Free Web NovelChapter 41: Chapter 41 The commotion brought by Strong Liquor Grass has not ended
Chen Ze scratched his head, and as he had feared, the restaurant, which had previously stockpiled a good amount of ingredients, was now completely depleted, especially the pork and chicken, which were utterly gone.
Apart from some other ingredients that the dragon hadn’t taken a fancy to, Sebastian and Riesel had thoroughly finished off all the ingredients in the restaurant.
"I have never eaten food so delicious," Sebastian patted his stomach, no longer remembering how many bowls of rice he had eaten.
Riesel, gasping for breath beside him, had a face red from the spiciness, but even so, he was still reluctant to revert from his current form.
"What do you know? Sichuan hot pot is the real deal," Riesel, who had learned the name of this hot pot from Chen Ze, was now completely captivated by the numbing spice.
Chen Ze twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking that Sichuan hot pot wasn’t this spicy. He could guarantee that no sane person would eat the stuff he dipped in the spicy pot.
Not everyone could have a dragon’s stomach, capable of eating Devil’s Chili Peppers and a bunch of chili oil without a problem.
"Manager, let’s settle the bill, these are the ingredients I brought," Riesel said, wiping his mouth and reluctantly returning to his dragon form.
Then he stretched out a claw, and from a torn hole in space, he pulled out two items and handed them to Chen Ze.
"This is Dreamland Fruit, which can let a person see their most longed-for dreams when eaten, but it’s also very tasty," Chen Ze observed the fruit, similar in size to an apple, in his hand, smelling a refreshing and enticing fragrance.
"And this is Moonlight Mushroom, a rare delicacy as well," Chen Ze sniffed it but didn’t detect much of a scent, instead, there was a refreshing earthy smell.
As a native of Yun Province, Chen Ze was more curious about the Moonlight Mushroom than the fruit with some magical effects.
Only those who have eaten wild mushrooms know why they are considered a mountain delicacy.
Even though the relevant departments issue a warning once a year about the potential poisoning from eating wild mushrooms, it can’t stop the determination of Yun Province foodies to eat them.
"It seems a bit little... I wonder what they taste like..." Chen Ze mused, rubbing his chin and taking the Moonlight Mushroom and Dreamland Fruit back to the kitchen.
"I’m going back for a bit, and when this hourglass runs out, the Little Succubus can return," Riesel brought out a small hourglass, particularly to hand it to Chen Ze.
Riesel wasn’t sure if the flow of time in this world was the same as in his own. To avoid any problems, he brought out the hourglass.
Chen Ze passed it to Betty and after speaking with Riesel, he went back into the kitchen, planning to take this opportunity to make the Mapo Tofu he had been contemplating.
Betty stood there, holding the hourglass, watching the sand fall continuously. She felt as if her bleak demonic life had found a new direction.
Chen Ze stood in the kitchen, tying on his headband once again, pondering over where exactly in the steps of making Mapo Tofu he had gone wrong. fгeewebnovёl.com
He made five servings of Mapo Tofu, but all turned out to be merely passable, not a single one was ordinary.
Chen Ze checked the recipe, quite certain he had followed the steps correctly, at most there might have been a slight issue with his knife skills or the heat control.
Chen Ze looked at his own ingredients, double-checking them once more.
"Doubanjiang... Should I still buy that brand of doubanjiang?" Chen Ze fell into thought, looking at the doubanjiang he had purchased.
The same dish can take on two different styles with just a slight difference in ingredients. Chen Ze glanced at the cheap doubanjiang he had bought and suspected that was the problem.
"Betty, I’m stepping out for a bit. If a customer comes in, just ask them to wait. If no one comes, you can head back after the hourglass runs out," Chen Ze changed into casual clothes, ready to go to the supermarket to buy some more bean paste.
"Manager... aren’t you afraid that once I leave, I’ll never come back?" Betty bit her lip and asked with her head lowered.
"Why should I be afraid?" Chen Ze turned back, puzzled.
"Let’s not mention that you probably don’t have anywhere else to go, but even so, could you really find a better job than this in the human world?" Chen Ze scoffed at the idea; he remembered Betty mentioning how frighteningly high the salary was here.
"Manager..." Betty looked at Chen Ze, her eyes brimming with tears.
"The main thing is, with Riesel in the positive plane, Gu Aotian and the Lolita Vampire in the negative plane, I’m not worried at all that you’ll run away." The next second, Chen Ze’s words made Betty’s tears retreat back into her eyes.
Betty silently watched Chen Ze’s retreating figure, cursing him countless times in her heart.
However, just as Chen Ze pushed the door to leave, he encountered a rather troublesome situation.
"Young manager, you’ve made this old man wait quite a while!" Chen Ze blinked and only then recognized that these were the elderly gentlemen who had eaten the drunken ribs the other day.
"Gentlemen, what can I do for you?" Chen Ze was a bit uncertain; it would be unpleasant if they had regretted their previous meal and expected him to refund fifty or more.
"Young manager, do you still sell those... drunken ribs in your shop?" the leading old man asked eagerly.
"Drunken ribs? No, there won’t be any stock for a while," Chen Ze shook his head, not really expecting these old men to come back for drunken ribs.
"Young man, do you think you sold them too cheap last time? This time, I’m willing to pay... a thousand for a piece of your ribs!" Another old man with glasses chipped in.
"A...a thousand?" Chen Ze was dumbfounded. He really hadn’t expected the drunken ribs to fetch such a high price, and while the Strong Liquor Grass ribs were delicious, it wasn’t to such an extent.
"Because it’s worth that price," the old man shook his head, removing his glasses to wipe away a tear.
That night, Professor Wang dreamt of his deceased wife. It was so vivid that he even remembered how she nagged him, telling him to drink warm water in the morning and soak his feet in hot water every night.
Even as he was about to wake up, his wife held him, telling him to live well, that she was fine below.
Such a dream was too real. When Professor Wang woke up, he was already in tears.
At first, he thought it was incidental, but when he talked about it with a few old friends over drinks a few days later, he discovered they had all seen the people they missed the most that night. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Upon tallying up, they realized it was all the people who had eaten the drunken ribs, so the group of old men gathered again, hoping to have another piece.
"Young manager... to see my wife again, I’m willing to pay ten thousand for a piece of ribs!" Professor Wang’s eyes were already red as he spoke.
"Yes, yes, to see my war buddies again, I’d be willing too."
"Right... my son left us over a decade ago, an elder sending off the younger; I thought..."
Watching these old men gather around him, Chen Ze felt his head swell.
