After work in the evening, Lin Xu carried Dundun, who had been attracting wealth all day, home to rest.

After a shower, he lay in bed watching video editing tutorials for a while. Then, using the skills he had learned, he edited all the videos of Dundun and released a special Dundun-exclusive compilation.

The group meal business was still a distant prospect. Lin Xu decided to take advantage of the downtime to seriously brush up on his video production knowledge. He couldn't always rely on the system; he needed to put in the effort himself. After all, as a university graduate from a prestigious 985 school, he understood that much.

As soon as the video was successfully uploaded, a flurry of "cloud cat-admirers" swarmed in.

"Dundun~~ my Dundun~~~"

"Dundun, come let Mommy give you a kiss!"

"This little guy is so quirky; the more you watch, the more likable he becomes."

"He's the cat of my dreams! If I had such a smart and well-behaved kitten, I wouldn't even mind if my boss got into a car accident!"

"Coincidentally, I'd be willing too!"

Lin Xu glanced at the netizens' comments and continued his studies.

「In the West Fourth Ring Villa.」

Shen Jiayue, dressed in pink pajamas, knocked on the master bedroom door on the third floor.

"Dad, Mom, are you asleep yet? You haven't given me today's food money! The Chicken Feet are twenty yuan each. I got sixteen for you, so that's three hundred and twenty yuan. A portion of peanuts is one hundred yuan. So, four hundred and twenty yuan in total!"

This is all Lin Xu's hard-earned money. I can't just let it go!

The moment she finished speaking, she received a transfer of five hundred yuan from her dad on her phone.

"Our daughter has been working hard."

After Shen Jiayue confirmed the receipt, she immediately transferred the money to Lin Xu.

Haha, I helped Lin Xu make money again!

Lying on the massage chair with a face mask on, Han Shuzhen muttered, "Ever since Yueyue graduated from university, why has she become such a penny-pincher? Everything involves money. I checked, and she still has millions in her account as pocket money; she's not short of cash."

Shen Guofu said with a look of satisfaction, "This small amount of money is nothing. Besides, she did run errands for us. Maybe the girl is saving up to buy us a gift. After all, she's always been our little comforter."

Han Shuzhen snorted, "Just as long as she's not a threadbare one."

"She wouldn't be. Yueyue has always been filial, ever since she was little!"

「At four-thirty in the morning.」

After a night's rest, Lin Xu, full of energy, arrived at the shop with Dundun in his arms.

The daily workload was quite substantial. Yet, he found that no matter how busy or tired he was the day before, a single night's sleep would make his fatigue vanish without a trace. He would wake up completely reinvigorated.

Could this be a benefit of being bound to the system?

Upon entering, Lin Xu first went to the kitchen to soak some glass noodles. Then, he took out a few small feather toys that Song Tiantian had bought from the counter by the cash register, placed them in front of Dundun, and rubbed the little fellow's big head. "Be good now. I'll be back right after I buy the groceries."

With that, he locked the shop door and rode a shared bicycle to the market.

Upon his return, Lin Xu first moved the purchased groceries into the kitchen. Then, he took a basin and began to mix the dough. He poured yeast into a bowl, added a small spoonful of white sugar, and dissolved it with warm water. Then, he gradually added this mixture to the flour in several small additions, stirring the flour until it formed clumps. Next, he kneaded the clumps into a smooth dough. Just like that, the leavened dough for making steamed buns was ready. Adding a little sugar when mixing leavened dough helps the yeast grow, creating more air pockets and resulting in a better rise.

He placed the dough into the basin, covered it, and let it proof.

Today, Lin Xu planned to make Sauce Meat Buns. With the dough now proofing, it was time to prepare the filling.

He diluted dry soybean paste with warm water, then diced the pork belly. After dicing, he put the pork into a wok to sauté. When the surfaces turned slightly yellow, he strained the diluted dry soybean paste and added it to the wok, frying until the aroma was released. He then added a bit of sweet flour paste to enrich the savory fragrance. He continued to stir-fry, then added water and let it simmer for a while.

Once the meat in the wok was cooked through, he cut the soaked glass noodles into small sections and added them to the wok. Then he drizzled in some dark soy sauce, stirred until evenly mixed, removed the mixture from the wok, and set it aside to cool.

