I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Sure enough, another wave of customers soon entered the shop.

After ordering, they all asked Li You about Guyi.

Li You gave them a brief rundown of what had happened with Guyi that day.

The customers were thrilled to hear the story, confirming the rumors were true. At the same time, they were deeply disappointed that they had heard the news too late.

If they had known earlier and come sooner, they too could have seen the contemporary Painting Saint in person.

What a shame!

Li You told the customers not to be disappointed, explaining that Guyi would very likely return tomorrow at noon.

Hearing this, the customers were pleasantly surprised. They all said that in that case, they would come back tomorrow at noon as well, hoping they could really see Guyi.

Li You smiled and said the chances were high.

Then he turned and went into the kitchen to start preparing the customers’ orders.

By the time this group of customers finished eating and left, it was already close to 8:00 PM, and the sky was almost completely dark.

’No more customers should be coming at this hour.’

Time to close up.

After closing the shop, Li You went upstairs. He glanced at the bathroom and saw that someone was taking a shower.

’It must be Ling Xiaoru.’

Li You sat on the sofa and prepared to turn on the TV, planning to watch it while he waited for Ling Xiaoru to come out.

But before he could even turn it on, the bathroom door opened.

Ling Xiaoru emerged, wrapped in a bath towel.

The towel wasn’t long, leaving her long legs almost entirely exposed.

So fair and smooth.

Her hair was still a little damp.

When she saw Li You on the sofa, Ling Xiaoru froze for a moment, her face quickly flushing with embarrassment.

She hadn’t expected the boss to be upstairs already.

She instinctively reached down to pull the towel a bit lower, but she didn’t dare pull too hard. She said awkwardly, "Boss, you’re up. I don’t have any pajamas, so... so I just wrapped myself in this."

Li You smiled. "That’s fine, it’s perfectly suitable. It looks good on you, too. Oh, right, are you still dizzy?"

Ling Xiaoru shook her head. "Not anymore. I’m not sure if it’s because your alcohol is so good, but the dizziness didn’t last long."

Li You nodded. "That might be it."

Ling Xiaoru said, "I think so. Boss, I’ll go back to my room for now."

Li You nodded. "Okay. There’s a hairdryer in the room. Make sure to dry your hair."

"Okay."

With an affirmative, Ling Xiaoru went back to her room.

Li You turned on the TV.

’Might as well watch some TV. It’s still early.’

He flipped to the news channel to catch up on national affairs.

After he’d been watching for a while, Ling Xiaoru came out of her room. She had changed back into her own clothes and had dried her hair.

She also sat down on the sofa and said, "Boss, I didn’t realize it was so spacious up here. And the atmosphere is so nice."

Li You smiled. "It’s not bad."

Ling Xiaoru then asked, "Boss, do you think Ancient will really come back tomorrow at noon?"

Li You said, "He most likely will."

Ling Xiaoru said, "I told Xiao Yue and the others what happened today. I also told them that Ancient might come back tomorrow. Xiao Yue and the others are so excited, they said they’re coming over tomorrow too."

Li You smiled. "For them, getting to meet Ancient is certainly an exciting event, and a great opportunity."

Ling Xiaoru nodded. "It really is. But, Boss, do you think this will make Ancient unhappy?"

Li You shook his head. "No. Think about this afternoon, so many customers came specifically for Ancient. Did Ancient seem the least bit unhappy?"

Ling Xiaoru said, "That’s a relief."

Afterward, the two of them chatted idly while watching TV. Time slowly ticked by to 10:00 PM before they each returned to their rooms.

...

「The next morning.」

Li You and Ling Xiaoru left their rooms at almost the same time.

"Morning, Boss!"

"Morning. There’s a disposable toothbrush on the table in your room you can use."

"Okay, thanks, Boss."

The two of them got ready for the day together.

"Boss, Xiao Yue and the others have already left the school," Ling Xiaoru said.

"This early?" Li You said. "Well, an early start is good. By the way, I’m planning to steam a few dozen bowls of salted pork belly with preserved vegetables today. A lot of customers were asking about it yesterday, so I figured I’d make a batch."

"And the braised chicken feet! Boss, don’t forget the braised chicken feet. I’m still waiting to eat your braised chicken feet," Ling Xiaoru said.

