Gu Tangjin sped up his washing, changed into clean clothes and cloth shoes, and walked out briskly.

He took a couple of steps toward the kitchen before noticing that Xia-ger’s usually straight back had slumped. Gu Tangjin felt a pang of worry.

Hearing Gu Tangjin’s footsteps, Ji Rongxia seemed to perk up a bit. He turned his head just as Gu Tangjin strode in. Ji Rongxia stood up with a beaming smile, eager to whisper to Gu Tangjin that he’d gotten his hands on a lot of great stuff today!

He also wanted to show him the fruits of his and his parents’ hard work. Their kitchen was spotless now!

It turned out that staying seated would have been better; when he suddenly stood up, his body wasn’t quite ready for it, and his legs gave way. Gu Tangjin quickly reached out his hand, and Ji Rongxia instinctively grabbed his arm, finally regaining his balance.

“Are you okay? Are you sick? Does anything hurt?” Gu Tangjin looked at Ji Rongxia’s leg.

Ji Rongxia stamped his foot to show his leg was fine: “I’m not in pain, and I’m not sick. I’m just fine.”

Ji Rongxia still had one hand clutching Gu Tangjin’s arm, while the other cupped his face, lifting it so he wouldn’t look down but would take in his surroundings instead.

“Look, Mom and Dad and I cleaned it up, didn’t we? It’s completely different from before!” Ji Rongxia’s tone was brimming with pride. With his face cradled in his hands, Gu Tangjin looked around the kitchen.

The windows were bright and clean, the walls were free of even a speck of dust, the stove was tidy, the bamboo tubes holding seasonings stood in neat rows, and the floor was spotless… even the firewood was stacked neatly.

At a glance, the sunlight streaming into the kitchen seemed even brighter, and the entire room felt much more luminous. Gu Tangjin took a deep breath, forcing himself not to get angry.

“Is this what you’ve been doing today?” Gu Tangjin asked.

Ji Rongxia nodded. “Isn’t it spotless? I did most of the work myself.”

Gu Tangjin began patiently, “Yes, it’s very clean. In just a few hours, the entire kitchen has been cleaned from top to bottom.” Ji Rongxia lifted his chin slightly.

“Sit down first.” Gu Tangjin bent down and pulled a small stool over to Ji Rongxia’s side. Ji Rongxia sat down, puzzled.

Gu Tangjin crouched down and began massaging his legs.

“Um, actually, I’m not tired.” Ji Rongxia finally noticed that Tangjin seemed a little off.

Gu Tangjin felt both annoyed and heartbroken, but the more he felt that way, the less he could bring himself to give Ji Rongxia the cold shoulder or ignore him.

“I really am…” Gu Tangjin massaged his legs, too angry to speak. Since he couldn’t take his frustration out on Ji Rongxia, he had no choice but to bottle it up.

“Don’t be angry. Look, your face is turning as cold as ice.” Ji Rongxia reached out and gently touched Gu Tangjin’s cheek.

Although it wasn’t really appropriate to think at a time like this, for some reason, Tangjin looked much more handsome when he put on a stern face than when he was smiling! Gu Tangjin lowered his voice and asked, “Did the Little Master tell you that you absolutely had to finish this within the next few hours?”

Culinary God System: “???!!!”

I didn’t! I didn’t say that! I’m not that strict!

The Culinary God System desperately wanted to protest, but even if it did, its host’s partner wouldn’t be able to hear it!

“Actually, no,” Ji Rongxia said, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “The young master gave me a whole day. I was just working on it and thought I could finish it myself,” Ji Rongxia said, blinking innocently.

“There’s always more work to do, but your health comes first.” Gu Tangjin looked up at Ji Rongxia. Meeting Gu Tangjin’s gaze, Ji Rongxia suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

“I promise I won’t do this again next time. There’s really a lot of rewards today. My parents even helped me with some of it, so I’m actually not that tired,” Ji Rongxia said.

He slowly turned his head away, avoiding Gu Tangjin’s gaze.

