A Bite of Douluo Continent

"That makes sense." Zhou Long rubbed his chin.

"And there's another important point," Tang Zi smiled, "Hanshi Juewei has long operating hours, from nine in the morning to nine at night, unlike Hanshi, which only operates for two hours at a time."

"So the long queues of diners now are only temporary, and this situation should not occur in the future."

"I understand." Zhou Long nodded, then looked at Tang Zi with a hint of doubt in his eyes. "Why do you seem to have become smarter?"

"…roll!"

...

"Hiss... Boss, aren't there too many customers at the door?" Dai Qingfeng couldn't help but gasp as he looked at the long queue that had already formed outside the door, even though it was still an hour before they officially opened. "By the time they officially open, there might be thousands of people in line, right?"

"Maybe more than that." Qi Han smiled helplessly. "But you don't need to worry, this is only the first day."

Having been familiar with the cooked food business in his previous life, Qi Han knew very well that after returning to normalcy, the business of such stores would not be so exaggerated, and one person could handle it perfectly well.

The large number of people queuing up now are probably all curious diners for the Cold Food Festival.

They may not necessarily like braised food; they just want to see what kind of new food they're offering at their new shop.

Therefore, this morning will be the busiest time since Hanshi Juewei opened.

And coincidentally, this was also the moment when Dai Qingfeng, as a new employee, was least familiar with the business.

Thinking of this, Qi Han glanced at Dai Qingfeng beside him and smiled slightly, "I will stay here later and help you for a while before lunch service starts. After lunch service begins, I will have to go back to Hanshi, and then you will have to rely on yourself."

"Mmm!" Dai Qingfeng clearly understood this. He was already very satisfied that the boss was able to help him when the business was just opening.

An hour passed quickly, and the queue in front of Hanshi Gate had grown quite long.

At nine o'clock, many food street vendors began to open for business one after another. When they saw the long queue that stretched as far as the eye could see, with a number of thousands of people, the vendors were dumbfounded.

It wasn't until they realized these were customers of the new Hanshi restaurant that a look of realization appeared on their faces.

They naturally knew that Hanshi had started operating yesterday.

Many people already knew in advance that Hanshi was going to open a new store on the food street.

Even they were quite surprised that the new Hanshi store had such a large scale so soon after opening.

Many shopkeepers exchanged glances, silently closed their newly opened shop doors again, and then stood at the back of the line.

It's not going to open anymore, what's the point of opening it?

Let's go see what the new Hanshi store sells first.

At this moment, everyone was extremely nervous.

Each of these vendors offers a different type of food.

The type of food that the new Hanshi restaurant serves will determine which of them will be unlucky enough to lose their job.

If you unfortunately end up selling the same type of food as the Cold Food Festival, your business will inevitably plummet. Unless you switch to selling a different type of food, you'll have no choice but to close down.

At that moment, the merchants exchanged glances, each with only one thought in their minds.

It couldn't be me! It couldn't be me!!

They looked like students who didn't know anything when the teacher called their names.

About the update

I wasn't entirely satisfied with today's chapter, so I rewrote it. I'll post it at 2 PM. Everyone go eat now!

Chapter 553 How despicable!

Just as Tang Zi had predicted, their wait didn't last long.

The two arrived an hour early, and there were only a few dozen people ahead of them in line. After Hanshi Juewei officially opened for business, it was their turn in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

"Let's go see what delicious food they have." From his current vantage point, Zhou Long could clearly see the layout of the Hanshi Juewei restaurant and the two busy people inside.

Walking quickly forward, Zhou Long and Tang Zi soon saw the various foods being sold in the new store.

"Snapped!"

Zhou Long pressed his hands against the glass display case, his face pressed tightly against the glass, a look of surprise on his face.

This...this is a chicken wing, right? And that looks like a chicken foot?

And another thing, I think I saw pig's trotters?

There were also some other braised dishes, but because Qi Han had processed them, it was difficult to tell where the ingredients came from.

But even just what he saw made Zhou Long incredibly envious.

Meat! It's all meat!

As for the vegetarian dishes at the counter next to him, he simply ignored them.

Clearing his throat, Zhou Long looked at the somewhat unfamiliar new employee from Hanshi Restaurant and asked, "Um, how much is this?"

"We sell by weight. Each small label shows the type of braised food and its corresponding price, so customers can choose freely." Having already served dozens of customers, Dai Qingfeng was getting into the swing of things. "Just tell me what you need, and I'll weigh it for you."

"Sold by weight?" Zhou Long was immediately delighted. "Let me take a look."

Selling by weight is good, because it means he can buy as much as he wants.

With so many varieties to choose from, it's simply wonderful.

As for whether these foods taste good or not...

Just kidding, there can't be anything that doesn't taste good on Cold Food Festival!

