Chapter 8: Sour and Spicy Pickled Radish

Zhou Yan instinctively squeezed the brakes.

Food Appraisal? What kind of skill is this?

【Food Appraisal】: An excellent chef must master the ability to select ingredients. One must have an accurate grasp of freshness, origin, and seasonality to obtain the best ingredients. Furthermore, rapid analysis of food will contribute to the improvement of culinary skills. You have acquired this ability.

The system provided a note accordingly.

Zhou Yan was thoughtful; he hadn't expected that besides recipes, there would also be skills as rewards.

"Gege, do you want to eat ding-ding candy too?" Zhou Momo asked, looking back, her little face full of anticipation.

Zhou Yan looked to the side. By the road, an old man with graying hair carried a bamboo pole on his shoulder. The copper hammer and iron chisel in his hands tapped together gently, making a "ding-ding" sound, which is how the candy got its name.

"I think it's you who wants to eat it, right?" Zhou Yan laughed.

Zhou Momo swallowed, looked away, and shook her head firmly: "Mom said I can't spend Gege's money recklessly."

"Your brother can still afford to treat you to some candy." Zhou Yan smiled and pulled his bicycle over.

The old man set down his bamboo pole, tapped the white candy brick into jade-like shards, and wrapped them in kraft paper. It was a heavy package, costing only fifty cents.

Zhou Yan glanced at the candy brick, and a line of text appeared

【A mediocre candy brick. The sesame is slightly over-roasted, but it does not affect consumption.】

Zhou Yan then looked at a basket of bright red oranges displayed by an auntie at a roadside stall.

【A basket of sour and astringent oranges, not yet ripe.】

Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up. This was truly a god-tier skill for grocery shopping; he would never have to worry about being scammed again!

After paying, he opened the paper package, pinched a piece of candy, and fed it to Zhou Momo. Then he popped one into his own mouth. The sweetness melted instantly, and his mood brightened along with it.

"Ding-ding candy is so delicious! Honey-sweet! Gege is the best Gege in the world!" Zhou Momo said, her mouth slightly full as she happily swung her short legs.

"Good girl, I'll buy you more next time." Zhou Yan smiled and patted her head.

He also had the cutest sister in the world. For fifty cents worth of candy, sitting on the front bar of a bicycle, she provided plenty of emotional value!

It had to be said that the new bike Lin Zhiqiang gave him was great to ride; the more he pedaled, the more energy he had. The trip that took over an hour this morning took less than half an hour to ride back.

Returning to the restaurant, Zhou Yan first lifted Zhou Momo down to the ground, then pushed the bicycle into the shop and parked it against the wall.

This was Zhou Yan's most valuable asset at the moment, so it had to be stored carefully.

"Zhou Momo, did you make your brother buy you candy again?" Zhao Tieying asked, suppressing a smile as she looked at her youngest daughter’s bulging cheeks.

"Yup." Zhou Momo nodded, saying with a hint of pride: "Gege bought me ding-ding candy, I love Gege the most!"

"Fifty cents for a big bag, it’ll last her a long time." Zhou Yan took the oil-paper-wrapped candy out of his basket, opened it, and handed it to Zhao Tieying. "Mom, you try some too."

"Business in the shop has just started to pick up, money should still be spent where it counts," Zhao Tieying cautioned, pinching a small piece of candy and putting it in her mouth.

Sweet. It was sweet right to the heart!

"Got it, I'm going to make the toppings." Zhou Yan agreed with a smile and went into the kitchen with his basket. Zhao Tieying had already washed all the bowls and left them to dry, and the kitchen was cleaned up.

"Mom, I'm going to play on the slide. Call me when it's time to eat," Zhou Momo shouted, hopping toward the door.

"Don't run around too far. We're having meat at noon, come back early after you've played enough," Zhao Tieying raised her voice. "Otherwise, I'll eat all the meat."

"Okay—" Zhou Momo replied, trotting toward the factory school nearby on her short legs.

On this trip, Zhou Yan bought a pound of minced beef, a pound of beef brisket, and a pound of pork ribs. This was enough for thirty bowls of noodle toppings.

However, his father had cut him an extra three taels of brisket, specifically requesting to come and eat braised beef noodles once the beef was sold out at noon.

