[Genshin Impact]: I can become stronger by cooking.

Louise smiled as she took the money from the cashier, then handed Eugénie a receipt with "001" written on it.

Chao Ke went into the kitchen and quickly packed a hamburger, along with a serving of Fontaine, and placed it at the pick-up point.

"Number 001! Please proceed to the food pick-up counter." The loudspeaker in the restaurant announced.

Eugenie glanced at the receipt number in her hand, her expression somewhat blank. This... this restaurant is going too far! Charging before the meal is one thing, but now customers have to pick up their food themselves.

So the waiters at this restaurant don't need to do anything? Wait... this restaurant doesn't seem to have any waiters either.

Suppressing her displeasure, Eugénie went to get the food herself with indescribable feelings.

"I'd like to see how good your restaurant's food is. If it's not good, then I'll be very rude and vent all my frustration from ordering it."

Eugénie opened the box containing the hamburger, and instantly, a wonderful aroma assaulted her senses.

The aroma of fried meat, the scent of freshly baked bread, and the fragrance of fresh vegetables created a harmonious symphony around her nose.

"This fragrance... is simply unbelievable."

Eugenie's body could no longer suppress her biological instincts, and she took a bite of the crispy hamburger.

Click!

The delightful chewing sound comes from the mouth, and the crisp and crunchy pork shank provides an exceptionally pleasant eating experience.

With the refreshing and invigorating Fontaine, Eugenie quickly finished her burger.

I was about to order another serving, but a burp came out of my mouth first.

"Phew, I haven't eaten this much in ages," Eugenie exclaimed contentedly.

At that moment, all her dissatisfaction with the Jiaziwei restaurant dissipated with that burp.

Such a great restaurant, so a few rules are fine. It's just a pity for Louis, who sells fish and chips. With such a monstrous new restaurant nearby, his business is going to be much harder in the future.

After seeing off Eugénie, the first customer, Chao Ke pondered for a moment and wrote down the rules of pre-payment and self-service dining outside the restaurant.

At worst, we'll lose some customers, which is better than having to explain things repeatedly in the store or getting into arguments.

After Eugénie left, Jiaziwei gradually welcomed new customers.

However, judging from the guests' behavior, they were mainly attracted by the unique decor of Jiaziwei Restaurant, and were not very interested in the food it offered.

But it doesn't matter. Every customer who has tried Chao Ke's Crispy Pork Leg Burger leaves with a full stomach.

The news that a remarkable restaurant had opened in the Vasari Gallery spread like wildfire throughout Fontainebleau.

And those reporters are probably the most sensitive to news.

Just as Chao Ke put the two trays of hamburger buns into the oven, he sat down to stretch his limbs and saw a familiar figure.

Miss Ou Fu, editor-in-chief and reporter of Steambird News.

Unlike at the beginning of the game's storyline, Miss Ou Fu now works as an editor-in-chief and occasionally takes on the role of a reporter.

Here, Ou Fu is taking a picture of Jia Zi Wei's store with a camera.

Perhaps satisfied with the photos, Miss Ou smiled and pushed open the restaurant door.

"Excuse me, is the restaurant owner here? I'm Ou Fu, a reporter from Steambird. I just took some photos of your restaurant, and I'd like to discuss the publication permission."

"Um...that's me," Chao Ke said, slightly embarrassed.

Looking at Ou Fu, Chao Ke inexplicably recalled the "whimper" she made when he pinned her down that night.

To be honest, if it weren't for the special circumstances that night, such a pretty girl would have been moaning for quite a while after I sat down on her.

"Um, haven't we met somewhere before?" Ou Fu asked Chao Ke with some confusion.

She felt that Chao Ke looked quite familiar.

"Well, we all live in Fontainebleau, so we'll run into each other from time to time."

Chao Ke spoke in platitudes, trying to distract Ou Fu from her thoughts.

“You’re right.” Unable to recall anything, Ou stopped thinking about it and began to get down to business.

"Mr. Manager, I would like to use photos of your restaurant as material for publication in the relevant section of Steambird News. Would you be able to grant me permission?"

"Oh, of course."

Chao Ke, of course, would not refuse the advertisement that came to him. He smiled and discussed with Ou Fu the time and format for publishing the photos of Jia Zi Wei. Finally, the two signed a photo usage authorization agreement.

Miss Ou was clearly delighted to have secured the image license. After saying goodbye to Chao Ke, she immediately headed back to the Steambird newspaper to finish her article, hoping it would be published first thing tomorrow morning.

"Miss Ou Fu, please wait a moment. This is a product from our store. Please try it. If you like the taste, could you please advertise it in the newspaper?"

As he spoke, Chao Ke packed up a single serving of Crispy Pork Knuckle Burger and handed it to Miss Ou Fu.

"Ah! Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Manager, but I can't accept this." After thanking Chao Ke, Ou Fu politely declined his offer.

As a journalist and newspaper editor, she has her own professional ethics and would never accept any benefits from those she reports on, lest she lose her autonomy when writing these reports.

But, "gurgling"

Ou Fu's stomach rumbled rather inappropriately, and her hand holding the food hung in mid-air, neither handing it over nor taking it back.

