I've been possessed by a culinary genius, and I've turned Shaxian snacks into a rip-off!

As time went on, the number of customers in the store increased, and with the addition of promotions, the number of dishes that needed to be prepared also increased.

Li Zhibai went all out, controlling several pots by himself, frantically tossing, stir-frying, reducing sauce, and plating... without slowing down the speed of serving the food at all.

Su Su was dazzled watching from the side. To be honest, it was really difficult to maintain such a fast pace while simultaneously preparing several different dishes and ensuring that the taste was up to par.

But her master was still able to do it with ease, and the taste didn't change much. That's amazing!

Dining area.

Yu Shen and several other core members of the anti-gangster alliance sat around a large round table, discussing the strategy for the tasting event.

"With Grandpa not participating this time, our main competitor has one less major threat. However, I must remind everyone that the lesson we learned from Grandpa's last time of booking out the entire venue tells us that underestimating your opponent will come at a heavy price. Everyone still needs to keep a close eye on Grandpa."

"Absolutely, and this time we must unite as one and absolutely not fight amongst ourselves again."

"We're splitting the bill equally, no one can cheat! Anyone who tries to cheat is a dog!"

Pang Yi suddenly barked.

"Fatty, you called for me again in advance?" Yu Shen glared at him.

"No, I'm calling it for myself. I'm afraid I won't be able to resist ordering too much. I'll bark first as a sign of respect."

"..."

"Then I'll bark too."

"Woof woof woof..."

Others: "..."

These two guys probably have some serious illness.

"I don't think relying solely on self-discipline is enough; we need to set some rules. Let's set a daily spending limit of 10,000 per person, and no one is allowed to exceed it. We'll keep everyone on the same level and have a final showdown on the last day."

"That's a great idea!" Yu Shen was the first to agree: "This way, we won't let Li Heizi rip us off too much, and we can compete fairly on the last day. It's very fair."

Everyone nodded in agreement, agreeing that this was the most reasonable solution at present.

Lu Qianshan remained silent, sensing that something was amiss, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Old Lu, what do you think?" Yu Shen asked.

"Okay, let's agree on this for now. We can adjust it later if there are any problems," Lu Qianshan said.

"Alright! It's settled then! Come on, let's toast to the unity of the anti-black alliance, and to prevent being divided by Li Heizi!"

"Cheers!"

Once they finalized the gentleman's agreement, they all started raising their hands to place their orders.

"Boss, one serving of braised pork, please."

"Boss, a bowl of chicken soup, please."

"Two bowls of noodles and two baskets of steamed dumplings!"

"..."

Li Zhibai was tossing the wok in the kitchen while silently estimating today's sales revenue in his mind.

On the first day of the new store's opening, coupled with news reports about the renowned chefs' invitational tournament, the number of customers today was significantly higher than during the old store's operation.

All 60 slots were snapped up within two hours of opening, and some new customers even came specifically for the event but had to leave disappointed. Some of them were even tricked and lured away by the Shaxian Snacks restaurant across the street.

Li Zhibai was completely unaware of all this; he had been staying in the kitchen working and hadn't come out much.

Just as he finished making the last batch of noodles, a notification suddenly popped into his mind.

Ding!

[Receive 1 fragment of a food memory from customer "Yu Shen"!]

Li Zhibai's eyes lit up, and he quickly used his mind to open the fragment.

A palm-sized fragment emitting a faint glow appeared on the system panel, on which some rapidly flashing images could be vaguely seen.

In the video, a little boy wearing open-crotch pants is squatting by the door, poking a hairy crab on the ground with a small stick. Then, the hairy crab seems to get angry and takes advantage of the little boy's carelessness to suddenly turn around and grab the crab, pinching the little boy so hard that he cried loudly.

"puff!"

"Hahaha.....!!!"

Li Zhibai couldn't hold back anymore, and while holding onto the stove with one hand, he laughed so hard that tears almost streamed down his face.

"No, System, is this Yu Shen's food memories? Getting ripped out by a hairy crab, huh? Hahahaha..."

After laughing enough, he added, "This kind of scene doesn't really have much to do with food, does it?"

[Food memory fragments are not limited to the food itself, but rather the scenes associated with the food that carry emotions and memories. What the host sees is only a fragment; only by reconstructing and piecing together the complete memory scene can the truly touching food clues be found within.]

Li Zhibai nodded upon hearing this.

This setting is quite novel; it even allows him to see some scene images, which is very interesting.

"System, how many fragments are needed to synthesize a complete one?"

[Depending on the complexity and emotional intensity of the diner's memory, the number of fragments required to synthesize a complete memory varies. Currently, customer Yu Shen estimates that 10 fragments are needed to unlock the corresponding prerequisite quest for the "Heart of Gourmet Food".]

10 pieces.

It seems alright.

Yu Shen is the most frequent customer and sucker in his shop. He comes almost every day, much more often than other customers. Collecting fragments from him should be the easiest.

It seems necessary to give him a hint, to make him do his best to secure the customized qualification for that tasting event. Even if he doesn't cheat, it would be good to give him a little insight into the spending of others so that he can know his competitors and avoid being robbed by Lao Liu.

Just as Li Zhibai was pondering how to help Yu Shen win the championship, he suddenly remembered a question that he had always been curious about but had never asked.

"By the way, System, I've been wanting to ask you a question: besides adding new dishes, what else is the use of collecting Food Hearts?"

The system paused for a moment after hearing his question, as if considering whether to answer.

After a while.

The system spoke in an unusually serious tone:

Collect enough Food Hearts and you'll have the chance to create food that surpasses even god-level skills.

Upon hearing the system's response, Li Zhibai's eyes widened instantly.

What?! It can surpass the god level?!

He always thought that the ceiling of food was the god level, and that the dishes made by the god level were so delicious that they made people want to cry. But now the system actually told him that there was an attic above the ceiling.

"System, are you kidding me? I can't even imagine what surpassing godhood means. Does it mean the food you make will glow?"

[Pretty much. God-level food can give people the ultimate taste experience, but food that surpasses god-level....]

The system paused for a moment.

It can truly change a person.

"Change people?"

Yes! A truly divine dish allows the taster to directly "see" the flavor. This isn't a metaphor; it's a literal vision. The moment the food enters the mouth, the "form of flavor" appears in the diner's mind. It's not an illusion; the taste itself takes on shape and color, as if someone has painted the flavor into a picture, projecting it directly into the taster's consciousness.

In that instant, sight, taste, memory, emotion... and so on, all briefly merge into one, giving diners an experience that cannot be described in words.

This is a level that can never be reached through technique alone.

Li Zhibai gasped upon hearing the system's detailed explanation. It sounded like he was on drugs—it was too exaggerated!

Beyond god-level.

Dishes that can give diners a hallucinatory experience.

If this were actually made, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to sell it for five figures, right?

No, even five figures are an underestimate.

If this stuff were served, it would probably have to be sold by the gram.