Chapter 115: Your Shills Number 1, 2, and 3 Are Online
Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Your Shills Number 1, 2, and 3 Are Online
"Savory crepes for sale! Get your delicious savory crepes!"
Huohuo, an Amplification Stone perched on its head, squatted on a treetop at the entrance to Little Sea Village, hopping along to the sound of Lou Xiaotian’s booming voice.
They were using the Amplification Stone to attract customers.
It was the first time Boss Lu’s food had been rejected, so her crew of helpers had brainstormed all night and came up with this hairbrained scheme.
"Is this really going to work?"
Qin Zhan saw the furious glares from the villagers of Little Sea Village they had woken up, and he desperately wanted to cover his face and flee.
"Of course it’ll work! If we just keep shouting, they’re bound to come over."
Lou Xiaotian declared, thumping his chest in assurance.
’He refused to believe anyone in the world could possibly turn down food this good.’
As for Lu Wu, the person at the center of this whole affair: ’Don’t ask me. I’m busy digging a hole to China.’
With her back to the village, Lu Wu could feel the fiery gazes on her. She did her best to ignore them and began making savory crepes in the darkness of the night.
Surprisingly, a customer had found his way to them.
She didn’t recognize his face, but as long as it was a customer, Lu Wu was determined to serve them with one hundred percent of her skill.
She skillfully spread the batter evenly across the griddle with a scraper. This customer didn’t like scallions but loved sesame seeds.
"Add an extra egg."
The customer was a middle-aged man with unremarkable features—the type of person who would just blend into a crowd.
"I’ll try one of each kind of savory crepe."
Having sold three savory crepes in one go, Lu Wu was fired up with motivation.
She brushed on the sauce, added all the fillings, then folded the crepe and handed it to the customer.
As the fragrant aroma of the savory crepe wafted up to him, the customer took a tentative bite. The indifferent look on his face vanished in an instant.
He stared at the crepe in his hand in disbelief before taking another bite, his eyes widening in shock.
His reaction was incredibly dramatic.
The sauces of the day were a minced garlic sauce and a sweet bean sauce. For those who preferred strong flavors, the minced garlic sauce, with its slight spiciness, packed a real punch.
The aroma of garlic was immediate, its sharp, piquant flavor making its presence known. It wasn’t stimulating like chili, yet it dominated the taste of the entire crepe with an undeniable, tyrannical force.
Savoring it more closely revealed a hint of sweetness lingering in the aftertaste.
The rich aroma was intoxicating, the texture perfectly balanced between chewy and crisp. One bite filled the mouth with the flavor of garlic.
The customer devoured the crepe. He quickly polished off the garlic and tenderloin one, then picked up the spicy stick crepe.
This one, however, used the sweet bean sauce.
The sweet bean sauce Lu Wu made had a very delicate texture and a mild flavor.
The brown sauce clung to the surface of the crepe. Made from soybeans, the sauce had a slightly coarse texture, and its thick consistency perfectly enveloped the fillings.
Even the lettuce inside wouldn’t have tasted bland on its own.
This savory-sweet flavor was a novel experience for the people of the Green Origin Realm.
It wasn’t just the customer; even Qin Zhan and Lou Xiaotian, who had come along for the day, couldn’t resist such a delicacy.
Every day they spent with Boss Lu was a new and wondrous experience.
As she watched the customer wolf down all the savory crepes, Lu Wu started wondering how she should respond when he inevitably praised her.
Instead, after he finished eating, the customer simply rubbed his stomach and left without a backward glance.
A gust of wind blew past. Staring at her once-again-empty stall, Lu Wu’s mouth fell open. ’Did I do something wrong?’ she wondered, a seed of doubt planted in her mind.
"Speaking of which, don’t you need to be preparing?"
Trying to snap Boss Lu out of her dejection, Lou Xiaotian nudged Qin Zhan.
