During the midday meal, most of the monks and pilgrims in the temple went to the kitchen for lunch.

Many people are unaware that a vegetarian restaurant called Suiyuan Vegetarian Restaurant has opened outside the temple.

When Bao Shan led Sister Ding to the food cart.

The boss was fast asleep, basking in the sun, lying on the dining table in front of the car.

The dream seemed beautiful; she had a smile on her lips, and her mouth was glistening, as if she was about to drool.

"Hey, boss, wake up."

Bao Shan gently patted the boss's arm.

Qin Yi woke up lazily, moved her body for a while, "Ouch, my hands, hands... my hands are numb, my legs, legs... my legs are numb too. You guys draw lots first, I need to rest..."

Ding Aomei walked up to Bao Shan and asked softly, "Does this boss know how to cook? He looks to be only in his early twenties and doesn't seem very stable. Were you scammed before?"

Bao Shan pulled Sister Ding to the blind box instruction manual: "Xue Mei Jushi, take a look at this instruction manual. The food payment is based on a donation system. If you don't like the food, you can pay less. This store does not force you to pay any amount."

"Oh? It seems the boss is an honest person. Let's draw lots and see how good this girl's skills are."

Bao Shan drew an orange bamboo stick and a green bamboo stick.

Ding Aomei also drew an orange bamboo stick.

"Did you order two vegetarian blind boxes, Mr. Bao Shan?" Ding Aomei asked.

“I ate two vegetarian dishes this morning. The owner will serve the dishes according to the ingredients, and he won’t give me two identical vegetarian dishes.”

Ding Aomei wanted to test the girl, so she picked a carrot and said, "How about we use the same ingredients and see what kind of food this owner can make?"

Bao Shan also agreed: "This is a good idea, I'll wait and see."

Qin Yi shook her arm, which was finally healed. "Two servings of vegetarian carrot dishes and one serving of fresh green tea, right? Laymen, please wait a moment."

She decided to first grind fresh tea leaves into a large bowl of Lei Cha (擂茶) to serve to the guests.

Remove the coarse fiber from the very center of the fresh, tender tea leaves, then quickly grind them in a mortar and pestle. Add various ground ingredients, then the base sauce, and pour in hot water. The familiar aroma returns.

Qin Yi brought two bowls to the diners and said to Bao Shan, "I made two bowls of Lei Cha with the fresh green tea leaves you gave me. It's a rather unique folk drink. You can try it. I'll continue making lunch."

Ding Aomei was surprised to find herself drinking some tea, and she was quite happy. After taking a sip, she felt the refreshing aroma of tea on her tongue.

"This tea is not only sweet and fragrant, but also has a rich and mellow taste. To put it simply, it's just two words: fragrant and rich. The owner just said it was a folk drink. I've lived to be this old and have never tasted anything so delicious."

Bao Shan nodded repeatedly: "The aroma of tea wafts through the thin mist, and a bowl of Lei Cha warms the heart. Xue Mei Jushi's words are indeed precise, and I admire them."

Meanwhile, Qin Yi started getting busy in the kitchen.

She planned to make a bowl of wontons first.

The environment in temples is usually quite austere, so Qin Yi wanted to give them something different.

The two dishes I'm making now are both Sichuan-style spicy vegetarian dishes.

Digestion and absorption are at their peak around noon, so it's okay to eat some spicy food.

First, shred the cucumber and marinate it with salt for a while.

First slice the carrot, then dice it, and finally chop it into finely minced carrot pieces for later use.

Stir-fry the tofu in the pan, just like the previous recipe for willow leaf dumplings.

After crushing and stir-frying until the moisture evaporates, add five-spice powder, mushroom powder, salt and soy sauce to taste. Then add chopped carrots and stir-fry until cooked. Set aside.

Next, squeeze the water out of the previously pickled cucumbers and chop them into fine pieces.

After chopping, pour the mixture into the stir-fried carrot and tofu filling and mix well.

Then place these vegetarian fillings in the middle of the wonton wrappers and wrap them into small wontons.

Because the filling is already cooked through, it only needs to be blanched briefly in boiling water before being taken out of the pot.

Then add the prepared green vegetables to the pot and blanch them together.

Finally, let's prepare the base sauce for spicy wontons.

Add black pepper powder, sesame chili oil, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, and some pickled radish pieces to a bowl.

Pour a large spoonful of the wonton soup from the pot into a bowl, then scoop out all the wontons and vegetables and put them into the bowl.

This completes the preparation of a bowl of wontons with carrot filling.

Next, Qin Yi made a vegetarian fish tofu soup that resembled tender white fish meat.

First, heat the pan with cold oil, then add the chopped black-skinned chicken mushroom and stir-fry until the mushroom's aroma is fully released.

Add shredded carrots and Pixian chili bean paste and continue stir-frying until the oil turns red.

Then add the soft shredded wood ear mushrooms and stir-fry together. Add a bowl of hot water to bring the ingredients in the pot to a boil.

The second step is to add the soft tofu and various seasoning powders, and finally thicken the sauce with a cornstarch slurry.

The third step is to add a handful of chopped celery before taking it out of the pot and cook until fragrant. This orange-colored vegetarian fish tofu pudding is now ready.

Qin Yi took a tray, placed two bowls of vegetarian food on it, and also prepared a bowl of bald noodles next to it.

She approached the two diners and placed their dishes on the table.

"I made a plate of vegetarian wontons with chili oil and a bowl of vegetarian fish tofu pudding. After you finish the tofu pudding, you can put the noodles into the soup and stir it. It's also very delicious."

Then Qin Yi saw two porcelain bowls on the table, which were empty and it was impossible to tell what had been inside them. The two of them drank the Lei Cha (pounded tea) clean.

She deftly cleared away the leftover bowls on the table, leaving room for the diners to enjoy their food.

...

Bao Shan spoke first: "Lady Xuemei, ladies first, please choose which one you want to eat first."

Ding Aomei thought for a moment and chose the red oil vegetarian wontons. Her appetite was much smaller than Bao Shan's, and a bowl of wontons was enough to fill her up. Bao Shan was so tall, so he would be more hungry if he ate a bowl of noodles with it.

"I'll choose wontons. I'll come back for noodles next time. I feel like that bowl of 'bald head noodles' looks delicious too. Is it because I haven't eaten anything good at the temple these past few days and I'm just too hungry?"

Bao Shan tried hard to hold back his drool and said, "Sister Ding, let's not eat, hurry up and tell me."

Ding Aomei: "...Xiao Bao, are you starving? You're talking incoherently."

Bao Shan: "I'm not starving, I'm being craving it! The aroma of this tofu fish is so strong it's wafting into my nose. I couldn't resist, so I ate it first!"

"This soup has so many ingredients! There are shredded carrots, shredded wood ear mushrooms, and I even found some black chicken mushroom!"

"This is a delicacy among mushrooms. This soup is not only sour and spicy, but also exceptionally delicious. The chicken mushroom is tender and crisp with a rich aroma. Its crunchy and refreshing texture pairs perfectly with the smooth tofu. You can slurp it into your mouth in one bite, and the more you chew, the more fragrant it becomes."

"But the highlight of this bowl of tofu pudding was actually the very ordinary celery bits! Just when I was starting to feel a little greasy, I bit into a celery bit and the world instantly felt fresh! I feel like I could have two more bowls! The owner is so particular about the combination of ingredients!"