"Plans can't keep up with changes. It looks like we won't be able to free up the head chef to open a physical store." Ye Xu pondered. "Maybe we shouldn't open the physical store. It's more worthwhile to keep the head chef to research recipes."
Everyone agreed that this made sense; offline stores were troublesome and difficult to manage. In contrast, holographic stores didn't have so many problems; at least, the kind of food poisoning that happens wouldn't occur.
No one would be foolish enough to try and scam someone at a holographic store. All the dishes are copied and pasted from the same data. There's no reason why you would get sick from eating it while others would be fine. Besides, virtual characters don't get sick anyway.
Furthermore, the system performs checks when entering data. If it detects that a dish has a health impact, it will reject it.
This was a major headache for Ye Xu, because the cured meat contained carcinogens, and the system firmly rejected his application. Ye Xu submitted several applications and finally managed to persuade the regulatory system to relent before opening the store, allowing him to sell virtual cured meat online, but not physical items.
Unbeknownst to Ye Xu, the virtual preserved meat dishes he submitted were displayed in front of the holographic images of the leaders of the regulatory department.
Initially, no one paid much attention to these dishes, and the number of "harmful dishes" rejected by the system every day was countless. Most of them were due to people over-interpreting the recipes when they were trying to replicate them, resulting in all sorts of bizarre and negative effects.
However, it's rare to see someone like Ye Xu who, after being rejected, repeatedly appeals and writes lengthy explanatory descriptions. Considering Ye Xu's claim that preserved meat is an indispensable part of traditional cuisine and that the amount of carcinogens is indeed small, so as long as it's not eaten every day, it won't have a significant impact on health, the regulatory system ultimately reported this information to the human inspectors.
The inspector was quite interested in traditional delicacies. Even though he saw the carcinogens mentioned in the system report, he thought that cancer had been conquered in the interstellar dimension tens of thousands of years ago, and that cancer was no different from a minor cold, so he didn't take it to heart. So many people throughout history have known that pufferfish are highly poisonous and still insisted on eating them, what's a piece of preserved meat compared to that?
"I'm a virtual avatar now, so I won't get sick. I can even eat poisonous mushrooms!"
With that thought in mind, the inspector confidently took a bite of the cured meat. Then, he was dumbfounded.
Half an hour later, the leaders gathered together to taste this "traditional delicacy" that their subordinates had strongly recommended, disregarding their image.
"Ahhh, this is so delicious!" The subordinate danced around like a madman. "How can meat have such a rich flavor? It's even better than boiled grouper!"
Grouper has excellent flesh; it's delicious simply boiled in water with a little salt. However, this delicate flavor can easily become bland when paired with stronger, more intense flavors.
The inspector had never tasted such delicious, strongly flavored food before, and the first experience was particularly impactful, making milder dishes seem utterly insignificant. It's clear he's someone who prefers strong flavors.
Before the leaders could even taste it, seeing their subordinates' reactions, they couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"Rich in flavor layers"—is it like a nutritional supplement where sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty blend together? That probably wouldn't taste very good, right? And judging from my subordinate's condition, it seems like he's been poisoned, or maybe by neurotoxins. No wonder the system blocked this preserved meat; it's definitely not very healthy.
The group exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then picked up their utensils. They couldn't resist; the aroma was simply irresistible. Even if eating it would make them feel like they were having a seizure, just like their subordinates, they wanted to try it. At worst, they could lock themselves in their rooms immediately afterward to avoid being seen having a seizure.
The next second, everyone's eyes welled up with tears: "!!"
Oh my god, this is so delicious!
Chapter 48 Opening
After the leaders tasted the preserved meat, they approved Ye Xu's appeal almost immediately, allowing the preserved meat to be sold on the market.
Such delicious food, what's a few minor side effects? It's not like it's incurable! Besides, people have said that as long as you don't eat it every day, you're not likely to get sick. Alcohol is a Group 1 carcinogen, yet all kinds of alcoholic beverages can still be sold normally, right?
After all the dishes passed the review, the Dimensional Gourmet Restaurant opened at the agreed time on the third day. As soon as the door opened, before Ye Xu could even give a speech, he was pushed back into the restaurant by the surging crowd.
"It's open! Let me see what dishes are available."
"This restaurant is huge! Let's find a seat quickly, or we'll be asked to leave if there's no place to sit!"
"Recipe! Where is the recipe?"
