Chapter 53 (Update 1)

As a modern person, An Rou only knows which restaurants are good, but she doesn't know a single chef.

In the Soul Realm, on the other hand, she had no memory of ever eating out. But in her opinion, An Younian was an absolute master chef. The meals he prepared for her were as delicious as any restaurant.

He was born with a high culinary talent.

Like An Rou, this farm-raised kid had barely ever eaten out, yet he could cook everything from seafood noodles to scallion-fried fish to braised duck. When An Rou asked him how he'd learned it, An Younian looked bewildered.

In his opinion, once the name of a dish appears, he will naturally know how to cook it.

For example, An Rou asked him to make pickled fish, which An Younian had never made before, but he nodded repeatedly when he heard the name.

"Pickled fish, I know how to make it. Rourou, keep it here, Daddy will make it for you to try."

He took the pickled cabbage and sea bass An Rou had brought him, first cutting the pickled cabbage and soaking it in water, then neatly slicing, filleting, and marinating the fish. His knife skills were superb, carving the entire fish from head to tail without much residual meat, and the bones were intact.

An Rou was amazed.

Ordinary players have no chance to appreciate the artistic cooking skills of an ordinary NPC.

An Rou unconsciously gave her father a Michelin star award. With such excellent craftsmanship, it was such a waste to have only been selling buns for over a decade.

Making pickled fish isn't complicated; the key techniques lie in preparing the ingredients and frying the base. An Younian's movements are fluid and seamless, and in less than half an hour, with the sizzling sound of oil pouring, a pot of pickled fish is steaming hot.

An Rou hadn't eaten early and was already hungry, so she quickly picked up a piece. The sea bass had few bones and was smooth and tender. Paired with the spicy and slightly numbing sour soup, it instantly transported An Rou back to the pickled fish restaurant she remembered.

At this moment, the experience since entering the game seemed like a dream.

An Rou's heart skipped a beat and she came to her senses.

She didn't want to break her beautiful dream and return to the stark and terrible real world.

"Dad, this is delicious! Is this really your first time making this?"

"Of course, would Dad lie to you?" An Younian said with a smile, taking out a steamed bun from the steamer. "Eat it with the steamed bun, be careful of the spiciness."

An Rou took the steamed bun and put it directly into the fish soup. Seeing this, An Younian said hurriedly: "It's too salty, too salty, Rourou."

"It's not salty. I like to soak rice in the sauerkraut fish soup the most." An Rou said.

An Younian was startled: "Rou Rou, have you ever eaten this dish?"

He had never made it before, nor had he taken Anrou to eat it elsewhere. However, his daughter had been away from home for a few days, and perhaps she had eaten it outside and she couldn't forget it.

"Yes, I had it outside once." An Rou remained calm.

She loved pickled fish the most, and she used to take advantage of her weekly grocery shopping trips to go from the farm to the pickled fish restaurant. Because she loved it so much, she found the recipe online and tried to copy it, but even after memorizing it, the results were less than satisfactory.

Originally, An Rou had intended for An Younian to follow the recipe she'd memorized, but he followed it exactly as it was, and the taste was even better than at the restaurant. It seemed the game's designers had truly ingrained all the recipes into An Younian's head.

An Younian is an NPC, an NPC is a procedure, and a procedure represents a consistent standard of execution. An Rou is certain that even if An Younian makes the same dish a hundred times, the taste will remain the same.

Unless there is a difference in the ingredients.

An Rou even wanted to recruit An Younian to be the head chef of Fuxiang Restaurant. If the food tasted good and the quality was stable, and they lowered the prices and improved their service, the restaurant wouldn't have to worry about lacking customers.

However, she suppressed the urge.

No matter what, she couldn't drag An Younian into the business she had designed. In other words, he and the bun shop had to be separated from the Fuxiang Restaurant, the Hongyun Bathhouse, and even the hair salon.

"Dad." An Rou took out the prepared contract, "I need you to sign something."

"What?" An Younian leaned over to take a look.

An Rou covered the contents of the contract, revealing only the signature: "Just sign it. You don't trust me anymore, do you?"

"Okay, okay, Dad will sign it."

An Younian picked up the brush he used for bookkeeping and signed his name neatly, then pressed his red handprint on each page. A flash of white light flashed across the contract, and his eyes widened.

