Chapter 315: Let You Open a Gourmet Shop, You Open for Business at Three in the Morning

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

The two of them fussed about for a good while before the machine finally budged up a little bit.

They huffed and puffed as they shifted positions several times, stopping to catch their breath every few steps.

The diners at Lu Feng's shop entrance watched with great interest.

Someone held up a mobile phone, recording the boss lady and the bespectacled man's clumsy and flustered appearance.

Others quietly placed bets, wagering how many steps it would take them to move the machine over there.

There were now twenty or thirty people queuing at the entrance, yet not a single one went up to help.

After all, this whole thing was something the bespectacled man and the boss lady had brought upon themselves.

Little Sun from the Street Office watched their movements of moving the machine, with no expression on his face.

Only after the bespectacled man and the boss lady exerted every ounce of strength did they finally move the machine to the entrance of the Braised Food Shop.

She then stepped forward and walked toward Lu Feng's shop.

"Boss Lu, are you busy?"

Little Sun stood at the entrance of Lu Feng's shop, poking his head inside.

Fragrance was already drifting from the kitchen at this time, making her swallow her saliva.

Lu Feng stopped what he was doing, walked out of the kitchen, looked at Little Sun, and asked with a smile: "Is the matter settled?"

"It's settled."

Little Sun recounted what had just happened in a lighthearted tone, vividly and colorfully.

"That's good, thank you. When you go back, please thank Director Cao for me too."

After hearing the whole process, Lu Feng was quite satisfied with this result.

Little Sun nodded, chatted with Lu Feng for a couple more sentences, reminded him to contact her anytime if he encountered such a situation again, and only then turned around to leave.

After she left, Lu Feng walked out of the shop and glanced toward the Braised Food Shop.

That vending machine was placed at the entrance of the Braised Food Shop, and although it still looked very much in the way.

But placing it there at least made him feel more comfortable in his heart.

Moreover, he had other ways to make the bespectacled man move the machine away completely.

However, there was no rush for this matter; Lu Feng planned to implement his plan tomorrow.

First let the bespectacled man and the boss lady taste a bit of sweetness, letting them lower their guard.

Then start his own plan when the time came, so that the lesson they received would be more profound.

After all, the higher one floats, the more painful the fall.

…………

The little incident with the vending machine at the entrance could now be considered concluded.

Lu Feng walked back into the kitchen and continued busying himself preparing various ingredients for business later.

After busying about for a good while, the other dishes were more or less prepared, and all kinds of meat and vegetables had been stewed.

Finally, it was time to prepare this week's new dish.

But just thinking about this week's first new dish made Lu Feng unable to help but feel a headache coming on.

Even now, he was still somewhat unsure whether the System had made a mistake.

Just after midnight last night, the System's notification sound popped up in his mind right on time.

"Ding! This week's Monday recipe has been unlocked, max-level spicy hot pot base technique."

At that time, he hadn't felt anything was wrong, and even felt somewhat happy.

Spicy hot pot, a steaming hot base with all sorts of side dishes—just thinking about it made one swallow saliva.

Although the weather wasn't very cold yet, hot pot was something many foodies loved dearly.

Before coming to the shop today, Lu Feng, as usual, opened the System Mall in advance to buy ingredients.

He vaguely felt that something seemed a bit off.

At this moment, he opened the mall interface again, and after going through all kinds of ingredients, he finally discovered where the problem lay.

In the hot pot ingredient category in the mall, the side dishes column was actually completely empty.

"System, are you serious about today's recipe?"

Lu Feng couldn't help but ask the System in his mind: "The spicy hot pot you unlocked—could it be that there's only the method for the base?"

"There is no abnormality in today's recipe. Please, Host, work hard to complete this week's mission."

The System's electronic voice was without a ripple, sounding clearly in his mind.

"But... System, what about the side dishes?"

Lu Feng took a deep breath and carefully looked through the hot pot ingredient column in the mall once more.

No matter how he looked, the side dishes column was completely empty.

The mall only had various materials needed to make the hot pot base.

"Hot pot side dishes: temporarily unavailable; can be unlocked after completing other missions."

The System's answer made Lu Feng unable to help but complain in his heart.

A hot pot without side dishes—how were the customers supposed to eat? Just drink the soup?

"Then can I use other ingredients sold in the mall as side dishes for the hot pot?"

Lu Feng shrugged, asking with a helpless expression.

His shop did not lack ingredients that could serve as hot pot side dishes, such as various pork and beef.

However, some of those ingredients were sold in limited quantities by the System Mall every day.

If they were used as hot pot side dishes, many other dishes originally corresponding to those ingredients would have to be reduced.

Originally, Lu Feng had planned ahead how much of each ingredient to prepare for daily business.

Therefore, after business ended each day, the ingredients he prepared that day were just about enough to sell out.

However, if some ingredients were used as hot pot base, today's business dishes would be completely thrown into chaos.

But for this week's mission, he had no other choice.

Could he really let customers drink the pot base?

【Ingredients currently sold by the System Mall are not applicable for making hot pot side dishes, and shop use of non-System-designated hot pot side dishes sold to customers will not count toward this week's mission progress.】

The System's electronic voice sounded coldly, directly leaving Lu Feng stunned in place.

"What do you mean?"

Lu Feng's body stiffened, and he immediately became alert: "Could it be that I can only sell the pot base, and cannot add side dishes for customers inside?"

He suspected the System was doing this on purpose, but he had no evidence.

【Please Host do not cling to worldly views; a spicy hot pot without side dishes is still a hot pot.】

The System fell silent for a long while, finally uttering a sentence that made Lu Feng feel both laughing and crying.

This statement seemed to make some sense, leaving him speechless.

But there was no tripe, no duck intestines, no vegetables, no tofu in the hot pot.

Just one pot of spicy pot base—how were the diners supposed to eat it?

Was he supposed to let them hold the pot and drink the pot base?

"……Fuck."

Lu Feng was stunned for a long time before squeezing these two words out of his throat.

Apart from these two words, he really had nothing else to say.

He finally understood where the pitfall of this week's System mission lay.

No wonder the number of missions this week was so much fewer than before, and the mission time had also been adjusted to a more reasonable time slot.

It seemed the System was still making things difficult for him.

The first dish was already so bizarre; who knew what tricks the next two dishes would pull.

Lu Feng sighed and had no choice but to accept reality.

He knew that haggling with the System was of no use at all.

As for this, Lu Feng had also come to terms with it.

After all, it was still a recipe; having something was better than nothing.

Lu Feng wanted to complain about the System a few more times, but after looking at the time on the wall, he held back.

He stood before the stove and began simmering the hot pot base, preparing supplies for today's business.