Chapter 343: Is Mr. Xue Free for Lunch Today?
Chapter 343: Chapter 343: Is Mr. Xue Free for Lunch Today?
The conversation between them ended inconclusively.
To Deng Ying, Sang Yue’s assurances seemed weak and meaningless.
’The future?’
’Who could say what the future held?’
Five days passed in the blink of an eye, each one filled with raging sandstorms.
Shen Lu stared at the newly appeared weekly mission, her gaze so intense it was as if she wanted to devour it.
’This is killing me.’
With severe sandstorms every day, there wasn’t a soul on the streets. Who would come to her restaurant to eat?
This was true even though she had started promoting the opening of the booth seating area and had even filmed videos of her Cumin-Spiced Sizzling Plate Beef, Braised Beef Brisket, Soy-Braised Beef Steak, and Sour Soup Beef Hot Pot.
The videos were flooded with complimentary comments, but not a single person came to the restaurant to eat.
After all, you had to be alive to enjoy good food. In this weather, few people would venture out just for a bite to eat.
’Stress, stress, stress.’
There would be a penalty if the mission wasn’t completed, and she did not want to be punished!
Shen Lu clenched her fist, having made up her mind.
Xue Can was surprised to receive a call from Shen Lu early in the morning. Surprise quickly turned to worry; he thought she must be in some kind of trouble.
"Boss Shen, has something happened?"
"No, nothing’s wrong." Shen Lu licked her lips. "Um, Mr. Xue, are you free for lunch today?"
"I am."
"Then would you like to come to my restaurant for lunch?"
Xue Can froze for a moment, but his reason hadn’t completely abandoned him. "Boss Shen, this weather isn’t suitable for going out."
It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but the base was quite a distance from Little Deer Cuisine. In such a severe sandstorm, few people could travel outside with ease.
He was afraid he’d be blown all the way to Jawa Country before he even reached Little Deer Cuisine.
"That’s a small issue. I’ll have someone drive over to pick you up. Oh, and Mr. Xue, please bring a few more people. The more the merrier."
Xue Can’s heart began to pound in his chest.
’She’s sending a car to pick me up for a meal, and not just me—I can bring others.’
’Is Shen Lu... is she trying to make a good impression on my team members?’
’Does this mean she’s interested in me?’
’How else could I explain this invitation?’
When Xue Can didn’t reply for a long moment, Shen Lu’s heart sank. She thought he was going to refuse.
"Mr. Xue, what do you say?"
"I agree! I was just spacing out. Um, how many people can that military armored vehicle of yours fit? Could it hold ten of us, including me?"
"No problem. It can fit twenty."
"Great. Then... see you at lunch?"
"I’ll have the vehicle come pick you up early. See you at lunch."
The weekly mission had to be done, but the daily tasks couldn’t be neglected either.
It just meant more work for Wang Daguo, who would have to pick people up before starting his delivery runs.
Shen Lu excitedly rushed downstairs, quickly finished her breakfast, and once Wang Daguo and Xin Yu had arrived, she announced the new arrangements.
"I’ve decided that starting today, we’re opening the booth seating area. I’ll be primarily responsible for the dishes over there, and Deng Ying will be my temporary assistant. Sister Cai will be in charge of the fast-food section as assistant manager, with Sister Meng and Little Mantis handling the food. Xin Yu, you’ll have to manage the pizzas on your own from now on; there won’t be anyone extra to help you."
"This is the plan for now. We’ll make adjustments later based on how things go. If you have any problems, let me know immediately. Understood?"
"Understood," they all replied in unison.
"Alright, let’s get to work."
"Okay."
Everyone returned to their stations and began their prep work.
Among them, Xin Yu’s expression was the most solemn.
Without Little Mantis’s help, he would have to do every step himself. Xin Yu looked at his slightly healed palm and sighed faintly.
’I hope I don’t let the boss down.’