Once the meat filling cooled, the fat would solidify, and the glass noodles would absorb the broth. This would make wrapping the buns easier.

Taking advantage of this time, Lin Xu cut half a head of cabbage. He peeled off the outer leaves and chopped the cabbage into small pieces, about two to three centimeters square. After chopping, he blanched them in boiling water to remove any bitterness. Then, he plunged them into cold water to cool them down quickly and used cheesecloth to squeeze out the excess water. The cabbage had a crisp and tender texture, which would add an unexpected dimension to the filling.

He added the squeezed cabbage to the meat filling, along with chopped green onions and ginger juice, and stirred everything evenly. The filling for the Sauce Meat Buns was ready.

One hour later, the dough had fully proofed.

Lin Xu was kneading the dough when Mr. Gao arrived. Yesterday, he and Wu Kexin had live-streamed all day at the Fishing Platform State Guesthouse and achieved tremendous success; Wu Kexin's total number of fans had officially surpassed the ten million mark. During the live stream, the Fishing Platform State Guesthouse was unveiled, shedding some of its mystery. But the reveal was of little practical use for most viewers; the cheapest standard room at the Fishing Platform State Guesthouse started at three thousand yuan, and suites could cost up to hundreds of thousands of yuan per night. Many netizens exclaimed that they couldn't afford to stay there.

"What are we eating today? Buns?" Mr. Gao asked, looking with interest at the dough on the cutting board and the prepared bun filling beside it.

Just the other day, this kid said he couldn't steam buns. I didn't expect him to learn after making them just once. He's truly a natural talent!

"Yeah, I wanted to try steaming some buns, but I'm worried they won't turn out well because I don't know how to pleat them properly," Lin Xu admitted.

Lin Xu had mastered the Dough Technique, the Rolling Technique, and the Filling Adjustment Technique, but he hadn't yet learned how to form and seal the buns. So, seeing his master, he immediately asked for guidance.

"That's very simple. I'll teach you in a bit," Mr. Gao said and went to wash his hands.

Lin Xu rolled the kneaded dough into a long log, then divided it into fist-sized portions. He then rolled each portion into a wrapper, thicker in the middle and thinner around the edges.

Mr. Gao took over and began to show him how to wrap the buns. "Put the filling in the center. When you pleat, you need to lift the edge of the wrapper and pinch it. The pleats should be next to each other but not overlap, or the wrapper will get pinched into a dense doughy lump."

The master and apprentice finished wrapping all the buns, placed them on a steaming tray to rest for a short while, and then put them into the steamer to cook.

Fifteen minutes later, the buns were ready. Mr. Gao had also prepared a pot of hot and sour soup.

Time to eat!

The freshly steamed Sauce Meat Buns had a soft, fluffy outer skin. When he bit into one, the juicy, oily filling with its rich sauce flavor burst out. The glass noodles, having absorbed the meat broth, tasted exceptionally delicious, and the diced meat was soft and tender. As for the cabbage wrapped inside, it added a delightful crunch to the filling. It also enhanced the flavor and juiciness of the meat and glass noodles.

Delicious! It was just a casual combination, but I didn't expect such an effect.

Next time, I can try making the pork crackling buns Mom used to make. I've accumulated quite a few pork cracklings; it's time to clear out the inventory.

「Eleven in the morning.」

As usual, the shop opened for business.

Shen Guofu drove his Bentley and slowly parked it in the parking spot in front of the shop.

"So this is Lin Ji's Food? The shop doesn't look very big. No wonder there's no phone number to reserve a table on the takeout container," he commented as he stepped out of the car.

Together with Han Shuzhen, who was holding a sun umbrella, he walked toward the shop entrance.

Soon, they noticed the electronic blackboard placed at the entrance. It listed the dishes being sold that day.

As the couple read it, their expressions soured.

The Tiger Skin Chicken Feet in the shop sold for only six yuan, yet Yueyue had falsely claimed they were twenty yuan! The Alcoholic Peanuts were only twenty-six yuan, yet she had demanded one hundred yuan! As for the other dishes, their prices had all been inflated by at least three to four times.

After reviewing the menu, Han Shuzhen took a deep breath. "Old Shen, when was the last time we disciplined our child?"

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