Gu Tangjin reached out and grabbed Ji Rongxia’s chin, turning his face toward him. With a stern expression, he said, “Look at me.”

Ji Rongxia scratched his cheek. “Oh, okay. I’m looking at you.”

“I believe you,” Gu Tangjin said softly after a moment.

“Huh?” Ji Rongxia didn’t quite catch what he meant. “Believe what?”

“I believe you aren’t lying to me. It won’t happen again next time,” Gu Tangjin said with a sigh.

Ji Rongxia smiled at this and began to “push his luck,” whispering, “My lower back is a little sore too. Why don’t you give me a massage?” 

Gu Tangjin stood up, bent over, and began massaging his back. “Is this pressure okay?”

“A little gentler. Ouch, a bit to the right—yes, yes, right there.” Ji Rongxia frowned but let out a sigh of relief, feeling completely relaxed. Gu Tangjin massaged Ji Rongxia’s back for quite a while.

A beauty is massaging my shoulders and back!

Ji Rongxia felt his fatigue ease considerably.

“All done,” Ji Rongxia said as he stood up and stretched his arms. “It’s time to open the restaurant, isn’t it?” 

“If you’re tired, it’s fine to open a little later,” Gu Tangjin said.

If the food hadn’t been prepared in advance, Xia-ger would never have agreed to skip business at noon; Gu Tangjin was even tempted to wait until evening to open.

“I’m really fine,” Ji Rongxia said, stretching his limbs. “Tangjin, you’ve forgotten—I’m the kind of person who can slaughter pigs and cows.”

Gu Tangjin smiled helplessly. “That’s not quite the same thing.”

“Tangjin, you go out front first. We’ll look for the reward the little chef left later,” Ji Rongxia said, pushing Gu Tangjin’s back to guide him out.

Gu Tangjin couldn’t do anything about it, so he had no choice but to head to the front of the restaurant. Seeing this, Gu Chuncai finally came into the kitchen.

Before entering, he even wiped his shoes, afraid the dust on his feet would soil the kitchen floor. “It’s way too bright. Our kitchen has never been this bright before.” Gu Chuncai rubbed his eyes. 

Ji Rongxia: “It’s not bad.”

He was quite satisfied too, though he wondered how long it would last.

With that in mind, Ji Rongxia asked silently, “Little Master, I didn’t ask earlier—what are the cleaning solution and the floor cleaning machine?”

“The floor cleaning machine is a high-tech cleaning robot that helps you clean the floor. From now on, Host, you’ll only need to press a button, and the cleaning robot will clean automatically.”

“The cleaning solution is a liquid that aids in cleaning. You can think of it as scented soapy water, but with stronger cleaning power. It leaves a light fragrance and no residue after use.”

“If there’s a machine for cleaning the floor, are there machines for cleaning other places too?” Ji Rongxia asked curiously. Culinary God System: “Yes, Host.”

Ji Rongxia thought to himself, “Then I won’t have to work so hard cleaning anymore. That sounds pretty great!” Meanwhile, Gu Tangjin opened the door, and diners began trickling in.

Compared to the crowds of the past two days, today’s turnout was only slightly smaller. Gu Tangjin gradually became busy keeping track of the accounts and handling payments.

Dish after dish was served.

Soon, the restaurant was filled to capacity.

Ji Rongxia had indeed recovered and wasn’t pushing himself too hard; he was still full of energy while cooking.

In the kitchen, all the sauces had been prepared in advance and were arranged neatly, ready to be grabbed at a moment’s notice.

For dishes like Koushui Chicken, the sauce could be poured directly over the meat, while the sweet-and-sour sauce for Sweet-and-Sour Carp needed to be stir-fried before being poured over the fried fish pieces.

To ensure each serving of Sweet and Sour Carp tasted consistent, Ji Rongxia cut the fish into segments. This resulted in a mix of crispy, golden-brown fish chunks when fried. Placed on a plate and drizzled with the sweet-and-sour sauce, the dish might not have the visual appeal of a whole fish, but it was still quite good.

