“The little chef said that once I finish writing the menu, he’ll give us a new set of tables!” Ji Rongxia turned to Gu Tangjin and said, “The new tables can calm the mind and stimulate the appetite.”

“Tables can actually have that kind of effect?” Gu Tangjin asked in surprise.

Ji Rongxia clenched his fist and waved it, saying enthusiastically, “Yeah! I’ve never seen anything like it either. Let’s get moving—we need to finalize the menu first.”

Gu Tangjin immediately reassured him, “Don’t rush. We still need to take our time thinking this through. Once you’ve decided, I’ll go discuss the daily vegetable and meat deliveries with the vendors. Back and forth, it’ll take a day or two anyway. Just think it over carefully—no need to hurry.”

“Don’t rush into a decision just for the reward. Changing the menu is a big deal, after all.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything reckless,” Ji Rongxia replied.

“By the way, since we’re changing the menu, why don’t we change the shop’s name too?” Gu Tangjin suggested.

Ji Rongxia furrowed his brow slightly and asked in confusion, “Change the shop’s name? Why? ‘Gu Family Eatery’ is fine. You can tell right away that it’s our family’s place.”

Gu Tangjin shook his head gently. “As you said yourself, ‘Gu Family Eatery’ was appropriate before. But now that you’re the head chef, it doesn’t quite fit anymore. Actually, Father quietly mentioned this to me after we got back yesterday. He didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up with you himself, so he asked me to talk to you about it and see if you’d be willing to come up with a new name.”

“Tangjin, you’re acting like a spendthrift—you’re squandering the family fortune on me,” Ji Rongxia said with a smile as he leaned in close to Gu Tangjin.

Gu Tangjin was at a loss for words—was he really a wastrel just for doing this?

“Just because I asked you to change your name, how does that make me a spendthrift? Handing the family fortune over to my own Fulang—it sounds like the meat’s just rotting in the pot.”

Ji Rongxia: “That may be true, but I still want to wait a little longer.”

Ji Rongxia’s smile faded, and he spoke earnestly: “This is the restaurant my parents worked so hard to save up for. Even though they’re willing to let me manage it, and the head chef can transfer ownership to me, I’d like to wait until I’m actually in charge of the kitchen before changing the name. I haven’t done anything yet, and to claim the restaurant as my own already—it just doesn’t feel right.”

Ji Rongxia was always a bit stubborn. You wouldn’t notice it in everyday life, but it would come out when faced with a situation—like now. His parents and cousin didn’t care, but he did!

He had to earn at least a few hundred taels of silver for the restaurant and build up a reputation first. Only after he was truly in charge of the kitchen should he change the name.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you.” Seeing his persistence, Gu Tangjin reluctantly backed down.

“Alright, let’s get back to the menu. Tangjin, I’ll do the talking—you just write down everything I say.” Ji Rongxia patted Gu Tangjin on the shoulder and pushed him behind the counter.

Gu Tangjin picked up a pen. “Go ahead. I’m taking notes.”

Before Ji Rongxia could say a word, the Cooking God System chimed in: “Host, Mr. Gu and Ms. Yao overheard your conversation just now. They’ve left satisfied and are in the kitchen preparing a delicious meal for you.”

“Huh? When did Mom and Dad get here?” Ji Rongxia hadn’t expected his parents to be up so early.

The Cooking God System quickly explained, “While you were discussing the restaurant’s name. Don’t worry—they didn’t hear anything about the table.” 

“Well, that’s a relief,” Ji Rongxia said, feeling reassured.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Gu Tangjin asked, still holding his brush.

Ji Rongxia tiptoed closer to Gu Tangjin and whispered in his ear, “Mom and Dad were listening to us just now. They’ve gone to the kitchen to make breakfast for us. I didn’t even notice how early they got up. Usually, I’d definitely notice if they were up this early.”

Gu Tangjin thought for a moment and said, “Mom and Dad have been handling all the work at the shop these past few days. They’ve probably been getting up early every day, so maybe they just couldn’t sleep last night.”

Ji Rongxia nodded. “That makes sense.”

