Before dinner, several old head chefs who had received the news all hurried over without exception. The Fu family was very grateful that they had chosen to stay in such a difficult time, but they didn't express their gratitude in words. Everyone still interacted as usual.
"Ximing, where did you get this menu from?" the oldest head chef asked with some excitement.
"I bought it from an old man. His children wanted to take it and sell it for money, but he didn't want to. He set up a small stage on the street and said that whoever could make the dishes on this menu to his satisfaction would get the menu. I was curious, so I tried it, and he sold it to me," Ye Zhizhou said with a serious expression. These old chefs were all astute, and giving them a bizarre reason made them more likely to believe it.
"Selling for money, all they care about is money! How can you sell our ancestral skills?" one of the chefs with a hot temper slammed the table and shouted, clearly directing this statement at the Fu couple.
The Fu couple uncomfortably coughed and looked at the sky. They hadn't thought this through properly.
The oldest head chef carefully examined the menu again and said seriously, "Ximing, can you make the dishes on this menu?"
"I can," Ye Zhizhou nodded, then humbly smiled, "but I'm sure your skills, uncles, are better." As the heir of a family known for their cuisine, he had to be able to cook and appreciate food, and the previous owner had placed great importance on this. His culinary skills were decent.
"Then go and make a table for us to taste. Some parts of this menu are a bit vague, and we need to figure it out gradually," the old head chef handed over the menu and stood up first. "Let's go to the kitchen, everyone."
Upon hearing this, everyone got up, their expressions much more relaxed compared to the worries and anxieties of the previous days.
Because it was written to deceive a loved one, some parts of the menu needed to be intentionally altered or exaggerated, especially concerning cooking times and specific ingredients. Ye Zhizhou made mistakes straightforwardly, keeping his cooking skills at the level of the previous owner.
It took him two hours to prepare a table of royal dishes. The head chefs tasted each dish with chopsticks, exchanged their thoughts, and some even rushed to the kitchen to try themselves. The kitchen at the Fu residence was lit up all night, and the fragrance wafted out, making the neighbors sleepless.
Before dawn, Ye Zhizhou left the Fu residence with his luggage and headed straight to the airport. The main reasons for the decline of the Fu family were threefold: their financial chain was blocked, their material supply faced issues, and the new restaurant opened by the female lead overlapped with the Fu family's positioning and was located nearby, taking away most of their business. The situation was akin to a world where McDonald's and KFC, wherever one opened a new restaurant, the other would become their neighbor, determined to compete. In this regard, the female lead's intention to suppress the Fu family was quite obvious.
Now, the Fu family was reduced to having only a few old restaurants specializing in royal cuisine. Yet, the female lead continued to buy the storefronts near these old restaurants at a high price, opening high-end dining establishments specializing in royal cuisine. For example, the recently opened "Junzi Ge" in M City was conveniently located right across from an old Fu family restaurant, intensifying the competition. If the female lead continued to meddle like this, the Fu family would truly be in jeopardy, and his mission would become even more challenging.
As he quickly pondered the plot, he also kept busy with various projects. He gave up on stock trading, which required time to manage, and instead focused on gemstone gambling and betting, checking them off on his list.
After arriving at the airport, he purchased the earliest available flight ticket to Y Province. He made a profit from gemstone gambling and took a trip to City A, disguising himself as a gambler for a week. With substantial funds in hand, he returned to the Fu residence, reconnecting the broken financial chain.
The Fu family, including Mr. and Mrs. Fu and Fu Xia, were dumbfounded. Fu Xia, in particular, was speechless. "Brother, how did you... how did you manage to do this? You actually gathered the funds."
"Don't worry, all this money was acquired legally," Ye Zhizhou wearily waved his hand and went upstairs to his room to sleep. He had no idea that there was a large group of people in the game eagerly waiting for him to log in, including the female lead and her harem.
After resolving the financial issue, he began searching for new suppliers of ingredients from various places. Most of the suppliers that had previously cooperated with the Fu family had been poached by the female lead and the male protagonists. The goods they offered to the Fu family were either overpriced or of poor quality. He had to find new sources. Until then, he could temporarily use the items in his space to supplement their inventory.
Truckloads of fresh, high-quality ingredients arrived at the old restaurant's kitchen, leaving the head chefs in awe.
"Ximing, where did you get all these? They're all excellent!" one chef exclaimed.
Ye Zhizhou touched the chicken in the box and said vaguely, "I bought them at a high price. Until we find new suppliers, we'll have to make do with these ingredients. Use them for the new royal dishes. If we run out, call me, and I'll find a solution." These were wild chickens, and he hadn't spared the animals in his space for these ingredients.
One of the head chefs patted him on the back and said with relief, "Fortunately, we still have you. Don't worry, we'll do whatever it takes to keep these roots of the Fu family!"
