On Sixth Street, you could be dead, but you couldn't be boring.
But Xu An really had nothing up his sleeve right now. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't actually drop dead.
How about... opening a restaurant? Apart from the general store and Master Chop's place, there didn't seem to be anywhere else to buy food on Sixth Street.
All right, that settled it. As for the name...
What should I call it? Emmmm.
Let's call it That Restaurant. Yep.
I hope everyone who eats my cooking stays safe and sound, happy and cheerful. Mm!
Damn, I shouldn't have been so quick with my hands. My cooking was only at a hundred points, and the food already smelled this good. Going over a hundred would definitely bring a qualitative change.
After all, once my cooking passed a hundred points, I felt completely different.
Forget it. There would be plenty of chances later. Besides, the storefront wasn't even renovated yet, let alone open for business. If I worked on improving during that time, it should be fine.
I'd sleep in the storeroom tonight. Everything else could wait until tomorrow morning.
*Phew, let me see. (*＾ー＾) Pegasus Logistics. Didn't they have an accident once? They even fell into a Hollow once in the game, if I remembered right.*
Was it really okay to use them? He still didn't know how far the story had progressed. Not only had he only just played up to Yixuan's appearance, he hadn't paid much attention, either. After all, he'd only returned to the game after seeing Ye Shunguang.
Feeling a little apprehensive, Xu An finally watched the Pegasus Logistics truck pull up outside his shop.
After directing the workers to unload the custom tables and chairs, along with the kitchenware and other things he'd ordered ahead of time, he contacted the renovators. The shop's interior fittings and some things in the kitchen still hadn't been installed.
The workers arrived soon. After discussing the style he wanted with Xu An, they got to work, while our Xu An went to the second-floor balcony and lay down in a wooden armchair to bask in the sun.
He'd also turned the little second-floor room, originally something like a storage room, into a bedroom. The balcony was open-air, and Xu An had specially installed a large glass panel overhead so he could lie there even when it rained.
[Belle felt surprised. Attribute points +6] [Wise felt curious. Attribute points +4]
Hearing the system notifications, Xu An couldn't help raising his eyebrows. He looked toward the video store a short distance downstairs. The video-selling siblings were standing at the entrance, looking his way and talking about something.
Then Xu An closed his eyes and continued enjoying the comfortably warm sunshine.
"Hey, brother, what exactly does this new neighbor you mentioned do?"
"If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask? We haven't met him yet. We'll find out when his shop opens," Wise replied as he watched his curious little sister.
"All right. Speaking of which, when's that master the mayor mentioned getting here? Are we going to learn some kind of magic from her? Like in the movies?" Belle rubbed her chin in thought.
"Emmmm, maybe. We'll just have to wait. Uncle Mayor said she'd come find us once she finished what she was doing. Apparently, she's someone strong enough to rival a Void Hunter."
"Wow! Doesn't that mean she's as amazing as Miss Miyabi?" Belle exclaimed, her eyes shining.
"Uh, haha, maybe. We'll know when we meet her."
The two returned to the video store as they chatted.
Meanwhile, Xu An had already put his newly earned attribute points into physique and spirit, raising both together.
You had to be strong yourself to forge iron. As for the shop, I only needed to open it occasionally when I felt like it. Now that I had a system, I couldn't keep thinking only about living a peaceful life like before. Being a Proxy or something was still a faster way to make money. Once my abilities improved, I could even work as an Agent. Heh heh (.-`ω´-), then I could open whenever I wanted.
As he thought about that, the corners of Xu An's mouth slowly lifted.
A few days later, Xu An's Safe and Sound Restaurant officially opened. However, it only served customers five times a day. They could make a reservation, name their dishes, then come to the restaurant at mealtime, and that was all ヽ(￣▽￣)ノ.
Wise and Belle stared, a little stunned, at the rules displayed outside the restaurant.
"Brother, does this owner not want to make money?"
"Uh, no idea. Maybe the prices are really high?" Wise said after some thought.
"Huh? Are we still going in to try it, then? (ㆀ˘･з･˘)" Belle's face practically screamed that she wanted to go, wanted to go, wanted to go.
