Chapter 24: Envy

The guests have arrived, but whether they can be retained depends entirely on the skills of those two Spirit Chefs.

And this was something Li Zhirui could not help with.

"You're a clever lad, coming up with such a method," Li Shilian said, his face beaming with joy and his eyes filled with admiration for Li Zhirui.

After a few humble words, Li Zhirui voiced his concern: "Most of today's guests came for the discounts. To keep them, we must rely on the quality of the spirit food. Do you have confidence in that?"

"Of course!" Li Shilian said firmly. "With the family's undivided efforts in their training, the skill level of these two Spirit Chefs is far superior to ordinary ones."

Hearing this, Li Zhirui breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the quality remained consistent, Cloud Pavilion would be stabilized; at the very least, it wouldn't face a pathetic closure like the previous restaurant.

Before long, dishes of spirit food were served. The small establishment was instantly enveloped in various aromas, which were carried out by the breeze.

"That smell is incredible!" a passing cultivator couldn't help but exclaim.

"I heard as I was passing by that this restaurant has a new owner. As expected, one wouldn't dare take over without some real skill."

"Didn't they say there were discounts for the grand opening? I'll go in and try the taste."

Many cultivators stood outside discussing, and some even wanted to enter to personally taste the fragrant spirit food.

"This..." As several people stepped up the stairs, they saw the shop was already full. They asked, "Are there no empty tables left?"

"There are private rooms on the second floor, but the private rooms..." Li Zhirui paused, his tone suddenly shifting. "Since it's the grand opening today, the private rooms are free of charge!"

"Really?"

Upon receiving Li Zhirui's affirmative reply, the cultivator said excitedly, "Then let's go to a private room."

In a short while, all eight private rooms were filled with cultivators.

Meanwhile, the cultivators who had been impatient while Li Zhirui was soliciting customers began to dig into the spirit food they had ordered.

"This Five-Treasure Soup is truly delicious! It melts in the mouth, the flavor is rich and mellow, and the aftertaste is endless. Moreover, the mana refined from it is exceptionally pure and heavy."

"Exactly! This drunken shrimp I ordered is a bit expensive, but the mana I gain from refining it is more than what I would get from three days of cultivation!"

"The Spirit Chefs at Cloud Pavilion are truly impressive. Even the most common ginseng chicken is made better than in other restaurants."

Beyond satisfying the palate, the most important aspect of spirit food is the ability to increase one's own mana while enjoying it; this is the very foundation of its existence.

Clearly, in this regard, the Li family's two Spirit Chefs were doing an excellent job, leaving the cultivators highly satisfied.

In truth, besides the ability of the two chefs, it was also due to the high quality of the spirit beasts raised by the Li family.

One must know that among the nine types of spirit beasts raised by the Li family, aside from the Cloud Fish, White Water Shrimp, and Flower-Scale Fish, the other six had undergone hundreds of years of breeding. Whether in terms of meat quality or spiritual energy, they had reached an extremely high level that no spirit beasts purchased by other restaurants could compare to.

Most of the cultivators entering Cloud Pavilion were rogue cultivators; each person would only order one or two dishes plus a complimentary bowl of spirit rice, which they would finish in no time.

As soon as one group left, new cultivators would quickly walk in. After all, the amplifying stone in Li Zhirui's hand had never stopped promoting, and whenever he saw an empty table, he would add a remark to ensure no table stayed vacant for long.

Time passed bit by bit. By noon, a clan member busy in the kitchen ran out hurriedly and said, "Zhirui, we are running low on ingredients. Uncle Shilian has gone to fetch more. Please control the number of people coming in a bit."

"I understand." Li Zhirui hadn't expected the ingredients to run low so quickly, but this was a good sign—it meant the business of Cloud Pavilion had exceeded everyone's expectations.

...

On the first day of opening, business at Cloud Pavilion was incredibly booming. Guests arrived in an endless stream, such that by the time they closed, everyone—including Li Zhirui, who was helping out—was exhausted.

"Zhirui is still the clever one, coming up with such a great idea." The manager of Cloud Pavilion, Li Shihua, had a wide smile spreading across his round face.

Because business was so busy, Li Zhirui did not return with Li Shilian and the others. Since it was already late and he was too tired to move, he planned to rest in the market overnight and return tomorrow.

"Uncle Shihua, many cultivators came today specifically for the discounts. Tomorrow's business might not be as good, so when you prepare the ingredients, please do not prepare them on the scale of today."

Li Zhirui was somewhat worried that everyone might be carried away by today's success, so he spoke up to remind them.

"Mhm, I know." Li Shihua was naturally capable, which was why he had been chosen as the manager of Cloud Pavilion.

After offering a few words of encouragement to the Spirit Chefs and kitchen assistants, he said, "Everyone worked hard today. Get some rest early; we have to wake up early tomorrow."

The night passed quietly.

The next day, as dawn broke, several kitchen assistants rose to process the spirit beasts and various ingredients.

Because they didn't know how business would be, under Li Shihua's orders, they did not prepare too many materials.

However, to everyone's surprise, today's business was not much worse than yesterday's!

Curious, Li Zhirui asked a customer and learned that after yesterday's guests left, many had recommended Cloud Pavilion's spirit food to their friends and family.

Because they had described the spirit food as exceptionally delicious—especially noting that the spiritual energy contained within was greater than that of other restaurants—Cloud Pavilion's business remained booming.

Of course, it wouldn't take long for business to return to normal. After all, while the spirit food was good, the prices were not cheap; let alone rogue cultivators, even Li Zhirui could not eat it every day.

However, the reputation of Cloud Pavilion had been successfully spread. As long as a cultivator wanted to taste spirit food, Cloud Pavilion would be their first choice!

In just one short month, Cloud Pavilion became the most successful restaurant in the Yunqing Market.

As Cloud Pavilion's business grew, the business of other restaurants in the market inevitably declined.

Particularly before Cloud Pavilion appeared, the market's top restaurant, Yingxianke, used to be crowded with guests; now, one could practically set up bird traps outside its doors.

"I say, Brother Liu, why are you still coming to Yingxianke? The spirit food here not only tastes bad, but the spiritual energy is also sparse. More importantly, the prices are expensive."

On this day, eight cultivators walked into Yingxianke. Before the manager could even put on a smile, he heard such a comment, and his face instantly darkened.

"Hah!" another person said, "Brother Liu has just emerged from seclusion; how would he know about Cloud Pavilion?"

"True." The others chimed in, praising Cloud Pavilion incessantly right in front of the manager. Although they didn't explicitly disparage Yingxianke further, it was not hard to see that they all wanted to go to Cloud Pavilion.

The host, Brother Liu, asked in confusion, "This Cloud Pavilion you speak of is also a restaurant, right? Is it really as good as you say?"

"Of course! Ask any cultivator, and they will know about Cloud Pavilion."

Hearing this, Brother Liu also became interested in Cloud Pavilion and said, "In that case, let's go to Cloud Pavilion today!"

With that, ignoring the manager's face, which had turned as dark as water, he led the group and turned to leave.