"Uncles, you're not that old. You're still quite young," he replied with a smile, then sighed softly. "Everything will be fine soon."
With the help of his psychic powers, he quickly found a group of suppliers with good reputations and fair prices. Over the next two days, he solved the storage and transportation issues for the ingredients and returned to the Fu residence with a newly drafted royal cuisine menu. After a night of rest, he handed the new menu to the head chef, explained some key points, and checked the accounts in the restaurant. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The financial chain was reestablished, the management team was stabilized, and the material supply problem was resolved. However, the market had been widely seized. Although only some of the problems were solved, the Fu family, which was in a dire situation, had managed to turn things around. It wasn't in vain that he had nearly worn himself out over the past few days.
When he returned to the Fu residence, Mr. and Mrs. Fu and Fu Xia were having breakfast. They were all taken aback when they saw him entering from outside.
"Why did you get up so early? Where did you go? Why don't you get more rest?" Mrs. Fu went over with a face full of concern, touched his face, and then his arm. "It's only been a short while, and your face has become so thin. Let your dad handle the matters at the restaurant. You should rest. Play chess with your grandpa, or play games with Xia, just don't push yourself too hard."
Mr. Fu nodded in agreement, his eyes filled with pride and nostalgia. "Ximing, don't go out anymore for a while. If you need anything, just tell your dad, and I'll take care of it. Rest well. Spend some time playing chess with your grandpa or playing games with Xia. Don't stress yourself too much."
"I've stopped playing games..." Fu Xia muttered softly.
Ye Zhizhou was momentarily stunned, his mind cleared as he remembered the annoying level 5 quest in the game. Oh no! He had been so busy these past days that he had completely forgotten about the game!
"Respected player Ye Zhizhou, welcome back to the Dreamland. The colorful letters flashed in the pitch-black void, then the darkness tore apart, revealing the warm and spacious courtyard of Wang Dashen's home.
The updated game seemed to be no different from before, with the golden letters representing the Saint-level quest still hanging in the air. He tentatively poked at it, and the text transformed into a specific task description.
The beginning starts with a warning in red: "There are a total of 99 levels in the Saint-level quest. Failing any level means starting from scratch." Then comes a detailed description of the stages, all of which are related to culinary skills. The first stage is making fried rice, the second is frying sunny-side-up eggs, the third is tomato and egg stir-fry... The final stage involves preparing a top-tier feast using the flesh of the Insect Queen.
Unlike regular quests, the Saint-level quest is live-streamed throughout the entire server. This means that when Ye Zhizhou opens the quest details, all online players in the server can see the golden text that has been hanging in the air for nearly half a month finally changing, and the world channel erupts in chatter.
I Love Crayfish: Ahhh, Ye Zhizhou is online!
Chrysanthemum Eyes: Holy crap! Was this quest designed by a madman? Ninety-nine levels, and failing any level means starting over. And the last stage actually requires killing the queen? Can I ever eat the stat-boosting food I make in my lifetime...
...
Raising Butts for the Masses: May I ask, does this Ye Zhizhou know how to cook?
...
Night Tang: Ye Zhizhou, open the friend system, we need to talk.
Angel's Wings: Huh, why is Tang Baby looking for Ye Zhizhou? Are they planning to cooperate? Is Gentle Su going to help Ye Zhizhou complete the quest?
Wealthy Bride of Mine: You baby, go away! Crazy fan of the scheming merchant, get lost!
...
He closed the automatically popping world channel panel and rubbed his chin, then opened the Wealth Rankings. Quietly, the name "Jingshu" still hung at the top, Jun Shu Jing. The game ID was not very creative; even the restaurant they opened in the game was named "Junzi Ge." The male leads were truly clueless not to have discovered the protagonist's real identity. He then clicked on the Master Rankings, where Tang Ye remained at the top, and the second to seventh spots were all occupied by the male leads. From the Martial Arts Rankings, Guild Rankings, Camp Glory Rankings, Popularity Rankings... The protagonist and the seven male leads had dominated almost every top ten list, it was truly terrifying.
He glanced at his own level and then at his backpack, sighing deeply. Speaking of which, how did one make money in this game...
Ding dong, a friend request, despite him having closed the friend function, appeared in front of him. Then, a private message that was enlarged, bold, and highlighted in red, detached from the panel, and appeared in mid-air. GM Law: Activator of the Saint-level quest? Ye Zhizhou?
GM? The Saint-level quest had even attracted the attention of the GM? He quickly accepted the request and replied to the private message.
GM Law: Coordinates.
Ye Zhizhou:?
GM Law: Stand still and don't move.
[Your friend GM Law has gone offline.]
"...So, what exactly is this GM here for?"
He walked out of Aunt Wang's small courtyard and started running quests in the newbie village. To complete that darned Saint-level quest and PK against the protagonist and his harem, his level couldn't be too low. At the very least, he needed to leave the newbie village; otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to use the auction house.