“But it took so much effort to get them used to sleeping in a little longer. We really shouldn’t let them work so hard from now on. They’re getting older—they’re just not as strong as they used to be. If we don’t take good care of them now, they’ll surely suffer later on.”

Ji Rongxia turned to the matter at hand: “Um… first off, I want to make some shrimp cakes.”

“Once the shrimp filling is mixed, wrap it in dough and pan-fry it on a griddle—it’s bound to taste good. Shrimp isn’t expensive, but peeling them is a bit of a hassle.”

Gu Tangjin suggested, “That’s easy. I’ll go ask the Liu and Guan families if they’d be willing to help us peel the shrimp. Twenty shrimp for one wen. Guan Xiaomei and the others will definitely be happy to do it.”

“Is that an option? Alright, let’s go with that. The shrimp patties will need pork fat and bamboo shoots for the filling, plus flour and oil. At the very least, we’ll have to sell them for ten wen each.” Ji Rongxia did the math; the biggest expense would be the pork fat, but the rest wasn’t too bad.

Gu Tangjin wrote “ten wen” next to the freshly written “fresh shrimp patties.”

“Next, I’d like to make stir-fried shredded pork. Since we don’t have fish maw and chili yet, let’s use chili-infused oil instead and make a simple spicy shredded pork dish. Since we’re using lean pork, it’ll be a bit cheaper—let’s put down thirty-five wen.”

Gu Tangjin quickly jotted down “Spicy Shredded Pork, 35 wen.”

Ji Rongxia suddenly remembered his little magic trick that could “turn something ordinary into something extraordinary”: “Add rice porridge to the list. I make great porridge, so we have to include it. We’ll sell whatever kind of rice porridge we have on hand—we can just rotate the varieties later.”

Gu Tangjin asked as he wrote, “Hot rice porridge—eight wen a bowl. How about that?”

“Sounds good. Since I’m cooking the porridge myself, I can’t sell it too cheaply,” Ji Rongxia nodded repeatedly.

Ji Rongxia stroked his chin and said, “Also, let’s come up with more varieties for the braised meat. Braised pig’s head is delicious—let’s add that to the menu. If we can get pig’s heads from Butcher Ye, we’ll make it; if not, we won’t.”

Gu Tangjin replied, “Alright, I’ll make a note of that.”

Ji Rongxia added, “Let’s add some braised duck to the braised meats, too. Duck tastes pretty good.” 

“Got it, we’ll braise some duck.” Gu Tangjin quickly jotted it down.

Ji Rongxia tried to recall the cooking techniques he’d learned and suddenly said, “And scrambled eggs—I have a recipe for super-delicious scrambled eggs. I haven’t practiced it much, but we can make that too. We might not have enough eggs, though, so we’ll just make it whenever we have some.”

Gu Tangjin: “Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for you from now on.”

Ji Rongxia added, “Let’s add Koushui Chicken too. I’ll tweak the sauce—use less chili—and try substituting some of the chili oil with Chinese bayberries. Not sure how it’ll taste, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“Just call it ‘Koushui chicken’?” Gu Tangjin paused in his movements and asked.

Ji Rongxia replied without hesitation, “Yes, let’s call it ‘Koushui chicken.’ It’s a great name.”

“Alright, let’s go with that name.” Gu Tangjin jotted it down. “One chicken should make about two or three servings of Koushui chicken. How about selling it for forty wen per plate?”

Ji Rongxia nodded repeatedly. “Sounds good.”

“Pot-Battered Pork requires deep-frying. It’s delicious, but it uses too much oil. We’ll save that for later.”

Ji Rongxia said, “We’ll make taro-braised pork once the taro plants are ready. Let’s just write down this much for now.”

“Keep making the braised pork and braised fish you mentioned earlier. The meatball soup stays the same, and you have your little trick for making the stir-fried greens taste good—no need to change that. So our menu will be: Fresh Shrimp Meat Cakes, Spicy Stir-Fried Pork Strips, Koushui chicken, Braised Pork, Braised Vegetables, Rice Porridge, Scrambled Eggs, Braised Pork, Braised Fish, Meatball Soup, and Stir-Fried Greens. Do you see any problems with this?”

