Shokugeki No Douluo Dalu (Patreon)

Chapter 159: Fishing

"Boss, Reviewer Cao Pingzhi is here!"

Qin Yue's slightly anxious voice suddenly came through, causing Qi Han to momentarily pause in his stir-frying.

Over the past 5 days, Qi Han's emotions had fluctuated significantly, from initially not caring much to now feeling perplexed and puzzled.

Although Qi Han didn't have a great impression of this reviewer Cao Pingzhi, as introduced by Qin Yue, the Food Critique Magazine would still be greatly beneficial for the Quest, so he was somewhat looking forward to it.

However, after waiting for a full 5 days without any sign of this Cao Pingzhi reviewer, Qi Han couldn't help but feel a bit doubtful.

Even though he didn't think much of Cao Pingzhi, they hadn't met yet, and there hadn't been any conflicts between them, so why hadn't he shown up at Small Shop?

The 7th day was the submission deadline, meaning this was already the last day. Qi Han couldn't help but murmur to himself.

Could it be that his new restaurant started operating too late and Cao Pingzhi still didn't know about it?

That was possible.

But the fact that Cao Pingzhi showed up on the last evening before the submission deadline made Qi Han feel even more peculiar.

Shaking his head to dismiss these thoughts, Qi Han continued his stir-frying, instinctively saying, "Then find him a seat, introduce the dishes normally."

He didn't plan to treat this reviewer any differently. He would be treated just like any other customer.

"But... all the seats in the restaurant are full," Qin Yue hesitated.

"Full?" Qi Han instinctively glanced at the dining area outside. Indeed, it was fully occupied, and in the center sat a middle-aged man dressed elegantly but not ostentatiously, studying the menu with interest. That must be Cao Pingzhi.

"Then let him queue up."

If the seats were full, he naturally had to wait in line until the customers ahead left. Qi Han's logic was quite clear.

"But he's a reviewer..." Qin Yue blinked.

"Even if the emperor comes, he has to queue up," Qi Han shrugged, finishing the stir-fried Kung Pao Chicken in the pan. He turned to Qin Yue and said, "All customers are treated equally."

"Alright." Qin Yue nodded, feeling a ripple in her heart.

Treating all customers equally might be easy to say, but she knew from her experience running the Moonlight Pavilion just how difficult it was to implement.

But with Qi Han here, she felt a bit more courageous. She delivered the Kung Pao Chicken to a table and then straightened her back a bit more as she approached Cao Pingzhi.

"Mr. Cao, the boss says the restaurant is full now. Please queue up and wait."

The expected outburst didn't happen. Cao Pingzhi smiled, "Your boss seems to be a new face?"

"Yes, the boss is from Shrek City." Though she didn't know why Cao Pingzhi smiled instead of getting angry as she had expected, Qin Yue still nodded and answered.

"Haha, alright, I'll queue up then." With that, Cao Pingzhi actually went to queue calmly.

What was going on?

Qin Yue was a bit confused, thinking back to Cao Pingzhi's sharp and difficult behavior at Moonlight Pavilion. She couldn't figure it out for a long time.

Could it be that Mr. Cao had turned over a new leaf?

Qin Yue naturally had no idea what Cao Pingzhi was thinking.

When he saw the unfamiliar face of the busy owner in the kitchen, he already had his calculations.

If it were an ordinary restaurant daring to make him wait in line, he would have left in a huff and given low ratings to all the food. But Small Shop was different.

He already considered Small Shop as his long-term meal ticket and wouldn't easily offend it.

Even when fishing, don't you need to bait the hook to catch the fish first?

The boss here is new and doesn't know my rules. Ignorance is forgivable. I'll give him some face. What's the big deal about waiting in line?

He believed that once he entered the restaurant and truly understood the power of his reviewer status and the profits it could bring to the restaurant by being featured in the Food Critique Magazine magazine, the owner would apologize for any rudeness and probably even offer him thousands or tens of thousands of Gold Coins as compensation.

Compared to that, waiting in line was just a trivial matter.

With this mindset, Cao Pingzhi, who walked out of the restaurant to queue up, wasn't angry at all. Instead, he had a slightly more cheerful expression on his face.

After about half an hour of waiting, Cao Pingzhi grew a bit impatient, but fortunately, it was finally his turn.

Sitting down, he couldn't help but nod in approval at the clean and tidy table.

Unlike Lin Lang, who would think the restaurant had good hygiene, Cao Pingzhi was thinking: Such a luxurious marble tabletop must come with a hefty price tag, right? If they're using such high-quality tables, they wouldn't overlook their own benefits, would they?

With this in mind, Cao Pingzhi smiled and asked Qin Yue, who came to take his order, "Is your restaurant always as busy as it is today?"

The implication behind his question was to inquire about the profitability of Small Shop.

Misinterpreting Cao Pingzhi's question, Qin Yue thought he was interested in Small Shop and was inquiring to praise it more in his review. Since this wasn't secretive information, she didn't hesitate to answer, "Yes, in recent days, we've often been fully booked like this."

With Qin Yue's response, the smile on Cao Pingzhi's face grew even wider.

Indeed, this was a treasure trove!

"Bring me one of each of your dishes, and I'll start the evaluation."

As for the reminder beside the menu board that read "No waste allowed. Offenders will be blacklisted," Cao Pingzhi didn't pay any attention to it. Instead, he chuckled at the foolishness of the Small Shop owner.

If customers don't waste, how does the restaurant make money?

Of course, that wasn't his concern.

Is tasting and evaluating dishes considered wasteful?

Obviously not.

Even if there was real waste, would the owner dare to blacklist a reviewer?

If an ordinary customer ordered like this, Qin Yue would certainly remind them. But the person in front of her was a reviewer from the Food Critique Magazine. He had ordered in a similar manner during his previous visits to Moonlight Pavilion, and she had momentarily forgotten about it.

Walking into the kitchen, Qin Yue handed over the order to Qi Han.

"Boss, this is Cao Pingzhi's order."

Curious about Cao Pingzhi's order, Qi Han took the menu and frowned as he read it.

One person ordering all the dishes listed on the menu?

Was he planning to take a few bites of each dish, as Qin Yue had suggested earlier?

"Tell him that wasting food in this restaurant will result in being blacklisted and banned from entering," Qi Han's tone carried a hint of coldness.

Sensing the hint of displeasure hidden in the boss's words, Qin Yue shrank back a bit, "But if we do that, Cao Pingzhi won't be able to taste all our dishes. This is the last night, and it won't be favorable for our ratings."

"It's fine. Even if only one dish makes it to the Food Critique Magazine, the effect will be the same."

The system's Time-limited Quest only required 1 dish to be featured in the Food Critique Magazine; it didn't specify how many dishes were needed.

Even if it's just 1 dish, it's already sufficient for completing the Quest and boosting our reputation.