Chapter 393: You're Told to Open a Food Shop, But You Operate at 3 AM

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Protagonist:

Lu Feng

At 11:30 on Friday, Food Street was bustling as always.

After greeting the diners gathered outside, Lu Feng walked into the shop full of energy.

Today is the last business day of this week.

Once today's business hours end, this week's mission reward awaits him.

More importantly, starting next week, he can finally decide his daily business hours himself.

Thinking that he would never again be tricked by the System into opening shop on Food Street at dawn, Lu Feng felt a surge of relief, and his steps grew noticeably lighter.

He quickly entered the Kitchen and carried out the ingredients he had pre-ordered from the Storage Room.

Lu Feng swiftly scanned the area, and his gaze soon locked onto that bottle of Honey available for limited purchase each week.

The Honey was indeed only a tiny bottle, not a drop more.

Next, he found the Food Ingredient Box holding the Tremella, and Lu Feng reached out to carry it over.

The box was heavier than he had imagined, which puzzled Lu Feng a little.

He hadn't ordered that much Tremella from the System Mall, so why did it feel so heavy in his hands?

Lu Feng opened the box and saw several Linden Wood Poles neatly stacked inside, each pole covered in snow-white Tremella.

"This Tremella looks so fresh, can it be eaten directly?"

Lu Feng frowned and asked with some doubt.

He still remembered the description in the System Mall, which said the Tremella was artificially harvested.

He had assumed harvested Tremella would be much like the dried Tremella in supermarkets, sealed in bags.

He didn't expect this Tremella was harvested together with the branches.

This was the first time he had seen fresh Tremella still on the wood.

Lu Feng still remembered the popular science articles online from before.

Fresh Tremella contains porphyrin substances; eating it directly may trigger skin itching, abdominal pain, and similar allergy-like symptoms.

The System seemed to sense Lu Feng's concerns and immediately prompted him in his mind.

【Please rest assured, Host. Tremella is one of the Eight Treasures of Mountain Delicacies among mountain and sea delicacies, a high-grade natural edible and medicinal fungus, known as the "King of Fungi." Historically, royalty and nobility often regarded it as a precious tonic for longevity. The Tremella collected by the System has undergone multiple processing steps, completely removing harmful substances, and can be used directly for cooking.】

Hearing the System's explanation, Lu Feng nodded, relieved.

He still trusted the ingredients provided by the System; the System had never let him down in this regard.

Although the System used to constantly dig pits for him, with quite a track record.

But the System mainly pits this Host.

On diner safety and ingredient quality, the System is still very reliable.

Absolutely no situation where diners eat and get collectively poisoned will occur.

Lu Feng took out a Bamboo Knife from the toolbox and began cutting the Tremella off the wood.

His movements were very proficient, his hands and feet agile; he looked even more professional than a professional master chef.

The cut Tremella looked beautiful.

Lu Feng picked one up and held it before his eyes to examine it closely; the Tremella resembled a white peony, flesh plump and tender, color milky white, and as he held it the petal-like lobes trembled slightly.

Soon, Lu Feng finished cutting all the Tremella one by one, then carefully soaked and washed them in clean water.

After washing away the residual impurities on the Tremella, Lu Feng began processing the Tremella.

Each cluster of this Linden Wood Tremella was like a meticulously carved piece of white jade, its edges bearing the natural wrinkles from air-drying.

When soaking Tremella, boiling water cannot be used; it must be slowly steeped in warm water around 30 degrees, otherwise it would damage the gum inside the Tremella and the Tremella's own texture.

Lu Feng took out a clean White Porcelain Basin, poured in warm water, and placed the cleaned Tremella inside.

He then set the White Porcelain Basin aside, letting the Tremella soak and expand slowly.

Next he took out that bottle of Honey from the Food Ingredient Box.

The Honey was in a transparent glass bottle; the Honey inside was very pale in color, perfectly clean with not a speck of impurity.

Lu Feng unscrewed the cap, and a fresh, sweet floral fragrance instantly welled out.

This flavor was very different from the cloyingly sweet kind in supermarkets; it carried a hint of the refreshing coolness from the deep mountains of Qinling, and just smelling it lifted one's mood.

While waiting for the Tremella to expand, Lu Feng didn't stay idle either; he started preparing the other ingredients.

Ordinary Tremella takes one to two hours just to soak.

But the Tremella Lu Feng bought from the System Mall became as fluffy as clouds in just half an hour.

Lu Feng fished one out of the water and held it; it felt soft, and a light pinch could squeeze out the gum inside.

Tremella differs from other ingredients; it cannot be cut directly with a knife, only slowly torn apart by hand.

Only Tremella separated along its own grain this way has a great effect on improving texture.

Before long, Lu Feng had torn a full large basin of Tremella.

Looking at the snowy-white Tremella in the basin, Lu Feng felt a bit curious about its taste.

He quickly took some out, made a plate of Cold Mixed Tremella, and cooked himself a bowl of Yangchun Noodles.

This combination was just right to serve as his lunch at noon.

The finished Cold Mixed Tremella was placed in a dark green plate, setting off the Tremella beautifully.

Lu Feng's Cold Mixed Tremella had no other Seasoning added; he only drizzled some Honey on top.

Therefore, the tremella looked milky white, as if drizzled with a layer of transparent maltose.

The cold mixed tremella naturally had no fragrance from a distance.

But when he leaned in and smelled carefully, the fragrance of Wolf Tooth Spiny Flower came out along with the faint taste of tremella.

"First taste how this flavor is."

Lu Feng confidently picked up a pair of chopsticks of cold mixed tremella, preparing to eat.

After the tremella entered his mouth, a fresh, tender, and refreshingly fragrant texture instantly filled his entire mouth.

The slight sour sweetness of the honey added a few layers of depth to the tremella flavor, which was otherwise somewhat bland because no other seasoning had been added.

The sourness within and the light texture of the tremella itself merged together, perfectly natural.

"Mm, this honey paired with tremella is truly a perfect match."

Lu Feng carefully tasted the cold mixed tremella for a while before swallowing it, and said very satisfied.

"This cold mixed tremella is quite delicious, it's just a pity that the amount of honey is too little, otherwise it could also be sold as a new dish."

Lu Feng ate Yangchun Noodles with the cold mixed tremella, saying with great emotion.

In a short while, Lu Feng finished the cold mixed tremella and Yangchun Noodles.

The bowls and plates he finished were exactly the same as those of the diners in his shop.

They were all eaten clean, with the plates spotless.

After filling his stomach, Lu Feng stood up to prepare to simmer Honey Tremella Soup.

He placed the torn tremella into the casserole, then poured in pure Mountain Spring Water, just enough to cover the tremella by the depth of a finger joint, then turned on high heat to boil the water in the casserole.

The water in the casserole soon boiled with a gurgle gurgle sound.

After the water boiled, Lu Feng put in the shredded Golden Silk Dates and some goji berries that had been cut in advance.

Next was to turn to low heat for slow simmering; Lu Feng adjusted the flame of the Gas Stove, and finally covered the lid.

The steam in the casserole slowly stewed out the fragrance of the ingredients, and soon the Kitchen was filled with the fresh fragrance of tremella and the sweet fragrance of Golden Silk Dates.