"It really was Deputy Factory Director Lin's niece that Zhou Erwa saved by jumping into the Qingyi River yesterday. She sent a new bicycle today to thank him. He’s really become a hero for saving someone!"

"That kid is a real living Lei Feng. Daring to jump into Bailatuo—he’s a good person with good luck."

"I heard Zhou Yan started selling noodles today. Business is booming; Wang Laowu is so angry his nose is crooked."

"With business that good, he probably doesn't need to sell his body anymore. What a pity, what a pity..."

"Sister-in-law Lin, are you still thinking about that?"

"Let's go try Zhou Yan's noodles one of these days and support his business."

"I think you just want to try him..."

Zhou Yan was in the kitchen preparing ingredients. Outside the window, the laughter of the older women washing clothes at the pier drifted in from time to time, sounding both funny and helpless.

Zhao Tieying walked in with peeled garlic, having overheard a few fragments. She spat on the ground, rolled up her sleeves, and said, "That Widow Lin and her foul mouth, I’m going to go tear it apart!"

Zhou Yan had to use all sorts of persuasion to hold her back.

His reputation and standing were improving in a positive direction; the trend was good.

Just as he expected, after the factory got off work at noon, the restaurant saw a small peak in customer traffic, all workers who had heard of him.

Fortunately, Zhao Tieying was there, handling the fire, serving dishes, clearing tables, and managing the register all by herself without a hint of chaos.

After two hours of busyness, it was time for the silk factory to resume work. With no more customers, Zhou Yan finally closed the front door.

Zhou Yan let out a long sigh and shook his sore hands. Hand-pulled noodles were not just a technical skill; they were physical labor.

"Sold twenty-eight bowls at noon, collected 16.8 yuan." Zhao Tieying handed the counted money to Zhou Yan, her smile impossible to hide.

Zhou Miao was silently clearing bowls on the side, also wearing a smile.

This wasn't the day with the highest turnover for Zhou Erwa's Restaurant, but it would be the day with the highest profit, because the prepared ingredients wouldn't be wasted.

None of them had expected that noodles costing sixty cents a bowl could sell so well!

"The remaining toppings are only enough for ten or so bowls. Should I stir-fry more toppings this afternoon?" Zhao Tieying asked, full of energy.

"No need. It'll be good if we can sell another dozen bowls tonight; most workers eat at home in the evening," Zhou Yan said with a smile, shaking his head. In fact, business for noodles was best in the morning.

Today, he had prepared toppings and meat sauce for sixty bowls; if he could sell them all, it would already far exceed expectations.

"Mom, go call Momo back for dinner, I'll go cook noodles for you all," Zhou Yan smiled, put the money in the cabinet, and turned into the kitchen.

"Alright." Zhao Tieying responded, turned, and walked out. Standing at the restaurant entrance, she put her hands on her hips and shouted toward the school, "Zhou Momo! Come home for dinner! I'm warning you! One, two..."

Before she could shout "three," Zhou Momo had already come running out from the main gate, shouting, "Coming! Coming!"

"Gege, tummy, hungry." As soon as Zhou Momo entered the restaurant, she ran to the kitchen, leaned up to Zhou Yan, and looked at him expectantly.

"Go wash your hands, we'll eat in a minute," Zhou Yan said with a smile, looking at her dirty little hands.

"Okay!" Zhou Momo replied obediently, walked to the water vat, stood on tiptoe, scooped a ladle of water into a small basin, and began to wash her hands.

Before long, Zhou Yan brought out four bowls of braised beef noodles. The family sat together to eat; they were all hungry after being busy until this point.

"Try the pickles I made yesterday. They'll taste even better tomorrow." Zhou Yan brought out a plate of pickled radishes. The red-skinned radishes, cut into long strips and pickled for a day, looked crystal clear.

"Crunch." Zhao Tieying picked up a radish and took a bite, nodding repeatedly: "It's still so crunchy, sour and spicy, with a hint of sweetness. Delicious!"

Zhou Miao also tried one, nodding with a smile: "Mhm, it cuts through the grease perfectly. It’s just right for noodles."