Li You laughed. "I won’t forget. I’ll have about 500 braised chicken feet today. That many should be enough to sell."

Ling Xiaoru said, "You never know. There are a lot of people who love braised chicken feet."

Li You said, "We’ll find out then."

After they finished getting ready, the two went downstairs together.

Da Bai and Xiaohai had already opened the shop’s door.

"Morning, Da Bai. Morning, Xiaohai," Ling Xiaoru greeted them.

"Morning, Miss Ling. Morning, Boss," Da Bai and Xiaohai said in unison.

Li You smiled. "Morning to you two, too."

Then, he asked Ling Xiaoru, "What would you like to eat?"

Ling Xiaoru said, "A small bowl of Yangchun Noodles, please. Something light for the morning."

Li You nodded. He then went into the kitchen and cooked two small bowls of Yangchun Noodles.

’I’ll have Yangchun Noodles too.’

After they finished eating, Ling Xiaoru paid the bill, covering Li You’s noodles as well. She said that since she had imposed on him by staying the night, she wanted to treat him to noodles this morning.

Li You laughed heartily and didn’t refuse.

Afterward, he went back into the kitchen to prepare the salted pork belly with preserved vegetables and the braised chicken feet.

Ling Xiaoru, meanwhile, sat on the rocking chair by the shop entrance, fiddling with her phone.

Since Xia Xiaoyue and the others were coming, and Guyi might also return at noon, she certainly wasn’t going to leave now.

「In the kitchen.」

Li You planned to steam fifty bowls of salted pork belly with preserved vegetables and braise 500 chicken feet.

Today’s braised chicken feet would be even tastier than yesterday’s.

Because all of today’s raw chicken feet were of superior quality.

This was something to look forward to!

After a flurry of prep work, the 500 raw chicken feet went into the pot of braising liquid, and the fifty bowls of salted pork belly went into the steamer.

All that was left was to wait.

Half an hour later, Ling Xiaoru said joyfully, "I can smell the salted pork belly and the braised chicken feet!"

Li You said, "They’ll both be ready in about ten more minutes."

"I can finally eat braised chicken feet today!" Ling Xiaoru was ecstatic. "By the way, Boss, is there a purchase limit on the chicken feet today?"

Li You shook his head. "No limit today."

Ling Xiaoru said delightedly, "Then I’ll take ten to start!"

Li You smiled. "Alright!"

Ten minutes passed quickly, and the salted pork belly and braised chicken feet came out of the steamer and pot one after the other.

Li You arranged ten braised chicken feet on a plate and brought them to Ling Xiaoru.

Ling Xiaoru was overjoyed. "They smell so good! They look delicious. I’m digging in."

She then picked one up with her hand and started eating.

The first bite sent a thrill of excitement through her.

They were much more delicious than she had even imagined.

The boss’s braised chicken feet were just as incredible as his other dishes.

As she was eating, a group of customers arrived together.

These were the customers who had eaten braised chicken feet here yesterday morning.

When they saw Ling Xiaoru eating braised chicken feet, they were all pleasantly surprised.

’He’s really selling braised chicken feet again today. The boss really is a man of his word.’

Overjoyed, one of the customers asked Li You, "Boss, how many braised chicken feet do you have in total today? Is it still a limit of two per person?"

Li You said, "I made more today, so there’s no limit."

The customers were even more delighted to hear this and all said they’d take ten to start.

Li You smiled and nodded. "Alright. Just a moment."

He then packed ten braised chicken feet for each customer.

The customers all dug in eagerly.

As they ate, they couldn’t help but let out a surprised "Huh?" Why did these taste even better than yesterday’s?

"Boss, today’s braised chicken feet are even better than yesterday’s. Is it because this is the official sale, so you braised them better?" a customer asked.

Li You shook his head. "No, the method is exactly the same. The reason they taste better today is that the quality of the raw chicken feet themselves is better."

So that was it. It was because the quality of the ingredients was better.

The customers all nodded.

It seemed that when the culinary skill was the same, the quality of the ingredients themselves really did affect the final taste.

The better the ingredients, the better the final dish.

’No wonder the boss is so demanding about the quality of his ingredients.’

The customers were once again filled with delight.

...