When Qi Han walked out of the training space and saw the empty lunch box and small bowl that Pururu had finished eating, he was stunned.
In the faint distance, he seemed to hear Ru Yi's soft laughter.
"What are we having for lunch?" Qi Han asked as he placed Pururu's used bowl into the dishwasher and put away the lunch box. He turned to the Qin sisters who had just arrived at Small Shop.
"Um... I'd like a small portion of Egg Fried Rice and a bowl of dragon whisker noodles. Also, a tomato beef brisket, and a..." Qin Yue's nose adorably wrinkled as she forgot what else she wanted to order.
"Kung Pao Chicken," Qin Yao reminded her timely.
"Oh right, also a Kung Pao Chicken!" Qin Yue's eyes lit up as she remembered.
"Got it," Qi Han gestured with his hand and turned to walk into the kitchen.
"Meow~"
Pururu paid no attention to the conversation among the three. Its gaze was fixed on the bowl that Qi Han had placed in the now-operating dishwasher, deep in thought.
Next time, I must wash the bowl myself after eating!
...
Over the next two days, the Small Shop's operations returned to normal. Thanks to the influence of Food Critique Magazine, Small Shop's fame in Star Luo City successfully surpassed 50%. Half the city now knew about the Small Shop, which brought a surge in business.
Small Shop had become extremely busy again, with countless food enthusiasts lining up daily, eager to try the highly-rated dishes from Food Critique Magazine. It was getting hard to get a seat.
Qi Han even began to consider following Shrek City's example by starting a delivery service. However, Star Luo City was different from Shrek City, and he wouldn't stay in Star Luo City long-term. After completing all his tasks, he would return to Shrek City.
If he started a delivery service now, he might leave behind a mess, which wouldn't be ideal.
On another front, Qi Han used all available time over the next few days to practice making Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth.
Finally, on an afternoon two days later, Qi Han walked out of the training space with a bright smile on his face and glanced at the price board beside him.
A new purple price tag had been added to the board.
Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth – 1.000 Gold Coins per serving.
"Ru Yi, how many times did I fail at making Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth?"
After a brief wait, Ru Yi's voice echoed in Qi Han's mind, [Training duration: 182 days. Failure count: 65,463 times.]
Over sixty thousand failures, which was better than the previous hundred thousand failures with the Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb. And there were reasons for this.
On one hand, Qi Han had previously mastered Dragon Whisker Noodles, and since the broth for Dragon Whisker Noodles required high-quality soup, he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the soup-making process.
Of course, the broth for Dragon Whisker Noodles was incomparable to the broth for Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth.
On the other hand, the system had been upgraded.
Huang Jinglin's lingering Spirit received a life force boost, allowing it to stay in the training space longer and communicate with Qi Han. With his personal guidance, Qi Han avoided many detours, greatly improving his training efficiency.
After a moment of contemplation, Qi Han slowly spoke, "Ru Yi, add Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb to the menu as well."
Because Qi Han had just arrived in Star Luo City, he had adopted a "better to avoid trouble" mentality and hadn't planned to introduce Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb right away. But now that Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth was on the menu, he didn't mind adding another complex dish.
Ru Yi had no objections to Qi Han's request, and soon, the price tag for Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb appeared right after Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth on the menu.
With this done, Qi Han's face showed a hint of anticipation.
After perfecting Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth in the training space, Qi Han immediately emerged, eager to see the special effects of his dish.
He hadn't even tasted the Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth he had perfected in the training space.
In the kitchen, the ingredients for Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth were already prepared.
Opening the cupboard, Qi Han found a millennium Five-Colored Brocade Chicken and a millennium Jade Swan, both tightly bound and trembling together.
The Five-Colored Brocade Chicken was named for its colorful feathers, and a millennium-old one even showed hints of a sixth color, making it extraordinarily dazzling.
If the sixth color fully emerged, it would break its racial limits and become a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
The Jade Swan was equally remarkable. Though it lacked the array of colors, its pure jade-green feathers were breathtakingly beautiful, and the life force it exuded was refreshing and invigorating.
But to Qi Han, an unemotional chef, these wonders meant nothing.
In the beginning, Qi Han might have hesitated, feeling pity while handling these ingredients. But after more than sixty thousand practice attempts, he no longer felt this way.
He first picked up the millennium Five-Colored Brocade Chicken and swiftly ended its life with a single stroke. He then immersed it in hot water, quickly plucked all its feathers, ensuring no trace remained on the chicken skin, and removed its innards, head, and claws, setting it aside. He then grabbed the terrified Jade Swan.
Having witnessed the fate of its companion, the Jade Swan screamed in terror, but couldn't escape Qi Han's swift knife.
After a similar plucking and gutting process, Qi Han placed both birds into a pot, blanched them for five minutes, then took them out and washed them clean.
Next, Qi Han retrieved a large pork knuckle from a different ingredient cupboard, as well as a smoked ham with a deep smokey aroma, placing them on the table.
These ingredients were equally extraordinary.
The pork knuckle came from the front leg of a millennium Cassia Pig. Qi Han was familiar with this Spirit Beast since the pork knuckle from a hundred-year Cassia Pig was the main ingredient for Dongpo Pork.
Cassia Pigs naturally couldn't grow to a thousand years; a hundred years was their limit. These gentle, non-aggressive Spirit Beasts were prey for many carnivorous Spirit Beasts, their only advantage being their fast reproduction rate.
In a specially designated area of the system's small world, free from predators, Cassia Pigs had the chance to reach a thousand years before dying of natural causes.
Becoming a thousand-year Cassia Pig was both lucky and unlucky. They avoided becoming Dongpo Pork only to face being used for Boiled Cabbage in Clear Broth.
The smoked ham also came from a Cassia Pig, specifically its hind leg, without conflicting with the pork knuckle's source.
The hind leg of a thousand-year Cassia Pig, processed with branches from a millennium Cloud Pattern Cypress for a unique smoking technique, resulted in the Cloud Pattern Smoked Ham Qi Han now held.
Just hearing about it made one feel it was unaffordable.
Finally, Qi Han bent down and brought up a basin of sun-dried century-old Sea Dream Clams, placing it on the table.
Sea Dream Clams were not Spirit Beasts. Similar to Dragon Scale Fish, they were rare, long-lived marine creatures that never evolved into Spirit Beasts. Consuming them greatly helped Spirit masters eliminate foreign energies from their bodies.
These treasures from coastal cities of the Douluo Continent had nearly vanished centuries ago.
With all five ingredients ready, Qi Han rolled up his sleeves and prepared to make the broth.
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