"Draw the lottery!"
Lin Xu never expected this task would be completed so smoothly.
Last night, after privately chatting with Che Zai, he invited him to work at the restaurant.
Today, by some twist of fate, that guy brought Song Tiantian and her friends over.
Now.
The task was complete.
Finally, it's time to reap the rewards.
After a round of operation and a little prayer.
Lin Xu finished the Superior-level draw.
"Congratulations, host, you've received a Superior-level cold dish—Ginger Lotus Root."
What?
Ginger Lotus Root?
He was a little surprised and pleased.
Never thought he'd actually draw his own favorite dish this time.
Lin Xu never liked eating ginger as a kid.
But he didn't mind the taste of ginger.
Whenever he ate out, he'd always ask whether the lotus root was made with ginger juice or minced ginger. If it was made with ginger juice, he'd order a portion. If it was minced ginger, then forget it.
Now that he drew this dish.
Doesn't that mean he's finally got Ginger Lotus Root freedom?
Lin Xu pulled himself together.
And went back to the kitchen to keep working.
There was less than an hour to go before dinner service started.
Better get things ready quickly.
So as not to hold up business at the restaurant.
At five in the evening.
The restaurant officially opened for business.
Lin Xu had just put the electronic blackboard outside the door.
Several elderly uncles and aunties from the neighborhood walked in:
"Hey, are those tasty tiger skin chicken feet from your restaurant? Can I get ten?"
"It's definitely this place, isn't it right here! Young man, give me twenty, what my son took home this morning wasn't enough for everyone, I have to buy more tonight."
"I want thirty. We're having a gathering at home tonight. I have to let them try our food from Yingchun Street, not a bit worse than what they do at Guijie."
"Exactly, Yingchun Street isn't any worse than Guijie! Young man, give me twenty-five."
"..."
The arrival of these uncles and aunties instantly livened up the atmosphere in the shop.
Lin Xu took out a stack of takeaway boxes.
And together with Che Zai, started serving the chicken feet.
Not long after,
More new customers walked in.
"Three chicken feet, one big bowl of three-in-one hand-pulled noodles, and a bottle of beer."
"Five chicken feet, two bottles of beer, and one big bowl of noodles with braised eggplant and pork sauce."
"Four chicken feet, one small bowl of tomato egg noodles with soup."
"Eight chicken feet, two big bowls of noodles with braised eggplant and pork sauce, and six bottles of beer!"
As dinnertime arrived,
People who'd been busy all day flocked to the restaurant.
Order a bowl of noodles, a few chicken feet, and two bottles of beer.
If someone didn't like beer, they'd stop by the supermarket across the street first to buy a small bottle of Erguotou before coming in.
When the chicken feet was served, they'd use the bottle cap as a shot glass, sipping away with the chicken feet.
The hectic work left these folks breathless.
Only during mealtime could they face their drinks and enjoy a moment of peace of their own.
The evening business was still booming.
But because there was an extra cashier and three servers.
Lin Xu actually found things much easier.
Now he only had to be responsible for rolling and cooking the noodles in the kitchen.
As for everything else,
Che Zai and the servers had it all covered.
By seven thirty in the evening,
The chicken feet were sold out again.
"No way, boss, out again?"
"Can't you add another bar snack? These chicken feet sell out so fast I never get any."
"Yeah, in this hot weather, why not get some cold dishes in the shop?"
The customers who didn't manage to get chicken feet were hoping for some other bar snacks as an alternative.
Lin Xu said:
"Tomorrow the restaurant will add a refreshing cold dish, so stay tuned."
The chicken feet quantity had already hit the limit.
The only option now was to add more dishes,
Slowly easing the pressure off the chicken feet.
Really need a lucky draw...
If I could draw, like, eight or ten dishes,
Would people still be so obsessed with tiger skin chicken feet?
