Chapter 115: 2 Capable Assistants
The sky was growing dark. It was unlikely any more villagers would come to sell crawfish today.
Li You had received over 200 jin of crawfish in total today.
They were all now being raised in the Spatial Fish Pond.
After receiving the crawfish from the first villager, Li Chi, Li You had secretly tested one to see if it could be placed in the Spatial Fish Pond.
It could.
This overjoyed Li You. Now, he could take as many crawfish as the villagers brought to sell.
He could raise them in the Spatial Fish Pond and sell them off gradually.
’Maybe the quality of some of the crawfish will even improve to superior, or even supreme, grade.’
Opening the Spatial Fish Pond, Li You could clearly see that all the crawfish were living well, not disturbing the various fish inside.
’How magical!’
After closing the Spatial Fish Pond, Li You opened the Storage Pavilion and took out the two robot servers he had won in the lottery that afternoon.
’I’ll study them for a bit now and see what functions they have. Tomorrow, they’ll officially start work and meet the customers.’
Looking at the two robots before him—one black, one white—Li You said tentatively, "Hello!"
"Hello, Master."
The two robots replied in unison.
Their voices were both synthesized and mechanical, but distinguishable from one another.
’They can understand human speech and respond?’
Li You’s eyes lit up. ’If so, that’s fantastic!’
’I’ll try again.’
"Don’t call me Master from now on. You can call me Boss."
"Understood, Boss."
The two robots replied in unison again.
Li You was ecstatic. The robots really could understand human speech and respond.
"Host, the robot servers are capable of simple interactions with customers. They can assist you in receiving guests to a certain degree. They can also help you process ingredients, serve dishes, pour drinks, clean, and so on," the system’s voice explained in his mind.
Li You was delighted to hear this.
’These two robot servers are even more incredible than I imagined!’
’In that case, my life is going to get a lot easier from now on.’
’Nice, very nice. This is great.’
The more Li You looked at them, the more he liked them.
"To make it easier to issue commands, you may give each of the two robot servers a name," the system added.
Li You nodded. ’That’s a good idea.’
’What should I name them?’
Li You mulled it over.
’I’ve got it.’
’The white robot will be Da Bai, and the black robot will be Xiaohai.’
’Simple and to the point.’
"Da Bai, from now on, your name is Da Bai," Li You said to the white robot.
"Understood, Boss," the white robot said.
Li You was very satisfied. Then he turned to the black robot. "Xiaohai, from now on, your name is Xiaohai."
"Understood, Boss," the black robot said.
Li You was satisfied once again. ’Since these two can process ingredients,’ he thought, ’I might as well test them out now.’
So, he took two potatoes and about two jin of crawfish from the Storage Pavilion.
First, he said to Da Bai, "Da Bai, peel and shred these two potatoes."
"Understood, Boss."
Da Bai acknowledged the order, extended a mechanical arm, picked up the two potatoes, and walked into the kitchen.
It picked up a kitchen knife and began to peel them.
It was incredibly fast, and it peeled them very thinly.
It finished one potato in less than five seconds. It then picked up the other and finished it just as quickly.
Then it began shredding them, its speed just as impressive.
Moreover, the quality of the shredded potatoes was completely on par with what Li You could do himself.
Li You was very satisfied.
’I wonder if it can stir-fry, though?’
"They cannot. The robot assistants are not equipped with cooking functions," the system stated once more.
Li You nodded. He was just curious; he didn’t actually want the robots to be able to cook.
’The cooking must be done by my own hands.’
Da Bai had perfectly shredded the potatoes. Now it was Xiaohai’s turn.
"Xiaohai, prepare these crawfish."
"Understood, Boss."
Xiaohai began preparing the crawfish. It first washed them, then removed the heads and deveined them with swift, skillful movements.
In less than five minutes, the roughly two jin of crawfish were fully prepared.
Li You was equally satisfied.
’With two capable assistants like these, my days are about to get much easier.’
’I should have a bowl of wine tonight to celebrate.’
’I’ll use the two jin of crawfish Xiaohai prepared to make some spicy crawfish.’
’I’m also curious to see how much better they’ll taste now that I’ve mastered the spicy crawfish recipe.’
He got to work.
As before, he started by stir-frying the aromatics.
He heated oil in the wok, then added Sichuan peppercorns, green Sichuan peppercorns, perilla leaves, bay leaves, star anise, doubanjiang, salt, and other seasonings.
Once the aromatics were fragrant, he added the prepared crawfish.
Stir-frying them over high heat...
After a flurry of activity, a large platter of spicy crawfish was ready.
Compared to the last batch he’d made, this one looked far more appetizing.
The aroma was much richer, too.
This aroma alone would be enough to make anyone’s mouth water uncontrollably.
’Time for a taste.’
Li You grabbed one with his bare hands and started eating.
He took a bite. Despite being prepared for it to be good, he was still thoroughly surprised and thrilled.
The flavor was several times better than the last batch.
’This has to be the most delicious spicy crawfish in the world.’
’Spicy crawfish this good demands a bowl of wine to go with it.’
Li You closed up the shop, carried the platter of spicy crawfish up to the second-floor living room.
He also ladled out a bowl of wine.
He turned on the television.
Watching TV, eating spicy crawfish, and sipping fine wine—life just couldn’t get any more comfortable than this.
...
「The next day.」
「Morning.」
After making and eating a bowl of Yangchun Noodles, Li You rode his motorcycle to Deng Luping’s shop at the town market and bought a wine jar that could hold thirty jin of wine.
Deng Luping only charged him the cost price.
Then he returned to his restaurant.
"Da Bai, Xiaohai, starting today, if customers arrive while I’m busy in the kitchen, you two are responsible for greeting them. Understand?" Li You said.
He first assigned the two of them the task of greeting customers.
"Understood, Boss," the two replied in unison.
"Excellent."
Li You was very pleased. All that was left was to wait for customers to arrive and see how the two performed.
’This should be interesting.’
However, it was unlikely any customers would be coming at this hour.
First, he would go check the fish traps in the gorge.
Li You always kept his fish traps in the same old spot, checking them from time to time.
Now that he had the Spatial Fish Pond, he could transfer the fish from the traps directly into it, which was much more convenient than before.
Li You was even considering weaving a few more traps to set out.
’I’ll start weaving them whenever I get the urge.’
"Da Bai, Xiaohai, I’m heading to the gorge for a bit. Watch the shop for me."
With Da Bai and Xiaohai around, Li You didn’t even bother closing the shop’s door.
"Understood, Boss," Da Bai and Xiaohai said in unison.
Then they stood on either side of the entrance, one to the left and one to the right, like a pair of door guardians.
’Perfect.’
Li You let out a laugh, then turned and headed for the gorge.
...