Chapter 995: The Reserved Extracurricular Course

Other snack stalls might or might not survive, but the Polar Star Dormitory stall's popularity is genuinely explosive — people swarmed in while it was still being set up.

"I ate this stall's fried rice last night, and today I went to buy someone else's fried rice — although the taste wasn't bad, I still felt the heat control fell short compared to this place. I haven't eaten dinner yet, just waiting for this one bite."

"Exactly, me too. My mom's fried rice sticks to the pan; I'm willing to call this stall's fried rice the best-tasting I've ever had in my life!"

"Boss, give me one serving of fried rice."

"I want two servings."

"Just one night and you already have regulars — you didn't put drugs in the fried rice, did you?"

Yoshino Yuuki looked at the customers surrounding the stall and couldn't help asking Soma Yukihira, who was seasoning the wok.

"Haha, how could that be? As the legitimate heir of a proper restaurant, I strictly abide by the Food Safety Law — I'd never put anything strange in the cooking."

"I can vouch for that."

Broly raised his left hand to back Soma Yukihira, while the others watched the carrot slices released from his hand, still sitting quietly stable on the cutting board under the falling blade of the kitchen knife in his other hand, cut into evenly squared thick strips — everyone silently thought the same thing: absurd.

(Merged with line 10 in source; see combined translation above)

"As for why we got regulars in one night — naturally it's because my family's fried rice has god-tier heat control. Doesn't take long; just eat one meal and you'll be captured by my family restaurant's fried rice."

Soma Yukihira grinned, showing a matter-of-course smile.

"Fried rice lives or dies by heat control; fried rice with good heat control truly makes you unable to forget it————"

Isshiki Satoshi agreed beside him, paused, then revealed his real motive.

"So, can I order the first serving of fried rice?"

He held his stomach.

"I ate little at noon, so I'm a bit hungry now."

The Polar Star Dormitory crowd looked at Isshiki Satoshi and unanimously curled their lips.

"No problem, everyone eat first — only with full stomachs can we work well!"

Soma Yukihira agreed directly, while the customers on the side started complaining.

"Hey, this boss — whose stall opens by letting employees eat the staff meal first?!"

"Boss, I already ordered and paid — can't you fry me a serving first?!"

"Everyone, don't rush. This wok serves several people at once; give me three minutes. After three minutes this wok is done, then it's your turn."

Sizzle-sizzle went the fried rice; the drifting aroma of rice and ingredients made the complaining customers shut their mouths.

Watching the rice tumble up and down in the hot wok, gradually undergoing the Maillard Reaction, many couldn't help swallowing their saliva.

"You might as well sell the staff meal to us directly!"

Especially when today's specially simmered mixed clear soup stock soy sauce was poured in and green onions sprinkled on top — that permeating aroma relentlessly assaulted the reason of the customers crowding in front of the stall.

"Mm, delicious as expected."

Isshiki Satoshi took a bite and his face showed the look of being satisfied by the fried rice.

"The overnight frozen rice has a chewy texture."

"The surface absorbs the broth, then undergoes rapid high-heat stir-frying, forming a Maillard Reaction shell of compound flavors — every chew is a flavor bomb exploding in your mouth."

"No wonder there are return customers in just one night — this is really good~"

The other Polar Star Dormitory members also got some — one big wok of fried rice, each person received a small half-box, just right for padding the stomach.

Only, this suited the Polar Star Dormitory crowd, but for the return customers on the side who could only watch and not eat, it was a bit unsuitable.

"Hey, stop talking — my stomach is already thirsting unbearably, crying out nonstop!"

"Hurry up and fry, boss — if you don't fry soon, I feel like I'll starve to death in front of your stall."

"Hey, brother, how'd you collapse? Don't tell me you're pulling a scam?!"

"Help me up — I just worked a whole day, didn't even eat lunch, just a bit of low blood sugar. One serving of fried rice and I'll be fine."

"Customer, if you don't mind — this one I haven't touched yet————"

A passerby suddenly collapsed, causing a commotion in front of the stall; Tadokoro Megumi handed her own untouched small half-portion of fried rice to the white-collar worker who had suddenly collapsed with low blood sugar.

"Little miss, you're truly an angel~"

The low-blood-sugar white-collar worker's words earned unanimous nodding agreement from the surrounding customers.

"Ah, no, I just did what I should have done————"

Tadokoro Megumi's face reddened and she hurriedly waved her hands.

"Broly-san, tonight we're going for efficiency — no need to show off knife skills, hurry up and finish cutting then come help me stir-fry together."

Soma Yukihira called out.

"Okay."

Broly replied with one sentence; the originally rhythmic clip-clop chopping sound instantly turned into a machine-gun rat-tat-tat firing sound o

That hand speed practically turned into afterimages; the fried rice ingredients were cut at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Carrot cubes, shiitake cubes, pork belly cubes — cube after cube into the bowl — leaving the return customers and new roadside customers attracted by the fried rice aroma stunned.

"Is this a speed humans can achieve?"

