Chapter 110: Four Stars Falls to Three and a Half Stars
Gao Jie knew he was taking a gamble, but for some reason, he had a strange faith in Shen Lu’s cooking.
’These ignorant idiots are laughing at me now,’ he thought. ’Once they eat something from Little Deer Cuisine, they’ll realize how stupid they are.’
"Damn it, you’d better taste as good as you look, or I swear I’ll smash this place to pieces today!"
Gao Jie said viciously, staring at the braised pork in the video.
Meanwhile, Shen Lu was unaware of Gao Jie’s situation. After posting the video, she anxiously refreshed the backend several times. Seeing the view and comment counts rising at a decent pace, her anxiety eased considerably.
Ten minutes later, the restaurant started to fill up. Most customers were there specifically for the braised pork.
Shen Lu quickly guided the new customers to their seats. The once-empty fast-food section was finally starting to feel a bit lively.
Shen Lu asked around and found that these people were all from the Lower City District. They lived in the lower-numbered blocks, which meant they were lower-class citizens who were relatively well-off.
She sold over thirty braised pork sets in one go, leaving her just 27 away from her goal of 100.
She checked the time. It was just past two in the afternoon. She was confident she could sell 100 sets before the eight-hour mark.
Shen Lu was thinking about her trip to the Upper City District. She planned to give some instructions to Cai Su and Wang Daguo, then get ready to leave.
Just as she turned, several cars pulled up to the storefront. Gao Jie entered boisterously with a group of people in tow.
"Is the owner in?" Gao Jie started looking for Shen Lu the moment he walked in. As a permanent member, he naturally expected to be served by the owner herself.
Shen Lu remembered this customer, the one who had won first place in the crayfish competition.
"Hello, Mr. Gao. Are you here to eat?"
"What else would I be here for? What a stupid question." Gao Jie’s attitude was nothing short of arrogant, but Shen Lu didn’t mind. She’d already gotten a taste of it yesterday.
"The à la carte menu isn’t ready yet, so we only have fast-food sets. Today’s special is the braised pork set."
"Fast food?" Huang Mao, who was behind Gao Jie, said in an exaggerated tone. "Gao Jie, you dragged us all the way to this shithole just to eat fast food?"
"What’s so good about fast food? Especially when it’s made by low-class scum. It’s not made from bugs, is it?"
"I’m not eating this garbage. Gao Jie, is your family going bankrupt? Is this what you’re treating us to?"
Gao Jie grew annoyed and cut them off loudly, "What’s with all the yapping?! When have I, Gao Jie, ever treated you guys poorly?"
Shen Lu chimed in at the right moment. "My shop may be small, but all my ingredients are top-quality. I don’t cut corners."
Gao Jie glared at her. ’Did I say you could speak?!’
’Why is he glaring at me?’ Shen Lu wondered.
Shen Lu led them to a booth and listed the dishes she had available.
Gao Jie waved his hand dismissively. "First, a braised pork set for everyone. As for the malatang and marinated dishes, just bring us whatever you see fit."
’There’s not much to choose from anyway,’ he thought. ’With only a few things on the menu, of course we’ll have everything.’
"Alright. Please wait a moment, everyone."
As soon as Shen Lu left, someone nudged Gao Jie with an elbow. "Is that little lady really the owner?"
Gao Jie shot him a sidelong glance. "I guess so. I don’t really know."
"I was wondering why you’d suddenly come to the Lower City District to eat. Don’t tell me you’ve taken a fancy to her?" Huang Mao stroked his chin. "She’s not bad-looking, but her background is trash."
"Are you guys idiots? There’s nothing wrong with my head. Why would I fall for some low-class scum from the Lower City District?"
"No?" Huang Mao blinked. "You can’t be telling me you actually brought us here because the food is good, right?"
Gao Jie was speechless. His motive was just that simple, without any of those other complicated reasons.
The food was already prepared. Shen Lu called over Wang Daguo, and within a few minutes, all the dishes were served.
Outside of his school days, Gao Jie hadn’t eaten fast food in a long time.
But even at school, he’d never had fast food this exquisite and high-class.
That’s right. High-class.
The white tray wasn’t the cheap piece of junk he’d imagined. The portions in each compartment were just right, and the food looked, smelled, and tasted perfect. It far exceeded his expectations.
"This actually looks pretty good, huh?" Huang Mao swallowed, eager to dig in.
The fat guy next to Huang Mao could no longer resist the temptation of the braised pork and picked up his chopsticks to eat.
"Mmph!" The fat guy’s face was full of astonishment. "This is actually real braised pork!"
He had thought the braised pork was fake. He never expected that one bite would fill his mouth with a rich, meaty flavor, more delicious than any braised pork he had ever eaten before.
With the fat guy leading the charge, the others hesitantly took a bite. Their eyes all lit up in unison.
They stopped their pointless chatter and immediately dug in.
Gao Jie was the last to pick up his chopsticks. Seeing them wolf down their food, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
He began to eat slowly and deliberately, a pleased expression on his face.
’Alright,’ he thought, ’this place didn’t disappoint me. The food is damn good.’
The men all had large appetites. They devoured their food at an incredible speed. After finishing the braised pork, they moved on to the marinated dishes and malatang. In the end, they even started fighting over a chicken leg.
"That chicken leg is mine! I haven’t had any yet!"
"Bullshit! Is your name written on the chicken leg? Will it answer if you call it?"
"Zhu Yan, didn’t you say when we arrived that all the food in the Lower City District was like shit and you wouldn’t eat a single bite? What are you doing now?"
"I never said that. Don’t talk nonsense."
"Alright, alright, it’s just a chicken leg. If you want more, just ask the owner to bring a few more."
Gao Jie called Shen Lu over and told her to bring a few more chicken legs.
"Is there any more braised pork? Bring a few more pieces," Zhu Yan said, rubbing his chubby belly. He felt like he could still pack away at least five more pieces of braised pork.
Shen Lu said apologetically, "I’m sorry, but this restaurant has a purchase limit. All of you have already reached your quota for the day."
Gao Jie’s brow furrowed. "What the hell? You have a purchase limit here?"
Huang Mao slammed the table. "We’re doing you a favor by gracing this shitty little shop with our presence. Don’t be so shameless!"
"It’s a small business, and I only select the highest quality ingredients, so the number of meals I can serve each day is limited. I ask for your understanding."
"Fuck, what a shitty restaurant!" Zhu Yan, who hadn’t eaten his fill, instantly lost his temper. He flipped over his tray and stormed out.
As he left, the others also got up to leave.
Gao Jie didn’t say a word, merely staring coldly at Shen Lu.
’Everything was going fine. She just had to serve the food as ordered, but no, she had to pull this purchase limit crap and embarrass me.’
’Worthless scum, can’t even be brought out in public!’
Shen Lu remained perfectly calm, not at all frightened by the behavior of Gao Jie and his friends.
’It’s my shop, so my rules are the rules. If they’re not willing to follow them, then so be it.’
However, when Shen Lu saw the satisfaction rating drop from Four Stars to three and a half stars, she started to lose her composure.
’Hey, hey, hey, you can’t be serious?’
’Just because a few people are unhappy, the rating drops by half a star?’
’When they were eating, they looked like they wanted to devour the trays themselves. And now they’re giving me this attitude just because I won’t serve them more food?’
Shen Lu really wanted to sock them a few times.
Wang Daguo came over and quietly asked what had happened.
"It’s nothing. Tidy up a bit. I need to go out. Once everything is sold out and you’ve finished cleaning, you can all go home."
"Okay."
Shen Lu packed up four pieces of braised pork and left the restaurant.