Chapter 394: Nighttime Lights of Han Shi
Far away, on another continent, a tenth-level spirit engineer had set his eyes on him—or rather, on Han Shi. Of this, however, Qi Han remained utterly unaware.
After finishing the afternoon's training in the Jixi Yipin Pot, Qi Han moved straight into the evening shift of business.
The hotpot introduced at lunchtime, as a completely new way of dining, had spread like wildfire throughout the afternoon until nearly everyone knew about it.
The appeal lay in how simply changing the broth or the ingredients could create a completely different culinary experience—one tasting wasn't enough.
Thus, those who had tried it at noon wanted to return for more in the evening, while those who had missed out at noon, after hearing about it, were all the more eager to give it a try.
The combined result was simple: Han Shi's dinner service was packed.
Mo Ran, who had just barely managed to adapt to the frantic pace of the lunch shift, once again found himself running around in circles throughout the evening, dizzy with exhaustion.
Amid the chorus of astonishment and praise from countless diners, the two-hour dinner service ended in what felt like no time at all.
Normally, once dinner was finished, Qi Han would have gone to bed early.
But not tonight.
With the launch of the late-night menu, this evening he was destined to become a night owl.
"Meow?"
Pururu tilted his head in puzzlement, as if someone had just called him.
Qi Han reached down to pat Pururu on the head, a faint smile on his lips.
"Lingqing, take a short rest. Later, we'll need to prepare ingredients for the midnight menu."
"Got it!" Ye Lingqing nodded vigorously. After an entire day of running about, he was exhausted as well. Hearing his teacher say he could rest, he simply laid his head down on one of the dining tables and dozed off almost instantly.
Casting a glance at the sleeping Lingqing, Qi Han walked quietly to the backyard to check on Zhui Yun.
The unicorn, curled up on the straw and half-dozing, perked up immediately upon seeing Qi Han.
It rose to its feet and walked toward him, gently touching its horn to his forehead.
"Master, you've come."
Qi Han smiled warmly. "I've been busy today and didn't have time to visit you."
"It's alright, Master. Pururu came to play with me this afternoon," Zhui Yun replied in its childish voice.
"Oh?" Qi Han blinked in surprise. Since he had spent the afternoon in the training space, he hadn't known Pururu had slipped into the backyard.
Still, it was a good thing. Now Pururu had a new companion, and Zhui Yun wouldn't feel lonely. With the two little ones getting along so well, Qi Han could only be pleased.
After a bit of affection shared with Zhui Yun, Qi Han woke Ye Lingqing, and together they returned to the kitchen to prepare for the night's late-night service.
As it was the very first night Han Shi would be open for supper, Qi Han couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness.
On the Douluo Continent, there was no such concept as ye xiao (late-night dining). Almost no one ate at such hours.
Without entertainment, and with no electric lights, most people had long since developed the habit of sleeping once night fell.
So unlike breakfast, there was no telling whether a late-night service could truly catch on.
Soon enough, the sun's glow faded completely, and the silver moon rose high in the sky.
Without atmospheric or light pollution, the moonlight on Douluo was far stronger than that of Earth. Though not bright as daylight, it was enough to allow one to see clearly at a distance.
Following the route she had memorized, Ping Xinyan leapt swiftly across rooftops, alighting before Han Shi's doors within moments.
Tonight, she wasn't dressed in her usual pale yellow athletic uniform. Instead, she wore Han Shi's distinctive server uniform. The cinched design accentuated her slender waist, while the headband pulling back her soft pink hair lent her already lively beauty an added radiance.
The instant she landed, Xinyan's eyes fell upon the line of people gathered outside the restaurant.
Her martial spirit, Little Devil, despite having the word devil in its name, was by no means an evil spirit. Rather, it was a rare and special agility-attack type martial spirit.
The Little Devil was synonymous with mischief and trickery, and in a sense, the night was its true domain.
Thus, Ping Xinyan's night vision was sharper than that of ordinary spirit masters.
With just a glance, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.
The line of customers was only about half the length of what it had been at lunch and dinner.
According to Yunruo, the number of people queueing for breakfast had been about the same as for lunch.
But if both breakfast and supper had been launched today, why was there such a gap in turnout?
She quickly understood the reason.
It was already past eight o'clock, and many people were asleep.
Although everyone adored Han Shi's cooking, not every diner was fanatical enough to adjust their biological clock for it. Some had long formed the habit of going to bed early and simply wouldn't come out at night—perfectly normal.
Even so…
Ping Xinyan's eyes flickered with concern as she looked toward Han Shi's doors.
Would the boss be upset when he saw this?
As she pondered, a sudden cascade of soft, bright light spilled down from fixtures all along Han Shi's outer walls, evenly illuminating the space in front of the restaurant.
The overlapping glow of hundreds of lamps made the courtyard outside shine as bright as day.
The light wasn't harsh at all—its warm, sunlike radiance gently tore through the darkness, drawing gasps of astonishment from the queuing diners.
What beautiful lights!
Caught in the drifting dust motes of the night air, the beams transformed into angled shafts that fell across the ground, forming pools of brightness that overlapped and danced together. The sight was so novel that Xinyan found herself stunned for a moment.
"Xinyan, come in."
It wasn't until Qi Han spoke that she realized the doors had quietly opened.
"Mm!"
She nodded quickly and hurried inside.
Qi Han tilted his head back, gazing up at the lights along the exterior wall, and a smile curved across his face.
"Ru Yi, these wall lamps are nice."
"Of course." Ru Yi accepted the praise without hesitation. "They're solar-powered wall lamps. Just one day of sunlight is enough to keep them running throughout supper hours. Plus, the brightness adjusts itself automatically to the optimal level."
After greeting the diners outside, Qi Han gently closed the door and turned back inside. Before he could even speak, Ping Xinyan's astonished voice rang out.
"Boss, th-this… are there really this many dishes for supper?"
She waved the menu in her hand, her expression filled with despair.
She'd only glanced at the directory once, and already she was overwhelmed—the densely packed pages listed dish after dish, far too many to count.
And not a single familiar face among them—every one was a brand-new dish.
Three to four hundred new items, at least! Was she really expected to memorize them all?
"Don't worry." Qi Han smiled lightly. "Just like with hotpot, supper has its own order sheets. You only need to hand those out to the customers, collect them when they're done, and bring them back. That's it."
With nearly four hundred dishes, even someone like Fu Ya would have trouble memorizing them all, let alone a first-time waitress like Ping Xinyan. Qi Han had anticipated this from the start.
"I see." Xinyan's expression softened in relief. If there were order sheets, then it wouldn't be so bad.
She only needed to calculate the final bill. Simple arithmetic—no problem!
Wait… with so many dishes on the supper menu, didn't that mean as a waitress she could try any of them?
The thought of tasting so many delicacies at will made her face light up with excitement.
Seeing her renewed enthusiasm, Qi Han chuckled softly.
"Now then," he said, "why don't you start thinking about what you'd like for your staff meal tonight?"
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