even becoming translucent, while the edges formed a slightly thicker rim.

With deft technique and control over the force and angle, the tossed pancake would automatically fly back after spinning and land in his palm.

"Holy shit, this is the ultimate show-off dish!"

He pictured himself standing at his stall in a sharp suit and casually flicking his hand. The pancake flew into the air, growing thinner and thinner, while he waited with his palm open. After a few spins, it flew back on its own.

Even he thought the scene looked both showy and eye-catching, let alone passersby.

He couldn't imagine how many Show-off Points cooking like that would earn.

Shen Chuan immediately redeemed the recipe and entered the System Space to study.

Learning to cook in the System Space was no different from sleeping. When he woke up the following morning, he didn't feel tired, but refreshed instead.

Having mastered crispy scallion pancakes in the System Space, Shen Chuan confidently headed to the outskirts to find the tender scallions he needed, along with flour milled from farm-grown wheat.

He had nearly used up the flour he bought last time after making chive pockets twice, so he needed to replenish that too.

He rode his tricycle to the familiar village.

The woman who had sold him chives for the past two days spotted Shen Chuan and came over to greet him warmly.

"You're here, boss! Chives and eggs again today, right? I've got the eggs ready. Take a look at the produce first. If it's suitable, I'll pick it for you right away."

The woman had figured it out. This boss liked vegetables picked on the spot. If she picked and packed them beforehand, he might not be satisfied.

Shen Chuan waved his hand. "Load up the eggs for me, but I'm not buying chives today. I want to see the scallions you grow here. I need a large quantity for tomorrow. Take me to see the scallions in your field."

Making the dough for crispy scallion pancakes also required cracking eggs into it, so he still needed some eggs.

"Scallions, huh." The woman was stumped. Her family didn't have much land, and the scallions they grew were only enough for their own use. They weren't fully grown either, so their appearance definitely wouldn't pass muster.

But it would be such a shame to lose a sale like this.

Both times this young man had come to buy produce, he had paid market prices and collected it himself. He paid far more than the buyers supplying supermarkets, so she was very happy to sell him vegetables.

Last time, she had beaten several other elderly villagers thanks to her chives' superior appearance and completely natural cultivation.

Judging by this boss, he must be in some kind of food business. He would certainly need all sorts of farm produce in the future. She had to keep this big customer close.

Perhaps they could check a neighbor's place?

Wait, she didn't have any, but her birth family did. Better to keep the benefits in the family.

The woman clapped her hands. "Yes! I'll take you to look. It's not far, right at the end of the village, at my eldest brother's place. He has plenty of private farmland and planted a big patch of scallions. Take your time looking. Whichever patch you like, I'll have my brother cut it all for you tomorrow morning!"

Looking as though she would never deceive him, she thumped her chest and prepared to lead the way.

"Sure, let's take a look."

Shen Chuan followed her to the end of the village.

They went to the vegetable plot first. He crouched down and examined the lush green scallions, pinching one off to smell it. They were very tender and juicy, snapping at a pinch, with a strong pungent scent, even stronger than the chives. Since they were grown for the family's own consumption, they hadn't been sprayed either. Very good.

This woman was quite reliable. What she recommended was exactly what he needed.

"Good, these are the kind of scallions I want. Get them ready tomorrow. I'll come collect them in the morning."

Toward evening, Jiang Wenyan sat listlessly in front of his freshly set-up hand-pounded lemonade stall, occasionally glancing at the empty spot beside him, as though looking a few more times would make Boss Shen come open his stall.

Every glance came with a sigh.

It really felt strange without Boss Shen there. There were no customers crowding around, no delicious fragrance drifting through the air, and no customers coming and going for him to attend to.

Most importantly, he couldn't eat delicious chive pockets or earn that enviable extra pay.

No money and no food. What a miserable life!

Over the past two days, the busier he got, the more enthusiastic he became. Even running his own stall felt much more interesting. He called out to every passerby, and before he knew it, his business had improved a little in just two days.

But today, he didn't even feel like running his own little stall. His head was filled with chive pockets, and he couldn't muster the energy to call out to passersby.

Every so often, diners who had tried the chive pockets came over, wanting to buy more of the delicious snacks. Seeing the empty stall space, they were shocked and thought their eyes were deceiving them.

Jiang Wenyan would tell them Boss Shen was taking the day off.

