Chapter 353: "Superstar Li Isn’t Filming Today?
Chapter 353: Chapter 353: "Superstar Li Isn’t Filming Today?
It was a man in a hat and mask, wearing an inconspicuous black jacket and sitting with his face to the wall.
Shen Lu sent the menu over. "Hello, what can I get for you?"
"One of everything on the menu."
"Sorry, our restaurant doesn’t support excessive waste."
’Is this guy here to cause trouble?’
The man was silent for a moment, looked at the menu, and ordered five dishes.
Five dishes wasn’t excessive, so Shen Lu told him to wait a moment and returned to the kitchen to cook.
The man had ordered all four fish dishes, pairing them with a refreshing dish of garlic lettuce.
The grilled fish Mo Bei had ordered was done. Shen Lu quickly prepared a new grass carp for the grill, then placed the cooked fish onto a pan lined with vegetables, drizzled it with hot oil, and carried it out along with the smoked fish.
The grilled fish was for Mo Bei’s table, and the smoked fish was for the new customer.
"That’s everything you ordered. If it’s not enough, just place another order. I can see it from the kitchen."
Shen Lu explained apologetically, "We’re just a bit short-staffed at the moment, so there’s no server. Thanks for your understanding."
Especially since today was a normal business day, customers could come in at any time. It wasn’t like yesterday when there were only two tables, and things were quiet after the food was cooked.
"No problem. We’re a few able-bodied guys; we can take care of ourselves."
Shen Lu nodded, returned to the kitchen, and prepared the pickled mustard green fish, spicy roasted fish, and garlic lettuce, then brought them out.
"Sorry, the grilled fish will take another twenty minutes..."
As she spoke, Shen Lu caught a glimpse of the man’s face under his mask and was suddenly speechless.
"Boss Shen doesn’t seem very happy to see me," Li Zexing said, raising an eyebrow. "Using my promotional materials to attract customers... Now that the man himself is here, it seems Boss Shen never asked if I was willing."
"Isn’t Superstar Li filming today?"
There were no new customers at the moment, and the grilled fish still needed some time, so Shen Lu had a moment to spare to bicker with Li Zexing.
"People aren’t machines. You have to rest after working for a long time."
"True."
"So this is Boss Shen’s real skill level, huh?" Li Zexing said after trying a piece of the pickled mustard green fish. "It’s completely different from the food you brought to the set that first time."
"Maybe," Shen Lu answered vaguely. ’We’re not close. No need to give a real answer.’
"But these dishes are still a level below the braised food from last time. Why isn’t it on the menu?"
Shen Lu tilted her head. "You didn’t come here just because you were craving that braised food, did you?"
Li Zexing wasn’t embarrassed at being found out. He nodded frankly. "Yes. Boss Shen’s cooking is just too good. After two days without it, I was craving it badly."
’Besides, it wasn’t just the taste; it had a peculiar effect.’
With every bite, Li Zexing could feel a pure power soothing his Spiritual Sea.
His Superpower Level wasn’t high, so the turbulence in his Spiritual Sea wasn’t severe, but he still felt a constant sense of discomfort.
But the last two times he ate Shen Lu’s food, he felt unusually comfortable.
To be safe, he even went to get it checked out.
The data showed no abnormalities, meaning Shen Lu’s food had no side effects.
’It was incredible. How could an ordinary person make food that could soothe the Spiritual Sea?’ Out of consideration for Fu Cheng, Li Zexing hadn’t investigated, but he couldn’t stop himself from coming over for a few bites of Shen Lu’s cooking.
Li Zexing’s honesty was a bit surprising to Shen Lu.
’She had always seen Li Zexing as a cold and proud young man, maybe even a little malicious. Why was he suddenly being so well-behaved today?’
’He’s not trying to set me up again, is he?’
"Has Shen Lan been bothering you again recently?"
’After thinking it over, that was the only possibility.’
’Last time, he used me as a weapon. This time is probably the same.’
Li Zexing was also smart. As soon as Shen Lu asked, he knew what she was thinking.
"I’m just here to give you some business. Otherwise, this booth area of yours would be empty."
’Just two tables all noon. Compared to the fast-food place next door, it’s pathetic.’
"It’s fine. I only serve three tables a day."
Li Zexing paused. "Is that so?"
"Yep. Not enough staff. It’ll be better once I hire more people."
"Boss, Boss!" Xin Yu rushed over anxiously. "You have to come with me, quickly!"
"What’s wrong?"
Shen Lu ended her conversation with Li Zexing and followed behind Xin Yu.
"It’s bad. Sister Cai and Sang Yue are arguing."
"Huh?" Shen Lu was dumbfounded. ’How could those two get into a fight?’
When she reached the food service window, Cai Su had a cold expression on her face as she dished out food and calculated prices. Sang Yue stood behind her, looking furious; her expression was ugly, and her chest heaved.
"Here’s what happened, Boss." Xin Yu had come over to help since the service window was busy, so he had witnessed the entire argument between Cai Su and Sang Yue. He now recounted it all to Shen Lu.
"We have a rule: one scoop per dish. Sang Yue couldn’t resist a customer’s pleading and gave them an extra half-scoop. Other customers saw it, and then everyone started specifically asking for her to serve their food."
"Sister Cai was too busy and didn’t notice at first. By the time she found out, the food trays were empty."
"Sister Cai said a few words to Sang Yue, but Sang Yue wouldn’t back down. She felt she hadn’t done anything wrong and accused Sister Cai of being too cold and not caring about the customers. She even said she could pay for the difference..."
"Okay, I get it."
Shen Lu couldn’t be bothered to hear any more. ’To put it bluntly, Sang Yue was having a ’Saint Mother’ moment.’
’She still hadn’t figured one thing out: she wasn’t the rich young lady from her original world anymore, who had the money and confidence to be so charitable.’
"Have her go out and clear the tables and trays."
Shen Lu didn’t have time to deal with it right now; the first step was to get Sang Yue away from the service window.
Xin Yu nodded and quickly relayed the message.
The system prompted Shen Lu that a new customer had entered the booth area.
Shen Lu immediately hurried over. This was her last table for the day. Once she served them, she could close up.
When she got there, she saw it was another familiar face.
"Boss Shen, we’re here to bother you again," Jiang Gong said with a smile.
’Sang Yue was Sang Yue, and Jiang Gong was Jiang Gong.’ Shen Lu didn’t take her anger out on him; instead, she felt a little sorry for him.
’It was obvious. Jiang Gong was so concerned about Sang Yue’s affairs. Even if he wasn’t deeply in love, he at least had feelings for her.’
’Unfortunately, Sang Yue would never like Jiang Gong.’
’This wasn’t the power of the plot, but simply because Sang Yue liked the gentle and refined "princely" type.’
’Neither Jiang Gong nor Xue Can was that type of person. They were destined to be just her knights.’
"It’s not a bother. You’re giving me business." Shen Lu shared the new menu with the two of them. "See what you’d like to eat."
Xue Can glanced at the menu and, just like Mo Bei, asked the same question, "No braised beef?"
"Yep, not recently. I’m out of ingredients."
"What are you missing? Send me a list later, and I’ll figure out a way to get it."
Shen Lu teased, "I didn’t realize Mr. Xue was such a gourmand."
’She’d seen Xue Can eat before with a completely straight face, so she’d assumed he didn’t have any particular food preferences. Turns out he’d even go out of his way to find ingredients just for a single dish.’