CH 3

Returning to the orc world’s small cave, Tu Linlin opened the communication device and found the Three Thousand Food House, which held a considerable position in the space-time forum. He wrote a new comment below:

【Silent Rabbit】: Today, when I returned from the Spirit Clan to the Orc Clan, I went to the Three Thousand Food House to eat. Unexpectedly, the pork and cabbage there tasted incredibly delicious!! It’s no longer dark and has a special fragrance. It’s exceptionally tasty!!! Highly recommended!!!!

As the only restaurant in the spatial crack, although the Three Thousand Food House’s popularity wasn’t particularly high, it was never low either. Soon, there were replies below:

【Wandering Wolf】: I don’t believe you at all. Another person is trying to deceive me into going to the Three Thousand Food House!

【I Am the Lion King】: I agree with the previous comment. This trick of tricking people into going to the Three Thousand Food House has long been played out. I bet this silent rabbit has only recently started using the communication network. Bringing out such outdated methods?

【A Pink Dominant Cat】: Hahaha, the food at the Three Thousand Food House can be delicious? If it is, I’ll livestream myself eating feces!

【Leopard Brother Dedicated to Debunking】: I detest people like the OP, who enjoy deceiving others online to eat at the Three Thousand Food House. What if someone actually believes it and goes there? Isn’t that causing harm to others? Doesn’t everyone know that after eating something from the Three Thousand Food House, you have to wait for seven days before consuming anything else? Does the OP know how much psychological trauma this can cause to others? Since the OP finds the food at the Three Thousand Food House so tasty, Leopard Brother would like to ask if the OP dares to do a livestream? Livestream yourself eating at the Three Thousand Food House!! If you don’t dare, you’re not a member of the Orc Clan!! And don’t claim to be a member of the Orc Clan anymore!!! It’s simply embarrassing the Orc Clan!!!

After Leopard Brother’s message was posted, a large number of replies quickly appeared below, all of them spectators who enjoyed the commotion and didn’t mind causing trouble. Everyone was cheering and urging the OP to livestream at the Three Thousand Food House.

【Bear Clan’s Justice Light】: Support Leopard Brother! OP, agree quickly! You have to eat your own words, after all!!

【Mermaid in the Sea】: Hehehehe, looking forward to the OP’s livestream. If the food at the Three Thousand Food House is so “delicious,” the OP has to eat three servings of pork and cabbage!!

【One Step Crushing Ant】: Three servings? Don’t bully the little rabbit, I think two servings should be enough. But in my opinion, the OP won’t even dare to agree!

…

As Tu Linlin watched the messages popping up endlessly below the post, he became angry. In a moment of impulsiveness, he replied to the post:

【Silent Rabbit】: Who said I wouldn’t dare? The food at the Three Thousand Food House is indeed delicious. Three days later, I will livestream here!!!

【One Step Crushing Ant】: Oh, oh, oh, the OP actually agreed! Don’t go back on your word now!

【Mermaid in the Sea】: When an Orc says something, it’s like water poured out. Whoever goes back on their word can never fully transform in this lifetime!!

【Bear Clan’s Justice Light】: OP is awesome, daring and courageous. But whoever goes back on their word is a little dog!

【Defending the Honor of the Canine Clan】: @Bear Clan’s Justice Light, what’s wrong with being a dog? How did the Canine Clan offend you? We Canine Clan members are the most trustworthy, okay? If you don’t agree, let’s argue!

…

On the other side, it took Bai Xianzhi an afternoon to clean up the dining area and the sleeping quarters upstairs. After throwing all the trash into the garbage truck, he pulled down the rolling shutter and went to the market to buy a few kilograms of potatoes. His uncle had mentioned in the letter that the ingredients should be kept in the small room for a day before being given to special guests. However, Bai Xianzhi didn’t know what kind of guests were considered special, so he decided to buy more vegetables and store them all in the small room. In the future, all the dishes would be prepared using ingredients from the small room, eliminating the need for special treatment for special guests.