In the end, it was Ou Fu who came to Chao Ke's rescue. "Mr. Manager, I'll buy this set meal at full price. Just consider me a normal customer. If it's really delicious enough, I'll mention it in the report. What do you think?"

"Then I'll trouble you, Miss Reporter." Chao Ke smiled as he accepted Ou Fu's Mora and handed her the food.

When Ou Fu received the food, she paused for a moment, remembering Chao Ke's hands.

It's strange, I don't know why.

The image of Chao Ke slapping the attacker across the face when he protected her that night remained etched in her mind for a long time.

"It wasn't hard work... but thank you so much for that night."

After saying that, Ou Fu ran away from Jia Zi Wei, leaving Chao Ke standing dumbfounded at the door.

So, how did those women discover my identity? They say reporters have keen observation skills; they couldn't have really recognized me by looking at my butt, could they?

hiss...

Chapter 20 Bringing Meilushin In...

"Customer No. 031, please proceed to the food pick-up counter to collect your meal."

A lovely girl named Melosin glanced at the order number in her hand and skipped happily to the order counter.

"Hello sir, I'm here to pick up my food!"

Looking at Meilushin's fluffy ears in front of the window, Chao Ke really wanted to go up and rub them, but considering that she was wearing the uniform of Zhuyingting, after hesitating for a moment, Chao Ke finally couldn't bring himself to do it.

Miss Meilushin seemed oblivious to Chao Ke's strange gaze, and was intently observing the scene in the kitchen inside the food pick-up area.

"Sigh, not again. How many police officers have I caught today..."

Unable to bear it any longer, Chao Ke sighed, pushed open the kitchen door, and walked out to Officer Mei Luxin's side.

"Hey? What...what are you going to do?"

As Chao Ke approached, Mei Luxin showed a hint of panic, waving her hands in front of her and glancing at the door out of the corner of her eye, ready to run away at any moment.

But no matter how fast Meiluxin was, she couldn't outrun Chao Ke. Chao Ke stretched out his arms, picked up Meiluxin, put her on his shoulder, and carried her away.

Louise's mouth dropped open as she watched Chao Ke carry Melosin all the way to the kitchen.

Humans cannot, or at least should not...

After entering the kitchen, Chao Ke closed the door and put Meilushin, who was resisting violently, down from his shoulder.

"What...what are you going to do to me?"

Meiluxin hugged herself tightly, trembling slightly, and asked Chao Ke.

"Look!" Chao Ke pointed to the kitchen and said, "Let the officer check the environment inside."

"Ah! How did you know about our mission?"

Upon hearing the reason, Officer Meilushin breathed a sigh of relief and asked with some confusion.

Chao Ke helplessly spread his hands, "Officer, our shop only served 31 customers today, but including you, there are 10 customers from Meilushin alone."

"Moreover, every customer of Melushin has a strong curiosity about the kitchen that is not open to the public. It must have been very difficult for you. Even Miss Melushin, who is in charge of guiding tours on the cruise ship, has come out."

The police officer, Melissa, seemed a little embarrassed by what she was being told. "Is...is it really that obvious?"

Taking advantage of Officer Meilushin's guilty conscience, Chao Ke stepped forward and vigorously rubbed her a few times. Feeling the fluffy and incredibly smooth texture, Chao Ke looked on with enjoyment.

"Hey? What...what are you going to do?"

Sensing something amiss, Officer Meilushin quickly jumped back and looked at Chao Ke with a wary expression.

"Sorry, sorry, I've wanted to touch Meilushin's skin for a long time... Anyway, feel free to inspect any part of Jiaziwei's kitchen that you, Zhuyingting, want to check. Instead of investigating secretly, you might as well tell me directly. My view of Jiaziwei is that it's a legally operating restaurant."

Seeing Chao Ke's candid demeanor, Officer Mei Luxin felt that what Chao Ke said was true. But since she was already there, out of a sense of duty, Zhu Yingting still carefully investigated the kitchen of Jia Zi Wei from beginning to end.

In an alleyway outside the restaurant, a group of cops were squatting, including both humans and Melusin, indicating that multiple departments were carrying out a joint mission.

"It's been so long, why hasn't Senior Ellie returned yet?"

"Wait a minute! I just checked, and there doesn't seem to be any Ellie-senpai in that restaurant!"

"What!" came the exclamation from the crowd.

"Keep your voices down, everyone! That mansion is right around here. If they spot us, our covert investigation will have failed."

"But, but, what should we do about Senior Ellie?"

"Sigh, this is all my fault. I wanted to shorten the investigation time to avoid being discovered by the Bufati Mansion, so I rashly sent several Miss Melissas to investigate. I'm afraid the people at the restaurant will notice something is wrong."

"So...so what's our next step?"

“Okay, you’re fast, go and notify the special patrol team. The rest of you, let’s rush in together and force the restaurant staff to release Senior Ellie.”

"Well, that can only be done."

"I have no opinion."

"..."

The people in the alley reached a consensus, and a large group of them rushed towards Jia Zi Wei.

Inside the restaurant, Chao Ke held Mei Luxin's fluffy little hand and they walked out of the kitchen together.