Bai Ying's eyes sparkled as he stared at the qi sword condensed by Sheng Jing. He had completely forgotten about the fact that Sheng Jing had just beaten him up. In the world of exotic beasts, the strong ruled supreme. Since Sheng Jing was so powerful, Bai Ying could only feel admiration and respect for him.
Although Yuan Tiantian was also in awe of Sheng Jing's great strength, she still needed to settle the score.
"I spent all 800 popularity points to save you. So from now on, you have to work in the store obediently to pay off your debt. Got it?"
It was only right and proper to pay off debts. No matter how powerful he was, he couldn't renege on his debt.
Sheng Jing replied, "Okay."
Yuan Tiantian was delighted. She decided to take Sheng Jing to the market that day. Bai Ying was a bit indignant and wanted to go, but Yuan Tiantian flatly refused him.
"Just look at your face. You'd better stay at home honestly!"
During breakfast, Yuan Tiantian paid special attention to Sheng Jing, fearing that he had a bottomless pit for a stomach. If so, Yuan Tiantian would have been in despair. Fortunately, he ate like a normal person, which made her heave a sigh of relief. Then she briefly introduced how to use the phone and the electric scooter. Sheng Jing picked it up quickly and understood it in just a few minutes, much better than Bai Ying had done.
When they arrived at the market, Yuan Tiantian was already on familiar terms with several small vendors.
"I've saved some good stuff for you today!"
Yuan Tiantian had said before that if there were any fresh ingredients, the vendors could save some for her and she would definitely take them. So when she just came to the aquatic products stall, the boss said with a smile. When Yuan Tiantian saw what the boss took out from behind, she was pleasantly surprised.
"Eels?!"
She hadn't seen eels for a while. Eels were really good stuff.
In the end, Yuan Tiantian bought all 20 pounds of the eels. This stuff could be kept for a day or two, and she thought she could definitely use them. After paying the money, Sheng Jing took the eels from the boss voluntarily. Seeing Sheng Jing, the boss joked with Yuan Tiantian.
"Little Yuan, you've got a coolie today!"
Yuan Tiantian laughed heartily. Then she went to the vegetable stall and bought cabbages and cucumbers. Seeing some nice gourds, she also bought some. With these, today's dishes were all set.
When they got back to the store, it was around 9 a.m. Yuan Tiantian put the eels in water to keep them alive and assigned Bai Ying to wash the vegetables. As for Sheng Jing, he was arranged to clean the living - room.
Taking advantage of this time, Yuan Tiantian printed out today's menu.
White rice and fried rice with lard and eggs were the regulars on the staple - food list, and their prices remained unchanged. The fresh dishes today were stir - fried cabbage with vinegar for 20 yuan a plate, scrambled eggs with cucumbers for 25 yuan a plate, meatball and gourd soup for 35 yuan a serving, and finally, the energetic eels of today, braised eels for 40 yuan a serving. Of course, there was also the store's signature drink, lemonade.
After printing, Yuan Tiantian handed the menu to Sheng Jing.
"Replace yesterday's menu with this one."
After that, Yuan Tiantian went into the kitchen. She found some streaky pork and started to mince the meat. Although there was a meat grinder, the minced meat processed manually would be more compact and taste better. Especially those with picky palates could feel this slight difference.
Before long, Bai Ying and Sheng Jing finished their tasks. Yuan Tiantian told them to stay in the hall. It was already past 10 a.m., and customers would come one after another. Sure enough, just a few minutes after they were in the living - room, voices were heard outside the restaurant.
"This is the place. The food here is really delicious!"
Bai Ying saw that the person walking in front was a familiar old man, the expert who came for the address inspection yesterday, that sprightly little old man.
"Welcome!"
Bai Ying led them in. There were two other people following the little old man, both of them were about the same age.
After the three of them sat down, the little old man noticed Sheng Jing, who was dressed in a long white robe with his black hair coiled on top of his head. With his delicate features, he seemed to be from another world.
Then he joked with Bai Ying, "It seems your boss likes good - looking people. All your employees are good - looking."
Bai Ying just smiled and said nothing. Sheng Jing glanced at them indifferently and also kept silent. He just stood at the door of the restaurant seriously, acting as a qualified doorman.
"Hey, the menu has changed!"
The little old man noticed the menu on the table and found that except for the white rice and lemonade, everything was different from yesterday. Bai Ying immediately explained it to him. After hearing the explanation, the little old man suddenly understood. Then he looked at his two old friends and said,
"The food was delicious yesterday, but the menu has changed today. Let's give it a try. I can't guarantee whether it will be good or not."
The other two had no objections. They had come from afar, evading their families. There was no way they would go back now. They would eat first. They believed that the person who could cook such delicious food yesterday would surely not cook badly today. Indeed, after the little old man took the packed food back yesterday, he let his two old friends taste it. As soon as they took a bite, they fell in love with it and insisted on coming to the restaurant in person.
After all, the taste of take - out food was completely different from that of the freshly cooked food eaten in the restaurant.
After the three of them placed their orders, Bai Ying went into the kitchen. At this time, a family of three came to Sheng Jing. They were not new customers, but Sheng Jing didn't know them. This family of three was the middle - aged man who had suffered from stomach distension last night. Similar to the little old man, after taking the food back, the whole family couldn't resist the aroma and ate the food that was supposed to be lunch the next day as a midnight snack.
After eating, they still felt unsatisfied. So they drove here directly, planning to have another meal at noon and take some more back.
"Is there no food from yesterday? You're not making the steamed rice with sausage anymore?"
The middle - aged man's favorite dish was the steamed rice with sausage. He loved rice, and the steamed rice with sausage yesterday had really impressed him. He was a bit disappointed to find that it was no longer on the menu.
Sheng Jing repeated what Bai Ying had just said to the previous table. After hearing this, the man didn't dwell on it anymore and ordered one serving for each of them. The mother and son actually didn't want to order eels. They were a bit scared of them. But the middle - aged man wanted to try them. He loved eels, but his wife and son didn't like them, so there were rarely any eels at home.
"It's okay. I'll finish them myself later."
The vegetables were served first for both tables, followed by the meatball and gourd soup. Since the meatballs were made for soup and not fried, they were very tender. They were filled with soup, and when you took a bite, the soup would gush out. Before long, the braised eels were served for both tables. To further enhance the flavor of the eels, Yuan Tiantian briefly fried the eel segments in a wok before putting them into a casserole to simmer. So it took a bit longer to serve, but the taste was greatly improved.
Needless to say, for the little old man's table, the eels were cooked perfectly. They could eat them easily, and the taste was simply wonderful.
As for the mother and son, when they saw their father/husband eating so enthusiastically, they couldn't resist the aroma and took a bite.
The eels were soft, tender and smooth. When you sipped them in your mouth, the bones could be easily removed. There was no fishy smell or disgusting feeling as they had imagined. After they both took a piece, their chopsticks quickly reached for the braised eels.
When the middle - aged man looked up at the casserole again, there were only a few pieces left.
Seeing the embarrassed expressions of his wife and son, he burst out laughing.
"Boss, one more serving of braised eels, please!"