Chapter 133: Four People, Two Set Meals?
The dining table fell silent. Little Bei cleared his throat. "The boss brought us here. Isn’t his intention obvious? If you want to eat here, then come. Just be sure to follow their rules."
"Shen Lu isn’t as simple as you think. That’s all I’m going to say." Xue Can stood up. "This meal isn’t on the company tab. Everyone pays for their own."
With that, Xue Can went to the counter to pay.
Little Bei didn’t rush to follow him. Instead, he turned to the other members, who all wore varying expressions. "You all know what the boss is like. If he was going to make a move, he would have done it long ago. I suggest you drop those improper ideas."
The Gale Mercenary Corps wasn’t as harmonious as it appeared on the outside. They were all capable individuals, and there were always those who wanted to climb to the top.
However, as long as it wasn’t a matter of principle, Xue Can generally turned a blind eye.
The remaining men exchanged glances, then got up one by one to pay.
The last few to leave exchanged a look and started complaining in their private group chat.
Liu Wei: Xue Can must have known all along that the food this broad makes can soothe the Spiritual Sea. He hid it from us for so long, and only now he tells us. Heh.
Jiang Hua: If this broad really had connections, she wouldn’t have opened her shop in the Lower City District. The Upper City District has way more Superpower Users, and besides, have you noticed? Almost everyone who eats here is a regular person.
Jin San: Ye Fan and his partner only signed a one-month contract, right? Once that’s up, we can do whatever we want.
Jiang Hua: True.
Liu Wei: Agreed. Let’s just wait a bit.
When it was his turn to pay, Shen Lu asked out of habit, "How was everything? Feel free to let me know if there was anything you weren’t happy with."
Xue Can: "Everything was delicious."
Little Bei chuckled. "It really was good. I just feel like I’m not quite full."
Shen Lu beamed. "Is that right? I’ll keep that in mind."
’Shen Lu was just collecting feedback; she had no intention of actually making any changes.’
Shen Lu knew her purchase limits were a bit off-putting for some, but her set meal portions were generous. A normal adult could definitely eat their fill.
The members of the Gale Mercenary Corps were Superpower Users, and their appetites seemed to be larger than those of regular people. She’d already noticed this with Ye Fan and Lin Zhou.
But Shen Lu had no plans to increase the portions. First, she wanted to avoid waste. Second, not many Superpower Users ate at her restaurant anyway. Besides, Superpower Users had money; if one set meal wasn’t enough, they could always order some braised snacks or malatang.
After seeing the Gale Mercenary Corps off, Shen Lu checked the progress of her daily task. She had already sold 91 Braised Pork Belly sets and 40 Kung Pao Chicken sets.
’Looks like I can complete the task by the end of the lunch rush.’
Shen Lu compared the customer traffic with the same period over the last two days. She had been keeping simple records, and the trend was clear at a glance.
"’Not bad,’ Shen Lu thought, satisfied. ’The number of customers is steadily increasing.’"
Boss Cao had basically poached her low-end customers. The people coming to her restaurant now were from the middle class of the Lower City District and up. There weren’t as many of them as before, but their spending power was greater. As a result, Shen Lu was actually earning more than before, and she wasn’t as exhausted.
’I wonder how Boss Cao’s business is doing now,’ Shen Lu thought. ’It must still be pretty good.’
Meanwhile, Boss Cao was sweating bullets as he cooked noodles. A slotted spoon and chopsticks danced in the boiling water as he worked at top speed.
But the waiting customers were still getting impatient, constantly rushing him.
"Can’t you go any faster, boss? I’ve been waiting for half an hour. I’m starving!"
"Boss, can’t you offer more toppings? It’s pickled vegetable topping every day. I’m sick of it."
"Yeah, why don’t you learn a thing or two from Boss Shen? Make something like that cold radish skin salad. I’d even pay an extra 10 Star Coins for it."
"And this bowl! Can’t you wash it properly? Or just get more bowls! I swear I can smell the last person’s spit on it. It’s disgusting."
...
The more the customers complained, the more frustrated and irritable Boss Cao became.
’Rush, rush, rush!’
He wasn’t like Shen Lu; he couldn’t afford to hire help. It was just him and his wife doing everything.
He cooked and served the noodles while his wife took the money, cleared tables, and washed dishes. The two of them were spinning like tops. They made a little money, sure, but after Ma Laosan collected his "management fee," there wasn’t much left.
’It was all hard-earned cash.’
If it weren’t for the small profit and the chance to spite Shen Lu, Boss Cao would have already packed it in.
He was too busy to even get angry. Boss Cao just put his head down and worked until he sold out of all the noodles he had prepared.
He could finally catch his breath. He waved away the customers who hadn’t been served. "No more noodles. Come back earlier tomorrow."
"Gone?" A few men stared in disbelief, then got angry. "We waited in line for an hour, and you’re telling us you’re sold out?"
"What do you want me to do?" Boss Cao turned off the stove. "The noodles are gone. I can’t just pull more out of thin air."
"You don’t even make the noodles yourself. How about this: go to the noodle shop and get some more. I can wait."
Boss Cao let out an exasperated laugh. He had intentionally bought fewer noodles today—just enough to get through the lunch rush.
The past two days, he’d bought too many and ended up selling until late at night before he could go home. He’d been dead tired.
He and his wife had talked it over. Sure, they could make money that way, but the physical toll was too much. They decided it was better to shorten their hours. Besides, back when Shen Lu had her stall, didn’t she only sell during lunchtime?
"Friend, stop joking around. Go buy your lunch somewhere else. I’m closing up shop for the day."
Boss Cao was firm, and the men, unable to change his mind, left in a huff.
There weren’t many places open on Gold Street at the moment, though. And aside from Boss Cao’s noodle stall, they couldn’t afford any of them.
"We could go to Boss Shen’s place," one of them said suddenly. "Her Braised Pork Belly set is 120 Star Coins, right? What if two of us split one? We’d at least get half-full, right?"
"That’s true," another sighed. "Man, I miss Boss Shen’s old fried rice and noodles. Sixty Star Coins for a portion, and you’d be full. It’s not that I don’t want to give her new restaurant business, but my lunch budget is exactly 60 Star Coins. Not a penny more."
After some discussion, the men decided to head to Little Deer Cuisine.
Things were winding down on Shen Lu’s end as well. The Kung Pao Chicken sets and the malatang had all sold out. All that was left were about ten Braised Pork Belly sets and some braised snacks.
"Welcome to Little Deer Cuisine." Shen Lu looked up as the bell on the door chimed. When she recognized their faces, her smile widened. "Well, if it isn’t some old friends. Please, come in."
They were all regulars from her food stall days. Shen Lu didn’t know their names, but she remembered their faces.
Shen Lu’s warm welcome clearly pleased them, and they followed her into the dining area.
"The lunch rush is almost over, so I’m out of a few things. Take a look and see what you’d like."
"We’ll just have two of the Braised Pork Belly sets," the man in the lead said, looking a little embarrassed. "And could we get two extra pairs of chopsticks?"
’Four people sharing two sets?’
’That wasn’t a problem at all. In fact, she’d get two extra popularity value points out of it. What was there to complain about?’
Her smile unwavering, Shen Lu guided the four of them to collect their food and pay. She not only gave them the two extra pairs of chopsticks but also threw in two extra bowls.
The restaurant wasn’t too crowded, so Shen Lu took an empty seat near the four men and casually started to fish for information.