Although Bai Xianzhi had to buy more vegetables, in reality, he didn’t buy much. Three Thousand Food House was located in a remote area, and he noticed that his uncle’s inventory in the small room was also scarce. It seemed that Three Thousand Food House didn’t have a thriving business, so there was no need to buy too many ingredients.

He browsed through the market, but in the end, he only bought a few kilograms of potatoes. He reserved two slices of pork belly from Mr. Wang, the owner of the pork stall he had seen in the morning, informed Auntie, the elderly lady with white hair, who was closing her vegetable stall, that he wouldn’t need cabbage tomorrow. As he passed by a noodle shop and saw the white noodles, Bai Xianzhi immediately decided on his dinner for tonight.

Back at Three Thousand Food House, he stored all the ingredients in the small room and returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner. He hadn’t eaten meat for lunch, and now he was craving it. So he cut off a piece of lean meat from the portion in the small room. It was already 6 o’clock, and he planned to quickly make a stir-fried pork noodle dish for dinner.

Stir-fried pork is a Sichuan dish, known for its main feature of being appetizing when eaten with rice. Of course, it also worked well as a topping for noodles.

He thinly sliced the fresh pork, added sweet potato starch to enhance its tenderness, cut the chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns into small pieces, and minced the garlic and scallions. With all the ingredients ready, he heated the wok, poured in corn oil, and stir-fried the pork while sprinkling in some Sichuan peppercorns to add a numbing sensation. Once the pork changed color, he took it out and used the remaining oil in the wok to stir-fry the prepared ingredients. The vibrant green pieces of chili peppers gradually softened in the wok, and the fragrance of ginger and garlic merged dominantly with the aroma of the chili peppers.

As the fragrance of the ingredients became stronger, Bai Xianzhi added the cooked pork slices to the wok and a spoonful of the soul of Sichuan cuisine, the spicy bean paste. Instantly, the originally bland meat was dyed with an enticing red color. As he continued stir-frying, the dish became spicy and fragrant, stimulating the taste buds and taking over the entire Three Thousand Food House. Finally, he sprinkled some salt, turned off the heat, and plated the dish.

Amidst the dominant aroma of the stir-fried pork, Bai Xianzhi washed the wok and boiled water. Once the water boiled, he added two washed cabbage leaves and, when it reached another boil, put in the white noodles. After the noodles became soft, he turned off the heat, took out the noodles, and added them to the stir-fried pork. With chopsticks stirring the noodles, they became coated with the red chili oil, and the enticing meat slices mixed in with the noodles, tempting the appetite. Along with the green chili peppers, this plate of stir-fried pork noodles became incredibly alluring in color, with a numbingly spicy and fresh aroma that directly enticed the taste buds.

“Wow! It smells so good!”

Bai Xianzhi looked up and saw a young man wearing a tank top and boxers, wearing flip-flops on his feet. He walked into the kitchen, sniffed the air, and looked at the bowl of noodles that opened up one’s appetite, asking, “What’s this?”

Bai Xianzhi replied, “Stir-fried pork noodles.”

The man said, “Give me a bowl.”

Bai Xianzhi felt a bit embarrassed and said, “Uh, sir, the shop isn’t open today.”

Only then did the man divert his gaze from the noodles, looking at Bai Xianzhi strangely. “Who are you? And where’s Bai Song?”

Bai Xianzhi replied, “Bai Song is my uncle. I’m Bai Xianzhi. May I ask who you are?”

The man once again fixed his eyes on the noodles. “I’m Liu Qingshan, your uncle’s landlord. This storefront is my property.”

So, he was the landlord who held the power of life and death over this small shop. Bai Xianzhi pushed the noodles forward and said, “Mr. Liu, I haven’t touched this bowl yet. Please have a taste. Since you’re here, from now on, I’ll be in charge of Three Thousand Food House. After you finish eating, feel free to give me some suggestions for improvement.”

