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

Early the next morning.

The first thing Qian did after Li Zhibai opened his eyes was to send a message to Su Su.

"Sister Su, I need your help urgently!"

Su Su seemed to have just woken up, replying with a slightly nasal tone, "Master, what emergency do you need help with now?"

"Green plums, get me some fresh green plums."

"Green plums?" Su Su thought for a moment and said, "Master, it's already October. The season for green plums is long over, and there are no fresh green plums on the market."

"Cold storage goods are fine too, but you need to choose the ones with firm skin, intact fruit, and the best quality and appearance. Get me 100 jin first."

"Okay, I'll have the supplier look for one first."

More than an hour later, Su Su replied that he had gotten it.

One o'clock in the afternoon.

As soon as Li Zhibai walked from the apartment to the store, the delivery truck stopped at the door.

Su Su jumped out of the passenger seat and had the delivery workers carry the two styrofoam boxes of green plums out of the car.

"Master, these green plums were taken from the cold storage. I had them carefully selected; they are from the best batch. Please take a look and see if they are suitable."

"Sister Su Su, you're getting more and more capable." Li Zhibai gave her a thumbs up.

Su Su stuck out her tongue: "Master, what kind of delicious food are you planning to make with these green plums?"

"This time, we're not making dishes, we're making drinks," Li Zhibai said.

"Drinks? Does that mean we'll have drinks when we come to the store from now on?" Su Su's eyes lit up.

She had long felt that the drinks at her master's shop were too limited, with only free tap water, and now she was finally going to add more beverages.

"Let's give it a try first, and see if it works."

Li Zhibai had the workers carry the green plums into the kitchen, then opened the box, and a blast of cold air rushed out.

The plums are round and plump, with a thin layer of white frost on their skin, and at first glance they do look like fresh fruit.

But when Li Zhibai picked one up, he could sense the problem; it was indeed only fresh on the surface.

This batch of fruit clearly lacked the freshness of fruit that comes from just being picked from the tree, still carrying the morning dew and the warmth of the sun.

When you squeeze the fruit hard with your fingers, you can feel that it is too hard. The hardness is not the firmness of the fruit, but the hardness after some of the internal moisture and pectin have been lost.

It would be difficult to make top-quality food or drinks using plums of this quality.

Fortunately, he had that cutting-edge technology that had just been unpacked—a food restoration device.

"System, how do I use this?"

[The host places the ingredients to be restored into the restoration device, closes the hatch, and the system will automatically perform the restoration operation.]

[Note: Only one type of ingredient can be restored at a time. The restoration process takes one hour and cannot be interrupted. After use, there is a 24-hour cooling period.]

One hour.

Li Zhibai did the math in his head. It was 1 p.m. now. If he put it in, it would be ready by 2 p.m.

It's quite efficient.

Li Zhibai opened the hatch of the restorer. The space inside was just the right size to fit a box of green plums. He put one box of green plums inside and then closed the hatch.

buzzing~~~

The food restorer emitted a low humming sound, and a ring of light blue light patterns appeared on its surface, giving it a very high-tech look.

[Ingredient restoration has begun. Estimated remaining time: 59 minutes and 59 seconds.]

Li Zhibai patted the outer casing of the restorer and thought to himself: This is really a good thing!

With this thing, any off-season ingredients, fresh produce that needs long-distance transportation, etc., can be brought back to their freshest state in his hands.

This means he has control over a top-tier food supply chain that no one else can replicate.

If they could offer some off-season limited-edition dishes in the future, it would be reasonable to set the price higher.

..........

After taking care of the green plums, the next step is the tedious yet enjoyable time of ripping off customers.

Just as it was 6 p.m., the store sign was already upstairs.

Today, only 59 spots were released as usual, and Li Zhibai reserved one spot for Su Su as usual.

Within minutes of opening the door, customers flooded in.

"Boss! Noodles, steamed dumplings, and a bowl of chicken soup."

"I'd like two bowls of mixed noodles and a serving of pigeon soup."

"There are so many people today. I feel like if this keeps up, we'll really have to come and queue up earlier."

"Sigh, Li Heizi's shop is getting more and more popular, but I'm not happy at all."

"Who isn't?"

"........."

6 points.

The number of diners displayed on the electronic screen is updated.

[Number of dining slots remaining today: 7.]

7 o'clock exactly.

[Number of dining slots remaining today: 2.]

7 points.

[Number of dining slots remaining today: 0.]

Without prior reservation, all 59 slots were filled in just over an hour after the store opened.

Since Li Zhibai gained some popularity after participating in the famous chef invitational competition, coupled with the unlimited free meals during the long holiday, many customers have returned. Although it hasn't reached the point where long queues are needed to grab a number, compared to when they were at the old store, at least the daily quota has been used up smoothly.

Even the diners who arrived later were a little annoyed to be late when they saw the big zero on the electronic screen.

"No way? It's only a little past 7 o'clock and it's already gone?"

"Boss, could you make an exception and add me on the list? I came all the way from the west side of the city."

"....."

Li Zhibai said apologetically, "Please be early tomorrow, everyone. Our restaurant opens promptly at 6 PM. We won't wait for latecomers. Of course, if you really want to eat whenever you want, you can check out the restaurant's spending rankings. The person with the highest daily spending can reserve a dining spot for the next 10 days."

After much persuasion, they finally managed to send away those unwilling diners.

Yu Shen, Pang Yi, Cha Xiaocha, and Lu Qianshan, the Shaxian F4, all arrived early.

Seeing this scene, everyone looked worried.

They finally couldn't control Li Heizi!

Yesterday, the quota was used up by 8 o'clock, but today it was already at 7 o'clock. At this rate, the day when we really need to queue up to grab a number is probably not far away.

After a moment of hesitation, the group looked at the menu and ordered several dishes.

Only Yu Shen ordered a bowl of mixed noodles, and it was the regular version.

Normally, Yu Shen, the only one in F4 who comes to eat here every day without fail, would at least order two portions and have a soup with them.

Today, however, he was unusually quiet and only ordered a regular bowl of noodles. He was listless and seemed distracted.

Seeing this, Pang Yi asked, "Old Yu, are you sick? Why are you eating so little? How about I give you a couple of steamed dumplings to help you recover?"

"No, I have no appetite," Yu Shen shook his head.

"What?! You actually have a time when you lose your appetite? Did Li Heizi drain you dry last night?"

"Get lost! I just don't want to eat," Yu Shen said.

He was indeed stabbed three times by Li Heizi last night, each stab a critical hit, and he still hasn't recovered.

"Then we can eat first." Pang Yi wisely stopped provoking him and turned to start eating.

Lu Qianshan and Cha Xiaochai also glanced at Yu Shen, wondering what had happened to him by Li Heizi. Could it really be as Fatty said, that Li Heizi had...?

Both of them couldn't help but shiver!

It's a password! I absolutely must never go out alone with Li Heizi again!

Li Zhibai had just come out of the kitchen to get something when he noticed that Yu Shen was in a low mood, and he felt like laughing to himself.

Hey! This guy hasn't recovered from last night's blow yet.

Of course, what he was more concerned about was that this guy had only ordered the regular version today, which was simply outrageous!

As the saying goes, health is the foundation of everything, so even if you feel unwell, you can't just eat passively!

Li Zhibai quickly came up with a way to both cure Yu Shen and make more money.

That means turning this guy's grief and anger into a hunger, and stimulating him severely!