Jiang Feng's business was as booming as ever.
Even several social media influencers came to shoot video content.
「Seventh day of business, 1:00 PM」
Jiang Feng, while brandishing his spatula, checked the system tasks.
[Number of satisfied customers: 200/200, today's task completed.]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing the weekly task.]
[Reward received: 5,000,000 yuan.]
[New task will be released at 6:00 PM.]
Finally, the system's reward notification sounded.
Following that, Jiang Feng received a text message: his bank account had been credited with 5,000,000 yuan.
"Awesome!" Jiang Feng exclaimed excitedly, glancing at his phone. That's five million!
In his previous life, even though he was highly skilled working at a big tech company, he had never gotten his hands on so much money at once!
Now that he suddenly had an extra five million, he was naturally overjoyed.
Money really is a good thing!
Having transmigrated to this world and bonded with a system, he was determined to live a good life.
He hadn't bonded with some instant-rich system, but the "Culinary God System." Making money through his own hard work wasn't bad at all.
Jiang Feng felt a surge of delight.
Now he had money to spend.
He needed to think about what to buy.
A car, a house, some renovations.
He'd get himself a more luxurious bedroom, equipped with a high-spec computer—water-cooled case and a top-notch graphics card, the works.
The kitchen also needed a good renovation, with a steam oven, conventional ovens, and all the necessities.
In short, it boiled down to three words: Buy, buy, buy!
"Boss, one Kung Pao Chicken rice combo set!" a customer shouted from the front of the food truck.
"Alright, just a moment." Jiang Feng put down his phone, reined in his excitement, and continued to wield his spatula.
He had a good, stable mindset; the money wouldn't make him reckless. He would continue to do what needed to be done.
Soon, around 2:30 PM, after serving the last group of customers, Jiang Feng drove the food truck away from Hongshan Park.
His mood was exceptionally buoyant.
You make money to spend it.
And with the system's tasks, he wouldn't have to worry about running out of money in the future.
The apartment complex he currently lived in was very run-down. It had no access control, the security door of his home was plastered with locksmith ads, and the walls were covered in markers for plumbing services.
He needed to move.
That afternoon, Jiang Feng browsed Taobao at home and also checked real estate platforms for good houses.
A few hours slipped by as he scrolled through his phone.
Around 6:00 PM, the system's task arrived as scheduled.
[New Task: Set up a stall at Shuize Resort for 7 consecutive days, selling 200 catties of braised meat each day.]
[Task Reward: One small villa in Longxi Elegant Garden.]
[Recipe Acquired: Secret Braised Meat Sauce.]
[Accept?]
Seeing the task on the system panel, Jiang Feng paused for a moment.
Longxi Elegant Garden?
In this city, Longxi Elegant Garden was one of the most high-end residential areas. It featured many small villas, each with its own small yard, a place where the top-tier wealthy lived. Generally speaking, one villa would cost at least forty to fifty million yuan.
Jiang Feng had originally planned to accept a new task after a few days, intending to spend the five million first.
But lo and behold, the task directly rewarded him with a house!
He hesitated for only an instant.
"Accept," Jiang Feng agreed readily.
It would be absurd to reject such a task.
After all, who wouldn't want a small villa of their own?
At this moment, the contact number for Shuize Resort appeared on the system panel.
Shuize Resort was a newly opened vacation spot this year, featuring an agritainment theme with many beautifully decorated themed streets. There were also exquisitely manicured lawns, picturesque sightseeing farms perfect for photos, and more. Tourists and local residents alike enjoyed spending their weekends there.
Setting up a stall at the resort required contacting the person in charge, as entry wasn't open to just anyone. However, the system had already processed Jiang Feng's pass. All he needed to do was make a phone call to confirm, and then he could drive right in.
Shuize Resort wasn't too far from where he lived; driving the food truck would take about 25 minutes.
There wasn't much time. He had to quickly prepare the braising ingredients so he could officially start his stall tomorrow.
Jiang Feng sat up from his bed.
The little black dog lying on the floor immediately stood up, wagging its tail.
"First, I need to buy the braising spices, then some more food ingredients."
"To start, I'll make braised pig's trotters, chicken wings, chicken feet, large intestines, and eggs."
"I'll pair them with some side dishes like potato slices, tofu skin, and enoki mushrooms."
"Chicken wings, chicken feet, and eggs can go in one pot; pig's trotters and large intestines can go in another."
"If I prepare everything in advance, I won't have to do much on-site when I set up the stall."
Jiang Feng mentally went over his plans for the braised meat.
Chinese culinary culture is profound, and braised dishes (Luwei) have an equally long and storied history. They can be broadly categorized into red braising, white braising, and spicy braising.
Red braising uses a rich stock, resulting in a lustrous, reddish-brown color; one braise perfects the dish, its fragrance wafting for miles.
White braising avoids coloring agents, emphasizing the ingredients' natural color, aroma, and flavor.
Spicy braising is like the kind found at places such as Zhou Hei Ya.
Jiang Feng planned to make red-braised items. They looked appetizing, smelled fragrant, and were well-suited for a food stall.
Especially the stewed pig's trotters; they only need a gentle pull to tear apart, with sinew connected to meat and meat to sinew. Taking a bite is incredibly satisfying!
Jiang Feng needed to buy ingredients and also a few larger pots for stewing the braised items. He also needed to purchase ingredients for the braising liquid itself, including cinnamon, tsao-ko (amomum tsao-ko), sand ginger, cloves, angelica root, and dried tangerine peel. These spices required special treatment. The most practical method was to soak them in strong liquor. Soaking would reduce the spices' medicinal taste and, conversely, enhance their aroma.
After buying these ingredients, he needed to quickly start making a rich stock. Making a rich stock is about creating a delicious, savory liquid; most businesses use Carnation Evaporated Milk as a substitute. Only truly conscientious businesses would slowly simmer their own stock.
Creating a single pot of rich stock isn't easy. Jiang Feng needed seven whole chickens, a large basin of chopped pork leg bones, and seven catties of pork rind. These ingredients would yield roughly fifty catties of rich stock. The pork leg bones would enhance the stock's fragrance, the pork rind would increase its gelatin content, and the old chickens would add umami. The stock had to be simmered for at least six to eight hours. Only then were the braising spices, ginger slices, and other ingredients added to slowly create the braising liquid. Most businesses couldn't afford such costs. However, since Jiang Feng had the recipe for the braising liquid, he naturally aimed for perfection.
Next, Jiang Feng took his little dog to the market for a big shopping trip. He returned with bags brimming with meat.
By the time he got back, it was already 8:30 PM.
In his small shop, he set up a large stainless steel pot. He packed it with the whole chickens, pork leg bones, and pork rind, then poured in water and began to simmer it on low heat.
For the next hour, Jiang Feng stayed by the pot, occasionally using a skimmer to remove the floating meat residue and blood foam. These impurities would affect the stock's flavor.
Once it was all skimmed clean, Jiang Feng let the stock continue to simmer and went to rest.
After simmering overnight, the rich stock for his braised dishes would be ready the next day.
Going to the resort to set up a stall and sell braised food made Jiang Feng slightly nervous. The success of a braised food business heavily depends on its taste. If the taste is poor, it's particularly hard to attract customers.
For the small villa in Longxi Elegant Garden, I hope my braised food sells well.
Setting up a stall in a new location might not be as busy as before.