Ji Rongxia listened and couldn’t find any flaws: “No, it’s fine.” For their small eatery, being able to prepare a dozen or so dishes was already quite good. Any more than that, and they wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Gu Tangjin nodded: “Then let’s settle on that.” 

Ji Rongxia: “Alright.”

As soon as Ji Rongxia finished speaking, he heard a familiar notification sound.

【 Ding, Random Restaurant Renovation Quest: Design the restaurant menu. Completed.】

【 Mission Reward: Ten wooden tables with calming and appetite-stimulating properties (can be crafted to resemble ordinary wooden tables).】

【Do you wish to distribute them?】

“Hey! Little Master, don’t distribute them right away—I can’t possibly hide that many tables,” Ji Rongxia hurriedly said. “Wait a few days, at least let me figure out a way to cover this up.”

The Cooking God System replied, “Host, there’s no need to panic. I can recycle the old tables and dispose of them safely, and I can also alter the appearance of the reward tables to match the original wooden tables.”

Ji Rongxia’s eyes widened. Just how many more tricks up his sleeve did Little Master have that he couldn’t even imagine?

“Is that even possible?” Ji Rongxia asked in astonishment.

A hint of pride crept into the Cooking God System’s electronic voice: “Of course. I am a high-tech system. Host, all you need to do is touch the wooden table and wait a moment, and I’ll complete the replacement.”

“That’s amazing—it’s like magic,” Ji Rongxia marveled, then turned to Tangjin and said, “The young chef can swap out the table out of thin air—we can do it right now!”

Ji Rongxia made it sound simple, but Gu Tangjin understood perfectly. Gu Tangjin: “It really is like magic.”

“Right? That’s exactly what I thought. How about we swap it out now?” Ji Rongxia asked. Gu Tangjin was eager to see what this “magic” looked like: “Let’s swap it out right now.”

Ji Rongxia was eager to see it too. He rubbed his hands together and walked over to the wooden table closest to the cabinet. He reached out and touched the slightly worn table. Ji Rongxia felt a faint warmth at his fingertips.

【 Swapping in progress…】

【 Replacement successful!】

“That fast? It’s already done?” Ji Rongxia withdrew his hand and examined the wooden table before him, but he couldn’t find any difference between it and the previous one—it was exactly the same!!!

Gu Tangjin also reached out to touch the table: “Has this table been replaced?”

The Cooking God System said with a touch of pride, “It’s already been replaced. I’ve safely processed the old wooden table into firewood and secretly placed it in the woodpile.”

It really is a thrifty and resourceful system.

Ji Rongxia was taken aback: “Be careful, though. Mom and Dad are still cooking in the kitchen.”

Cooking God System: “Don’t worry, Host. I’m very careful. You have so much firewood; no one will notice if I secretly stash a little bit.” Ji Rongxia blinked and looked at Gu Tangjin, saying, “The little chef dismantled the old table into firewood and put it in the kitchen.”

Gu Tangjin：“……”

Gu Tangjin: “The little chef is truly thrifty.”

There were a total of eight tables in the restaurant’s main hall. Ji Rongxia had replaced them all, yet there were still two tables left over.

“Oh, I completely forgot our restaurant only has eight tables.” Ji Rongxia stood with his hands on his hips, looking a bit flustered. The numbers just didn’t add up!

The Cooking God System suggested, “Host, you could add two small tables in the corner and say your father and older brother sent them to you.”

“That lie would be exposed the moment they cross paths,” Ji Rongxia replied.

The Cooking God System wasn’t just making a random suggestion; it had a basis for it: “Host, given your brother and Mr. Gu’s personalities, they won’t bring up this topic anytime soon. You can get away with it.”

Ji Rongxia waved his hand to decline: “I told my dad and brother I wanted two small tables to put in the corner of the restaurant. Once they’re done, you can swap them out, then that’ll work better. Could you store the remaining tables for a few days?”

“A few days isn’t a big deal; there’s no need to tell such a lie.” Cooking God System: “Alright, I’ll do as the host says.”

