My Restaurant's Guests are All Abnormal

Chapter 26: Chapter Twenty-Six: Drunken Spare Ribs

Sweet and sour ribs weren’t unfamiliar to Chen Ze; as a staple in his family’s home cooking, he used to eat them once a week when he still lived at home.

However, compared to the sweet and sour taste of the ribs, Chen Ze preferred the simplicity of fried ribs.

"Brother, the ribs you bought are no good," Chen Xingchen complained as she picked at the ribs.

Chen Ze helplessly patted her head, "Stop complaining, I can’t pick ribs."

"Tsk, what a brother, not even better than maggots, which at least can be used to feed chickens," Chen Xingchen took out a piece of rib and threw it on the counter.

"Check if we have enough seasoning," Chen Ze said, already accustomed to his sister’s sharp tongue. He opened the freezer, took out a small bottle, and set it aside.

"There’s definitely enough seasoning... What’s this?" Chen Xingchen turned her head in confusion to look at what Chen Ze had taken out.

"Stan gave it to me, it’s called Strong Liquor Grass. I don’t know how to deal with it, so while you’re home today, I was hoping you could take a look," he said, staring at the bottle’s contents and stroking his chin.

He had originally planned to soak the Strong Liquor Grass in water to see if he could brew some kind of alcohol, but he was afraid something would go wrong, so he had put it off until now.

"Strong Liquor Grass? What a strange name," Chen Xingchen washed her hands, opened the bottle, and took a sniff.

"Hey, wait, don’t..." Chen Ze hastily tried to stop her, but it was clearly too late.

"What is this... such a strong alcohol smell," Chen Xingchen covered her nose in disgust and quickly put the cap back on the bottle.

"That’s why I tried to stop you. You can tell from the name, Strong Liquor Grass."

Chen Xingchen frowned at the little bottle, then glanced at the ribs, and thought they might try a different recipe.

"This stuff, I feel like we could make drunken ribs, but drunken ribs are usually made with rice wine. With this... I can only say we’ll try and see," Chen Xingchen said, hesitating for a moment before voicing her idea.

"It’s fine, go ahead and try, we have to attempt it anyway," Chen Ze said indifferently, as he wasn’t sure how to prepare it either. He might as well let his sister, whose cooking skills far surpassed his, give it a try.

"Then, brother, come help me out," Chen Xingchen put on a mask. She didn’t want to be knocked out by the intense alcohol fumes before they even finished cooking.

"Okay." Chen Ze silently donned a mask as well, then opened the bottle and took out the Strong Liquor Grass.

"First, chop it into pieces, then marinate the ribs with it."

"Add seasoning, but why does it smell even more of alcohol now?" Chen Xingchen covered her nose, finding the scent of alcohol growing stronger even behind the mask.

Chen Ze shook his head, clueless about why chopping it would release such a potent alcohol smell, feeling himself getting slightly disoriented.

"Turn on the range hood, see if it can extract the alcohol scent; otherwise, we can’t continue cooking," Chen Ze pointed at the range hood, and Chen Xingchen immediately switched it on. freewebnσvel.cѳm

As the range hood worked, the intoxicatingly rich smell of alcohol in the kitchen finally started to fade considerably.

But Chen Ze didn’t realize that the scent had already spread to the periphery of the restaurant.

"What’s this smell?" an office worker sniffed the air. freeweɓnøvel.com

"Seems like alcohol..." a girl in a dress covered her nose, as she had just endured a nightmare-like drinking party the day before.

An old man, enticed by the smell of alcohol in the air, approached the entrance of the Dream Restaurant.

"No doubt about it, this rich scent of alcohol is coming from this place."

"It’s so fragrant... much more so than any alcohol I’ve had before!" The old man swallowed, never having experienced such a rich scent of alcohol.

Simply being nearby and smelling it was a pleasure in itself for someone like him, a seasoned drinker.

"Why isn’t this place open?" The old man impatiently knocked on the door of the restaurant, but there was no response.

"I’ll call Old Sun over first... otherwise, if we open the door and everything gets snatched up, that won’t be good," the old man took out his mobile phone and dialed out.

Meanwhile, Chen Ze felt he was about to faint. Even with the exhaust fan on, the smell of alcohol in the air continued to affect his reason.

"Brother... come over, come and have a taste..." Chen Xingchen, who was cooking, was already flushed. With her low tolerance for alcohol, the fact that she had managed to stay upright until now was an accomplishment in itself.

Chen Ze shook his head and walked to the stove, lifting the lid of the simmering pot.

A scent mixed with the aroma of meat and alcohol filled Chen Ze’s nostrils.

"This smell..." Chen Ze picked up a piece of rib with his chopsticks and tentatively took a bite.

He couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He had eaten ribs many times before, but none were as uniquely delicious as this batch.

Chen Ze chewed slowly, and the meat and bones were crushed together, blending with the thick soup and flowing into his mouth.

Chen Ze felt like he wasn’t just eating meat, it was more like drinking porridge.

"Star! You should try this too! The flavor of this dish is really good," Chen Ze, excited, picked up a piece of meat and turned around to try to offer a piece to his sister.

But when he turned back, he saw that Chen Xingchen was already sprawled out on a nearby table, completely passed out.

Chen Ze, bemused, picked up his sister and carried her to her room on the second floor, tucking her in properly.

"You’ve worked hard..." Chen Ze rubbed Chen Xingchen’s flushed face.

During the cooking, Chen Xingchen had been very busy, and she also pointed out things to pay attention to, wanting him to quickly master the dish of course.

Otherwise, Chen Xingchen could have finished preparing the drunken ribs twenty minutes earlier.

"It seems that if I’m not the one cooking, it won’t give me any experience," Chen Ze had not seen the familiar dialogue box from the beginning to the end.

Chen Ze took several deep breaths of fresh air, then went back down to the kitchen. He still had to deal with the drunken ribs.

Hardly had he reached the first floor when Chen Ze heard someone pounding on the restaurant door.

"What’s the situation? Could it be the community posting notices?" Chen Ze walked to the kitchen, slightly puzzled, and looked at the monitor.

Chen Ze jumped in shock at the sight. A large crowd had gathered at the entrance of the restaurant, and it included some old men.

And the one knocking on the door was an elderly man.

"Could it be a gathering of Storm Barbecue enthusiasts?" Chen Ze scratched his head. This was the only possibility he could think of.

But so many people gathering at the entrance of his restaurant was no small trouble, especially with so many elderly men. Should any of them have an accident, Chen Ze feared he might go bankrupt.

So Chen Ze put on a headscarf and went out through the small door. He had to ask what exactly was going on.

As for the main entrance, Chen Ze wasn’t about to open it. If the old men got in and then an Undead Monarch or something came in, that would be quite the spectacle.

"Sir, what brings you here?" Chen Ze asked nervously, rubbing his hands.

"Who are you?" The leading old man looked at Chen Ze with curiosity.

"I am the owner of Dream Restaurant. I don’t know..."

"Good lad, what kind of wine are you brewing in your shop? Bring it out quickly, let the old man quench his thirst!" The old man’s eyes lit up and he patted Chen Ze’s shoulder vigorously.

Chen Ze felt the tremendous force on his shoulder and struggled not to fall over.

This old man was quite fierce!