Chapter 390: Upgrading the Shop
Chapter 390: Chapter 390: Upgrading the Shop
More importantly, Shen Lu could now understand how Fu Cheng and the other Superpower Users felt.
Before, when she ate food made with ingredients from the System Mall, she only thought it was more delicious and flavorful than food made with ordinary ingredients.
But today, after eating the stir-fried green peppers and pork, Shen Lu clearly felt as if her Spiritual Sea had been cleansed. It was a very pleasant sensation.
It was like soaking in a hot spring, warm and cozy, her entire body relaxing.
Shen Lu stared at the stir-fried green peppers and pork before her, thinking to herself, ’With my current skill, even 2,888 for a dish like this would be too cheap.’
The improvement in her culinary skill didn’t just enhance the flavor; it also strengthened the soothing effect on one’s Spiritual Sea.
Shen Lu stored the leftover stir-fried green peppers and pork in the System Warehouse. After tidying up the kitchen, she went back to bed.
’It’s a shame Fu Cheng isn’t here.’
’If he were, I could have let him try this new stir-fried green peppers and pork.’
As she was going upstairs, Shen Lu noticed that a new weekly quest had been issued. She had been so absorbed in her cooking just now that she hadn’t seen it.
[Ding! Weekly quest issued: Please serve chicken feet dishes to 100 Superpower User customers. Location: Little Deer Cuisine. Time limit: seven days.]
’Chicken feet dishes?’
Instantly, images of spicy ginger chicken feet, boneless lemon chicken feet, spicy tiger-skin chicken feet, crab and chicken feet hot pot, and charcoal-grilled chicken feet flooded her mind.
She made a quick decision and updated the menu right away.
Chicken feet could be served hot or cold. Shen Lu decided to make two cold dishes this time: boneless lemon chicken feet and tiger-skin chicken feet. She would also add charcoal-grilled chicken feet to the menu.
For the hot dishes, she’d do a crab and chicken feet pot with added prawns, and a dish of river snail braised chicken feet.
The vegetarian section was reduced again, leaving only eight dishes. The rice milk and desserts were gone, replaced by mint water.
Shen Lu felt that these dishes were enough. Her philosophy now was quality over quantity.
’If I have some extra time, I can also teach the others in the shop a few things.’
By the time she finished, it was already two in the morning.
Shen Lu fell asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow and even woke up late the next day.
As usual, she opened the curtains after waking up and found that her view had changed.
She froze for a moment. Only after the sleepiness had faded did she remember that the shop had been expanded.
[Ding! Detected successful small diner upgrade. Can now accommodate 2,000 people dining simultaneously. Customer satisfaction is four stars. Quest complete. Reward: two waiter robots, +10,000 popularity value, +5,000 reputation value.]
[Ding! New quest issued: Please upgrade the small diner into a grand restaurant capable of accommodating 5,000 people dining simultaneously, with a customer satisfaction rating of four stars.]
One quest was completed, and the next followed right on its heels.
Shen Lu gave the new main quest a quick glance, then took out the two waiter robots.
Unlike Little Mantis, these two waiter robots had the appearance of cartoon dolls.
Their initial form was an adorably goofy robot, but Shen Lu could choose different appearances like a little rabbit, a little tiger, or a little panda.
Shen Lu unhesitatingly chose a cat and a dog, naming them Mimi and Wangcai.
’This way,’ she thought, ’I’m a winner at life, with both a cat and a dog.’
The waiter robots had a longer standby time than the kitchen robot. After all, their workloads were different; the waiter robots’ work was less intensive, so they consumed less power.
Shen Lu put Mimi and Wangcai away for now. It was time for her to go down and see the upgraded shop.
Shen Lu had changed the original two-story shop into a four-story building.
Her living quarters were on the fourth floor, the third floor was for employee dormitories, and the second floor, formerly the booth area, was now renamed the Dragon Hall. The first floor still housed the kitchen and the fast-food area.
However, the fast-food area was now twice its original size. Shen Lu had expanded it by getting rid of the central waiting area and merging the spaces. The front desk was moved to the left of the entrance, and the small storage room for prizes was relocated right beside it.
The Dragon Hall was now composed entirely of private rooms. There were ten in total, of various sizes. The largest could accommodate 50 people, while the smallest was suitable for 3-4 guests.
The interior decor hadn’t changed much and still featured a natural wood style. However, a potted plant had been placed in each private room, which not only made the space more comfortable but also elevated its class.
The employee dormitories were expanded to eight rooms. The rooms themselves were larger, and the original bunk beds were replaced with regular beds, one on each side of the room.
Before, when there were only two floors, Shen Lu hadn’t bothered with an elevator, figuring it was just a short walk. Now that the building was taller, she had installed three elevators.
One was exclusively for guests going to the second floor, another was for delivering food to the second floor, and the last one was the staff elevator.
The guest elevator, a transparent observation lift, was to the right of the main entrance. The food delivery elevator was installed in the kitchen, and the staff elevator was located at the entrance to the original employee dorms.
When Shen Lu came downstairs, her completely bewildered employees immediately surrounded her.
"Boss, what... what in the world is going on?" Cai Su didn’t even dare to speak loudly, as if afraid of disturbing something.
Sang Yue’s eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. ’How could something like this be possible?’
Overnight, without any of them noticing a thing, the shop had undergone a world-altering transformation.
She knew superpowers existed in this world, but could a superpower really be this powerful?
Huo Qian and Wu Jun had looks of intense curiosity. Forget Sang Yue; even as Superpower Users themselves, they found this situation incredibly novel.
’This is a completely new and unprecedented experience!’
"It’s exactly as you see. Alright, don’t get too hung up on it. It’s not something you need to worry about. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
Shen Lu had no intention of explaining the details to them. A quick deflection would do.
Although they were all very curious, Shen Lu had made it clear she wouldn’t tell them, so they could only sigh in frustration.
"Little Mantis has already made breakfast. It’s all kinds of rice balls and peanut milk. We haven’t eaten yet; we were waiting for you."
"Rice balls? I love rice balls! What flavors are there?"
"Quinoa rice balls, savory pork cutlet rice balls, pickled vegetable rice balls, Sichuan-style beef rice balls, and fried chicken rice balls."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go eat together."
Shen Lu led the group to eat breakfast, then began to arrange the day’s work.
The weather today made it impossible to go outside, meaning they couldn’t do either dine-in service or deliveries.
But that didn’t stop Shen Lu from preparing the two cold chicken feet dishes first.
She took out 55 pounds of chicken feet, and after soaking them in water, she had Deng Ying trim the nails.
Meanwhile, she went to prepare a new brine.
This new brine tasted better than the one they usually used in the shop, but it was still a notch below the brine made with the Advanced braising recipe.
Shen Lu planned to use this new brine exclusively for the guests in the Dragon Hall. After all, there would be no shortage of braised dishes in the future, and having a master stock would make cooking more convenient.
While the kitchen was bustling with activity, Huo Qian couldn’t resist sending a flurry of reports to Xue Can.
Huo Qian: Chief, this is incredible! I’ve never seen a superpower like this!
Huo Qian: The walls getting thicker before was just child’s play. This is what’s truly terrifying.
Huo Qian: I was asleep last night, but my consciousness was still on alert. Yet, I didn’t sense anything unusual the entire night. Then I woke up this morning and—BAM!—the shop had silently transformed into four stories!
Huo Qian: And that’s not all... Sigh. Chief, if only you could come see it for yourself. Words can’t possibly express my astonishment.