Ji Rongxia breathed a sigh of relief and discussed with Gu Tangjin how to handle the remaining two tables; Gu Tangjin had no objections. Gu Tangjin carefully put away the piece of paper with the menu written on it: “Let’s go. Dad must have finished cooking by now. Let’s go eat.”

“Sure.”

Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin returned to the courtyard.

Yao Tianlan saw them come out and said with a smile, “I see you’ve saved some fruit juice. Let’s have that today. Your father made stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots and warmed up the leftover steamed buns from yesterday.”

Ji Rongxia scratched his cheek and said, “I was actually thinking of finalizing the menu first, then coming back to cook.”

“We’re not too old to manage on our own—we don’t need to wait for you to make breakfast. By the way, have you finalized the menu?” Gu Chuncai asked as he brought out the dishes. Ji Rongxia: “It’s all set!”

Gu Tangjin pulled out the piece of paper and said, “We have shrimp meat patties, spicy stir-fried shredded pork, Koushui chicken, braised pork, braised vegetarian dishes, congee, scrambled eggs, braised pork belly, braised fish, meatball soup, and stir-fried greens. For the braised pork, we want to add braised pig’s head and braised duck meat.”

“Shrimp is cheap and tasty, so we thought we’d give it a try. We can give some wen to Guan Xiaomei and the others to help peel the shrimp. For the chili in the Koushui Chicken, I plan to use some chili peppers and a bit of Chinese bayberry.” Ji Rongxia added from the side.

Seeing the young couple organizing everything so efficiently, Yao Tianlan smiled and said, “Good, all good. I haven’t tried those fresh shrimp cakes yet—is that another new dish Xia-ger has come up with? I’ll have to give it a good taste once it’s ready.”

“Mm-hmm, I’ll give some to Mother first,” Ji Rongxia said, sweetly coaxing his mother.

Gu Chuncai nodded as well. After getting up, they hadn’t seen Tangjin or Xia-ger in the courtyard and had grown a bit worried, so they’d gone to the restaurant’s main hall, where they’d just overheard the two discussing the matter of renaming the restaurant.

Xia-ger was still a bit too formal, but it was a good thing he had his own ideas.

Let him get started first. Once Tangjin and Xia-ger have made a name for themselves, changing the restaurant’s name will be perfectly justified.

After the family had breakfast, Gu Tangjin didn’t rush off to find the vendors who supplied the restaurant with vegetables and meat. Instead, he first soaked the rice seeds—the water temperature couldn’t be too high, nor could he use cold water.

Normally, the seeds should have been sun-dried first, but since the seeds provided by the system were free of any diseases and each one was plump and healthy, Gu Tangjin skipped that step.

The book stated that the seeds should be soaked for three days, so Gu Tangjin planned to keep a close eye on them to see exactly how long they needed to soak.

Over the next few days, they would be able to go to the paddy fields to till the soil. Once the fields were prepared, they would plant the seeds and wait until the seedlings grew to about the length of a palm before transplanting them.

After soaking the seeds, he went to find the vendor who supplied vegetables and meat to the eatery to discuss their future orders.

When Fisherman Wang heard they wanted shrimp, he generously let Gu Tangjin take some of the river shrimp he’d caught that day to eat. A whole basket of shrimp cost Gu Tangjin only ten wen.

Fisherman Wang was quite pleased: “Shrimp are a tricky thing. People with money can eat them, but those without won’t get full on them. They’re hard to cook without seasoning, so they’re tough to sell. If you find someone who really loves them, you can get a good price. Wealthy families buy some, and some merchants buy them up for just a few wen, dry them, grind them into powder, add a bit of salt, and resell them—but at the end of the day, they’re still hard to sell. I get a headache just casting a net to catch river shrimp. If you’ll take them, that’d be great. Just hold onto the basket for now. You can return it to me tomorrow when I come to deliver the fish.”

Gu Tangjin nodded in agreement and set off back home, carrying the large basket of shrimp.

Seeing so many fresh shrimp, Ji Rongxia immediately exclaimed with delight, “We’ve got them today! Let’s try making some fresh shrimp patties for lunch!”