Gu Tangjin had already prepared wooden tags; if there wasn’t enough seating for the customers, he would hand out the tags.

He had calculated the quantities of each ingredient in his head, and when a dish sold out, Gu Tangjin would let the customers know in advance that they didn’t need to wait.

Gu Tangjin had been working in the fields all morning, while Gu Chuncai and Yao Tianlan helped Ji Rongxia clean the kitchen. They were all a bit tired today, so they had a simple lunch. Gu Chuncai and Yao Tianlan told Ji Rongxia and Gu Tangjin to go take a nap first, and they would take their turn later.

As for the dirty dishes, they could be soaked in water and cleaned up later.

“Tangjin, can you tell what’s different?” After waking up, Ji Rongxia was full of energy again. Once his parents had gone to take their afternoon nap, he closed the kitchen door and pulled Gu Tangjin over to inspect the kitchen.

Gu Tangjin examined the room carefully from top to bottom for a long time. Last time, he had been able to spot a slight difference in the stove, but now he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Ji Rongxia looked as well, but he, too, couldn’t spot anything.

“Neither of us can find it. Little Master, why don’t you just give us the answer?” Ji Rongxia spun around and decisively gave up. The Culinary God System said smugly, “The reward is inside the wall directly opposite the kitchen door.”

“Inside the wall? I thought this wall faced the street.” Ji Rongxia tapped the wall; the wooden surface sounded exactly the same as before.

Hearing Xia-ger say this, Gu Tangjin also ran his hand along the wall. Sure enough, there was nothing to be seen.

“I shifted the original wall structure slightly forward and backward, ‘stealing’ about a foot of internal space,” the Culinary God System explained. Ji Rongxia asked in surprise, “So, you mean this wall is actually hollow, with a one-foot gap inside?”

Culinary God System: “Yes, Host.”

Gu Tangjin looked at the floor, took a few steps back to measure the distance from the wall to the edge of the stove, and said, “It has indeed moved forward by about half a foot. You wouldn’t notice it unless you looked closely at the floor.”

If their kitchen were small, such a change would certainly be very noticeable, but since their kitchen was large, this change seemed quite minor.

“Is it still palm print unlocking?” Ji Rongxia asked, holding out his hand.

Culinary God System: “Yes, Host. Both you and your partner’s palm prints can unlock it; no need to rebind. All your palm-print locks have anti-accidental-touch mechanisms, so you don’t need to worry about accidentally touching the wall.”

Ji Rongxia smiled and said, “You’re so thoughtful, Little Chef.”

As he spoke, he placed his hand on the wall, and instantly a screen appeared on the surface. Gu Tangjin narrowed his eyes in surprise, for he realized he could see it too!

The screen displayed various zones and shapes, and upon closer inspection, there were words on it as well. Ji Rongxia spotted the characters for “refrigerator” at a glance.

But he couldn’t figure out how to open it.

Culinary God System: “Host, you need to tap it to open it.”

“Tap it again?” he asked, placing his hand on the spot where the refrigerator should be. As he did so, the area he touched opened up.

Ji Rongxia took Gu Tangjin’s hand and stepped into the brightly lit refrigerator: “Tangjin, try it—there’s a cool breeze.”

The Culinary God System explained, “This compact refrigerator is about a person’s height. The top section is for refrigeration, the bottom for freezing, and it has an automatic ice-making function. The machine runs on solar power; it automatically stores excess energy during sunny periods, so you don’t have to worry about running out of power on cloudy or rainy days.”

“It charges when the sun is out, and can run on stored energy when it’s not. The bottom is for freezing, and it can even make ice.” Ji Rongxia opened the lower compartment, poured water into the ice tray as the Culinary God System instructed, closed the fridge, and when he opened it again, ice had appeared!

Gu Tangjin’s eyes widened slightly, but his expression remained composed. The little chef had given him so many surprises that he had become quite capable of keeping his composure by now.

Ji Rongxia then located the oven. When he opened it, he found an oven similar to the one he’d seen in the system’s virtual space, though this one was narrower.