Shen Lu began preparing ingredients for a party of ten.
She had adjusted the menu again. The meat dishes were all beef—four hot dishes and one cold dish. There were slightly more vegetable dishes, ten in total.
Shen Lu purchased a batch of ingredients from the System Mall. She went into the pantry alone, took the ingredients out one by one, and then called for Wang Daguo to carry all the vegetables out.
Deng Ying began prepping the ingredients according to her instructions.
Shen Lu wasn’t idle either; she personally handled the beef and steak.
Items like beef brisket and steak could be partially prepared in advance, so when a customer ordered, they could be quickly finished and served.
The four hot dishes on the menu were Braised Beef Brisket, Soy-Braised Beef Steak, Cumin Beef, and Sour Soup Beef Hot Pot. The cold dish was Marinated Beef.
The Braised Beef Brisket, Soy-Braised Beef Steak, and Marinated Beef could all be prepared ahead of time.
Shen Lu soaked the brisket, shank, and steak in water to draw out the blood. She then retrieved the aged master brine left over from the last time she used the Advanced Marinating Recipe from her System Warehouse. After reheating it, she added more spices and seasonings.
Instantly, a rich fragrance once again swept through the entire kitchen, an enticing aroma that the range hood couldn’t seem to vent completely.
Sang Yue was outside doing odd jobs like wiping tables when a peculiar, fragrant scent wafted over, immediately capturing her attention.
"It smells so good."
Xiao Lang, who was next to her, had smelled it long ago. He put on the air of a little adult and said, "Looks like Sister Shen is making that to-die-for marinated stuff again. Mmm, we’re in for a treat at lunch."
"This is the smell of marinated food?" Sang Yue was surprised. As a young lady from a wealthy family, she had eaten countless fine foods, including marinated dishes, but she had never smelled a fragrance so captivating.
"What else would it be?" Xiao Lang gave her a look that said she was making a fuss over nothing.
Sang Yue bit her lip. ’An aroma this peculiar... it doesn’t seem like normal marinated food. Shen Lu isn’t using some weird additives, is she?’
’After all, the technology here is advanced, and so are the potent chemical tricks.’
She hadn’t been idle these past few days. She watched the news every morning and evening without fail and always saw reports related to food safety.
Shen Lu placed the blanched beef shank into the large metal pot of master brine, put on the lid, and let it simmer on low heat.
Actually, it was best to make marinated dishes a day in advance, letting them soak in the brine overnight to fully absorb the flavor. But there wasn’t time for that today, so this would have to do. Later in the afternoon, she would marinate some more, store it in the System Warehouse, and then she could just take it out and slice it whenever it was needed.
She also started on the Braised Beef Brisket and Soy-Braised Beef Steak, both of which were time-consuming dishes.
Deng Ying watched Shen Lu methodically process all sorts of ingredients. Even while doing her own work, Shen Lu could still offer guidance on Deng Ying’s tasks, as if she had an extra pair of eyes.
’So amazing.’
Deng Ying’s admiration for Shen Lu deepened a little more than the day before.
Shen Lu didn’t notice that as Deng Ying’s admiration grew, her reputation value also increased by a point.
It couldn’t be helped. Right now, she only had eyes for the ingredients in her hands.
She took a large clay pot, filled it halfway with cold water, and added cooking wine and ginger slices. She then poured in the cubed beef brisket, turned on the heat, and waited for the bloody foam to rise to the surface, which she then skimmed off bit by bit with a spoon.
She continued skimming until no more foam appeared even at a full boil, then removed the beef and drained it. She made sure not to discard the water used for boiling.
She added the beef to a wok with pre-caramelized sugar and stir-fried it on high heat for three minutes. She then added seasonings like doubanjiang, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. After stir-frying until the cooking wine poured along the edge of the wok had evaporated, she added the beef broth from earlier, brought it to a boil, then transferred everything to the clay pot to simmer on low heat for two hours.