Chapter 163: Delivery

The cook, seeing this, hurriedly said, "Yun Wei, take the food down, what will the Prince eat?"

Yun Shan shook the food box in his hand and said, "It's this one, of course."

"The dishes in the box are cold; how can the Prince eat them? Today I specially prepared a hot‑pot, and eating a meal like this in the cold is the most comfortable."

"Cold?" Yun Shan opened the box, and plumes of hot steam rose from it.

In an instant, the whole room was filled with a rich aroma of food.

"It's still hot? How could that be possible?"

Yun Shan smiled and said, "At first I also found it unbelievable, but Miss Chi told me it's called a self‑heating food box; you just need to add a little water inside."

"Add water?" At this moment, Mo Junyan was drawn by the aroma, and upon seeing the steaming box, couldn't help but be slightly startled.

How did she do it?

Could it be that she added boiling water into the box?

Yun Shan took the food out of the box, and Mo Junyan then noticed a white cloth bag beneath the box; the steam seemed to emanate from that bag, and the layer holding the food was separated from the bottom by wooden slats, so the rising heat faced no obstruction, keeping the meal inside the box constantly warm.

Mo Junyan nodded; that girl always comes up with so many fresh tricks.

But what exactly is this heat‑dissipating cloth bag?

At this moment, in the herbal cuisine shop, Qing Shan looked at the white cloth bags piled in the storeroom, and couldn't help feeling curious.

"What is inside here?"

"Quicklime."

"Quicklime? What are these things for?"

Shopkeeper Hao walked over: "Boss, what should we do? There are too many people queuing outside now; at this rate we might be open until night and still not be able to serve everyone the medicinal cuisine."

Chi Nan Yi nodded, "I understand. Go tell the people queuing outside that if anyone doesn't want to wait, our shop can provide delivery service and also accepts reservations."

"Delivery? What is delivery?"

"It means they place an order, we prepare it, and then deliver it to their door at the requested time."

Shopkeeper Hao, after years of running a restaurant, quickly realized, "But we don't have that many food boxes or people to deliver the meals."

At that moment, Ji Bai was followed by a group of little servants dressed identically, each carrying a food box engraved with the large characters "World's No. 1 Manor".

"Miss, everyone has been brought."

In fact, when the shop was being renovated, Chi Nan Yi had already devised its business model.

When opening a shop in Changxi Town, there were also many people queuing, but the town's population was limited, so delivery wasn't necessary. Jingcheng, however, is different; a capital city is as large as hundreds of towns. If a line formed, it could stretch from dawn to dusk and still leave people without a hot bite. Moreover, Jingcheng is so vast that many who try it once love the flavor, yet the long distance makes them unlikely to return.

So she had long decided that this shop would launch a delivery service, ensuring the medicinal cuisine reaches every corner of Jingcheng.

She also intends for the medicinal cuisine to blossom throughout every city of Daqi.

Both Chi Nan Yi and the delivery riders she selected can ride horses, guaranteeing the medicinal cuisine reaches the destination in the shortest time; the quicklime packet in the food box releases heat when water is added, ensuring the meal stays hot upon delivery and does not affect its taste.

The crowd in line originally thought they wouldn't get food today; some planned to come early tomorrow, and some even began to curse and complain.

"I've been queuing here forever, drank a bellyful of water; I guess I won't get any."

"Yeah, in this freezing weather, we're freezing to death."

"Why are the people inside eating so slowly?"

Though they kept commenting, they had no intention of leaving.

At that moment, Shopkeeper Hao went outside and announced that World's No. 1 Manor had opened delivery service, also explaining what delivery is.

"So you mean, whatever we want to eat, you'll deliver it to our door?"

"Exactly."

"Great!"

"In that case, on such a cold day, I won't have to queue again."

Shopkeeper Hao smiled, "However, before the first meal, our shop's physician must take your pulse; after a month of the same type of medicinal cuisine, you'll need a pulse check again."

Shopkeeper Hao hadn't expected the owner's method to be so effective; as delivery orders surged, the kitchen was practically smoking.

Several head chefs were even flinging sparks from the bottom of their pots.

Reservations were also skyrocketing alongside deliveries.

Overnight, it seemed the entire populace of Jingcheng was flocking to her shop.

This gave many tavern owners in the town some grievances.

"I just can't believe how good the World's No. 1 Manor's food must be to make these people so insatiable; now we have no customers left, just waiting for her to dominate while we're left to drink the northwest wind!"

"Drink what northwest wind? If you ask me, we probably can't even drink the northwest wind."

"No, we absolutely cannot just sit and wait for death; what about the imperial plaque the Emperor bestowed? If people die or get sick from eating it, no one can protect her."

"You mean… impossible! Absolutely impossible!" One of the owners shook his head like a rattle.

"I won't commit murder or cause death."

"Exactly, the No. 1 Manor just opened, people are after novelty; after a while they'll get tired of it and naturally think of ours."

Shopkeeper Su, hearing them,'s complexion shifted slightly, a hint of resentment flashed in his eyes, and he sighed, "We can't just leave it at that; without killing anyone, we still need to get the formula."

"Formula?" The owners thought it even more absurd: "Shopkeeper Su, are you crazy? Could the No. 1 Manor's owner be a fool? How could they possibly give you the secret recipe?"

Shopkeeper Su looked at their mouse‑like cowardice and silently sneered.

"Fool, demanding it outright will never work; you have to use some tactics!"

In the following period, Chi Nan Yi was swamped, having to pore over the herbal cuisine shop's ledgers for long stretches because the books were extremely thick.

Qing Shan stood nearby, looking at the massive ledger, and asked softly, "Miss, how much silver can this earn?"

"About fifteen thousand taels, give or take!"

"Oh, fifteen thousand…" Qing Shan, realizing what she meant, suddenly looked up, staring, and said, "How much… fifteen thousand taels? That's even faster than looting silver!" He glanced at his hand and added, "One day's earnings could buy Young Master ten years of expenses; ten days could buy him a lifetime!"

Chi Nan Yi looked at him, a hint of cunning smile in her eyes.

Buying you, probably won't need ten days.

Qing Shan: "..."

If you don't put it so bluntly, can you suffocate her?