Next to the oven was a teleportation box similar to the one by the edge of the stove. Ingredients could be placed inside, so Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia wouldn’t have to open the box so many times when retrieving them.

Below the oven were cabinets. As soon as Ji Rongxia tapped them, row after row of cabinets popped out. Inside, there was a palm-sized, upside-down, bowl-shaped wooden object, along with ten bags of items packaged in clear plastic.

“These must be a floor cleaner and kitchen detergent,” Ji Rongxia said curiously as he picked up the ‘bowl.’ He asked, puzzled, “How do you use this?”

“Host, place it on the floor, select a cleaning standard, and press the start button,” the Culinary God System said.

Ji Rongxia examined it from all angles and found a dial on the bottom of the “bowl” labeled with the words “Excellent,” “Good,” and “Standard.”

Based on his understanding of the Culinary God System, Ji Rongxia turned the knob to the “Standard” setting, placed the object on the floor, and pressed the start button.

The wooden bowl instantly melted away like water, spreading across the entire floor in an instant. Startled, Ji Rongxia immediately grabbed Gu Tangjin’s hand.

Gu Tangjin clasped Ji Rongxia’s hand in return and looked down at his feet.

Even the floor beneath their feet had somehow turned the color of the wooden bowl. A few seconds later, the bowl seemed to draw the water back in, reassembling itself into its original shape. The floor was suddenly as clean as it had been right after Ji Rongxia had just finished mopping it.

“I knew I shouldn’t have chosen ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good.’ Otherwise, who knows how shiny the floor would have become,” Ji Rongxia said, taking a deep breath.

Suddenly, he helped Gu Tangjin lift his foot to take a look.

To his surprise, the soles of his shoes were spotless!!! Ji Rongxia: “My shoes!”

The soles of his shoes had never been this white!

“Host, this is actually one of the more… basic cleaning machines in my system’s inventory. Are you okay, Host?” The Culinary God System had carefully curated its reward items.

It hadn’t chosen anything too high-tech.

“I’m fine! It’s just that these shoes are a bit too white, aren’t they?” Ji Rongxia regained his balance, then tugged at Gu Tangjin’s leg. Gu Tangjin, catching his drift, lifted his foot to show him.

Sure enough, the soles of Gu Tangjin’s shoes were now spotless!

“It’s fine. No one’s going to go out of their way to look at someone else’s shoe soles,” Gu Tangjin said with a laugh as he lowered his foot. Ji Rongxia chuckled and said, “Next time we clean, let’s stand on a stool!”

“Little Chef, there are still a lot of empty spots on this wall. You aren’t planning to fill them in later, are you?” Ji Rongxia said, placing his hands on his hips and looking at the wall again.

Culinary God System: “Yes, Host. As long as you complete the restaurant upgrade missions, the rewards will be distributed gradually.”

“Alright, take your time.” Ji Rongxia pointed at the screen. “Has this screen always been here? Can other people see it?”

Culinary God System: “Host, if you don’t touch it, it will disappear automatically in a moment. Only those with their palm prints bound to the system can see it—meaning only you and your partner can view it.”

Ji Rongxia: “Only the two of us can see it? Then I’m at ease.”

After they’d had their fill of looking around, the two of them went to prepare the ingredients they’d need for dinner. Although the abundance of such high-quality ingredients was surprising,

But daily tasks still had to be done properly. Fortunately, the ingredients provided by the system were all pre-prepared, making them relatively easy to work with. If Gu Tangjin and Ji Rongxia were too busy, they could simply take the ingredients out of the box and mix them in with their regular supplies.

It was only to maintain greater discretion that the two chose to prepare these ingredients first.

Even the Culinary God System couldn’t help but marvel at how composed its host and the host’s partner were.

While working, Gu Tangjin had a question: “Since the Little Chef can teleport food, why does it have to be placed in specific boxes? Can’t we just use these cabinets?”

Upon hearing this, Ji Rongxia asked curiously, “Right, why not?”