"Rou Rou, you...you..."

He became the owner of the bun shop and the small Western-style building.

Fortunately, Sister Qiao and Sister Hong are not employees of the bun shop, otherwise they would have discovered at this moment that the boss had changed.

An Rou warned, "Dad, don't let anyone else know about this. Just keep it between you and me, okay?"

An Younian didn't answer immediately. He said helplessly, "Rou Rou, why are you doing this? You bought the shop and the house. Even if Dad keeps them, he will pass them on to you sooner or later! Why bother with all this trouble?"

An Rou hissed, "Don't show off your wealth. I'm too rich. What if I get targeted by bad guys? Dad, just help me share some of the burden. Promise me."

This reason made An Younian unable to refuse. "Okay, don't worry, Dad won't tell anyone."

"Qiaojie doesn't want to tell me either?" An Rou winked playfully.

An Younian's face flushed, and he said seriously, "I won't tell you."

He paused and asked cautiously, "Rou Rou, do you have any objection?"

An Rou burst out laughing: "Why would I object to this? Dad, I'm going to be very busy from now on, running back and forth between the farm and town, and I may not be able to go home often. I'm so happy to have someone to accompany you more!"

An Younian felt mixed emotions and sighed, "Alas, it's Dad's fault that Rourou has to suffer so much."

“It’s useless!”

An Rou exclaimed exaggeratedly, "It's so useful! I even want to borrow Dad for the whole day! The food at Fuxiang Restaurant is terrible. I want Dad to be the temporary chef for lunch and dinner today to see if I can change the customers' impression."

-

As the chef of Fuxiang Restaurant, Li Kangfu looked very unhappy.

The sudden arrival of the young new owner of the restaurant startled everyone. They had already been discussing that the restaurant would be laid off sooner or later, so they all decided to make more money before An Rou arrived.

Unexpectedly, An Rou brought no one but a middle-aged fat man. Without opening the kitchen, she specifically told him not to cook today and let the fat man cook alone.

This is an example for him. We need to change the chef!

Li Kangfu couldn't contain his anger for a long time, "Boss An, the restaurant's poor business isn't just due to the food. Why are you targeting me?! Taking kickbacks from meat and vegetables and passing off inferior goods as good ones was Old Huang's doing. Proposing tea fees and overtime pay was Shopkeeper Jin's idea. He even secretly reprinted the menu and raised the prices by 30%!"

An Rou raised her eyebrows.

Wow, I couldn't help but jump out so quickly.

She made a big fuss and asked Shopkeeper Jin to gather everyone, and she also deliberately concealed An Younian's identity and the fact that he was the temporary chef. It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea. Unexpectedly, it really worked wonders.

Everyone gasped when they heard Li Kangfu's words, especially Shopkeeper Jin and Old Huang, whose knees felt like they were filled with lead and were about to collapse.

They couldn't lie, which meant they couldn't deny what Li Kangfu said, so they couldn't utter a single word in defense and could only beg for mercy.

There's just not much sincerity.

An Rou sneered, "It seems that what Chef Li said is true. You should know that just for embezzling money, I can have the police come and arrest you!"

Old Huang also sneered: "You can give it a try, I'm the mayor's cousin!"

"Oh?" An Rou glanced at him. "Then did you know that I'm Miss Heng's best friend? Since you're familiar with the mayor, you must also know how much Miss Heng abides by the laws of Lengbing City. Will she allow you to violate the rules of Lengbing City in her father's name?"

Old Huang's smile disappeared.

An Rou continued: "I want to see, who is closer to the mayor, you or Miss Heng."

Old Huang knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly: "Boss An, I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that! I'm going to give up all that money! And they, everyone in the store got a share of hush money, they have to give it up too!"

Being a bird in a cage without knowing it, under the influence of the game mechanism, "silencing" is simply nonsense.

No one could stand still now, and everyone fell to their knees, scrambling to take out the money they had embezzled. There were piles of gold coins on the ground, some large and some small, but the heaviest piles belonged to Shopkeeper Jin, Old Huang, and Li Kangfu.

A few guys must have spent all their money and couldn't come up with much. They kept saying, "Boss, just deduct it from my salary. Even if it's for half a year, I'll accept it!"