Five minutes later, space in front of him distorted, and a handsome guy in a black robe suddenly landed in front of him, drawing his sword to strike.
Ye Zhizhou, who was currently weeding for Uncle Zhang in the village, was shocked and quickly rolled on the ground, shouting, "Brother, what are you doing?" His character was only level 5; was it necessary to bully someone like this?
"You have newbie protection," the handsome guy in the black robe said. Nevertheless, he still swung his sword menacingly. Then, the next second, a light shield suddenly appeared around Ye Zhizhou, blocking the oncoming blade, which was then deflected, and the handsome guy fell flat on his face.
[Killed player's alt character 001, gained 10877 experience, congratulations, player leveled up to 10.]
"..."
A speech bubble popped up over the fallen handsome guy's head, "Alt character 001: Stay there, wait for me."
The air distorted again, and the corpse of the handsome guy disappeared.
The grass in Ye Zhizhou's hand fell to the ground. So, this guy came over to give him experience? Who exactly was this person? A GM sent experience buddy?
Two minutes later, another handsome guy in a black robe landed in front of him, with the ID of alt character 002.
Ye Zhizhou wiped his face and said in exasperation, "Alt character, what exactly do you want?"
"To level you up, the Saint-level quest has level requirements." The handsome guy in ancient attire summoned a beautiful... sparrow in the modern courtyard. He then sat on it, waving for Ye Zhizhou to join him. "Get on, I'll take you to do some dungeon runs."
"...Can I refuse?"
The handsome guy in the black robe gave a sharp look and drew his sword. "Why would you refuse? Or do you want me to kill you back to level 0?"
Ye Zhizhou, very wisely, climbed onto the sparrow. He looked around and found no handrails, so he sat upright, trying his best not to annoy the alt character comrade with a bad temper in front of him.
"Wrap your arms around my waist."
"What?"
"Considering your ID, I'll let you hug."
The next second, the sparrow flapped its wings a few times and soared into the sky. Ye Zhizhou couldn't care less about any issues of personal boundaries between men; he clenched his lips tightly, suppressing the urge to scream, and held onto the handsome guy in front of him.
Experiencing high-altitude flight on the small back of the sparrow, that feeling... was incomparably refreshing.
All the monsters in Dreamland were bug-beasts, and it was no different inside the dungeons. Ye Zhizhou followed the handsome guy, watching the centipedes crawling all over the place, almost making him gag. Fortunately, the handsome guy was quite efficient, waving his hand to wipe out a group of them, so Ye Zhizhou didn't have to touch any of those monsters.
World channel.
"I Love Crayfish": Who's the kind soul who found Ye Zhizhou and helped him level up? I remember he was only level 5 twenty minutes ago. What on earth happened in those twenty minutes?!
"Chrysanthemum Eyes": Double experience scrolls, expensive enhancement elixirs, and speed-running Wormhole Cave without dying or getting hurt, while leveling up a single alt character, can achieve this speed, right?
"Angel Wings": It must be Night Tang Baby. Only Night Tang Baby can single-handedly run Wormhole Cave without dying and bring an alt character along.
"My Lucky Charm, My Bride": Seriously, are they insane fanboys?
...
Jun Shujing watched the world channel filled with chat messages and asked with an unpleasant expression, "Has that Ye Zhizhou still not responded to you?"
Tang Ye, who was meditating with his eyes closed, opened them and checked his private messages. Shaking his head, he replied, "No, I haven't received any response to the private message I sent, and neither have the messages sent by Qi Xing and the others. His friend request feature is still turned off."
"This person is really..." She massaged her temples, clearly annoyed. "I don't know what's going on lately; nothing seems to be going smoothly. Some of our recently opened branches suddenly experienced a drop in business, while that almost-closed-down Fu Garden has made a comeback, thanks to some high-quality ingredients they obtained. I heard their ingredients are of much higher quality than what we use."
Tang Ye gave her a disapproving look. "Shujing, you're paying too much attention to the Fu family. Besides, Junzi Pavilion has been expanding too rapidly lately. You'd better slow down; otherwise, problems are bound to arise."
Jun Shujing hesitated for a moment, then forced a smile, put down her hand, and changed the subject. "You're right. I've been a bit impatient lately. Let's try to find this Ye Zhizhou first. It's a Saint-level quest, and I heard it comes with special rewards."
Tang Ye, with little interest, nodded and picked up a snack from the table. After taking a bite, he closed his eyes again. "No rush. He can't defeat the Insect Queen on his own."
A trace of displeasure flashed in Jun Shujing's eyes as she looked at his expressionless face.
Half an hour later, Ye Zhizhou had reached level 30, and he didn't know what to say anymore.