As he was thinking this,
Lin Xu suddenly heard the system notification in his mind:
"Host discontent with the present triggers main task [Raking in Money Daily]: Within one month, have your daily store revenue reach fifty thousand yuan. Finish this and you'll get three times Perfect Level dish draws."
"Host discontent with the present triggers a side task [Getting Noticed]: Within one week, have Lin Ji's Food reach the top fifty in the Yanjing Region food category trending list. Finish this and you'll get a Perfect Level steamed dish draw."
"Host discontent with the present triggers a side task [Independent Innovation]: Within three days, use your cooking technique to create a new dish. Finish this and you'll get a Perfect Level Dish Upgrade Card."
(Note: The Perfect Level Dish Upgrade Card can upgrade any dish the host knows to Perfect Level.)
After hearing the system notifications,
Lin Xu couldn't help but frown.
Are you kidding me.
I was just mumbling a bit.
Is this level of cooperation really necessary?
Fifty thousand in daily revenue?
Is that even a number I can hit?
It's already super exhausting bringing in twenty or thirty thousand a day.
If I make fifty thousand,
That's definitely enough to have me hauled off to the hospital.
Increasing popularity is relatively easier as a task,
But it's still not trivial.
Especially since I can't buy fake followers now. To get higher topic heat, I can only increase the follower count and how active the account is.
Lin Xu isn't some superstar with instant rallying power.
He just doesn't have that kind of clout.
The one he has the most confidence in is the innovation task.
With the experience of making oil-poured noodles last time,
This time he's planning to do something creative with noodles again.
At 8 pm,
All the noodles and toppings in the shop were completely sold out.
While Lin Xu was taking a break at his seat,
He remembered the task about boosting topic heat.
So he took out his phone,
Opened the short video social platform,
And posted a status under the #LinJi's Food topic:
"Hi everyone, I'm Lin Xu. Tomorrow #LinJi'sFood# will be launching a new cold dish. Take a guess, and if you're right, you'll get a free portion of this new cold dish tomorrow."
As soon as the post was up,
Netizens surfing online exploded with excitement.
"Damn, Boss Lin has dropped in under the topic?"
"The Demon King is here under the topic, everyone come watch quick!"
"Aaaaah, there's a new cold dish again, one of these days I'm literally going to eat myself to death in this shop!"
"What kind of cold dish is it, Boss Lin?"
"Not even a hint. That's so totally Demon King style."
"..."
West Fourth Ring.
In a villa in the West Mountain villa zone.
Shen Jiayue had just finished her workout goal for the night.
Sweating all over, she sat on the floor, planning to catch her breath before going upstairs for a shower.
"So tired, it's all that jerk's fault—he cooks too well, made me add five extra sets this afternoon… I am never eating the food he makes again!"
As she muttered,
She happened to see the post Lin Xu had made under the Lin Ji's Food topic.
"What? There's a new cold dish launching tomorrow? That..."
Shen the Beauty remembered what she'd just said to herself.
She couldn't help but puff out her cheeks.
"The day after tomorrow I'm going to the university for the graduation ceremony. So it's only normal for me to drop by Lin Xu's place tomorrow to ask what time he'll be at school, right? And if he insists on buying me a meal when I get there, well… that's reasonable too, right?"
Meanwhile,
At Longqi Mountain Scenic Area in Yinzhou City,
Chen Meijuan was packing up things to take to Beijing tomorrow.
"Should I bring Xiao Xu some dried mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and black fungus? Old Zhang and the others picked all these from the mountain—can't buy them outside."
Lin Xu's father, Lin Hongqi, walked in from outside.
Even though he was almost fifty, he still stood tall and straight, with the unique toughness and honesty of someone from Yinzhou on his face.
"Let's not bring anything this time. Who knows how Xiao Xu's doing in Beijing yet? I'll go check first to see if he's really running a restaurant."
Chen Meijuan zipped up her travel bag:
"If he really is running a restaurant, that kid's shut up in the kitchen every day working, when is he ever going to find a girlfriend? I worry about it more than he does…"