He noticed that there were actually signs under each type of food.

“Duck neck…lobster tail…duck carcass bones…chicken wing roots…” Zhou Long’s expression grew increasingly surprised. “There’s so much stuff, and the prices aren’t expensive at all.”

Although the recipe for braised dishes is only two stars, the main ingredients are mostly from the ten-year level, so the price is relatively cheap. The unit price of meat dishes in these braised dishes is basically less than five gold soul coins per pound, and as for vegetarian dishes, none of them are more than one gold soul coin.

Although the price is still much higher than other stores, it is indeed very cheap compared to the price of Hanshi (a traditional Chinese food festival).

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Long finally made a decision, "This...this...and these, weigh out one pound of each for me!"

Zhou Long ordered five different dishes in total, intending to try them before having lunch.

"Okay, just a moment." Dai Qingfeng skillfully took out tongs for picking up braised food and a brand-new recyclable plastic bag with the Hanshi Festival logo from behind the counter, quickly weighed and packed the food Zhou Long needed, "It'll cost sixteen gold soul coins in total."

“Okay.” Zhou Long took out sixteen gold soul coins and handed them over, his face full of smiles as he carried the heavy bag in his hand.

This is a real meat feast!

He didn't leave immediately, but stood aside and waited for Tang Zi.

Tang Zi followed behind Zhou Long. He had heard the entire conversation between Dai Qingfeng and Zhou Long. Now, as he walked to the counter, he carefully examined the meat section, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Then, he turned his head to look at the vegetarian counter.

Unlike Zhou Long, Tang Zi is also quite interested in vegetarian dishes.

"Lotus root slices... kelp... edamame..." Tang Zi nodded in satisfaction, "Give me half a pound of each of these, and half a pound of each of these over here as well."

Because she wanted more varieties, Tang Zi bought a slightly smaller quantity.

He plans to try all the ones that interest him.

"Wait a moment." Dai Qingfeng quickly packed and weighed the items. "A total of twelve gold soul coins and three silver soul coins."

"Okay." After paying, Tang Zi looked at Zhou Long with a hopeful expression. "Where shall we eat?"

"Let's go to the Tang Clan's canteen," Zhou Long said without hesitation. "They have tables and chairs there, and it's convenient to eat there."

"go!"

...

Tang Sheng is a chef.

Or rather, he was a chef from the Tang Clan.

When he was a child, his hometown was massacred by evil spirit masters. It was the disciples of the Tang Sect who rescued him from hiding in a dry well and brought him back to the Tang Sect.

From then on, he changed his name to Tang Sheng, because the Tang Clan gave him a new life.

Unfortunately, Tang Sheng lacked the talent for cultivation, but he was grateful to the sect. So he learned excellent cooking skills and stayed in the Tang Sect's canteen to cook for the Tang Sect disciples every day.

His happiest moments used to be when he would secretly watch from the kitchen as countless Tang Sect disciples crowded into the canteen, devouring the food he cooked, and a satisfied smile would appear on his face.

But Tang Sheng has been very unhappy for the past year.

Ever since a restaurant called Hanshi opened across from the Tang Clan, the popularity of the Tang Clan's canteen has plummeted.

Fewer and fewer Tang Clan disciples come to eat every day. Only those who miss the Cold Food Festival due to cultivation or being busy, or those who arrive late because of the long queues at the Cold Food Festival entrance, will come to the Tang Clan canteen to eat.

This filled Tang Sheng with endless frustration.

He was a chef employed by the Tang Clan, and the canteen was free, so the number of disciples who came to eat did not affect his income.

But it's inevitable to feel a little bitter and resentful.

Tang Sheng was curious countless times about what magic that restaurant called Hanshi possessed that made the disciples abandon the sect's canteen where food and drink were free and instead spend so many gold soul coins just to eat a meal.

Unfortunately, although the Tang Clan provides excellent benefits to its disciples, his income as a cook is still insufficient to support him to go to the Cold Food Festival to try the food.

So this curiosity could only be buried deep in his heart.

It was past breakfast time, and lunchtime was still a while away. Only a few disciples who had missed breakfast for various reasons were eating in the Tang Clan's dining hall. Tang Sheng lay listlessly on the table, staring blankly at the entrance of the dining hall.

Suddenly, he blinked.

Two Tang Clan disciples entered the cafeteria from the entrance, each carrying a rather strange bag.

Are you here for a meal?

Thinking of this, Tang Sheng slowly sat up straight, preparing to wait for the two disciples to come over and tell him what they wanted to eat, and then he would make it for them himself.

However, he did not wait for his two disciples to arrive.

After the two disciples found two empty seats and sat down, they placed the bags they were carrying on the table, opened them one by one, put on a strange transparent glove, and began to grab food from the bags and put it into their mouths.

food!