[Ding, Belle and Wise grew curious about the host's restaurant. Attribute points +2]
Seeing that, Wise could only prepare himself to cut Fairy's electricity budget a little and walk into the restaurant.
There wasn't a soul inside.
Hearing someone come in (๑•̀ω•́๑), Xu An quickly poked his head out of the kitchen. "What would you like to eat? Name your dishes, and I'll make them right now."
"OAO, anything at all, boss?" Belle asked excitedly.
"Anything at all." Xu An nodded, planting his hands on his hips with an air that said they could leave everything to him.
"Sis, this month's electricity bill..." Wise reminded her.
"Okay, brother, I know! Don't worry, I absolutely won't waste anything!" Belle said, then started ticking off selections on the menu Xu An had given her.
The two of them ordered six dishes.
After taking the menu, Xu An quickly got to work.
Seeing that, the two returned to their seats. Within a few minutes, the first dish arrived.
That fast?
Both Wise's and Belle's eyes showed a little surprise and confusion.
[Ding, Belle and Wise grew curious about whether the host's restaurant served premade dishes. Attribute points +5*2]
Hearing the notification in his head, Xu An, who had just brought out the dish, turned back to Wise and Belle. "We offer an open-kitchen option here. You can watch the entire cooking process. If you actually learn how, you can even make it yourselves at home."
[Ding, Wise and Belle felt reassured. Attribute points +1*2]
That worked too? How exactly did this system hand out rewards? I'd have to find some time to study it.
"Please wait a moment, you two. It'll be ready soon."
"Okay! ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)ᵒᵏᵎᵎᵎᵎ" Belle said eagerly. After all, watching a handsome guy cook was pretty nice, too.
So she rose from her seat and stood beside the kitchen's large window to watch Xu An work.
Xu An was tossing the wok just then and didn't notice what was happening behind him, but the notifications in his head gradually increased.
[Ding, Wise and Belle remain shocked by your cooking skills. Attribute points +1*2+1*2+1*2...]
What the eff?
Listening to the sounds in his head, Xu An put even more effort into his stir-frying. His attribute points kept increasing, too, soon reaching over eighty.
Soon (๑•ω•๑), all six dishes were ready. All told, less than half an hour had passed.
Looking at the food before them, perfect in color, aroma, and flavor, Wise and Belle couldn't help swallowing.
"Dig in, you two. It won't taste as good once it gets cold," Xu An reminded them, setting two bowls of rice in front of them as well.
At that, the two stopped merely staring at the food, picked up their rice bowls, and dug in.
[Ding, the two marveled at your cooking skills. Attribute points +5*2] [Ding...]
Wahaha, who knew collecting attribute points was this easy? Didn't that mean I wasn't far from becoming invincible?
At that thought, a happy smile appeared on Xu An's face.
Seeing the owner smiling as he watched them eat, the two thought their approval had pleased him, and ate with even greater enthusiasm.
A little later, Xu An looked at the two rubbing their stomachs and the six empty plates before them, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Seriously, guys? Was it really that good? How many points had I even put into it? What would happen if I raised it to 200?
Xu An reached out and tentatively added some points to cooking, then returned to the kitchen and made a wokful of egg fried rice.
"Since you two enjoyed the food so much, I had some rice left over, so I made you some egg fried rice to take home for a late-night snack ✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧," Xu An said.
It was already fairly late today. He opened whenever he felt like it. What could anyone do about it?
Heh heh (.-`ω´-).
"Really?!" Belle's eyes lit up as she stared at the already-packed egg fried rice, as though she could smell its aroma through the takeout container.
Beside her, Wise hurriedly coughed twice. "Belle! Hurry up and thank the owner."
Belle quickly bowed in thanks. "Thank you for the meal! How much is it? We should pay."
"No need. You're my first customers, so it's free. Consider it a little taste on the house."
"Emmm, how about this, then, boss? We run the video store across the street. Feel free to come hang out and watch some tapes when you're not busy. Oh, right, I'm Wise, and this is my little sister, Belle."
"Sure. I'm Xu An. I'll come by when I have time," Xu An said with a smile.