The universal cold dressing sauce is very similar to the universal noodle sauce.

Both are made by adding seasonings to chili vinegar as the base.

But compared to the noodle sauce, the vinegar ratio in the cold dressing sauce is higher, and minced garlic plus sliced chili peppers are added.

This way, the cold dishes will have a stronger sour taste, accompanied by spicy notes, making them refreshing and appetizing.

"Master, the onion and wood ear mushrooms are ready, please try it and see if anything needs to be improved..."

Lin Xu brought the mixed onions and wood ear mushrooms to the dining table.

He hadn't planned to make this dish, but every time his master gave suggestions, he'd get a system upgrade bonus, so he figured he'd milk the system a bit.

Call it making the most of the rules.

Grandpa Gao took a pair of chopsticks with interest and tasted it.

Then he said:

"It's lacking vinegar—a bit more would be better. Also, use fewer onions. Although it's called Onion and Wood Ear Mushrooms, a bit more wood ear makes it tastier."

As soon as Grandpa Gao finished speaking, the system's notification chimed in right on cue:

"Host listens to instructions from a State Banquet master, Excellent Level cold dish Onion and Wood Ear Mushrooms has been automatically upgraded to Superior. Congratulations, host."

Mission accomplished—wool successfully milked!

Lin Xu wasn't too excited over just a plate of onion and wood ear mushrooms.

But this way of gaming the system made him see hope for boosting his dishes.

Which is also why he ordered a whole box of pig ears from Old Hu just now.

For exactly this reason.

Of course—

If his elder brother were around, it'd be even better. Two State Banquet masters discussing at once? Double the upgrades, double the fun!

Lin Xu scooped a bowl of rice and sat down.

First, he tried the Alcoholic Peanuts he'd made that morning.

Hmm, crisp, fragrant, numbing and spicy—even the dried chili peppers were fried crunchy, so tossing them in your mouth was savory and satisfying. Even people who don't like drinking might want a little tipple with those peanuts.

After eating a few, he thought he should promote the new dish for today.

So, he snapped a photo of the Alcoholic Peanuts and another of Sweet and Sour Pork, then posted them to the Lin Ji's Food topic:

"New bar snack and rice bowl artifact launched this morning! Friends who like them should come have a taste. If you can't make it at noon, come by later. Through wind and rain, Lin Ji's Food is always here waiting for you!"

The comments poured in as soon as the post went up:

"Alcoholic Peanuts, my absolute favorite!"

"Sweet and Sour Pork YYDS! I have to come taste it after work today!"

"Boss Lin accidentally dropped a bomb—in stealth mode, you released two new dishes!"

"What's that in the bowl next to the sweet and sour pork? Is it again Spicy Hotpot? My goodness, staff meals are more sumptuous than what's sold to customers! Where do I file a complaint?"

"Zoomed in—no duck blood, no beef tripe, a few slices of lean meat instead. Probably Boiled Sliced Pork?"

"Last time it was Spicy Hotpot, this time it's Boiled Pork. Are staff meals running in series now?"

"Boss Lin, does the store take part-timers? Like, only weekends for cleaning tables and washing dishes? No hidden agenda—everyone is working hard, just want to help out!"

The replies from netizens were enthusiastic.

Lin Xu watched for a bit and was about to put his phone away.

Just then, a system notification suddenly sounded in his mind:

"Host actively promotes dishes, boosts topic popularity, triggering main quest [Rise to Fame]: Within one month, host must bring Lin Ji's Food to #1 in the Yanjing Region food topic ranking, and break into the top ten of the overall Yanjing Region topic chart. Rewards: Three Perfect Level dish draws, one Perfect Level recipe learning card, one cuisine upgrade card."

(Cuisine upgrade card: A special item that allows host's mastered cuisine category to advance one level.)

Cuisine upgrade card?

Perfect Level recipe learning card?

Lin Xu was over the moon.

The rewards just keep getting better and better!

But the quest's difficulty is pretty high too.

Right now, Lin Ji's Food is hovering around number twenty on the Yanjing Region food topic chart—not particularly high.

And the number one topic, #Yanjing Food Sharing#, is co-produced by travel channels and major platforms—it's influential nationwide. Quite a few Yanjing locals have the habit of snapping food pics and posting every meal.

And the quest demands busting into the overall top ten topics.

Lin Xu opened up the topic chart and saw the top ten topics in Yanjing Region were:

1. #Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson answers journalists#

2. #NDRC's opinions on oil price regulation#

3. #Ministry of Public Security issues A-level arrest bounty#

4. #Ministry of Education launches new 'double reduction' initiatives#

...

All top ten are social and political topics. The highest food-related one, #Yanjing Food Sharing#, only ranks seventeenth, and is about to be overtaken by eighteenth—#Leather Pants Wang's headlines stolen again#.

As expected, every main quest is a monster challenge.

By comparison, Lin Xu preferred doing side quests—the rewards aren't as glamorous, but they're way easier, and he could finish them no sweat.

While he was thinking, a customer came in.

Lin Xu pulled himself together, quickly finished his bowl of rice, and headed back to the kitchen to work.

Ou Hua had judged correctly—the launch of Alcoholic Peanuts triggered a wave of drinking.

The best-seller was that 100ml bottle of Erguotou.

A couple of shots with those peanuts.

Then a big bowl of Noodles with Braised Eggplant and Pork Sauce or Braised Pork Rice—now that's heaven.

"Damn, our business is insane!"

In the morning, while slicing meat, Niu Chuan had muttered to himself: How good does business have to be to slice meat by the tub? If we can't sell it all, what're we gonna do?

But now…

Was the meat prep actually too little?

Feels like it's all gonna be gone before 1:30.

The shop's success shattered his impression of the restaurant business.

He'd never imagined a restaurant could be this packed: even when there weren't any seats, people waited in line just to try the boss's cooking.

He'd really come to the right place!

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The staple foods and dishes in the store had sold out again, with only some chicken feet and sour plum soup left.

Lin Xu cooked up a new batch of spicy stock, doubled the peanuts compared to the morning, and planned to ramp up production of Alcoholic Peanuts.

Plus, he asked Xu Xinhua to prep and braise the pig ears Boss Hu had sent earlier.

"These pig ears are for cold pig ear—so go easy on the salt when braising."

Xu Xinhua agreed.

He picked up the blowtorch to scorch the pig ear skins.

After boiling, the peanuts were peeled, dried, bagged, and put into the fridge to freeze.

Making use of this time—

Lin Xu started thinking about how to boost topic popularity.

Last time the topic shot into the top fifty was because of Wu Kexin's live streaming.

Maybe he should try streaming too?

If he doesn't find ways to boost topic traffic, relying only on the store's customers for hype, he'd never crack the overall top ten—even in a hundred years.

With that thought—

He called Wu Kexin.

As soon as the call connected, Wu the streamer's surprised voice came on:

"Hey, Boss Lin, I'm live right now making crispy meat, but I think I botched it... The meat I marinated keeps failing to stick the batter—why is that?"

Lin Xu replied:

"Too much water when marinating. Sprinkle some dry flour on the meat slices to make them sticky, then dip in batter—it should be better that way."

Then he asked:

"Wu the streamer, I want to boost my online fame—should I livestream, or do something else?"

Wu Kexin thought seriously and suggested:

"Streaming takes up way too much time—you gotta stay online for hours every day. I think you're better off filming food vlogs. Just take a bit of time each day to shoot how you make a dish. It suits you much more than streaming."

Vlogging as a video blogger?

Just as Lin Xu had that idea, the system notification rang out in his brain…

——————

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