Mountain and Sea Canteen

After hanging up the call with Director Yang, Ying Linglong immediately opened the Mountain and Sea Mall app.

The mall’s interface was simple, and many of the ingredients and services sold were things Ying Linglong had never heard of before, making it all very novel and interesting. After scrolling down just a few pages, she already felt the urge to splurge.

But after checking her bank account balance, Ying Linglong calmed down and started searching for keywords like [renovation], [floor tiles], and [painting].

The top-ranked store was [Huiting Home Decor], which boasted, “Crafted by the Lili Brothers, a model of excellence, ready to move in the same day!”

So it was the Lili brothers.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas says: There is a beast that looks like a pig, with claws like a chicken and a bark like a dog. Its name is Lili, and wherever it appears, there is much construction work.

This means that the exotic beast Lili resembles a small pig, has claws like a chicken, and barks like a dog. Lili is skilled at digging, and its appearance often signals large-scale construction projects.

Ying Linglong politely inquired about the price, and the customer service representative, Li Hui, carefully asked about her specific requirements before quoting a price of 100 yuan per square meter.

The price was fair, even quite affordable, but unfortunately, Ying Linglong didn’t have the money.

The entire shop was over a hundred square meters, and even the simplest renovation would cost nearly 20,000 yuan. Ying Linglong only had less than 5,000 yuan on hand, and she still needed to save some for buying ingredients. Renovation couldn’t be done halfway, but wait!

Ying Linglong had an idea.

Who said renovations had to be done all at once?

The entire shop only had one owner and two employees, and a new shop wouldn’t have much foot traffic anyway. What was the point of having over a hundred square meters of space?

In fact, upon closer inspection, the layout of the shop was quite awkward.

Originally, it had been a fairly large restaurant from that era. After the restaurant went out of business, fast food and snacks became popular. The entire restaurant space was too large, and no one was willing to take on the risk of renting the whole thing, so it was forcibly divided into several stalls for rent. Besides the braised food stall and breakfast stall by the two doors, the remaining stalls for fast food, noodles, and so on each had their own kitchens. While this was necessary for individual stalls, now that Ying Linglong had taken over the shop, she had the idea of removing most of the stalls to free up the wasted space.

But removing the stalls would have to wait until she made some money. For now, Ying Linglong was thinking about how to open the shop without fully renovating it.

Since it was the Lili brothers doing the renovation, why not make some unusual requests? For example, why not divide the shop into sections and remove the partitions when she wanted to expand later?

Ying Linglong sketched on the shop’s floor plan, marking out an area of over forty square meters in the southwest corner.

This area included two stalls and a large dining section, which was more than enough for the shop’s current operations. One of the two main doors was also located here, so it wouldn’t affect customer access.

Most importantly, reducing the shop’s size would save money on renovations.

Ying Linglong updated her requirements and sent them to Huiting Home Decor’s customer service.

When Li Hui saw such an unusual renovation request, he wasn’t the least bit surprised. His clients were all sorts of Yaoguai, and he’d handled even more bizarre modifications.

For example, he had just completed an order for Wenwen, an Exotic Beast from Mount Fanggao. Wenwen had no other hobbies but loved to howl at home, and her howls weren’t exactly pleasant.

This wasn’t a problem when she lived in the mountains, but after moving to the city, she couldn’t break the habit. Neighbors frequently complained about the noise and even suspected her of running an illegal daycare center, reporting her to the local authorities multiple times. Li Hui solved the issue by installing five layers of soundproofing in her home.

Li Hui accepted Ying Linglong’s order. They agreed on a time, with Ying Linglong pushing for it to be done as soon as possible. Li Hui had plenty of availability, but since this was a street-facing shop, renovating during the day would be too conspicuous. They settled on starting after 9 p.m. that evening.

Chongming and Golden Crow, true to their nature as Divine Birds, were incredibly efficient. In the time it took Ying Linglong to make a phone call and browse the Mountain and Sea Mall app, they had already cleaned the entire restaurant spotless.

Ying Linglong finally walked into the freshly cleaned kitchen and set down the treasured iron pot she always carried with her.

With one hand on the handle, she reached inside and pulled out a frying pan! She twisted the frying pan, and out came a skillet!

Even Golden Crow, who had been looking listless after dealing with grease and dust all day, couldn’t help but glance over. What kind of magical tool was this?

A nesting doll iron pot?

In no time, the kitchen was filled with various pots and pans-frying pans, woks, soup pots, steamers… Finally, Ying Linglong even managed to pull a large rice cooker out of the iron pot!

“These pots were forged from Yi Yin’s cauldron. Dishes made with them harmonize the five flavors and integrate the three essences, elevating the taste to a whole new level.”

Yi Yin wasn’t just a renowned minister of the Shang Dynasty¹; he was also a famous chef, even revered by many as the God of Food.