Liu Qingshan waved his hand. “That’s not necessary. This is your dinner. But if you insist, I’ll try it.”

After saying that, he couldn’t wait to carry the noodles to the outer area. Before even sitting down, he picked up a chopstick of noodles and mumbled, “Mmm, delicious! So delicious!”

Hearing this sound, Bai  Xianzhi smiled faintly. It would be great if the landlord could approve of this shop. He took out the meat again, preparing to make another bowl of noodles.

Liu Qingshan in the outer area was completely captivated. The plate of stir-fried pork noodles in front of him smelled incredibly fragrant, and when he tasted it, it was even more amazing. It had the perfect combination of spiciness and freshness, with the oil-coated noodles melting in his mouth. The numbing and spicy flavor spread on his tongue, enhanced by the salty taste, hitting deep into his brain like an unstoppable force.

Delicious! So delicious!! Absolutely delicious!!!

Liu Qingshan’s mind could only come up with such descriptions. At this moment, he felt that all the noodles he had eaten in the past twenty-plus years were not real noodles. Only the noodles in front of him could be called noodles. This plate of stir-fried pork noodles was incredibly delicious!

As he took a piece of meat into his mouth, Liu Qingshan nearly shed tears in that instant. Oh my, was this pork? Is it really pork? It wasn’t tough at all, so smooth and tender. It was truly delicious! Wuwuwu~

After taking a bite, he wanted to take the second bite. Liu Qingshan’s speed was as if he had activated double speed. In just two or three minutes, he finished the plate of noodles completely. He even wanted to pick up the remaining Sichuan peppercorns and ginger-garlic from the plate and eat them. Bai Xianzhi quickly stopped his actions, took the plate away, and placed a glass of water in front of him.

“The noodles are a bit spicy. Have some water.”

Hearing Bai Xianzhi’s words, Liu Qingshan realized that his lips and tongue were enveloped in a numbing and spicy sensation, which was a bit uncomfortable, but… it felt great!

Well… let’s drink some water.

He picked up the water in front of him and gulped it down. The numbing and spicy sensation eased a bit. Wiping his mouth, Liu Qingshan looked at Bai Xianzhi and praised, “Delicious! It’s so delicious! When will you officially open for business? I will definitely come to support!”

Indeed, just after finishing a plate of noodles, Liu Qingshan wanted to eat more.

White Xianzhi smiled and said, “We will officially open tomorrow.”

Liu Qingshan clapped excitedly. “Great, I will definitely come to support tomorrow!”

White Xianzhi replied, “Thank you.”

“Um,” after finishing the noodles, Liu Qingshan finally remembered his purpose for coming here. “This month is almost over, so I wanted to remind you that the rent is due on the 2nd of next month.”

Bai Xianzhi was not surprised at all. When he learned the other person’s identity, he had already guessed their purpose, but…

“May I ask how much is the rent? Is it paid monthly or quarterly?”

Liu Qingshan looked at him in surprise. “Your uncle didn’t tell you all this?”

Bai Xianzhi lowered his gaze. “My uncle left in a hurry and didn’t have time to tell me these things.”

How urgent was it? Couldn’t he spare a moment to say a few words? Besides, couldn’t he make a phone call?

Liu Qingshan, unaware of Bai Song’s passing, inwardly criticized him but remained patient on the surface. “The rule here is that both monthly and quarterly payments are acceptable. It’s 10,000 yuan per month or 30,000 yuan for three months.”

After seeing off Liu Qingshan, Bai Xianzhi ordered another bowl of noodles, feeling a bit bitter inside. Currently, he only earned around 6,000 to 7,000 yuan a month from his livestream, while the rent here was 10,000 yuan per month. If the business at Three thousand Food house was poor, he might even end up losing money. Where would he get this 10,000 yuan rent from?

1TL: YSIAD  “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ”