Chapter 262

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

Hearing Han Lu's farewell, Lu Feng's body, which had been tense for an hour and a half, finally relaxed.

He merely turned his head and waved his hand, which counted as a response.

Listening to the sound of Han Lu and her group walking out of the shop, Lu Feng also let out a breath of relief.

This hour and a half wasn't long if you said it was long, nor short if you said it was short.

Having constantly worked to maintain a good image in front of the lens, he felt he was tired enough.

Lu Feng took out his mobile phone and checked the time; by now it was already past eight-thirty, less than half an hour before business hours began.

He looked at the bowl of already chopped green peppers and pork belly on the chopping board; these were for making today's newly unlocked dish, Stir-fried Pork with Chili, but he didn't plan to start cooking just yet.

A hot dish like Stir-fried Pork with Chili doesn't need advance prep; it tastes best when cooked fresh to order.

But then he thought again and felt something was still lacking.

Just eating Stir-fried Pork with Chili, without some staple food to go with it, always felt like it was missing a soul.

So far, the staples in his shop that counted were xiaolongbao, fried noodles, and soup noodles.

But eating those together with Stir-fried Pork with Chili always felt a bit weird.

Eating Stir-fried Pork with Chili, if you could pair it with freshly steamed hot rice or mantou, one bite down and that would be true satisfaction.

Of course, Lu Feng could also just go to the supermarket and buy some ordinary rice, steam a pot of home-style rice and make do.

But ever since he gained the System-granted Full-Level Culinary Arts, his standards for the taste of food had also risen.

In his little shop, even the most ordinary Yangchun Noodles required handmade noodles, let alone something meant to pair with meticulously made Stir-fried Pork with Chili.

Ordinary rice steamed into rice lacks fragrance; how could it be worthy of the System-granted Full-Level Stir-fried Pork with Chili?

Even the most ordinary rice, he absolutely could not compromise on.

To let diners taste the most perfect pairing, he decided to try negotiating with the System.

After all, this was also to give diners a better dining experience, not an excessive request.

Thinking of this, Lu Feng cleared his throat and spoke seriously to the air: "System, can you provide some staple food techniques? I want to sell them paired with stir-fried dishes so diners eat more satisfied."

【Ding, detected Host's request; System judges request as reasonable.】

【New Temporary Mission: Within today's business hours, sell 100 portions of Stir-fried Pork with Chili Combo Meal; each combo contains one portion Stir-fried Pork with Chili, one portion Rose Fragrant Dew Rice.】

【Recipe unlocked: Rose Dew Rice Technique; System Mall has simultaneously unlocked relevant ingredients, time-limited 24 hours.】

【Note: Temporary Mission does not count toward Weekly Mission progress.】

【Temporary Mission Reward: Master Knife Skills.】

The System's electronic voice rang out in his mind; Lu Feng couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

He didn't expect that just casually asking would actually trigger a Temporary Mission.

And this Temporary Mission even had Master Knife Skills as a reward.

Seeing this mission reward, Lu Feng's eyes lit up.

If he had this skill in the future, prep efficiency would increase by at least half.

For him, who had to process large amounts of ingredients every day, this was a very tempting reward.

But when he saw the note "does not count toward Weekly Mission progress," he still couldn't help but purse his lips.

This System really was as cold and ruthless as ever; adding a staple food still required upping the difficulty for him.

He casually pulled up the Weekly Mission progress interface in his mind, looking at the 339/500 progress, and rapidly calculated in his heart.

Originally, at the previous pace, by the time Friday business ended, completing the mission easily wouldn't be a problem.

But adding today's 100-portion Temporary Mission, today and tomorrow's business would need extra effort.

Although it felt a bit of a pit that the Temporary Mission doesn't count toward this week's progress.

But thinking that in the future diners eating stir-fried dishes would be able to pair them with fragrant Xianglu Rice, that trace of dissatisfaction in Lu Feng's heart vanished like smoke.

Rose Fragrant Dew Rice — the name alone sounded extraordinary.

Lu Feng nodded in satisfaction and decisively chose to accept the Temporary Mission.

A familiar cool sensation came from deep in his brain; the method for Rose Fragrant Dew Rice surged completely into his mind.

Lu Feng closed his eyes and carefully pondered the Xianglu Rice method for a while.

This Xianglu Rice method, compared to ordinary rice, was indeed more particular and very fitting for its elegant name.

Lu Feng suddenly recalled his childhood; his grandmother had once told him the name of this rice dish.

His grandmother's hometown was in a small village in the South; in the village there was a wealthy household surnamed Su.

That family's Miss Su, at seventeen, suddenly had a period of poor appetite, couldn't swallow more than a few bites of anything; the family was frantic, invited several doctors to visit but there was no improvement.

If viewed now, that Miss Su probably had a mild case of Anorexia.

Medical conditions back then weren't as good as now, and there was no targeted therapy for Anorexia.

But wealthy families had their own solutions; later they spent a fortune to bring a descendant of an Imperial Chef from the Capital to be their household chef.

It was said that chef made exactly this Xianglu Rice.

Once this rice was steamed, its fragrance was incredibly alluring, causing passing villagers to stop and drool.

In that era when everyone couldn't eat their fill, rice fragrant for ten li counted as a luxury.

It was said that Miss Su, upon smelling the rice fragrance, ate a whole bowl for the first time; after a few days her poor appetite symptoms were gone.

Back then, little Lu Feng listened with a yearning face; hearing his grandmother's description, he kept swallowing his saliva nonstop.

After growing up, he felt this matter sounded a bit too absurd, and only regarded it as a story Grandma made up to coax him.

But now those clear methods appeared vividly in his mind, and he suddenly understood.

So Xianglu Rice actually exists, and there really is this kind of delicious technique hidden among the common people.

Lu Feng opened the System Mall interface and bought a bag of rice from the System Mall.

He took the rice out of the Storage Room and examined it carefully.

Every grain of rice in the bag was plump and full, and a rich rice fragrance could be smelled; the taste was quite a bit better than the best rice he could buy at the supermarket.

Lu Feng had just prepared to take the rice out to soak in water when he suddenly heard a burst of urgent footsteps coming from the Hall.

Hu Xiaoyun carried a bamboo-woven vegetable basket on her back and walked in quickly from outside, panting.

The bamboo basket held quite a few vegetables; dewdrops still clung to the emerald-green leaves, looking as if they had just been picked from the field not long ago, appearing very fresh.

Seeing Lu Feng walk out from the Kitchen, Hu Xiaoyun lowered her head a bit embarrassedly: "Bo-Boss, sorry, I'm late today."