During the Shang Dynasty, cooking was done using cauldrons. After Ying Linglong’s Master obtained Yi Yin’s cauldron, he had it recast into a set of cookware for her.

Yi Yin’s pots combined with Ying Linglong’s culinary skills were a perfect match, taking her cooking to new heights.

After setting the pots in place, Ying Linglong clapped her hands and said, “Once the shop is cleaned up today, there’s nothing else to do. Chongming, pack up your things and move them to the north side. Oh, and Director Yang might stop by later to deliver the kitchen equipment he’s sponsoring. I remember you’re pretty strong, so just bring everything inside. Don’t leave it piled up at the entrance-it’ll look messy.”

Chongming nodded along at first but quickly realized something was off. “Where are you two going?”

Ying Linglong replied cheerfully, “I’m taking Golden Crow out for all-you-can-eat barbecue.”

Chongming looked deeply hurt. “You could’ve just gone by yourself. Why are you taking Golden Crow?”

Ying Linglong noticed the rather superficial relationships among these Exotic Beasts. Golden Crow had been quite unhappy about being assigned the role of grill master, but as soon as he learned he’d be earning a thousand yuan more than Chongming, he immediately accepted it. Chongming, who didn’t need to eat and only drank, was now subtly trying to convince Ying Linglong not to take Golden Crow along.

“I’m not taking him to eat. It’s pre-job training. You don’t eat, so it’d be a waste of money to bring you along. I’m on a tight budget, so cut me some slack,” she reassured Chongming.

How many people in the world could handle fire better than Golden Crow? But playing with fire and grilling were two different things. Ying Linglong needed to teach Golden Crow the perfect heat and timing for each ingredient.

With so little money left and the renovation fee for Li Hui due that evening, there was no way she could afford to buy every type of ingredient for Golden Crow to practice with. After some thought, Ying Linglong decided to head to an all-you-can-eat barbecue place. It was a win-win: free teaching materials and dinner solved in one go.

Chongming was left alone in the shop. Before leaving, Ying Linglong reminded him, “If you want to get promoted sooner, don’t forget to study your questions!”

Resigned, Chongming pulled up a chair by the shop entrance and opened the [Question Bank for Human World Walking Certificate].

[Multiple Choice] Select the correct meaning of the phrase ‘[打成一片].’

Beat someone flat
Get along well and become one
Deep hatred, sworn enemies
Get into a massive brawl

Chongming felt that several options seemed correct. He had already begun to grasp the wisdom of “when in doubt, choose the shortest answer.”

With a flick of his finger, he confidently selected A.

The page promptly informed him that his answer was wrong and thoughtfully provided further explanation.

Example Sentence: “Not long after joining the company, I quickly got along with my colleagues.”

Wasn’t A the right choice? After a moment’s hesitation, Chongming noticed the keyword: “colleagues.”

His colleague was Golden Crow, wasn’t it? Remembering the smug look Golden Crow had given him before leaving with Ying Linglong for barbecue, Chongming decisively changed his answer to D.

The training for Master Jin went smoothly. Golden Crow picked up the skills incredibly fast. Ying Linglong would first grill a piece of meat or vegetable to perfection, and Golden Crow could replicate it perfectly just by watching. After teaching him when to add the seasonings, a qualified grill master was ready to go.

For Master Jin, a Divine Bird who had never been involved in the mundane world of food, Ying Linglong’s expectations were quite low. All she needed was for him to help with grilling. The precise ratios of seasonings and the marination of meats required extensive experience, which couldn’t be taught overnight. Those tasks still fell to Ying Linglong herself.

Golden Crow barely ate anything, while Ying Lingalone devoured enough food for three people. Feeling she’d gotten her money’s worth, she finally left the all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant.

Seeing Ying Linglong in a good mood, Golden Crow cautiously asked, “Do I get a bonus like Chongming?”

Ying Linglong glanced at him. “Do you want to drink too?”

Golden Crow turned his face away, swallowing his pride. “Of course, I have things I want to buy.”

“Like clothes?”

Golden Crow snapped his head back around. “How did you know?”

He was wearing a magnificent robe, its wide black sleeves embroidered with layers of golden cloud patterns, accentuating his already striking features and giving him an air of nobility.

Golden Crow’s attire had indeed drawn a lot of attention. At the barbecue place, many people had wanted to take photos with him, but he coldly refused. Thankfully, society was more accepting these days, and dressing like this no longer drew strange looks. Otherwise, the Yaoguai Management Bureau would have been the first to ban Yaoguai from wearing ancient-style clothing.

“Obvious,” Ying Linglong said, eyeing the frayed stitching, missing embroidery, and barely noticeable holes in Golden Crow’s robe. She nodded knowingly. “This is made from your feathers…”

Meeting the young man’s embarrassed and indignant gaze, she thought for a moment and added two blunt words.

“Ragged clothes.”

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