“The scrambled eggs and braised fish are ready.” Yao Tianlan hurried out carrying a tray, placing the dishes before the young couple.

The couple had bought steamed buns outside. Only after Yao Tianlan left did they take the buns out of their basket.

“It’s all your fault. I told you I could make scrambled eggs at home. Sixteen wen! With that money, we could’ve bought half a bowl of braised pork. And this braised fish—don’t you eat fish often enough? Why did you have to order fish?” the young Fulang grumbled.

“The braised fish here is exceptionally good—not a hint of fishiness. The broth dipped with steamed buns is divine. And these scrambled eggs are tender, different from how we make them at home. Try some first.” The man being scolded didn’t get angry but chuckled, picking up chopsticks to serve his Fulang a piece of tender fish belly.

“Hmph, you’re just good with words.” He took a bite. The braised fish was indeed fresh and savory, the sauce delicious—a flavor he’d never tasted before.

“Well? Is it good?” the man asked eagerly.

“It’s okay.” The young Fulang picked up a piece of scrambled egg and offered it to his man. “You eat too, stop just talking. We don’t come here often.”

“Mm, alright.” The man ate the scrambled eggs. They were cooked tender, with the edges just slightly firm and chewy. Each bite was fragrant and completely free of any fishy taste.

“These scrambled eggs are especially delicious this time. You try some.”

The young Fulang nodded and took a bite. The tender, fragrant eggs were exactly to his taste.

“No wonder they charge that price,” the young Fulang marveled. “I could never cook them like this at home.”

“They rely on their craft to make a living. If we could replicate it, that wouldn’t do!”

“True enough.”

【Ding! Earned genuine praise from two people again!】

Ji Rongxia exclaimed in surprise to the system in her mind: “Wow, this task doesn’t seem too difficult after all.”

“Your current patrons aren’t particularly picky,” the Cooking God System reminded him.

“I know. Anyone who comes to eat here isn’t going to be overly demanding. I know the tasks will get harder, but I’m happy right now!” Ji Rongxia never worried about things that hadn’t happened yet. Being happy in the present was enough.

Cooking God System: “Host, you’ve made significant progress learning characters with your partner these evenings.”

He’d even mastered the phrase “never too picky about food.”

Ji Rongxia lifted his chin with a hint of pride: “Of course.”

Meanwhile, Wei Liangce and Mi Kangping had polished off most of their meal and consumed a fair amount of wine. Mi Kangping suggested, “I’ll order some more dishes and have them cooked quickly. We can take them with us after we finish eating.”

“Alright.” Wei Liangce nodded.

Mi Kangping glanced around. Yao Tianlan had gone to the kitchen to fetch more dishes, so he walked straight to the counter and said to Gu Tangjin, “Settle the bill.”

“The dishes come to one hundred and twenty-five coins. Drinks are separate—one jar of yellow wine at six coins.” Gu Tangjin didn’t consult the ledger, glancing at the customers before stating the total.

Mi Kangping knew the price by heart. Seeing Gu Tangjin’s calculation was correct, he said, “Add three bowls of scrambled eggs, two bowls of braised pork, two bowls of chicken with cornelian cherries, one bowl of meatball stew with Chinese cabbage, two braised fish, three bowls of stir-fried mugwort, two jars of yellow wine, and one jar of rice wine. We’ll take it to go.”

“Alright. Three bowls of scrambled eggs: forty-eight wen. Two bowls of braised pork: sixty wen. Two bowls of cornelian-stewed chicken: sixty wen. Meatballs stewed with Chinese cabbage: thirty wen. Two braised fish: eighty wen. Three bowls of stir-fried mugwort: thirty wen. Since you’re taking it away, we’ll wrap it in lotus leaves, oil paper, and bamboo tubes. Total for the dishes: 308 wen. Lotus leaves, oil paper, and bamboo tubes: 2 wen. Yellow wine: 6 wen per jar. Rice wine: 4 wen per jar. Total: 2 taels 6 wen, plus 35 wen.” Gu Tangjin didn’t even use an abacus, calculating mentally as he spoke.

Mi Kangping’s eyes lit up. “Brother, you sure do add up numbers fast.”

His own accountant hadn’t even sorted it out yet.

He promptly handed over the silver.

“No problem. We sell these dishes every day—I’ve got it down pat.” Gu Tangjin chuckled modestly. “Just give me a moment.”

“Alright.” Mi Kangping returned to his meal.

Yao Tianlan listened as Gu Tangjin repeated the dish names to her. It took two rounds for her to memorize them all. She wondered why these two ordered so many dishes, but more business was certainly welcome. She hurried to the back kitchen.

Upon hearing she could make scrambled eggs again, Ji Rongxia cheered inwardly, happily cracking open the eggs.

This time, the system only corrected him twice before Ji Rongxia successfully made a passable plate of scrambled eggs!

Since the food was for takeout, each dish was wrapped in a large lotus leaf, then in oil paper. Dishes with broth were wrapped dry in lotus leaf and oil paper, while the broth was poured into thick bamboo tubes. The oil-paper-wrapped dishes were tied together into bundles for easy carrying, and the bamboo tubes holding broth were placed into woven hemp nets, making them portable too.

Yao Tianlan made two trips to carry all the dishes out.

Seeing everything neatly packed and ready to carry, Wei Liangce and Mi Kangping were both satisfied. They grabbed the hemp ropes and left.

The two went out to buy some steamed buns, plain noodles, and flatbreads, then stopped at Liu’s Pastry Shop for some desserts.

One pound of sesame candy, two pounds of rice cakes, three pounds of dried apricots, and two pounds of roasted melon seeds.

With such a rare large order, Liu Dalang carefully wrapped everything for them.