Today was the first day of the Prodigy Grand Tournament, yet here was Qin Zhan, a top contender, squabbling with him over a savory crepe without a hint of nervousness.
"Prepare?"
"What is there to prepare for?"
"Can’t I just breeze through it?"
Qin Zhan’s three rapid-fire questions were delivered with a look of utter unconcern, his words oozing the arrogance befitting a prodigy.
But then again, he had the capital to be arrogant.
He might just be a gofer for Lu Wu, but among his peers, Qin Zhan was in a league of his own, leaving everyone else in the dust.
All the sect prodigies gathered in Yuanhai City considered Qin Zhan their greatest rival. But as far as Qin Zhan was concerned, the Prodigy Grand Tournament was already in the bag.
"Don’t get overconfident and blow it."
Lou Xiaotian’s tone was sour with envy.
’His own talent wasn’t bad, but compared to the likes of Qin Zhan, he still fell a little short.’
’It was all his old man’s fault for not blessing him with peerless aptitude.’
"Hey, look, another customer."
Qin Zhan pointed down the path.
An unfamiliar customer stood there, sizing up the stall with a curious expression.
"So, you sell savory crepes. Well... AHEM, let me try five of them."
The customer kept a straight face, but Lu Wu found his demeanor strange, as if he were putting on an act.
Unable to make sense of it, Lu Wu quickly finished making the savory crepes.
The moment the piping hot savory crepes were in his hands, the customer impatiently took a bite.
"This sweet bean sauce is delicious!"
He nodded as he ate, his enraptured expression clearly genuine.
Lu Wu, however, was puzzled.
’Sweet bean sauce was her own concoction; it hadn’t existed in the Green Origin Realm before. How could this customer possibly know what it was called?’
Perhaps Lu Wu’s inquisitive stare was too obvious, because the customer’s hand, midway to his mouth with a piece of crepe, froze.
He stiffly averted his gaze, choosing to avoid her eyes.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
It was as if a volley of invisible arrows had just struck him, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
He didn’t dare to linger and quickly scurried away.
His retreating figure looked for all the world like he was fleeing in a panic.
Meanwhile, in a hidden corner not far from the stall, three men were gathered. The first customer was squatting in the corner, shooting a resentful glare at the second customer.
Customer Number Two wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling a wave of residual fear.
"That was too close. She almost found out."
’In all his years as a shill, he’d never been so unprofessional.’
’But what could he do? The savory crepes were just too delicious.’
They had been hired to create some buzz for Boss Lu, and their employer’s one condition was that Boss Lu must not find out they were shills.
’Anyway, the boss is paying,’ Customer Number One thought. ’Even if it were a pile of crap... Okay, maybe not actual crap. I draw the line there.’
’Let’s rephrase that.’
’No matter how disgusting the food was, he would praise it with the utmost professionalism.’
’But he never expected that this Boss Lu’s savory crepes weren’t just "not disgusting"—they were delicious beyond his wildest imagination.’
’Three wasn’t nearly enough.’
He had originally planned to tell his companions that the crepes tasted worse than dirt, and that, out of pity for them, he would bear this suffering all by himself.
But when he returned, he couldn’t hide the look on his face, allowing Number Two to realize something was up and grill him for information.
Eyeing the few remaining crepes in Number Two’s hands, Number One furtively sidled closer and whispered.
"Sell me two of them... no, just one is fine. I’ll pay for it. Double price, how about it?"
’He was kicking himself with regret.’
’He should have bought more.’
"Heh!"
Number Two sneered, gave Number One a look that spoke for itself, and promptly turned his back, noisily scarfing down the food in the corner.
"Are they really that good?"
Shill Number Three sniffed the aroma wafting over from Number Two’s direction. "Brother, we go way back. You don’t have to put on an act for me."
He clearly didn’t believe it.
"In that case, how about I go this time? I’ll just change my face. I guarantee she won’t recognize me."
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Number One immediately shot over to Number Three’s side, fawning over him.