Chapter 364: Full of Malice
"Mm~ So delicious." Ping Xinyan let out a soft sigh and rubbed her stomach.
After finishing a serving of Dinghu Shangsu, the warm feeling that spread from her stomach left her feeling exceptionally comfortable.
Becoming a delivery girl for Han Shi must have been the best decision of her life—otherwise, how else would she get to eat so much delicious food?
"Hm?"
Her hand, which was gently rubbing her belly, suddenly froze, and a look of surprise lit up her face.
The bottleneck that had long stubbornly hindered her cultivation shattered at that moment like a thin sheet of paper, broken easily by the surge of spirit power within her. Ping Xinyan's cultivation instantly broke through the barrier at level 48 and reached level 49.
Amazing!
She hadn't even been cultivating just now, and yet the bottleneck that had troubled her for so long simply disappeared.
"Xinyan, you broke through?" Ji Yunruo, who was sitting beside her, immediately sensed the fluctuation of spirit power from her breakthrough and looked over with eyes full of envy.
When she reached her own bottleneck, would it go this smoothly too?
Though... there's only about a 50% chance of success…
"Yeah!" Ping Xinyan grinned with excitement.
Beside her, Fu Ya and Ying Shuang couldn't help but widen their eyes.
She broke through that easily?
What a miraculous dish!
"Thanks for waiting, everyone—let's eat." While Ping Xinyan was still savoring the Dinghu Shangsu, Qi Han had already finished preparing the rest of the dishes. With Pururu's help, one dish after another was brought to the table.
Everyone's attention was quickly captured by these unfamiliar but uniquely delicious-looking dishes in front of them.
Time to dig in!
…
Half an hour passed quickly. Once everyone had finished their staff meal and tidied up the dishes and tables, Han Shi's first day of business after its twenty-day break officially began.
As soon as the doors opened, Fu Ya couldn't help but widen her eyes.
So many people!
This was the first time the line in front of Han Shi stretched nearly the entire street, almost clogging up the whole neighborhood. Looking from afar, one couldn't even see the end of the queue.
This time, when Qi Han took time off, he had announced the exact date of the restaurant's reopening, so nearly all the regulars knew Han Shi would be back in business today and had queued up early.
In the past, once the line reached 200 or 300 people, those in the back would give up and return on another day, knowing the restaurant's two-hour operating window wouldn't reach them.
But this time was different.
Everyone knew Han Shi had undergone expansion and renovations and could now accommodate more customers.
Even just from the outside, it was easy to see that the new Han Shi was several times larger than before—and now it had an extra floor as well.
Clearly, the upgraded Han Shi could host multiple times the previous number of diners, greatly increasing the number of guests it could serve.
So even when the line reached 200 or 300 people, no one wanted to leave.
By the time business officially began, over a thousand people were waiting in line outside Han Shi.
Among them were familiar regulars from Shrek City who hadn't tasted Han Shi's food in twenty days and were eager to rush in and try the new menu items.
There were also plenty of unfamiliar faces—new customers from out of town.
The temporary closure did nothing to diminish Han Shi's reputation. Centered around Shrek City, its fame continued to spread across the continent. More and more food lovers from all over had heard of the restaurant's name and, driven by curiosity, made the journey to Shrek City to see it for themselves.
Because Han Shi had been closed during their visit, these travelers didn't get to experience the fabled flavors for themselves. Yet, after hearing so many incredible stories about the place, none of them were willing to just leave.
As a result, a large number of gluttons from out of town stayed in Shrek City, waiting for Han Shi to reopen. In the meantime, they passed the time sampling the many delicacies offered by the city's famous gourmet street.
In a way, the other restaurants on that street had once again benefited from Qi Han's presence.
Now that Han Shi had finally reopened, these long-awaiting visitors could no longer hold themselves back. One by one, they rushed to join the queue, eager to discover the magic behind this restaurant that had monopolized eight of the top ten spots in the last food festival.
Yun Qing was one such food enthusiast from out of town.
He made a trip to Shrek City every time the food festival ended—not just to explore and make friends, but also to try the dishes that made it into the festival's top ten.
Because his hometown was far from Shrek City, it typically took him over ten days to travel there. By the time he arrived this year, Qi Han had already been on break for a few days.
Though his luck hadn't been great, Yun Qing didn't mind. His curiosity toward this restaurant he'd never even heard of before was more than enough to keep him waiting patiently for twenty days.
Now, as he stood in the queue, surrounded by a dense sea of people, Yun Qing scratched his head and felt grateful that he had started his journey early.
Any later, and he probably would have had to wait even longer.
'I hope this restaurant is worth twenty days of waiting…'
Casting a deep look at the sign above Han Shi's entrance, Yun Qing followed the crowd toward the front door.
…
Wait a second…
Was the person right in front of him the very last one to make it into the first batch of diners?
Just as he reached the entrance, a young, beautiful waitress in a black-and-white dress politely asked him to wait a moment. As he watched the person ahead of him stride proudly into the restaurant, Yun Qing couldn't help but feel the overwhelming malice of fate pressing down on him.
…
Yun Qing's frustration, however, was not shared by Tang Qianqiu and Qi Poxiao, who stood at the very front of the line.
As soon as Fu Ya opened the restaurant doors, these two old men—whose combined ages exceeded three hundred years—leisurely stepped into Han Shi.
They took their time surveying the newly renovated space, clearly satisfied with the now vastly more spacious dining area. After nodding in approval, they chose a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows and sat down.
As regulars, they didn't need Fu Ya to wait on them. They casually reached for the menus and began flipping through them like seasoned veterans.
It only took a glance at the table of contents for both of them to notice some unfamiliar entries.
"This 'Dinghu Shangsu' must be the new Purple Card Dish," Tang Qianqiu said with interest. "Let's see what it's about."
Muttering to himself, he turned to the dish's introduction page.
Sitting across from him, Qi Poxiao wasn't far behind and also flipped to the same page.
For these two Limit Douluo, while delicious food was certainly a draw, what truly intrigued them were the strange and varied special effects of every Purple Card Dish.
A few minutes later, their expressions changed at the same time. They exchanged a look.
"What do you think?" Qi Poxiao asked via sound transmission. "You know more about rare herbs than I do. Do you think the effect described here is real?"
"Pharmacologically speaking, I can't say." Tang Qianqiu paused thoughtfully, then shook his head. "Even though none of the herbs listed are particularly old or rare, the sheer number of ingredients is astonishing. It's already a miracle that their properties don't conflict. As for the effects… who knows?"
"Let's try it, then." Qi Poxiao raised his hand and beckoned Fu Ya over.
"Fu Ya, one order of Dinghu Shangsu!"
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