No one cared about Paul's thoughts.
Because, very soon, he was hoisted up and used as bait.
These things, he gets scared the first time, he becomes hesitant the second time, but by the third or fourth time, he doesn't care anymore.
And as bait, he still gets to eat, Paul thought...
He did a pretty good job as bait, didn't he?
This patch of Interstellar Dates was still static.
Paul's appearance broke the existing tranquility, and then the Interstellar Dates began to move.
It was still the familiar dense foliage blocking out the sun.
It was still the familiar lush greenery, and the scorching heat.
When Paul realized something was wrong, he actually wanted to activate the spatial button to grab something to block it.
He really couldn't stand the intense heat from Interstellar Dates!
He was a human being too!
Unfortunately, he couldn't activate it.
Ares took a shielding device from him, which directly blocked his spatial button.
Unless Ares needed it, he wouldn't be allowed to use it!
As the Interstellar Dates, about to land on him, Paul closed his eyes, which he had been rolling for most of the day.
He thought, he'd haunt Ares even as a ghost!
But the expected pain didn't come.
Moreover, Paul also heard Ares's voice: "Little Boss, please put the bait back. Don't let it get hurt and affect the next use."
Sheng Jiu reacted quickly, deftly throwing Paul into the doorway, and then she squeezed under an umbrella with Ares, constantly making the system do its work.
Batch after batch of Interstellar Dates fell, quickly disappearing.
When the Interstellar Dates were all gone, leaving only vines, Sheng Jiu didn't let them go either.
Such good fodder! She wanted it all!
After collecting the Interstellar Dates, another hour passed.
After thinking about the need to prepare meals in the afternoon, Sheng Jiu decided not to take any more risks.
Ares also felt that Sheng Jiu's stamina was probably almost depleted after such an exertion.
She still needed to cook that night, so she needed to conserve some energy.
They quickly packed up, took Sheng Jiu back to the camp, let her familiarize herself with the place, and then Ares followed Sheng Jiu back to the shop.
Paul, lying on the cold ground, his first thought after being thrown back was: He didn't have to get burned?
Why did a sudden wave of gratitude well up inside him?
Realizing what had happened, Paul was so angry he laughed.
He thought: How pathetic!
They used you as bait, and you're grateful?
Paul was too angry to speak.
When Sheng Jiu returned, she took a shower first, and then ran the water for Ares and the others to clean up.
They completely ignored Paul, making his anger seem insignificant.
Paul: ...
You guys wait until I'm better!
After Sheng Jiu finished packing, the system's delivery truck arrived.
The crabs today were quite large!
They were practically whole crabs, except for the claw they had eaten earlier.
There were two large buckets full of the crab roe that Sheng Jiu had been looking forward to!
There were seven buckets of crab meat and nine buckets of crab shells!
In addition, one hundred jin of processed Interstellar Dates slices were also delivered.
Sheng Jiu plans to send the processed Interstellar Date Vines feed, along with the feed she had previously saved, back to her eldest uncle's house when she has time.
With so much stuff, Sheng Jiu and Ares also had to prepare quite a few meals.
Crab meat can be used in fried rice.
However, there's quite a lot of crab meat, she could think of other ways to cook it, such as crab meat soup.
Add tofu and mushrooms, then add an egg and thicken it with cornstarch…
Slurp!
Just thinking about it makes it so delicious that anyone would look forward to it!
Crab roe can be prepared in even more ways: stir-fried into a sauce, then mixed with noodles, or simply steamed into shumai.
Sheng Jiu is alone, so she won't go into too many variations.
After thinking it over, she revised the menu.
The millet porridge will still be cooked normally, with both flavors available.
Crab Fried Rice is making a comeback.
Crab Meat Soup, a new attempt, is priced at 38 yuan a bowl by the system.
Crab Roe Shumai is priced at 98 yuan for a serving of four.
Crab Roe Noodles are 58 yuan a serving.
Interstellar Dates Tea is a regular item, and Sheng Jiu added it to the menu.
After revising the menu, Sheng Jiu went to the market again.
Crab Roe Shumai requires pork filling, as well as shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots to enhance the flavor.
Crab Meat Soup needs tofu and mushrooms for added flavor, these need to be prepared separately.
Sheng Jiu confidently entrusted the shop to Ares, teaching him how to use the kitchen utensils and instructing him on basic food preparation.
For example, crab meat needed to be steamed and then shredded.
Millet porridge needed to be cooked, and rice needed to be steamed.
Ares could now handle all the hygiene and preparation work independently.
With Ares in the shop and it not needing to be open for the time being, Sheng Jiu went to the market with peace of mind.
Time was tight, and the task was heavy.
Once inside, Sheng Jiu didn't have time to look around much. She had the system scan each stall she passed, and if the system rated it as excellent, Sheng Jiu bought it without hesitation.
Of course, the price still needed to be negotiated.
She often comes to the market to buy ingredients, so she has a general idea of their prices.
If anyone thinks she's too young and looks too innocent, and tries to take advantage of her...
That won't do!
She was a professional at buying groceries, and very experienced!
She walked past several stalls and picked out some good pork hind leg meat.
Pork hind leg meat was perfect for the filling, the fat and lean ratio was just right, and the meat wasn't dry.
There were several tofu vendors, but Sheng Jiu chose the one with the best system rating.
She prepared three kinds of mushrooms: shiitake mushrooms, white jade mushrooms, and crab mushrooms.
The white jade mushroom and crab mushrooms were to be used in a soup with crab meat, while the shiitake mushrooms were to enhance the flavor of the shumai.
Sheng Jiu was slightly disappointed that she didn't run into the same woman selling vegetables at the market today.
However, before leaving, she spotted two nice winter melons in a corner.
The vendor had a cart full of winter melons, and Sheng Jiu picked out two with excellent ratings and bought them.
After preparing everything, Sheng Jiu hurried back to the restaurant.
Then she immediately began preparing the meal.
Ares' teammates had noodles for lunch. Noodles, a type of refined carbohydrate, aren't very filling and digest extremely quickly.
Sheng Jiu thought that if she cooked for them after closing time, they'd all be starving.
So, she decided to cook for Ares and the others first.
Perfect timing, she has some new dishes to try today, and they are great taste testers.
Sheng Jiu told Ares about it and then turned around to start kneading the dough.
She didn't plan to sell many servings of Crab Roe Noodles.
Each serving of hand-pulled noodles was hard work.
Therefore, she only prepared twenty servings.
Aside from her and Ares trying it, she wouldn't give any to his teammates.
Sheng Jiu was preparing to make Crab Roe Shumai for his teammates, which was easier for her than noodles.
Although wrapping them up was a bit of a hassle!
While Sheng Jiu was working, Ares assisted her, constantly observing.
Rolling out noodles requires some experience, or rather, a feel for it, this depends on both talent and practice.
Ares secretly tried it out and found his dough-rolling to be utterly terrible.
Judging by the quality of the noodles he made, let alone selling them for 58 yuan, he'd be afraid of getting beaten up even if he sold them for 18 yuan!