The most obvious addition was a coffee machine at the right of the long bar counter. It had a very minimalistic black design which blended well with the bar counter and did not take up too much space. In fact, it was just a big black metal box with a single button at the front stating coffee.
He also noticed that the coffee machine was directly connected to an automated French press and an assortment of cups was neatly stacked right beside it. Jin had just finished his soda so he would have to try it out later.
The next two food items required Jin to look at the store layout on his phone. When he located the blueprint, he found that the first food item was actually hidden inside a drawer. He opened it and a burst of freshness overtook his senses. The items, which were onigiri, were neatly arranged and the temperature seemed to be just right for the food.
With his current cultivation, Jin was able to smell a variety of ingredients held within the drawer. Each of the items contained a specific ingredient in it. When he took one to eat, the myriad of fragrances he noticed from the drawer did not contaminate the food even though it was placed in such a compact space.
“More than one flavour? I smell at least 10 types of meat in this drawer.” Jin continued to chew on the rice and part of the ingredient as well. The sticky taste of the white pearl rice matched perfectly with the abundant fish roe, which had a firm texture to it.
The blackish roe subsequently melted in his mouth, creating a creamy yet smooth butterish consistency. A few of the fish roe even popped in his mouth but it was a subtle feeling that stimulates the tongue too.
The Nori was the exact opposite. With the richness of the pure ocean’s taste of umami, it was a little dry and toasty, making it quite savoury. This made the nori supplement the sweet buttery taste of the roe. Along with the stickiness of the rice, all three ‘simple’ ingredients blended the flavours well together.
“In fact, there are more than 100 types of onigiri available in that drawer but customers are not allowed to choose when they order one.” Yun smiled at Jin’s face of pure bliss.
“So it’s a random flavour each time they try it?” Jin was very surprised at the amount of variety.
“Yes, the probability of getting the same flavour again is not high at all. The ability to create a good and tasty onigiri is only limited by one’s imagination. You can probably have a near infinite amount of combination of onigiri.” Yun replied.
“Onigiri is indeed a good product to serve here. People can just have a quick bite while they wait for their turn instead of eating a full meal.” Jin thought when he took another bite of the onigiri he was holding.
“Okay, I need to know, what is in this onigiri that makes it taste so good?” Jin could not believe that this would be the only time he tasted this onigiri if everything went according to Yun’s explanation.
“There is a variety of rice used for the onigiri, most of which are tribute rice for the emperor and the ancient official administration. For example, the current one you are eating is from Suzhou, which was used as a specialised levy in the past.” Yun continued to explain.
“The fish roe you just ate came from an albino Beluga Sturgeon fish from the Southern Caspian Sea near Iran. One of the last few large enclosed inland seas…or as some people would call it: a large lake. No matter, this albino Beluga Sturgeon was bred in the wild and the eggs were later collected and processed. The cost of it was approximately 176,960 Yuan per kilogram and so happened to be in the list of the top most expensive food items in the world.”
“The nori, also known as edible seaweed, comes from a species of red algae that was bred in major laboratories and specialised hydroponic farms, where the biology of the nori was altered to give the best amount of iodine and vitamin B12.”
“Bred in specialised farms?” Jin was curious. He thought most of the System’s food was from the most natural and ideal conditions.
“Nori farming is considered as an advanced agriculture because of the processing of algae. These laboratories succeeded in their breakthroughs for altered nori that can maximise the production of nori while retaining the best amount of vitamins.”
“In short, you are actually providing the healthiest option for my customers and me,” Jin concluded.
“I would say that they are quite tasty too. However, without the touch of a chef, it still lacks that ‘personal’ factor which makes food uniquely their own.” Yun reached over and took an onigiri to eat as well.
Jin shrugged his shoulders as he heard that. He knew he was not cut out to be a chef so he did not comment much. As long as his customers were satisfied, he would be too.
As Jin wanted to check the magical cabinet of the bar counter for the next new food, he received a text message from Xiong Da, a Grade 1 Cultivator of Hungry Hippo Style via the Pandamonium app. “Boss, are you not yet open? I am here waiting outside of your shop for some time already.”
Jin quickly took a peek at his watch and released its near 12pm. He quickly munched through his onigiri as he walked towards the side door of the store. “Xiong Da, give me five minutes, I will open soon…wha-?” Jin peeked out of his store to give his regards to Xiong Da but he realised there was actually a queue right behind Xiong Da.
“Ah! Boss Jin, I thought something happened to you. I had been here trying to knock on the shutters to call for you. I totally forgot about the Pandamonium app until the customers behind me reminded me about it.” Xiong Da’s face became like the Laughing Buddha’s as he saw Boss Jin. He thought that Boss Jin abandoned him.
“I was tweaking something in the shophouse while listening to music, so I did not hear the commotion outside. Give me a moment to open the shop.” The customers chattered and got excited as Jin closed the side door. How could Jin even think of abandoning Xiong Da? He was like a personal ATM machine that provided free money.
After Jin closed the side door, he went to wash his hands from eating the onigiri and cleared the cans of drinks into the recycle bin. He made sure that he booted everything up with the Store Layout app on his phone and synchronised his new monsters into the Panda Port.
He then squatted down to unlock the shutters and customers started to pour in again. “Finally out of that hot sun. It’s a good thing Boss informed us through the Pandamonium app in the morning or else I would have had to stay in this hot sun for a long time.” One of the customers stepped in and the cold air of the shophouse gently caressed his face.
“Yes, I should get the QR code from that Panda standee so, in future, I will not be like a stupid person by coming so early in the morning.” One of the customers unabashedly announced.
“Boss, your air conditioner is the best. It’s not too cold nor too weak.” Someone commented.
“Yea, I agree with you. That hot blazing sun was killing me until I stepped in here. The temperature feels like the most optimal one for a human being.” Another customer added their comments.
“It would have been worse if not for the small park outside. Boss, your decision to make a small park in this plot of land was right. We do not need to stand that long with the stone chairs you provided. The shade from the tree helped too.” The customer could not stop bootlicking the Boss, hoping Jin might show favouritism towards him.
“Queue up for your dungeon instance tickets. There is a new dungeon instance available if you wish to try.” Jin nonchalantly announced and started his business once more.
.
.