The diners immediately wailed, then sighed and reluctantly left.

Just then, a young man entered the food street excitedly and headed straight for Shen Chuan's stall. He ran especially fast, as though he were late to meet his girlfriend, his feet whirling like a top.

After running all the way to the stall in one go, he found the spot completely bare, with nothing there. Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, he rubbed them hard several times. Once he confirmed they weren't, his expression turned as though the sky had fallen.

"Where's my chive pocket stall?!"

Jiang Wenyan yawned and waved at him weakly. "The boss is taking today off. He's not opening."

The young man turned and recognized the guy who had helped at the chive pocket stall before. He shot over to his stall.

"Hey, aren't you in charge of picking up and dropping off the boss? Hurry up and go get him! I want delicious chive pockets! Without chive pockets, I can't eat! If you don't have time, I can pick him up for you!"

Clearly, he was so consumed by his desire for chive pockets that he hadn't heard a word Jiang Wenyan had just said.

Jiang Wenyan understood exactly how he felt and patiently repeated himself.

"Boss Shen is taking today off. He's not opening. Come back tomorrow if you want some."

"No!" the young man wailed. "Yesterday, I was just curious and bought one chive pocket on a whim. I barely got a taste, nowhere near enough! I was waiting to buy five today and stuff myself all at once. Can't even that tiny wish come true?"

The young man pulled a long face, looking as though the sky had fallen.

Jiang Wenyan felt even worse. No chive pockets, no extra pay. Nobody had it worse than him.

The two young men looked at each other and sighed in unison.

"While eating yesterday, I was already wondering how many I'd need today to feel satisfied."

"I barely ate any lunch today. I was saving room specifically for this."

"Yesterday, I even dreamed that Boss Shen wanted to open his stall again, and I could still have chive pockets today."

"Sigh!"

They sighed again, then suddenly, their thoughts in sync, raised their hands and began praying to the heavens.

"Heavens above, please bless Boss Shen with a happy mood and perfect condition every day, so he wants to open his stall every day and we can all eat the delicious food we crave."

At Linhai University of Technology, Fatty and the others were also having dinner. Since they had known beforehand that Boss Shen wasn't opening today, they hadn't left campus to wait at his stall. Instead, they ate dinner in the campus cafeteria.

After eating chive pockets for two days, they had gone over their living budgets. They had made do with whatever for breakfast and lunch, thinking they would have rice and stir-fried dishes for dinner and get through the day that way.

But without chive pockets, they had absolutely no appetite for ordinary rice and stir-fried dishes. The big, strapping young men had been eating for ages, yet barely made a dent in their meals.

Their classmates nearby found it strange to see them putting food into their mouths and chewing feebly, looking one step away from having to prop up their chins by hand to help their jaws move.

"Seriously, guys, why do you look like you're eating poison? Our cafeteria food might be average, but it's not that bad."

"Yeah, Fatty, you normally love braised pork. Why do you look like you're eating arsenic when you put it in your mouth today?"

A classmate who had also ordered braised pork picked up a piece and tasted it, then said in surprise, "It tastes the same. Nothing amazing, but definitely not bad. Fatty, did you get dumped?"

Fatty rolled his eyes at him. He had never even dated anyone. How could he get dumped?

He looked back at the braised pork before him and sighed.

"I've switched to vegetarian food. I want those ten-yuan chive pockets from the food street."

"I want them too! I don't want braised pork or pork stir-fried with green peppers. I only want those ten-yuan chive pockets!" Zhang Jiale wailed as well.

Their roommate cradled his soup bowl, looking utterly done with life. "Chive pockets are so delicious. How can we go without them?"

What was going on? They were clamoring for chive pockets that cost ten yuan each, and looked utterly lost when they couldn't get them. Was that really necessary?

Their classmates exchanged bewildered looks, unable to understand.

"They sell chive pockets for three yuan each at the gate. Take my advice and try one. There's no need to pay sucker prices."

"Even if you've got heatstroke, you don't have to be suckers."

"How about each of you gives me twenty yuan, and I'll buy one for each of you three? I've got twenty-yuan chive pockets here. I don't have any other hobbies. I just love helping people."

Hearing their classmates all chime in, the three sighed again.

"None of you have ever tasted the God of Cooking's chive pockets. How could you save us from these maddening cravings?"

"Nobody understands us. Ah, life is truly as lonely as snow."

Their classmates: ...