"Little Uncle, I'll definitely study hard!" Zhou Lihui said solemnly, his eyes sparkling with an unprecedented enthusiasm for learning.
Zhou Fei and Zhao Hong smiled with relief.
They all thought Zhou Yan's cooking was incredibly delicious. If Huihui learned from him, he'd definitely do well in the future.
Whether he helped out at the restaurant or opened his own later, there was always a path he could take.
Zhou Yan opened the package Ma Xingye had given him. Inside were two bottles of Tianfu Cola and a bag of White Rabbit milk candy.
He handed one bottle to the Zhou Lihui and his brother and the other to Zhou Momo.
He also grabbed a handful of White Rabbit milk candy for each of them.
"Brother Fei, this is the eighty yuan I borrowed from you when I opened the shop. Since you and your wife are both here today, I'm returning the money." Zhou Yan took out eight ten yuan bills he had prepared beforehand and handed them to Zhou Fei.
Zhou Fei didn't take it, waving his hand and saying, "Zhou Yan, we don't need this money urgently. You can take it first; you have many expenses running a restaurant."
"That's right, you can use it first." Zhao Hong chimed in.
"Brother Fei, sister in law, I don't like owing people money. If I have some money in my pocket, I want to pay it back first, otherwise I won't be able to sleep at night." Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Take it. If I really need money later, I can borrow from you again."
"Okay, then we'll take it." Zhao Hong nodded, adding, "If you need money, just tell us. We don't have much, but we can still come up with a few dozen or a hundred yuan."
Zhou Fei then accepted the money.
"Sure, we're brothers, I certainly won't be polite." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile.
After cleaning up the dishes, it was already dark outside.
Two bicycles, seven people.
Zhou Yan grabbed a flashlight and drove Zhou Lihui and Zhou Momo back to Zhou Village.
"It's so dark, why don't you just stay home for the night?" Zhao Tieying said, lifting Zhou Momo down from the bicycle and looking at Zhou Yan.
"The cash box is still in the shop. If it gets stolen by thieves, all our work for nothing." Zhou Yan said with a smile, reaching out to pat Zhou Momo's head. "Tomorrow, your brother will take you to Grandma there. Is there anything you want to eat?"
Zhou Momo shook her head, pulling a White Rabbit candy from her pocket. "I have a White Rabbit."
"No more candy!" Zhao Tieying glared at him. "You need to be careful with your money. Don't squander it. You still need to get married someday."
"That's right, your mother's right." Old Zhou echoed his wife.
"Got it." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile, then asked, "Besides fish, what else should I bring Grandma tomorrow?"
"Your grandma loves to drink alcohol. Go to Old Zhang's place at the bridge and get her some liquor. She'll be happy." Zhao Tieying said. "Get her the kind that's 80 cents a pound; that's her favorite."
"Okay." Zhou Yan nodded and rode off on his bicycle.
"That kid's not bad. He's already paying back the money. He's got some sense." Zhou Miao said with a smile, watching the flashlight beam disappear into the alley.
"If this business continues, he can pay it off in about a month, and we won't have to worry about it anymore." Zhao Tieying added with a smile.
"Is business good today?"
"You wouldn't believe it, a bunch of college students came today, all Xia Yao's classmates, thirty people, and they only spent twenty yuan on food..."
...
"Huihui, just let him learn to cook from Zhou Yan. It's a skill, after all. He's not interested in butchering cattle with you."
"Okay, Zhou Yan can keep him in check."
Zhao Hong and Zhou Fei were also discussing their son's cooking lessons.
"Does this count as him becoming an apprentice? What do we need to buy for that? Zhou Yan is very informal, we can't be impolite." Zhao Hong looked at Zhou Fei and said, "Tomorrow morning when you butcher the cattle, ask your father what to do."
"Okay."
...
Zhou Yan went swimming after returning home, then took a shower at the shop and did his accounting.
Today, they sold 160 bowls of noodles and 100 bowls of cross-legged beef, generating a revenue of 156 yuan.
The students and faculty of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute contributed nearly 60 yuan, demonstrating strong purchasing power.
After deducting the money he spent on ingredients, puffed rice candy, and the 80 yuan he repaid Zhou Fei, he had 161.24 yuan left.
Tomorrow he plans to visit his grandmother and repay the 100 yuan he borrowed from his fifth uncle. Having a few dozen yuan on hand should be enough for his expenses.
He pulled Zhou Fei's IOU from the money box and placed it separately in the cardboard box on the floor beside his bed. When the last IOU was dropped in, it meant his debt was settled.
He liked this feeling.
He stuffed the money box back under the bed.
He turned off the light, lay down, and glanced at his panel before sleeping.
[Player: Zhou Yan]
[Occupation: Chef]
[Wealth Points: -298.52]
[Occupational Skills]:
Knife Skills (Advanced): 600/100000 (The tattoo artist closes his eyes—that's amazing!)
