Chapter 958: Chapter 957: Changes in Juxia Building (Part 1)

Back to Jingguan City.

Juxia Building.

In the early morning, just as dawn broke, the store door opened with a “clack.” Liu Ying, as usual, got up early, took a broom, and meticulously cleaned the area front and back of the building.

The girl had a slight obsession with cleanliness, and even the parking spaces outside were spotless after her cleaning.

In the store, Yuchuan Meisha and Yuchuan Ayaka, the two sisters, were each in different parts of the restaurant—one upstairs and the other in the ground floor lobby. They carried water basins and cloths, first wiping down tables and chairs, then squatting barefoot on the floor, with their hips high, carefully cleaning the wooden floor.

Meanwhile, at the counter, Zhu Qing rubbed her eyes while reviewing the accounts from the previous day.

It’s worth mentioning that there was a strange machine on the counter, called a Like Machine, manufactured by the system. When satisfied customers checked out, they could press their thumbs on a frame on the machine, and a sweet and friendly female voice would say, “Thank you for your positive feedback. Our store will launch more novel dishes in the future. You’re welcome to come and taste them.”

The accumulated likes on the machine panel had surpassed 20,000 in total.

Zhu Qing liked to use an abacus to check the business takings, the clatter of which echoed from the counter, and soon laughter spread across the store: “Not bad, not bad, the 1,000 dining slots yesterday were all filled, without any omissions. Each table had four fixed positions, and not counting by the head, but by each table’s purchase, whether with one person or all seats filled, they almost ordered the entire menu. With two meat dishes, two vegetarian dishes, plus special seafood and a dessert tea package, the average spending per table exceeded 1,000 yuan.”

They didn’t calculate per person spending because guests who managed to snag a dining voucher cherished it dearly, fully intending to order everything on the menu once they arrived.

Were it not for constraints of ingredients and manpower, and if they removed the restriction of ordering each dish only once per table, the New Juxia Building’s daily revenue could easily increase several times over.

Currently, the New Juxia Building’s daily earnings breaking one million is not an explosive hit, but if some magazine headlines were to call it a “popular restaurant,” there would be no voices of doubt.

This is progress!

Liu Lan, with her son Liu Jing, arrived punctually at their post before the store opened in the morning.

Hearing Zhu Qing’s laughter, Liu Lan secretly shook her head. The seemingly impressive hot restaurant’s business numbers seemed unnecessary, with earnings and costs barely balancing out. And when considering the high wages paid to him and the Far Moon Team, there was definitely an operational deficit.

“Actually, if you want to promote Fantasy Ingredients, you don’t have to run at a loss. Fantasy Ingredients are still mid-high-end consumer goods. Instead of losing money for hype, why not start with a high-end boutique approach from the beginning…”

Liu Lan earnestly advised Zhu Qing.

“A high-end boutique approach?” Zhu Qing smiled, “Reduce the daily 1,000 designated dining slots to 10, huh, only serve 10 guests a day, and have their reservations booked months out? Then, have the per capita spending reach millions? Tens of millions?”

“This way, our kitchen team would be relaxed, and the financial reports would look good, but, well, Yu would never agree to such a business plan.” Zhu Qing closed the account book and said nonchalantly, “At least, while still in Neon, he never turned this shop into a high-end restaurant and still insisted on serving ordinary customers.”

Zhu Qing stretched lazily and continued, “Besides, we’re just testing the waters now. Who says Yu is so stubborn, losing money just for praise?”

“Juxia Building isn’t just opening the main building to the public; there are side pavilions to the east and west. Rest assured, when Yu returns, the plan for high-end boutique dining spots will be on the agenda!”

In the kitchen.

This kitchen was once the main battlefield of famous chefs in Juxia Building, so the spaciousness is imaginable.

After systematic upgrades and transformations, the big kitchen is like another world. Upon entry, there’s a corridor. Along the corridor are multiple doors, each with pure glass and wooden frames. Behind each door is a small, independently sectioned kitchen space.

The chef is like the owner of the room, meaning each room is one chef’s workplace.

At this early hour, in a room labeled “Desserts,” Sen Tian Makoto was in her chef uniform, her long black hair tied in a ponytail and wrapped in a cloth headband, looking like she wore a cloth cap. Despite being a very plain work outfit, she exuded a fresh and pure aura.

Knock, knock!

Someone knocked on the glass door, and Makki turned her head, “Eriina?”