Zhou Momo tried to pick one up with her chopsticks for a while but couldn't. Zhou Yan simply picked one up and let her hold it.

The little one held it to her mouth and nibbled on it. Her big eyes lit up, but soon she started going "Sss-hah, sss-hah," exclaiming while nibbling: "So yummy, but a little spicy..."

There were indeed fewer customers for dinner, but the eleven bowls of noodles were still sold out. A few latecomers didn't get any and had to wait until tomorrow morning.

Zhao Tieying helped Zhou Yan tidy up the restaurant before getting on the back of Comrade Zhou Miao's bicycle and humming a tune as they left.

It was clear she was in a very good mood. What impressed Zhou Yan even more was her vitality—getting up in the morning to process beef offal, cooking, feeding the pigs, and then helping in the shop all day, only to still be able to hum a tune on the way home.

Zhou Yan only handled the shop's affairs, and he was already so tired he wanted to lie on the floor.

He took the money out of the cabinet to count it. Today, he sold a total of 60 bowls of noodles, with an income of exactly 36 yuan. Yesterday's starting capital was 16.4 yuan.

Expenses for ingredients were 16.9 yuan, and 0.5 yuan for the ding-ding candy.

He now had 35.5 yuan in his hands!

For now, the wood, oil, and seasonings were all from the restaurant's previous stock; these expenses could be calculated at the end of the month.

Comrade Little Zhou was quite bold when it came to procurement; he clearly looked like someone prepared to do big things. There were still dozens of catties of rapeseed oil in the oil vat, a wall of oak wood neatly stacked behind the stove, and plenty of salt, dried chili, and other seasonings left—enough to last for a while.

Although the money was spent freely, it was all spent on the shop, and the quality of the goods was not bad.

After soaking the dried bamboo shoots and washing up, Zhou Yan went to bed. Before falling asleep, he glanced at the panel

【Player: Zhou Yan】

【Profession: Chef】

【Wealth Value: -822.52】

【Professional Skills】

Knife Skills (Intermediate): 9604/10000 (Your knife skills are sufficient to meet the requirements of most dishes)

Heat Control (Intermediate): 1668/10000 (The dish still needs practice)

Seasoning (Intermediate): 1695/10000 (Go easy on the salt)

Eloquence (Advanced): 88889/100000 (A pig arching the door curtain—all depends on the mouth)

【Mastered Dishes】

Double-Pepper Beef Mixed Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000

Braised Beef Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000

Braised Pork Rib Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000

Pickled Mustard Greens (Advanced): 99999/100000

Smashed Cucumber (Intermediate): 1871/10000

……

Special Skill

Food Appraisal (Master): 999999/1000000 (Cannot be upgraded)

【Main Quest: Become a God of Cooking! Famous throughout the world!】

【Main Quest: Restaurant Influence reaches 100 (61/100)】

【Wealth Mall: Unlocks when Wealth Value reaches 1000.】

After one day of business, the panel had changed significantly.

The wealth value had gone from -858.52 to -822.52. The increase of 36 should correspond to today's turnover, a one-to-one ratio.

Zhou Yan was quite looking forward to the Wealth Mall; he wondered what was for sale inside. It would be great if there were recipes.

Secondly, the proficiency of Knife Skills, Heat Control, and Seasoning had all increased by 1000, which should be related to him acquiring and mastering the three noodle dishes.

Braised beef with bamboo shoots, double-pepper minced beef, and braised pork ribs—mastering these three dishes gave him a certain understanding of braising, stir-frying, and red-cooking.

The knowledge entered his brain, not stored separately.

He could cut beef into uniform small pieces, and he could just as easily mince pork.

Braised beef with bamboo shoots was delicious, but if he replaced the bamboo shoots with radishes or potatoes, braised beef brisket with potatoes or radishes likely wouldn't be too bad either, just a little short of perfection.

Zhou Yan was like a blank sheet of paper, and now a bold, colorful stroke had been made. Who could predict what kind of culinary masterpiece would be painted next?

He didn't know himself, but what he did know was that there would definitely be more customers to serve tomorrow, and he would have to pull more noodles.

And, earn more money!

Seeking monthly tickets, seeking recommendation tickets, seeking everything~~~

(End of chapter)