Chapter 156: So, Everyone Has One?
Fu Cheng could eat the steamed bun by himself, but Shen Lu still had to hold the soy milk for him to drink.
His left hand wasn’t strong enough yet; he couldn’t hold the soy milk steady and would likely spill it.
But Shen Lu was already very pleased with this. Breakfast today was a breeze for her; all she had to do was help him with the soy milk, which was just a matter of lifting her hand.
The morning news broadcast a weather alert, warning of heavy rainfall for the next three days and advising citizens to be careful when going out.
"Is this weather forecast a joke?" Shen Lu complained. "It’s almost never right."
Ever since she got her Light Brain, Shen Lu would check the weather forecast every night before bed, but it was wrong eight out of ten times.
Many times, it would show clear skies for the next day, but when the next day came, it would be cloudy.
This was especially true for rain; it had almost never been predicted accurately.
Eventually, Shen Lu gave up on checking it. She would just glance out the window every morning to judge the weather for herself.
Fu Cheng’s lips curved slightly. "Don’t be angry. Weather prediction is affected by many factors, and the weather here changes too quickly."
Shen Lu shrugged. "Fine."
She wasn’t a researcher; she didn’t really understand this stuff.
Taking the empty bowls downstairs, Shen Lu washed them and put them in the sterilizer.
Even though she didn’t know how many customers would show up today, she still had to cook.
After all, she had the System Warehouse. If she couldn’t sell everything today, she could store it in the warehouse and sell it tomorrow without any loss of freshness.
[DING DONG~ New Mission: Please sell 330 servings of Braised Pork set meals and 230 servings of Kung Pao Chicken set meals, achieve a total revenue of 68,000 Star Coins, and maintain a customer satisfaction rating of three stars or higher. Time limit: eight hours.]
The food was still being cooked, but the mission arrived right on schedule.
’330 Braised Pork set meals, 230 Kung Pao Chicken set meals... Assuming one per person, that means at least 560 customers have to walk through the door today to even have a chance of completing the mission.’
Shen Lu glanced at the relentless downpour outside and sighed deeply.
This rain is even heavier than the day Yiping went to her dad to ask for money, but unlike Yiping, her customers wouldn’t brave a storm like this just to come eat.
At 11:30 AM, all the dishes were ready. Wang Daguo flipped the "Closed" sign to "Open."
Shen Lu cupped her cheeks in her hands, staring blankly at the door.
’This is probably going to be my quietest day of business ever, isn’t it?’
Usually, there would be people waiting outside before 11:30, but today there wasn’t a single soul.
’I wonder what the penalty will be if I can’t complete the daily mission today.’
’A deduction in popularity value? A loss of Star Coins? Or will they take back items or privileges?’
’This is killing me. Maybe I should make up a reason to offer a discount today, just to get customers in the door?’
’Taking a small loss is acceptable, but I really can’t deal with the penalty for failing the mission.’
Just as Shen Lu was letting out her eighth sigh, the automatic glass doors slid open. Hearing the sound, she lifted her gaze.
A man pulled back the hood of his raincoat, revealing a face and eyes damp with moisture.
"Mr. Xue?" Shen Lu was surprised. She hadn’t expected Xue Can to show up.
"Are you serving food?" Xue Can took off his raincoat, then looked around but didn’t see any hooks. "Can I put my raincoat on a chair?"
"Yes, we are." Shen Lu walked over, a fresh towel in her hands. "Just leave the raincoat here for now. I’ll keep an eye on it so no one takes it by mistake."
Xue Can had originally planned to use his superpower to dry the rainwater off himself, but when he saw the towel in Shen Lu’s hands, he changed his mind.
"You’ll feel better if you dry off," Shen Lu said, offering the towel with both hands.
"Thank you." Xue Can took it and casually wiped his hair and face.
’Look how great my service is,’ Shen Lu thought with inward smugness. ’I’ve definitely secured Xue Can’s popularity value for today.’
Catching the self-satisfied little expression on the young woman’s face, Xue Can found it inexplicably amusing.
’Can a simple ’thank you’ from me make her this happy?’
Xue Can ordered and began to eat. The other members of the Gale Mercenary Corps arrived one after another, and just like before, Shen Lu handed each of them a towel.
’So, everyone gets a towel?’
Xue Can’s eyes narrowed. The ripples in the lake of his heart stilled, returning to stagnant water.
Shen Lu washed and dried the used towels, preparing them for the next customers.
Looking at the members of the Gale Mercenary Corps in her restaurant, Shen Lu nodded in approval.
’They’re really great for business. After that group dinner, they’ve come to eat almost every day. They must have been conquered by my cooking, right?’
Shen Lu fiddled with her fingers. She had always had a lot of repeat customers. It seemed no one who tried her food was ever dissatisfied.
Ahem, of course, this wasn’t because her cooking skills were transcendent. It had to be viewed in the context of their reality.
To someone starving, anything tastes like a delicacy from heaven.
Most chefs in the Imperial City had an incomplete culinary education. The scarcity of ingredients and seasonings meant their cooking techniques were more primitive, lacking much in the way of skill.
Simply put, as long as it was cooked and had some flavor, it was good enough.
The common people weren’t picky anyway. Only the rich and powerful had higher standards for food. After all, higher standards meant higher costs, and commoners didn’t have that much money to waste on satisfying their palates.
The members of the Gale Mercenary Corps finished their meals and left, and the restaurant became empty again.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but Shen Lu felt that Xue Can’s expression was a little dark when he left.
’Did the food taste off today?’
’Impossible. I tasted it myself. There was nothing wrong.’
’He must be bothered by something work-related.’
After waiting at the front counter for a while with no one else showing up, Shen Lu finally sat down and started scrolling through her social media feed.
Ever since she had benefited from posting videos, Shen Lu had insisted on updating daily. Even if her daily views were declining, it didn’t affect her mood in the slightest.
’Isn’t being a content creator all about perseverance?’
’What if one of my videos goes viral again someday?’
She scrolled through the comments. Some users commented that they were getting tired of it, saying that no matter how fancy the editing or how varied the camera angles, she was still just making the same few dishes over and over again. There was nothing new.
Shen Lu wrinkled her nose. ’What do they expect? Making hundreds of set meals every day is already exhausting. I know I’m short-staffed—didn’t I put up a hiring notice?’
But it wasn’t like you could find suitable help in a day or two.
"DING DONG."
The welcome bell at the door suddenly rang. Shen Lu pulled her wandering thoughts back and quickly stood up.
A dozen or so girls holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats rushed in with a flurry.
"This rain is insane!"
"Can you close your umbrellas? You keep poking me in the head."
"Where do we put our raincoats?"
...
Shen Lu hurriedly grabbed a stack of towels and went to greet them one by one.
She hadn’t expected so many people to come in all at once. She had only prepared ten towels, so now two people would have to share one.
After handing out the towels, Shen Lu went to find a place for their raincoats and umbrellas. Wang Daguo brought over a mop to wipe up the water on the floor, so the customers wouldn’t slip and fall.
"Are you serving food?" a girl asked, her eyes shining. "The Braised Pork set meal that Brother Xing ate."