Chapter 320: Chapter 320: So This Is What You Look Like

Sang Yue was taken aback by his reaction.

"It’s me. What’s wrong?"

Jiang Gong was at a loss for words. "So this is what you look like..."

The young woman’s skin was supple, her eyes bright. When she gazed at him quietly, she resembled a faintly fragrant orchid.

Sang Yue touched her own face. "I’ve always looked like this."

It was just that when Jiang Gong had first met her, she had been wandering the desert for a long time and was in a wretched state.

Her face had been covered in a thick layer of dust, and her hair was completely unkempt.

She had been too busy traveling before, and she was half-conscious after being poisoned, so there was no way for her to clean herself up. Now that she had finally settled in, she could at last reveal her true face.

Jiang Gong felt a little uncomfortable. He wasn’t very good at interacting with girls, especially young, pretty ones.

Before he knew Sang Yue was this beautiful, Jiang Gong had been fine. But now that he knew, he felt like ants were crawling all over him.

’Good heavens, if I’d known she was this beautiful, I wouldn’t have agreed to share a room with her. It’s too awkward to ask for a separate one now; the poor girl will think I have something against her.’

’It’s all Xue Can’s fault!’

...

Shen Lu got up early again today, her arms and shoulders sore and aching.

This was the consequence of overexerting them yesterday.

’But even though my hands are sore, I have to keep going. There’s no reason to turn away business that comes knocking.’

’Who knows when the weather will turn bad again?’

"Boss." Xin Yu arrived early as well, holding up his hands and whimpering, "My hands are this swollen, what should I do?"

Shen Lu looked at Xin Yu’s hands, which resembled braised pig’s trotters, and gave him a sympathetic look. "You’re asking me? All I can tell you is that you’ll get used to the swelling after a while. Keep it up."

Yesterday’s bonus mission was completed successfully, and Shen Lu received her desired reward of Shop Defense +1.

The shop’s defense had finally broken the 8-point mark, only 2 points away from 10.

’Victory is in sight, victory is in sight!’

Shen Lu took some anti-swelling spray from the first-aid kit, sprayed it on Xin Yu’s hands, and gave him special permission to do some lighter tasks in the morning.

"I’m still counting on you for the lunchtime pizzas."

Xin Yu wore a pained expression; he really couldn’t bring himself to smile.

Shen Lu casually filmed a video of her cooking, and while editing, she also inserted footage from yesterday of the shop packed with people.

At the end of the video, she made a special note that the shop’s capacity and staff were limited, and it could currently only serve around 3,000 customers.

Any more than that, and not only would the shop be unable to accommodate them, but there also wouldn’t be enough food to sell.

"Please plan your visit accordingly to avoid a wasted trip. Thank you for your cooperation."

After finishing the video edit, Shen Lu gave it a quick check and then uploaded it.

She still had several pots of braised pork to cook; there wasn’t a moment to spare.

「Upper City District, Boya High School.」

Shen Lan hadn’t expected to stumble upon Shen Lu’s video while casually scrolling through her feed.

At first, she didn’t want to watch it, but on second thought, she decided she should.

Pan Junru had moved quickly. She had already found a shop location and taken care of all the necessary permits. They were just waiting for Shen Lan to complete her training before they could open for business.

Shen Lan hadn’t decided what kind of restaurant to open yet, but she knew one thing: her restaurant had to outshine Shen Lu’s.

Therefore, she needed to learn more about Little Deer Cuisine in order to strategize precisely.

Watching the first part about the cooking, Shen Lan was disdainful.

"Flashy nonsense, with no technical skill involved at all. It’s only good for fooling amateurs who don’t know any better."

As for herself, an expert, Shen Lan felt that Shen Lu’s back kitchen was just a ragtag operation. It was on a completely different level from the professional hotel kitchen where she was taking extracurricular lessons.

Seeing the later footage of the shop packed to the gills, Shen Lan’s pout deepened.

"Doing business with the lower class is so beneath me. I would never do something like that."

Cooking was hard work and bad for the skin, and Shen Lan had no real intention of becoming a mere cook.

Learning to cook was just a stepping stone toward becoming the Crown Prince Consort. She couldn’t possibly be like Shen Lu, spending all day cooped up in a kitchen.

She had made up her mind. She would open a private kitchen that only served two tables of guests per day.

That way, it wouldn’t be tiring, she could still hone her culinary skills, and she would also be eligible to participate in the Kitchen King competition.

With her mind made up, Shen Lan went to discuss it with Pan Junru. The two of them hit it off immediately and started racking their brains for a restaurant name.

"A private kitchen’s name definitely needs to be more elegant. It can’t be as tacky as places like Little Deer Cuisine or Old Fan’s Restaurant, right?"

Pan Junru nodded emphatically. "Yes!"

"How about Shuiyunjian?"

"Xiao Lan, you’re so talented! That name sounds amazing!"

Shen Lan secretly rolled her eyes. ’Pan Junru is really only good for footing the bill. When it comes to anything that requires brainpower, she’s completely useless.’

’Sigh, I’m the only one willing to condescend to hang out with her.’

After their morning classes, Shen Lan and Pan Junru had lunch and then went their separate ways to handle their tasks.

Shen Lan had no classes in the afternoon, so she went to her private Kitchen King tutoring session, while Pan Junru went to get the sign made.

Shen Lu’s shop was a hive of activity.

The video hadn’t helped much. Today, the crowd of customers was still as massive as ever.

Just like yesterday, Shen Lu had to cut off the line early and tell the people who arrived late to eat somewhere else.

After placating the crowd with her "pickled radish skin" appeasement strategy, Shen Lu breathed a secret sigh of relief.

’This trick will only work a couple more times before it gets old.’

’Having too many customers is its own kind of trouble, huh.’

She happened to glance at the customer satisfaction rating on the front desk, which had already risen to three and a half stars.

’That’s good news, at least.’

Today, only 100 pizzas were for sale, half the number from yesterday.

This made some customers unhappy. "Why are there even fewer now?" they complained. "Shouldn’t you be increasing the number?"

Shen Lu pulled Xin Yu out and showed everyone his hands, which were swollen like carrots. "Please be understanding. Our employee is already working while injured. Once he gets more practice, the number of pizzas will increase, okay?"

Once they saw Xin Yu’s hands, the customers stopped complaining, and the 100 pizzas quickly sold out.

Xin Yu gritted his teeth as he finished the last pizza. After rinsing his hands, he thoroughly sprayed them with medicine and wrapped them in gauze.

Wang Daguo chuckled. "So weak."

If it were him, his hands wouldn’t get that swollen even if he patted dough for three days and three nights straight.

’So delicate.’

"Why don’t you help me pat the dough tomorrow? It’s really simple," Xin Yu said, still trying to recruit another helper.

"Nope." Wang Daguo refused without hesitation. "I have to stand guard here."

He wasn’t interested in learning to cook. Simply maintaining order in the shop and helping Shen Lu watch the front desk was his job.

"You just focus on your work, kid."

Still, Wang Daguo was sometimes a little envious of his colleagues who could cook. They were able to help Shen Lu more.

[Ding! Detected sales: Braised Pork Set 1050/1050, Kung Pao Chicken Set 950/950, Steamed Fish Head with Diced Chili Set 610/610, Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce Set 110/110. Total revenue has reached 260,000, and customer satisfaction is three stars or higher. Mission complete. Reward: one Lottery Ticket.]

As the system’s "Ding!" sounded, Shen Lu finished cooking the last pot of braised pork.

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