Cooking Techniques (Intermediate): 3468/10000 (I don't take the subway in the morning—it's crowded!)
Seasoning Techniques (Intermediate): 3695/10000 (Your QQ Farm is ringing—the crops are dead!)
Eloquence (Advanced): 88889/100000 (Zhuge Liang debates with the Confucian scholars—his eloquence is superb!)
[Mastering the Dishes]:
Double Pepper Beef Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000
Braised Beef Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000
Braised Pork Ribs Noodles (Advanced): 99999/100000
Pickled Cabbage (Advanced): 99999/100000
Cross-legged Beef (Advanced): 99999/100000
Steamed Rice in a Steamed Pot (Advanced): 99999/100000
Stewed Crucian Carp with Perilla Leaves (Advanced): 99999/100000
Cucumber Dish (Intermediate): 1871/10000
…
Special Skill: Food Identification (Master): 999999/1000000 (Cannot be upgraded)
[Main Quest: Dominate the Textile Factory: Quest Progress: 462/1000]
[Side Quest: The Legacy of Cross-legged Beef. Quest Progress: Incomplete]
[Wealth Shop]: Unlocked when wealth reaches 1000.
...
Wealth is rapidly approaching positive, knife skills have successfully upgraded to advanced, and cooking and seasoning data have significantly improved.
However...
Has the system updated its ratings?
This little mouth is really sharp.
Wealth points are directly linked to sales revenue, and spending money doesn't affect wealth points; they're definitely independent.
This made Zhou Yan start to look forward to the Wealth Mall.
It's like earning one sum of money and spending it twice—it feels like accumulating points.
He closed the system panel and fell asleep instantly.
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Master Little Zhou went out…
"Eh?"
"No work today!"
Zhou Yan stood at the restaurant entrance, a little bewildered.
Used to the grueling pace of a workhorse, he was surprisingly up early even on his day off.
After pushing his bicycle back, Zhou Yan first went out and ran a lap around the textile factory. He came back drenched in sweat, took a shower, and by then it was already broad daylight before he set off on his bicycle to the market.
Today was October 27th, the market day at Duihe.
Riding along the Qingyi River, the autumn breeze was slightly cool. Along the way, he saw vendors carrying loads on shoulder poles or riding their old-fashioned bicycles loaded with goods to the market.
Passing by the bridge, Zhou Yan bought two jin of liquor.
After riding for a while, the streets gradually filled up, with stalls lining both sides.
At the barber's stall, customers reclined on bamboo chairs, steaming soapy water in enamel basins, razors gliding across their faces, eyes half-closed in blissful enjoyment.
Meanwhile, a bamboo weaver patted the newly crafted bamboo basket, haggling with customers; the blacksmith's stall was piled high with hoes and machetes, a cacophony of shouts filling the air.
"Selling yams, selling yams! Stewed chicken, stewed duck, stewed pig's feet! Nourishes the liver, kidneys, and brain! Kids who eat it will get into university! Old people who eat it will ride motorcycles!"
"This knife of mine, chopping ducks, chopping bamboo, slaying thieves, one knife up the mountain, it'll scorch the whole hill!"
"Rat poison, rat poison, not afraid of having many rats, I'm afraid of having no rats at all. Rats die quickly, many rats die, a rat walks by and it was dead on the spot, 1 minute and 6 seconds, even the King of Hell can't save it..."
"Red tangerines, red tangerines, big and sweet red tangerines, sweet to the throat, sweet to the belly button, refreshing to the soles of your feet!"
...
Zhou Yan pushed his bicycle around for a while, and when he came out, he had two large crucian carp, a spare rib, three pounds of red tangerines (three cents a pound), and some side dishes on the handlebars. He hopped on his bicycle and rode towards Zhou Village.
The five Zhou brothers separated their households immediately after marriage. The old lady didn't allow them to build their houses too close together, saying that distance fostered closeness, while closeness breeds resentment; constant dependence leads to decay.
Therefore, each family occupied a separate area in the village, only gathering together for festivals.
This practice initially drew gossip in the village, but over the years, the five Zhou brothers had become exceptionally close, the wives and daughters in law rarely quarreled, and the family was very united. No one in Zhou Village dared to provoke them.
Zhou Yan felt that the old lady possessed great wisdom.
Her four daughters in law were obedient to her and all remembered her kindness.
Zhou Yan went home first, picked up Zhou Momo, and then headed towards the end of the village.
The old lady lived in the old house at the end of the village; his fifth uncle, who was still unmarried, lived with her.
"Guo Guo, this orange is so sweet!" Zhou Momo, holding half an orange, turned to look at Zhou Yan and said, "It's so delicious!"
"I'll give you another one later." Zhou Yan said with a smile.
"Okay!" Zhou Momo nodded happily.