Ji Rongxia was boiling chicken, preparing to make Koushui Chicken for dinner. Every day, Mrs. Zhou would send them eight chickens—mostly roosters, four already slaughtered and four alive. In winter, they were all slaughtered chickens.

Every day, his parents would slaughter and pluck the chickens. Usually, they’d slaughter the chickens for the afternoon meal after lunch. Just as they’d gone to bed, his parents had already finished slaughtering the chickens, so now Ji Rongxia could put all the chicken meat into a boil at once.

Standing by the stove, he asked curiously, “If we could use all of them, wouldn’t that make getting ingredients much more convenient?” The Culinary God System explained, “The transport box has some preservation capabilities, but the cabinets do not.”

Ji Rongxia nodded and turned to Gu Tangjin, saying, “The little chef says the box can keep food fresh.”

Gu Tangjin nodded upon hearing this: “I see.”

Speaking of keeping food fresh, Ji Rongxia suddenly slapped his forehead and said, “Oh, right! Mother went to the Shi family’s house today, and Uncle Shi gave him a big bowl of goat’s milk. Mother put it in the well water to cool—I wonder if it’s gone bad.”

Milk spoils so easily in the summer.

Ji Rongxia hurried to fetch the large bowl of goat’s milk.

“Thank goodness, thank goodness, it hasn’t gone bad.” Ji Rongxia sniffed it and felt relieved.

“Mom and Dad were working with me today. They were so tired they completely forgot about the goat’s milk.”

“It’s a kind gesture from them, after all. If it had gone bad, that would truly be my fault.” 

“Leaving it like this isn’t a good idea. Why don’t we turn it into something else to eat?” Gu Tangjin asked.

Ji Rongxia’s eyes lit up. “Tangjin, do you remember the travelogue you read to me? Now that we have ice, we can make butter!” 

“Then I’ll help you churn the butter,” Gu Tangjin said.

Ji Rongxia nodded.

First, he brought the goat’s milk to a boil, then poured it into a bamboo tube—not too much, just half. Next, he shook the tube continuously until the clarified butter separated and rose to the top.

While Gu Tangjin was churning the butter, Ji Rongxia had already prepped all the ingredients. He also took some ice cubes out of the freezer and crushed them.

He dissolved the fructose in water and simmered it slowly until the syrup became thick and viscous, then set it aside to cool. Once the butter was shaken out, it formed clumps that looked a bit coarse, so he placed it in a bowl and stirred it until smooth.

He placed the crushed ice at the bottom of the dish, then spooned the smooth ghee on top—a technique known as “dotting the ghee”—and finally poured the fruit sugar syrup over it. Ji Rongxia made two dishes: he put one in the refrigerator and placed the other in front of himself and Gu Tangjin.

The shaken goat’s milk is drinkable as is, though the flavor is rather mild. Ji Rongxia decided to add some fruit syrup to it, turning it into a sweet milk drink.

After simmering, the goat’s milk had lost much of its gaminess. Paired with the fruit syrup, the pungent odor was virtually gone, and Ji Rongxia actually quite liked the flavor of the sweetened milk.

The crumble mountain didn’t disappoint Ji Rongxia either. On top of the translucent mountain of shaved ice sat a layer of creamy yellow ghee, topped with a crystal-clear pink strawberry syrup. With one bite, the smoothness of the ghee, the sweetness of the syrup, and the coolness of the shaved ice all blended together in his mouth.

“Delicious,” Gu Tangjin nodded slightly after taking a bite.

“You worked so hard to make it—how could it not be good! An ice cream maker would probably save a bit of effort, but unfortunately, we don’t have one.” Ji Rongxia scooped a large spoonful of the “Crumble Mountain” into his mouth as he spoke.

“After I took apart that machine, I sent some of the parts to Scholar Guan. Who knows, maybe he can build one. Magistrate Wu should be bringing him over soon—we’ll just have to wait and see,” Gu Tangjin said.

Ji Rongxia tilted his head in sudden realization. “Oh, so you’re using your position for personal gain, Scholar Gu?!” Gu Tangjin shook his head gently. “You shouldn’t throw that phrase around so lightly.”

