Chapter 233: Chapter 233: There Is No Right or Wrong

Ye Fan wasn’t offended by his partner’s teasing. He just chuckled and said, "So what if I’m a hick? Other people would kill to eat Boss Shen’s soup dumplings and can’t even get any!"

Xue Can had never eaten such a refined meal either, but he was smart. He started with a few sips of the century egg and lean pork congee while surreptitiously observing how Fu Cheng ate.

Fu Cheng ignored the noisy Ye Fan. He took a dipping saucer with one hand, poured in some of the vinegar from the table, then added a spoonful of chili oil and mixed it well.

Shen Lu had made soup dumplings. The skin was paper-thin. When you picked one up, the bulging pouch of soup would pull the dumpling downward, but the wrapper was resilient enough not to break easily.

Fu Cheng placed a soup dumpling in his bowl, carefully poked a hole in it to let some of the steam escape, and waited until the temperature was just right. Only then did he slurp the broth through the opening before dipping the rest and eating the meat.

Having watched the entire process, Xue Can thought, ’This stuff really is only fit for rich people.’

Mercenaries like them never had the time or inclination for such a leisurely indulgence. When on a mission, they’d just grab a quick bite. There was no way they’d have the luxury of slowly savoring soup dumplings.

"Are the dumplings to your liking?" Shen Lu asked as she sat down and ladled a bowl of congee for herself. Seeing this, Fu Cheng put down his chopsticks, got her a dipping saucer, and pushed the vinegar toward her.

"Boss Shen, these dumplings are delicious, but they have too much soup inside," Ye Fan said bluntly. "And they’re not very filling."

For rough guys like them, taste was secondary. The most important thing was getting a full stomach.

"Ye Fan," Xue Can called out, his voice neither loud nor soft, his brow furrowed.

"It’s alright. If you’re not full, I can make you some noodles."

Shen Lu wasn’t offended or hurt.

Soup dumplings are made with unleavened dough, while the buns and mantou they usually ate were made with leavened dough. For Ye Fan, leavened bread was indeed more filling.

’It’s not a matter of right or wrong, just personal preference,’ she thought.

"Then thank you, Boss Shen!" Ye Fan said cheerfully, pretending not to notice the dark look on Xue Can’s face.

His security detail at Little Deer Cuisine was already more than halfway done. In about ten more days, it would be a full month, and he had no idea if Boss Shen would renew their contract.

If she didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to freeload breakfast and dinner anymore. Besides, lunch no longer had the soothing and healing effect on his Spiritual Sea, so of course he had to eat as much as he could, while he could.

No one else asked for noodles, though. Shen Lu quickly cooked a bowl, poured some braising sauce over them, fried an egg, and served it to Ye Fan.

Ye Fan wasn’t picky. He added a generous amount of chili oil and SLURPED the noodles down until he was full.

Around 7:30, Wang Daguo and the others came in for their shift, so there were people to clear the dishes.

Shen Lu gave Cai Su the day off to spend time with Xiao Lang. Everyone else worked as usual.

After signing for the vegetables Zhao Qian delivered, Shen Lu couldn’t help but sigh.

Yesterday he’d sent green beans, eggplant, carrots, and lettuce. Today it was chives, winter melon, radish, and cauliflower.

’So the vegetable dishes have to change again today. It’s a good thing I know how to make a lot of different dishes, or I really wouldn’t be able to keep up with Zhao Qian’s pace.’

As for the three meat ingredients—pork, grass carp, and chicken—they were so-so. The grass carp was a bit smaller than yesterday’s, less than a pound.

That was an easy fix. She could just portion a larger part of the fish body with the head to make up the weight.

Still, Shen Lu was a little worried. ’I hope the fish he sends tomorrow isn’t even smaller than today’s.’

’Any smaller and I won’t be able to make chopped chili fish head.’

Using local ingredients was just one headache after another. It was nothing like the System Mall, which offered ingredients of stable quality, a wide variety, and sufficient quantity. As long as you had enough popularity value, you could get as much as you wanted.

You didn’t have to owe anyone any favors, and you certainly didn’t have to worry about inconsistent quality.

Shen Lu clenched her fists. ’I have to max out the store’s defense value as soon as possible.’

It was a hectic morning. With Cai Su gone, Shen Lu didn’t have time to stage anything interesting for a video. She just filmed a few simple clips, planning to put out a low-effort episode.

The chives were stir-fried simply. The winter melon was cooked with a few small dried shrimp. The radish was shredded and simmered in a rich broth. As for the cauliflower, Shen Lu had the decency to add a few slices of pork belly for flavor, preparing it dry-pot style.

[Ding! Mission issued: Please sell 660 portions of Braised Pork Set, 560 portions of Kung Pao Chicken Set, and 220 portions of Chopped Chili Fish Head Set. Achieve a total revenue of 130,000 yuan and a customer satisfaction rating of three stars or higher. Time limit: eight hours.]

When the busiest part was over, Shen Lu went behind the front counter to edit her video as usual.

Today’s video was very simple; she finished editing it in just over ten minutes.

Shen Lu checked her store’s backend and noticed there were fewer negative reviews recently.

Usually, 80 out of 100 comments would be negative reviews. Today, there were only about ten.

’Did the people leaving all those bad reviews have a change of heart?’

Shen Lu didn’t really believe that.

But she didn’t have the energy to dig deeper. In any case, whether the reviews were good or bad, at least there were reviews.

She’d rather be flamed to hell and back than have a dead-silent comment section.

Turning off her Light Brain, Shen Lu stood up. There were only a few minutes until opening time. Based on the past few days, she knew there would be a lot of people coming for the lottery, so she could get a few things ready in advance.

At 11:30, Little Deer Cuisine opened right on time. The crowd waiting outside rushed in with a WHOOSH.

Shen Lu mentally counted the customers. The number wasn’t much different from yesterday.

’That means my customer base has stabilized.’

’I just wonder what percentage of them are Li Zexing’s fans.’

’Still, it’s good news overall.’

[Ding! Detected sale of Braised Pork Set 660/660, Kung Pao Chicken Set 560/560, Chopped Chili Fish Head Set 220/220. Total revenue has reached 130,000 yuan, and customer satisfaction is three stars or higher. Mission complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]

In the middle of the rush, Shen Lu hadn’t even noticed the system notification. It wasn’t until most of the lunch-rush customers had left that she saw the mission was complete.

At the same time, a message from Bai Wanwan arrived.

Bai Wanwan: I’m finally home! Shen Lu, you have no idea, I almost didn’t make it back!

Bai Wanwan: Are you free tomorrow afternoon? If not, then in the evening. I’ll come to your restaurant to see you.

Bai Wanwan: I brought back some specialty seafood from Zhunan. You can decide how to cook it, okay? Just no plain steaming!

Shen Lu: Okay, come over tomorrow afternoon then.

Bai Wanwan: Mmmkay, gotta go. I need to catch up on sleep. I’m dead tired.

"Boss Shen." A man’s voice suddenly sounded from above her. Shen Lu looked up to see Song Zhigao.

Shen Lu closed the chat window. "Do you need something?"

Song Zhigao looked a little uncomfortable. "I wanted to ask you for something."

"Go ahead."

"Can I stay in the dorm for a while?" The words seemed difficult for Song Zhigao to say, but he forced them out anyway.

"You’re still a probationary employee, not a full-time one." Shen Lu didn’t reject him outright, but her meaning was clear.

"I... ran into some trouble."

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