The cacophony of sounds made Ye Xu's head buzz. He hadn't expected everyone to be so impatient, unwilling to wait even a moment longer.
Ye Xu's understanding of interstellar space was too shallow. He didn't know that the interstellar world, which had experienced a break in cultural and entertainment activities, didn't have the custom of giving opening speeches. This kind of time-wasting, polite talk had long been abandoned by the efficiency-driven interstellar world. Even though people no longer needed to race against time, they still didn't like listening to nonsense.
Ye Xu only stayed for about ten seconds before the restaurant was full. The remaining people were forcibly asked to leave by the rules, and the surroundings became much quieter. Soon, only he and a group of waiters were left standing in the restaurant, and he didn't even have to try to squeeze out of the crowd, which was quite convenient.
"Well, our restaurant is now officially open. You can place your order by pressing the button on the table."
After saying just that one sentence, Ye Xu returned to the kitchen. The kitchen had no chefs or cooking equipment, only a row of dish generators. You simply find the dish you need in front of the machine, click on it, and the corresponding dish will be generated and served.
Originally, the store manager would have needed to hire NPC staff from the holographic mainframe, which would have been a considerable expense. However, since Ye Xu brought his own employees, he decided not to bother hiring anyone else.
Mo Bei and the others could come directly into the store to help, but the robots were a bit more complicated. They weren't intelligent beings; they didn't have souls or brainwaves and couldn't enter the holographic world. They had to ask Tong Daddy for help to get them in through the back door.
The NPC shop assistants provided by the mainframe were clearly not as useful as their own robots. They were at best comparable to R-rank robots, while their own robots were SR-rank robots that were worth five stars. Precisely selecting the dishes ordered by customers from hundreds of dishes to generate was a very troublesome task, but Ye Xu felt much more at ease with the help of SR-rank robots.
Because the number of tables in the store is limited, the robots' workload is not particularly large. They are only busy during the initial opening period. After Ye Xu inspected the store and confirmed that they could handle the workload, he put aside the plan to find ways to reduce the workload.
Ye Xu had originally thought that he could use some other methods to make it easier for them to find dishes. Otherwise, it was too troublesome to search and generate dishes one by one according to the list.
Fortunately, the work is done by robots, so they don't complain or make mistakes. Repeatedly typing in text for searches is troublesome for ordinary people, but it's manageable for them.
The system subtly encouraged Ye Xu: "Won't you want the automatic dish search function? It's only 2000 points!"
Ye Xu: "..."
Since you said the price is so cheap, then it's not like we can't have one.
As it turns out, this feature provided by the system is indeed very useful. The waiter only needs to click on the table number to be served, and the screen will automatically list the dishes ordered, along with a "Generate with one click" button.
After clicking the button, the machine will generate the dishes one by one according to the order menu. The waiter's job is simply to place the dishes onto the delivery cart, ensuring the outlet is empty so that the next dish can be quickly prepared.
This saved the waiters the time of searching for the dishes themselves, and soon someone pushed a food cart out to serve the food. Within ten minutes, all the tables were set with the dishes ordered by the guests, and the waiters were free to wait in the lobby for guests to call them.
"That's fast!" A customer who had been to other restaurants clicked his tongue in amazement.
When the shops first open each day, there's usually a long wait, especially in popular shops, since so many tables are waiting for food. Also, the virtual dishes have a creation time indicator on the plates; as you can see, they're all freshly created, not pre-made batches waiting to be delivered after customers order.
Even virtual dishes don't change in taste or freshness no matter how long they're stored, but people still prefer "freshly made" food to stale, old food.
Unfortunately, condensing virtual dishes also costs Star Coins. Some struggling shops accidentally make too many dishes and can only sell them slowly. Occasionally, customers will eat dishes generated a month ago, and even if the taste is fine, they will still feel uncomfortable.
Some customers insisted that the virtual dishes fresh from the "pot" were the best, even without any data to back it up. This group was delighted to see the creation time of the virtual dishes in the game, and their enthusiasm for dining increased significantly.
Already tempted by the aroma of the dishes, they couldn't wait a moment longer and immediately buried themselves in their food.
Since the restaurant had just opened, the guests weren't really sure what the food tasted like. Looking at the menu of a hundred dishes, they were all struggling to decide what to order. They should have spent a long time agonizing over what to order, but then Ye Xu placed a pot of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall in the restaurant, and the aroma was so enticing that the guests couldn't sit still any longer. Ordering and eating as soon as possible was the only right thing to do.
