Chapter 428: The Confident Ye Lingqing
[Main Quest 8: 100 Days of Perseverance]
[Please operate your business for 100 consecutive days without requesting leave, arriving late, or leaving early.
Quest Description: Due to your repeated absences causing dissatisfaction among your customers, this quest aims to teach you the importance of consistency.
Quest Rewards: Spirit Power +2 levels, 1× 4 Star Random Recipe Drop, 5× 3 Star Optional Recipe Fragments]
[Progress: 95 / 100.]
Qi Han quietly stared at Main Quest No. 8, which he hadn't checked in a very, very long time. His eyes fell on the progress bar at the bottom, and he sank into silence.
"I did remind you… but the speed at which you claimed your rewards…" Ru Yi muttered softly.
What a disaster!
Qi Han's face twisted with grief and indignation.
He had completely forgotten about this.
Unlike previous Main Quests, this one was way too simple. All he needed to do was run the restaurant for a hundred days straight, so after glancing at it once when it first appeared, he hadn't bothered with it again.
Then he got busy… and completely forgot it existed.
Who would've thought that this seemingly ordinary Main Quest would come back to bite him so hard?
"Ru Yi, is there really no way to delay or pause the Time-Limited Quest for a few days?"
"That's impossible," Ru Yi answered gently. "It's called time limited for a reason, once a Time-Limited Quest is triggered, the timer starts automatically. It cannot be paused or postponed."
Qi Han sat on the edge of the bed, frustration clouding his face as he rubbed it hard.
He really couldn't blame Ru Yi for this. It was all because he had been too impatient.
If only he had taken a few seconds longer before claiming that reward—just waited to hear Ru Yi finish her explanation and delayed the claim by five days—none of this would be happening.
But no… the temptation of a 4 Star recipe was just too strong.
The completion time for Main Quest No. 8 still had five days left, but the Time-Limited Quest demanded that he kill a ten thousand years Azure-Scaled Dragon Eel within the same five days.
The two were completely incompatible.
If Qi Han insisted on staying put for those five days to finish the Main Quest, then he'd fail the Time-Limited Quest.
"Ru Yi… if I give up on this Time-Limited Quest, what happens?"
"When the next Ingredient Acquisition Time-Limited Quest triggers, it will only be when you reach level 60. You would have to absorb a Spirit Ring by yourself to break through, then wait until level 60 for the next Ingredient Acquisition Quest." Ru Yi hesitated before adding, "Although you don't yet have permission to know the prerequisites for ascending to God Chef, I can tell you in advance: if you choose to give up now, you will never reach beyond Master Chef in this lifetime."
So the prerequisites for becoming a God Chef are tied to the system's Spirit Rings?
Qi Han fell silent for a moment before speaking softly. "Then… if I take a leave of absence, what happens to Main Quest No. 8?"
"Once you complete the Time-Limited Quest and return, your operation days will be recalculated from the beginning. The progress gets reset."
One choice would cost him a system Spirit Ring and forever cut off his path to becoming a God Chef.
The other would waste the hundred days already completed for Main Quest No. 8.
The decision required hardly any thought.
Smack
Qi Han slapped his own forehead, face twisted in regret.
"Qi Han, Qi Han… why were you in such a hurry?!"
Just like that, the completion time for Main Quest No. 8 was pushed back by a full hundred days.
What a tragedy!
Arghhh, the more I think about it, the angrier I get.
Qi Han collapsed onto his bed and rolled around in pure frustration.
He rolled… and rolled… and rolled—
And eventually… fell asleep.
"Uh… I forgot to turn off the 'fall asleep the moment you touch the bed' sleep-assist tech…"
In the system space, Ru Yi muttered guiltily, "Forget it, let him sleep for a while."
…
No matter how much grief or regret Qi Han felt, some things simply couldn't be undone.
After waking up from his afternoon nap, he had mostly accepted that fact and could only choose to accept reality.
Before dinner service began, Qi Han informed the staff and disciples that he would be taking leave for five days starting tomorrow.
However, this time, after exchanging a look, the staff reacted far more calmly than Qi Han had expected.
"You're not surprised?" Qi Han scratched his head, unable to stop himself from asking.
He clearly remembered that every time he took leave before, they would all look shocked…
"Boss, we are surprised—surprised that you actually held on for more than three months before taking leave this time," Fu Ya said honestly after a moment of thought.
Qi Han: "???"
So you're not surprised when I take leave, but you're surprised when I don't?
There's not much physical damage, but the emotional damage is massive.
…Forget it.
Qi Han shook his head. "Same as before—during dinner service, Fu Ya will notify all customers that business will be paused. During late-night service, Xinyan will remind them."
"Alright," Fu Ya and Ping Xinyan exchanged a glance and nodded with a smile.
"Oh, right."
As if recalling something, Qi Han turned to Ye Lingqing with a smile. "Even though I'm taking leave, breakfast service can still continue. Lingqing and Yunruo will handle it."
Hm?
"Lingqing has mastered all the breakfast dishes?" Ying Shuang reacted first, delight lighting her face.
The staff who lived with the master and disciple every day naturally knew what Ye Lingqing had been learning recently.
"Yes. I finished mastering them this afternoon," Ye Lingqing nodded, then looked at Qi Han with some hesitation.
"Teacher… can I really handle breakfast service alone once you leave?"
Even though he had mastered the dishes, Ye Lingqing still lacked confidence about managing the restaurant.
This wasn't an ordinary shop.
It wasn't like the casual Mo Wu Tuan food cart he used to run.
This was Han Shi, a restaurant famous across the entire continent.
If anything went wrong, it would be tarnishing his teacher's reputation.
Such weight on Ye Lingqing's still-developing shoulders filled him with pressure.
"Be confident."
Qi Han looked directly at his disciple.
"Lingqing, it's already been over a hundred days since you became my apprentice."
"In those hundred days, you've helped me in the kitchen every single day. You know exactly what needs to be done during cooking. And you've already mastered every dish served during breakfast. So why couldn't you handle it on your own?"
He patted Ye Lingqing's shoulder firmly.
"Lingqing, you need a chance to prove yourself. And this is precisely such a chance. Don't hesitate—just try. I'm only going away for five days. If you can't handle five days, then what will you do in the future if I have to leave for even longer periods? How will you support Han Shi then?"
"I…"
The conflict and doubt in Ye Lingqing's eyes gradually shifted into resolution.
Right—he had been working so hard at learning these dishes precisely so he could help his teacher.
Every time he mastered a dish, his teacher would hand it over fully and stop making it himself, only cooking the dishes Lingqing hadn't learned yet—wasn't that a way to train him?
Just this morning, he had independently cooked eleven different breakfast dishes during service. Only the Steamed Dragon Dumpling had required his teacher's personal intervention.
Now that he had mastered Steamed Dragon Dumpling too, all he had to do was cook one more dish than he did this morning.
I can do it.
Confidence flared in his eyes.
"Teacher, I'll do my best tomorrow!"
Seeing the completely different spirit in Ye Lingqing compared to before, Qi Han couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.
My disciple has grown up…
Soon, he would finally be able to leave breakfast service entirely in his hands.
Operation Lazy Master: Successful!
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