Broly didn't care about these people's thoughts; after finishing cutting he put on an apron, came to the fierce-fire furnace stove borrowed from Polar Star Dormitory today, and started stir-frying rice together with Soma Yukihira — one left, one right, movements gradually becoming synchronized, giving a feeling like piloting mechas in the Pacific Rim, sweet dual-queueing.

Seeing the two stir-frying so vigorously, the other Polar Star Dormitory people who came to help were also unwilling to be outdone.

"Yakitori cooking, paired with fried rice — eat them together and it's even more fragrant!"

Yoshino Yuuki grilled while shouting.

"Vegetable tempura, seafood tempura, mushroom tempura — delicious and not expensive."

Aoki Daigo and Sato Shoji — one in charge of prepping ingredients, one in charge of deep-frying ingredients.

"Amazake — this customer, would you like a cup of sweet, ice-cold amazake?"

Sakaki Ryouko held amazake and started peddling among the customer crowd.

"Smoked cheese, anyone want extra?"

Iwasaki Shun was somewhat introverted, but after all it was cheese, and there were still people who wanted to add this stuff to their rice.

He held a blowtorch, performing secondary processing on the fried rice in the hands of customers who wanted extra cheese.

"Polar Star Night Stall, welcome all gentlemen and ladies~"

Isshiki Satoshi, rather than saying he was one of the Totsuki Ten, it was more like he had a host's holy body; unknowingly, a group of women of all ages had gathered around him as he went out to solicit customers.

Of course, there were also men with possibly abnormal orientations.

"Yakitori cuisine originated in the Edo period; at that time, influenced by Buddhism, beast meat was prohibited for long-term use, but birds were not considered beasts at the time, so the custom of eating grilled birds gradually appeared among the common people."

By the time of the Meiji Restoration, the emperor took the lead in eating meat, the meat ban was lifted, beef and pork began to spread, while chicken meat

because it was cheap and easy to obtain, instead became the meat most commonly eaten by the masses, and grilled chicken skewers appeared in large numbers on the streets, only that the name yakitori continued to be used————"

Taste Doctor Marui Zenji, as expected of someone who studied classical cuisine, could effortlessly discuss the origins of cooking; he actually stood by the stall, acting as a guide-like figure, introducing the origins of yakitori cuisine to the customers who came to check on them.

"Please don't block the road, come over to this side to separate the dishes you want to buy and wait for a moment————"

Tadokoro Megumi was introverted in personality, but her affinity for serving customers was maxed out; the customers she guided gradually formed a long line on the street.

She herself held paper and pen, registering the dishes the customers in line wanted to order one by one; generally after registering a dozen or so people, she would return to help pack the dishes, help collect money, and hand the packed dishes to the customers who came in line.

The Polar Star Dormitory's stall was very busy, and with everyone working together, it was orderly despite the rush; the stall owners of surrounding food stalls saw this scene, originally thinking their own stalls were doomed, but actually it wasn't so, especially some small stalls not selling competing foods, because the increased foot traffic made their business better than before.

What, you ask what happens to the food stalls selling competing items?

Well, one stall rises, one stall falls; although business is endless, the purchasing power of the foot traffic on the same night market street is limited; some stalls will always become cannon fodder and be crushed by better stalls.

Of course, that's an exaggeration; after all, not every customer is willing to wait too long for a bite to eat, so some people still go to those competing stalls with few people in line to buy the corresponding food, to satisfy the craving worms hooked by the aroma of the food at the Polar Star Dormitory stall.

The ingredients prepared for the stall were consumed faster than expected; although they had prepared three times the amount, the small stall's business hours were actually shorter than yesterday; in less than three hours, all ingredients were consumed cleanly; finally, besides the cooking utensils, only the cleaned-up and bagged trash was left to be loaded onto the cart.

The stall set up after six o'clock returned to Polar Star Dormitory after nine o'clock; when everyone had finished bathing and came to the first-floor cafeteria to meet, a stack of scattered money was placed on the table.

Two hundred forty-two thousand one hundred yen, that was the total business for tonight.

It seemed like a lot, but after actually calculating the accounts——————

"If labor costs aren't counted, profit can reach 53%, that is, over one hundred twenty-eight thousand three hundred yen."

"But if labor costs are counted, tonight our ten people, averaging twelve thousand eight hundred yen per person."

", somehow it feels not as good as yesterday?"

Yoshino Yuuki asked in surprise, and then her forehead was tapped by Sakaki Ryouko.

"Don't forget the business hours; yesterday Soma and Broly worked for nearly four hours, while today we only worked for less than three hours."

"If business hours are calculated, then, tonight our average hourly wage is over four thousand yen?"

"Yay, we struck it rich~"

Aoki Daigo and Sato Shoji high-fived each other.

"Then, let's split the money."

Broly sat in the middle position, ready to split the loot.

"Ah, I don't need to split money; tonight I went to help out."

Tadokoro Megumi, facing the situation of splitting money, hurriedly waved her hands and said.

", almost forgot, tonight we are unpaid helpers."

At this time, the two who high-fived also reacted.

"I don't need it either; we agreed to go help out."

