Chapter 125: "What if Shen Lu Doesn’t Agree?
After finishing the braised pork belly, Shen Lu edited the video she’d filmed and uploaded it to her account.
Then, as usual, she claimed the first comment, posting the same content as yesterday—an ad for her own shop.
The view count was rising at a decent rate. Shen Lu didn’t have time to keep an eye on the comments, so she turned off her Light Brain and got back to work in the kitchen.
Along with Cai Su and Wang Daguo, she moved all the dishes to the serving window of the fast-food section, ready for customers to arrive.
"If only the malatang cooker were a little bigger," Cai Su suddenly mused in a low voice. "It takes a fair bit of time to cook a whole batch of ingredients."
Shen Lu nodded in agreement. She had noticed this issue long ago.
A single malatang cooker could handle sixty skewers at most. Assuming an average customer bought two skewers, that meant it would only take thirty customers to sell out completely.
Of course, they could add a new skewer for every one sold, but it still took time for it to cook.
The System Mall actually had them for sale, but they weren’t cheap. Shen Lu felt they weren’t cost-effective, so she’d never considered buying another one.
’It’s not like the current one is unusable, anyway.’
At 11:30, the first customer entered the shop.
Boss Zhou came in for lunch with his wife. The couple ordered two braised pork belly combo meals, one of each of the braised chicken drumsticks, soy-sauce eggs, and dried tofu, as well as several malatang skewers.
Since they were regulars, Shen Lu gave them two complimentary glasses of mint water.
"Thank you, Boss Shen." Boss Zhou didn’t even think of refusing and accepted graciously.
His wife was a somewhat introverted person. When she took the mint water, she gave Shen Lu a shy smile.
"Enjoy your meal. If you have any suggestions for the shop, please feel free to let me know." When dealing with valued customers like Boss Zhou, Shen Lu was always pleasant and eager to hear their feedback.
"Suggestions? Yes, actually. Could you add a few more dishes? It’s not that I don’t like the braised pork belly—I love meat—but my wife prefers vegetarian dishes."
Boss Zhou’s wife looked a little embarrassed and lightly kicked her husband under the table.
"She likes vegetarian dishes?" Shen Lu nodded. "Okay, I’ve made a note of it."
She left them to their meal and returned to the front counter.
’I can’t believe customers are already asking for other dishes after only two days of selling the braised pork belly,’ she thought. ’But I guess that’s normal.’
Shen Lu wrote down a few dish names on a piece of paper, pondering what new dish to launch tomorrow, when the welcome bell on the door rang.
"Welcome." Shen Lu stood up and looked at the customers who had just walked in. "Oh, it’s you two."
Bai Wanwan took off her sunglasses and looked around. "What, are we not welcome?"
Bai Lei was holding a fruit gift box. "This is a belated grand opening gift."
"You’re too kind." Shen Lu didn’t refuse and accepted it graciously. "Are you here to eat? I’ll show you where to go."
Bai Wanwan didn’t move. She pointed with her chin to the booth area on the left and asked, "Don’t you serve stir-fry dishes here too?"
"We can, but the menu isn’t ready yet, and I haven’t sourced the ingredients." It wasn’t that Shen Lu hadn’t considered running both the fast-food counter and a stir-fry service simultaneously—she wouldn’t have sectioned off a booth area otherwise.
But with the fast-food section being what it was, Shen Lu decided to put the stir-fry service on the back burner for now.
Bai Wanwan pouted. "Fine."
Shen Lu led them to the serving window. As usual, the siblings’ policy was to get one of everything.
"It’s quieter in the booth area. You can eat over there."
Whether Bai Wanwan was genuinely trying to help or had other motives, the fact remained that Shen Lu had benefited greatly from her assistance.
Besides, she had used the Good and Evil Judgment Device on Bai Wanwan, and the heart above her head was a surprisingly distinct shade of red.
’So, I can afford to be a little nicer to these two siblings,’ Shen Lu thought.
After showing them to their table, Shen Lu selected a few fruits from their gift box, washed and sliced them, and brought the platter over.
"Why didn’t you keep these for yourself?" Bai Wanwan asked, her cheeks stuffed with food. "I specifically picked the most expensive gift box. You can’t even find these fruits in the Lower City District."
Shen Lu set down the plate and smiled. "A cook never has a shortage of things to eat."
"Is that a saying?" Bai Wanwan wasn’t familiar with the culinary profession. She looked Shen Lu up and down. "You don’t look like a head chef."
Of the head chefs she’d seen, eight out of ten were stout and round-bellied, as if they’d personally taste-tested their way to that physique, one bite at a time.
"That has nothing to do with how I look. Anyway, take your time and enjoy your meal."
Shen Lu was about to leave when Bai Lei called out to her, "Shen Lu, are you free on the third of next month?"
"Hmm? What’s up?"
"The third of next month is my birthday, and I’d like to hire you to cook for it. Name your price."
Shen Lu didn’t agree right away. Instead, she calculated the date.
The third of next month was ten days from now. She didn’t have any other plans for that day.
Bai Wanwan secretly stomped on her brother’s foot and glared at him. ’What are you doing?!’
Bai Lei shot a look back at his sister. ’What do you think? I’m building a good relationship.’
Bai Wanwan’s glare intensified. ’This is how you build a good relationship? You’re just ordering her around!’
Bai Lei’s expression pleaded. ’Unfair! I’m not trying to get a freebie, I told her to name her price!’
"I can do that." Shen Lu hadn’t paid much mind to the silent argument between the siblings. Having checked the date and her schedule, she accepted the offer.
Bai Lei said, "Okay, I’ll send you the specific number of guests later, along with any dietary restrictions?"
"Okay, but I might not have time to look at it until this evening."
"No problem."
They settled on the arrangement, and Bai Lei, to show his sincerity, immediately transferred 10,000 Star Coins to Shen Lu as a deposit.
After Shen Lu walked away, Bai Wanwan couldn’t resist jabbing her brother with her elbow. "You brat! Why didn’t you talk to me about this first?!"
"The idea just popped into my head," Bai Lei said. He was tough, so Bai Wanwan’s light punches didn’t hurt him at all, but he still put on a show of being hurt to give his sister a sense of satisfaction.
"What if Shen Lu hadn’t agreed?"
"If she hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. It was worth a shot," Bai Lei said with a grin. "Come on, sis. Don’t you want to try some of Shen Lu’s other cooking?"
’I do!’
Bai Wanwan gulped, her resistance crumbling. "Just make sure you communicate properly with Shen Lu. Watch your attitude, and don’t do anything to annoy her."
"OK! I promise I won’t."
Shen Lu returned to the front counter. By now, a steady stream of customers was coming into the shop.
They only came in groups of two or three, but the key was that there were almost no lulls in between.
Most of them were customers from the day before, who, as if having discovered a new world, were now bringing their friends along.
There were also new customers who had seen her video. They came in asking if the braised pork belly combo was really only 120 Star Coins.
"You’re not cutting corners, are you? Or using meat from diseased pigs? I wouldn’t dare eat that, no matter how cheap it is."
"Please rest assured, all our ingredients are absolutely fresh and healthy. We would never use meat from diseased pigs."
Shen Lu explained patiently. The customer, ultimately craving meat, reluctantly bought a braised pork belly combo. After just one bite, they buried their head in the plate and began to devour it.
Lunch business today was much better than yesterday. In less than two hours, her daily quest was nearly complete.