An Rou didn't hesitate to put the gold coins into her account one by one. It wasn't much, not even a fraction of her balance. She guessed that the restaurant's business was really bad, and they couldn't take in much money even if they wanted to.

The root of the problem lies in the business strategy initially set by the mayor.

An Rou left them all in the living room and pointed at Li Kangfu alone: ​​"You, come in with me."

Take him and An Younian into the kitchen.

"Don't worry, Uncle Nian isn't here to replace you. Considering your merits in redeeming your sins, I'll give you a chance." An Rou said, "Learn a dish from Uncle Nian today. As long as you can cook it 90% similarly, you can stay in the restaurant. If you can do it 100%, I'll even give you a raise."

The name "Uncle Nian" was something An Rou had discussed with An Younian in advance, to conceal An Rou's father's identity and to simplify his relationship with Fuxiang Restaurant. With only one body left on the farm, and time running out, An Rou didn't have time to search for a skilled chef, so this was the only solution.

Li Kangfu's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Many chefs wouldn't blame their food if it didn't taste good. Having been a chef for twenty years, he was confident in his skills. So, to Li Kangfu, this was a complete blessing.

"Uncle Nian, I leave it to you." This address was too unfamiliar, and there was a hint of apology in An Rou's tone.

An Younian patted his chest and smiled, "Don't worry, leave it to me."

An Rou returned to the living room and sat down opposite the people who had been afraid to stand up.

She glanced at them coldly and said calmly, "Alright, I'm not interested in settling scores later. Since you all have a repentant heart, I only ask you one question—

"From now on, can you behave yourself and do your part?"

The guys all looked at Manager Jin and Old Huang at the same time.

An Rou's calm eyes also fell on Lao Huang.

To be fair, she didn't want to keep someone like Old Huang, who was cunning and used his power to bully others. But on the other hand, as long as he was honest and hardworking, given his age and status as the mayor's cousin, he was most suitable for purchasing work.

As for Shopkeeper Jin, he has a mole next to his nose, and looks like a shrewd and selfish lawyer, which makes him suitable to be a shopkeeper.

As expected, Shopkeeper Jin was the first to speak: "Yes! Boss An, I will definitely turn over a new leaf and become a new man!"

Lao Huang followed up with, "I, I, I, I promise too!"

The other guys then spoke up and patted their chests.

An Rou pulled a piece of paper from her sleeve and threw it over: "Everyone, read it together. Old Huang, take the lead."

"Why!"

Old Huang picked up the paper and was surprised to see what was written on it.

An Rou looked at him coldly: "Why, you can't read?"

"If you can read, you can." Old Huang quickly read out, "Employee Rules. First, regarding Boss An Rou and all the people, shops, and things related to her, I promise that under no circumstances will I harbor any evil thoughts or do anything that would harm their interests or personal safety."

Now, the others looked at each other in bewilderment. They had lived in Zhongsu Town for half their lives and had never encountered such a strange rule.

"Secondly, if I encounter anything related to Boss An Rou, or anyone or any of the stores associated with her, I promise to notify Boss An Rou immediately."

"Third, under no circumstances will I disclose the employee code of conduct and its contents to anyone in any way."

If there were players present, they would probably be more shocked than the NPCs when they heard such employee rules.

An Rou had mastered the "NPCs can't lie" rule. With just a piece of paper and three rules, she was able to keep all the restaurant employees obedient. Even if they had bad intentions, they wouldn't dare act on them.

It can even be said that the four words "do not have evil thoughts" are enough to make them start to condemn themselves the moment they have the thought.

Once wasn't enough, so An Rou had Lao Huang lead everyone in reciting it three times before she collected the paper with satisfaction. Of course, something that exposed one's identity couldn't be circulated.

An Rou finally showed her first gentle smile to the employees: "I know why you all want to stay. The monthly salary offered by Fuxiang Restaurant is 20% higher than that of nearby competitors."

Seeing the worry on their faces, An Rou shook her head and said, "Don't worry, I won't cut your wages. On the contrary, if you perform well, I'll give you a raise. Of course, the premise is that the restaurant business picks up."

Shopkeeper Jin said with a bitter face: "Boss An, you know the reputation of our restaurant. It is very difficult to turn a loss into a profit."

"Do you think I'm doing charity to support you guys?" An Rou said to him bluntly, "Don't worry, I have my own way."