"Alt character, you've been so selfless in helping me, I..."
"Hurry up and complete the Saint-level quest." The cold-faced handsome guy traded him a bunch of items and drew his long knife, giving it a swing. "Otherwise, how do you think you leveled up? And I can bring you back down."
"..."
"I'll leave the mount to you." The cold-faced handsome guy sheathed his knife with a smirk. "If it weren't for the fact that I don't want that group of people to continue affecting game balance... do your quests diligently, and if you don't log in for another ten days or two weeks, I'll come to your place and make you play the game."
Ye Zhizhou, daring as ever, retorted, "You can't possibly know where I live."
"I will know." The cold-faced handsome guy looked him up and down, then logged out.
[Your friend GM Lu is online.]
GM Lu: If you're being bullied, call a GM directly. Before completing the Saint-level quest, dare to de-level and give it a try.
[Your friend GM Lu is offline.]
"..." Damn it! The experience buddy is actually a GM! Is this game still playable? The GM actually threatened a player! He's going to file a complaint!
Suddenly, the golden text in mid-air changed, indicating that the first stage of the Saint-level quest had begun. Ye Zhizhou felt his surroundings go black, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in a fully equipped kitchen. In front of him were a bowl of rice and two eggs.
[Reached level 30, the first stage of the quest has started, time: half an hour.]
Ye Zhizhou was speechless for a moment, then resignedly picked up the eggs. Fifteen minutes later, a fragrant egg-fried rice was ready, with a completion rate of 100%. The reward was doubled, and he directly leveled up. Then, the second stage started, and five minutes later, he leveled up again. And it continued, one level after another, one quest after another, and his name started dominating the world channel.
[Congratulations to player Ye Zhizhou for completing the first stage of the Saint-level quest, unlocking the special effect of green-quality fried rice dishes.]
[Congratulations to player Ye Zhizhou for completing the second stage of the Saint-level quest, unlocking the special effect of green-quality egg dishes.]
...
[Congratulations to player Ye Zhizhou for completing the twentieth stage of the Saint-level quest, unlocking the special effect of blue-quality chicken dishes.]
...
World channel.
"I Love Crayfish": It's only been a short time, and he's already on level twenty... Hail the mighty!
"Chrysanthemum Eyes": One level per quest, my goodness, the Saint-level quest is incredible.
"My Lucky Charm, My Bride": This is the person we should really idolize. I love you, my hero! Haha, finally, we don't have to buy snacks from that scoundrel anymore; we can make them ourselves!
Staring at the world channel, Jun Shujing couldn't help but clench her fists. Damn it! Who is this sudden appearance of Ye Zhizhou? If all the recipes are unlocked, my business... damn it, damn it, damn it!
Tang Ye, who had opened his eyes at some point, also looked at the world channel and squinted, lost in thought. "I wonder if this Ye Zhizhou's cooking is any good..."
Jun Shujing was taken aback and quickly took out a new dessert from her bag, placing it on the table. She smiled and said, "Who knows? Right now, he's only making basic dishes. The later quests will get more difficult, so I don't know if he'll hit a roadblock."
"Yeah, let's wait until he encounters difficulties, and then we can help him," Tang Ye quickly shifted his attention, picked up a piece of dessert, and ate it contentedly. "Shujing, you've been troubled about not being able to popularize enhancement foods. Now that Ye Zhizhou has appeared, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief. You should spend less time in the game; reality is more important."
"...Yes, that way, I'll be more relaxed," Jun Shujing replied with a stiff expression, her teeth almost grinding together. Help? Right now, she wished that Ye Zhizhou would endlessly struggle and fail in this quest!
After completing the twenty-fifth stage, Ye Zhizhou chose to log off and sleep.
There was nothing he needed to worry about at Fu Garden, so he slept until noon. After waking up and having lunch, he didn't log into the game but drove to the main branch of Junzi Pavilion, located in the busiest area of City B.
After applying an identity-altering pill and arriving at Junzi Pavilion at the scheduled time, he was led to a private room. He ordered the most expensive and renowned Imperial Banquet set. Half an hour later, all the dishes were served. He inhaled the tantalizing aroma, gradually infused his spiritual power into the air, and then accessed the system.
When he was on business trips to different branches of Junzi Pavilion in other cities, he had eaten at various locations but hadn't noticed anything unusual. The taste of Junzi Pavilion didn't seem as unforgettable as described in the original story. However, after carefully considering the plot, he realized that most die-hard customers of Junzi Pavilion only dined at the main branch in City B. Combined with the fact that when Fu Xia visited the main branch, she immediately recognized the protagonist's culinary skills, he was almost certain of his theory. There was definitely something wrong with the protagonist's dishes, but she was careful, serving problematic dishes only to relatively important customers. Now was the time to unveil the secret behind the protagonist's astonishing and unforgettable cooking.