I opened the menu and saw the words "Manager's Recommendation" on the first few dishes—that was it. After flipping through the rest, I randomly picked a few dishes that caught my eye, and that completed my order.
The manager's recommendations naturally included Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, so when customers found that the restaurant's fragrant dish was already on their table, they were instantly overjoyed. One by one, they picked up their spoons and started digging into the Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
The fresh and fragrant ingredients and broth instantly won over everyone's hearts upon the first bite. Those who were used to eating light boiled vegetables could better appreciate the freshness of the ingredients. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall almost completely overwhelmed other dishes that focused on "freshness," elevating the taste buds to the highest level.
"My God!" Exclamations rose and fell. "So this is what people ate in ancient times! No wonder they spent so much time studying cooking every day!"
"Not really," Ye Xu silently replied in his heart. "Most people in ancient times couldn't afford such delicacies."
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was a complete surprise, and if the subsequent dishes couldn't match it, they would be overshadowed. Fortunately, Ye Xu has strict quality control requirements, and even the popular dishes were modified. Even if they can't match the inherent advantages of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, the taste isn't much different.
So when the diners moved on to other dishes and tried them one by one, they were indeed satisfied.
"This is delicious! This is delicious too! Waaah, it's so delicious! I'm going to bring my mom over to try it. Tomorrow! No! At noon!"
"Damn it, why does the virtual world have a hunger level? Let me eat! I can eat more!"
"Waiter, can I take my food home? I'm worried I won't be able to get a seat if I come down, so I want to pack up a lot to take home and eat slowly."
Only a minority of people care about the production time of dishes. Just like many people who use drugs in games don't care how many days ago they bought the potion or whether it's still fresh. Many people, however, plan to buy a dozen or so of each dish, thinking that should be enough to keep them eating until they can snag a seat next time.
Besides, with so many relatives and friends at home, shouldn't we share some with everyone? Buying ten plates of one dish isn't enough; it doesn't seem like enough for us!
Ye Xu naturally didn't mind everyone taking their own food to go; it wasn't the real world, and taking things out was inconvenient. In the holographic virtual world, everyone had their own personal bag, and if they didn't have enough space, they could just buy more. Whether they could carry it with them was their own problem, unlike physical stores where it was so troublesome and the store had to deliver it to their door.
The customer who had already ordered takeout food managed to solve the problem himself. He called his friend to wait outside—outsiders couldn't come in when the restaurant was full. Once he had filled his backpack with food, he ran out to complete the transaction, transferring the food to the other person's bag before going back inside to work as a porter.
This is too much trouble. Watching a group of customers running back and forth, Ye Xu quickly adjusted the layout. That's the good thing about the virtual world; changing the store layout on-site won't cause any surprise to the crowd.
Ye Xu placed the kitchen on the side, making one wall flush against the outer wall of the main entrance, and then added a window to both the kitchen and the main entrance. This way, customers who wanted to take out could stand by the kitchen window to order, and then hand the food to their friends standing outside the window without having to run back and forth.
In the interstellar era, the only thing that's abundant is the sheer number of people. The absence of these customers won't affect Ye Xu's points accumulation progress. Ye Xu doesn't care about that; his goal is to promote his food and encourage everyone to learn cooking as soon as possible.
While Ye Xu was busy, Han Yingchen's branch store also opened. Many customers who hadn't managed to get seats turned around and went to other branches, with only a few remaining to queue at the entrance. However, once the branches were also packed, some people would rush back, because the main store had the fewest people waiting.
The customer at the front of the line proudly raised his chin; thankfully, he hadn't followed along and wandered off.
When he first heard the branch was opening, he knew a lot of people would rush there to grab seats. But seeing how popular this place was, it was clear that seats would be hard to come by. Being the clever person he was, he quickly realized that instead of rushing over and fighting for seats he might not even get, he should stay here and wait for those fools to leave so he could move from the back to the front.
His decision proved to be correct; now there are fewer than twenty people ahead of him in line, and he will soon be able to enter the store and taste the food.
He didn't know exactly how delicious the food was. But he knew that many people had already eagerly posted reviews on the StarNet, all saying it was exceptionally good. The simple-minded Starfarers weren't very aware of the existence of paid online commentators; they wouldn't immediately suspect that someone had hired them, they would simply believe that these were genuine customer experiences.