A blonde pony-tailed girl, also in a chef’s uniform, looked over with a troubled expression, “Um, Makki, can you taste-test my dish?”

“Taste-test?”

Makki’s black eyes twinkled, “No problem—”

She paused her work and followed the angel-faced blonde girl to another glass room.

As soon as the door opened, a rich aroma of barbecue streamed into her nose.

Following the smell to a table-style grill, Makki pointed at the round meat patties on the grill and exclaimed, “Eriina, is this your new dish creation?”

“Yes, go ahead, try it!” Tiqie Helinai twisted her waist slightly, her eyes glancing elsewhere, with a bashful evasion in her gaze.

It’s worth noting that this “Far Moon Queen,” from day-to-day living to her routine culinary practice, had the constant company of a purple-haired girl, her assistant Niho Fuyuka.

Usually, it’s the two of them at the kitchen, Eriina cooking and Fuyuka testing the dishes, providing her opinions. But Fuyuka didn’t accompany Eriina to China, and within this team, after looking around, Tiqie Helinai found Makki to be her closest friend.

Cousin Alice? No way, asking her to taste-test would just lead to a sarcastic bickering session—she didn’t want a perfectly good review session to turn into a biting war of words.

Sen Tian Makoto, full of curiosity, picked up a piece of meat and placed it on a small plate.

She naturally knew how to evaluate a dish.

First, start with the “color” phase, which refers to the dish’s appearance.

It’s undeniable that Tiqie Helinai’s “gorgeous” and “meticulous” culinary philosophy hadn’t changed. However, the former mantra about commoners has vanished, and her views on commoner ingredients and cuisine are now reflected in her works.

The round meatballs were clearly hand-crafted with care, the outermost layer being beef. Though the knife skills were precise, and the texture impressively delicate, Makki could tell that this wasn’t some high-grade beef. In the past, if Helinai used beef, there’d be no second thoughts—it’d be A5 Wagyu all the way.

Crunch!

Makki took a bite and her eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

The softness of the grilled beef was expected, but what she hadn’t foreseen was that within the beef was another layer of grilled meat!

“This is…” While chewing, Makki looked down at the roll and realized, “Oh, it’s roast suckling pig meat. My goodness, the texture and flavor remind me of flame-grilled suckling pig!”

“Aside from the smoky flavor, there’s…”

The girl suddenly became teary-eyed.

The pork had a peculiar, tear-inducing spiciness from ginger.

These spicy flavors mixed with the smoky taste, and suddenly, there was a fierce blaze in Makki’s eyes.

“How is it?”

Tiqie Helinai anxiously observed Makki’s expression.

Sniffing a bit, Sen Tian Makoto praised, “This is a new recipe based on the secret core of the ‘Flame-Grilled Suckling Pig.’ Yes, the charcoal-grilled beef, with beef fat and juices seeping into the inner layer of roast pork, and the pork, meanwhile, is definitely a Fantasy Ingredient, carrying an incredible natural ginger flavor that inexplicably makes you want to cry!”

“That’s right. I’ve used ‘ginger pork’ instead of ordinary pork. This pork is easy to cook, and controlling the heat when grilling is straightforward. You don’t need much skill to handle it,” Eriina explained.

Sen Tian Makoto happily grasped Eriina’s hands, “That’s fantastic, Eriina. This dish definitely deserves to be included in the Juxia Building’s menu. Show it to Yu when he returns; he’ll surely be delighted for you.”

Eriina looked into the near, clear black eyes, her lips moved.

The genuine sincerity from the other made her speechless.

That untimely and possibly friendship-damaging question, ‘Are you truly happy for me?’ died before it could be uttered. Eriina suddenly felt her heart was narrow-minded, much like in paranormal tales, where upon seeing a beautiful woman’s face, one felt compelled to carve her mouth wide open to her ears like the Slit-Mouthed Woman…

Just as Eriina was about to apologize in a low voice out of shame, a cheerful chime rang from Sen Tian Makoto’s pocket; her phone had received a new message.

“Ah, it’s Yu!” Makki tilted her head.

“Ah—”

Immediately, one head leaned over.

Makki, helplessly amused, simply opened the phone screen, stood shoulder to shoulder with Eriina, and looked together. Both beautiful girls quickly showed puzzled expressions, “…Yu is asking if among Neon sashimi, bullfrog is a common ingredient?”