My Restaurant's Guests are All Abnormal

Chapter 197: Fifty-Seven: Magic Ingredients Also Have Expiration Dates

The next day, Chen Ze got up especially early. Although he had fallen asleep in a daze the night before, he felt as though he hadn’t slept enough.

Chen Ze scratched his head. Lafra wasn’t in the bedroom, and had it not been for Lafra’s fragrance still lingering, Chen Ze would have thought he was hallucinating.

Chen Ze went to the bathroom to freshen up briefly, then he headed down to the restaurant.

As soon as he went downstairs, Chen Ze saw a figure busily moving about in the kitchen. The lovely golden hair and height immediately gave away that it was Lafra.

Chen Ze suddenly felt a pang in his stomach; Lafra’s cooking was only slightly better than Takeshi Goda’s stew, and just barely at that.

"Dear, you’re up~" Lafra turned around with a look of surprise, looking even more beautiful in an apron.

"Hmm... yeah, are you making breakfast?" Chen Ze tried to keep a straight face as he rubbed his belly, hoping it would hold up.

"Yes~" Lafra seemed very happy, then Chen Ze stealthily peeked into the pot in front of Lafra.

Utterly incomprehensible in every sense... He had no idea what was going on...

Chen Ze inwardly lamented, but it was apparent that Lafra was almost done, and he didn’t seem to want to refuse.

Chen Ze slapped his cheeks, convincing himself that a true warrior should face such challenges in life head-on.

Betty looked at Chen Ze with a strange expression; he was in a particularly Zen-like state, almost sage-like.

"Boss, are you alright?" Betty asked concernedly. Could it be that he hadn’t gotten over yesterday’s illness?

Did that mean she might get to clock off early again?

Chen Ze looked calmly at Betty and then silently wrapped the spring rolls in his hands.

In fact, today’s breakfast made by Lafra was a slight improvement from before, but only slightly.

The half-cooked texture and heavy seasoning gave Chen Ze a near out-of-body experience.

Chen Ze even thought he saw his late grandfather waving at him, which was truly terrifying.

For the sake of his life, Chen Ze thought it necessary to get up early every day so that he could make a loving breakfast for Lafra himself. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"Boss, what is this?" Betty, now changed into her clothes, curiously leaned over.

"Spring rolls, after all, spring has arrived," Chen Ze said as he tossed the spring rolls into the pan to start frying them.

"Spring rolls? So does that mean there are summer rolls in the summer?" Betty asked excitedly, looking at Chen Ze.

The corner of Chen Ze’s mouth twitched; he really didn’t know anything about summer rolls, plus Betty seemed to have a lot of questions today.

"I’m very curious." Betty’s eyes were fixed intently on Chen Ze.

Chen Ze looked at Betty, who had changed her hairstyle today. With bangs and long hair, she looked surprisingly familiar.

"There are no summer rolls, and instead of wasting your time talking here, you’d better hurry up and wipe the tables," Chen Ze said as he flipped the spring rolls in the oil with a pair of chopsticks.

"Tsk, so stingy," Betty rolled her eyes.

"Boss, long time no see," a familiar female voice.

"Miss Alisa, welcome to the Dream Restaurant. What would you like with your noodles?" Betty approached with a smile.

Alisa blinked; if not for the wings and tail behind Betty, she might not have recognized her right away.

"I’ll have the special recommendation, and Betty, your hairstyle looks really nice." Alisa pulled Betty aside and started chatting about girly things.

Chen Ze took out the Moonlight Bear Meat from the freezer; last time, he made a dish for Lafra. This time, he planned to use up the bear meat as soon as possible.

Every ingredient has an optimal period for consumption, and even if Chen Ze kept it in the freezer, it was no different.

The longer he delayed, the more expected it was for the quality of these ingredients to decline.

To avoid such a wasteful act, Chen Ze decided to use up most of the ingredients in the restaurant first before going shopping again.

Chen Ze glanced at his fridge and then took out a bottle of frozen solid milk.

"This thing is..." Chen Ze scratched his head, remembering that it seemed to be from Stan—Sorrow Demon Cow’s milk?

But so much time had passed, and as Chen Ze looked at the ice block in front of him, he seriously doubted whether it was still edible.

Chen Ze hesitated and chopped off a small piece with a kitchen knife, then put it in his mouth.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" A weird sour taste made Chen Ze spit out the stuff in his mouth without hesitation.

It seemed that even the magic cow’s milk had to follow the laws of nature.

With a look of regret, Chen Ze threw the bottle of milk into the trash, then took out a bag of shells from the fridge.

"Tidal Conch from the Endless Sea?" Chen Ze looked at the label and then silently took one out.

The shells were frozen solid, which made Chen Ze think they were likely inedible, after all, seafood isn’t meant to be frozen for this long.

However, Chen Ze decided to give it a try anyway. As soon as he pried open the shell, a cold tide hit him in the face, instantly covering Chen Ze with frost.

Chen Ze silently wiped the frost off his face, thinking this thing was pretty similar to the Storm Hawk’s wings.

If it hadn’t been frozen, it probably would have sprayed out water.

After the cold tide subsided, Chen Ze harvested a piece of meat the size of an adult man’s thumb from inside.

Chen Ze, using the same technique, took out meat from another five shells and threw it into water; he had to prepare the main course first.

Soon, a plate of curry pork chop rice was ready. Chen Ze put it aside and boiled another pot of water.

Chen Ze planned to make a shellfish soup—though there were no shells, only the meat, he thought it was worth a try.

After seasoning according to the recipe, Chen Ze tossed the shellfish meat into the boiling pot, and then a hard-to-describe smell wafted out.

Chen Ze immediately turned off the heat and, as quickly as lightning, dumped everything inside the pot.

Betty looked at the kitchen with alarm; she had been feeling a chill at her back, as if something unfortunate was about to happen.

"What’s wrong, Betty?" Alisa asked curiously, seeing nothing amiss in the kitchen.

"It’s nothing, I just remembered some unpleasant memories," Betty said with a smile. It must have been her imagination; Chen Ze wouldn’t possibly serve his guests dark cuisine.

Betty was quite confident about this; Chen Ze always took great care of his customers. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"By the way, Betty, do you want to go see a movie?" Alisa’s question caught Chen Ze’s attention.

"A movie?" Betty was surprised; she wasn’t aware that movies existed in her world.

"Yes, the Mage Association has a movie called ’Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day,’" Alisa nodded earnestly.