But as soon as he finished speaking, Gu Tangjin laughed. “Though you’re not entirely wrong.”

Gu Tangjin: “I’m not just using my position for personal gain in this matter—there are other things as well.” 

“Other things? What are they?” Ji Rongxia asked, taking another spoonful of crushed ice mountain cake.

“I want to do business with Magistrate Wu,” Gu Tangjin said. “To earn his complete trust, I’ve gone to some lengths.” 

“Business?” Ji Rongxia asked curiously. “What kind of business?”

Gu Tangjin pointed toward the courtyard: “I noticed a few days ago that our chili peppers have already sprouted. These peppers have a very short growth and flowering period. I estimate the fruits will be ripe in less than two months—they grow incredibly fast. When Magistrate Wu returns, we can offer to give him the peppers.”

“Let him grow them? That works. Then we’ll never run out of chili peppers again.” Ji Rongxia nodded. Being able to use chili peppers openly was a good thing for him.

Gu Tangjin set down his spoon and said, “I’d like to use the two hundred taels our parents gave us. If we pool that with the silver we’ve saved these past few days, we can open a workshop for them. I’ve calculated that the money probably won’t be enough, so we can count on Magistrate Wu’s contribution as well. The workshop doesn’t need to make anything else—just some chili sauce and chili oil will do.”

“Our restaurant’s Koushui Chicken has gained quite a reputation. When the time comes, we’ll spread the word that this chili oil is the secret to the dish’s deliciousness. We can sell it to restaurants first—that should be quite profitable. As for the chili paste, we can seal it in jars and sell it to passing merchant caravans. Magistrate Wu has his own connections.”

As Ji Rongxia listened, something didn’t sit right with him. He set down his spoon and asked, “Why is that?”

Gu Tangjin explained, “For one thing, I’ve realized that Father and Mother are indeed getting old. It’s not good for them to work as hard as we do. Take today, for example—look, they’re still asleep and haven’t gotten up yet.”

Upon hearing this, Ji Rongxia felt a pang of regret at his own slowness to catch on. “You’re right. It’s been nearly half an hour, and they’re still asleep. Usually, they’re up by now. I’ve been wearing them out.”

With that thought, Ji Rongxia deeply regretted his stubbornness earlier that day.

He’d felt this way when Tangjin was upset, too, but his main urge had always been to quickly cheer him up.

Gu Tangjin explained patiently, “Secondly, the little chef will be bringing out more and more dishes in the future. It’s fine for now, but we won’t be able to come up with a plausible excuse later. The best solution is to make it so that only you and I can enter the kitchen from now on, and then hire two servants to serve the food.”

“Having Mom and Dad sit idle and live out their golden years isn’t out of the question, but they wouldn’t be comfortable with that. They’ve worked their whole lives—it wouldn’t be right for them to suddenly have nothing to do. It would be better to open a shop for them that’s a bit less demanding. They could just watch the staff make chili sauce and chili oil, do the books, and chat with acquaintances.”

“I’ll have to discuss this with Mom and Dad first, though, to see if they’re willing.”

“You’ve been thinking about this for a while? Did you think of it when you were writing to Magistrate Wu? That can’t be—I hadn’t even gone to see Mom and Dad back then. The timing doesn’t add up.”Ji Rongxia muttered to himself, then suddenly understood. “I get it. You must have thought: regardless of whether it’s useful or not, you need to win Magistrate Wu’s trust first. As for whether you’ll do business with him or something else in the future, that’s all up to you. Is that right?”

Gu Tangjin nodded with a smile: “Exactly. Magistrate Wu seems like the type who’d settle for a life of fine food and drink, but I can tell he’s not without ambition—he’s just been held back a bit. I couldn’t say when this connection might come in handy, though I never expected it so soon. You’ve figured it out, Xia-ger—you really are sharp.”

“Not at all—I’m just not stupid.”

Ji Rongxia said this as he took a spoonful of the ice delight, hiding the delighted expression on his face.