After Tadokoro Megumi expressed her stance, others also expressed their stances one after another, saying they didn't need to split money.

Over one hundred twenty thousand yen looked like a lot, but if calculated carefully, it wasn't enough to buy a two-jin heavy Tiger Pufferfish.

And Broly had previously treated everyone to nine Tiger Pufferfish weighing over two jin each; now how could he be embarrassed to split the other party's money that they came out to set up a stall to earn because they had no living expenses.

"You all think that because you ate my pufferfish cuisine, you don't plan to split the money?"

Broly glanced at the crowd who didn't plan to split money, and couldn't help but ask.

"Mm."

And those who were seen either responded or tacitly agreed.

"That's boring; I treated you to pufferfish cuisine, didn't you also treat me to your cuisine? If it's because Tiger Pufferfish as an ingredient is more expensive than the ingredients you used, and you just do this, then that doesn't count as treating, but rather forced buying and selling."

"Uh, then Broly Master, what do you mean?"

The crowd looked at each other, and Yoshino Yuuki asked him.

"You coming to help is fine, but the money still needs to be split; at most I'll take more, you take less."

Broly said; he never shortchanged those who were good to him.

"I think that works; things without returns can't last long, but if there are returns, maybe that little night stall will be our Polar Star Dormitory's future extracurricular practical cooking class."

Isshiki Satoshi clapped his hands and directly agreed.

Chefs, after all, can't just have cooking theory and experience; they also need practical experience facing customers.

Although he didn't cook tonight, just did the work of soliciting customers, but from the situation of everyone setting up the stall together facing customers

he saw the benefits for improving relevant experience in this aspect.

And this was originally something Totsuki Academy would only let first-year high school students face later; if they could now preview in advance and accumulate relevant experience in facing customers, maybe when they encounter related assessments later, there wouldn't be too much pressure.

Isshiki Satoshi's little thoughts were not clear to the people present, but everyone did agree with what he said; it was just that how exactly to split the money caused everyone to argue endlessly.

Aoki Daigo thought Broly should directly take half, and the remaining half be split equally among the others, but Tadokoro Megumi felt she hadn't done anything, and splitting equally with everyone wasn't appropriate.

Marui Zenji thought the same, feeling he was just introducing dishes on the side and helping pack a bit, and his labor intensity was different from those who actually cooked.

But Yoshino Yuuki didn't think so; she thought if it weren't for Tadokoro Megumi and the others soliciting customers and guiding customers to line up in order, even if someone came to check on the stall, the area in front of the stall might become a mess, and maybe some trouble would be caused; however, she thought Tadokoro Megumi and the others' contributions were also indispensable.

That's right; this group of people was actually not striving for benefits for themselves, but striving for benefits for each other, mainly playing humble and polite, each thinking the other should take more.

"Everyone, let me say something."

Isshiki Satoshi watched this scene with deep emotion, yet he clapped his hands to interrupt everyone's argument.

"Although the night stall isn't a restaurant, it can also be regarded as the prototype of a restaurant; since that's the case, let's distribute the remaining half of the money according to a restaurant's salary ratio.

The chef bears the responsibility of ingredient processing, heat control, and stable cooking output, so Soma Yukihira, Aoki Daigo, Sato Shoji, and Yoshino Yuuki, your remuneration should rightfully be the highest.

The waitress and cashier roles are mainly borne by Takumi and Sakaki Ryouko, so you two take the next level of remuneration.

As for me and Marui, our contribution is less than yours, so we take the least; the remuneration ratio will be calculated at 1.2 to 1 to 0.85, dividing half the money into eight corresponding proportional shares, what do you think?"

As for me and Marui, since our contribution is less than yours, we'll take the least; the pay ratio will be computed at 1.2 to 1 to 0.85, splitting half the money into eight shares corresponding to those proportions — what do you all think?

"I have no objection either."

After Isshiki Satoshi finished speaking, the others accepted his distribution one after another.

"Broly, what do you think?"

Isshiki Satoshi asked the Saiyan youth.

"Since you all agree, then I have no objection either, but why divide into eight shares? Aren't there nine of you?"

"Since you all agree, I have no objection either, but why split into eight shares? Aren't you nine people?"

Iwasaki Shun sat at the edge, looking at the crowd who only just reacted to his presence, and sighed faintly.

Iwasaki Shun sat at the edge, looking at the crowd who only then reacted to his presence, and sighed deeply.

Isshiki Satoshi hurriedly apologized.

"It's fine, actually I didn't help much tonight either, just put a slice of cheese on the rice and heated it with a cooking torch, didn't really do anything.

The low-presence Iwasaki Shun had long been used to this kind of thing where he's accidentally forgotten, so he didn't mind much.

"Divide into nine shares, Iwasaki takes the chef's proportion share."

A money-distribution meeting concluded smoothly, and the Polar Star Night Stall counted as becoming a retained extracurricular activity of the Polar Star Dormitory.

A money-splitting meeting concluded smoothly, and the Polar Star Night Stall counted as a retained extracurricular activity of the Polar Star Dormitory.