“Here you go, gentlemen. Our pastries are freshly made daily—they’re delicious.”

“If they’re good, I’ll come back tomorrow,” Wei Liangce said casually.

They planned to rest for two days before setting off again. This next leg would take them twenty days by boat, sailing south to Jiangnan. For this stopover, they needed to stock up on food and supplies, plus bring treats for the brothers guarding the cargo ship. Otherwise, those on watch would feel shortchanged this time.

As the leader, Wei Liangce was quite generous.

“Well then, you must be coming from Gu’s Eatery? Their breakfast is superb—have you tried their Pan-fried buns and crumbly pancakes? They’re quite tasty. If you come by tomorrow, you should give them a try.” Liu Dalang smiled warmly upon seeing the familiar oil-paper wrappings they carried.

“I’ve never tried them. I’ll stop by tomorrow.” Wei Liangce perked up at the mention. Despite traveling far and wide all these years, he’d never encountered these pan-fried buns or crumbly pancakes!

Liu Dalang: “Then you’d better come early. They set up around the fifth quarter of the hour of Mao, and everything sells out within a stick of incense. Come too late, and you’ll miss out.”

Liu Dalang’s words piqued Mi Kangping’s curiosity, too. What kind of pancakes could sell out in the time it takes to burn a stick of incense?!

“I’ll definitely come early tomorrow!” Wei Liangce handed over the pastry money and said briskly.

Gu’s Eatery stayed busy until the fifth hour of the day, before the crowd of diners slowly thinned out. Ji Rongxia sold another six portions of scrambled eggs and received five genuine compliments.

He calculated in his mind: two plus two plus five more—that made nine compliments now!!!

“I just need to sell nine more portions of scrambled eggs and get one more genuine compliment,” Ji Rongxia rubbed his hands together as he addressed the system. He felt energized and not the least bit tired.

“Alright, let’s eat first.” Gu Tangjin entered the kitchen to find his Fulang ‘spacing out’.

He didn’t need to guess—his Fulang was ‘talking’ to that little brat again.

“Oh, right, let’s eat.” Ji Rongxia snapped back to reality. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he turned to Gu Chuncai. “Father, I’ll just whip up something simple for lunch. Is that alright?”

That way, he could make scrambled eggs. He wondered if he could earn genuine praise from his parents and Tangjin. Though these eggs wouldn’t be sold and probably wouldn’t count toward his tasks, he was eager to find out. He hoped the system might give him a hint.

“Sure.” Gu Chuncai had originally planned to stir-fry two dishes for lunch. Most customers who had leftovers at their eatery would pack them up to take home. Their family’s midday meal always had to be freshly prepared, which was quite a hassle. Hearing Xia-ger wanted to cook, he headed to the well in the courtyard to wash his hands. Yao Tianlan saw the two kids gathering together again and didn’t join them. Smiling, she carried a basin of dirty dishes out to the courtyard, asking the old man to find a shady spot to keep her company while she washed them slowly.

“I’m still one person short.” Ji Rongxia held up one finger, his face begging for praise.

Gu Tangjin frowned in confusion. “What person?”

“I didn’t tell you?!” Ji Rongxia exclaimed in surprise. “Oh, right! I didn’t mention it when we passed people on the way to my house. With all that chaos at home, my mind was a mess. I completely forgot to tell you after we got back!”

Ji Rongxia gave his head a light pat.

“It’s just that I got another job. If I sell twenty servings of scrambled eggs and get ten genuine compliments, I can get eggs—the kind that hatch into chicks!” Ji Rongxia hurried to explain.

“Really?” Gu Tangjin exclaimed, delighted.

“You don’t need to tell me about every single task from now on. Focus on the kitchen duties—there are plenty of tasks to handle. You can’t possibly find time to tell me about every single one.” Gu Tangjin smiled as she reached out to rub the spot on his forehead that he’d patted red. Xia-ger really was hard on himself.

“But weren’t you going to farm land and manage an estate for me? To supply me with meat and vegetables? I just want you to know what we have.” Ji Rongxia glared at him. “I’m going to tell you. What, do you find me annoying? Think I talk too much?”

“Not at all! I was just worried you’d find it bothersome.” Gu Tangjin hastily apologized. “My mistake, I was thinking out of turn.”

“Now we’re talking.” Ji Rongxia rolled up his sleeves. “Help me tend the fire. I’m going to fry some eggs for you and your parents, plus stir-fry green garlic with pork. “

He planned to use the pork leg from the system to stir-fry the green garlic. Having good ingredients just sitting there without the family getting to enjoy them? That wouldn’t do!

Fresh pork leg sliced thinly, stir-fried with tender, vibrant green garlic. He could sneak in a tiny bit of chili pepper, making it salty and spicy. The flavor was bound to be spot-on.

Slurp.

Just imagining it made Ji Rongxia’s mouth water.

Gu Tangjin responded, “Coming right up, Chef Ji. I’ll tend the fire for you.”

Ji Rongxia flushed. He wasn’t exactly a chef yet.

“Smooth talker!” Ji Rongxia snorted, though he couldn’t suppress the smile spreading across his face. With practiced ease, he stir-fried a golden batch of scrambled eggs.

Just as he scooped the eggs onto a plate, the familiar system tone chimed.

【Ding! Received genuine praise from four individuals.】

【Mission nearly complete. Host, keep up the good work.】

“Huh? Where did these compliments come from?” Ji Rongxia was startled.

“Host, you forgot—three servings of scrambled eggs were packed to go. The system detected those packed eggs being consumed, so your scrambled eggs received four genuine compliments.”

Ji Rongxia exclaimed in astonishment, “Can you actually put eyes in the dishes I cook? To see from so far away—that’s incredible!”

Cooking God System: “…”

Host’s interpretation is terrifying!