Ye Xu didn't hire any online trolls, but so far only a minority of people have tasted the food, so the news hasn't made it to the trending topics yet. Even though many people are paying attention to this, the foodies in the reports haven't coordinated a unified tag, so it's impossible to get the topic onto the trending list in a short time.
This problem will be resolved soon, and Sister Xuan is not about to let go of even the slightest bit of buzz. She quickly guided the discussion, unified the information, and when half of the first wave of customers lined up to get their orders, the news immediately went viral and became the number one trending topic.
"We can now offer online food delivery through our official website," Ye Xu said.
The food delivery strategy was a quick brainstorming session that everyone came up with over the past three days. It's actually very convenient to run food delivery within the holographic network, as it saves so much trouble by not having to cook.
If you don't want to collaborate with others, you can open a small takeout shop in each virtual city, install a food production machine inside, and hire a large number of delivery drones to deliver food from the nearest location. If that's too much trouble, you can also authorize the takeout service to existing stations in various locations to operate directly, splitting the profits 50/50.
Since everyone has plenty of currency, they don't mind sharing half the profits. Running their own site is too much trouble, and even virtual cities are everywhere. Hiring delivery drones isn't cheap, and they're unsure how many they'll need. It's better to be a hands-off manager and enjoy the dividends.
With unlimited delivery available, the problem arises that dine-in customers will be fewer, making it harder to earn points. Fortunately, this problem is easily solved: stop offering signature dishes for delivery and delay delivery of new items – a two-pronged approach will suffice.
Ye Xu designated ten signature dishes, including Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Dongpo Pork, and Peking Duck, which are available for dine-in and takeout only. If you want to take away food, you have to queue for a seat first, and you can only pack multiple portions after you finish eating, with a maximum of ten portions of each dish.
Without a limit, scalpers are prone to emerge. Even if resale is prohibited, there's still plenty of room for manipulation. For example, someone might offer someone a free meal, and then later give them something in return. This is unavoidable, so the only solution is to control the quantity.
When you don't even have enough to eat yourself, who would be willing to resell?
The "delayed delivery of new dishes" means that ten new dishes will be added to the daily delivery menu, but these ten dishes will not be added to the delivery menu for the first five days. If you want to try them first, you have to dine in at the restaurant. This idea came from Sister Xuan. She loves to use this trick. Ye Xu verbally condemns her for being cunning, but when it comes to taking advice, he still adopts it.
At the current rate, it should take less than ten days to accumulate enough points. Once we have enough points, we can adjust the time accordingly. Five days is too long; we could try adding it to the menu the next day. For most people, it doesn't matter whether they get to eat it a day earlier or later.
The main issue is that their signature dishes aren't allowed to be delivered, which is what's drawing criticism. Ye Xu decided to ignore online messages; as long as he didn't see them, it was as if no one was criticizing him.
"Stinky dragon." As usual, Mo Bei took the time to come over to Ye Xu to whisper. Even as the branch manager, he couldn't stay still and didn't stay in the store to watch. "You haven't drawn a card in this dimension yet. Hurry up and let Tian Tian come out and draw a card."
Ye Xu looked at him speechlessly: "Why are you so concerned about gacha pulls?"
Mo Bei said matter-of-factly, "Now that there are more people, I'm worried that I won't get a share of your butler robot. Xiao Yige doesn't seem to know how to run a shop either, and he's younger than all of us. I'll definitely take care of him. What if I lend him my butler?"
Ye Xu: "..."
"You were doing quite well running your own medicinal cuisine restaurant, weren't you? Why do you have to hire a robot to help you?" Ye Xu couldn't understand.
After all, Mo Bei isn't like him; he's a lazy bum. Mo Bei is energetic and wouldn't do something like hiring robots to do his work while he slacks off.
"Do you think my store was doing very well before?" Mo Bei asked in surprise.
Ye Xu was completely baffled: "Otherwise what? Aren't you the branch manager who earned the most points?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Xu knew things were about to go wrong. Sure enough, the next second he saw Mo Bei grinning smugly, looking extremely proud, which made his handsome face look lewd and wasted such a good-looking appearance.
Ye Xu finally understood. Mo Bei wasn't lacking in self-awareness; he knew perfectly well how shrewd he was in business. He had deliberately come to Versailles. On the surface, he said, "I'm not good enough, I need a butler to help me," but in reality, he wanted to hear people affirm him, praise him, and flatter him.
Ye Xu glared at him coldly: "You're so childish!"
Mo Bei: "Hehehe."