Chapter 521: The Possibility of Upgrading a Star Rating
To be honest, Qi Han really was not intentionally trying to show off.
Defeating the Bright Court Pavilion had always been something he considered inevitable, so there was nothing particularly exciting about it. However, when he thought about how Bright Court Pavilion would now spend an entire week recommending Han Shi, bringing in a massive number of new customers and greatly accelerating the completion of Side Quest 10-2, he felt so happy that it was practically bubbling out of him.
The reason he immediately ran off after the culinary showdown ended was also very simple.
The evening business hours were about to begin.
Among the three rounds, the first dish, Tomato Beef Brisket, took over an hour. The second dish, Crab Stuffed with Orange, had been faster, taking less than half an hour. The third dish, the low-spec Wensi Tofu, had once again required an hour. Adding in the tasting and voting segments between rounds, exactly three hours had passed, and it was now already 4:30 PM.
If he hurried back now, he could still prepare a staff meal for Meng Yun and open the restaurant on time.
So Qi Han had no choice but to reluctantly act cool and leave early.
There was no helping it. If tonight's business hours were delayed, Main Quest 8 would require one extra day to complete.
Although he was a transmigrator, after spending so long on Douluo Continent, he had developed genuine feelings for the place. Now that he had traveled beyond Douluo Continent to the unfamiliar Sun Moon Continent to run a restaurant, he actually found himself missing everyone back in Shrek City.
By the time Qi Han returned to Han Shi, he could already see a line of customers waiting outside the restaurant, causing him to quietly sigh in relief.
Good. I'm not late.
"Meng Yun, what would you like to eat tonight?" he asked as usual after entering the restaurant.
"Boss, I don't think I've ever seen the dish from the third round before. Can I try that one?" Meng Yun looked slightly embarrassed, though her curiosity was impossible to hide. "But… doesn't that dish take a really long time to make?"
Spectators were not qualified to taste the dishes during the competition, so she was genuinely curious what kind of flavor the dish she had never even seen before would have.
"Of course." Qi Han smiled before heading into the kitchen to begin cooking. "It won't take long. Just a few minutes. Wait outside for a bit."
Now that he was back in his own restaurant with the futuristic technology time acceleration feature, the low-spec Wensi Tofu naturally no longer required such a long waiting time.
"Mhm!" Meng Yun nodded vigorously, her face full of anticipation.
Qi Han quickly became busy inside the kitchen.
Winning this culinary showdown against Bright Court Pavilion had brought Qi Han more than just a huge increase in popularity.
His greatest gain was the sudden inspiration he had regarding downgrading star ratings.
Since downgrading existed, then naturally upgrading should also be possible. If he used the same methods to optimize a dish, perhaps he could raise its star rating as well.
However, compared to downgrading, upgrading would definitely be far more difficult. Even for Qi Han, it would likely require an extremely long time to accomplish.
"Ru Yi, can downgraded dishes be officially added to the menu for sale?"
"No." Ru Yi quickly gave her answer. "First, downgraded dishes are modifications of existing recipes. They do not count as self-created dishes, so the recipe system cannot re-record them. Second, downgrading is considered weakening the original dish, which falls under the rules for modifying recipes, so it cannot replace the original recipe dish. You may purchase the required ingredients from me and cook it yourself, but you cannot officially sell it."
As expected.
Qi Han had already anticipated that downgraded dishes probably could not be sold, and now Ru Yi had confirmed it.
"Then what about upgraded dishes?"
"No problem. Upgrading is considered improving and enhancing the original recipe, so it can replace the original recipe and be officially sold."
Then that settles it.
Qi Han nodded, then suddenly spoke again.
"Ru Yi, aren't you forgetting something?"
"Ah? Cough, cough." Ru Yi coughed lightly and blinked nervously. "What did I forget?"
"My culinary showdown against the Bright Court Pavilion didn't trigger any system missions at all? Back during the Shrek Food Festival and the food evaluation event in Star Luo City, corresponding system missions were triggered, right?" Qi Han spoke with exaggerated grief and indignation. "Did you secretly pocket my mission rewards?"
"Oh, so you meant that." Ru Yi quietly let out a sigh of relief before rolling her eyes. "A culinary showdown counts as an action you initiated voluntarily. Its purpose was to speed up the completion of Side Quest 10-2, so it doesn't satisfy the conditions required to trigger a system mission."
"Then wasn't participating in the food festival also voluntary on my part?"
"That's different. Whether you participated or not, the food festival would still have been held as scheduled. But if you hadn't agreed to the culinary showdown, then the culinary showdown would never have happened."
"Uh…"
Qi Han was momentarily speechless. Somehow, Ru Yi's reasoning actually sounded convincing.
Forget it. Better to honestly focus on completing Main Quest 8 and Side Quest 10-2. Once those two missions were complete, he should finally be able to return to Douluo Continent.
There was no way the next Main Quest would still take place on the Sun Moon Continent—of that, Qi Han was fairly confident.
That said, his cultivation had now reached Level 57. After completing those two missions, he should reach Level 60.
At that point, once he returned to Douluo Continent, he could conveniently complete another Ingredient Acquisition mission before heading back to Shrek City to reopen the restaurant, effectively combining two vacations into one.
Mm… as expected of me.
Feeling pleased with himself, Qi Han quickly finished preparing the low-spec Wensi Tofu and carried it over to Meng Yun.
"Meng Yun, give it a try."
"Okay!"
…
"This restaurant is much smaller than either Bright Court Pavilion or your Heavenly Star Palace."
Standing in the queue, Ye Ansheng slightly raised himself on tiptoe to examine Han Shi's storefront, his face filled with emotion.
"Who would have imagined that a restaurant like this could actually defeat the Bright Court Pavilion?"
Since Qi Han had already left, there was no longer any need for the formalities following the culinary showdown to continue. Led by Ye Ansheng, the president of the Culinary Association, everyone departed the venue in an orderly fashion and headed toward Han Shi.
It wasn't because they had arranged it beforehand. Rather, after personally witnessing Han Shi defeat Bright Court Pavilion, everyone had become intensely curious about this previously overlooked restaurant, so they simply decided to come see it for themselves.
"The size of a restaurant doesn't really have much to do with culinary skill." Wu Henian smiled. "Besides, I have a feeling Han Shi will probably expand before long."
"After all, defeating Bright Court Pavilion has already fully proven his abilities. It won't take long before this place becomes several times more popular than it is now. When that happens, a small restaurant like this definitely won't be enough to meet customer demand."
"That's true." After pondering for a moment, Ye Ansheng nodded firmly, completely agreeing with Wu Henian's assessment.
"Although Mingke Street has begun showing signs of revival thanks to the imperial decree, property prices here are still much cheaper than on Sun-Moon Avenue. From what I can tell, that young man Qi Han is quite smart. He'll probably buy a larger storefront and expand while prices are still low."
"Forget that for now." Wu Henian shook his head. "This culinary showdown ended rather abruptly, and I'm a little worried. What if the Bright Court Pavilion refuses to honor the terms of defeat?"
"That…" Ye Ansheng frowned before suddenly shaking his head decisively. "Don't worry. Although the Bright Court Pavilion is backed by the imperial family, the Culinary Association is not easy to bully either. If the Bright Court Pavilion dares go back on its word, I have ways to deal with them."
"The tradition of culinary showdowns has been passed down for thousands of years. The Bright Court Pavilion can't simply violate it whenever they please."