My Restaurant's Guests are All Abnormal

Chapter 85: Chapter 85 Cold Weather Calls for Frozen Fish

"It’s gotten colder," Chen Ze said as he got up the next day, pushed open the window, and was greeted by a flurry of snow.

The biting cold rushed in, prompting Chen Ze to immediately close the window.

What’s suitable to eat when it’s cold? Everyone has different ideas, but for Chen Ze, there were two dishes that were perfect for this time.

The first was naturally the fire pot.

As the chilly wind howled outside, cooking up a fire pot at home, with its steaming broth and foods cooked to perfection, provided warmth from the inside out—a true winter’s delight.

Chen Ze rummaged through the cupboard and was relieved to find plenty of fire pot sauces, enough to satisfy any craving for any type of fire pot.

The second dish was fish jelly.

Chen Ze still remembered how, as a child, he always hated fish and even now was not fond of it, except for fish jelly, which he couldn’t resist.

Crystal clear fish jelly, cut into small pieces and placed on steaming hot rice—melding with the temperature of the rice, the fish jelly would slowly melt. At that moment, combined with the rice in a single bite, one could savor a unique flavor.

"Good thing I bought some fish when I got ingredients last time; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy fish jelly today," Chen Ze yawned and slowly made his way upstairs, now that he knew the ingredients were in order, it was time to freshen up.

"I’ll open up early today," Chen Ze scratched his head. Although it was still early, he thought it might be nice to chat with the customers over the weekend, so after freshening up, he unlocked the restaurant’s front door.

The method for making fish jelly varies from region to region, but for Chen Ze, his favorite and the only way he excelled at was the method he’d observed from his mom and dad.

Rolling up his sleeves, Chen Ze placed two small fish on the chopping board, slit their bellies with the point of the knife, and scooped out all the innards.

After removing the gills, scales, and other inedible parts, it didn’t take long for Chen Ze to cut the small fish into several pieces and place them in a bowl.

"Salt... cooking wine..." Chen Ze sniffed the aroma in the air and added the seasonings one by one.

"OK, time to fry." After stir-frying in oil for about fifteen minutes, Chen Ze added water to the pan, brought it to a boil on high heat, then poured it into the bowl and placed it on the windowsill in the kitchen.

Outside the window was the harsh wind and snow; Chen Ze touched the window—it was very cold.

Although the refrigerator made making fish jelly convenient, Chen Ze still preferred to let it cool by the winter window.

However, once the restaurant’s front door was locked, none of the doors or windows inside could be opened, so Chen Ze had to leave it on the windowsill.

Chen Ze sat in the kitchen, resting his chin in his hand. So far today, there had been no customers, and he had never realized how agonizing it could be to have nothing to do.

"Next time I’ll teach Betty how to cook, at the very least so she doesn’t mistake salt for sugar," Chen Ze yawned again, feeling unusually sleepy today, probably due to the cold weather. freewebnøvel.coɱ

"Uncle Manager?" Chen Ze shook his head and looked around the restaurant, then saw the Nafi siblings.

The Nafi siblings seemed puzzled, wondering why Chen Ze had opened the door at this hour when he usually did so in the evening.

"Andrew, Elena, go up and take a bath first, the hot water is on since Betty isn’t here today," Chen Ze smiled at the two children who were clearly a bit apprehensive.

He had to remind them, otherwise they might think using hot water was too expensive and opt for a cold bath instead.

"Okay, Uncle Manager," Andrew and Elena exchanged glances and then ran upstairs.

Chen Ze tied a headscarf and took out a packet of butter fire pot base from the cupboard; he planned to invite Andrew and Elena to join him for a fire pot meal that day.

"Twenty servings of Buffet," Chen Ze blinked in surprise and popped his head out for a look.

Sure enough, he saw Stan’s grim face, but Chen Ze always felt that the other person’s expression seemed... somewhat pleasant?

"Mr. Stan, long time no see," Chen Ze greeted Stan.

Indeed, it had been a long time since he’d seen Stan. If not for Lafra mentioning him now and then, Chen Ze might have thought something had happened to Stan.

"Had some trouble recently," Stan said, moving the muscles of his face to reveal what appeared to be a smile.

Chen Ze chuckled, suspecting it must be about The King in Yellow, Hastur’s affair, considering that seemed to be the big issue in that world.

"Alright, please wait a moment," Chen Ze went back to the kitchen—it was only twenty servings of Buffet.

Before long, Chen Ze had prepared twenty servings of Buffet, and one of them even triggered a special effect.

[You made a regular Buffet, dessert-making experience increased by 3 points]

[Dessert Lover effect triggered]

[Regular Buffet has gained a memory effect]

Chen Ze frowned at the Buffet in front of him, bewildered by yet another special effect he had never seen before.

When it came to his System... probably System stuff, Chen Ze was quite satisfied since he indeed had improved, but the only quandary was the System’s random attributes always seemed baffling.

Effects like "too beautiful to eat," Chen Ze could understand, but when it came to memory or space-time effects, he was genuinely at a loss.

These special effects were like those in a shampoo commercial, just popping up with a ’duang.’

"But it should be fine, right?" Chen Ze shook his head and still brought out the twenty servings of Buffet.

"Enjoy your meal, Mr. Stan."

Stan picked up a spoon, slowly scooped up a spoonful of Buffet, and tasted the rich and familiar sweetness.

Chen Ze glanced at the stairway to the second floor. The Nafi Siblings had not come down yet.

Chen Ze went back to the kitchen, took out the electric hot pot, placed it on a table near the kitchen, plugged it in, and began to preheat it.

Because Dream Restaurant was a Western restaurant, it didn’t have the kind of tables found in hot pot restaurants, so Chen Ze had to make do with an induction cooker. Fortunately, the hot pot was compatible with induction cookers; otherwise, Chen Ze really would have been at a loss.

As the butter base slowly melted into the water, a fragrance began to waft through the air, along with a hint of spiciness.

Chen Ze licked his lips; he hadn’t eaten yet and planned to have some later with the Nafi Siblings.

"Manager, what is this?" Stan, appearing from nowhere, stood behind Chen Ze and asked.

"This is a hot pot." Chen Ze almost jumped, nearly scooping up broth with a ladle.

"Hot pot?" Stan looked on curiously at the bubbling red broth and the floating ingredients, feeling it was less of a dish and more like the lava river beneath his castle.

"Yes, hot pot. Want to give it a try?"